Search Results for: vintage hankie scarves

I got an order for a pair of His and His Potholders last week.  I still haven’t replenished my stock from Christmas so I made these two today.

I’d love to have a page on my website with a shopping cart where I would always have some potholders available.  His and His, His and Hers, Hers and Hers and single potholders too.  I’d also have my Vintage Hankie Scarves and  I could have Jon’s notecards on the page once we get them printed.  Maybe even some notecards of my own.  (hmm I just came up with that idea while writing this, that could be fun).  The page would have a paypal button for easy shopping and like on ETSY, when a potholder is sold it’s marked Sold.  This would make the whole selling process easier for everyone.  I wouldn’t sell everything this way, but just have some staple pieces.  And I’d still take checks, but people using paypal would have an edge on things.  They wouldn’t have to wait for me to read my email to complete an order.

So this is what I’d like, and I’m thinking of doing a Kickstarter Project (like Jon did for his book Talking to Animals) to fund it.  I still have to work out the details and find out how much the page would cost to make.  I love the idea of Kickstarter, it’s like getting a grant, only instead of  the money coming from the government, it comes from people who believe in what someone’s trying to do enough to help them achieve it.  It’s also a great way of broadening my audience.

So that’s what I’m thinking.  When I spoke to Chis at Mannix Marketing (my website designers)  he said I’d have to be prepared for an increase in sales if I did something like this.  That would mean having to make more of everything.  (When I created my first website, Yes/No Quilts, I intentionally left out any reference to sales or how to buy something, so Chris knows all about my business fears.)  I got a little pang when he said this, but said, “Well, I’ll just get nervous about it, have a panic attach or two then figure it out.  Sounds like a plan to me.

When I first read the words Show Your-Art-Guru on the comments of my blog, it took me a couple of seconds to place the phrase.  It sounded familiar, but…as I read on I wondered how I could have forgotten.  If Jon hadn’t written about it in  The Second Chance Dog,  would it have been lost to me forever?

My second thought was that I could hardly remember the time when I was afraid to let other people see my art.  And yet, it was only 4 or 5 years ago and for my whole life before that. Usually I read Jon’s books as he’s writing them, when he first gets the manuscript back and  then, when the book comes out.  But I didn’t read Second Chance Dog when we got the first copy in the mail from Random House a few weeks ago, and I won’t read it again, not in the near future.  It’s just too hard for me, it takes me back to a place I would rather not revisit just yet.

But the Show Your-Art-Guru, that’s something I don’t mind remembering, that’s something that still makes me smile, even laugh out loud when I think about it.  I’m not going to give it all away, but it was Jon’s way of encouraging me not to be afraid to show and try to sell my art on my website, something that terrified me at the time.

Go back about 5 years, it’s the middle of winter at the Old Bedlam Farm. Dark, cold, snowing, always snowing, all winter long.  I’m up at 5Am to go to my job at a home for developmentally disabled adults and Jon’s up with me, every morning, making me breakfast in his bathrobe, slippers and Wizard Hat. (Yes, a Wizard hat from Disney World that lights up)   And when Jon’s wearing this outfit, he’s no longer Jon, but the Show-Your-Art-Guru.  He sings and dances and prances around so I stop taking myself so seriously and see that he believes in me and so, start believing in myself.

It was a sweet time, not one I want to go back to, but a pocket of sunshine in the dark morning of my coming out as an artist.  And the further away I get from it, the crazier and more loving it seems to me.  And it’s good to remember how far I’ve come.  How now I can’t imagine not showing and selling my art.  How I wouldn’t be the person I truly am if I wasn’t doing my work and putting it out into the world.

It’s a good thing to remember, but not a place to dwell.  After all, I forgot about the Show Your-Art-Guru, because I don’t need him anymore.  But I’m glad Jon wrote about him,  you never know, he may be inspiring someone right at this moment.

Diane was at Jon’s reading at Batttenkill Books, she and her husband Brian have been to plenty of Jon’s readings.  We got so used to seeing them, (and often Diane’s Mom too) that when Diane joined Jon’s Writers Workshop, it felt like we were old friends.  Now I subscribe to Diane’s blog Merganser Crossing.  There’s always something insightful in the ordinary, to read about.  And her drawings (which she just started doing a couple of years ago, encouraged by the writing class) are direct and charming.

And isn’t it interesting how these things happen, how Diane has found the creative person inside of her and when taking a Silversmith class got friendly with Elaine Houston who has a local News series on Women called Today’s Woman.   And Diane was good enough to mention me to Elaine thinking I might be right for her series.

And so tomorrow at 11am Elaine Houston and a Camera person will be in my studio interviewing me about my work and my business.  And at some point it will be on TV (I’ll be sure to post a link to it) and ya know, it feels really good.  So thanks Diane, who has been so supportive in so many ways.

I dropped off a pair of His and His Potholders to Diane at the reading, for her friends who were recently married. When she handed me the check, I told her to keep it,  they were a gift from me to her.  It was the least I could do.

If you come in the door of my School House Gallery and turn to your left, this is what you’ll see.   Two of Marilyn’s Paintings, Tea or Espresso and Pink Lillies  and my Vintage Hankie Scarves.

As you move around the space my pillows are on my pink chair.  Next to it is one of Fran’s mini gardens.  On the wall is Jon’s photo Queen Flo and her Court.  Beneath it will be Kim’s note cards and unframed prints.  A couple of Kim’s framed prints will hang next to Jon’s photo also.

Next you come to some of my patchwork potholders and two of Jon’s Photos, Holy Apple Tree with Red and Copper Trout Gallery.

As you get to the back of the Gallery (Where the black board would have been), there’s a table with Jane’s Mini Pincushions, and one of her Hen Doorstops and some of Jon’s Note Cards.  In the space to the left of the table will be more of Kim’s Photo Collages.   On the wall pictured, is two paintings by Marilyn, Sleeping Cat and Berne New York.   In between are two of Jon’s Photos, Gathering Storm at Bedlam Farm and First Light at New Bedlam Farm.  On the small table to the right are some of Jane’s Autumn pincushions.

The shelf in the corner is mostly filled with Jane’s pincushions, wallets, and Doorstop Hens.  But there’s also Mary Kellogg’s Poetry Books and some more of Jon’s note cards.   My big potholder wall is to the right.  It’s a mix of Minnie and Hen and patchwork Potholders.

If you keep walking you’ll come to Kim, who will be sewing scarves made from Vintage Hankies that the customer gets to design.  And right before you get back to the door, you’ll see me, taking care of the business end of things.  I’ll have a calculator on my ipad and the Square on my iphone so I can take credit cards.  I’ll also have my money box (which is an old shiny green padded box, that I  recently learned is actually a hankie box!) for cash and checks.

On your way out the door you’ll see the sign for the Raffle of Jon’s galley for his next book The Second Chance Dog, A Love Story.  And tomorrow, when you step out the door you’ll see Fran’s Mini Gardens lined up in front of my Gallery.

I hope, if you don’t get to see it in person, you’ve enjoyed the tour.  I’ll try to remember to take some pictures this time, but I know what usually happens, once you all start to show up, it’s hard to think about anything else but what’s happening right in front of me.

One of the perks, that I hadn’t thought about when I started making the Vintage Hankie Scarves, is all the photos I would get of the women who buy  the scarves, wearing them.  With the potholders and quilts and pillows I may get a glimpse of a room or a dog or cat, but with the scarves, I get the whole person.

Jill send me a box with  fabric and two baggies with hankies.    One baggie had hankies in it for me and the other had hankies in it so I could make Jill a scarf as a trade.  She chose the hankies, (lots with the pretty embroidered edges) and I made the scarf.  Jill was good enough to send this photo of her wearing the scarf.    Another beautiful woman in a Vintage Hankie Scarf.

How fortunate I feel to come into my studio this Monday morning and have work waiting for me to do.  A quilt and pillow to finish, (both sold) a folder thick with requests for Vintage Hankie Scarves, and a handful  of potholder orders to fill.  And best of all my deadlines are loose enough, so that when an idea comes to me that demands to be created, I can take the time to work on it.  Then,  when all my orders are filled I have work to make for the next Open House in September (only a month away).

I could be panicking, thinking I’ll never get it all done.  I have felt this way in the past and will probably feel it again, but right now, this morning, all I feel is grateful.  Grateful for my work and for everyone who wants to buy it and for everyone who wants to look at it on my website.   And grateful to know that I can choose between feeling panic or feeling grateful.  This morning I choose to be grateful.

Potholders, pillows and scarves.  I’m ready for Sunday.  Well, kinda.  I finished all the potholders, pillows and scarves that I’ll have in the show, but now it’s time to transform my School House Studio into my School House Gallery.

I was up at 3am thinking about just how I would do that.  I have some ideas, my potholders and some of Kim Gifford’s photo collages hanging on the walls.  Jane McMillen’s Hen’s and pincushions will go on some of the shelves where my fabric now is.  Kim McMillan will be sitting at my  desk with her sewing machine making Vintage Hankie scarves. (I know the names are a bit confusing, there’s two Kims and a McMillen and McMillan)  I’m still not quite sure how I’ll display the scarves I already made.  I’m thinking of the antique drying rack, maybe they’ll be outside, I guess it depends on how windy it is.  Thankfully, the heat wave is supposed to break on Saturday with rain and  Sunday will be a beautiful dry day in the 80’s.  Fran’s Mini Gardens will be just outside my studio amongst the hostas ( and holes that Frieda has been digging).  Some of Kim’s matted drawings will be outside too.  Jon’s note cards and Kim’s note cards will be inside the “gallery”.

I can picture people lined up along the fence watching Red herd the sheep.  Poet Mary Kellogg and writers Diane Fiore and Kim Gifford  reading from their works under the shade of the giant maples, in the dog run (we’ll be sure to give it a good cleaning before Sunday).  In the front yard, Kim’s husband, Jack (of all trades) is helping with the parking and keeping an eye on the house.  The donkeys are lined up at the gate, waiting for Jon to bring the next group of visitors to meet them.  Lenore, or course, is greeting everyone within a mile of the Farm.

So if you haven’t made plans already, and you’re close enough to Bedlam Farm to visit this coming Sunday, please do.  The Bedlam Farm Open House is from Noon to 4pm on July 21st.  We don’t have any food or bathrooms, but there’s plenty of both nearby at Momma’s Restaurant, just north of the Farm or  at the Round House Cafe in the town of Cambridge.  What we will have is Sheep herding Demos with Jon and Red, Art and Readings by local artists and writers, and a chance to meet the donkeys, and dogs (and cats and chickens if they don’t decide to hide) who live at Bedlam Farm.  Take home a pincushion, a potholder or a print.  Visit Connie and Marilyn at  Battenkill Books and bring a book to the farm for Jon to sign. Or just come and enjoy the day at Bedlam Farm.

For more details about what’s happening and some other things to do and places to stay in the area click here.  Bedlam Farm is located at  2502 State Route 22 Cambridge NY 12816.  If you have any questions, just email me at [email protected].

And if you can’t make it this Sunday make plans to visit at the next open house on Sunday, September 1st.  Otherwise, you can follow the events of the day right here and on bedlamfarm.com

I’m ironing and sorting my Vintage Hankies to prepare them for this Sunday at Bedlam Farm.  I’ll make a few scarves this week to sell at the Bedlam Farm Open House, and the rest will be sorted by size and color for people to go through and design their own scarf.  Kim will be in the studio sewing them together.  So along with everything else you can do at the farm on Sunday (from noon to 4pm)  you can see how my Vintage Hankie scarves are made.  To see what else will be going on at the farm on Sunday, click here or go to my Events page.

Suzanne told me she was so excited to get her scarf, she wore it home from her mailbox.  So far, Suzanne has bought three of my Vintage Hankie Scarves.  Two for herself (one long and one shorter) and one for her granddaughter.  This is one of those Scarf Spanning Generations stories.  Her granddaughter is going off to College and Grandma will soon be 71.  (Tell me she doesn’t look great and I’m not talking about the scarf.)

One of the reason’s I put my photo on my Buy My Art page is that I know  being able to picture someone makes me feel like I know them a bit better.  Most of you know what I look like from Jon’s blog but it’s rare that I get to see what any of you look like.  Suzanne and I have been emailing each other for a long time and now finally, I get to see what she looks like.   Suzanne, It’s great to meet you in this new way.  Now I can really imagine you strolling back from your mailbox, your scarf blowing behind you in the wind, your back straight and your legs strong and your self determination carrying you home.

So Kim, who assembles my potholders and Vintage Hankie Scarves, the woman who told me she wasn’t creative, even though she’s been sewing her whole life, came up with a great idea.  She suggested that at the Bedlam Farm Open House (really open Farm, our house will not be open) on July 21st, I let people choose the hankies they would like in a scarf and sew them together on the spot.  I liked her idea even better when she said she would be willing to do the sewing.  Kim is an assistant manager at the Cambridge Co-op and thinks more communally than I do.  “It will also be a demonstration” she said, “so people could see how the scarves are made.”  I could see it.  Kim in my studio,  a few ( I say a few because my studio isn’t all that big)  people watching as she sews together a scarf with hankies that one of those people just picked out.  And on the antique wooden drying rack next to her are a bunch of scarves we made the week before, ready made, you might say.  I like it.

I  also like that Kim would be a part of the day too and get to meet some of the people who have scarves and potholders she helped make.  Some uncreative people are very creative.

So come to Bedlam Farm on Sunday July 21st between 12 and 4pm.  Buy a Vintage Hankie Scarf (if it’s really hot you’ll have to use your imagination when it comes to the idea of wearing a scarf) or just watch Kim make one.  Click here or go to my Events page to get all the detail about Sunday, July 21st at Bedlam Farm.