Posts tagged ‘community’

After our Book Swap on Saturday, my family went to Art on the Square with Colleen and her family. There were quite a few craft vendors there, some food vendors (we had yummy wasabi sliders from somewhere, but I forgot the name. Sorry!) and live music on mulitple stages.

We were walking down the street, enjoying the weather, when I saw one of my favorite local Makers: Toony Jewelry. I keep running into Barbara and her wares ever since my first time vending at Oddmall where she was my booth neighbor. I have picked up, put down, and picked up and put down, etc. her jewelry a thousand times but had never been able to make a choice. But this time I was looking out for something craft-related and that made it so much simpler to decide. This necklace came home with me, and I must say, it love it.

Last week some friends came over to help weed my driveway.  I didn’t pay them , nor was I in dire need because I broke a leg or something.   It was just an experiment in helping each other.

See, some of my girlfriends regularly get together for brunches.  But Devona & I brainstormed, “Why not do work projects for the person who hosts brunch?”  So last week I was the first work brunch hostess and kindly received lots of help with the overgrown weeds in my driveway.  I chose a project we could do while socializing & watching the kids.  We worked for an hour on what would have taken me a week alone.

Have you tried anything like this with your friends or even family or neighbors?  I’m curious what other ideas are out there.

Twice this summer our family has attended Music in the Meadow, which is a free family concert at Howe Meadow in the Cuyahoga Valley. I can’t say enough praise for this event. It is on Wednesdays from 5:30, music starting at 6:30. Most people pack a picnic dinner and spread out a blanket and watch the show.

Music in the Meadow Photo Credited to CVNPA.org

If you come at 5:30 there are kid-appropriate activities including giant bubbles and frisbee golf. There are also music related crafts, which encourage kids to play along with the concert. We’ve taken home a easter-egg maraca and a wooden framed drum the past two times we came.

So far we’ve seen HeartBEAT Afrika, and another band which I can’t find the name of for the life of me even though I’ve been searching for 30 minutes! Next up is Copus Hill, a Bluegrass band on July 28th. If you’re looking for something free to do this summer, this is it.

Here’s the work my students and I did on Friday and Saturday night at Craft Akron. I must say I am really proud of the work they did. The fabric choices are outstanding, the conversation was enticing, and as craft classes always do- it felt more like a girls’ night out than work. This is the Buttercup Bag, which will be put back on the schedule again in August, as it is a great class with a great outcome.

The pattern, for those of you who are advanced enough to not need a class, is free on Made-by-Rae.com. Rae, very kindly allowed me to use her pattern as a class. I must say, that her patterns are quite easy to follow, and adorable to boot. She has a few others on her site worth giving a go, especially the kid backpack pattern.

I’m really disappointed when I’m at the grocery store hoping to buy something that’s in season in Ohio, only to find it’s been shipped in from Chili or California.  I want to work my cooking around local produce because it costs less in transportation, it’s fresher, and so I can support the area farmers. So I’ve been looking into farmer’s markets & CSA’s (community supported agriculture) in the area.

Recently I wrote about a CSA I visited.  The waiting list to join was long, so I asked if anyone knew of others in the NE Ohio area.  A reader named Emily suggested City Fresh, a non-profit that collects fresh produce from NE Ohio farmers & delivers it to selected urban drop-off points for pick-up.  I discovered that a drop-off point is a couple miles from my house, so I decided try out their program.

Today I picked up my first share of produce.  This is the family share (for 3-4 people), and it cost $28.  There are two bags of green beans, red potatoes, herbs, zucchini, beats, broccoli, a jar of raspberry jam, red onion, cucumber, lettuce, and pickling cucumbers.

We’re heading out this weekend for a family bike ride. We’re packing up our kids and hitting the trails on our bikes I have rescued from the curb over the years. I’ve learned a lot about the mechanics of bicycle repair from piecing together wheels from one bike, brakes from another, and handle bars from yet another.

Our plan is to ride the Tow Path Trail from downtown Akron out to Peninsula on our bikes. Eat some lunch or a snack in town and take the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Train ride back to the car. The Bike and Ride program offers a super discount on train rides, just $2 per passenger! We’ve done this once before on Elise’s 2nd birthday and it was a great success. I hope adding a third kids doesn’t make the trip too overwhelming!

I hope you’re planning to come to Musica tomorrow for the Mini Mart. I’ve got my both all set up in my living room to make sure that I fit into the allotted space, and it’s getting me all excited seeing everything all together.

Sculpture by Brittany Dell'Aglio-Mitchell

If you’re heading downtown already, please don’t forget to stop over in the Northside District to check out the Red Light Galleries which are open for the Akron Art Walk. My baby sister (OK fine, she’s graduating college with her BFA next weekend. I guess she can be a grown up now.) Brittany Dell’Aglio-Mitchell has an installment exhibiting in two rooms and you will love it, especially if you’re into fabric and fibers.  Then you can head over to Musica for Mini Mart, which is down stairs from WE Gallery, also participating in the Art Walk.

Seeing two sisters’ art in one weekend sounds like a great idea to me. Make sure you tell us “hi” if you see us!

The Lollipop Guild and I are going to be attending OddMall on May 8th. This is going to be a great show, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the vendors I met last year as well as meeting some new crafters.

I’d love to see you guys out there too.

I’m working on planning a clothing swap to take place this summer. I am really excited about it. I have really enjoyed the Craft Supplies Swaps that Colleen organized and I thought this would be just as much fun.

In order to make the swap as much fun as possible for you guys, I have a few questions. I made a survey for them, so if you have four minutes or so could you look it over and fill it out? There are only three questions!

Do you remember Crafty Mart? I do. It was by far the most fun craft fair I attended last year. The energy was high, the vendors were super talented, and the music was fun to bop to while we talked to the crowd. The other bonus… it was held at Musica downtown, and you could get a drink or two while you shopped.

Well I am so excited to be attending Mini Mart on May 1st, brought to you by the awesome J and J duo who put on Crafty Mart. Why is it called Mini Mart? Well, in order to offer a broader range of talent the booth space is half the size. That means you will get to see twice as many vendors in the same space.

I will be vending as Templeton Goods, and will bring along a pretty good stock of children’s shirt-dresses and rompers, aprons, baby shoes, and wool plushies. I can’t wait to see you there!