The Valle Country Fair!

What started out as a church bazaar 32 years ago has grown into one of the best festivals in this part of the state. It's always the third Saturday in October - the time of year when the fall colors are always at their peak.  The Church of the Holy Cross in tiny Valle Crucis, North Carolina sponsors the event and is responsible for distributing the proceeds to local charities. There are 135 fine art and craft booths and one of them will be mine. There's always good music and lots of fresh apple butter and cider and other good food.

Held in a field surrounded by mountains showing off the glorious colors, it's a draw to the "leaf peepers" and there's always a huge crowd.

I look forward to this show, and I think that even afer I quit doing all other shows (a direction that I'm definitely moving toward), I think that I might still like to do this one. The weather is supposed to be perfect this year, which is a real blessing. I've been there some years when it snowed on us and it was so cold that I thought my nose would snap off. Last year was a mud fest after weeks and weeks of rainy weather. (And, if you've been reading this blog that long, you'll remember that I had an infection from a botched root canal that day, too.) In any kind of weather it's always a good show.

This year I'll have all of my amazing new work and I'm also going to do something different. I recently went through all of my inventory and found some things that are really.... well... old. There's nothing wrong with them, and in my opinion they're beautiful and I don't understand why I haven't sold them yet. I feel like I need to clear out these old pieces because they wear me down. I want to concentrate on finding new directions. So, I've polished them all up and marked them down and I'll have them in a basket for customers to go through. Hopefully, people will look at this as treasure hunting for a great deal.

My good friend Kimberly will be coming from Charlotte on Friday to help me and we always have a great time visiting. After last year I think she's a glutton for punishment, but she volunteered to do it again, so I'll take her up on it. I usually see a lot of familiar faces and several of my fellow co-op members will have booths there, also. The organizers always put us close to each other so it can turn into quite a party! To top off a fun but exhausting day, the Valle Crucis Elementary School does a fund raising dinner on Saturday night. Fried chicken, slaw, green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits home made dessert and sweet tea. The ultimate comfort food before going home and collapsing.

So if you happen to be in the area, come see me. This event will not disappoint.

Fall Show Schedule

I have several shows coming up in the next few weeks that I wanted to tell you about. I always enjoy meeting my customers in person, and this is a perfect opportunity to catch me live.

The first one is next Saturday, September 26th in West Jefferson, NC. It's called Arts on the Side and is sponsored by the Ashe County Arts Council. It's a small, informal show on the grounds of the Arts Council and inside their gallery. We'll be set up from 9:00 until 3:00 and my friend, Janet, will be spending the day with me.

The following weekend, October 3-4, I'll be part of the Chatham Hill Winery Harvest Festival in Morrisville, NC (near the Raleigh-Durham Airport). The hours are 12:00-6:00 on Saturday and 1:00-5:00 on Sunday. There will be wine tastings, of course, and several different craft artists an well as some community interest groups. My sister and her husband will be there selling items to benefit the American Cancer Society.

On October 17 is the Valle Country Fair in Valle Crucis, NC from 9:00 to 4:00. This is not too far from home, and one of my favorite shows. It's an over-grown church bazaar that has turned into one of the best shows in the state. It occurs at the peak of fall color season and its bucket loads of fun with music, great food, and 135 craft artists. I've done this show every year for almost 15 years. We've experienced all kinds of weather, but it's only rained on us one year that I can remember. It's usually chilly in the morning and one year we had a few morning snow flurries, but normally you can count on a clear, crisp fall day.

Then a few weeks break until the evening of November 20. I'll be doing a benefit Trunk Show for Hospitality House of Charlotte. This wonderful organization offers low-cost housing to out-of-town people who have family members in Carolinas Medical Center, which is right across the street. I'll be donating a portion of my sales to them. The details haven't all been worked out yet, but I think the date is firm. We'll probably start in the late afternoon and go until around 7:00 or 8:00. We'll have wine and food and this will be a great opportunity to help out a deserving organization.

If you are part of a local charity and are interested in hosting a benefit Trunk Show for your organization, please contact me. Or, if you'd like to host one in your home for your family and friends, we can do that, too! Those are always a ton of fun.

Even after this blog post moves down your screen (assuming I continue to blog on a timely basis!), the schedule will remain to your right. So -- now you know where to find me!!