You will be delighted to know, if you are living in the Atlanta, GA area, about the American Craft Show that is a yearly event that happens around March. It is held usually at the Cobb Galleria Centre, and it’s here you’ll be able to find all sorts of artworks that will delight you and your friends. You might even be able to pick up very nice pieces of jewelry for your wife here.

I try to go to these craft shows whenever I can, as I am an advocate of such events. This year, you will be able to see crafted items that make use of recycled materials. While I am more inclined towards the traditional crafts myself, I still feel that these are worth looking at.

Let’s take the example of jewelry that I made earlier. To me, jewelry is only wearable when made from some sort of “jewelry” caliber material. I don’t plan on giving my wife some materials made from twigs and discarded building materials. It may work on sculptures, perhaps; but to me, there’s a difference between art and street wear.

I will note, however, that there is one exception to my metal and gemstone rule. The trinkets found at Alexandra Bitner’s lucite jewelry are just fantastic and very wearable. It is very hard to design something fashionable out of what many would consider to be trash, but Bitner manages to do that quite well.

If you want to do your part for the environment, or if the concept of wearing recycled items as jewelry appeals to you, then you can go to the American Craft Show that is held annually. To be fair, it’s not just jewelry; there are other works of art made from such materials. To each his own, but it’s really not my thing. If you’ve missed the American Craft Show, no need to fret; there are dozens of other crafts show you can attend all year round.

I believe I have the right crafts to attend the next Artisan’s Craft Show. I am planning my booth there now. There are only eight days to go before it occurs, so I’m already preparing the items I want to sell. Among the things on my booth are precious stones such as turquoise, aquamarine, onyx, chalcedony, smoky quartz, purple amethyst, amber, citrine, prasiolite (green amethyst), rose and clear faceted quartz, rutilated quartz… need I say any more? I may even bring along some rubies or emeralds if I complete the design in the short time I have left.

As you can see, I just have a great love for colored stones and gems of all sizes. Not having at least one on my person at any point in the day unsettles me; I simply must have one to feel in my pocket or in one of my jewelry. But this season, I decided to take it to the next step; I have designed and made a number of long necklaces using sterling silver studded with my gemstones. I am anxious to show them off.

These accessories, of course, need to be accentuated by the correct type of clothing. I passed by Nova Moda boutique and discovered that “Not My Daughter’s Jeans” were in stock. Nova Moda is the only shop here in Hamilton that carries this line; they will fit your significant other fabulously well. I already talked about Michael Kors in a previous post, as well as Nada who is a Canadian designer. The latter showed up during Fashion Week in Toronto and she was described as one of Canada’s up and coming designers.

Anyway, I have to get back to fashioning these gems. It’s difficult for me to begin in a project; but when I do, the momentum carries me along. So I shouldn’t interrupt myself for long with blogging. In any case, see you on the next craft show!

Yes, I haven’t been doing it for the longest time. I admit to myself back then that it was a silly hobby, an occupation that really does not deliver rewards. But now I also admit that I was just deceiving myself; I was trying to find an excuse to stop spending time on something that I loved doing, and for what? All this was in an effort to give myself more time for a work that I did not really like.

We live in the modern world, and finding something that you love to do and earning money with it is a rare thing. Because of that, many people just opt to go for jobs that they are capable of doing even if they borderline detest the tasks that they do. It is true that most hobbies just don?t pay well, if at all. This is all interesting; in my particular case, you see, earning for what I?m doing is far from being unheard of.

There was a time when I liked to venture into craftsmaking; I am a woodworker, in particular. To me, there?s just something that can be had with the natural beauty of wood. Whenever my muse is around the corner, I find that I can cut, carve, or glue them to whatever shape my mind imagines.

Let’s move on with my story. Up until a few months ago, I preferred the mundanely repetitive task of my job. But then the financial crisis hit. Just to be on the safe side, I began exploring other ways of earning income.

So I looked online, and I discovered that there were literally thousands of craft shows held annually in our country. All I had to do was go to a site that listed all event, applied a few filters, and voila! I could find the ones in my area. It was then just a matter of choosing.

I have been going to these fairs and festivals for several months now, and I must say that I have mostly enjoyed the experiences that I’ve had. Even if sales are not always good, my experience has been positive overall. And of course, the extra income that comes with it is a nice kicker.

Almost all of us have been to craft fairs and all of us would also testify on how fun it can be. There are also craft fairs that are downright boring and seem to be a waste of time and energy to go to. I know for I have been to one. The food was a-okay but the attendants are not- they must have forgotten about customer service for they are not smiling all throughout the event. There are also vendors that sell goods that are not of good quality.

At craft fairs you are entitled to have fun and have a great time but the problem is how? How can we differentiate a bad craft fair to a good one? Every experience at craft fair should be a good and rewarding one, otherwise the whole point of going is useless. Craft fairs should be fun and engaging places to relax, unwind and have a great time.

How to distinguish a good craft fair to a not so good one? First: check the lessons or instructional classes they have and try to have a go with these questions. Are they recent? Are they relevant and in tune to what is happening around us? Are the beneficial? And if they will benefit you, will the benefit everyone else?

Second, check out the food kiosks or counters. See if what they offer are great and mouth watering delicacies. Hey, there is a possibility that you’ll get hungry or thirsty in the middle of checking out the craft fair and a great meal should leave you always in a good mood. See if the food is agreeable and you’ll surely have a lot of fun at craft fairs.

Third, check out the place, the bazaar and the performances. Is the place a great venue to hold a craft fair? Is it safe? Are the items at the bazaar winners? Do the sellers offer respect and answer the buyers’ questions adequately? Do the performances further enrich the experience? If the answers to all of these questions are a resounding YES-then you’re indeed going to have fun at the craft fair.

Craft shows are awesome places for someone who is talented and skilled at her craft and wants to earn money at the same time. Talented and skilled people have a lot going on for them in craft fairs, since this is a great venue to display their superb workmanship. Craft fairs are great venues to display superb workmanship by our skilled artisans. Parents and kids will surely enjoy the things that craft fairs have to offer.

Spring craft fairs at Indiana are usually held every April or at the onset of Spring. In here, the surroundings are transformed to a new look as colors seem to dominate the land. The lush greenery of the park where Spring craft fairs are usually held provide a great background to the bustling scenery of happy, jovial and cheerful people at the craft fair. Spring craft fairs generally carry with it a cheerful atmosphere. Why? Well because it is a celebration after months of harsh and cold weather. It symbolizes a fresh new day, a new hope and a new start.

Handmade crafts are plenty at craft shows. In here, we can see a hobby transformed into a money making opportunity. Crafters at craft shows are “small business people” who decided to think big by using their core passion and inner gift to their advantage, it is not just money that they gain from doing so but it also contributes to the contentment and nourishment of their souls, doing the things that they love most.

I once chanced upon an article that says in order to be successful in what you chose to do you should spend 10,000 hours doing it. You should also behave “abnormally” about it. Hmm. What exactly am I talking about? I’m talking about Bill Gates tinkering at his computers at age 13 or Tiger Woods playing golf at age 3. Right now these “abnormal” men had spent more than 10,000 hours doing what they love to do, and they are right successful at it.

It works the same way also with crafters, by spending more hours working at and improving their crafts they just might create another world class product. Visit the spring craft fair at Indiana and marvel at soon-to-be world class products by talented crafters.

Cheese, as hardy and tough as it seems to be, is still food. It is delicate. It needs its own space, and it needs its own ways of caring for it, storing it and serving it. From when the cheese is delivered to the shop for display and service, the customer should know proper choosing and handling of cheese to promote storage longevity and maximum preservation of taste, nutrients, consistency, aroma and overall appearance.

When choosing cheese from a store, always look for one thing first before even considering to select that particular wheel, or block, or even a slice of cheese. Look for the Wisconsin Cheese ID. Wisconsin Cheese quality assurance only stamps the WCID to cheeses that have passed their requirements and their rigorous tests to assure you that you get the best of the best quality cheeses the state has to offer. The eye can be a good judge too. Make sure that when selecting cheese, it should look fresh, clean and as much as possible, have little cracks. Cracks are a sign that the cheese has been exposed too long in the air (dried out) and indicates the gradual loss of cheesy freshness.

There are the three C’s when it comes to handling cheese that has been bought and brought home. Clean, Cover, and Cold. Clean: make sure that the cheese is wrapped well and kept away from other foods, especially aromatic ones like onions, apples, dried fish, etc. Cheese, like a sponge, is very absorbent with other food’s smells and this may influence your taste if you eat the cheese (half of eating cheese is through aroma).

Cover: make sure to keep cheese away from as much air exposure as possible. Cheese turns hard and rancid if left out in the open too much. Hard cheeses like Parmesan and Mozzarella, should be kept in plastic wrap at all times to prevent drying out. Soft cheeses, in air-tight plastic containers for longer shelf life and smoother texture, as compared to leaving it out. Store in cool places as well, to discourage bacterial growth. Semi-hard cheese would depend but will go well with parchment or even with its original wrapping.

Finally, cold: if planning to refrigerate cheese (though not strongly encouraged), keep temperatures between 34 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Cheeses really don’t do well with too much coldness.

Handmade crafts are pieces that are very special for they are created by a person’s own hands. It is a result of ones creativity and passion of a certain hobby. Hand made crafts are usually cheap because raw materials that are used for these are safe and economical. Some people say that handmade crafts are made with love and care. Some people say that handmade crafts are done by housewives or hands-on moms who want to earn income at home. They are people who were able to transform a hobby to a money making opportunity.

Crafting as a business is a piece of cake for people born with creative hands and minds. They use their God-given talents to their advantage and earn through it. They are people who are trying to be the best of what they can be. Creativity alone however could not make a thriving business because you need to be financial literate also to make your business last. Try to attend seminars and financial workshops that would make you learn more about money and how it works.

There are many handmade things that can be done like handmade soaps, handmade candles, clothes, baby diaper wipes, toys, etc. Be thrifty and make your own version of baby diaper wipes by cutting small pieces of second-hand or used cotton/ flannel fabrics. Place them in a container. Mix water with a few drops of oil and alcohol, put in empty spray. Remember that water is still the best and safest to use for wiping your babys bottoms!

Hand crafted or hand made toys are very popular on craft fairs because of their charming and personal appeal. They are unlike factory manufactured toys because each piece is lovingly created by ones own hand. It can be done simply by carving through a piece of very pliable wood. Give the wood a fresh coat of paint or perhaps, create hand painted patterns on it. Topping it off with a glaze or varnish will give it a glossy and finished effect.

If I were you, I will check out my local neighborhood crafts fair listings now to get a glimpse of crafts fairs schedules.

So you are finally geared for getting ready to pick some of the good stuff of the earth. Book and field manual in check, guide ready, family hungry and excited for some frontier cuisine, and stomachs growling in excitement. It’s a fine day,and no one is complaining about tired feet and being bored out of their minds. But how do you go cooking it?

The general consensus when dealing with wild greens for most people is to either a: boil them to death with salt and pepper or b: cut them and put them in a salad. Trust me, there are other and more delicious ways to prepare greens than just your usual fair. Get yourself a good book and study on it. I’ll at least provide some insights for as to what cooking techniques can be used with which vegetables.

Boiling and eating raw in salads wasn’t a farce. Most of the wild greens are usually prepared just like that. But wild greens are versatile, just as how many greens there are out there. Depending on their toughness, tenderness, flair, flavor, nutritional value or structure would determine what cooking technique best suits the vegetable.

Take dandelion for example. You wouldn’t think that this common ‘weed’ is actually a very good source of iron and Vitamin A. Dandelions are best eaten during the raw months of March and April. Nope, you don’t eat the flowers or seeds (unless you like fluff in your mouth). Dandelion greens are best used in salads.

Dandelion may or may not be a weed, depending on how we use these prolific little plants. Just be careful and ask around first before gathering dandelions. Most homeowners might have sprayed chemicals or herbicides in attempts to eradicate dandelions, and you might ingest it in the process.

Toys are known as a big part of a person’s childhood. Some adults even keep their toys in memory of a happy playful childhood and have their own young ones to have it. But what if there are toys that actually bring message of violence and death? Are they categorized as toys?

Chandeliers are light fixtures commonly seen in as an extravagant symbol in mansions or building that evokes class and refinement. The high electricity cost of a chandelier owning to its numerous little light bulbs is what makes it affordable to the upper society. Chandeliers carries with it warmth and elegance in a space. It connotes a rich and luxurious lifestyle. Chandeliers can come off as glass, bronze or even plastic. The intricate design on a chandelier makes it a pricey piece in relation to other lighting fixtures

In the newest exhibit in Baltimore, Maryland entitled Guns and Chandeliers: two painters showcase their art. The theme Guns will feature a rising awareness whether or not toy guns are allowable to be played by kids or not. Different images depicting kids playing with plastic guns will be displayed in the gallery. The images will evoke the long standing issues of guns being a symbol of war and demise and as a harmless toy being played with by kids.

The theme Chandeliers will focus different pictures of enchanting and elegant chandeliers in the different painting styles and strokes. The artist is projected to effectively communicate the atmosphere of elegance and refinement through paintings. The still life images reportedly look very real that one should resist touching it. Through these painting one is reminded of the social barrier existing in the middle of the rich and the poor.

The exhibit is a play of difference and contrast. One concept shows about robust play and onset of doom, the other refined and elegance and simplicity. Enthusiasts and art aficionados really look in amazement at these depictions of art that are very well painted while awakening and silently tackling deep social significances within.

These so called “freak pockets” in the world are where the laws of physics seem to have left their senses. This is where marbles roll up hill when it is realistically impossible, where brooms left to stand in the floor seem like they’re stuck in the position, and remain standing, and where mysterious lights that are neither ghosts nor St. Elmo’s fire appear so often.

In Santa Cruz, we have such one spot ‘aptly named as the ‘Mystery Spot’ (there are other ‘Mystery Spots’ around America, and possibly, around the world but they’re all called ‘Mystery Spots’). This one, sad to say, is half-baked and half-convincing. You have a selection of getting shrunk, walking in walls, weird seats and broom standing which, by far, is better done by other ‘mystery spots’. Having teenagers explain things way beyond their league adds to the, for lack of better word, incredibility.

An explanation usually offered by these pre-pubescent tour guides would be that ’strange hunk o’ rock’ just across them over hills. Igneous or something. Isn’t that cute? Well, we surmise you could at least spare a few dollars for the kid to heighten his awareness that igneous rock, is and will be, just your regular old rock. If they said that it was a giant piece of magnet, I would have nodded my head. But no.

You can reach the place (you can’t miss it) via a big yellow-black sign with the words “Mystery Spot”. World famous? Maybe it is, seeing it is still flocked by skeptical and non-skeptical tourists. Million visitors? You bet, if you counted backwards from the time this joint opened. Fun, fun, fun; hardly, but poking a tour guide for answers he might not have access to (its called bullying in some states) is surely worth your penny.

Just secure your car when you park. It might roll uphill or something.