Spice: Arts and crafts Show Artisan Biographies

Spice is very quickly approaching with only one week to go.  If you haven't done so yet, check out the facebook page for more details.  The arts and craft show will begin on Friday November 16 at 6:30, ending on the 17th at 4:30.  Here are a few bios from those participating in the show. Enjoy, and hope to see you there!

Lori Harrington

Products:Handcrafted Soaps

Lori has been making handcrafted soap at her farm in Brechin, Ontario since 2010.  She is a busy wife and mom to three young adult children, and works at the local public library, in addition to soap making.  With a background in chemistry, she has applied her scientific knowledge to the art and craft of making soap, experimenting with many formulas to create gentle, moisturizing handmade soap.  She loves all things Victorian and country, and expresses this love in her unique soap labels.

Robin Radford

Products: Candle holders(birch bark and cedar), Fresh door wreath arrangements, Bath salts, Paper Christmas Ornaments, Preserves (jams, relishes, pickles, salsa), Pies and baked goods.

I grew up in Northern Ontario.  I was blessed to grow up with God's natural gifts all around me.  My husband and I now live in the country, raising and homeschooling our four children. I am passing down traditions of preserving God's natural gifts to us, for future generations to protect and enjoy.

Robin and Ingrid Cochrane

Products: Refined home decor objects such as lamps, vases, picture frames, tables, mugs etc.

Robyn and Ingrid Cochrane are a mother and daughter who live on a farm and love the country life and the outdoors. They both have an eye for decorating and love finding old or outdated home decor items and refurbishing them to fit into the modern day household.  

Stephanie Marsh

Products: Abstract acrylic art on canvas

Though she does not have formal training, Stephanie has always been into art in one capacity or another. It's always been something she enjoyed, but never pursued seriously until she became a stay-at-home mom. Since she moved up from the States almost 2 years ago, she has been restricted on working, so taking up both painting and becoming a Zumba fitness instructor have been the solution to contributing financially to her family. Both have given her the flexibility to stay home with her daughter, Paisley, and pursue her passions. Her primary focus creatively is bold, abstract art using pallet knives with various mediums to achieve texture, depth, and/or fluidity. Though many of her pieces are her own inspiration, she also takes on commission works as well.

Jordan Elizabeth Scott

Products : Heat pads and hot pads

  I’ve always enjoyed sewing. I’ve had a sewing machine since I was 8, I started out making small gifts for family and slowly built my techniques. I love exploring new patterns and fabrics. It’s always an adventure when I start to sew, you never know where I’ll end up.

Tahlia Coros

Products: 'Frilly' scarves, embroidery thread bracelets, bookmarks, embroidery thread covered headphones, and scarves made from t-shirts.

I am a busy student, currently in Grade 10. With all of the work assigned to me at school, I have used crafting as a break from it all. 

I have always loved using my creativity to make things. I started off with little drawings, then paintings and bracelets, now scarves! I have recently just learned how to make scarves from my grandma this past summer ! When I heard about Spice I decided it would be a good way to earn some money and I get to do something I love! 

Emilie Dugard

Products: Owl cards, Owl keychains , Owl ornaments, Owl Kleenex holders

I graduated from high school last June and I chose to take a year off and work therefore leaving me plenty of time for crafting! I have always enjoyed using my hands and doing anything from painting to making bracelets and my new found hobby, sewing and making cards!  I have enjoyed exploring pinterest's DIY section and will be sharing my love of creating owls at spice! 

Carla DeWinter

Products: Paintings and Stationary

Carla has always loved drawing and painting. She went to York University for a BFA in Visual Arts and recently has taken a few watercolour lessons. When she was little her Mom would often find her in the greeting card section of the store while they were out shopping. Her desire is to glorify God by combining His scriptures with the things that she paints, and creating greeting cards so people can pass on the blessing of God's Word.

Amber Steingard

Products: Yarn wreaths and yarn snowmen

Lover of all things creative from music to writing(visit blog here) to cooking and crafting, I'm excited to share my newest venture of handmade yarn wreaths. I've been so inspired by my many artisan friends and am excited to be joining in.  I'm so thankful for great family and friends and a loving husband to share my life with, but most of all thankful for what the Lord has done in my life and my desire is that I would honour Him with all that I have.

Janet DeBoer- ‘The Dutch Farmers Wife’

Products: soaps, linen sprays, chapstick and lipgloss, mason jar soap pumps and sock animals. 

Looking back 2 years ago if asked the question "what do you make" I would have said "nothing... I don't have a creative bone in my body." What changed all that one might ask? Well, let me tell you! It was babies, and not necessarily even my babies... it was the fact that every woman I knew was giving birth to adorable cuties and I couldn't afford all the baby showers and baby gifts any more. I figured I either had to find a new crowd to hang out with, or come up with a more cost effective gift. My solution... sock animals. They quickly became a hit, and before I knew it people started requesting them... which inspired me! I realized that nothing is difficult... just time consuming; thus sparking my creative side. Now I'm hooked on creating things... the options are endless! (Unfortunately the amount of hours in each day does have an end). I've expanded now to soaps, lip balms, lip gloss, linen sprays and more!

The name for my new business is "The Dutch Farmer's Wife", because, well... I am the wife of a Dutch farmer, Ben. We have 3 sweeties and live in the boonies (aka Lisle). Creating things with all natural products is exciting to me, and I hope my creations excite you too!

Jamie Dawn Hanson- ‘Dawning jewlery’

Products: Necklaces, earrings, hair accessories for children and adults, pixie hats, paper dolls, jewelry travel bags.

As a wee bonny lass I found myself a journeyer in the undying quest of consummate creativity. As I grew so did my great longing to create with my hands. That is precisely how I ended up being 16 and selling my own lovingly handcrafted jewelry and accessories under the name 'Dawning'. I began my business at the age of 12 and have supremely enjoyed every moment since! My products include natural stone, metal, re-purposed material, wool and 

leather jewelry. I'm positive you will love my products as much as I love making it for you!

Check out her facebook page here

Karen Dobbs

Products: Paintings and original editioned prints 

Karen Dobbs is currently completing her Fine Arts diploma from Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario.  She has lived, worked, and now studied in Barrie with her husband since they got married in 2007.  Art has always been a part of Karen's life, building up foundational skills through high school and then later through various painting classes and now through the Fine Art program at Georgian.  Her first love will always be painting and exploring the details of God's creation, but being in full time studies has broadened her appreciation for all mediums and areas of the arts, including sculpture and printmaking.

      Throughout all her paintings, she uses colour and the exploration of mark-making to portray the subject matter, be it landscape, to flowers or abstraction.  Her goal is to allow the creativity of God to work through her to share beauty and light in a dark world and she is looking forward to the changes and growth still to come in her artwork.

Debbie Eskra

Products: Scarves

I am a mother of 3 sons, and grandmother to 4 granddaughters and 2 grandsons.  Dave and I have been married for 38 years and have loved the Lord since 1986/87.  Coming to Harvest 3 years ago, has changed our lives.  God has transformed us from the inside out and we know He has only just begun.  What a joy to be on this journey with all of our family at Harvest Barrie.

My knitting began as a young girl.  Probably before I was 10 years old my Mom and my Grandma taught me how to knit.  Both of them were avid knitters so I would sit in their company and together we would knit away.  As I grew up and had children of my own, I would knit for my family.  Of course, they each had their own hand knit baby sweaters with matching bonnets and booties.  We had matching nordic knit sweaters one year when we all skied.  I haven't knit much for quite a few years now and last year I was introduced to these marvellous scarves.  They looked very intriguing to me and when I inquired as to how they were made I was pleasantly surprised to discover, firstly, that they were knit, and secondly, how easy they were to make.  So began my scarf knitting.  I now have over 30 scarves ready for sale but I have knit many more.  They have made perfect gifts for family, friends, and neighbours.  

I have taught my granddaughter to make these scarves as well.  You could say...passing on the tradition of knitting.

I find knitting something very relaxing.  I can sit with my husband as we watch a program together or I can have a sweet time alone with God, just chatting about whatever's on my mind and not be distracted by what I am doing. 

Joyce Martin

Products: Knit items and Cards

As a child Joyce learned to knit from her mother who, at 83, still knits every day.  Currently Joyce is specializing in knitting for babies and brings a variety of items to Spice as well as welcoming orders.  More recently Joyce has taken up card making and she will have an assortment of handmade cards also available.

Angie Armstrong: ‘ARA Gifts’

Products: Scarves, Cowls, Baby clothing, Cards, Mug Cozies

Angie is the wife of Mike and mommy to two beautiful littles!  She loves being home with her babes and this was the first inspiration to get 'crafty'!  It started with a mug cozy and has moved to scarves and baby clothes.  Angie is committed to making unique, handmade and affordable gifts for your loved ones or yourself of course.

Check out her blog here.

Josée Chapman: ‘Junebugs’

Products : Nursing covers, Crayon wallets, Fabric cuff bracelets, Clutch purses, ipod/ipad cases, and Aprons.

 As long as I can remember I have been crafting with my hands.   Growing up I can remember brushing my fingers along the stacks of fabrics waiting to be formed into beautiful works of art.  The colours textures and patterns, inspire, excite and enliven.  Staring at the fabrics forces me to imagine, experiment and have fun.  Although it can be intimidating to try new designs, I'm always up for an adventure!  So I will sew, and we'll see where it goes!

'SPICE'

Fall is here in all it's beauty.  We've been enjoying lots of brisk autumn hikes, pumpkin spice latte's and cinnamon apple candles over here.  We're sucking everything we can out of fall, knowing that the cold winter days are coming.  It seems that the summer passed by so quickly for us, and then we were hit with wonderful fall, and now Christmas seems to also be quickly approaching.  Yes, I said Christmas, and let's face it, once halloween is over next week, and the first of November rolls around, Christmas preparation will be in full swing.  

What better way to prepare for the Christmas season, then to attend a show with local artisans displaying their talents for your gifting needs?  Please welcome 'Spice'!  You may remember an event that we held in the spring called 'Bloom', well, that event was so well supported and attended that we decided a fall event must be in order.  We've been planning the last few weeks, what is sure to be a great time of perusing locally made products and time to enjoy a taste of the winter season.  

Please visit our facebook page for a few more details, join the event and share with friends if you are interested.  

Come join us at 'SPICE' to welcome in the Christmas season! Bring your friends. Open to everyone!
Peruse local artisans merchandise from paintings to stationary, purses to scarves, preserves to baking, jewelry to knitted items. You will be sure to find the perfect gift for all on your list. 

Enjoy fellowship, door prizes, light refreshments and a taste of the winter season.

Raffle tickets available to purchase for a gift basket, with all proceeds donated to our local pregnancy resource centre.

Event begins on:
Friday November 16th at 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. for a sneak peek (purchases can be made).
Reopens on Saturday November 17th at 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Drop by any time!

Questions?
Please email Angie Armstrong at orderara@gmail.com or Josee Chapman at junebugsfashions@gmail.com

*Cash and cheques only please.

Also, if you are still looking for a cute little Halloween bag for your little one, look no further!

Pick one of these up soon!  

$8 each or 2/$15

Trick or treat!

I've been sharing photos of these cute halloween bags on instagram and facebook, but haven't done a blog post on them yet....so here it is!

These cute little bags are the prefect size for little hands to hold and fill up with a few goodies!  They are made with a bright white handle that makes them easy to find in the dark.  Larger sizes available upon request.

Halloween is only 17 days away, so pick up one one these sweet little bags for your little trick or treater for only $10, and they will be able to use it for years to come!

Contact me today for your order- junebugsfashions@gmail.com

Have a super monday!

RC Helicopter Giveaway Winner!

I'm very excited to announce that the giveaway winner is Austin Harrison.  Austin, I'm sure you will love this RC helicopter!  Please email me your mailing address to junebugsfashions@gmail.com so that I can have the helicopter shipped out to you.  A special thanks to xenonproject.com for generously offering this wonderful giveaway.  If you are starting your Christmas shopping, be sure to check out their site for all their fun RC products.

Have a terrific weekend!

Remembering when, with family

Sun sets on the horizon, and I settle my brain down in the home that I was raised, with my babes sleeping soundly in the next room.  It's a comforting feeling being back in the home that I spent so much time in and grew up in.  It fits like a well worn slipper, with all the grooves marked out inside for your individual toes.  The stairs creak in the same spots that they used to, and I instinctively avoid the areas that I know cause the most noise.  I could climb those stairs in my sleep.  Oh, the memories built around a simple set of plain oak wood stairs.  First days of high school, coming home from long work shifts, university, dates, weddings, pregnancy and carrying new born babes in arms...if those stairs could talk...They could tell a lot of stories. And, we make new ones everyday.

Quickie Friday Photo Post {GIVEAWAY}

The kiddos are all sleeping which is a rare occasion in this house, so this will be a quicky.  Yesterday was one of 'those' days.  You know the ones? When you're still nuking your 1 o'clock coffee at 4 o'clock, wondering why on earth they ever made sleepers with buttons (they should only be made with zippers),  all you would like is just a 5 minute nap on the couch, when you don't want to see another poopy diaper or clean the disaster of toys one more time.  Honestly, sometimes it's easy to say that the sight of those sweet faces just melt your heart, make everything worth it ect, but yesterday was not that day.  Sometimes all you want is to see a new face, or no faces at all, and perhaps just a sunset, book and beach.

Transformation: From drab to fab

A little while ago I was asked to come take a look at the facility for one of our local churches.  The Barrie Gospel Hall is currently temporarily renting a facility, and it needed a little help to soften the look of the space.  As you can see below, the back wall of the facility is a harsh looking metal wall with brown studs with a garage and exit door.  Needless to say, it is a bit of an eye sore when you walk into the building, so they decided that draping may be a good option for sprucing up the space.

Thanks to my 10 years of event decor experience and the knowledge of some handy men, we were able to quickly devise a plan as

Garlic Kale Chips {RC Helicopter GIVEAWAY}

As fall is closing in and the threat of the flu looms around the corner, it's time to start laying on the garlic. Heavy.  Any of you who know me well, know that I will avoid the flu like the plague.  I may very well see someone who has had the flu, scream with hands waiving and run in the opposite direction.  Okay, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration  but I dislike the flu, very much.  Lets just say if there was a Facebook flu page, I would not 'like' it...okay that was a bit corny.  I digress. Moving on.  All that to say that I am a terrible wimp when I get the flu, and when it hits our house, all five of us end up with it, and it's not pretty.  So this year, i'm laying on the garlic in any way possible (sorry to all my close friends).  Yesterday, Levi and I tried some garlic kale chips.  So here's how it goes:

Garlic Kale Chips

Peel a bunch of garlic- the number depending on how paranoid you are of getting the flu, and how much you like garlic!

Throw some olive oil in a large bowl and crush in all your garlic.

Have the cutest little boy in the world wisk the olive oil and crushed garlic together (yes, you can borrow him, so long as you don't have the flu).

Wash and thoroughly dry your kale leaves.

Tear the kale leaves off of the stem and throw them in your garlic/olive oil mixture.  Avoid putting in the stem, it's a little too chewy. Unless of course you would like to gnaw on your chips rather then crunch them.

Get friendly with your kale and get your hands in there and give it a massage with the oil.

Spread it out evenly on lined cookie sheets.

I sprinkled it with some extra garlic powder.

Bake in oven at 300 for about 15 mins.  Keep a close eye on it, so that it doesn't burn.

And, Voila! Kale chips.  Tasty snack to enjoy during a movie instead of potato chips.  Though I do also enjoy a good potato chip, I prefer not getting the flu much more!

*********************************************************************************

And on a completely separate note, some folks over at XenonProject.com are offering my readers a free RC helicopter.  This is sure to promise a fun afternoon with or without kids! Check out the various styles that they offer below.

Contest Rules:

Open to Canadian and U.S residents. Winner will be chosen at random.  Contest closes October 12, 2012.

To enter: 

1. Leave a comment below choosing your favorite helicopter. - 1 entry

2. 'Like' Junebugs fashions on Facebook - 1 entry

3. Become a follower of the Junebugs blog.- 1 entry

Have a super weekend!