Studio Clean-out Sale Coming Up!

Join us for our 4th Annual studio clean-out sale of fine crafts by local artisans at deep discounts (up to 75% off).

We have an awesome NEW LOCATION: Gallery Grand, 169 Main Street, Downtown Ellsworth (between The Grand Theatre and Sugar & Spice Bakeshop).
Days and Times:
Friday February 4th, 3-8pm.
Saturday February 5th, 10am-4pm.
Featuring Work by Linden O'Ryan, Christina Heiniger, Heather Murray, Beverly Lamoureux, Jennifer Miller and Jodi Clayton.
Snowdate: Sunday February 6th, noon-5pm & Monday February 7th, 11am-5pm (same location). Please call Christina Heiniger at 664-2404 for more information.

My shadowboxes, like the one above, will be 50% off. Also great discounts on my cards, puppets and paintings.

2010 Gifted Hand Show this weekend

Please join us for the 2010 Gifted Hand Show this weekend, Nov. 12 & 13. Friday Show hours are 11am -7pm and Saturday hours are 9am-4pm. The Show is held at the Ramada Inn on 215 High Street in Ellsworth. The Show features 60 artisans and Cleonice Bistro will offer light meals for sale. More info at the Show website: www.giftedhandshow.com

Post Bead Show

Many Thanks to all who attended and those who sold and showed their work and wares at the 2nd Annual Beads + Baubles Downeast Spring Bead Show in Ellsworth this weekend. It was so much fun and a well-attended event. A Fall Bead Show is planned for October. More info TBA at this blog.

The next event I organize will be The Creature Feature III Show, a benefit for The Grand Theatre of Ellsworth. The show will be up for viewing in The Grand Lobby May 1st through May 21st. An Artists' Reception and Sale will be held May 21st 3-7pm.

This annual sale and show features work by 5 nationally known local artists: Rebekah Raye of Blue Hill, Suzan Scribner-Reed of Winterport, Laura Balombini of Blue Hill, Heidi Daub of Blue Hill and yours truly, Christina Heiniger of Lamoine.This is an exceptional opportunity to purchase work by accomplished professional artists at very reasonable prices. 10% of sales will be donated to The Grand Theatre of Ellsworth. Artists will also bring smaller items like digital prints, cards and other items to sell at the sale. Please join us. Work pictured above by Heidi Daub.

Tangle With a Turkey and Other Adventures on a Maine Day Trip

Yesterday morning I headed out for the two and a half hour drive to Lewiston. My only goal was to pick up the puppets I had in The Maine Craft Association's Biennial Show. Little did I know the adventures and misadventures that would fill my day.

Despite the driving rain and high winds, I made it to Lewiston without any trouble. Turning into the road that leads to USM, I noticed rte. 9 went to Lisbon and Topsham. So after picking up my puppets, I headed down rte. 9 on a whim, figuring I'd stop at Target in Topsham and get some shopping done. (Target, why do I love thee so? Let me count the reasons. 1. Your Iams dog treats are way cheaper than Hannaford's. 2. You aren't quite as evil as Wal-Mart. 3. I can find Stylin' clothes on your sale racks...)

The drive through Lisbon (the birthplace of Moxie Soda--it's a Maine thing!) was quite lovely and truly a Maine experience: everything from green parks to old empty mills to trailers to gentrified ranch homes; antique dealers next to self storage units. Lisbon has a kind of retro feel. Main Street looks like it hasn't changed much since 1965. It's REAL and not all spiffed up and fancy. I liked it! Enroute I decided I might as well go to Freeport and stop at arguably the best bead store in Maine, The Beadin' Path. So after a quick spin through Target, I hopped back onto 295 and was soon picking out lovely beads at The Beadin' Path to resell at The April Bead Show I organize in Ellsworth (the lucite beech leaf beads above are going to offered for sale at the Ellsworth Show). Beadin' Path has a great selection of vintage and contemporary lucite beads and also beautiful Czech glass beads. Also stopped in at the hip Horny Toad outlet on Bow Street.

For the long trip home I decided to take 95 to Augusta, then rte. 3 to Belfast. Just outside of Belfast, while listening carefully to a story about the new iPad on NPR, I suddenly noticed a HUGE wild turkey out of the corner of my eye. It was fluttering rapidly towards me, perhaps flustered by the heavy wind and rain. In a flash it smashed its 50 to 60 pound body into my driver's side, sheering my rearview mirror right off. With my rearview now hanging by two skinny electrical cords and a pounding heart I drove into Belfast. Amazingly, the rearview was the only thing damaged. I survived the incident shaken, but unscathed. The turkey, I fear, wasn't in very good shape. Having stopped in Belfast, I figured I might as well stop into the retro-chic store Yo Mama's Home, where I hopefully didn't bore the salesperson too badly with my woeful turkey tale. Feeling grateful to be alive and unhurt, I pulled my smashed rearview into my car and headed out, through the ongoing wind and rain for HOME, always the best place ever after adventures big and small.

Give Away & More

• First of all, thanks so much for all of you who turned out for The Gifted Hand Show that I organize. It was a great success! Over 1000 people attended the show, and we raised about $2,000 for the Grand Theatre in Ellsworth. Rock On! Save the date for next year's Gifted Hand Show November 13 + 14, 2009 in Ellsworth.

• Love those Fern House Studio cards(like the one pictured above)? Well, you have a chance to get some FREE. Kristen Andresen, The Bangor Daily News' ShopGirl, is giving away a sample pack of Fern House Studio cards at her fun blog. You can enter to win here.

• I'll be the visiting artist for December at Seven Arts Gallery in Downtown Ellsworth (192 Main Street, in the Maine Grind Building). Featuring a special line of Fern House Studio limited edition fairy finger puppets incorporating fiber artist Julie Havener's hand dyed and handspun yarn for the hair, plus other Fern House Studio goodies... like cards, my felted ornaments and prints. SevenArts cordially invites you to their **Holiday Saturday on December 20th**, there will be an all day open house that day, 10:00am - 5:00pm
and I'll be there for the Visiting Artist's Reception 5 - 7:00pm

• You can sometimes find me at Ingrid's Holiday Market this time of year, Saturdays 9am-noon Buck Street, Downtown Bangor (Behind the Bangor Auditorium, across from Hollywood Slots). For information call Ingrid's German Market at 947.4234

• Looks like my last official show of the season will be December 13 Designing Women Show & Sale, Woodfords Church, Woodford Street, Portland, Maine, 9am - 4pm


Warm Wishes for the Holiday Season!

Success!

Thanks to all who turned out for the Gifted Hand Show this past weekend. It went very well. The artisans involved were fabulous. The space was transformed from dowdy tennis court to gorgeous gallery in the space of a few hours. It was so great to see old friends both selling and buying work, and meet new ones. Over 1000 people attended! Suzanne Nance, the wonderful host of Maine Public Broadcasting's classical music in the morning stepped up and helped so much by doing an interview with me about the show that aired as a Cultural Conversation on Thursday morning during her show. You can listen to it on the archives of MPBN's website. (I hope I don't sound too dorky-- I'm scared to listen to it.) Many thanks to EVERYONE who attended, either as a vendor or a customer. Sorry I have no pictures to post... You may not believe this, but I don't own a digital camera, and even forgot to bring my old "analog" camera.

Save the date for next year: The Gifted Hand, November 13 + 14, 2009!

My next show is already this coming weekend. I'll be at Designing Women Freeport, at The Merriconeag Waldorf School, 57 Desert Rd., Freeport. While in Freeport, I plan to check out The Beadin' Path, a fab bead store that I buy stuff from all the time online, but have never actually stopped into. Can't wait!

I wil leave you with this picture. One of my litle fairies that I make...She seemed to have just dyed her hair in that pot of dye she's stting on. (something I need to do myself!)

Craft Show Countdown

The Gifted Hand Show, which has been my labor of love since February,
is on the homestretch. This weekend it all comes together for 2 days at
The Holiday Inn in Ellsworth. I'm excited and a bit nervous, hoping
everything will go as planned. But after this past week of historic triumphs in our country, I'm feeling very upbeat.

The show has been getting some great press lately. Kimberly Sherman, who writes for the Boston Globe.com's
travel blog, featured it as one of the top 10 craft shows to see in New
England this season. Thanks Kimberly!

Bangor Metro Magazine also pulled it out as a special feature in their November calendar section. I love Bangor Metro magazine-- it's got great arts articles, a
guest photographer each month and other cool stuff. They had
a great article on artist Robert Indiana, of LOVE stamp fame
this month. He lives on an island in Maine. Who knew?! He also did that
cool HOPE graphic for the Obama campaign.

I digress, back to the Gifted Hand Show, I was on WNSX and WERU
this week talking about the show, and The Bar Harbor Times (Bless you
Nan Lincoln!) did a great article on it this week. I hope you'll all
turn out for the show and make my vision & dream a successful
reality for all the vendors and for The Grand Theatre, which benefits
from admission and the silent auction.

Here's the when & where:
Friday November 14th Noon- 6pm
& Saturday November 15th 10am-4pm
The Gifted Hand: Fine Art Craft & Gift Show (3rd annual)
Holiday Inn, 215 High Street, ELLSWORTH

Arts Across Ellsworth

As if I didn't have enough to do, I'm organizing a new arts intiative in Ellsworth Called "Arts Across Ellsworth". We kick off the weekend of November 14 + 15 with lots of fun events to celebrate the arts! Here's the scoop... Join us!

•The Gifted Hand: Fine Art, Craft & Gift Show, Fri. November 14 noon-6pm + Sat. November 15 10am-4pm. 215 High Street, Holiday Inn.

•Comedian Steve Caouette at The Grand, Sat. Nov. 15, 7 pm and 9 pm. Tickets $10. 667.9500
•Terra Cotta 193 Main St.: 20% off on regularly priced merchandise storewide.
•Atlantic Art Glass, 25 Pine St., Ellsworth: Glassblowing Demonstrations, Open Studio + refreshments, Saturday November 15, 10am to 2pm.
•ShoeGazer 2 State St.: 15% off boots Nov. 14 & 15.
•Seaglass Infusion, 56 Franklin St., Open House + 15% off all seaglass jewelry.

In The Maine Grind Building 192 Main St.:
•Nov. 15 Customer Appreciation Day at The Maine Grind, Complimentary Treats + Gift Certificate Drawing.
•Grand Opening Splash at the Harlow Gallery…on Maine & Robin Farrin Photography.
•SevenArts Gallery, "Responses to Maine" Beth Lambert / Landscape Paintings
& Jan Whalen / Handknits Open House, Nov. 14, 5 - 7pm Win a $50 gift certificate, drawing Sat. 5pm

Upcoming Events

Here's some recent things I'm up to... come visit me!

•October 2008 Puppet Making Class, Ellsworth Adult Education. I'll be teaching a 3 week class Tuesdays beginning October 14th. For more information or to sign up contact Ellsworth Adult Ed. at 207.667.6499 or www.ellsworthadulted.org.

•October 25th & 26th 2008 Homecoming Craft Fair & Maine Marketplace, University of Maine Field House, Orono, Maine.
10am-5pm Saturday, 10am- 4pm Sunday.

•November 1 Designing Women Show & Sale, Husson College, Bangor, Maine. 9am – 4pm. www.designingwomen.org

•November 14 & 15 The Gifted Hand: Fine Art, Craft & Gift Show, Ellsworth's premier winter craft show. Over 50 juried artisans and a cafe area. Also features a HUGE silent auction as a benefit for the Grand Theatre. Holiday Inn, 215 High Street, Ellsworth, Maine. Friday noon-6pm and
Saturday 10am – 4pm. www.giftedhandshow.com

More to come or visit the galleries and shows page of my website

New Cards & More Show Info.

Well, it's been a really busy fall so far. I not only survived the Common Ground Fair (my first as a vendor), but I did very well. I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by my booth in the Maine Marketplace East. It was fun meeting new faces and seeing old friends. Please look out for me there again next year.

My *NEW* card designs for winter sold really well there. If you missed the card debut at Common Ground, you can get them at my website fernhousestudio.com. The Peaceable Kingdom Dove design (above) and the Green Solstice Trees were particularly big sellers.

I'm hard at work on the Gifted Hand Show, which I organize and which happens in November (the 14th & 15th). I'm so impressed by the artist line-up! Some of my favorite Maine artisans like Stephanie Sersich of Topsham (internationally known maker of lampwork beads and knotted jewlery), Mia Kanazawa of Harborside (she makes the coolest felt puppets) and artist & illustrator Rebekah Raye of Blue Hill will be there. To see the whole list of over 50 exhibitors vist GiftedHandShow.com. One of Stephanie's amazing necklaces is pictured below. She also has a neat blog called Hearts & Bones full of cool collaborative creations.