...in an etsy treasury

Hey! Jennifer Judd-McGee featured my finger puppets in an etsy treasury. This helps me have better feelings towards etsy, which I adore, but get **etsy frustration** with because I cannot get people to find my store. Hopefully this will help. Thanks Jen!

Other warm etsy feelings: thanks to the kind etsy folks who replied to a forum thread I posted there, I have found something very covetted (by me anyway) I've been looking for forever on ebay... all will be told if I win the auction.

Another Fairy Picture and Upcoming Show

This little lady has already been sold. Everyone at Directions Fine Craft Show seemed to go right to her and pick her up. Her hair is handdyed yarn from String Theory Yarn in Blue Hill, Maine and the bead she's holding is from my friend Ginger Manna's art, craft & bead store , Bella Colore, Water Street in Blue Hill. Ginger's store is awesome, stop by if you are local!

My next gig: Saturday, August 23 Designing Women Show & Sale
Atlantic Oakes Conference Center, Bar Harbor, Maine. 9am – 4pm.

These are the wonderful artists that will be showing there:
Suzanne Anderson
Jo Diggs
Lisa Eaton
Patricia Eastman
Sister Bette Edl
Kendra Haskell
Susan Hellier
Mary Ann Ingalls
Annette Kearney
Jen Kovach
Bev Lamoureux
Woodhouse/Katy Lane
Pam LeBlanc
Ginger Manna
Dinae Manzi
Wendilee Heath O'Brien
Linda Perrin
Sandy Spiller
Judy Tripp
Sue Watson
Lynn Winters
Stephanie Crossman
Karen Turdo
Melissa Mattes
Linden O'Ryan
Christina Heiniger
Martha Whitener

New Look

I finally updated to the new way to edit on Blogger, using layout instead of the template. I'm not sure it's an improvement, and I did lose a lot of links and buttons that I'm having trouble recreating. But the upside is I could mess with the colors and add a picture by my title. Hopefully it will work out for a better blog. Happy blogging everyone... I'll keep working on this ditty to get it looking the best it can.

Technorati profile

I'm claiming my blog on technorati, which should help more people find me. You can see my technorati profile here: Technorati Profile

New pix

I just got back a bunch of delightful pictures from my photographer of my fairy & gnome finger puppets that I set up with some props I brought from around my house. These are eventually going to be a line of postcards for sale. I'll post afew of these cool pix now and again in the next few weeks ( so check back). Here are couple to start off...

This sweet fairy hanging out on my grandma's pincushion is holding a tiny Russian doll. Her hair is done up Princess Leia style, in two coiled buns on either side of her head. I used String Theory's handdyed yarn for her hair. Everything about her is SPUNKY.


These little guys hiding in my marker container are actually gnome finger puppets, not my studio assistants, as my boyfriend tries to insinuate. Whenever I ask them to help out in the studio, they stare at me in stoney silence. I think they're more interested in playing. Dressed in a real acorn caps and orange-ish colored shirts.

If you've fallen in love with either of these, they can be found at my etsy shop.

If you're in my area, please come visit with me at the Open Studio my boyfriend Phil Frey & I are having at his Studio in Sullivan, Maine-- Saturday August 16th, 11am-3pm.

Yipee & Yikes

The Directions Show was fun, well-attended and a great show for me. My boyfriend and I managed to get me set up just before a heavy downpour on Friday. The show was busy right away at 5pm on Friday, and then steady sales thoughout. I was pleased to sell a variety of things... my fairies, cards and felt wallets were particular hits. The little fish wallets like the one at left are now all gone. At one point I heard someone in my booth saying, "This is a busy little booth!" to their friends.

A few quirks of the weekend: the show was held at MDI High School, my alma mater (is that two t's or one?). So I was singing "Memories, light the corners of my mind..." during set-up. Same gym I graduated in was where I spent the weekend talking to customers and seeing familair and new faces. Martha Stewart, who has a summer home nearby, attended the show. Of course I missed seeing her walk past, as I was busy checking people out, and had to be told about it by the vendors around me later. Sunday there was very dramatic weather: heavy downpours and thunder showers in the afternoon which caused lights to flicker and brownout at one point, but fortunately no electricity loss. However, by the time 5pm breakdown rolled around, the sun was shining and I was relieved to be breathing "non-gym" air.

All-in-all a very successful and enjoyable weekend.

Next up: August 16th, Open Studio with Philip Frey (my sweetheart),Cedar Lane, Sullivan, Maine. 11am - 3pm. Info 422.2008 Featuring acclaimed Maine landscapes in acrylic by Philip Frey and new works on paper by yours truly Christina Heiniger.

Yet Another Show

It's that time of year where I do a show almost every weekend. This one coming up is a very special one: The Maine Crafts Guild Directions Craft Show at the Mount Desert Island High School this coming weekend August 1, 2 & 3 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)

I'm so pleased to be involved in the Directions Show. I've been going to the show as a customer since I was in High School (I was a craft geek at that age-- always a trendsetter). I always considered Directions the Gold Standard of Craft Shows around here, and never would have dreamed as a High School kid that I would some day be selling my work there. So I'm very honored to be there for the second year.

This is the official info:
33rd Annual Directions Fine Crafts Show, Mount Desert Island High School, Route 233 (Eagle Lake Road), 5 miles from Bar Harbor. Friday Evening Aug. 1st 5-9pm, Saturday & Sunday Aug. 2 & 3 10am - 5pm. Meet Maine's finest professional craft designers and artists in this show featuring over 70 artisans and everything from gold jewelry to felted slippers.

Neat Art & Craft Event this Weekend

On July 26th and 27th, I'll be at a neat event with two artist friends. Linden O’Ryan will feature her watercolor paintings and cards, collages and handmade lampshades. & Heather Murray of Bar Harbor will feature her handcrafted contemporary jewelry designs in silver and gold. I'll be there with a huge selection of all my things. The event will be both outdoors under a tent and indoors in The Linden O'Ryan Studio. Visitors will get a peek at a working artist’s studio, refreshments and a chance to speak with and purchase work directly from the artists themselves.

Come see us from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, July 26th and from noon to 4pm on Sunday, July 27th at The Linden O’Ryan Gallery 92 Herrick Road in Southwest Harbor. Turn at the Wendell Gilley Museum and continue for 4/10 of a mile and look for the oval sign. Please call 244-0463 for more information. To preview each artist’s work, visit their websites at: lindenoryan.com, fernhousestudio.com, heathermurray-jeweler.com

It's A Maine Thing

My friend and fellow dreamer-up-of-ideas Leslie Harlowe just emailed me about her blog It's A Maine Thing-- Hezzy's Blog. It's a neat blog about Maine and Maine facts, adventures, cultural events and the like. Leslie also co-owns and operates a really cool place called The Maine Grind, a coffee bar in this rockin' (renovated) old Masonic Hall. We have these things called "Odd Fellows Halls" and "Masonic Halls" in Maine and they are the greatest old buildings. Almost always very big, and built at a time when people were not concerned about high energy prices. They always have lots of charm! I think that a photographer could have a wonderful time going around photographing these old buildings. There's a neat one in Sullivan, Maine, right near my boyfriend's place that's now a gallery/antiques place caled Art & Old Things.

But I digress, do check out Leslie's blog if you're a lover of Maine, arts & culture or sailing. Sure to please.

Another local blog I came upon today is Ken and Linda Perrin's new blog about their Ellsworth business called Atlantic Art Glass. They do fabulous blown glass and their new blog has lots of impressive and fancy content. Very intriguing and fun writing on there, too... go click that link right now and check it out.

Both these blog's are linked to in my sidebar under artsy, craftsy and fun links, so you can always get there from here.

Next Gig

My next upcoming event is my mom's church's fair, The Downeast Fair, celebrating it's 50th year this year! Amazing! I remember going to it as a kid and getting the lemon with a candy stick in it. Just the thought of sucking lemon juice thru a candy straw now makes me shudder! But anyway, I'll be there, with a limited selection of my things--mostly cards, prints and puppets. It's the 50th Annual Downeast Fair at Church of Our Father, Hulls Cove, Maine. Saturday July 19th. Starts at 9am and gets over around 2pm or 3pm.

I've got several new print designs and hopefully I'll have them from my framer in time to sell there. The Owl Acrobatics above is one of them.

New Cards

I have two new card designs for sale. They'll be up on my website very soon, and are already listed on my etsy shoppe.

The Owl and the Pussycat is a fold over card that comes with envelopes. It's been a popular image as a print, so I decided to offer it as a card. Inspired, of course, by the children's story.
The fairy postcard is a standard sized postcard featuring a photo of one of my fairy finger puppets atop a felted mushroom.

You can also purchase these cards very soon at String Theory Yarn in Blue Hill, Maine and The Blossom Studio in Brooklin, Maine.
Hope you like them.

Cool Show Stuff

I'm sick of carrying around my bank-freebie vinyl moneybag at shows. I decided to get myself a cool apron for shows so I can stash my cash in there in style. So off I went to etsy and found this cool little owl number from Boojiboo's etsy shop (Shown on the bottom). Only mine is brown owl fabric not blue, but as it's sold it's no longer there, hence I show you the blue one.

There were lots of cool aprons to choose from, but this one won out because of it's many pockets made especially for craft shows.

But a few other nifty ones were the pink one with the cool flowers (posted in the middle here) and pockets from xoelle's shop and this cool tulle apron with a retro deer (at the top of this post) from flappergirl's shop.

So many aprons, so little disposable income!

String Theory

There's this great yarn shop in Blue Hill Nearby to me called String Theory.
Here's an example of some of their lovely yarn:

Their online store is neat, too. I used some of their hand dyed yarn for hair for my new fairy finger puppets, and they put them in their online gallery of stuff made with their hand dyed yarn. So take a peek... it's got all kinds of neat stuff and there's even a slide show of stuff people have made.

All the Upcoming Gigs

I'm pleased to present my Summer & Fall schedule (thus far) of very high quality, juried venues. It's been a lot of work putting this schedule together. Here it is...

Fern House Studio 2008 Shows
Art, Cards + Puppets by Christina Heiniger
__________________________________
July 26 & 27 Open Studio with Linden O'Ryan
& Heather Murray at Linden O'Ryan Gallery, 92 Herrick Road,
Southwest Harbor, Maine. 10am-4pm Saturday & noon-4pm Sunday.

August 1, 2 & 3 Directions Fine Craft Show (33rd Annual)
Mt. Desert Island High School, Eagle Lake Road, Mt. Desert
Friday 8/1 5 - 9pm, Saturday & Sunday 8/2 & 3 10am - 5pm

August 16 Open Studio with Philip Frey at Philip Frey Studio,
Cedar Lane, Sullivan, Maine. 11am - 3pm Info: 422.2008

August 23 Designing Women Show & Sale, Atlantic Oakes
Conference Center, Bar Harbor, Maine. 9am - 4pm

September 19, 20 & 21 Common Ground Country Fair
(Maine Marketplace Area), Unity, Maine. Gates open at 9am.

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

November 1 Designing Women Show & Sale,
Husson College, Bangor, Maine. 9am - 4pm

November 14 & 15 The Gifted Hand: Fine Art, Craft
& Gift Show, Holiday Inn, 215 High Street, Ellsworth,
Maine. Friday noon - 6pm and Saturday 10am - 4pm.

November 22 The School Around Us Craft Faire,
Kennebunk High School, Kennebunk, Maine.
Saturday, 9am - 4pm.

More to come...

I'm Back

It's been a really long time since I updated my blog, but I'm happy to report I'm back at it! So much has happened. Too much to begin to say, so I'll just let you all know about upcoming shows for now...

I've been collaborating on selling things a lot with artist Linden O'Ryan. We'll be doing an open studio together on July 26 & 27, 2008. The Open Studio with Linden O'Ryan & Heather Murray will take place at Linden O'Ryan Gallery, 92 Herrick Road, Southwest Harbor, Maine. 10am - 4pm Saturday & noon - 4pm Sunday. Info: 244.0463 or www.LindenOryan.com. Featuring paintings, puppets and cards by myself, paintings and lampshades by Linden O'Ryan and jewelry by Heather Murray.

There's some lovely examples of Heather's Jewelry at the top of this post. Hope you can make it!

harmonious fall flowers

harmonious fall flowers
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

Soon to be added to my website and etsy shoppe. Happy Shopping.

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

kiss from above
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

This new card is arriving at my website just in time for Valentine's Day! It was the winner, quite some time ago I admit, of the "choose the next Fern House Studio Card" contest on this very blog. Stop by and check it out...sure to make your sweetie smile!

Crowns for The Sampler

Crowns
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

Marie at The Sampler was kind enough to feature part of my October contribution--these crowns, on her homepage. Go Marie, Go Sampler!

I've made a HUGE 200+ item contribution for November. Still looking out for my October Sampler to arrive-- should happen anytime now.

Coming to a gallery near you: verdant green flowers

verdant green flowers
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

Just finished this piece for the Small Works Show at the Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth-- coming up soon. All my Holiday show info is below--more info to come on the shows page of my website. Check back...

Fern House Studio Holiday Shows

•Small Works Show, Oct. 26th-Dec.1st 2006,
The Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, Me. info: 667.6611

•The Gifted Hand: Fine Art, Craft & Gift Show
(to benefit DTA Center for Learning & Growing)
Saturday Nov. 18th 10am-5pm, Maine Grind Coffee Bar,
Main Street Downtown Ellsworth, Me. info: 667.6783

•The Bayschool Winter Faire, Saturday Dec. 2nd
9am-5pm at the Bay School, Blue Hill, Me. info: 374.2187

Shop online: www.FernHouseStudio.com
• Cards or Puppets at • ShoeGazer (Ellsworth) •
• Island Artisans (Bar Harbor) • Bella Colore (Blue Hill) •
• The Blossom Studio (Brooklin) •

New Card: Peaceful Crane

cranecard
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

This card is the newest to the Fern House Studio card line. Get it on the card page. The cool blues have a nice, wintry feel. Makes a lovely holiday card int he winter season...Christmas, Solstice or New Year.