Upcoming Fall Events

Just wanted to let you know that I'll be at...

• The Common Ground Fair this weekend in the Maine Marketplace East Area (don't look for me in the crafts area, you won't find me there...I'll be in the Maine Marketplace East tent which is near the Pine Gate and across from the South Orchard and Gardens).
Common Ground Fair will be happening this coming weekend Friday, Saturday, Sunday September 25th, 26th, 27th in Unity Maine. For info go to www.mofga.org The gates open at 9am all days and vendors usually close at 6pm.

• I'm also pleased to announce that my puppets will be exhibited and sold at The Work of The Hand Show at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. I will be exhibiting my newest and fanciest hand puppets. There is a collectors preview evening on Friday October 9th from 5pm-8pm with an admission of $15. Then the show runs every day October 10 through 18 (Monday through Sunday) 10am-5pm with an admission of $5.00. For more information go to www.cmcanow.org .

I'm also going to be selling my stash beads and stickers and other little things at a Fall bead show I'm organizing with Ginger Manna of Bella Colore. Here is the information:

• Beads and Baubles Downeast Fall Bead Show, Friday October 2, noon-6pm & Saturday October 3, 9am-4pm. At the Holiday Inn, Ellsworth ME
Door prize of over $100 worth of beads. $1 admission, children 12 and under free. For more info call Ginger Manna at 207.469.2860

Other Upcoming Shows:
Mark your calendar now for The Gifted Hand: Fine Art, Craft and Gift Show (4th Annual Show). Friday November 13, 10am-5pm & Saturday November 14, 9am-4pm. Holiday Inn (Tennis Court Area) 215 High Street, Ellsworth. • Birdsacre Benefit • Music by Hawk Henries • Café Area •
$2 admission, children 12 and under free.

Arts Across Ellsworth July

My next upcoming show will be the Arts Across Ellsworth Arts Festival upstairs at the Maine Grind building in Downtown Ellsworth. There will be 17 Artists and Craftspeople at the show. They'll be all kinds of neat things there like handbags, aprons, totes, wooden cutting boards, lamps and lampshades, jewelry, watercolors, accessories, children's goods, art dolls, lampwork glass, beads and more.

Please join us for this fabulous show! Details are below.

July 24 + 25
Arts Across Ellsworth Arts Festival
Arts + Crafts Show + Sale
Fri. 10am – 6pm; Sat. 10am – 4pm
Maine Grind Building (upstairs)
192 Main Street
Downtown Ellsworth

Creature Feature II: The Sequel

As I write this, it's a glorious Spring day. Yay! Go Spring!

As you may know, I am always looking for ways as an artist to contribute to my Community through the Arts. My latest project is a fun art show called Creature Feature II. Artists Sarah Brandon, Linden O'Ryan and myself are currently showing 10-12 animal paintings each in The Grand Theatre Lobby in Downtown Ellsworth. At the end of the month, we'll be selling these Awesome paintings for a very affordable $75-$50 each in a special sale. We'll be donating 10% of our art sale proceeds to The Grand Theatre. Here are the details — please join us and support The GRAND...
Creature Feature II
Special Art Show + Sale
Friday May 29th, 4pm-7pm +
Saturday May 30th, 10am-4pm
Grand Theatre Lobby
Downtown Ellsworth, Maine

Show currently on view during Grand lobby hours, 10am-4pm M-F + 1 hour before the events.

I'm debuting a few really cool new Fern House Studio items during the sale:
- New Fern House Studio STICKERS! Yes! STICKERS!
- 2 New Fern House Studio card designs: "Munch! (rabbit)" and "Flower Garden." You can also get these here on my website Fern House Studio Website
- NEW PUPPET SHADOWBOXES. The Peacock Shadowbox is pictured above. These are ultra fun wall pieces featuring my finger puppets. Currently on view in The GRAND Theatre ticket kiosk. Check them out!

If you can't make the Creature Feature Sale, or want to reserve your favorite piece before the sale, you can see and purchase Creature Feature paintings at my website www.fernhousestudio.com

Websites + Contact Information of Participating Artists:
Sarah Brandon - www.sarahbrandonart.com - 546.2998
Christina Heiniger - www.fernhousestudio.com - 664.2404
Linden O’Ryan - www.lindenoryan.com - 244.0463

Hope to see you there!

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.

The Gifted Hand...

Hi All... One of the hats I wear is the show organizer for a great November art & craft show here in the Ellsworth area called The Gifted Hand. This year the show is expanding-- two days, over 50 artist and a new location. Also...we have a website www.GiftedhandShow.com. I'm so excited! My fab web designer Ruth of Studio 3K9 just finished it. It's got all the basic info, and I will be posting now and again at this blog about all the cool things that will happen at the show. Part of what I'm trying to do with this show is support and promote the creative economy in my community. To that end, every year an arts-related non-profit is picked to benefit from a portion of the admission proceeds and from a silent auction at the show. This year's nonprofit is The Grand Theatre of Ellsworth, a wonderful art deco era theatre and arts center for the region. More info to come, and do check out The Gifted Hand Site!

...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.