I Like To Rise When The Sun She's Rising

I just love tree branches against a pretty sky. That’s my walnut tree with some of the chestnut tree behind on the right, both all bare now.

We went to a housewarming at my nephew’s on Saturday and I managed to leave one of my favourite sock needles there. It accidently dropped on the floor and was found after everyone left. Now I have to wait until Christmas to get it back! At least I can use the spare from the matching set to work on either sock. I’m nearly up to the toes on the second pair of Frankensocks for Stargazer. Should be done by tomorrow or so.

My nephew and his lovely wife have a really nice new 2-bedroom condo with lots of room, lovely dark wood floors and a ground-floor patio that segues into common yard so there’s a view of greenery. Even with a migraine (boo!) I enjoyed the party with family and friends. I even had a lovely baby fix when I got to hold both a 15-month-old cutie (who didn’t last long in my arms but wanted to crawl around under the table instead) and a 9-week-old little guy with the loveliest smile. Yes, I adore babies. Doesn’t everyone? I love them best when I can give them back when I (or they) get tired! Babies are such wonderful little bundles of human potential. They grow up all too soon.

Then yesterday, after a quick 10-minute rainstorm, we went over to the craft fair that I helped jury just to check it out. It was very nice with a good mix of items and a lot of purchasing action going on. I chatted with one of the other jurors who had a booth for her silver jewelry and she said that everyone was happy with the fair and most were doing very well. T-Man had a good chat with a woodturner who uses local city tree woods. (Laurel is beautiful wood! Who knew?) And he also got to see the work of a glass beadmaker who’s work I absolutely loved when we were jurying. She strings her flattened oval or rectangular beads with Swarovski crystals and good-quality silver bead caps and findings. I don’t usually like too much of the sparklies but with her more subdued and often matte beads and the silver, they looked perfect. Now I’m wishing I’d gotten her card though if I really need her contact info I can ask the show’s organizer who is an old friend and neighbour. She’s got all the scoop.

Rant alert. Is it just me, or do others have a problem with someone selling a product that is a dead copy of someone else’s work that has already appeared in a how-to book? I can understand being influenced by the author’s work or using some of their ideas and techniques in your own work. We all do that in some way or other because nothing is really totally new and different. I just can’t understand copying stitch for stitch so that it’s so much the author’s style that you can’t tell the difference. Maybe for yourself or a gift but doing it over and over again to sell? Wouldn’t you want to develop your own voice and your own style? Or is it just all about making money by selling to folks who may not have seen the originals? Yes, there was one craftsperson at the fair whom I totally disagreed with because of the knock-off quality of her work. However, I was outvoted by the other two jurors who didn’t think that was a problem. Though they did reject yet another person who also used the same patterns but her workmanship was not as quality. I understand that the originator published his patterns for folks to use. But I don’t think he meant “please copy me exactly and make lots of money using my designs” even if that wasn’t specifically stated. I don’t have the book at hand to check. Regardless of copyright laws or whatever, I think it’s a moral and artistic integrity thing. Or am I just being oversensitive because I really loved the original idea? OK. Rant over.

We took a good look at everything there – but of course we didn’t buy anything! It was good to see handcrafts selling well right now though. Must be a trend to buy local and handmade instead of offshore and cheap – good news in this tough financial climate. Maybe the downturn has some good in it if it makes folks become more aware of where their purchases originated and where their money is going. Not to mention how much stuff one really needs to be happy. Refashioning or repurposing (why does that word crack me up?) is a hot trend as well. However I do think you need to consider if the item you are creating is going to be useful and pleasing over the long term or if you’re just making junk into more junk. Just saying.

Speaking of stuff, I was disappointed to have lost contact with the person who was going to sell me her drum carder. I don’t know what’s up but several emails and a plea to the Canspin Yahoogroup where I first saw the sale message haven’t born fruit. It’s been a week since her last message where she sent me the photo of the carder. Maybe her email went down before she received my reply with my snail address and phone number? I’m holding out hope. I can wait. It’s not like I need the drum carder Right Now. I would love to know what happened anyhow. I’m an understanding sort. It would be better than dead silence and my wondering imagination.