A Visit To The Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY

We want to take a moment and thank our wonderful host for allowing us to have our holiday craft fair in their space for the last seven years, The Howland Cultural Center​.

Originally built in 1870 when Joseph Howland commissioned his brother-in-law Richard Morris Hunt to design a home for a subscription library he donated to the state of New York.  It was known as the Howland Library until 1976 when the library moved to it's currently location just a couple of blocks west on Main Street.

The Howland Cultural Center was established to preserve the building (which became a registered historic site in 1973) and to host special performance events, curated art exhibits, as well as public and community meetings.  It is a beautiful building to visit and a real gem on Main Street, Beacon.

Check out the beauty of The Howland during Second Saturday on December 12 and come shop at our 7th Annual Holiday Craft Fair from 10 am to 5 pm!

2015 Holiday Craft Fair Sneak Peek #2 - Beacon, NY

Today we are happy to share with you the second batch of vendors you will find at our Holiday Craft Fair this year.   We will have a nice mix of members of the team as well as other local artisans and makers bringing you a great collection of fun and unique gift ideas for your shopping list.  View our first batch here.

If you are on Facebook and plan on joining us, click here to RSVP!

Harp and Thistle

Huzzah! Handmade

Rockerbox Spice Co.

Omi Silver Jewelry

Kokma Toys

Rhinebeck Arts Festival visit

This weekend I went to the Rhinebeck Arts Festival.  It was a lovely event with beautiful crafts.  It was full of fiber arts, jewelry, and furniture.  Live music added to the creative vibe.  My only complaint is the food, it would be nice for them to get creative food that matches the vibe instead of the county fair usuals of hot dogs and ice cream.   They had several great booths for kids.  We hit the Fiberflame booth, where my son painted a lizard and wove a leash for him.  Fiberflame now has a spot in Rhinebeck in addition to their original space in Saugerties.  It's a great place to take kids to try a craft, but also a great place to learn or demonstrate your own craft.  A bonus to the arts festival was discovering Will Lytle.  He was doing $1 portraits.  I got a family and a single portrait. He was also selling original illustrations that were magnificent for $20.  Another enjoyable part was the Shimbumi Silks demonstration.  I had actually bought a marbling kit previous to this event, so seeing it done by pros inspired me to do my own. I would recommend checking it out next year, it would be nice to see it grow into a bigger event.

Fiberflame's booth

Rows of supplies to make your own creation with the lovely Christina of Fiberflame

My son creating his lizard at Fiberflame's booth

tables of activities-Fiberflame

Original Illustrations by Will Lytle

Will Lytle drawing our $1 portrait

The Shimbumi Silks demonstration

Shimbumi Silks creating the design

Shimbumi Silks pulling the silk scarf out.

A Visit to the Country Living Fair

Textiles and sundry goods

Last month in the beautiful weather,  I took the opportunity to trek up to Rhinebeck N.Y. to check out the Country Living Fair. Sponsored by the very popular Country Living Magazine, this is their second year in Rhinebeck. The fair travels to many other venues, but this one was the closest for me. The three day fair dominated the whole Dutchess County Fairgrounds site. It was huge! I usually attend the NY Sheep and Wool Festival at the fairgrounds, so I was familiar with the location, but I was a bit unprepared for the enormity of it. Most of the buildings that house the animals for the Sheep and Wool, were chock full of vendors this time.




The fair features not only handmade crafts, but also a very sizable collection of vintage goods, so there is a lot to discover for all interests.  As I browsed around, I found some dubious handmade and/or "vintage goods amongst the "real stuff." You really have to be aware of what you're buying and check things out well. Some people didn't seem to care; they just wanted something/anything, to take home from the fair. Many items seemed overpriced and I was pretty taken aback when I saw vintage buttons for $8 and up a piece. Some buttons on cards were as much as $50! Guess I'd better go back through my stash and re-evaluate what I have.

Old mailboxes and curiosities from a Kingston NY store

Vintage "junque"

The main reason for my trip was to visit my friend and fellow HV Etsy teammate, Sue from Digilio Designs. This was Sue's second year at the fair, and it's a real feather in her cap to be chosen again. Sue's work is perfect for this fair, and she was busy and pleased with the pace of business when I found her booth.  The fair lasts for three days, the booth fees are pretty steep, and it gets pretty tiring for the vendors, so I was happy, but not surprised, that she was doing well. I am very biased, but I think Sue had some of the best work there.

Sue Digilio enjoying a quite moment during the busy day.

Some of Digilio Design's handmade soft sculpture dolls

After chatting with Sue, I browsed around for hours, had a bite to eat and headed home. My only purchase was two lovely framed silhouettes of dogs: one of a Mini-schnauzer, and one of a West Highland Terrier from With Heart and Hand, Wendy Schultz Wubbles, Silhouettes and Scherenschnitte.  . The skill involved in her work is amazing, and I love the faux wood grain frames and the hand painted backgrounds in each piece. What can I say, I'm a sucker for my dogs!  Wendy's work makes an attractive addition to my home that brings me pleasure every day, and knowing that Sue was so successful warms my heart.

With Heart and Hand's collection of silhouettes

Just one of a collection of vintage trailers at the entrance to the fair. Fun!

Old trailer with an eclectic assortment for sale

Kathryn - Huzzah! Handmade