Handmade Happenings - July 10-14, 2013

Just Breath - Art Print Pillow Cover
by Liz Mo's Loft

We have an early edition of the Handmade Happenings this week to let you know about the RAW: Kalidescope show in Raleigh tonight! Check back with us later in the week for an updated listing of weekend handmade arts & crafts events in the Triangle. See you there!

Wednesday, July 10
RAW: Kalidescope - Raleigh
RAW:natural born artists is an independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art.
Where: Lincoln Theater, 126 E. Cabarrus St. Raleigh, NC 27601
When: 8:00 pm - Midnight
Artist to visit: Salvaged Jewelry, Liz Mo's Loft
More info: http://www.rawartists.org/raleigh/kaleidoscope

Saturday, July 13
Crossroads Festival - Wake Forest
This week-long event hosted by Converting Hearts Ministries culminates Saturday with a full day of festivities, including an arts & crafts festival, food truck rodeo, farmers market, petting zoo, charity auction, live music and speakers in the evening. (Visit the website for a complete list of musical performances & speakers through out the week!)
Where: 15029 Creedmoor Road, Wake Forest, NC 27587
When: Arts & Crafts Festival - 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Artists to visit: Alvelo Quilt Art 
More info: http://www.godowntownraleigh.com/firstfriday/index.htm

Waverly Place Farmer's Market - Cary
Featuring NC local fresh from the farm fruits, vegetables, and more, plus the Waverly Artists Group!
Where: In the parking lot off of the Waverly Promenade on the lower level, at the corner of Tryon and Kildaire Farm Roads, Cary, NC
When: 9:00 am - Noon
Artist to visit: Bordeaux Lane Studio
More info: http://waverlycary.com/ai1ec_event/waverly-farmers-market/?instance_id=460


Shop Local Online! Team Member Etsy Shop Sales! 
- Salvaged Jewelry - Free shipping with coupon code - FREE SHIPPING
- Celia Currin Art - New customers save 15% with code: NEWCUSTOMER2013
- Orange Cat Art - 10% off our watercolor blanks & scraps! Great for ACEOs, tags, handmade paper & more! No coupon code needed.

We hope you'll visit our NC Triangle Etsy Team members and say hello.  Check in each week for more handmade arts & crafts festivities throughout the summer! 

(Members, if you have an event or sale coming up, send your information to Orange Cat Art to be included on the calendar!)

Local Featured Seller: Rustic Furnishings

We are Lee and Bev Pennington. Our shop is Rustic Furnishings. Lee is the more talented of the two of us. I do more of the behind the scenes stuff (managing the website, shipping orders, painting when needed). Lee creates our items. I honestly think we can describe him as a "Master Woodworker". He has an amazing gift to see a picture of an item and create it from scratch with a little twist of his own added. We opened our shop on etsy about 11 months ago. We've had a blast communicating with folks from across the country (and even Canada). We have our online business in addition to full-time jobs. Lee is a Medical Laboratory Technologist and I'm an Assistant Principal.

We are located about 45 mins east of Charlotte in Albemarle, NC. Albemarle is known for two things. We have a history of state championships in 1A football and we are the home of Kellie Pickler!

We create rustic home decor items. Our smaller items include replicas of antique candle boxes and our larger items include a distressed two-shelf cabinet with doors. Our most popular item is a three-step, step stool that comes in a variety of colors. We have shipped these from coast to coast.

Our favorite place to visit in the triad (this is a stretch of the triad's boundaries but still close) is Greenville, NC. We have two sons attending ECU. One is a Chemistry major and the other is majoring in Exercise Science while working as a student coach for the Football Team (this opportunity came about after he was injured as a red-shirt freshman on the football team). We also have a daughter in college who decided to stay close to home for the first two years. She attends Rowan-Cabarrus Community College where she is studying Dental Assisting. You can probably see why we needed to supplement the income with three in college!

Lee started creating hand-crafted wood items while still in high school. This early love of wood has only increased over time. He seemed to have a natural talent for creating beautiful items. Some of his early work is just as gorgeous and functional now as it was 35 years ago!

Lee gets his inspiration from a variety of sources. He loves antiques and loves to make new creations looks old. His favorite finish is anything distressed! He will see an antique in a store, at a festival, in a magazine, wherever and be able to create something similiar. Our motivation for doing what we do is for our children. We are working hard to provide for their education.

Lee creates our items in a shop in the backyard. When we moved to Albemarle 9 years ago, the top priority on the house hunting list was an existing shop. We really lucked up to find such a nice area for him to work. I bring the smaller items inside to paint on the dining room table and package for shipping in the living room. There's not a room in the house that isn't somehow associated with the business!

The name "Rustic Furnishings" was the end result of several days of going back and forth between other options when we set up our shop. We thought long and hard about our name depicting what we create. We didn't want it to be our name. We've been there, done that. We had an antique and refinishing shop years ago that had the Pennington name in it. We considered our product and thought that Rustic Furnishings best suited our creations. We don't have fine, upper end furniture. Our furniture items fit the cottage, comfortable feel of a room. We wanted to keep our love of the older pieces that inspire us at the forefront of our mission. Rustic Furnishings seems to best depict what we do!

Our goal is to provide a quality wooden furniture product with friendly customer service. Online shopping can be scary to some folks. You don't know who you're dealing with nor what the finished product will look like. We try to address these concerns through informative descriptions, quality pictures and friendly online interactions. I think our feedback comments are a testament to us reaching these goals in our previous sales. I know this may seem silly but I told my daughter when we opened our shop that it was our goal to have one of her dad's step stools in every home in America! We've got a way to go but each sale gets us that much closer! They're such versatile, functional items, everyone should have one (or in the case of a customer in Florida...three)!

The only place you'll find us on the web is in our etsy shop. My goal is to start blogging and tweeting but I haven't had time to work on these yet. I have a Facebook page started but not ready to roll it out quite yet.

~ Bev Pennington

NCTriangle Team members who would like to be featured on the blog, please contact ShoreDebris.

Handmade Happenings, Sept. 24 & 25, 2011

Time for the Road Trip Edition of the Handmand Happenings! This weekend our member artists are hitting the road for 2 great events.  They are in different directions, but don't let that stop you -  Go west on Saturday to the West End ARTSfest in Winston-Salem, and then head east on Sunday to catch the 2nd day of the International Folk Festival in Fayetteville.  ;)  See you there! 

Saturday, September 24
Historic West End ARTSfest - Winston-Salem 
"Experience the arts amid the artistry of nature." This special event features the work of more than 60 fine artists working in a variety of media. Local musicians perform in the Grace Court gazebo, and children can participate in a special arts and crafts area. Local restaurants provide specialty foods and drink. The event is free. 
Where: Grace Court Park, Glade and W. 4th Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
When: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sellers to look for: OrangeCatArt (booth #4), LORiOLA (booth #33)
More info: http:// www.artsfestwinstonsalem.com 

Saturday & Sunday, September 24 & 25
International Folk Festival - Fayetteville
Fayetteville has a rich and long history of celebrating its multicultural population. Years ago, a group of forward thinking citizens got together to create the International Folk Festival as a celebration of our diversity. Now in its 33rd year, the International Folk Festival has become a weekend-long celebration. Show features live entertainment, authentic cuisine, unique arts and crafts, children’s area and more!
Where: Festival Park, Fayetteville, NC
When: Craft show - 12:00 - 6:00 PM both days
Seller to look for: Shore Debris
More info: www.theartscouncil.com/international-folk-festival.php 

We hope you'll visit our NC Triangle Etsy Team members and say hello.  Check in each week for more handmade arts & crafts festivities throughout the fall!

(Members, if you have an event coming up next weekend, send your information to Orange Cat Art by Wednesday night to get onto next week's calendar!)

Handmade Happenings, August 5-7, 2011

It looks like Emily will be passing us by, but at least the forecast is for cooler temperatures.  Come out and enjoy some local & handmade goodness with us in the Triangle this weekend!

Friday, August 5
First Friday - Raleigh

Join us for a fun-filled introduction to Raleigh's exciting art, music and dining scene.  Enjoy a free self-guided tour of local art galleries, art studios, museums, retail, restaurants and alternative art venues!
Where: Downtown Raleigh
When: 6:oo pm - ??? (times vary by venue)

Sellers to look for: 
* Metamorphosis has an open house at her studio in The Carter Building- 14 Glenwood Ave, Studio #24 from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm.
* OldBroomStreet (aka Bordeaux Lane Studio) and LaTeDaJewels will be at the Morning Times Market on Harget Street (between Fayetteville & Wilmgington Streets.) Local art vendors, live music and more! In front of the Morning Times Coffee Shop and the Raleigh Times Bar from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm.
More info: http://www.godowntownraleigh.com/firstfriday/index.htm

Saturday, August 6
Cary Downtown Farmers Market
The Cary Downtown Farmers Market features only items grown or produced by the vendor within a 100-mile radius of the market.  Let us be your first stop for locally grown vegetables and fruit, pasture-raised meats, eggs, honey, cut flowers, landscape plants, crafts, pottery, jewelry, home-made jams, jellies, sauces and baked goods.
Where: Chatham Square Shopping Center, 744 East Chatham Street, Cary NC
When: 8:00 am - 12:30 pm
Seller to look for: OldBroomStreet
More info: http://caryfarmersmarket.com/

We hope you'll visit our NC Triangle Etsy Team members and say hello. Check in each week for more handmade arts & crafts festivities this summer!

(Members, if you have an event coming up next weekend, send your information to Orange Cat Art by Wednesday night to get onto next week's calendar!)

Handmade Happenings, July 30-31, 2011

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!  This weekend, come out to the Cary Downtown Farmers Market.  Local produce, local handmade art - it's a great way to start your Saturday!

Saturday, July 30
Cary Downtown Farmers Market
The Cary Downtown Farmers Market features only items grown or produced by the vendor within a 100-mile radius of the market.  Let us be your first stop for locally grown vegetables and fruit, pasture-raised meats, eggs, honey, cut flowers, landscape plants, crafts, pottery, jewelry, home-made jams, jellies, sauces and baked goods.
Where: Chatham Square Shopping Center, 744 East Chatham Street, Cary NC
When: 8:00 am - 12:30 pm
Sellers to look for: OldBroomStreet
More info: http://caryfarmersmarket.com/

We hope you'll visit our NC Triangle Etsy Team members and say hello. Check in each week for more handmade arts & crafts festivities this summer!

(Members, if you have an event coming up next weekend, send your information to Orange Cat Art by Wednesday night to get onto next week's calendar!)

Colors & Textures for Your Home Team Treasury

Add some color and creativity to your home with these fun team finds!
This treasury was curated by BohemianEarth.

If you make a team treasury convo Hermosa84 to have it shared on the team blog.

Handmade Happenings - September 24-26, 2010

The Triangle hopping again this weekend with a street festival and an arts & crafts market in Raleigh, and a music festival in Carrboro.  The NC Triangle Team will be well represented with ten of our terrific artists at the Designers Downtown Market on Saturday.  (Maybe more -- I hope I didn't miss anyone! ;)   See you there!

Saturday, September 25
Designers Downtown Market - Raleigh
The "DDM" features fine locally made arts and crafts with an outdoor big city feel.  Our vendors showcase some of the finest handcrafted arts and crafts in the area: jewelry, pottery, apparel, stained glass, paper crafts and more!
Where: 509 N. West Street (Ornamentea parking lot & surrounding area)
When: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sellers to look for: metamorphosis, OhSewCute, SheFeltPink, LindaSearcyJewelry, latedajewels, KaressKrafters, SmuTopia, Liv'nGoodJewelry, PiecefullyHome, SmallBeans
More info: http://www.designersdowntownmarket.com/

Live It Up! on Hillsborough Street - Raleigh
Music, vendors, beer garden, Pig'n'Pie cookoff...  just a few of the attractions at this event to bring NC State students and the neighboring community together for a great day!
Where: Hillsborough Street, between the intersections with Gardner Avenue & Woodburn Road
When: 1:00 pm  - 10:00 pm
Seller to look for: OldBroomStreet
More info: http://hillsboroughstreet.org/event/

Sunday, September 26
Carrboro Music Festival
An amazing day of music, with more than 160 musical acts at 25 venues (indoors & outdoors) all around downtown Carrboro!  Artists & vendors will be in the grassy area in front of Town Hall.
Where: Carrboro (map & schedule)
When: 1:00 - 6:00 (indoor music venues have performances that continue into the evening)
Seller to look for: OldBroomStreet
More info: http://www.carrboromusicfestival.com/


We hope you'll visit our NC Triangle Etsy Team members and say hello.  Check in each week for more handmade arts & crafts festivities throughout the fall!


(Members, if you have an event coming up next weekend, send your information to Orange Cat Art by Wednesday night to get onto next week's calendar!)