BILL AND I HAVE RETIRED FROM ART FAIRS!

With 5 granddaughters and one elderly father, we have decided to spend most of our time at play!  We will still sell our work at fine craft shops/galleries, but as most of you know already, one only has so much time!  We want to pull back from work and focus on family.  Its a great pleasure to have this choice!  And, our kids are the best!  We still love and think of you, and hope to hear from you in the future!  If you have a special request, please contact us.  Our lead time is greater, but we are still being very artistic!  Contact us: jamisonbrumm.com, jamisonbrumm@gmail.com.

OUR KY CRAFTS MARKET WILL BE HELD IN LEXINGTON MARCH 3 & 4!!!

The artists and craftsmen of our beautiful state of KY are very excited about the move of our KY Crafted: The Market to Lexington this year!  The Market actually began in Lexington, and then moved to Louisville in the 80's, where I exhibited there after moving to KY from Virginia.  At the time, I was making porcelain jewelry and my husband, Bill, was a silversmith.  We often joined forces to create works with both porcelain and silver.  I remember my first market there!  I was thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful group!  Fran Redmon, director of KY Crafted at the time, came by and admired my blow up manikins dressed up in my own clothes to show off what I made.  I won a booth design award that year and thought Kentucky was surely the best place on earth to be a craftsman!  I was right!  The years passed and in my opinion Kentucky is still the best state in the union to be an artist.  Here is a link to a million or so interesting things about our market: http://migration.kentucky.gov/Newsroom/kyarts/Market12_inNumbers.htm.  Join us there and visit my booth, 156, mention this blog message, and I will reward you with a ring or a small horse pendant!

Holidays are warmer with handcrafted gifts. Sheltowee Coop Store Open 11am to 7pm this week, Tuesday through Friday, December 20-23.

 Our Sheltowee Art Shop resides on the main floor of the beautiful Carnegie Community Arts Center at 107 N Main Street, Somerset.  It is the showplace for the best handcrafted gifts in our area!  This week we are open till 7pm, we creatively gift wrap every package, and visitors get to talk to an artist on site!  Below is a small assortment of mediums and items for sale.  We have hundreds more!  Our motto:  Holidays are warmer with handcrafted gifts!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

Holidays are often crazy, busy times!  I see unhappy people at the grocery store and know everyone does not share my holiday cheer.  I know, the Puritans did not actually treat the Natives with kindness, we still eat the unfortunate turkey, and the world is far from perfect!  That said, this is MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!    Its a time of gratefulness and appreciation with no gift giving and overly traditional expectations!  Nothing but a meal shared with someone you love.  Perfect!  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Here is one very happy person! 

A TOOTHY THANK YOU!

This week, a wonderful team at Dr. Strupp and Dr. Brumm's office made my smile a little brighter.  I wanted to say a big "thank you," so i am taking a toothy approach!  I know, some of these are not exactly like the real things, but I am experimenting with different styles and forms of our enameled parts!  I hope to make the team several different dental accessories--some with cavities as you see here!  They love to laugh and share, so I know these and the others I make will be hits!  Thanks, everyone!  For information on this excellent dental office for crown, bridge and cosmetic dentistry, go to www.strupp.com.

I MADE MY ONE YEAR OLD A VEGGIE GARDEN

My granddaughter is ONE!  I was asked to make a veggie tray for her birthday party of 50 people!  The theme was vintage with little red wagons and sock monkeys.  I felt like the pressure was on--as I am an artist and my daughter-in-love has unbounded faith in me to come up with great stuff!  So, I put together the themes and came up with a road map of vegetable patches, flower gardens and bugs.  With a little help from the computer for the radish bugs, mice and flowers ideas, I took one large tray and made Bill get to chopping!  I divided the tray using tape and long strips of a plastic lettuce-mix container to make a forked road.  I also used strips of large plastic cups and taped them down to create circles for the flower beds.  All the layers were a little bit shorter than the outer edges of the tray.  Then, with Bill's help, filled the rounds and straight rows with veggies, fruits, olives and pickles.  Brocolli florets filled in the spaces in between and hid all the problem areas.  The wagon?  Just a Christmas box cut down with cheap yo-yo wheels attached and then filled with toothpicks.  The veggie tray was a hit, my daughter-in-love still thinks I am an artist genius, and my granddaughter happily ate all the raspberries and hummus dip!

The tray was very large and the materials were very cheap!!!

The taping off of the tray did not take long as I knew my brocolli florets would hide imperfections!

Here is where I brag on MY daughter-in-love's decorations!!!  I think the party was wonderful and beautiful, just as she had envisioned months ago.  Once she had the idea, she began collecting the different items she would need from Amazon!  The Cracker Jack boxes were the favors, she made her own red velvet cupcakes and banners, and our neighbor provided most of the darling sock monkeys from HER grandson's birthday two weeks ago.  The only hitch in the whole party and prep was the smash cake for my granddaughter:  she got a taste of the red and blue icing and burst into tears.  Seems this girl likes raspberries and hummus dip better!!!

MY YOUNGEST BLOG FOLLOWER!

At my art fairs in Kentucky and Indiana, I am totally blown away when a customer as young as Taylor admires my work!  She loved my Lady Fraga section and is wearing a Lady Fraga necklace in the photo.  We found we are both creative spirits who enjoy the arts and leading active lives!  Taylor has become my youngest blog follower.  Besides the arts, she is also active in cheering, gymnastics, acting and biking!  I know that wherever Taylor is, life will be much more interesting!  Thank you, Taylor!

WE DID OUR BEST!!!

Here are Bill and I--ready for the big candy haul out!!!  Its going good so far: Tricky Billy has eaten a lot already, so it must be good!  Happy Halloween, everyone!

A CHEAP TRICK FOR HALLOWEEN DECOR!

As I rarely decorate for Halloween (not since the kids were little!) and I wanted to participate this holiday because we are visiting dad's house in Florida.  I thought of a simple (and cheap and eco-friendly) way to do it!  The dead body outline is black duck tape (to contrast with the paved drive) and the blood is flower petals!  Bill made a great model, didn't he?  Around the house columns I draped yellow CAUTION tape. Upon seeing the results, a nice neighbor rushed over thinking we were in trouble!  Decor in this area may not be needed, as last year we got SO many trick or treaters!  But, they knew how to say "thank you" and were a pleasure!  Bill has loads of candy to give out and we are ready!!!  Happy Halloween, everyone!

This Art Fair began as a TRAIN!!!

The KY Guild of Artists and Craftsmen will hold their 50th anniversary Fall Art Fair this weekend in Berea!  As the third oldest art guild in the nation, and one of its finest, the KY Guild began as a train!!!  The Guild Train was the nation's first Art and Craft train.  Its goals were the same as the KY Guild's is today: bring fine art and craft to America's people, teach the arts to all who are interested, and help artists find economic security with the making and selling of their work.  Dedicated by Gov. Bert Combs and donated by Louisville/ Nashville Railroad, it ran across this state for seven years, back and forth, influencing several hundred thousand children and adults. It would stay in one place for a few days and demonstrate woodworking, weaving or ceramics, show off finished products and literally "find" craftspeople in very rural communities.  This weekend, you can drive a few miles to revisit the same experience.  Take either exit off I75 at Berea and follow the signs to beautiful Indian Fort Theater.  Hope to see you there!  I will have my jewelry and Bill will sell his soy soaps and candles.    

The guild will stage its annual fall craft fair at Indian Fort Theatre, 2047 Big Hill Road (KY 21), on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Many art media will be represented including: painting, wood turning and outdoor furniture, jewelry, pottery, handmade children’s clothing, stone work, photography, clay board etching, metal work, handmade soap and body products, stained glass, dolls and rugs to name a few.
Admission is $5 and free for children under 12. Plenty of free parking is available at Indian Fort Theatre.  For more details, visit www.kyguild.org, call 986-3192 or e-mail info@kyguild.org.