I am back in the home saddle so to speak.   It has been a whirlwind of activity as I prepared for the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival artist booth.   I also had to get the lovely daughter off to college out of state.   All somewhat stressful events.   It all worked out and now I need to get my artwork to the 20/40 art challenge at the Odgepodge Gallery for the annual show.     Of course I really need to take some pictures of the artwork first.   But all in time…   I trust it will all work out as one can only do so much at one time.    For some reason as we head into fall here is Oregon the Art season is heating up.   There are local shows to deliver artwork to,  soon the Art Studio tour for Yamhill and Portland will gear up and then the holidays will be in full gear after that.

I look forward to the calm that comes after the holly-daze when there is (hopefully) time to sit and think and create.    If you are already thinking about the holly-daze, I recommend starting now on the search for the perfect item for the loved one you wish to gift to.   Choose something special and unusual that you cannot find at the mall, those are gifts that can be treasured for their uniqueness.  A great place to find locally handmade is on Etsy.com or at your local art/craft shows.   You can find local shows on Festival.net.   My link is for Oregon but you can specify your state or one you’re traveling to.

If you are looking to make some or all of your gifts this year, there are so many things that everyone would enjoy.    An oldie but really good one is recipe in a jar.   Easy to make and you can do it assembly line and have it done lickety split.   There are all kinds of ideas, like soup mix, brownie mix, cake mix, muffin mix etc.   The jar just holds the dry ingredients and then you affix a label with directions like add a cup of milk and 2 eggs, etc….

Whatever you decide to do please feel free to share it here!