Meeting, Greeting, and Eating at The Oyster Festival

The NC Oyster Festival is over, and what a Festival it was!  On Saturday, we had over 45,000 attendees, an all-time record. 

The response to my new Wall Art Collection was  so  gratifying, after all that hard work.  It pulled hundreds of Lovely Folks into the booth.  Can you imagine how that made me feel?? 

I took orders to customize the canvases - lots of people wanted their own Cottage Name on the Canvas...so, lots of work to do this week!

The Sailboat canvases got lots of questions about the coordinates on them...those are the coordinates for Ocean Isle Beach.  I can put the coordinates for anywhere in the world on the image, but thought it was appropriate to mark where the Festival was being held.  One man who came in the booth murmured to his wife, "She probably doesn't know what those numbers mean."  Well, I do.


Many, many customers bought Stationery.  So good to know that people still value the hand-written note!  I sold Tons of Stationery, and took orders for more.  Happy, happy.  Here are a few of the designs:

When the crowds thinned out on Sunday, I took some snaps of my booth with my Iphone - here is the Hand Bound Journal Rack...

The blank Journals attracted lots of attention, but overall, seemed to puzzle most folks.  Don't people Journal anymore??  Maybe they just Blog??  One Lady zoomed in and grabbed up the Coral Bouquet Journal and flipped it open.  She paused, then riffled through the pages.  Turning to me with almost indignant puzzlement, she said, "It's Blank!".  I had that happen more than once.  Tell me, What was THAT all about?

The Festival ran out of Oysters mid-afternoon on Saturday, due to the HUGE turnout!  

Roasting Oysters on Saturday.

Bummer.  But there were more offerings on the table:  sublime Shrimp Gumbo from Causeway Gourmet.   Oyster Stew from The Boundary House.  Shrimp Rolls.  Scallop Rolls.  Shrimp and Grits.  Seafood Platters.  Apple Dumplings and Homemade Ice Cream.  North Carolina Barbeque.  Smoked Turkey Legs.

You haven't seen anything until you've seen a Lean and Mean Southern Boy walk through a crowded Festival, gnawing on a gigantic Turkey Leg.  Makes me grin, every time.  

So it's a wrap.  Now, back to business and to getting my house back in order!  

Order.  Holy Cow, I've got to fill all those orders!!  

October On the North Carolina Coast

Two words for October in Coastal North Carolina.

  Simply 

Beautiful  

The sky turns a gorgeous shade of blue, and the sun slides to a more Southerly position, making the shadows turn to shades of violet and magenta.  Sunsets are almost surreal as they flash orange, pomegranate, and purple lights all over everything...reflecting beautifully off the windows in all the quiet houses.

Lavender Sunsets.  Only in October.

The bees busily gather the last bit of nectar

The pampered Plumeria Tree begins to wind down, producing some of the final buds of the year.  She knows that we will pull her into her cozy Winter Home in the basement soon, and she'll take a long nap.

Fat Roe Mullet get roasted on open fire pits...

Granddaughter Caroline, thinking of the Winter to come, is worried about our solitary squirrel (we still don't know how he got on the island), and has built a Fall feeding station for him, complete with directional arrows:

It is totally appropriate that she has spelled his name "Mr. Scwirl"; after all, she is only 6 years old, and is worried about the "Scwirlliness" of his lonely situation.

Meantime, we are enjoying an October visit from my niece Megan and her husband, Jeremy...who cooked up a fabulous Apple Crisp out of perfectly beautiful Fall Granny Smith Apples last night.  Which disappeared out of the large pan he baked it in within 20 minutes flat.  We thought there would be leftovers!  Didn't count on everyone eyeing that dish and going for seconds...

In between all these adventures,  I am working on my products for the Oyster Festival, which starts next Saturday here on the island and runs for two days.  And my studio doors are open to the Fall breezes... No Air Conditioning necessary now!

October in Coastal North Carolina - gotta love it!

Book Binding, Canvas Making, and Oyster Shucking

I've finally got this thing down.  Do it over and over, work out the kinks, get a recipe.  Go Dancing!

My handy little helper, (remember him?) The Cinch Binding Tool, is chugging along with me - not Dancing With The Stars, but he is keeping up!

I'm diving back into shows...I have a booth on October 1 at Sunset Beach, NC in the Sunset At Sunset Arts & Crafts Festival.  

And then, hang on to your britches, I'm about to send in my very late booth reservation for one of the final available booths at The 31st NC Oyster Festival!

See this Blue Arrow?  It's pointing at Husband's Hands...He WON the Oyster Shucking Contest Last Year!   That's his Special Shucking Glove - an old Penn International Reel Cover.

 Since I have to dance 24-7 to make the hundreds of Books, Journals, and Canvases for the shows, I've re-arranged the work table into stations.  Makes it much faster.  The biggest trick is to stay away from the computer, because the designs are just flowing out of my head now, and I want to get them all recorded.  Can't do that and make stuff too, though.  Balance.  Life is all about Balance.

Figuring out to the 1/16th of an inch where I need to cut and punch has really helped me settle in...once I really am In The Groove, I'll write all this down and do a tutorial.

The re-vamped Coral Bouquet Book, with page separators and tabs.

Close-up of Mr. Blowfish on Canvas and Books.

Now back to work I go!

i'm late, i'm late, for a very important date!