Designing Women in Bar Harbor, Maine~ August 8th, 200

What a wonderful drive to Bar Harbor for a craft show!  The Northeast has experienced such a large amount of rain for most of June and July.  So far August has been delightful.  My journey began when I headed up to Edgecomb, ME on Friday night.  I lodged at the home and studion of my very dear friends Andrea and Joe of Cabin Pottery. They are very busy potters in Maine.  If you meet them, you will immediately notice how kind and genuine they are.  They make a great team, Andrea is a true artisit, she can draw, paint, sew, design oh yeah, and throw pots, Joe, the business guy, keeps her on track and creates pottery too. (I will get a few photos of them soon:)

Driving Route 1 North at 4 am toward Bar Harbor is a breeze.  There are no cars on the road.  I enjoyed a goregous sunrise over the ocean.  What a life I have!!  My job is to drive to different places in the country selling products I love.   I arrive in Bar Harbor a little late.  I wanted to keep driving Rt. 1, but in order to get to Bar Harbor,  I need to go straight in Ellsworth on Rt.3.

I arrived at the Atlantic Oakes Conference Center a little frazzled, a little late, but was soon surrounded by helpful artisans who are part of Designing Women.  Designing Women is an organization of women artisans and craftpeople from Maine and NH founded in 1991.  They produce several artisan shows a year with a donation at the door going to a women and or children’s non-profit.

A few of the wonderful women assisted me in unloading my car so I could focus on setting up my booth.

The day was lovely.  Here are a few of the people I came across.

Joelle Webber of Mermaid Bindery is a such a doll.  She creates wonderful journals, books and such.  Last year at a show in Kennebunk, Joelle and I were across from each other discussing the book the Secret and saying how important staying positive and focusing on our work will lead us to success.  I mentioned to Joelle that I was close to reaching my goal for that particular show.  We had only about a half hour left of the show and it was getting very quiet in the aisles.  A man and a woman came into my booth, the man was very interested in my products and how I made then and such.  The woman looked around my booth, but left entering Mermaid Bindery.  As I totalled up the man purchased, I realized he had just about helped me make my goal.  I told him the story about talking with Joelle and such.  Well, wouldn’t you know, he bought a few more things getting into the excitement of the moment and pushed me past my goal!!!!  What a wonderful guy!!!  After he left, I shared the experience with Joelle and she stated that the woman purchased a bunch of journals and such.  She had made her goal as well.  It was such a powerful day for me and terrific that Joelle and I shared it together.   She is a kind heart and lovely woman.

I really enjoy the commraderie of the Designing Woman. Michelle Henning is no exception.I have known her for many years through the shows.  She is a smiling supportive person. Her porcelain jewelry is spectacular.  During this show Michelle and I were talking about how quickly the summer seems to be going by us.  I mentioned that one way the I am able to remain sane in the busy fair season is to take a day off every week and go to the ocean.  Michelle mentioned that she lives only five mintues from the ocean, but has only been there twice.  I asked her why and she said that she had a trying couple firings. (That is when she puts her clay jewelry into the kiln for “curing”.)  She has one “batch” completely fail. She lost about 6 weeks worth of work.  NOW THAT IS STRESSFUL…I understand how that feels. Every now and then, if the weather is off or I am off , I lose a batch of soap.  Not only do you lose the product, but the time and enerfy  put into it oh yeah, and the money.  But despite her challenge of lost product, her booth looked lovely as ever with some colorful and fabulous items.  Seeing her booth always inspires me to continue to critique and improve mine.

This show we had our youngest Designing Woman, Grace.  She created some wonderful items made out of polymer clay.  She also has great rhythm and kept us entertained for the afternoon.

Grace is the daughter of Lisa Eaton creator of Heart and Sew. Lisa has been making ties, bowties and more since 1994.  Her ties are so colorful and beautifully presented in her booth.  She and I had many life discussions throughout the day.  When I asked if I could take her picture for this blog about life of artisans and such, she was most helpful.  As I took a picture, she started with her face down and then looked up with a huge professional smile on her face.  When I asked her why she started looking down then coming up with a smile, she said that she learned that on Channel 6 out of Portland.  I cracked up and agreed with her.  This was the best picture of her for the day thanks to Channel 6.  Try it yourself.  It works.
Next time you are watching your local news, you may notice the newsanchors doing this.  I guess it keeps the look fresh.  Lisa is a refreshing part of the show.  Always ready to lug a box or a table to your booth space when you are running a bit behind.  Being an entreprenuer, I sometimes find it difficult to ask for help or even realize that help is needed. Lisa helped our with her kind soul and quick wit.