Puyallup Farmer's Market

Peonies are abundant right now, so beautiful!

Market Banners & Fish Sculptures at one end of the Puyallup Market

The farmer's markets are back around here & yesterday we spent a lovely day at the Puyallup Farmer's Market, the first one I've been to this year & one of the biggest in the area...

Street Musician

Filled with music: A local farmer, selling flowers & regaling us with this interesting, traditional musical instrument an erhu. There are two strings, the bow actually rests between & behind the strings...

The ever elusive sasquatch...

Pretty jewelry & the stuff to make your own (love those aquamarine crystals)...

Fun handmade goods: Trios of wood cut woodpeckers...

Funny Aprons: I'm not an apron person, but maybe an "Ape-Ron..." Who couldn't use more sock monkeys in their life?

Local Baked Goods: Yum!

Local Produce: It is a farmer's market, after all & what's fresher than locally grown produce?

Fuschias: A Northwest Garden Staple

Plants (& flying creatures)...

Beautiful bouquets & the components for making your own

Even the lovely plants in the park: Rhododendrons, another Northwest gardening staple

Are the Farmer's Markets popping up in your area? What kind of local goodness are you seeing there?

*All photos the property of Shelley McElhiney, all rights reserved. Please share only with credit. Please contact for any other usage.

Storytelling Saturday: Objects that Tell a Tale

I found these awhile back, at Sanford & Sons Antiques, in downtown Tacoma & I thought they were so beautiful, with their vintage/antique style & patina, that I had to get them. To me, they tell a beautiful, mysterious tale of the past: of historical style & fashion, of creativity & vintage industry, of social conventions & societal norms. I love the beautiful details of such utilitarian objects. I wish I knew more of their story: who used them? What did they make? What were they like & how did they come to use such beautiful objects?

Beautiful tools, from different eras

The condition is not perfect, particularly on the bakelite pair, but the beauty shines through

Most of the gold leaf is missing & there is rust, not sure whether or not I want to do anything to these, though

Aren't the details on these beautiful? 

Even the backs are lovely

Can't you just picture the seamstresses that used these, their clothes, their hair & shoes? Maybe they clipped a stray thread or two as they headed the door or maybe they sat by a window, sewing their wedding trousseau ...

How about you? Have you stumbled across any interesting old objects, just brimming with a story or two?

Sweater Hacking & Other Nonsense

So, among other things, I have been busy sweater hacking & I thought I'd show you some of the little hackings that resulted:

Primitive embroidered felt beads :) I love how these came out, but I may use a different type of glue next time...

Felted embroidered elbow patches in my "Love" design

Felted gloves with a great vintage, thrift store lace find & stitches in embroidery  thread

Spool doll with more vintage thrift store trim & a late 60's to70's wood macrame bead. I added a bit of red check trim to her scarf, not shown here. The spool was from a spool of wire, rather than thread. I like the results & she sure is cute, but I'm not sure that spool dolls are my thing...

Felt beads

So here are a few of the things that I've made with my little felted sweater, that started out as a vintage 80's polo sweater, that I walked away from several times (even though it was less than $3 US) before finally purchasing in a little German (Kaiserslautern, I think) walkplatz men's boutique, many years ago. It had a great run, in its original form, but eventually became unwearable. I think this is the beginning of entirely different lives for this sweet sweater.
Have you tried felting? What have you created? How have you repurposed beloved old things, breathing new life into something that most would discard?

*PS the beads & the elbow patches will be soon available in samsstuff Etsy. Gloves will also be available, in different colors. SAM

Free Stuff, Sort of...

"Night" cuff by samsstuff 

Today, I thought I'd talk about free stuff & who doesn't love free stuff, right? This post is a little different, though than the giveaway posts that I've done recently. Those were about entering/ putting together giveaways, for those who like to win fun, new stuff & those that want to promote the new stuff that they make, services they offer or the stuff that others make. This is about trading stuff, as a way to try out new products, experimenting with new product lines, advertising what you make & as a way to get new stuff that others make, are trying out as new product lines & advertising, so it's a win, win situation, without the stress of wondering whether or not you'll win some contest, out of the hundreds that have entered. The catch, of course, is that you must trade something to get something, so it's not truly free. Why do it, then?

Well, first it's a great way to get feedback on that new item/product line you're making, a way to gauge the reactions of the public, before actually listing. Second, it helps you get the word out about your product. You trade it to someone who can actually see, touch & use your items, not just look at them on a computer screen or worse, on a tiny phone screen. They can tell you about their experience & they can tell others that they know, helping you get the word out! You can tell whether your line will work or not. If there are any flaws, you have a chance to fix them, before releasing your products to the public.

You get to help out others, who are trying out their products & working on improvement or gauging public reaction. And the best part: it's fun to get things, it's like your birthday or Christmas, you get little surprises in the mail :) You never know exactly what you might find!

So, how do you get started? You can sometimes find blogs organizing trades. You can start a blog trade, yourself or you can check out some of the sites out there. One of the biggest is Swap Bot where you can sign up for all kinds of swaps & groups (not all craft related, so if you just want to trade quotes or postcards, for fun, you can do that too) or you can put together a swap of your own, which could be a good way to get some 'link love?'  I've been in about 10 swaps now & I think I've learned a lot, about my items, the items that others are making, plus of course, it's been fun. Maybe I'll start a swap of my own, I haven't tried that yet...

Here's my newest creation,  made for the Twinkle, Twinkle jewelry swap on Swap Bot. It's hand crocheted & hand embroidered. The removable moon button is by sharkskeepmoving on Etsy. The thread I used is hand spun thread by Dragonflylotus Designs (my winnings from a Unanimous Craft giveaway). Also included: a milky glass star, silver plated stars & an abalone shell star button

I've been making a bunch of cuffs lately. This one takes those a bit further, adding embellishments & embroidery, like the headbands I have been making. I wanted to try something new & was inspired by the twinkle/star theme of the swap.

This shows the mismatched two button closure

Try it! It could be fun & it's a great way to learn something at the same time :)  SAM