New Shelves!

Shelves by David

Shelves in Use

Another View

I attended the Sewing Expo in Chantilly, Virginia this past week and met my brother for lunch, as he lives nearby. And he brought me some shelves for our booth display!! They work great! The stacked suitcases I’ve been using taking up a lot of room – the shelves are an excellent improvement. Such a blessing to have a wood worker in the family!

Only one market day left for Dan Springs Collection – we’ll be at South of the James on October 20th. Come on out! The Market continues into early December, but we won’t be back til Spring. We will be at Covenant Woods in Mechanicsville for their Friday, November 9th craft show from noon til 7pm.

If you’re in the Richmond area and would like to purchase some of our treasures for the holidays, give me a call or e-mail. Info is on the ‘Contact’ tab.

Last Show of 2011

LMES Snowflake Breakfast

Dan Springs Collection has wrapped up vending for the year – our last outting was the Laurel Meadows Snowflake Breakfast. This is a fun event with lots of families and entertainment to go along with the several breakfast seatings. These performers shown in the photo were taken with our journals and flip dolls!

If you still have holiday shopping to do, and you’d like to include some of our gifts on your list, contact me (see contact tab on blog header) and we’ll make arrangements.

South of the James Market Opens for 2011

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls!

Chloe checks the Fairy Gourd

Bears, Bunnies, Frogs, and Dragons!

The South of the James Market in Forest Hill Park, off 42nd Street, opens tomorrow at 8 am, and Dan Springs Collection will be there!  Join us for fresh produce, fine crafts, food, and fun for all ages. Canines welcome. 

I’ll be at the Market on first and third Saturdays (check the calendar tab on this site for dates) with cloth dolls and fabric creatures.  I’ll have a handcrank sewing machine with and we’ll make child-powered rice bags.  Come on out – looking foward to seeing you!

Beach Work

Snap Bags

Tiny Photo Frames

Market and craft shows are done for 2010, but Dan Springs sewing and experimentation continues.  Most recently at the Beach!  Fun at any time – even the first week of December, when most cottages are shuttered and the shore is deserted.  For good reason – bitter cold winds blow off the waves!  With quilting buddies and our trusty sewing machines we enjoyed the peace and quiet.  And got a lot done!  Shown above are several of the projects I worked on – gold fish, snap purses, and small memory albums!  Detail on each below.

The Gold Fish are from a new book by Brenna Maloney, Socks Appeal.  Quick, easy and fun!  I slipped some shells in a small metal Excedrin box, glued it shut, and stitched it inside the larger fish for a quick rattle. 

The Snap Happy purse is from a pattern by the Stitchin’ Sisters of Wisconsin.  Metal measuring tape is used for the closure!  I plan to use these for Christmas presents – guess what they’ll have inside!

The small albums are just the right size for Christmas tree ornaments – so I’ve made up a bunch with red fabrics and hanging ribbons. The pattern comes from the Quilting Arts Gift issue, Wee Memories by Melanie Testa.  I used what I had on hand, which was canvas for the backing and Wonder Under to fuse fabric over it.  Worked well and was easy to assemble.  Tip I learned from our local quilting store on sewing vinyl: if you don’t have a leather foot for your machine (not something I keep on hand!), put a piece of wax paper over the vinyl before you attempt to stitch over it.  In this case, I used the parchment paper backing from the Wonder Under.  My little Feather Weight stitched over that vinyl like a charm!

Thinking of the Velveteen Rabbit

Rabbit Lineup

Rabbit Gathering

The Richmond/Petersburg area will have two stage interpretations of the Velveteen Rabbit this season – Theatre IV’s The Velveteen Rabbit at the Barksdale Theatre in Willow Lawn from November 26 thru January 9; and Sycamore Rouge’s The Velveteen Rabbit, a Musical Play in Petersburg from December 3 thru 26.

With those upcoming performances as my inspiration, I’ve crafted an original rabbit for your holidays.  See the photo above of my velveteen and corduroy versions.  They’ll be available along with our other Dan Springs Collection treasures at the Laurel Meadow Elementary School Snowflake Breakfast in Mechanicsville December 11th from 8 am until noon.  Or give me a call – see contact tab for information.

2010 Market Season

Minke Bunnies

Awake – Asleep Flip Doll

Gnome!

I’m looking forward to the Strawberry Street Festival in support of Fox Elementary School on May 8th – come out and see the expanded Dan Springs Collection!  I’ve included photos above of a redesigned flip doll, new bunnies, and a gnome!

We’ll be at South of the James Market for the first time this year on Saturday, May 15th.  Hope to see you there!

New Dolls!

New Dolls for Market

South of the James Market opens on May 1st, and Dan Springs Collection will be there!  I’m busy crafting new dolls and treasures galore.  Come out and enjoy!

On the second Saturday of May, we’ll be at the Strawberry Street Festival at Fox Elementary School in the Fan – check the calendar tab for times and links.

Meanwhile, have a wonderful Spring!

Chesterfield Central Library Bazaar

Booth and Books

Christmas Gifts

Dolls, Frogs, and Turtles

The Bazaar at the Central Chesterfield Library was a fun time.  This was the first bazaar the library has hosted. It was a benefit for the  Chesterfield Center for the Arts Foundation and there were 40+ vendors scattered around the well appointed facility.  I made many rice bags with the 1895 children-powered handcrank Singer and enjoyed talking with everyone. 

This was the last event of the year for Dan Springs Collection – watch for us next Spring at South of the James Market!  As other events are scheduled, I’ll post them on the calendar tab of this blog.  Have a good winter!

South of the James, 11/7/09

Set up at South of the James

Bears, Pincushions, Flower bags, Turtles

Yesterday at South of the James got off to a chilly start, but the sun came out bright and warm and the crowd came with it!  As always, I enjoyed visiting with children of all ages.  We went thru a tin of rice for rice bags, talked with regular customers and vendors, and  even sold a respectable number of dolls and gifts. 

I will not be at the market again until the first Saturday in December, if the weather cooperates.  However, I do plan to participate in the Winter Artisan’s Bazaar at the Chesterfield Central Library in Chester on Saturday, December 12th from 10 am – 4 pm.  This will be a benefit for the Chesterfield Center for the Arts Foundation.

Halloween at South of the James!

New Gourd Houses

New Fairies with House

The Next Flight

Dan Springs will be at South of the James for Halloween!  That’s a week from this Saturday (10/24).  And I’ll have a new flight of fairies – this group has fabric skirts and wool hair.  I running out of silk flowers, and decided I like the fabric skirts and ribbon waistbands better anyway – they’re sturdier.  This flight also has loops of gold thread so that they may be hung, just as if they were flying! 

Also have two new gourd houses!  These are probably the last for 2009 as its getting to chilly to work in my unheated gourd studio (also known as the screened porch!)  The tops attach with buttons, and can be easily disassembled for storing away.  Fun to play with, and excellent holiday centerpieces as well.

See you on Halloween!  I’ll be the witch with the stripped stockings!