Frights in the Night

Happy Halloween!

Looking forward to seeing all the little gremlins, witches, zombies - oh, and princesses too tonight.  Not quite as enthused by the teenagers in jeans and hoodies holding plastic grocery sacks.  Costumes, people!  It's not fun if you don't play along . .

Our house has only a couple of sorta lame carved pumpkins on the porch this time.  No twinkie lights or spooky music.  Everything is packed up in a box somewhere under piles of dust.  It's a kitchen remodel project.  Argh.

We picked the worst time ever to do this.  It's everyone's busiest time for everything, and yet we've added on the frustration of camping out in the dining room out of a box and a microwave.  Loud hammering, sawing and plastic sheeting fills my days - where I'm stressfully trying to pack for a million shows, write the winter holiday newsletter, do all the website updates, send out piles of orders. . . It's a blur of activity.  And way too many decisions to make every minute.  I'll be the fried-out zombie way past Halloween.

I'll be so glad when it's all over by Christmas.  This season especially, I'll be incredibly grateful for the silence of January.

TWO shows this week!

Vasa Park

This is a blended craft show, with tons of fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving gift items, decor and crafts. I'll have my table full of all the fall seasonal soaps and products, lots of gifty stuff too.  This show runs Thurs thru Sat this week.

Dates:  Oct 17 - 19
Hours:  Thurs and Fri 10am - 70m, Sat 10am - 5pm
Location:  Vasa Park Ballroom
3560 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE, Bellevue


Best of the Northwest

Our fall show is actually split into 2 shows.  First, we got out of our contract with the cruise ship terminal, which nobody liked much.  Then we were able to move the show back to Hangar 30 at Magnuson Park, where we were for years, before they closed to building to renovate.

We had so many artists signed up to do the fall show in that much larger space, so we had to split them into two groups to fit into the newly renovated hangar.  I'll be in the early bird group this weekend - the October show.

There are new board of directors members, new event manager, new staff, tons of enthusiasm and we're all really excited to be back and better than ever.  Details below.  One admission gets you into both shows - so put them both in your calendar!  Free parking.  Easy to find.  Yippee!

Best of the Northwest Fall 2013

We are returning to Hangar 30 at Seattle's Magnuson Park to celebrate our 25th Annual Fall Show in two acts. Come meet a different cast of 100 artists on each date. Find locally made art and fine craft to enrich your life while enjoying live music and good food. 

October 18-20 and November 8-10

Attend both shows to see all your favorite artists as well as all the great new ones.
Hours: Friday and Saturday 10am to 6pm; Sunday 10am to 5pm

One ticket gets you into both shows: Tickets are $5 online, $6 at the door; $8 online special admits two
(Your October ticket also gets you into the November show) 
Accompanied children 12 and under are free.

Parking is FREE!

Happy Birthday Gandhi

Today is the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or Mahatma Gandhi.  "Mahatma" means honored, venerable, or high-souled in Sanskrit.  Through his life's work of non-violent resistance, and promotion of pluralism and justice, he has become one of the worlds greatest spiritual teachers.  He was the inspiration for the civil rights work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, much of the work of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and much more.

So today -- International Day of Non-Violence -- we celebrate him, his work, and some of his most magnificent words of wisdom. His quotes have gotten me through some dark moments and I go back to them often.

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever."

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by how its animals are treated."

"You must not lose faith in humanity.  Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.  Think of it -- always."

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

"It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."

Happy Birthday Bapu!

This Weekend - Salmon Days

Flip your calendars to a new month.  It's October!  And that means that this coming weekend is Salmon Days in Issaquah.  It's a huge show and a huge blast - with so much to do and see.

The 2013 Salmon Days theme is "Streaming Live."  Join us October 5-6th for Issaquah's family oriented festival celebrating the return of the spawning salmon to our lakes, creeks and historic downtown hatchery.  Rain or shine, come enjoy Foods of the World, hundreds of arts and crafts vendors, inflatables, pony rides, an extreme air show demonstration, human hamster balls, and lots of live music.  Last year we went back to our Western roots with Thrills & Gills - in 2013 we're looking to the future with Streaming Live.

The Salmon Days Festival is an internationally recognized and award winning event which draws more than 150,000 people annually to our great town.  A bike race, a 5k run, the salmon barbeque - so much going on at once.  Check the website for more info.

October 5 - 6, 2013
Saturday and Sunday 10am-6pm
Free Admission

Soapworks Studio Booth Location:  same as always!  #318 on Sunset Way, right at the entrance to the Fish Hatchery

Fingers crossed that the weather is waaaay better than this last weekend, or the soap will float away.  We look forward to seeing you there!