It's Spring. It's official.

Ah, spring!  Today, Thursday, March 20th, 2014 is the Spring Equinox or the official first day of spring.  Woo hoo!  

Science speak:  The word equinox is derived from the Latin words meaning "equal night."  Days and nights have approximately equal minutes of daylight and darkness everywhere. The sun rises and sets due east and due west and the tilt of the Earth relative to the Sun is zero.

Short story: Those endless dark nights of winter have shortened up while we were sleeping.  And as we prance through the next few months, the sun raising ever higher from the equator, we here in the northern hemisphere will be adding more minutes to every day, until we are basking in those long sunset evenings of summer.  Those of us living in Seattle can fully treasure this -having the longest days of any place in the whole US.

Right now, this thing called spring is a most welcome change for those of us (everybody!) who have been waiting out what seems like the longest winter in history.  But that's what it feels like every year - that anxious anticipation for the snow to melt, the days to warm up, the trees to bloom and the flowers to blossom.

We can now - officially - get happy with the chicks and the bunnies and the tulips and the daffy-down-dillies.  Hooray!  What are you going to do today to celebrate spring?

Spring Best of the Northwest

The wonderful spring version of the Best of the Northwest show is coming up in a couple of weeks and I wanted to share the dates and details now so that you can plan ahead and save the date.

We have moved permanently back to Hangar 30 at Magnuson Park.  The spring show is a tad smaller than our falls last winter and will be just one single weekend instead of two weekends.  That means there won't be quite as many artists participating in this show and you need to get your buns over there on the two days that it's all goin' on.

"Northwest Art Alliance is presenting the Spring Best of the Northwest Art and Fine Craft Show on March 29th and 30th.  Connect with over 100 established and emerging artists and craftspeople in a venue filled with character. Come celebrate all things handmade, enjoy live music, artist demonstrations, a special appearance and live talk from Ciscoe Morris and purchase items of enduring beauty in the newly remodeled Hangar 30 in Seattle’s Magnuson Park.  Join us for the Northwest’s premiere art and fine craft show.

Tickets at the door are $6.00 per person or can be purchased for $5.00 in advance online.  Check the link for ticket sales at www.nwartalliance.com.  There’s even an online "Bring a Friend” special - $8 admits 2.  Admission is free for children 12 and under and there is plenty of free parking."

Ciscoe Morris  Gardening with Ciscoe 1PM Sunday You won't want to miss Ciscoe's presentation on his "Favorite Spring Plants to Show off your Artwork".  This Pacific Northwest celebrity combines his knowledge of horticulture with a timelesssense of humor. Food, Music and Artist Demonstrations The hangar will be filled with tunes by several groups including the Dixie Kings, Pearl Django Trio, and Nouveau Flamenco.  Bangkok Bistro, Java Jo's and Metropolitan Grill will be serving up their specialties when you need a bite to eat.  For more information on our food vendors, entertainers and artist demos, please see ourEvents Page. BNW Art Basket Giveaway  To make our show even more spectacular, we're giving away a Best of the Northwest Basket of Art at 4 PM Sunday.  This basket will be filled with art purchased from our participating artists, and will be valued at $500.  Best of all, this drawing is free to patrons!  Just fill out a form at the front door to enter.  If you bring a friend, we'll give you a second chance to win.  The more friends you bring, the more chances you will have.

It's just 2 days this time:  Saturday and Sunday only (no Friday), March 29th and 30th.  Hours are Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5.  My booth location is #B8 - which is smack in the center of the first row as you come in the door.  If you want to check out the program in advance and see who is in the show and their locations too, check it out HERE.

There's a few food vendors in the side room area so you can have a little lunch while shopping too.  Sounds like a fun way to spend a day!

Top 'O The Morning

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Just a reminder that today is the last day of the 15% off St Patrick's Day sale.  Anything and everything is 15% off today if you type "IRISH" in the message box in the top right corner.  When you are done piling it all into your shopping cart, the discount will be applied to the entire order at checkout.  Almost like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, eh?

It's only going to work until 10pm tonight, so head over and grab the deal.

Get Lucky. Save some GREEN!

Happy St Patrick's Day!  The most excellent day in March where everyone can be Irish for one day of the year.  We search our closets for bright green clothing items to get all decked out head-to-toe, drink (a wee bit too much) beer, eat corned beef and cabbage (like seriously, this is only a once a year thing) and toast to our collective lucky good fortune to be alive.

Maybe it's the Guinness, but I'm feeling so lucky myself this weekend that I want to share the pot o' gold with you!  I'm offering a "saving o' the green" discount to anything you order online through St Patrick's Day - 15% off your entire order.

Shop from 7am Saturday, March 15th through 10pm Monday, March 17th.  Type "IRISH" in the promo code box - that's the message box in the top right corner which says "Type your comments, discount or coupon code, or gift card message here."  When you click to check out, the 15% off will automatically be deducted from the merchandise total, saving you a chunk of green.  You only need to type the code one time in the first item, not for every item - because who's got the time for that? That's all there is to it. Is that a rainbow?  Why, yes!

Head over and get shopping HERE. Then shake your shamrocks and get your Irish on!  

A river runs through . . .

There's something strange and wonderful that I've noticed repeatedly during the week when I'm just starting to get ready for something big. It's like the very process of getting prepared to go out in the world -- whether it's a show or a seasonal newsletter with website updates -- seems to be like turning on the spigot to the universe. All kinds of other stuff just starts streaming in out of nowhere. Today it was a little flurry of mail orders, more than I've seen in the past two weeks combined.

I could be slightly irritated or anxious about how I'm going to squeeze all that in when I'm already under pressure to get my show ready to set up tomorrow and then work the rest of the week. Or I could be grateful and elated that the river has meandered back in my direction and just go with the flow. I think I'll do the latter. It feels better.

My houseplants make music!

Did you know that plants can learn to make music? This is the coolest thing ever! Researchers have been working with different devices to determine if plants react with their environment.  When they connected a very low level electrical circuit to the plants and then hooked it up to a synthesizer they found that after several weeks the plants went from emitting chaotic noise to learning how to make music and play scales from the feedback they were receiving.

The plants have the most sensitive variations when they signal the arrival of the person who cares for them, when being watered, when spoken to, and during the creation of music.

Totally mind blowing to fully take in the idea that even your house plant has a consciousness and willingness to communicate, learn and express beauty.

Amazing Phenomenon Of Singing Plants - MessageToEagle.com

March Wind

March Wind

March wind is a jolly fellow;
He like to joke and play.
He turns umbrellas inside out
And blows men's hats away.
He calls the pussy willows
And whispers in each ear,
"Wake up you lazy little seeds,
Dont' you know that spring is here?"

Author Unknown

Ellensburg? Moses Lake?

Calling all soap fan-addicts east of the Cascades in the Ellensburg and Moses Lake areas.  I just wanted to let you know that I have added a couple of galleries that carry my products in your 'hood. If you want to stop by an actual storefront shop to pick up my goods rather than order online, here's the scoop.

Last fall, Gallery One in Ellenburg started carrying my goods, and promptly sold out before Christmas.  They are now fully stocked again and we have plans to keep it that way.

Gallery One - Visual Arts Center
408 North Pearl
Ellensburg, WA 98926
(509) 925-2670

And if you are in or around the Moses Lake area, just a couple of weeks ago we joined the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.  Soaps are flying off the shelves over there and we are sending more pronto.  Note: they are only carrying a selection of the full size soap bars at this time, but not the other products.

Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
401 South Balsam Street
Moses Lake, WA  98837
(509) 764-3830


Just like to keep you all "in the know" and up to your ears in suds . . .