Schedule updates

Things change!!!

The "Dog House" craft show scheduled for Thursday, October 12th at North High School in Eau Claire has been CANCELLED!

We just booked the Pumpkin Fest craft show at Bessemer, Michigan for Saturday, October 14th, plus we'll have antiques and more on a consignment auction at Brodhead, Wisconsin.

And we just booked the antique show at Rice Lake Cedar Mall in Rice Lake, Wisconsin for October 21st and 22nd.

Plus, the "Last Minute, Last Chance" craft show at Rice Lake Cedar Mall in Rice Lake, Wisconsin that I thought was going to be on Saturday 12/9 will actually be on Saturday, DECEMBER 16TH!!!

So here is what we have at this point, with more to come:

Saturday, September 30th - crafts at Copper Falls at Mellen, Wisconsin

Sunday, October 1st - crafts at Wisconsin Rapids

Saturday, October 7th - crafts at Stone Lake, Wisconsin Cranberry Festival

Saturday, October 14th - Craft show at Bessemer, Michigan AND
Consignment auction at Brodhead, Wisconsin

Sat & Sun, Oct 21 & 22 - Antique show at Rice Lake (Wisconsin) Cedar Mall

10/28 still open

11/4 - crafts at New Auburn, Wisconsin, and probably either Ashland or Minocqua, Wisconsin as well.

11/11 still open

11/18 hopefully crafts at St. Joe's in Rice Lake, WI, but we haven't heard anything from them yet

11/25 - craft - Homespun Holidays in Winter, Wisconsin, and who knows what else?

12/1,2&3 - crafts at Superior Dome in Marquette, Michigan

12/9 still open

12/16 crafts at Cedar Mall in Rice Lake, WI

And did I mention???? We're buying a seven unit strip mall in Winter!!! More news to come.

See ya, Randy

Is this MOOSE awesome, or what?

Is this MOOSE awesome, or what? The price on this vintage crock with bull moose fall scene is a mere $49.95

Copper Falls State Park

This Saturday (9/30) is free admission at Copper Falls State Park outside Mellen, Wisconsin. This is a fantastic park with waterfalls and walking trails, well worth a visit anytime. On this free day, they also hold and Arts & Crafts show on the grounds near and in the pavillion, which we've done for the past several years. And a huge plus right now -- the fall colors are at a peak, and they are the very best we've seen in 20 years in this area. The color viewing is well worth the drive to Copper Falls from whereever you're at -- and you can buy stuff from us and from other vendors. And don't let the weather reports scare you off, it will be beautiful even with clouds and occasional rain.

Then, on Sunday (10/1) I'll be in downtown Wisconsin Rapids for their Grand Affair Arts & Crafts show. And don't forget the following Saturday we'll be at the Stone Lake Cranberry Festival.

See you at one or more.....

Wind and outdoor craft shows

Wind is not our friend. The weather forecast for yesterday said 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evening. Sooooo.... it logically follows that it started raining at six in the morning. That didn't last long though, about 30 minutes while I was driving, and later about another 15 minutes. But the wind was strong and gusty all day. Luckily neither Lisa or I had any damage at our shows, but some other vendors' display racks, canopies, etc. got blown over from time to time. The other issue was the temperature. Forecast high: 72. Actual high: 85. I dressed for 72, cloudy, windy, and rain. I stayed warm enough.

The show Lisa was at in Chetek was down a bit from previous years, but you can't do anything about the weather. My show in Amery, Wisconsin, was a new one for us, and it was decent. I only had 1 repeat customer, and I think we picked up a few new ones who will be back. We love our loyal followers.

Next weekend, (Friday 5:00pm - 9:00pm, Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00pm, and Sunday 11:00am to 4:00pm Eastern Time Zone, we'll be at the Superior Dome at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, for the WLUC-TV6 fall arts and crafts show. Looking forward to seeing all of our U.P. friends.

And finally, the Winter Warriors Junior Varsity Football team WON their first ever home game yesterday. GO WARRIORS!!!!!!

Chetek & Amery

Random photo.........

Remember tomorrow (9/16) we'll be at craft shows in Chetek and Amery, Wisconsin. The weather doesn't look so good for later in the day, but the morning should be good, so come on out early.

Cameron craft show, and a strange auction find

Well, I put off my trip to southern Wisconsin. On Saturday I helped Lisa set up at Cameron, and I went to an auction between Cameron and Chetek. The craft show was about like usual; not bad, not great; but it's a cheap show to set up at, and there wasn't anything else for Saturday. Also as usual for the Cameron show, it was very windy - the worst condition for an outdoor craft show.

At the auction I bought a sled which Lisa will paint after I do some repairs on it. It's a "National 88" with the top broken, one side rail missing, and a bent over nail replacing the rivet through the steering bar. I'll post a photo of it as soon as I get one taken. The odd feature of this sled is that this is the second time I've bought it at an auction. The first time was quite a few years ago in southern Wisconsin as I remember, and then we sold it at a rummage sale 3 or 4 years ago because I hadn't gotten around to fixing it for Lisa to paint. Now that we have it back I will take the time to fix it up -- and we'll sell it again. I know the old saying "what comes around goes around", but maybe I've been at this too long...

Remember... this Saturday (9/16) Lisa will be at Chetek and I'll be at Amery, Wisconsin. We've done Chetek for several years and it's a nice small craft show and farmers' market. Amery's Fall Festival has been going on for years, but this will be our first time there. Give these a try if you are out and about this Saturday.

And on a very special note: Football tonight (not on TV) 5:30pm, Winter Warriors at Lake Holcombe (about 14 miles south of Ladysmith, Wisconsin). In a later post I'll put up the complete schedule for the new Winter football team. For those of you who don't know, our oldest son, Will, is a Freshman and on the team. This is the first year, Winter High School has never had a football team before. It's a big deal in a small town.

More later..... Randy

Another photo

This photo (post and profile) was taken at a craft show this summer. There is a clue in the photo. Be the first to tell me where the show was and win a prize. Just e-mail your answer to randy@ourhousecraft.com

Photo

Lisa went shopping today

Lisa and my mother went shopping today in Rice Lake. Doesn't sound spectacular, I know, but Winter is a small town. Anyway, she came back with clear glass coffee mugs like the blue ones and red ones we usually have. They'll be available with most coffee mug-appropriate designs for $8.95 each, the same price as the blue and red. She also got some blue glass plates in two sizes. Plans are that these will have snowmen. I don't know what the prices will be yet, but I'll keep you up-to-date. One special note about these: Unlike the jars, mugs, wineglasses, etc., the plates will be decorative only, not for food use. The reason for this is that the paint manufacturer is unwilling to disclose the paint formula as they would have to for food-safe listing from the good old FDA. So... when the paint is on the food surface, the piece isn't for food. Later... Randy

Other artists and crafters

Hey all, I haven't left town yet, and an idea struck me this morning. Are any of you people out there in blogger-land other artists and crafters who would be interested in contact info for the shows we do or others we have info on? Let me know, and if there's some interest, I'll post addresses and/or contact numbers. More when I get back from "down south".

Sled

Oops, I forgot something. From my August 28th post, the green sled with the birds is sold. We do still have the snowman, though. And more neat stuff will be appearing.

Cameron, Wisconsin - September 9th

This just in -- the craft show/flea market/farmers' market at Cameron, Wisconsin (just south of Rice Lake) is this Saturday (September 9th), and Lisa should be there.

This past weekend at Port Wing and Shell Lake was great. The weather was perfect, despite what the weathermen had been saying, and everyone was in a good mood.

My darling wife thinks I should add an interesting comment or observation from each show we do, so here goes. I hope I don't offend anyone! From the Cumberland Rutabaga Festival the previous weekend: Two couples came by the booth at about 8:15am. As the women were looking at our booth one guy said to the other "why are we looking at this crafty s***, we could be drinking"? At 8:15am, wouldn't that make it a long day? And then yesterday afternoon at Shell Lake I actually saw a guy drinking maple syrup from a quart jug - with nothing to wash it down - and I saw him do it twice about 20 minutes apart. Maybe a beer at 8:15am wouldn't be so bad.

I may not get a chance to post again until next week after my trip south, or maybe I will - you'll just have to keep checking.