Intown Manchester's Holiday Market December 14, 2017
The frozen, bitter cold weather was tough to take on this last Thursday of the Intown Manchester's Holiday Market. The attendance was probably affected a bit and the cold air was prevalent at our end of the lobby corridor, but at my last show of the year, I was more than happy to be there!
Besides making my last sales of the season, I had a couple of orders that I made and the customers were coming to the show to pick them up. One was the split shamrock Purpleheart heart with a green tint. The pearl doesn't accept the stain, I just apply it after I'm done sanding and it sits on the surface. A little stain will settle in the crevices and I like the effect it makes.
Purpleheart wood heart with golden Mother-of-Pearl split shamrock inlay stained green
Remembrance Heart: Purpleheart wood heart with golden Mother-of-Pearl initial inlay
The other order for pick-up was from my Etsy store and it was an order for 2 remembrance hearts. These hearts are the most difficult and complicated to make for me. When I first had the idea for remembrance hearts, I knew that I had to keep the price down to get my idea out there to the public, but it takes a lot more work than it looks. I have made quite a few now and I am happy that people can see the beauty and comfort that they bring. The above JLM heart was my late mother's initials and I used it for an actual heart to feel, etc., but one woman looking at it had those initials and she bought it because of that, not the remembrance part. Funny huh?
decorated boxwood tree arrangement in keepsake ceramic holiday container
small boxwood tree arrangement
This boxwood arrangement that I pictured in my last Atkinson blog and put on sale for this Intown show was sold. The woman mentioned to me that she didn't want a keepsake container, but she did want a large arrangement and she liked this the better of the 2 I had on display. A "keepsake" container doesn't necessarily mean to save and cherish. It can mean that, but mostly it just means that it is a "nice" container, not the basic throwaway or recyclable and that it dresses up the arrangement more.
log container centerpiece with mixed evergreens
mixed evergreen centerpiece arrangement also in log container
I also sold a log container centerpiece, boxwood tree arrangements and some mixed evergreen arrangements. Water the evergreens every other day or so and it will be perfectly good for Christmas dinner/parties. Add some flowers the day of the dinner for an extra special touch in the centerpiece and this also could apply to all the mixed arrangements.
mixed evergreen arr. in ceramic Santa pot
small mixed evergreen arr. in Merry Christmas ceramic mug
mixed evergreen arr. in silver tin