Garden Fever! Winter Arts Festival

Garden Fever! is a retail nursery with a sweet spot in my heart.  While it is true that I have spent many days there checking on plants in all kinds of weather and creating displays on the retail floor when I was a Landscape Design student, it's just the kind of place where the people become part of the family.  Not just my favorite former employers, Lori and Richard, or co-workers who have become steadfast friends, but some of the customers are also near and dear to me.  I'll be at the GF! family table, if that tells you anything!

It's easy to see why that is one of the reasons that I'm so excited to be participating in this year's Winter Arts Festival.  I look forward to this sale each year.  It's my annual kick off to the season.  I love the getting my fortune told (she's really good folks, I'm not usually the fortune teller seeking type) and that the Goddess Flora Chorus & Deadheading Society sings their fun, wacky songs.  I like that Garden Fever! spreads the love, supporting a different organization each year.

This year it is the Parker Sanderson Fund of Hardy Plant Society of Oregon which brings in well known, high quality speakers and funds scholarships for horticulture students to attend.  The Hardy Plant Society is great at really supporting further education in horticulture.  I really love them.

So, as in a post from November (see "Announcement: ..."), I have been busy making necklaces and hairclips.  While I fully admit I have jumped off the momma deep end with the clips, I absolutely love getting a kick out of handstitching these lovelies.  That's right, no sewing machine was used in the creation of my items.
While I love my machine, it's just a little difficult to get it pulled out with a cruisin' 11 month old (yep, that means the ornaments were handstitched too).  Many of the pieces are nature inspired, especially in the clips, and then there are geometric pieces.  A lot of it is using a really quiet color palette compared to what it may have had even a year ago.  An old friend said that Scarlett was teaching me about neutral color when I was pregnant, and it seems to be so. In any case, here is a little sneak peek at some new things!

Come out Saturday evening for the festivities!

What: Garden Fever! Winter Arts Festival
When: THIS Saturday, December 4 from 5 - 8 benefits The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon
craft sale continues Sunday, December 5 from 9 - 5
Where: Garden Fever! located at 3433 NE 24th Avenue in Portland, just south of the Fremont Intersection