Tag Archives: portland

Portland (west)!

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I had an amazing time!

I saw beautiful dolls at the NIADA conference–

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Harriet by Shelley Thornton.

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Ima Naroditskaya‘s beautiful doll.

I listened to amazing people give inspiring talks including- Ronnie Burkett  His talk made me desperate to see one of his performances and guess what? He will be in NYC at the end of September! Time for another NYC trip!

Toby Froud–

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And Georgina Hayns from Laika Studio who brought some of the puppets for us to examine, up close. So so awe-inspiring! (Are you noticing the puppet theme?)

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But that wasn’t the best thing. The best thing is that I internet-know George. She has bought some of my pieces and we’ve corresponded. She invited me to visit Laika and see how a hive of 400 people come together for 2+ years to make a fantastic movie. Honestly, as a one-person show, it was hard to wrap my head around! I saw so many interesting and beautiful things- and now I have to wait more than a year to see how it all comes together!

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She took me around to some Portland fabric stores. We went to Bolt Fabric, The Mill End Store and the Pendleton Outlet– where they were having a sale, how lucky am I?! I got some good stuff- for the dolls, for clothing for me, and for random projects. Cottons-

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And wools except that purple one is silk-

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She asked me to teach while I was there, so on the Sunday, a group of friends came together and made ornaments. Thanks for the Instagram photo Vera! (since I didn’t manage to get any pics.)

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Okay, what else? I met up with a friend of a friend and now I have a new friend! I also met up with Diane who I saw last time I was in Portland, so many years ago. Time flies but we stay connected- thank you internet. And I went to the Button Emporium of course. Most of these things came from there (except rick rack from Bolt).

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So yes, it was great. I hope it isn’t another 7 years before I get back!

Portland weekend

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We were up in Maine for the weekend. Having a son going to school in Portland has improved our life. It is a wonderful town with natural beauties and amazing food. And, only 2 hours north from home!

This group of dogs was waiting patiently next to the Scratch Baking Company, #1 bakery in Portland- and that is saying something!

And lastly, a perfect lighthouse- good inspiration for my next tiny world.

Portland Picnic

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This past weekend was dominated by Hurricane Irene news, but Saturday in Maine was beautiful. A lot of friends from my Crafty Biz meet-up group were participating in the Portland Picnic so I headed up north for the day.

This photo booth had the coolest props ever! Look at those masks!

Here is Laura of Pansy Maiden, with her vegan bags.

Eling of Rhinofluff.

Danielle of The Merriweather Council–

Lisa of RedStaggerwing Designs–

Jen of Zooguu–

and Melissa of Pressbound–

I also saw Jennifer Judd-McGee of Swallowfield fame. It was a beautiful day, a fantastic selection of artwork, the crowds were out, and everyone was talking about the pending hurricane and enjoying the event. After a few hours, I left the park and walked to meet-up with my husband and son. I saw this weather vane along the way-

Before leaving town, we took Peter out for a great Mexican dinner at Zapoteca– Yum! Great day all around. We left Portland in the early evening and headed back to Boston. We hit the first rain right at the New Hampshire line and a steady downpour once we were back in Massachusetts. We had rain, we had wind, but where I live, we came out mostly unscathed. We are lucky and thankful.

This oak leaf was on the porch this morning. The thing is, I have no idea where there is an oak tree any where near us. Yes, it was windy!

getting serious about October

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We had a great time on our quick trip to Portland for family weekend at MECA. Friday was a perfect fall day. We drove up the coast and did some beach watching and walking.

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They have great rocks in Maine.

We stopped in Wells at Camp Wool. Thank you to the kind person who clued me in about this place via my comments. Unfortunately, no website yet.

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There was lots of beautiful wool, although I am glad I had been to Dorr first. There was lots of beautiful colors and textures here, but not the basic skin colors that I went up to Dorr Mill Store for.

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Yes, I managed to find some goodies to spend some money on. The lady here told me about another store- Wool and Goods in Rollinsford, NH. Another expedition! I am going to put a list together (in the next few days) of places to buy wool fabrics in New England. If you know of places, let me know and I will add them.

Portland is a great town- amazingly good food and resaturant scene- even made it into the NYT! I look forward to spending more time there in the next 4 years.

Tomorrow- what is ahead this month.