Garden Delights Arts – gifts for all!

We’re back! Stay safe while you find gifts & treasures at my 2021 Garden Delights Holiday Sale! If you’re vaxx’ed and masked*, I’d love to host you in my Studio by appointment starting November 14 (7 days a week from 11 am – 5 pm).

*If you can’t be vaxx’ed I’ll ask for current negative COVID test. To protect everyone, please wear a mask inside the Studio. George & I are fully vaxx’ed and will wear masks. I’ll be outside the studio while you’re inside, to chat & answer your questions. Small groups welcome. I’ll space appointments & sanitize surfaces between guests.

The Studio, transformed last year into my Auntie Sewing Squad Mask Central, is back! I’m SO happy to show you my photos, mixed-media artwork & crafts, upcycled creations, hand-knits and fabulous felted creations!

Never pressure to buy, but you’ll find lots of handmade and original-designed gifts, for yourself and for friends and family, including pets!

Jewelry, wearable art, purses, cards & prints, boxes, home decor, and more!

Our honeybees bless us with delicious honey, which many people swear helps their pollen allergies.

George’s divine handmade lotion, lip balm, and 100% natural beeswax candles, including two sizes of tapers, from our honeybees’ wax! Read all about them at my article.

Want a postcard reminder sent to your mailbox? Email me!

Beeswax taper candles by George!

When our honeybees bless us with an abundance of beeswax, George thanks them, takes a bit they don’t need and filters it, then gets busy making candles! New this year: he’s handmaking 100% pure, natural beeswax tapers, votives, and bars.

The gorgeous tapers are two sizes, either eight or ten inches tall, and the 10″ tapers are colonial style. The votives are 1.5 by 1.5 inches. Beeswax candles are hypoallergenic, clean- and long-burning, and smell heavenly! We estimate the tapers’ burn times at about ten hours (for the 8″) and 12 hours (for the 10′).

Also new this year, pure one ounce beeswax bars, perfect for so many household and artsy crafters’ uses!

Can’t wait to get some of George’s candles? Won’t be able to make it to our holiday show (first two weekends of December, at our studio in El Cerrito)? Email to ask us to figure shipping costs: heidirand@gmail.com.

Check out these useful tips for burning your beeswax candles.

Egret visits the garden

Our garden spreads gloriously beneath my office window. Thanks to the mild Northern California weather and George’s green thumbs, I always have orchids and other blooming plants to admire. The garden also attracts a diverse family of critters; hummingbirds, scrub jays and squirrels are our most common visitors for meals and shelter. Once in a great while more exotic friends drop by, and this week I’ve been entranced by the Great White Egret that first flashed by my window on Wednesday to settle onto the roof next door. For two days I stalked it with my camera, as it stalked its prey – gazing intently from neighbors’ roofs and trees into the creek behind us, the pond next door (George’s fingers crossed that our deep garden pond will protect our fish), and searching the thicket of foliage for mice or gophers.

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Read my earlier posts about visits from Great Blue Herons!

• March 2012: Great Blue Heron visits the garden
• July 2013: Great Blue Heron visits the garden 2
• April 2014: Great Blue Heron returns

Garden Delights Gala – new arts & crafts!

My yearly gala – Garden Delights Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, is the first 2 weekends of December this year! The Show is at my art studio on December 7-8 and 14-15, 2019, from 11 am to 5 pm – or by appointment at your convenience.

I’m proud to show my photos and mixed-media artwork & crafts, and also upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric. Also hand-knits and fabulous felted creations! Fashionable fingerless mitts keep your hands cozy during mild winter weather … …

… NEW! Upcycled bags from sweaters and such …

Fancy knitted washcloths …

… pair with George’s soaps for a great gift …

Please stop by to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list I’ve got a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts, for yourself and for friends and family – including pets!

More new this year – George’s exquisite handmade 100% natural beeswax candles, including two sizes of tapers, from our honeybees’ wax. Read all about them at my article.

Jewelry, wearable art, purses, cards & prints, boxes, home decor, beeswax candles, and more! Our honeybees bless us with delicious honey, which many people swear helps their pollen allergies.

Want a postcard reminder sent to your mailbox, or would you like to drop by at a time that’s more convenient for you? Email me. Can’t make the show or want to see my artwork online? Click these links:

• Website
• Artfire Gallery
• My blog
• Zazzle shop
• Facebook

Save the Date! Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show

My yearly gala, the Garden Delights Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, will be the first two weekends of December, so please save the date! If you want a postcard reminder sent to your mailbox email me your address.

The Show is at my art studio on December 1-2 and 8-9, from 11 am to 5 pm (or by appointment).

I’m so proud to show off my new photos, designs, and mixed-media artwork and crafts, and just as excited about my upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric destined for landfill.

Come see my handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties; and envelopes and other paper crafts I make from outdated calendars and books. I’ve also been busy assembling kits and supplies for paper and fabric artists and crafters, ideal as a gift for yourself or for anyone who loves to create mixed-media, collage, book, and mail art.

Stop in to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list you’ll find a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts (for yourself and for friends and family – including pets), at all different prices.

Jewelry, wearable art, purses, cards and prints, boxes, home decor, books, beeswax candles, and more! Our honeybees blessed us with a great harvest of delicious honey, which many people swear help their pollen allergies.

And a new batch of soap – plus Honey Kissed lotion and lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax!

Can’t make the show or want to see my artwork online? Click these links:

Website

Artfire Gallery

My blog

Zazzle shop

Facebook

Coming Up Roses in El Cerrito

Roses are busting out all over in El Cerrito gardens! Our Blue Girl, Graham Thomas, Butterscotch, Sally Holmes, Ispahan, Electron, Heirloom, Double Delight … and many more … are blooming like gangbusters, so I’m extra excited this year about the 37th annual Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area! Sunday May 21st, 11 am to 3:30 pm at El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane. The Rose Show and parking are free.The glorious heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to people with a few roses blooming in their yard bring cut roses to show. They’re grouped and arranged by type, the result an intoxicating display of scents and colors. You can buy heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries, and rose experts will be there to answer your questions.  While supplies last, children can get a free rose plant courtesy of the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area. Along with the roses, there’s an array of arts & crafts and rose-related goodies for you to view and buy as gifts for someone special or for yourself!

We’ve had a booth with our artwork & crafts at the Rose Show for the past twelve years! Look for us in the Main Hall, with the work that I make from my original rose & flower and nature-related photographs -jewelry, purses, boxes, vases, sachets, greeting cards, and much more! I’ll also have my upcycled creations – handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties.

Plus, while it lasts – a new batch of our sublime local honey. Many people swear by it to help their seasonal allergies.And! Honey Kissed lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

If you have any questions about the Rose Show, our honey, or Garden Delights Arts & Crafts, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com  Hope to see you there, with a rose or three!

Holiday Gift Sale and Art Show 2016

A chill in the air, rain promised — the holidays are coming! My yearly gala, the Garden Delights Arts & Crafts Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, is the first two weekends of December again this year.

The Show’s at my art studio, 5810 Barrett Ave, El Cerrito (just past Edwards), December 3-4 and 10-11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or by appointment on another day – email me).

I’m so proud to show my photos, designs, and mixed-media artwork and crafts, and way excited about my upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric headed for landfill.

Come see my handmade bracelets, necklaces, purses, phone and e-reader holders, from fabric books and silk neckties; and envelopes and other crafts I make from outdated calendars and books.

I also have DIY kits and supplies, ideal as gifts for you or your artsy-craftsy mixed-media, collage, book, and mail art friends! I’ve added several new ornaments, perfect stocking stuffers or to adorn your own tree.

Stop in to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list you’ll find a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts (for all – including pets), at great prices.

Also, our local honey (as long as it lasts), some swear by it to help pollen allergies.

And handcrafted wonders by George from our honey and wax — heavenly beeswax candles and luscious batches of Honey Kissed skin lotion and lip balm.

Want a postcard reminder? Send your address to heidirand [at] gmail.com

Or can’t make the show or want to see my work online? Click these links:

Website

Artfire Gallery

My blog

Zazzle shop

New Artwork Photography Class!

My newest class, Taking Great Photos of Your Artwork and Crafts, is live at CratfArtEdu!

I distilled my years of experience photographing and selling my work online into a four-part class packed with information about essential product photography skills, and I take you step by step through the entire process to make professional quality photos of your own creations. 

All you need is a camera, tripod, lighting and image processing program, but as your budget and desire for more sophisticated tools grows, I give you a comprehensive list of equipment and resources.

You can master the skills needed to take great photos of your work. Learn how to prepare for your photo shoot, from choosing a location and lighting, to using props and styling to stage your work so your creativity and artistic brand shine through!

I also show you how to efficiently edit your photos into perfect shape to post online, and finally help you figure out where to sell and market your work online!

I’d love you to check out the free preview of my class.  Regularly priced at $25 for the four-part series, it’s on sale for $19 through Sunday August 21st. Missed the sale? Email me at heidirand@gmail.com, and I’ll send you a link to get the sale price!

Click here to go to my CraftArtEdu main page.

Here’s the wonderful CraftArtEdu promo for the new class, and for my related smartphone photography class.

Speaking of which, here are links to my other CraftArtEdu classes. Each has a free preview:

Taking Great Photos With Your Smartphone

Decorating Wood With Image Transfers

Fabulous Fabric Postcards

Handmade Pet Collars

Inkjet Printing on Fabric

Inkjet Printing on Lutradur

And my free basic classes:

Inkjet Inks: What You Need to Know for Your Artwork and Crafts

Introduction to Lutradur

 

 

 

Votes for Women vintage postcard

Today’s vintage treasure – a postcard for women’s suffrage dated 7/31/14, and that’s 1914 dear reader – six years before women got the right to vote in the United States!  I found this historical gem during my birthday visit to SCRAP, the go-to Bay Area creative reuse warehouse. With a shockingly timely message mailed by two enlightened fellows to their lady friends over a hundred years ago, here’s the front:

The back, addressed in beautiful cursive handwriting to Miss Kate Costa, Marysville, California, reads:

Dear Kate & Mabel,

You “guys”, better beat it down here on that motor tomorrow eve. (Sat.). We have made big preparations for “our our” dance, see. If you wish, this one, we will sure fill the farmhouse full of cans. See you to-morrow on the motor. Fred & Harry. Box 344.

I tracked down an image of the same postcard on The Suffrage Postcard Project website, which links to their source, the Palczewski Suffrage Postcard Archive. From the Archive’s site I learned that Barton & Spooner Co. published the card, and indeed – I now see a very small B&S logo in the lower right corner, under the word “motor”.

As noted by Catherine Helen Palczewski, “[A] fascinating intersection occurred between advocacy for and against woman suffrage, images of women (and men), and postcards. Best estimates are that approximately 4,500 postcards were produced with a suffrage theme.” See Palczewski, Catherine H. Postcard Archive. University of Northern Iowa. Cedar Falls, IA.

Plus ça change,  n’est-ce pas?

Celebrate Roses in El Cerrito

The don’t-miss event for flower-lovers, gardeners and rosarians is coming up next Sunday – that’s right, it’s the 36th annual Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area! This year it’s on Sunday May 15th, from 11 am to 3:30 pm at the El Cerrito Community Center, a few blocks east of San Pablo Ave at 7007 Moeser Lane. The Rose Show and parking are free.The glorious heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to people with just one rose bush in their yard bring cut roses to show. They’re grouped and arranged by type, the result an intoxicating display of scents and colors.  You can buy heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries, and rose experts will be there to answer your questions. Remember to bring your clippers and loppers for on-site tool sharpening. This year there will activities for children, and while supplies last, children can get a free rose plant courtesy of the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area. Along with the roses, there’s an array of arts & crafts and rose-related goodies for you to view and buy as gifts for someone special or for yourself!

We’ve had a booth with our artwork & crafts at the Rose Show for the past eleven years! Look for us in the Main Hall, with the work that I make from my original rose & flower and nature-related photographs -jewelry, purses, boxes, vases, sachets, greeting cards, and much more! I’ll also have my upcycled creations – handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties.

Plus, while it lasts – a new batch of our sublime local honey. Many people swear by it to help with allergies.And for the first time at the Rose Show, try our Honey Kissed skin lotion and lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

If you have any questions about the Rose Show, our honey, or Garden Delights Arts & Crafts, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com  Hope to see you there, with a rose or three!