South End Open Market

As some of you may have noticed, one of my bears has been featured on the front page of Etsy all weekend. My shop was chosen for the front page by the folks at South End Open Market, a DIY handi-craft market open every Sunday from May through October in Boston’s South End. We had never been before so we decided to check it out today. With two kids in tow (one eating a cereal bar in the umbrella stroller and the other curled up in the sling), we headed over this morning, and it was really neat.

I love face to face meetings with crafters whose blogs I read or whose Etsy shops I scope out. Today we saw Katie Rowley who makes lovely paintings with india ink. She showed us how she draws backwards letters on her fingers and then prints them onto her paintings. We also sawMary from hollypopshop. She has beautiful flower pins made from kimono fabrics. And we met Jen from the sweetest pea. I just love her white owls. And Katy from muchachaK whose birdie hair clip is featured on Etsy’s front page this weekend, too.

It turns out that this weekend is super busy around the Boston area. Lots of towns have open studios yesterday and today, including Newton and the South End, too. So while we were in the city, we wandered around this great open warehouse looking at all sorts of artwork. Just as Roxanne’s patience was wearing super thin we ran into our next door neighbor. It turns out that she’s an artist (how is it that we’ve lived here for nearly two years and I talked to her dozens of times in her garden and never known this?) and she had her work on display. Now I think I’ll have to have her over for a cup of tea and a look in my studio. So a busy and fun morning full of lovely things to look at.

My little sister, Rachel, is graduating from law school today. I remember so clearly the day she was born and now she’s nearly a lawyer. Congratulations, Rachel! Now I feel truly surrounded by lawyers – my dad is a lawyer and so is my brother and now my sister, too. So don’t mess with me, I guess.