Allons, Enfants

Bastille Day came and went at St. Lawrence Market last Saturday without incident.  No storming by people or weather, no Madame Defarge sock monkeys knitting beside little guillotines, no Marseillaise being sung... except by me.  I always sing it to myself on July 14.  The first verse only.  It's all I know.  It's very bloodthirsty.  And I'm really not, being a vegetarian.

We did have a visiting piano for a brief time, one of the forty-one painted by various artists as part of the "Play Me, I'm Yours" project to promote the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.  It was right beside the fountain.  It was blue.  It had writing.  I was too busy to go and get a close look, and missed my photo op.  They are supposed to be open and playable, but the indispensable Scott tells me ours wasn't.  How frustrating.  Next time I looked, it was gone.  I hope it comes back, in a more welcoming mood.

What else....

Slogans.  On T-shirts mostly.  For some reason I registered them quite often.  Some examples:

"I don't think much, therefore I can't be much."  Awwww....
"I invalidate warranties."  Um, what?
"I'm here for the opening bands."  Yay!
"I'm paid to look this good."  On a little kid.

Now back to our regular scheduled program.

My first visitor of the day, looking like he's climbing out of my bag.

The wonderful Linda Chamberlain in her latest investment, a pink button fascinator.  Apparently the sculpted parasisal one she bought went over a treat at a fundraising event .  Yay!  I love that kind of feedback!

Darwin, a very sweet Rottweiler.  He enjoys long walks on the beach.  As do I.  No wonder we got along.

Sonia.  I am unfamiliar with her likes and dislikes, but I liked her just fine anyway.

Azi modeling my vintage-y taupe straw.  What a pretty couple they make.

This kid is a good guitar player.  He regaled us with selections from the Jimi Hendrix song book.

Dogs and kids.  Gotta love 'em.

Margaret, a customer from last year, back again for a new hat.  She glows in it!

How I love a big, shaggy sheepdog with a goofy sheepdog smile.

A tiny dog and Salome's disembodied hand.

And, finally, Carrie.  She knew me as an assistant to another milliner and very kindly looked me up at the Market, wanting to see my own creations.  She did me the compliment of investing in this sinamay creased beret in the ever-so-popular shade I call Fred (because it's fuchsia and red).  Thank you very much, Carrie!   

Crafters 1, Rain 0

We faced down the rain on Saturday and won.

It was raining when we were packing to leave for St. Lawrence Market.  "What should we do?" I asked the indispensable Scott.  "We go!"  he declared, and so we did.  And he was quite right;  the rain had no commitment whatsoever.  It sprinkled listlessly and was on its way before we had finished setting up.  Rain these days, no work ethic at all, I'm telling you...

No far-flung family members showed up unexpectedly this week.  Ours were taking in the Molson Honda Indy at the Exhibition grounds, or trying to.  The event calls for road closures in the west end that we like to blame for low Market foot traffic.  But it really was not very busy on Saturday.  Even some of the farmers in the farmers' market left early.

Herewith the weekly show:

Here is Jessica, in her new raffia braid circle band that's going to live in Hawaii.  My products live much more interesting lives than I do.

Lulu!  She's so small that Salome called her a chiweewee.

Lulu and her peeps.

Aren't these awesome?  Bubbles and ducky and kewpie doll.

I'd never seen a baby hod before.

Roberto's cool new sign, almost as cool as his photography.

Another Saturday, another pair of wet kids.

Sarah in the new braided raffia band that looks so great with her colouring.

 More art.

An intrepid one-legged pigeon we loved.

And, finally, Salome with Henry, a cockapoo pup of great charm.  Henry, if you're reading this, don't be a stranger!

Brothers and Others

June ended in a sweat at the Market.  It was a hot one on Saturday.  In the morning there was a nice breeze, but it died down just when the sun was at its brightest angle over our tent.  Thankfully it wasn't humid.

It was pretty quiet for the long weekend.  For one thing, Salome wasn't there.  She's kind of a party unto herself, and her absence always makes for a more somber day.  What crowds there were died down as the heat rose.  I can't blame them.  Every time I ventured into the coolness of the farmers' market, usually to refill my water bottle, it was an increasing challenge to emerge again.  How I wished I was small or canine and therefore eligible for fountain-frolicking.  (Regular readers may detect a theme here.)

A few nice people came by, though, and some very nice things happened.  The biggest surprise was the unannounced visit by Scott's brother Chris and Chris's wife, Wendy.  It made quite an impact because they live in California, and hadn't let anyone know they were coming.  They just strolled up and there they were.  What a hoot!  Too bad Scott had left for his midday retreat.  But I had the fun of showing them my table and giving them advice on what to check out while they were at the Market.  Of course, we'll have a proper visit with them over Indian food sometime this week.  (Did you know Indian food is very hard to come by in San Clemente?  Well, now you do.)

Mary (she of the coral trilby a couple of weeks back) walked by in her hat, walking her cute dog, Marlowe.  Soon afterwards, her sister came to choose one of my hats.  I'm making one for her.  So that's the second person close to Mary who had to have a Hat by Anne!  Yay, Mary!  Yay, Susan and Sina!  Referrals are so wonderfully flattering and make me feel very blessed.

Another lovely moment came when Suzanne, a makeup artist, came by to tell me a client for whom she had bought one of my embellished hair bands just loved it.  Music to my ears!  So thoughtful of Suzanne to take the time to do that.

So on with this week's show:

Donna, first customer of the day, rocking her new trilby.  I call it "Frank Sinatra Visits Sesame Street."  Cool, but playful.  And quite a mouthful.

Chris and Wendy!  If you squinch your eyes very tightly, you might just make out me taking the photo, reflected in Chris's glasses.  Or you could just take my word for it.  Your eyes will thank you.

Sam in her new organza bow band.  A good thing to have to keep the hair out of one's eyes on a hot day.

Brave, hot, woolly, pretend soldiers.  These people are stoicism itself, I'm telling you.  And so gracious.

Aunt Lizzie's little orange and pink sock monkey felt an affinity to this cap, for some reason, so he hung with us for a while.

The lovely and talented Maria, who makes beautiful silver jewelry and her own enamel, flattered me by choosing this raffia disc band.  Her market cart is beside Salome to the west.  I'm beside Salome on the east.  Got that?  There may be a quiz later.

 The daily dog is a double dose of Westie, for which I am a complete sucker.  This terrible twosome gave what for to any other dog with the temerity to frolic in the fountain.  Maybe because they weren't allowed to, themselves.  I love a bad boy, if mostly canine.

Living on the edge.

Art and "Waderlust"

First there were dogs, then came the strawberries, now art has descended on the park next to the farmers' market at St. Lawrence Market.  Of course, there always is on Saturdays, but yesterday there was a special contingent of canvasses.  The park was full of vendors of all kinds, and many beautiful paintings.  Lots of eye candy for the many visitors to enjoy.

Again, the weather was most co-operative.  After a three-day heat wave, the weather had changed to seasonally nice, instead of psycho-hot.  The sun was beaming on Saturday, but a nice breeze up Market Street provided relief. Of course, the pups and kids were happy to cool off in the fountain.  It's too tempting to join them, but I remain landlocked during my weekly display.  More's the pity...

Anyhoo.

I was barely set up before I made my first sale, a diskette fascinator in a shade I've named "Fred" -- half fuchsia and half red.  (I'm heavily into dyeing this season.  It's very addictive.)  So that was a nice way to start the day.

One of my fascinators is going to the Queen's Plate!  Of course, it had to be my all-time favourite, and to a lady who declined to have me take her picture.  But she kindly promised to email one of herself at the race.  Fingers crossed she remembers.  I will miss it, but I'm glad it has a grand occasion (and possibly last) to go to.  But I'm making a new one, but in red, for a special order for a very special customer.

Joanna Sipos was there!  She's the bella behind Belle Boutique.  This was the first time this season she brought down her lovely wire-wrapped jewelry and her signature bright pink display.  She's as nice as she is talented.  Salome and I are big fans.  Salome often gives Joanna a hand at the One of A Kind Shows, where Joanna has been doing great business every spring and fall.  I hope we'll get to see her again before too long.

Salome is doing out-of-town shows here and there this summer, contributing to my mounting sense of wanderlust .  (I just typed "waderlust" by mistake.  Thoughts, Dr. Freud?)  Katherine of Bumblebee Jewelry will be on the road a lot, too.  I'll see her on the last weekend of August in Amherstburg, on the Detroit River, as I did last summer.  But she'll be quite a few other summery places in the meantime, making me hanker for a tent and a billet and a more portable life in general.  Must work on that.

But I really wish I could be in two places at once.  I love Saturdays at the Market, seeing my friends, meeting new and returning customers, and breathing that farmers' market smell.

On with the show!

This is Amanda, who relieved me of the "Fred" diskette.  It looks especially awesome in her vibrantly dyed hair.















Nives in her red, white and blue fascinator.  (And my camera still works, thank you, Nives!)

Alina chose this band of straw braid disks.  Pretty and casual.

Linda Chamberlain is back!  The lady who loves pink chose this swirly sculpted straw hat, which she kept on.  She came back to tell me about the many compliments she and the hat were getting.  Music to my ears!

When I first met Linda, I knew she was something special, but I didn't know she was a hero.  Read all about her in this story by the Toronto Star's Catherine Porter.

Elaine in her new pleated and beaded aqua band, receiving moral support from her friends.

Art.  

 More art.

And, finaly, here is Susan.  Friends with Mary, who bought the pink Trilby last week, Susan emailed me to say how much she liked Mary's hat and made a point of coming down to meet me (walking Mary's dog, Marlowe) and choose this one for herself!  What a compliment! Thanks, Susan!  I hope to see you and Mary in your Hats by Anne, walking Marlowe again very soon!

Monkey War Berries Day

I played hooky last week.  It was supposed to rain all day, and it was Woofstock, which meant lots and lots of doggies and the people who love them, all concentrating on dogginess.  Bless them all, but as I've mentioned before, I do not make fascinators for dogs.  It also meant that we vendors would be squished under the overhang of the farmers' market building, which is a dank and gloomy location on rainy days.

So I called it.  And by all reports, it was a good thing to have done.  I slept in, which I haven't done in ages.  Sheer bliss!  Therapeutic, too  And then the indispensable Scott and I ventured to the annual Beach craft show, in our own neighbourhood, to see what we could see.  Rather hoping to encounter Jacqui Uza and her husband George, my peripatetic friends from Windsor, who were at the event last year selling Jacqui's gorgeous little knitted, beaded bags.  But they weren't there.  Probably in Bahrain or something.  Seriously, they do get around.

But I was back at the Market with bells on last Saturday.  Inside the south market the Strawberry Festival was happening, apparently, but outside it was the War of 1812.  Brave souls donned many layers of costume, including woolen coats for the men, and strolled about picturesquely. These two kindly posed with their sock monkey counterparts, the wonderful work of Aunt Lizzie's Needlework Company, my other tent neighbour.  They tell us we'll be seeing them throughout the summer (humans and sock monkeys), so for their sake, let's pray for moderate temperatures.

It was another lovely day, but not crazy hot as it is as I type this.  Not frabjous, as last year's Strawberry Festival was, but just fine, thank you.  I wore my strawberry fascinator to get into the spirit of the day.

 The fountain was back!  Dogs and kids were very happy about that. 

 The park was very full of visitors and vendors to visit.  The view from my tent.












Looking up from my tent.

Mary, first customer of the day, looking fab in her new linen Trilby.  I dyed the hat fabric myself.  (The madras print band, not so much.)

 Elyse, in her new organza rose band.  I'm loving me some organza this season, and I'm not alone.

Giselle Long, from the north market office, carrying  balloons to the south market, where the strawberry festivity was taking place.

Natasha, Katerina and Dimitria looking lovely for their photo op.

It was hot enough for my tent neighbour Mark to change into these awesome Chinese farmer's sandals.  How I want them.

So now imagine how hot these brave souls must be. Yet they smile and pose obligingly.  That's the kind of spirit that won us the war of 1812.

 This cool cat with the amazing eyes garnered his share of attention, out to take the air, calmly perched atop his person's shoulders.

Pat Campbell rocking her new grey linen bucket.

  Natsuko looking fresh and lovely in her wavy straw band.  

Iris visited my table earlier in the day, hemming and hawing between two linen wide brimmed hats, or the possibility of a custom made one.  She came back in time for Natsuko to help her decide on this gold one. The colour suits her so well and the wide brim keeps her pretty face out of the sun.

   The almost obligatory shot of Salome, here sporting the fascinator she chose before I had even put it on display. Just the thing to go with these particular specs, of which she has quite the wardrobe.

Seasonal Correction

I guess  the gorgeous weather couldn't last forever.  May ended in a very cranky mood, bringing wind, rain and chill, dragging the beginning of June down with it.  Saturday was dull and cool-ish, but at least the rain held off while we were selling hats and hair toys at St. Lawrence Market.  There were many vendor absences, and who could blame them?  The weather was not very promising.  The indispensable Scott and I have a policy of heading Market-wards on Saturdays unless it's actually raining when we wake up.

It paid off this weekend.  There were fewer people about than there were for the last two weekends, but that was okay.  Some very nice ones came to see me and my work, play dress up, say lovely things and sometimes make a purchase.  I was up very late the night before trying to get as much finished as possible for Saturday, and I was feeling rather tired.  (Actually, I felt hung over, and I wasn't.)  So a quieter day suited me just fine.

Next week is Woofstock.  Doggies in costumes and stark naked and the people who love them.  My table will be squished under the overhang of the North Market building.  No, I don't sell hats or fascinators for dogs.  Not even corgis.  (HRH reference for jubilant royal watchers.  Did you see the flotilla on the Thames today?  Awesome!)  So come on down and enjoy the poochy fun!

Not many people went for the photo op, so I just have two photos to share today:

Katelyn and Julie and their beautiful smiles in their new headbands -- raffia discs and an organza bow.

After much deliberation. Elizabeth chose this one and one other.  And excellent choices they were, too.  The colour really suits her.