Best Intentions and a Vintage show

Wow! Over a year since I've been on here! What's going on? Well, life for starters. It can really mess up one's best intentions, right? I know, right? (Sorry. Had to inject that here as I know how the family hates when I say that!) But I am starting on here again and once again with best laid plans to be a more frequent voice to this and that, gossip, rants, fave recipes, pictures of grand-babies, (yes I have a newest and bestest one. Bad Grandma for saying that) and whatever else comes to mind. I have been given the formidable task of writing bios and posting pictures of all the vendors who will be attending the awesome vintage show "VINTAGE PICKIN". This is a twice-yearly show in Hayden, Idaho; once in the spring, and now the first weekend in October. So I have about 3 weeks to highlight 70 or so incredible vendors! They will be written about here first and then shared on various social media platforms. Facebook and their various group pages, Twitter, Instagram, and whoever and whatever other ones I can come up with! In other words, I am adamant about getting the word out! I don't have to tell all you my friends how hard we work at our craft; from drawing board to the finished product. We pour our hearts into it. We let our families go hungry. We forget to feed the dog. We stay in our pajamas all day 'cause we need one more coat of paint or the glue guns still hot. Heck, Hubs hasn't set down at the dining room table for over a year because it's either mounded up with fabrics and lace and sewing machines, or canners and jam pots stacked with canning jars and sheets of labels and 5 gallon buckets of sugar. Get the picture? I don't know all these great people personally. But we all share the same drive. And we can't quit creating. We create in our heads while driving to work. In bed our minds don't turn off. We get excited seeing something in a store and think,"I could do this but different and better!" We have scraps of paper all over our homes of hastily scribbled ideas and crude drawings or lists of things to pick up next time we're in town. So sit back and listen to these stories and have fun. These stories will be in no particular order. Just as I receive e-mails from them describing their business and life. I hope to get to all of them in time. If I don't, I apologize ahead of time. It's a daunting task to do in a short time. And I will get distracted by ideas circling round in my head. And the fact my finger is way to near the Pinterest button on the screen! I guess I will start with me. Patti's Garden Expressions Patti's Garden Expressions is a family-run farm in Newman Lake, Washington. We have been selling at local farmers markets and craft shows for almost 20 years, on Etsy since 2009, and just in the last 5 years have started doing vintage shows. I needed an outlet for all my collections and projects! Plus designing handcrafted items, sewing, and upcycling 'junk' seemed a natural way to keep the creative juices flowing while the garden was sleeping in the winter. Spokane winters seem to last forever at times! This business has also helped sustain us both emotionally and financially after a debilitating accident left my hubby disabled. I am very blessed to be including my children and grandchildren in this adventure and welcome their input and imagination. And their help! I credit my success and drive to my family. Mom was a home-ec teacher before her true calling as a mother interrupted. She always had us using our imaginations and creating something form 'found' objects and nature. And we sewed and practiced all the needle arts. Idle hands got into trouble don't you know! Nana gave me the love of gardens and beauty in nature. Her garden was my secret garden and I spent the summers there. And we were thick as thieves in her kitchen. Baking cakes, cinnamon rolls, pancakes with fresh blueberries she sent me out to pick in the outer garden. Dad was from Dutch farming stock. He knew all kinds of garden secrets of how to get things to grow no matter where you were planted. Being a chemical engineer by profession, you can imagine the lively discussions we had later in life when I became the family 'tree hugger'! He also taught me how to care for animals and how to fish and hunt. My mother-in-law was also a teacher in a former life and revived in me the art of canning. And she shared her plants with me when we bought our home. And we got her extra zucchini! And I credit my husband who tirelessly listens to my new ideas and puts up with all my messes. And puts up with the frustrations when things don't work out. And he lets me borrow his tools! I am proud to be again joining Vintage Pickin for their fall show and will be in my usual spot in the shed. Hope to see y'all! And come visit us at "VINTAGE PICKIN". And see all our hard work and dreams!