Handmade items finds from timeshare travels

[Panina]

I love unique handmade items. Being I am artistic I know how much time it can take to make them.

I am in Key West and am thrilled with two of my finds.

The lady who sells honey at the Thursday farmers market makes this crochet grocery sack/bag. At $20 this was a real nice find.

I got this at the Artisan Fair today. This was done by Florida woodworking artist Nick Vidakovic and his wife, Roz, who create unique pictorial wood inlay mosaics. Each composition is crafted from separate pieces which are individually sanded, rounded, painted or stained, then inlaid to create the finished original design. http://intarsiabynick.com/

 

[clifffaith]

Don't get me started! I've never met a basket I didn't like, or any other handmade tchotchke! And I'm a sucker for wall hangings, scarves, anything textile-y. I'm downstairs right now in my office which I kept pretty neutral so I could see color when I was working with fabric samples, will have to pick a few items when I go back up to the main floor.

 

[mdurette]

This is my most recent favorite. From a local artisan fair when we were in Lincoln NH in oct. I always have fresh flowers in my kitchen, this is a unique pottery “vase”.

 

[Luanne]

From all of my timeshare visits to Santa Fe before we moved here I have turquoise jewelry, baskets and pottery. No pictures of them though.

 

[DaveNV]

I like local-artist-made types of pottery, with unusual shapes or designs on them. The piece has to "speak to me" to become part of my collection. I've acquired some really nice pieces while traveling, maybe fifteen or twenty pieces. Cost or resale value are almost irrelevant - it's all about the artistry. Some are "craftier" than others, but all are unsual.

One of my favorites, collected from a gallery in Springdale, Utah, outside of Zion National Park:

 

[clifffaith]

Here are a few of the hand crafted things that've caught my eye and made me open my wallet: a basket made out of old yardsticks/rulers from the weekly Big Bear farmer's market; a weird piece of wall art made from cow horns from my favorite antique shop in Big Bear; a picture frame made from an old keyboard from an artisan shop in Sedona; one of a pair of bead pictures (the other is lizards) from a cafe in Quartzite that we stop at between LA & Scottsdale; felt dolls from Berzerkistan (or somewhere close by) bought at the Santa Fe craft market where wonderful things from all over the world are available without leaving the US.

 

[DaveNV]

Faith, are those keys on the picture frame removable? It'd be neat to arrange some under the picture to spell the name of your kitty.

Dave

 

[clifffaith]

Faith, are those keys on the picture frame removable? It'd be neat to arrange some under the picture to spell the name of your kitty.

Dave

No, they are stuck down. We go to Sedona almost every year, so I made a beeline for the area in Uptown Sedona where I bought the frame the next time we were there to see if there were other keyboard items. Unfortunately the little shop had been replaced by another. I do have two pieces of wall art, one from an antique mall in Scottsdale and one my sister bought locally, that use old Scrabble pieces to spell out a message from the artist. Oh no, I see a trend, that must mean I have another collection!

 

[WinniWoman]

I have bought some handmade jewelry in Vermont and one of my favorites is a potholder bowl holder for the microwave I got in New Hampshire. I use it most mornings when I make my oatmeal. In fact, it is getting worn and I need to get another one.

I have also bought several pieces of artwork and wood carvings from VT, but when I downsized I had to give them away.

 

[DaveNV]

Not exactly a handmade thing I got while timesharing, but close:

In Kauai a few years ago we bought two Koa wood boards from a specialty lumber company in Kapa'a. We shipped them back to the Mainland to a friend who is an amazing clockmaker. He did his magic, and six months later we took delivery of this one-of-a-kind beauty. It's about 18 inches tall, and we love it.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Wow, I love all of your art finds. I am getting rid of stuff, so I am not allowed in the stores. I do love to shop.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Wow, I love all of your art finds. I am getting rid of stuff, so I am not allowed in the stores. I do love to shop.

Me too! Some of these are so beautiful.

 

[clifffaith]

Wow, I love all of your art finds. I am getting rid of stuff, so I am not allowed in the stores. I do love to shop.

It kills me to go to Arizona and New Mexico right now because I have to get a large house winnowed down into a two bedroom apartment and I can't be buying anything new. As good as I'm being about selling things on eBay, Nextdoor and at garage sales, there is no doubt I'll arrive in Carlsbad with twice as much stuff as I'll have room for. I had planned to be pretty much retired from eBay selling when we move, but I can see that will be a forlorn hope.

 

[mcsteve]

When we were in Kona on the Big Island we found this shop where the woman makes wonderful items out of clay. My better have bought quite a few of the flowers and characatures for gifts while we were there. She hand makes everything including the flowers, plants and characters.

 

[clifffaith]

When we were in Kona on the Big Island we found this shop where the woman makes wonderful items out of clay. My better have bought quite a few of the flowers and characatures for gifts while we were there. She hand makes everything including the flowers, plants and characters.

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Wow! Did you get those home intact?

 

[mcsteve]

Wow! Did you get those home intact?

Yes, thankfully. She did an excellent job packaging and boxing the figures and we took extra care to ensure they were in our carry on with bubble wrap around the boxes. Had we found her on the first day or so of our trip they would have hardened quite a bit (she said 2-3 days in sunshine) but it was our last day so we took extra care.

 

[geekette]

This is a great thread! I've never been much of a shopper, but want very much to go back to a place called Faces in Cabo. Spoke to the owner for a long while, enjoyed many many pieces there, but we were on foot and bought nothing.

The last bazaar I participated in had some amazing craftspeople, it was a lot of fun to go around and talk to the artisans. One tip I will be using is to coat seashells in clear nail polish, and use a diamond tip to drill holes if needed.