Gruene Market Days

Gruene, Tx
Originally uploaded by dcdesigns

It's official! Denise and I are very excited to announce Little Meadow Studios' first showing at the Market Days in the historic district of Gruene! Gruene (pronounced "green") is located only thirty minutes outside San Antonio and just an hour from Austin. Gruene is part of New Braunfels, Tx. We will have a booth set up the weekend of July 19th and 20th. The Market is open from 10-5 on both Saturday and Sunday. Gruene and New Braunfels both have lots of fun things to do and great places to stay. It's a great road trip if you are in the area. Stop by and say "Hi!" We'd love to see y'all there :)

Inspiration gone backwards

Usually when I buy jewelry components I buy them for a specific polymer clay focal that I've already made. However, lately I find myself buying a lot of vintage glass beads and vintage metal components with absolutely no plan for how I'm going to use them. This is really out of character for me as I am certainly a planner-type of gal.
So I find myself with these three little boxes full of treasures and no idea what I'm going to do with them. Well, I know I will make some jewelry of course. :) I've decided to let the little vintage treasures inspire the polymer clay which is totally backwards of how I normally work. I have two new pieces so far from this new way of working and I've decided to start a whole new collection inspired by my three little boxes. I'm calling it the Elemental Charms collection. I'm super excited about it because now I have a great excuse to buy even more treasures.

PolymerCafe August 2008 Cover!

PolymerCafeCoverAugust2008
Originally uploaded by ElizabethBonura

I am so excited to share the new cover of PolymerCAFE which features one of my clay Cymbiduim Orchids!!! Special thanks to Rachel Fuller for taking this cover shot and all of the photos for the article. Subscribers should be getting their issues today and it will hit the shelves of Michael's and select book stores soon.

Family Secrets

Elizabeth and I are sister-in-laws. She is married to my big brother who use to make me pay him $5 just to take me and my friends down the street to the mall and back. Who knew he was charging 2008 gas prices back in 1990. *giggles* He is much nicer now of course and has even gotten a wee bit cool, you should check out the band he plays in. Anyway, Elizabeth and I both covet my Mom's Cream Cheese Cookies. She made them for the first time for a baby shower about a year ago. Of course I was unable to attend said baby shower and soon began hearing of these new cookies Mom was making. Next Christmas my Mom walked in the door and two of my cousins immediately begin yelling. " Aunt Ann's here!" exclaimed John. "Did she bring the cream cheese cookies?" hollered Geoff. Then I watched as my Mom got tackle hugged by her two college-aged nephews who tried to relieve her of the burden of four boxes of cookies! Mom batted there hands away and said,"Stop it I've got to put them on the plate! Nancy get your sons off me!" So I go quietly follow Mom into the laundry room where she is plating her cookies in peace. I ask her if these are the infamous cookies I've heard so much about as she slides two into my hand. These little discs of happiness truly do melt in your mouth. They are so incredibly good. After exclaiming how delicious they are and giving her a quick peck on the check I begin to beg for the recipe. "Nope it's a secret!" says Mom quite smugly if I do say so myself. I continue to badger her for the recipe at every family event. Finally, at the next Thanksgiving I find out she gave the recipe to my Aunt Nancy! As I have a school potluck (I teach kindergarten) coming up I beg and beg and beg for the recipe. Finally Mom caves. Huzzah! The recipe is mine. Of course looking at the recipe I can tell that Mom really puts in more vanilla and a few other things need to be changed until I have reproduced Mom's Heaven in a cookie. At the potluck the cookies vanish and I start getting emails begging for the recipe. Of course, I've been sworn to secrecy! So just for you dear blog readers..........(don't worry Mom I'm just kidding). I won't give out the real secret recipe but here are some links to some interesting cream cheese cookie recipes that will hopefully help you find your own new secret cookie recipe.
Whole Foods Organic Cream Cheese Cookies
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Coconut Bream Cheese Cookies
Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies
Low Sugar Cream Cheese Cookies

Passionate About Poppies!

RedPoppyNecklace CloseUp
Originally uploaded by ElizabethBonura

Are you passionate about poppies??? I love how there are so many different ways to represent these beautiful flowers! This handmade poppy was created out of an air dry polymer clay that allows the petals to look delicate but remain flexible. Each petal was cut, textured and then painted by hand. The poppy is about 3" in diameter and it is hanging on an 18" black soft glass cord with a metal connector.

Available @ ElizabethBonura,etsy.com

In Search of Venues

Elizabeth and I are currently hitting the pavement and checking out various different craft shows and market days looking for the best venues to house our booth filled with whimsical jewelry. Today's hunt brought us to the historic district of Gruene, Tx. Gruene is shock full of antique stores, locally owned eateries, produce stands, Harley Davidsons, local music, and some of the best tubin this side of the river.

Vendors at The Gruene Market Days were all offering their own handmade items. The Market takes place every third weekend of the month on both Saturday and Sunday. This weekend featured a diverse group of vendors and even though it was over 85 degrees and started to rain lightly the market was both busy and had evidence of buyers (lots of people toting around their purchases).

The Gruene Mansion Inn has the most adorable little cottages right along the river. Gruene is located about an hour from Austin and about thirty-five minutes from San Antonio. It is very close to New Braunfels. Check back soon as the quest to find great markets and craft shows continues.
If you are interested in seeing more interesting pictures of Gruene check out my flicker set.