Eugene, Oregon Saturday Market

Good morning Friends - It is a beautiful day in Eugene at our famous Saturday Market.  Market is 40 years old this year, and the longest running outdoor craft market in the country.  Everything booth here contains beautiful and unique items made by the person you meet.  There are approximately 240 artists booths here, a lovely international food court and across the street the Lane County Farmer's Market is set up.  We couldn't ask for more - life is grand.

We just posted three new boxes on Etsy, which I've posted below.  Let us know what you think.  They are some of my favorites.  They each have a story, which you can read at our etsy store.  See our link on the right.




Filbert Burl Box from Eugene, Oregon



California Buckeye Burl from Orick, California
Vine Maple Box from Coquille River in Bandon, Oregon


Also wanted to mention that we have added a new brick & mortar store this week - Mighty Nest in Evanston, Il.  They now carry our wood baby rattles, so if you live near there, stop by and say hi and check out our rattles in person. 

We wish you all a beautiful day and remember...
Take care, be good & kind and don't forget to laugh.
Ellie
Posted by Earnest Efforts at 10:55 AM 0 comments

From the North Country Fair back home to Olalla

Dear Friends of Earnest Efforts - We made it home yesterday afternoon damp and bedraggled, but with joyful spirits.  We would like to thank the patrons of the North Country Fair for finding their way to the fair through the rain and making the fair another weekend to remember.  We made a few more friends, as usual, and wanted to share a couple of photos with you.


Katrine with her new Pacific Yew drawers with clay knobs by Elise Corin (Eugene, Oregon Saturday Market artist)

Jordan wearing a mask he made walking in the All Species Parade
If there is anything you readers would like to know about Earnest Efforts and our adventures, please post a comment for us!  We would love your feedback.  Thank you again for visiting our blog and we wish you a beautiful day filled with joy.

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Ellie
Posted by Earnest Efforts at 12:00 PM 0 comments

North Country Fair, Arcata, California

Good morning Friends of Earnest Efforts.  We're writing to you from beautiful (even when it's raining) Arcata, Calif., where Earnie is setting up our booth while I post this message to you wonderful readers. 

If you've ever thought that artists have the easy life, take note.  My favorite camping/hiking spot in California is Patrick's Point, just North of Arcata by about 20 miles.  The last three years we've stopped there to see if we could camp and it was always FULL.  The state has closed more than half of the park every Fall and we always show up too late in the evening to get a space.  So, where did we stay last night?  In a very lovely rest area about 14 miles North of Arcata.  Honestly, it is quite lovely as far as rest areas go, with a little path that leads to picnic tables and an even smaller path to walk Myrtle on.  Thank you Arnold, for not closing this stop.  We did sleep well, but it was still a rest area.  These are some of the fun aspects of being a traveling artist on the circuit of art shows.  I'm sure there will be more to come.

Back to the North Country Fair.  If you live in the area and are planning to come down and enjoy the wonderful art booths, the delicious food and drinks and the amazing parades of dancers and kinetic sculptures, please stop by booth #128, where Earnest Efforts is set up.  We would love to have a follower come by to say howdy and if you do you will be gifted with a big smile and a free spirit shaker of your choosing.  How does that sound? 

One more thing.  This weekend is also Earth Dance, just south of Arcata in Laytonwille.  I wanted to share with those of you who might be interested that there will be a Global Prayer for Peace happening at 4pm today at Earth Dance and around the globe.  Visit the Earth Dance website to read the prayer for peace at http://www.earthdancelive.com/ and share the moment of prayer with people around the globe. 

Thanks for reading again, and we'll bring you back pictures from the Fair when we get home, so please check back in with us in a few days.  Have a beautiful day.
Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Ellie Efforts
Posted by Earnest Efforts at 8:27 AM 0 comments

Adventures with Earnest Efforts pictures

Thank you to those of you who have visited our new blog.  Below are some pictures from our lives.  Enjoy!
Earnie (aka Rick) cutting rattles on the old 1953 Boice Crane Bandsaw
Ellie sanding rattles in the "sawdust cathedral"

Myrtle hiking in the Superstition Mtns. in Arizona this March


Posted by Earnest Efforts at 11:09 AM 0 comments

Wood Baby Rattles Review by Mama V

We have to share our thrilling surprise this evening.  We thought we would check the blog to see if anyone had visited the new site, and low & behold, we had a follower.  This gets more amazing though.  When we opened the follower's blog we found a beautiful review of our baby rattles.  Turns out Mama V posted her review of our rattles today and what a wonderful review it is with beautiful pictures and glowing recommendations.  Please visit her blog at
http://6andstillsane.blogspot.com/2010/09/wooden-rattles-by-earnest-efforts.html

to enter to win an Earnest Efforts Walnut Baby Rattle and read this fabulous review.  Thank you to Mama V for making our first blogging day a success!!!

Ellie & Earnie
(aka Heather & Rick)
Posted by Earnest Efforts at 7:07 PM 1 comments

First Post

Did you know that you can roll nearly 150 yards of yarn into a ball in the time it takes to open this page to compose your first post when you're still on dial-up. 

And here we are, blogging, to we don't know who, but we hope that you find us. 

It is a beautiful clear day in Olalla, where we live, and I'm planning to take my knitting outside in the sun to make hats.  We are headed to Arcata, Calif. this week for the North Country Fair, where we have been selling for the past 12 years.  We returned home from the King's Mountain Art Fair on Wed., was home a day and then headed back to Eugene for the Saturday Market. 

Saturday Market was a perfect day...everyone was in joyful moods and eager to purchase boxes, rattles, and hats. 

Back to King's Mountain Art Fair.  It is an annual fundraiser for the local fire department and school.  If you've never been and live anywhere in the Bay Area, or Santa Cruz Co., actually anywhere within a days drive of Woodside, California, San Mateo Co., you've got to go visit this art fair.  It is set in the Redwoods on the top of a ridge overlooking the valley to the east and the Pacific to the west.

The show was amazing for us this year and last (our first).  As an artist you couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting.  The volunteers who work so hard to make this happen are friendly and inviting, and the customers are most appreciative and kind.

In the future, our plan is to keep you up-to-date on the adventures of Earnest Efforts.  We'll write to you of our travels to art festivals, to gather wood, and our latest wood working creations.  We would love to hear from you...contructive criticisms and howdys.  Make it a joyful day and remember...
Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to LAUGH.

Ellie (aka Heather)
Posted by Earnest Efforts at 10:33 AM 0 comments
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