Support a young entrepreneur - DUCT TAPE Wallets

I love it when young people take the challenge and try their hand at selling, especially if it is something they invented, created, or grew themselves. Do me a favor and check out the website of a young man who just started selling at the People's Market: http://dimondhalo.wetpaint.com/ Mr. Derek Young sells very durable and good-looking, handmade Duct Tape wallets! complete with grommet to hook up with your chain! Young craftsman only pay a $1.00 (edited because I was thinking it was $5.00!) booth fee per Sunday! Come and sell your crafts or garden produce and join the fun!
Every Sunday from now until Oct. 28th from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Good food, music, crafts, folks, and leisurely atmosphere!

Record Breaking Heat at the People's Market

The weatherman said it was officially 99 degrees in Salt Lake today. I felt it! I kind of goes contrary to the idea of school starting. Didn't we used to have cool, crisp mornings to walk to school in? Today kids ride to school in sweltering heat - but didn't school also used to start AFTER labor day? Oh well, I care not, this is my last year of teaching (quickly I knock on wood).

The People's Market located at Salt Lake City's International Peace Gardens, is really growing - lots of people today, and I bet it gets even better as fall comes upon us and the crisp air revives everyone.

My favorites at the market still have to be the young adult vendors. It is only a $5.00 booth fee for young people so it is so cool to see those young entrepreneurs trying their hand at selling. There still if lots of space for any other young vendors who'd like to join our fun! Sell fruits and vegetables from your garden or sell that cool stuff you handmake!

I've got to get the link to young Mr. Long's website. He handmakes "Duct tape" wallets. He sat next to my booth and made wallets all day long, as people watched - pretty cool. I'll put a link on - as soon as I find his card...

So, teachers went back to work last week getting ready for a new school year. We had the 7th grade students come all by themselves the Friday before school officially starts (last Friday) so they can get all the mistakes made before the 8th and 9th grade students join them (and make fun of them!) Getting their locker open is a MAJOR obstacle for most, getting to the right class at the right time is also hard the first day. Lunch and gym class are always some of the most feared tasks a first time junior high student must face. I only had two students come into the wrong class period (it's pretty bad to have to get up and leave after class has started - remember?), only one I helped was almost in tears over their locker and absolutely no one, at least that I saw, had lost their lunch money yet - that's got to be a record! All in all, a great day. Next Monday morning then, all the 8th and 9th graders go to school with the 7th graders at home, breathing deep, trying to get in control of their queezy, scared feelings for the big day when ALL students are all together in the big building down the street! All together in the school that will dominate and perhaps become the biggest part of their lives for the next 180 days! All the drama, the noise, the fears, the elation and crushes and failures! Did I mention DRAMA and NOISE? Two things I don't look forward to, too much.

Remember your locker fears? Write back and tell me your biggest fear, experience, etc. of junior high - I'd like a good collection!

Ok, I'm starting "Eclipse" tonight, the second to last in the series by Stephenie Meyer. I went through the first book, "Twilight" in one day and "New Moon" in the next two following days. Let me be very honest, I didn't much care for "Twilight". In order to relate I had to make Edward look in my mind more like an older man. Big mistake because then I couldn't get over the idea that Edward was 80+ years old so I could only see him as some kind of pedifile! - hitting on a 17 year old girl - YUCK! I just couldn't get a younger man's face to stick to my mind's picture. And I thought the author's attempt at dialog was a bit awkard so, all in all I thought maybe I'd skip the other books and say I tried, after all, I couldn't get through more than two Harry Potter books! Well thank goodness I read the second book in the series, "New Moon"! SOOOOO MUCH BETTER, (I love Jacob - I've always had a thing with Native American men! Rodney Grant, I'm still waiting for you!) - I am now hooked and can't wait to get "Eclipse" finished - hopefully in a few days also! Thanks to my two nieces for introducing me to these books! If you haven't seen the trailor for the new "Twilight" movie coming out Dec 12, check http://www.2sure.blogspot.com/ and see the copy of it there! I am going to go to the show with my nieces whether they want me or not! So save a seat!

Today's People's Market was delightful. I love it so much when people come up and say, "this is the lady I was telling you about!" and then they stand there and sell the jewelry for me! What an honor! And thank you, Leeza, for all the paper you brought to me! Wow, I was in 7th heaven. She cleaned out a bit I guess and brought old maps, Japanese paper, cool wrapping paper, and on and on! Even some pages from a book all in Russian! I don't think chocolate would have made me any happier and excited. I'm not sure Rodney Grant would have been as exciting - I am getting old! (See "Dances with Wolves" if you have forgotten Mr. Grant). Anyway I'll have some neat stuff to show next week.

School does start again tomorrow for us teachers so I won't be nearly as productive but I don't think I will run out of material for SEVERAL weeks!

Very nice to meet and talk to Dave from Texas who met and married Rosalyn from Minnesota. Both had to travel far to met here in Utah! What a cute, cute couple. I'd glad people like that have made Utah their home!

Good luck to all bow hunters. If you see a large, VERY LARGE WOLF-like creature out there, DO NOT SHOOT IT! Rick, do you hear me?!!

Aug 10 Sell, Sell, Sell

Tonight my hands hurt. I've rolled way too many beads in getting ready for a Saturday show/party set up by my good friend at work. Then the very next day, Sunday morning I was back at the People's Market. Most of the pieces shown in the slide show are now living in the homes of their new owners!

The weather was spectacular for the Farmer's / People's Market! A very cool morning (compared to what we have had lately) and just barely started to heat enough to form rain clouds after we had packed up and gone.

Most spectacular thing happened at the Market today! I looked up to see a woman standing in front of my table with a very familiar face. I couldn't believe it was one of my old traveling companions from Eastern Airlines, who I haven't seen since 1989 when Eastern went out of business. Four of us girls who worked in reservations at Eastern Airlines, flew to Paris, Rome and Athens - pretty much backpacking around those cities for about 7-10 days. I had the absolute time of my life there. I figure we must have done this in about 1985 by my best recollection. We four lost track of each other after the downfall of Eastern Airlines and here before me was one of the "backpacking in Europe" girls! I actually thought I was going to cry! She looked great, heck we both look great with all the passing years! Looks like her son is going to get a booth here at the Market and sell his duct-tape wallets! I'm so thrilled to be able to talk with her more! Maybe I could even find those old photographs... hmm, where to start looking?

I have a lot of special orders to do this week and I only have a week to work on them because I start back to school for my, hopefully, final year of teaching (wahoo) a week from tomorrow.
Has the summer gone by fast or what?
I'm going to make beads out of the napkins used by a lady for her sons birth celebration, going to do a necklace for a lady who found paper with just the right colors she likes and hopefully another love note necklace a son wants to give his Mom! Cool!

Even newer recycled products jewelry

Aug 3rd at People's Market

First of all, I don't ever want my booth at the People's Market to be placed next to wonderful ladies making fresh Navajo Tacos ever again! It's not that I didn't like the ladies - they were a wonderful mother/daughter team and I loved talking to them. It's also not because that they had the most cutest ever little grandson/son who was so frightened of flying insects. (I got the glory of saving him from a bee!) No and it is not because I didn't appreciate all the business that had to pass by my booth as customers waited for their own huge, fresh, fragrant Navajo Tacos - AUTHENTIC Navajo Tacos! See the problem was that I absolutely had to have one and as quick as you can say, "up one more pant size", there went my diet - delayed for another day! (I was 2 whole hours into my new diet!)
Oh my gosh was that fresh, hot fry bread to die for! And topped with beans, (not just canned chili like some places) cheese, onions, lettuce.... I'm drolling again. And of course you could get the fresh fry bread with honey butter also! Oh please I must talk about something else, Like:
How about the never ending free samples of Jamba Juice! Yes, I said "never ending and free" samples! They are going to start selling Jamba Juice in grocery stores now - in bottles - so everyone at the Market got samples all morning long! If I'd had a pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I really would have thought I had died and gone to heaven!
Funny thing is they sold out completely of the Navajo Tacos before my husband came to help me pack up and all the Jamba Juice was gone! And No, I didn't want to go out to dinner when I was still so full I could hardly walk! Besides he needed to clean up those leftovers at home anyway!

Last week I did the marathon bead making! I figure about 1500 beads rolled, dipped in polyacrylic and then 16 new necklaces made. I'll have some pictures of some of the new styles and papers hopefully this week.

Many people have ask about lessons in bead making. If you will post a comment to me about whether or not that would interest you - I'll see if just a blog or doing a hands-on class in Murray area would be better!