Friday, October 11, 2024

Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show

Before the opening of the

2024 Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show

Each Season has it function here at the Annisquam Herb Farm, home of Annisquam Creations. In the Spring it is all about the gardens that are the source of raspberries, Concord grapes and figs for the preservers that are made in the Summer and Fall. Summer is for family and friends gathering and celebrating the warm weather and sunshine and tending the gardens. Fall the interests turn to Unfinished Projects - knitting, sewing and the ever present required maintenance. Winter is for reading, trying new recipes, more knitting and planning the gardens. The offerings at the Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show reflect all of these.

I have participated in this Show many years and have made friends with a few of the vendors that show up year after year with wonderful items to tempt one. Each year my items vary but include the preserves that fly off my table. this year there with over fifty new blank note cards to chose from plus hats from A Bee in Your Bonnet Collection.

What will next year bring?

PS: From Spring to October you will find some of the items at the Annisquam Exchange!

#annisquam
#annisquamcreations
#annisquamartsandcraftsshow
#annisquamexchange




Thursday, September 12, 2024

Note Card - A Nod to Alexander Calder


 

A Nod to Alexander Calder

Blank note card -


  • 5.5” x 4.25” 65 lb. Card stock with self sealing envelop
  • $4 each
  • Available at the:
  • Click on links for days & times.
  • Order yt email:
    • AnnnisquamCreation@gmail.com 
    • Pay via Venmo or PayPal

Monday, September 9, 2024

Note Card - Annisquam Light & Beach

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Annisquam Light & Beach

Blank note card -

  • 5.5” x 4.25” 65 lb. Card stock with self sealing envelop
  • $4 each
  • Available at the:
  • Click on links for days & times.
  • Order yt email:
    • AnnnisquamCreation@gmail.com 
    • Pay via Venmo or PayPal

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Blank Note Card - A nod to A. Calder



A Nod to A. Calder

  • 4.25" 5.5" 
  • Blank note card 
  • $4 with self sealing envelop 
  • Premium Cardstock, 65 lb

    Available at: 
  • Annisquam Exchange 62 Leonard St., Gloucester MA. 01930 
  • Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show
    Annisquam Village Hall October 12 -13, 2024 
  • www.instagram.com/annisquamcreations/

Blank note Card - Ballooons

Joyfilled Balloons Blanknote Card
Joyfilled Balloons

Joyfilled Balloons

            • 4.25" 5.5" Blank note card $4
            • with self sealing envelop
            • Premium Cardstock, 65 lb




  • Available at:
  •  Annisquam Exchange
    62 Leonard St., Gloucester MA. 01930
  • Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show
    Annisquam Village Hall
    October 12 -13, 2024
  • www.instagram.com/annisquamcreations/

  • Friday, August 9, 2024

    New Greeting Cards at the Exchange

    Blank Notes by Annisquam Creations

    Blank notes are 5.5" x 4.25 or 4.25" x 5.5" with envelope, $4 each

    Bookshelf - Blank Note - The design wraps around to the back of the card

    Celebrate - Pink - Blank Note also available in Blue

    Figs in Time - Blank Note

    Historic Buildings of Annisquam - Blank Note
    Friendship Quilt - Blank Note
    Friendship Quilt - Blank Note


    From the poem "A Rainy Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Blank Note

    Remember to Dance - Blank Note 


     

     

     

    at the

    Annisquam Exchange, 32 Leonard St., Gloucester MA  01930 

    Hours: Wednesday - Friday 10am - 4pm, Saturday 10am - 2pm

    Until the Weekend of October 12 - 13, 2024 

    when the Exchange will be open during the

    Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show.

    For more information:

    Facebook.com/AnnisquamExchange/   Instagram.com/The Exchange 01930

    Annisquam Exchange website  info.annisquamexchange@gmail.com

     


    Thursday, May 2, 2024

    DIY Preserving Made Easy - Raspberriy

    Putting up delicious Raspberry Preserves for home, gifts and craft fairs

    Every spring I begin to think about the Annisquam Sewing Circle Christmas Fair. Each member is asked to donate items for the Gourmet Foods Table. Preserves are always some of the first items to sell out. This year I am hoping for a bumper crop of raspberries from our ever bearing variety. Ever Bearing Raspberries can have two crops each year. I have chosen to only have the late season crop by pruning the plants in the spring. By pruning then there will be more raspberries in late summer. Our plants came from Corliss Brothers in Ipswich, Massachusetts, a wonderful nursery nearby. My suggestion is to plant the first year about half the number you think you would like. They will spread every year which will give you plenty of plants as the years go by.

    I found the best recipe in America's Test Kitchen's Foolproof Preserving: A Guide to Small Batch Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Condiments & More. The recipe is well laid out, easy to follow including beautiful photographs. The results - fabulous. A must have on your cookbook shelf! I have never made the raspberry preserve from frozen berries. Others have tried with good results. Of course there are many other recipes in this book. I will add a post on DIY Orange Marmalade soon.

    You may have some of these items or be able to purchase them locally. If not here are some links to those items on Amazon.

    Other items I have found super helpful:

    • Small digital scales - I have the OXO Good Grips 5-lb Food Scale. Easy to read. It is very helpful to have the tear option on the scale. I was able to buy one locally a number of years ago.
    • Preserving kit - There are a number on the market. I have had the Norpro Canning Tools for years & am very happy with it. The pieces I find indispensable are: the jar lifter, the magnetic lid lifter and the extra wide mouth funnel which fits the opening in the preserving jars perfectly.
    • Eight ounce Preserving Jars - I prefer the plain jars that are easier to add a label to but are not always available. Also ask your family and friends to save the jars for you. Then you will only need to buy the lids and perhaps the bands next time! Lids only.
    • Ladle - You may have a favorite ladle on hand. This one with the pouring spouts for right and left-handed cooks would be handy.
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.


    Friday, April 12, 2024

    One-of-a-Kind, Andean Style Hat Sold!




    The story of Grace's Andean style hats 

    My dear friend, Grace Murray knit over 400 hats and gave them all away to friends and to local  organizations. 

    It all started with a trip one weekend to a yarn store in Maine where she bought a book with a knit hat on the cover. The book told the story of the author's travels and of collecting the knit designs on the Andes. The next weekend she went back to the store in Maine and bought enough yarn for one hat. Shortly after that she and her husband, David were on their sailboat, stuck in the fog in a harbor in Maine where Dave read the instructions as Grace knit the edging for her first hat. She was hooked. Dave helped Grace layout different patterns for special hats depicting a sailboat or another design personalizing many of the following hats.

    When Grace could no longer knit she gave me her patterns, the book that started it all and the left over yarn. In her memory I started to knit my version of the Andean hat. All were sold at the Annisquam Arts and Crafts Show or the Annisquam Sewing Circle Christmas Fair.

    The sailboat hat was custom made for a member of the Annisquam Village as a result of the Auction shown in the video.


     AA&CS Auction of Hat

    What to Add to Your Wardrobe?

     The word from Paris!

    Will it be Ballet Flats or a Cardigan or perhaps the 2024 version of the Culotte?

    Wouldn't it be great to have someone join you to assist in reviewing your wardrobe, help get rid of the items so should never wear again and organize what you have left? I have a number of items in my closet that i take out because I like the idea of them. But after trying them on back into the closet they go. I justify that decision by saying to myself, "Once I loose some weight, or have a tan...?" or some other reason.
     
    As a "petite" myself there are a lot of trends that do not work for me: wide shouldered jackets, billowy pants and large scale prints. The question is, "What works?"

    A bulky sweater with a turtleneck jersey goes well with a slim cut trouser or jeans. A well fitting jacket color coordinated with a spot of color using a long scarf. Keep the bottom garment trim and express your self with the top. A vest in an interesting fabric or design over a turtleneck jersey works well from fall to spring, first alone and then as a layer. Tall boots with slim jeans and your bulky sweater give a younger look. 

    Find your colors and build your closet around them. That allows you the flexibility to make several combination with fewer clothes. When I am shopping I look at the color, touch the fabric, try on the garment before I look at the price tag. 
     
    No matter what the cost, it is not a bargain unless you love it.

     


    Wednesday, April 3, 2024

    Many Moons

    Calendar - Guide to Planting

    Some of us consult the current calendar for the cycles of the moon before planting our seeds.

    This beautiful calendar was published in 1617.

    Article by John Kenny

    ... despite the distractions of the modern economy and commerce, many farmers can still be found walking their fields after dark, listening to the ripening of fruit in the full moonlight or the hidden scuffling of creatures among the coops in the emptiness of a new moon.

     

    https://risdmuseum.org/node/1179371


    From Rhode Island School of Design Newsletter

    Hans Hofer, publisher
    German, 1540–1617
    Farmer's Calendar, 1617
    Woodcut with hand coloring on paper
    Plate: 29 × 17.1 cm (11 × 6 3/4 in.)
    Museum Works of Art Fund 52.286

    From the Garden: Herb Cleansing Bundles

      Clearing your environment by burning herbs Smoke cleansing is an ancient practice found in many cultures and faiths. Early written records...