Fall Shopping Guide

Whether this is your first Sugarloaf Crafts Festival or you’ve attended many shows already, there is a lot to see. We thought we’d highlight a handful of interesting and fun artisans to get you off to a good start!

Make your time in the kitchen just a little more pleasurable with high quality kitchen utensils by Jonathan’s Spoons. These spoons are designed with function and beauty in mind - made from exotic woods and meant to last a very long time. Many have notches carved into the handle so you can rest the spoon on the side of the pan. Jonathan’s wooden serving tongs fold flat for storage so they slide easily into a drawer.

Mark Mowen of Mowen Leather Designs creates drum dyed leather purses, clutch bags and wallets from a variety of textured and non-textured leathers including cow, ostrich and alligator. He has recently added items made with eco-friendly tanned leathers which are especially color rich and soft to the touch.

As the weather turns colder, stay warm and dry with felted wool coats, jackets, shawls and hats by Cindy Anne Creations. Cindy’s imaginative designs and textured wools will brighten the grayest and coldest  winter day!

A party costume is always at hand with a pair of clip on animal ears by Kritter Clips. Not just for children, these faux fur accessories can hide in your purse or pocket when not in use. When you’re ready to unleash your inner animal, they snap on in seconds.

Elaine Thompson’s fine art paintings and prints reveal wolves, deer and other wildlife having a heck of a time in storybook fashion. She’s got Busking Huskies strumming guitar and playing the drums and a pair of Shimmying Sheep dancing in the moonlight.

You’ll find it easy to eat more veggies using the recipes from Berkshire Sweet Gold Maple Farm. This family run farm in Heath, Massachusetts produces light, medium, dark and black gold maple syrup. They provide dozens of recipes for using their syrup in desserts, but also in veggie, meat and fish-centered dishes. Warm beverages can be sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of refined sugar.

If you or someone you know is the kind of sports fan who lives for the next game, check out these 3D replicas of famous ballparks and stadiums by Home Fields. Chris Skovira and Ken Small create 120 different ball fields and stadiums in 3D, complete with floodlights and a detailed history of each venue.

Perhaps you’d like to travel more? Check out Mark Miller’s Fine Art photographs of iconic images like the Eiffel Tower, Amsterdam’s canals and vast Alaskan landscapes. His photos are reproduced on canvas and as glossy aluminum prints with an attached floating frame.

Despite the wonders of technology, we often do our best creating offline, with pen and paper. Evergreen Mountain Pens makes elegant ballpoint, roller ball and fountain pens as well as mechanical and sketch pencils. Their pens are true conversation pieces incorporating many non-traditional materials like recycled watch parts and antler wood! Since the company is based in Santa Claus, Indiana, you can honestly say  Christmas gifts from Evergreen Mountain Pens came straight from Santa Claus!

We can’t wait to see you at our fall Sugarloaf Craft Festivals!

School’s Out Forever For This Art Teacher Turned Jewelry Maker

Meet Sugarloaf jeweler Amanda Hagerman! 

While students and teachers everywhere are setting their sights on another school year, Amanda Hagerman, a former high school art teacher, works in her home studio according to her own rhythms, no longer governed by the school calendar.

After graduating from college with a double major in metal work and teaching, she started her teaching career thinking she eventually incorporate metal work into her curriculum. Unfortunately, it turned out that the MD school where she taught wasn’t set up to accommodate her jewelry making machinery. Meanwhile the other demands of full time teaching left her little time or energy to pursue her artwork on the side. Her dream of continuing to make jewelry while also teaching was starting to seem unattainable.

The equipment sat unused for a long time but she just couldn’t bring herself to get rid of it.

Difficult Balancing Act

When she and her husband bought a new home with extra space in 2013, she quickly began setting up a home studio. She decided to treat her jewelry making as a business instead of a hobby and started participating in craft shows. Before long it was getting more and more difficult to juggle jewelry making with teaching and she knew she would have to make a decision between the two.

Taking the Plunge

In January 2016, she went full time with the jewelry making. Right now she is still building a following, doing as many craft shows and galleries as she can. She’s passionate about creating truly handcrafted art for the public. Her jewelry pieces are all made from scratch.

Even as a handcrafting artist, she realizes she has a responsibility not to add to the over consumption problem. She buys almost 100% recycled  argentium silver and she researches the sourcing of her diamonds to find conflict-free stones. She does not want to support the abusive practices rampant in the diamond industry.

Though she isn’t a school teacher anymore, she still schedules summer vacations. This year she traveled to the Pacific northwest with plans to spend as much time in nature as possible. While her former colleagues are crafting lesson plans, she’ll be carefully forging the shapes and textures of nature into new jewelry pieces.

Artist Focus: Fine Art Photographer Kyle Wilson

Based in Clayton, NC, photographer Kyle Wilson of Left Behind Photography has a mission with every snapshot he takes: to capture the beauty of everyday objects and rarely-viewed scenes in a unique way. The fine art photographer is an expert at immortalizing rustic scenes, from abandoned trucks and sinking ships to pastoral landscapes with 100-year old structures. Despite the subject matter, Wilson’s body of work tends to have a colorful, awe-inspiring aesthetic thanks in part to his expertise in applying cutting-edge digital photography techniques. The result is seemingly simple scene that tells a dramatic narrative.

Wilson uses HDR — high-dynamic range imaging — which are colorful and bright, giving the appearance of a painting. The juxtaposition between Wilson’s aging subject matters (rusty vehicles and abandoned structures, for example) and the modern technique make Wilson’s photographs truly unique. The award-winning photographer sells his work at Sugarloaf Craft Festivals as well as various art shows throughout Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio. Make sure to stop by his booth at an upcoming Sugarloaf show to see his photographs in person! And don’t forget to explore more photographers represented at Sugarloaf Craft Festivals.

Top Sugarloaf Snacks & Treats for Dad

Make Father’s Day extra-tasty with some specialty treats made by Sugarloaf’s specialty foods makers. Whether you create your very own custom dad-themed basket with beer, hot sauce and spices or surprise pops with sweet treats made by the best candy-makers and bakers, you’ll find great ideas with Sugarloaf’s makers. Here are our top three Sugarloaf food makers for a special Father’s Day gift.

1.     Torchbearer Sauces — If your dad’s into spicy stuff, you can’t go wrong with Torchbearer Sauces’ variety of tasty hot sauces. Perfect for your dad’s day barbecue, the Pennsylvania brand’s sauce flavors include options made with ghost chili peppers, curry, habanero and more.

2.     Babunya’s Gourmet — Owner Thomas Kostiw says his spices are good on anything that walks, swims or flies. Offering a range of specialty spice blends and tasty treats (venison samosas, for one), you’re sure to find something that will tickle dad’s taste buds with Babunya’s Sugarloaf booth.

3.     Leonard Mountain, Inc. — Dad will drool over Leonard Mountain’s selection of packaged treats, including soups, olives, chili, breads and dips. Their popular Dirty Drink Mixes are also a great choice for dads who love a strong mixed drink!

The Art of Woodworking - Learn More!

Sugarloaf Craft Festivals is proud to host a wide variety of wood crafters each season. Our artists hand-craft ornamental and decorative pieces, such as wall-hangings, tabletop carvings and sculptures, as well as pieces that are made to be used, such as hand-turned pens, serving bowls, salt and pepper shakers and clocks. We even host a variety of woodworkers who make wearable wooden art, such as wooden eyeglass frames!

Definitions of Woodworking Styles

All types of woodworkers are represented at Sugarloaf Craft Festivals. Here are some of the most popular woodworking styles applied by our makers.

·       Wood Carving — Wood carvers use sharp cutting tools to craft an ornamental design or figure. This medium requires removing portions of the wood to leave behind a relief that creates a unique design. Wood carvers may make decorative wall hangings, clocks, architectural elements and picture frames.

·       Wood Turning — Using a lathe (a turning machine designed for shaping or cutting wood), turners use a stationery tool to cut, shape and manipulate the wood as it turns. The most popular wood-turned crafts include serving bowls, pepper grinders and fountain pens.

·       Furniture-Making — Furniture-makers who use wood as their primary medium typically use joinery to connect components. However, some furniture-makers carve furniture from a single piece of wood.

·       Wood-Burning — Also called pyrography, wood burning is the art of using a heated object to create decorations on the surface of the wood. Wood-burned crafts include hanging wall art, clocks and ornaments.

Artist Focus: Textile Artist Janey Harrington

Nearly 20 years ago, artist Janey Harrington discovered a way to blend two of her passions — textile work and painting — to create stunning displays featuring hand-painted silk. Decades later, Harrington has perfected the art, creating a wide variety of unique silk crafts featuring her one-of-a-kind, painted-on pieces under the name Silk Creations by Janey. The Annapolis-based artist makes elegant and airy textiles — including scarves, shawls, head wraps and more — that use vibrant colors and shapes that mimic the appearance of watercolor or stained glass.

Almost all of Harrington’s designs are directly inspired by the Earth, with decorative elements taken from flowers, the ocean, the sky, fire, dragonflies and more. She also creates eye-catching pieces in

motifs inspired by retro themes like geometrics as well as nautical styles featuring sailboats and seascapes. Some of her creations are finished with beautiful hand-knotted fringe and three-dimensional accents to give them a detailed and ornamental appearance. You can find Silk Creations by Janey at an upcoming Sugarloaf Crafts Festival. Be sure to check the schedule to find an event near you!