The beautiful new sign at the Atkinson Community Center looks festive advertising the Holiday Market with a light snow falling.  It was a beautiful sight and although attendance was probably affected a bit, there were still many visitors spreading the holiday cheer.

This fair is in a quaint small, one-story building with artisans/vendors in all the rooms. Once again a little adjustment of my display is needed for this small room with 2 artisans in it, but I think ahead and it's no problem.  My neighbor was Ellen Faulconer of designs by elf who does decorative painting and also teaches painting.

Ellen's website is:  http://designsbyelf.com/

Ellen and her husband would turn the lights off as they lit these glass boxes with her beautiful paintings on them. The ambiance was lovely.  I think the lights should have stayed off, it looked so pretty and peaceful.

In the hallway were the tables with the raffles, 50/50 and combo baskets, and also the festive Christmas Tree.

The large main room was filled with many vendors all around the room and others in the center.  There were 3 other small rooms I didn't get to photograph, so there were interesting things to check out everywhere.

Pam was my first customer of the day and she bought an ornament gourd!!!!!  If anyone has read my recent previous blogs, my adorable ornament gourds haven't sold as I thought they would.  I love them.  I love miniatures and I love gourds.  I started by growing and decorating for the holidays big birdhouse gourds.  But with NH's short growing seasons, fungus problems on the vines and then mold when trying to dry them, I resort to purchasing some that are thick and beautiful from a supplier.

I decorate the gourds attaching to the ribbon around the neck of the gourd to easily remove and then hang outside.

One heart I make that always sells on the first day it's displayed is this Spalted Tamarind wood heart with Abalam heart inlay.  It is just so incredible that it is hard to resist.

Leslie, a volunteer for the women's organization that puts on these Atkinson events, bought the smaller one that I had made, and Jeff and Michelle bought the larger one. I think Leslie has the most vibrant smile of anyone I've ever photographed for my blogs. Jeff and Michelle had great stories to tell me about their own and their friends' personal experiences with the Tamarind trees in the Caribbean and Florida (both places I think).  How the fruit is in these long pods and pretty delicious and how the trees were affected by the hurricanes.  The stories I hear from customers is part of why I do my blogs....I have to share them.

Sometimes I have been asked for a log basket type of arrangement but smaller/lower for a dining room table and of course I can accommodate.  I made one at this show on the fly and someone bought it right after I was done.  She didn't want to have her picture taken (no problem!) but I did tell her that I would talk about her buying it for her dinner party the next day and she laughed.  Looks like a really beautiful centerpiece!  

Jan needed an arrangement for a small table and she purchased this boxwood arrangement in a holiday mug.  That will last way into the next year if she is a faithful waterer. 

This large boxwood arrangement in a keepsake ceramic container did not sell here in Atkinson and I will be selling it at my last show at the Intown Manchester's Holiday Market on Thursday for a reduced price.  I will also have reduced prices on my log baskets. Hope to see you there and thanks for reading!