Day 13 - The News and A Valentine Tag

Today I found out that a few of my pictures of the CRFM (Coventry Regional Farmers Market) were on the news, and I'm not talking just local news I'm talking national news. The story is on FOX affiliated sites. I was happy to see that they chose my pictures to be part of their story. The farmers market has wonderful subject matter and makes for some great pictures. I just wish that it could have been for a happier story.

The farmers market had some trouble and couldn't come to terms for a new lease with the owners of the site where they held the market. This means that the market needs to find a new home. They have found a perfect spot for the market but the problem seems to be getting the permits needed to hold the market there. The town has been delaying things by continuing the meeting along. Monday will be the third time they will meet about the special permit required for the market. I hope that all goes well and they do get approved. If they don't get approved and the market doesn't have a new home by the last week in January there may not be a market to go to this year. :( Oh and they won this wonderful barn that's suppose to be built this year for them and the new site would allow the barn to be there...going somewhere else might mean no barn. It's all very sad. Many farmers rely on the market and many people, myself included, rely on it to get our fresh local produce, meats, eggs, cheeses, and goodies.

If you want to see the news story about all this and see my photographs you can find it here: Los Angeles Times. The photographs of mine that were used are the one of the produce and the one of Buttercup the calf. Please send some good thoughts and wishes this way for the market.

Now onto today's creative crafty thing, a tag. A tag...boring...wrong. Make them cool and fun. I make them from scraps of paper/card stock. Here's what you need: a tag for tracing, glue, scissors,a hole punch, pretty things to decorate with (I used watercolor paints, stamps, glitter, foam tape and a sticker,) and string or ribbon for the tie of the tag.

I trace the tag onto the paper or card stock that I'm going to make my tag out of, in this case the pink paper. I then cut it out and punch the hole in it where the string is going to go later on. I then stamped my "Thinking of You" bubble stamp on a piece of white paper with archival ink and cut it out. A fabric heart sticker was placed in the lower left hand corner of the tag and glued little heart shaped glitter going up to where the thought bubble is going to be. I then used some double sided foam tape to secure the "Thinking of You" bubble down to the tag. Taking some pink water color paints and painted around the outside edged of my bubble and framed in the words. Finishing off the tag is some dark pink, light pink and white string for tying the tag to something.

You could use anything and decorate the tag in any way for any occasion. I just keep the same starting tag, my white one, for tracing. It's a nice way to add a little handmade personal touch to a gift.