Moving News!
Dearest fans, friends, and customers:
We are excited to announce that Sweet Tarragon is moving! It’s sudden, but things have come together extraordinarily fast, so we’ve needed to make a very quick decision: over the next few weeks and months, we’ll be moving to Buffalo, New York.
Our last show in Eastern PA for the foreseeable future will be the Indiemade Craft Market in Bethlehem, PA this Saturday, June 12. Once we have settled in from the move, we plan to focus on our website, adding new creations and old favorites to the online store while we find our footing in the amazing Buffalo art scene. We thank you for your support over the last few years at local shows and festivals and hope to see you online. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Spotted Hill Farmfest!
Ok, I realize this is the 11th Hour, but Sweet Tarragon will be vending at the Spotted Hill Farmfest on Saturday, May 15th. It’s a new show, but there will be plenty of fantastic crafters there besides us, and it’s worth coming out just to meet Donna, the event coordinatrix, farm owner and all-around fabulous goat-farming eccentric.
Anyway, there will be demos of spinning and fibercraft and goatkeeping, tours, cute animals to pet and-also-nubian-goats-probably-which-aren’t-so-cute, and an honest to goodness alpaca seminar. There will also be games and food and a general commitment to have a good time. Stop by!
Click here to get directions to the show.
(Click here to see a picture of Donna being smooched by a goat. I couldn’t think of any other way to work this picture in.)
Boyertown Farmer’s Market 2010 Season
If you’re local to the Pottstown/Boyertown/Gilbertsville area, and you’re looking for a source of local veggies, cheeses, crafts, baked goods, coffee, and other wholesome goodness, look no further than the Boyertown Farmer’s Market, located in the parking lot of the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles at 100 S. Walnut Street. Some of our favorite vendors, like Spotted Hill Farm, will be there, and I’ve heard a rumor that the Hard Bean Cafe will be serving up the coffee on-site. We participated in the market last year, and it’s a delightful way to spend a few hours on a Saturday with sunshine and great company, so I’m delighted that we will be back for a second season (on irregular weekends – check our locations page for details.
The market’s regular season begins on June 5, and continues every Saturday through the end of October, from 10AM-1PM. They’re planning a winter market this year, too, with abbreviated hours so you can shop from your favorite non-frozen vendors. 
More info about dates, the winter market, and special events (like Bug Fest!) is available here.
Hope to see you there!
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Benefit
This Sunday afternoon in Downingtown, PA, we will be joining a select group of artists, musicians, and vendors at a private wine and cheese event to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All artists and vendors will be donating a portion of the day’s proceeds to the cause, and we’re pleased that we can participate.
This is one in a series of local events being held for the same cause – if you’re in the area, please check them out:
- Friday, April 30: Cross Roads Tavern, 101 West Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown: the owner will be donating 10% of sales from 8PM to close. Bob Stanley’s rock band will be playing, and they’ll be serving jello shots. No cover charge.
- Saturday, May 1: Primavera Pizza Kitchen, 853 East Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown: the owner will be donating 10% of sales from 5PM to close. (Regular menu applies.) Big Daddy (formerly Skin Tight) will take the stage at 9:00. No cover charge.
Visit our locations page for other upcoming shows and events!
Magazine Feature
The new issue of Copper Wire Jewelers Magazine is out, with tons of featured artists (including Sweet Tarragon!) and great articles, including one by yours truly covering the basics of search engine optimization for artists and crafters. These are basic, non-technical tips that are useful whether you’re using a market like etsy, have your own website, or perhaps a wicked plum shop. We (as hot glue media) were also proud sponsors of this issue, and are happy to have provided a revamped look and feel for the magazine.
Visit Creative Grease for an excerpt from my article, take a peek at the embedded issue below, or visit the Copper Wire Jewelers Ning group for more goodness!
Today is Brought to you by the Letter S
S is for Show
We have our first show of the spring season tonight – we’ll be at the Goshen Fire Company in West Chester, PA from 5-10 PM. Proceeds from the show benefit the Alzheimer’s Association and Memory Walk 2010. If you’re in the area, please stop by!
S is for Snow
We were scheduled to have our second spring show this Saturday at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in Plymouth Meeting. Mother Nature seems to think that everyone in our area should stay home on Saturday – the weathermen are currently predicting 6-12 inches – so the event planners have wisely postponed the show until Sunday. We can’t make the Sunday show due to prior commitments, but there will be plenty of other crafters there, so do stop by if you’re not snow-bound.
S is for Sweet Tarragon
Well, OK, that was probably an obvious one. We’re settling into our new home on the web quite happily – if you’re reading this via RSS and haven’t seen the new blog and store, please stop on by! I’ve got scads of new item pictures to upload; if you’re interested in knowing when new items are added, you can subscribe to the items feed.
New Site, New Blog!
Welcome to Sweet Tarragon’s new, improved online home! Things are a bit dusty at the moment, so please bear with us as we set up shop.
Hello Bluebird!
I’m very excited to announce that there’s a new boutique opening in Reading, and even more excited to say that Sweet Tarragon will be a part of it! The grand opening for Hello Bluebird is this Thursday, September 3rd, from 5-9 PM, in concert with Reading’s First Thursday celebration. Many of the artists, including yours truly, will be on hand for this marvelous event – I hope to see you there!
Changes are Afoot
If you’ve talked to Mer and I over the past year or so, you know we’ve been busy. Busy busy. Crazy busy. We’re running around selling jewelry and building websites and working jobs and neglecting basics like vacuuming and dishes, and it’s gotten to the point that something has got to give. So, we’ve sat down and thought about it, and decided to pursue the path of fewest pants — we’re shaking things up a bit and going full time freelance.
Cue the gasp orchestra.
What does this mean? For us, it’s a massive revolution in lifestyle. For YOU, it doesn’t mean a heck of a lot except to know that we’re officially open for business, and what was a small side thing is now our bread and butter. We design websites, we do graphics and logos, we host internet things, we do copywriting and copyediting, we produce new media content, we advise you on your new media content, we can design email advertising and newsletter layouts, we can fix your computer, and we can talk to your group of people about all that and a lot more.
We’re not begging you to hire us*, we’re just asking that you keep us in mind during your day to day. Does your company hire freelancers or temps for projects? Do you know someone who wants to sell things online? Does your church want to teach its members about sane internet use? Heck, does your church’s website need updating? We’re open for business and ready and willing to do what you need. Our prices are good, and like all new freelancers we’re a little bit desperate for work.
So, please, keep us in mind. If you’re not sure if we can do something, call, ask, email, tweet or send up smoke signals. We’re not just flexible, adaptable and good at finding fixes to problems, we’ve also both had bizarre careers that left Mer and I with a strange and broad collection of skills. Check out our newly revamped website to find out more.
So what about Sweet Tarragon? It’s no secret that we really dig the jewelry thing. We’ll be taking a bit of a break from that in the coming year to pour all of our energy into hot glue media, where it needs to be right now. We have plenty of shows booked through September, so we’ll be finishing out the season, and we plan to keep going with our consignment gigs, home shows, and custom work. Sweet Tarragon will still be open for business, but on a much smaller scale.
*That’s a lie. Yes, we are.
Of Towels and Infomercials
You’ve seen the Sham-Wow commercials, right? There’s this coked-out guy wearing a headset who’s trying everything possible to convince you that you’re an idiot for not wanting to buy a couple of synthetic chamois. “C’mon,” he sneers, “you’re just going to spend $25 a month on paper towels anyway.”
Wait… what? Do people actually do that? Last time I checked, paper towels cost about a dollar a roll, so this guy is telling me that it’s conceivable for a family to use a whole roll a day. That’s nuts.
I’ll freely admit that I like to keep paper towels on hand for cleaning up cat barf and other really gross things, but that adds up to about 3 rolls of paper towels a year, total. No kidding. The rest of the time, I reach for my trusty pile of kitchen towels. I spent those 25 bucks once about 10 years ago on a huge pile of towels at a sale somewhere, and they’ve served me well, even through five years of catering. They wash dishes, they dry dishes, they polish silver, they handle hot things out of the oven, they wipe things up off the floor, they scrub dirty shoes, they do everything — and they look it. They smell kinda funny, and they have holes and stains and ratty edges, but it’s not like I put them out as napkins for company, either.
If you’re in the market for reusables, or want to bone up a bit on the subject, be sure to check out this excellent article on paper vs. reusable towels by Tara of Handmade in PA.
