That's just what I did today in the fabulous little town of Pendleton, South Carolina. Just a short drive from Greenville and on the Cat bus route from Clemson University, Pendleton is one of those easily overlooked towns. If you're ever in the Pickens County area, you owe it to yourself to slow the car down a bit and take a look around Pendleton.
This morning, I headed out from my base camp in Clemson to check out Pendleton and their annual Spring Jubilee. They promised talented artisans both local and from afar, and they did not disappoint. So come along on a short tour, if you will. I apologize in advance for not being able to show you everything, but I there was just too much to see and I had to pick and choose a bit or this post would have been way too long!!
Yes, Pendleton has been around for a while!
Some local musicians entertain on a stage behind Farmers Hall on the square.
Dogwoods ring the square, adding another level of loveliness to the day.
The fabulous weather brought out a large crowd.
One of the first vendors we ran across was owned by Aaron & Ann Kay of Hartwell, GA who do these whimsical garden designs. You can find out more about their work at www.kaysgardenart.blogspot.com
Darn, these things are cute!
And because everything here revolves around the Clemson Tigers, Aaron and Ann brought this little guy along.
Susan Staley of Bowman, GA brought these lovely Glass Treasures. I don't have a web address for her, but if you want her email address, just ask me.
Joe Galloway brought these lovely glass items from Huntsville, AL
Here are some more of Joe's Creations. SJS Images, Glass with Sass!
Again, I have an email address if you are interested in any of these lovely pieces. I was particularly fond of the coasters you see there on the bottom right.
I don't know about you, but all this shopping is making me hungry! At first, we were skeptical about eating anything served beneath an awning from the local funeral home, but the nice old guy doing a good imitation of a carnival barker convinced us to give it a try.
The Kielbasa w/Sauerkraut did not disappoint. And, no funeral home services were required afterwards!
Time for dessert, so we headed over to Grandma's Real Homemade Ice Cream, where the freezer was cranking out back. It brought back lots of memories of summer days when we took turns at the crank. Sure wish we'd had one of these back then!
Sarah had chocolate. I chose the Peach. We both proclaimed it an excellent choice.
Fortified, we resumed our wanderings. We came across these lovely handpainted creations by Bonnie Childers from Marion, NC
I have to confess...I bought one.
Bonnie's website is www.bonniechilders.com
These are just too precious! Look close. They're pieced together from old dress patterns!
These lovelies are the creation of Lisa Norris from Chattanooga, TN
I'd never seen anything like these before, so we stopped to chat a while with the artist, Mary Shobe form Walhalla, SC. We got a quick lesson in how Scratchboard art works.
I'm not sure you can see the detail in this, but each line is painstakingly scratched into the wax, then the image is inked and printed.
You can see more of Mary's work at www.foothills-gallery.com
Plus, I bought a couple of Mary's magnetic bookmarks to give away, so stay tuned!
And last, but by no means least, we stumbled across Alex Fong and his wonderful Chinese Paper Carvings.
We promised not to givve away any secrets, and Mr. Fong gave us a quick demonstration on how he does this. Look close. See all the folded strips of paper?
Sorry about the glare on this one,but it was just too lovely to leave out!
You can see more of Mr. Fong's work at www.alexfong.biz
Okay, that's it for today. I wish I could show you a sample of all the wonderful art work we saw today, but that just wouldn't be possible.
The Pendleton Spring Jubilee continues tomorrow, Sunday, April 8th from noon to 6 (I think)
But if you can't get there, I've got a little something for you.
Leave a comment, and I'll select three lucky people to receive a magnetic bookmark I picked up from Mary Shobe (the Scratchboard lady!). These are truly lovely and I'm tempted to keep them for myself, so if you want one, you better put your name in the hat now!
Winners will be selected on Sunday, April 15th.
Just my kind of day! The town looks and sounds like a lot of fun. Throwing my hat in the ring for one of those cute treasures you picked up. :)
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