Isabel Designs

Isabel Designs festival booth

This past weekend, Isabel Designs found herself exhibiting in Marlbank, Ontario at the Red Roof Women’s Festival. Our booth was made of things old, new, borrowed and blue. Not that we were headed to the alter, but it was the first time we took Isabel on the road, and our little store actually did contain all of these things. We had old drawers for shelves, an old screen door, and a well loved trellis for flaunting our wares. We borrowed a table from Dad and covered it with a blue tablecloth. A fancy banner, made by Noella, hanging under the canopy constituted our something new. All in all, I think we looked like seasoned experts – even if I do say so myself!

Sue and I had been – not so secretly – working on a few new products to introduce at the festival. After about an hour of selling, we realized we should have produced more pieces, so thank goodness we brought our tools and supplies with us! We even made custom jewelry and gifts on the spot for a few customers! To say that we were surprised and delighted by the reception we received over the weekend would be an understatement. 

Thank you to all our new customers for supporting our work and Ovarian Cancer Research. And thank you to the Red Roof Festival organizers for putting on such a great event! (I was also a performer at the festival and had a blast sharing the stage with so many talented women. See my facebook for photos).

As soon as I catch my breath, I’ll be updating the website with new jewelry and gifts. For now, I’ll leave you with photos of our weekend and a peak at our new products: SunDrops TM, Heart Catchers TM, and Garden Whispers TM. 

SunDrops TM

Heart Catchers TM

Garden Whispers TM

Eileen, Nancy & Chris on stage

Great crowd & amazing sunshine all weekend

Nancy & the High Flyer

If ever there was a guaranteed recipe for feeling like a kid again, it’s this: sunshine, wind, and a colourful piece of nylon with strings attached. If you can find a sandy beach even better, but a big green meadow will work just as well. Stir up these ingredients and you’ll find yourself flying a kite and feeling like an eight year old. That’s probably just how old I was the last time I held the reigns of a kite, and it is as amazing to me now as it was then.

It wasn’t my idea to fly the kite. I would have been content to sit on my beach chair and catch rays all afternoon. My friend Chris, on the other hand, had the kite out of the package and in the air before setting up her chair! I was simply flabbergasted at how easily the kite propelled into the sky and danced effortlessly on the wind. I certainly don’t remember it being that simple to launch a kite when I was a kid. When it was my turn to take the reigns, all of my ‘adult’ inhibitions fell to the ground and I felt like it was me up there, soaring and swaying above the clouds. Quite simply, it was fun.

Riding High

So next time you’re feeling tired after a long day, or you need to release a little stress, consider taking the kite-flying challenge. You’ll be glad you did.

If you need more details on how to fly a kite, check out this step by step on eHow.

Strings Attached!