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Tag: Portland

  • More markets in 2026 already!

    More markets in 2026 already!

    Fry me for an oyster, I thought surely everyone would take a long nap after the holidays like all good hard working bees, and probably not rustle up any markets until like March but boy was I wrong! And how, smile.

    I’m now already booked for TWO markets, in January and February 2026 respectively. I’ve added these to my Show Schedule page, but I’ll list them here too in case anyone is actually reading this blog. Be sure to follow me on any of my socials below for latest updates at all times – sometimes there are last minute changes or corrections.

    I’m laughing as I type this – I thought I’d probably do hardly any craft shows or markets as I was slowly spinning things up last July 2025. (I was left stranded at my last show in 2011 right before I stopped walking in January 2012 from my EDS onset cascade.) Boy was I wrong! Lol. Silly Jan – this is Portland! Home of the super creative and crafty folk. (Including me.)

    Find me next at:

    • Radical Harvest Craft Faire Sat/Sun 1/10 and 1/11 from 12-5 pm at Allgood Brewing Co 2425 SE 35th Pl, Portland, OR 97214. Free entry, food, drinks, crafts, clothing swap and fun. Bring the kids!
    • Spot Market Valentine’s Day weekend Sat/Sun 2/14 and 2/15 back in the Lloyd Center (details TBD). Likely 12-5 Saturday, 12-5 Sunday as usual but I’ll update once we know. Also free, kid-friendly, with complimentary beverages (wine and jamaica tea) and an hourly raffle. This market is always fun.

    I seriously did not expect to be doing regular markets, but since finding so many indoors and doing so well so far, I’m managing. I don’t need a tent for these, and I’ve found a way to wrangle a couple of small tables that are sufficient for my needs.

    Yes, I’m always completely wrecked after, but, that’s my life with EDS. I could lie in bed, or I can get up and bust a move and meet all you great folks instead. I much prefer the latter, since I’m gonna be in pain either way. (Yes, I have to recover from the latter to be sure. I don’t share that bit, it’s pretty boring – I lie moaning in bed, struggling to re-arrange all my bones back into their proper upright positions. Tray tables are much easier, I promise.)

    A la prochaine. Jan 12/30/25 (Happy New Year!)

  • Winter markets I’m attending 2025

    I just hatched an Upcoming Shows page to share my growing winter market schedule with you all as I suddenly started to get booked up! (I had to do some juggling for a minute as some of the markets collided with each other, phew!) Keep up with the latest news always on all my socials here:

    Anyway, in case you don’t find that page, know that you can catch me THIS weekend,Saturday December 6th at Woodmere Elementary School for their Winter Bazaar 11-5. Located at 7900 SE Duke, Portland, OR 97206. Free, we have warm refreshments and a raffle and a scavenger hunt too! Park in front of the school off Duke, enter in the middle, and find loads of super crafty and talented artists and vendors in the cafeteria, and ALSO in the gym! (Don’t forget the gym! – I’ll be just left of the gym entrance after you enter.) I’ll be debuting my first 5″x7″ prints too ($10 each), thanks to the kind staff at Art Supply Store (formerly I’ve Been Framed) on SE Foster who helped me find proper packaging. (Thank you!) Come and see!

    Then I’ll be at the Clackamas County Gleaners Christmas Bazaar NEXT Saturday Dec 13th, from 10-4 pm 13821 Fir Street, Oregon City, OR 97045 (just off 213)*. Free, not sure if there’s a raffle, but pretty sure we’ll have refreshments. Dress warm, it’s in their unheated warehouse where they sort all the gleaned food they save for hungry families in the area. This is an amazing program that literally saves tons of perfectly good food from grocery stores that would otherwise be tossed. I’ve seen it, and it’s amazing. (I’m picky, and don’t like anything too old, and I was blown away by what they saved back in 2019! If you live in the area, you should check them out.)

    *Note this is a change to the previous address I had (I just caught the update on Facebook! Eek! It was 13895 before, and now I have to update all my marketing materials, sigh.) Onward…

    Then, last but not least (for now), on Sunday 12/14 12-5 pm I’ll be at the Spot Market in the old GAP store space in the Lloyd Center Mall next to Macy’s on the second (middle) level. (Not at the east end by Marshall’s as my flyer mistakenly read, sorry, my bad!) They have killer refreshments (wine and hibiscus tea) and an hourly raffle for all shoppers that buy something. The Food Court 5000 may come through once or twice too – they’re a dedicated bunch of joyful mall walkers who start up in the 3rd level food court and cruise around the whole mall with loud jazzy music!

    There’s lots going on at the Lloyd Center that whole weekend, so don’t be too distracted, and forget to stop by and see us! :)

    a colorful floor plan showing the Spot market in the old GAP store location next to Macy's in the Lloyd Center
    Find the Spot Market by Macy’s on the second (middle) level of the mall

    Hope to see you here or there! Jan – December 5, 2025

  • Catch the Sleeping Bees at Spot Market 10/12/25!

    I always bring a pack of my small photo notecards with me when I’m exploring potential markets and stores. And almost every time I go out. It’s so hard to convey their incredible colors otherwise.

    I did just that, when I headed out to find the new to me “Spot Market PDX” in the Lloyd Center Mall in NE Portland, Oregon yesterday, Saturday the 11th. Silly me, I didn’t read the notice closely, and ended up stumbling on an entirely different but equally wonderful small artisan market – the Spectrum Market, for the LGBTQIA community. It was also wonderful, so many great artists with loads of cute and useful things, and whimsy. I highly recommend it! But, being straight, they weren’t so interested in me.

    It also took me over 30 minutes to realize this wasn’t the SPot Market! Which uses a lot of ladybugs and spots for their marketing. Indeed, the vendors and market manager confirmed it was upstairs as they began packing up at 5 pm.

    So I headed upstairs, and lucky me, I caught the last hour of the Spot Market after I found it all the way at the east end of the mall, near the old Marshall’s store (near NE 15th) on the left. And I bumbled in again. And met some more wonderful vendors and artisans. Who all raved about my cards. And even bought one!

    But I kept sharing my sleeping bees photos from last July, with the sweet shot and the “After Party” shot cued up in my photos (after I found it again – I take a LOT of photos all the time)! And then they announced there were two vendor openings the next day (Sunday Oct 12th). And the lovely watercolor artist I was with nudged me to inquire. I did, and they said “come tomorrow!” Boom! that simple! (Well, I did show some of my cards.)

    I was so inspired by this wonderful development, and the interest in my duo of sleeping bee images, that I stayed up way too late tonight (last night), and went ahead and developed the images and produced the first cards featuring them shown here:

    Photo of a notecard made with a photo of six longhorn bees sleeping neatly and sweetly away around the center of a red and yellow Gaillardia flower.
    Sleeping sweetly July 16th
    Photo of a large notecard with a photo of a gang of longhorn bees dangling from the tattered petals of a bedraggled Gaillardia flower. Looking like they were on a bender.
    The After Party 7/17.
    Photo showing a pair of small colorful photo notecards, one in portrait view the other landscape featuring the sleeping bees from the other two shots.

    I haven’t even been able to update my online catalog just yet, things are happening so fast! I’m not unhappy – just trying to keep up! I feel a bit like the bees in the “After Party” shot in the middle above, which is the shot I got the next day after I went back with my Nikon to try catching them sleeping sweetly again.

    No dice! Lol. They gave me the finger, and were ALL clustered on that poor bedraggled Gaillardia shown. Not a one was in the still fresh flowers that were still available. Oh no. Nope. They looked like a biker gang on a bender, giving me the bee finger! That’ll teach me to forget my camera! Ha ha!

    As I told someone again, the best camera to have is the one you have on you when the opportunity (shot) presents itself. Don’t underestimate your phone cameras folks! You can see the results are nothing to sneeze at!

    Speaking of which, the images above aren’t the best because I had already packed up my spot light that helps brighten them up. I’ll try to produce some new, better ones soon, hopefully. I’ll also try to get some up on eBay right away too.

    Oh yeah, you can also get Multnomah Falls from me IN PERSON! Else just at Crystal Heart Boutique in Hillsboro for now. Cheerio.

  • My First Last Thursday as Photograbee July 2025

    My First Last Thursday as Photograbee July 2025

    It was a hare-brained move, and a little premature, but… I realized on Monday July 28th that Portland’s traditional arts fair known as “Last Thursday” on NE Alberta Street (from 15th to 30th) was going to be happening THAT WEEK!

    And, while I wasn’t entirely ready for it, I figured – what the heck? I got nothing to lose, and might even make a sale or two. I’m only selling a couple of my finer images (not shown on here yet) in person still, including Multnomah Falls and Midnight Red Hibiscus. And some odds and ends I may or may not keep selling. (Images that is.)

    I trip-chained on my way, grabbing some more supplies at Office Depot to keep this business going. Then I found I was hungrier than expected on my way despiting eating lunch before, so I grabbed some fast food on the way that I knew I’d regret later. (I did, and how, ow, thanks MCAS – not.) But it is better for me to keep my blood sugar stable and my belly full than to run on empty. I’m glad I did. I also learned just how outrageous prices are getting. I won’t say what I got from where, but the price was easily DOUBLE what it was just over a year ago, gulp! Like, a small fountain drink was $3.99~! Yikes! (I rarely eat fast food – I’ve been fetching my houseless friend Larry his favorite hamburger now and then is all.)

    I hadn’t been to Last Thursday in over ten years, and research showed it was still running the same as before: first come, first served (you snag your spot as early as possible), no fee to artists (THANK YOU), and clean up promptly after and let traffic back through at 9 pm. Roger that. I got there right around 5 pm. Almost too late, but not quite. (I will try to arrive even earlier next time.)

    Photo showing a blue folding cart on wheels with an array of very colorful cellophane wrapped photo notecards in and around some whicker baskets. A sign in front lists prices, and a colorful golden honeybee image catches the eye.

    I only packed one small folding blue cart and stool, as I am disabled from EDS and had no help along, and that worked well, thankfully. (Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way I like to say.) I cannot swing the full canopies anymore – not alone, anyway. And even with help, they are a lot of work. (I’ve been there and done that, and was left stranded once by a friend who had promised to help.)

    Anyway, I made it. The weather was perfect – sunny, but not too hot. Only the lightest of breezes. (I’ve done street fairs before, and wind is as big a problem as rain, trust me.) I came prepared with duct tape, wet wipes, a garbage bag, markers, clothes pins, business cards, my note-cards, a sign, and cash for change. I was even able to help my neighbor with a few things during the event. (I met the amazing Cole Reed from OpenHausPDX.com. Great resource.)

    And it worked! I sold about half of what I brought, which again, was better than nothing. And, I enjoyed no less than two fun bands marching up and down the street and playing and dancing. One was called “Couch Brass”, the other “The Samba Band”.

    My biggest issue was getting gassed out by the super cute but unfortunately smokey two-cycle “Curiosity Cart” that rolled by. I’ve become much more sensitive to such fumes in my dotage, and yup, I was super sick for the next two days between that and the bad foodI wolfed on the way.

    I also ran out of small notecard stock – sorry guys! I realize you’re all ready to buy from me on eBay and there’s nothing for sale just now! I’ll be fixing that real soon, don’t worry. I just had to recover and tidy up some loose ends. (Including figuring out how to get a blog roll to show on this hybrid site of mine – I last set one up 13 years ago!) I’ve been blogging about EDS for 11 years now over at OhTWIST.

    Here’s some more photo and hopefully videos to enjoy. I am going to TRY to make it again this month, August, 2025. But, no promises. Your best bet for the latest is to follow me on any of my socials, linked below at the bottom of every page under their respective icons. My health can and does change on a dime, so even if I think I’m going the night before, I could be bed-bound the next day for no good reason. That’s how my disabled life goes, and why I’m self-employed, sorry not sorry.

    Photo showing a folding blue rolling cart filled with Jan's colorful photo notecards with a sign in front listing prices.
    Jan’s handiwork

    Alright, back to the workshop! I got customers waiting – thank you!! -Jan G, Photograbee August 5, 2025

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