Support the Athens Farmers Market

So this post is really all about the recent controversy surrounding the latest issue of Flagpole. Charlie Mustard of Jittery Joes coffee wrote a short editorial piece describing his frustration with his rejection regarding this 2009 season farmers market. You can read the piece here, as well as the official Athens Farmers Market response here.

I encourage everyone to become aware of this "situation" so that you are well informed when someone in town brings it up...and they likely will. In my own opinion, as a person that works most markets, I believe that the farmers market in an upstanding establishment that did what it had to do in order to work within the size limitations as well as the market rules and regulations. I personally feel very fortunate that my jewelry 'passed the test' and that I am allowed to sell at the farmers market at Bishop Park. Despite how you feel about the inclusion (or lack there of) of Jittery Joes in the market, I hope that you will continue to make it out to the market to support all of the good farmers and vendors that are currently there. I, for one, love 1000 faces coffee and it is sad that several people have begun a sort of picketing of their products because of this flagpole editorial piece. I do hope that you will not reject 1000 faces coffee because of this controversy because I can tell you from personal experience that these people are good people and they care as much if not more about Athens, GA than the next person. I believe that both 1000 faces and Jittery Joes could inhabit the market together and both be successful in doing so. We all have our reasons for why we choose one product over another, whether it be taste, presentation, product history, company morals or cost. I just ask that you continue to buy 1000 faces or Jittery Joes coffee for these same reasons and not becuase of some disaggreement over market spots. After all, I bet if you asked both companies what matters most...they would respond, "the coffee."

And to end this rambling...new jewelry using framed milk bottle caps, vintage postcard/ad clippings, and stereoviews! Also, a new piece entitled "Flight of the Jailbird".

I tried to cross the river but my oxen died...

Well, its been a crazy week at the Pringle household. Ross and I have a total of $8.64 cents between our checking account and my business account. We have been waiting on a paycheck from UGA that is "in the mail" as they say. Sometimes the university system can be so frustrating. I am hoping that tomorrow's farmers market at Bishop Park will help with the finances. I have been making a ton of new stuff hoping that it will strike someone's interest!

Recently I have been using pennies in various designs. I used to make jewelry and other odds and ends out of pennies when I was little. We have a railroad track that runs very close to my childhood home out in the country...and when I was younger I would put 10-20 pennies on the tracks and then wait a day or so and go back to pick up the mashed disks that had flung all along the tracks and get my dad to drill holes in them to make things. I know that this is awful to some of you and honestly I am so relieved that I never derailed the train (!!) but from what I am told, pennies are very unlikely to derail trains anyhow...but I am no expert so who knows? Anyway, these days I am using regular old unmashed pennies. I love their bright color and they reflect light very well. All my life I was told that I must have swallowed a dollar because I broke out in pennies (freckles for those that don't know the saying). I made this necklace using that inspiration:

Anyhow, I love funky jewelry like this and I sometimes think that it may be too out there for anyone else to want...but who knows?

Also from my childhood...the ancient computer game "Oregon Trail". Anyone else know what I am taking about? I think you have to be a child of the eighties to have played it in school...but in a nutshell, it is this game designed to teach kids about the oregon trail and the diseases and plights of Americans during that time in history. So, you and your companies set out of a journey and depending on how things went, you encountered various plights from disease, hunger, deep fjords, etc. and had to figure out how to survive. This necklace is inspired by the dreaded day when you tried to cross the river, but your oxen died:

The woes of being tall...something I know nothing about.

So Athfest is over and Athens, GA returns to its full summer doldrums again.  Ross and I went to see the live recording of the Mountain Music and Medicine Show at the Morton Theatre on Sunday. It was a lot of fun, with bluegrass and bad jokes.  The format was similar to A Prairie Home Companion, but with less talk and more music.  

The humidity is low outside today...it was actually a pleasure to go outside and take pictures of my jewelry. The wind even kept the mosquitoes off of me for a few minutes, something almost unheard of here. If I hadn't gone just yesterday, I would go to the Red Eye Cafe in Bottleworks and enjoy some pistachio gelato...but, I figure I should wait as least a day before having gelato again :) If you haven't made it to Red Eye yet, definitely check it out. They have been open for six months or so and the atmosphere is very relaxing. Just don't try it on Tuesday for you will find that they are closed.

Well, on to the new jewelry that I have been making...check it out:

The first necklace is made from some sort of Marine Insignia that screwed onto something...I had to cut those screws of the back to make it into pendant. This necklace is for my sister who is visiting home before returning to her station out in CA. She is...as you might have guessed, a Marine (as is her husband).

The second necklace is a antique skeleton key that has been turned on its side...I just love the simplicity of this piece and each key is so unique!

The third piece is just something fun that I made for all those tall ladies out there (note: I am short). I had a lot of fun coming up with this one and making it! It says "its not easy being tall" and features a cute giraffe charm. I just love stamping brass!