A visit from the mysterious Christmas Elves!

It all started with a package on our doorstep when we came home one evening. It was a candle to burn every night to count down the days till Christmas. It was pretty fun to get a surprise package from mysterious elves. We had no idea the presents would keep coming, but they did! Every day for the last 12 days. The elves are pretty sneaky. We never saw them. We only heard them once on the second night. We heard a little noise outside but didn't really think much of it since we were not expecting the presents to keep coming. Later when we opened our door there was another package. This time it was two gigantic stockings. Sometimes we would come home to a package on the doorstep or wake up to one in the morning. Every time it made us smile and laugh. Thank you Christmas Elves, whoever you are. We've got some suspicions about who it could be, but really don't know. It looks like today, at 3:33 we get to find out!

Craft-O! Indie Craft Fair in the Old Ironworks District!

Support your local designers, crafters and artists this Saturday 10-6 in the Old Ironworks District (near the Sparrow Bakery). We will have snacks and drinks too!

This Saturday is the 8th annual Holiday Sale for Procrastinators. I know shopping on Dec. 10th isn't exactly procrastinating though. The show used to be the Saturday before Christmas but has gotten earlier and earlier every year due to venue scheduling issues I think. This actually works WAY better for me because I am the ultimate procrastinator and always wait until after this show to do any shopping and/or decorating. This usually means frantic shopping and tree decorating on Christmas Eve. Not this year, we're coming home from the show and getting our tree up well before Christmas Eve.

The show is 10-5 at the Port Townsend Masonic Hall (near the post office) Hope to see you there!

Best of the Northwest!

On Wednesday I'll be heading to Seattle for the Best of the Northwest. The show runs Nov. 18-20th at Pier 91 at the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal. I will be upstairs in booth N-30.

The first thought in my head this morning was, there is no way I'm going to be able to do everything I need to do before I leave for the show if I don't do at least a few things today. So I sat down to do just a couple of things. One thing lead to another and all of a sudden it's gotten dark and is time for dinner! I did get a lot done which is great because there is still so much to do.

I do have a ton of new things I am very happy with! I've come up with several new color combinations of Lovely Blooms and Colorful Circles, and also new colors of Namaste pendants and earrings. You can see some of the new colors in my Etsy shop, but there are still more I have not had a chance to photograph and list.

New Work!

After the ACC show we drove south to visit friends. We were planning on only staying one day but were having so much fun we decided to stay an extra day. The first day we went to the beach in Santa Cruz. I didn't believe it was actually going to be hot enough for me to want to go swimming so I left my bathing suit behind. That turned out to be a mistake because it was really hot.

First we got to see a sea lion being rescued. He was starving and weak but it was still neat to see him so close up, and know that the marine rescue people were going to help nurse him back to health and then release him. The boys had SO much fun playing in the ocean all day. There were even dolphins swimming back and forth and jumping out of the water pretty close to shore. It was pretty magical.

Of course the next day, I thought it would be nice again and really wanted to go play in the ocean. But no, the weather did not cooperate. We were hoping the fog would burn off later in the day but it didn't. It was only about 60 degrees out and the only people on the beach were wearing sweaters. The only people in the ocean were in wet suits, but we decided to jump in anyway. We were having so much fun playing in the water and body surfing that we didn't realize how cold we were until an hour later when I noticed our oldest son was shivering. That's when we decided to go and drove all the way back from Carmel to Santa Cruz with the heat on full blast.

We were planning on just going on one ride at the boardwalk, the huge old wooden roller coaster. It just happened to be dollar night so we stayed until they closed.



After the longest day of driving that included a detour to the Yo-Yo museum in Chico, and a detour to Yreka to drop Robbie off so he could go visit his dad and brothers, the boys and I pulled into our driveway at midnight.

It is so nice to be home! I've been in the studio making beads and getting ready for Art in the High Desert. In the last year I've gone to Chicago, San Francisco, Lake Oswego, Tacoma and Seattle 3 times to participate in shows, so it is very nice to be able to participate in a show right down the street. I kinda feel like I'm still on vacation. Now if I could just find a way to stay home in the studio and have my work go directly to the people who want them......

It seems like I just got back from Bellevue....oh wait, I did. I've just been back for a week and now it's almost time to pack up and head to San Francisco for the American Craft Council Show at Fort Mason. I've managed to be really focused and get some good bead making days in, which feels really good. So if you are in the Bay Area come visit me in booth #515. The show runs Aug. 12-14th. Hope to see you there!

This summer is just zooming by! Last month we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary! Yes, I know I don't look old enough to have been married for that long, and I'm almost not! We were married when I was 17 and he was 18. We celebrated by laying in the grass in the park and then going out for Pho. Afterwards we met up with the boys & grandparents to launch model rockets.

Then I went to Lake Oswego. Here is a shot of my booth. We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather! You never know what you will get with outdoor shows!

Next it was time for the Puget Sound Bead Festival in Tacoma. Each time I go to Tacoma I like it more and more. Downtown is such an eclectic mix of old and new buildings. This is the view from the Convention Center. I love that you can see Mt. Rainier, the Museum of Glass (two of my favorite places), along with the Tacoma Dome and Union Station all from one spot.
Here are a few happy customers :)



After the show we spent a few days in Port Townsend visiting friends and family and celebrating my 31st birthday. We got home last night and I'm already busy getting ready for the Northwest Crossing Saturday Market, which is tomorrow and the Bellevue Arts Museum Arts Fair at the end of this month.

This is one of my newest pieces, and I am really happy with how it turned out. The idea for this necklace came to me one day while I was driving down the street. I had to pull over and sketch it out on a scrap of paper before I forgot, or got distracted by another idea. It's always satisfying to get a complete idea and be able to go make it and have it turn out pretty much how I imagined it. I just happened to have the perfect chain already too. The chain is long so you can put it over your head without a clasp. You can wear it with the glass and circles in the center or off to one side. Having options is so much fun.

These are my newest rings. The one on the left and the blue one second from the right were made using cabochons made by my husband Robbie. They are SO pretty. The colors are amazing. They change and shimmer depending on how the light hits them and have little silver flecks that remind me of tiny stars.

This weekend I'm heading to Lake Oswego for the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. I'm looking forward to it and hoping for great weather! I'll be in booth G-7. If you are in the Portland area come by and say hello!

In Love

I have fallen completely in love with metalsmithing! It opens up so many creative possibilities for me. I'm already full of ideas.

I'm very happy to say that I am now scheduling beginning lampwork bead making classes for spring and summer! You can see the dates that are available on my website. Just scroll down to the bottom half of the page and use the arrows to go to the months of April-August. If you would like to schedule your class send me an e-mail at Larissa@LarissaSpafford.com or call me at (541)318-4757!

After RAGS at the beginning of March I will be back in the Seattle area for the Spring Best of the Northwest. The image above is the postcard for the show. Recognize the necklace?

It's a good thing we had so much fun snowboarding right before the new year began, because we had about a 6 week dry spell with almost no snow! It's hard to believe that while most of the nation was being pummeled with snow we had almost none. I was starting to go a little stir crazy but being one to always look on the bright side, I took the opportunity to get a lot done in the studio.

Robbie the boys and I had a painting party. The color was a miss-tint from that we found at the Habitat for Humanity re-store. It was hard to tell what the color would look like from the tiny dot on the top of the can. I was a little worried that it was going to be way too mental institution green, but it ended up a beautiful turquoise blue. Robbie pointed out it's exactly the shade I would have picked from a paint chip and he was so right.

Robbie also built me a new glass rack AND a table for metalsmithing. The days of me taking over the kitchen counter with my jewelry work are happily over! I'm loving being able to leave a partly completed project out in the studio without it being endangered by a bouncing ball, stray nerf bullet, or tiny curious fingers.

I'm grateful that the lull in snowboarding gave me plenty of time to dream up new work and get started making some of them a reality. I'm hoping to have at least a few pieces finished for my two March shows. I'm very thankful that winter is back in full force and will be spending the next few weeks happily playing in the snow in the morning and working to finish new things in the studio in the afternoon and evening. Life is good. Very good.

My first show in March will be RAGS Wearable Art Sale & Show. Hope to see you there!!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

This is my husband Robbie. He is the one who puts the silver cores in my beads, cleans my beads, makes travel arrangements, goes to the post office, etc., etc. The list could go on and on. Without him I wouldn't be able to do so much. He is also my best friend. Besides our family, one his biggest joy in life is snowboarding. Can you tell? His love of snowboarding has spread to our whole family. The other day the words "I love winter more than summer" actually escaped my mouth.

The kids have been on winter break so I've been taking a break too. Beginning the day after Christmas, we went on a 5 day snowboarding marathon. Every day there was fresh, deep, dry wonderful snow to play in.

All I wanted for Christmas this year was tools for metalsmithing. Robbie got me a third hand and a set of files. I quickly spent all my Christmas money on tools, before I could spend it on bills.

I want to thank everyone SO much for supporting Larissa Spafford Designs in 2010. I am so grateful for each & every one of you that made purchases, gave compliments, encouraging words & shared stories. Even just taking a moment to stop by my craft fair booth, my website or my etsy shop is greatly appreciated.

I've had a great winter break and can not wait to get back into the studio when the boys go back to school this week. It feels like we've been on vacation for a really long time. There is only so long that I can go without doing anything creative!