Meeting People at the Local Craft Show

Went to a small crafts festival in Hershey today, which gave us the opportunity to see Sheri Queen.

We had met her awhile back at a craft market in Harrisburg where I bought a notebook she had crafted from a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. I’ve drafted sections of “Man Out of Time” and ideas for another TwainLock story. It’s a nice object to have handy when I’m tired of typing on a keyboard or somewhere where a laptop can’t follow.

She showed up at the Winter Arts Show, but it wasn’t until we met today that we got a chance to talk about her line of literary-themed soaps and candles. She had one in particular that combines my two favorites — chocolate and coffee — and it smelled heavenly!

That was an easy scent. When I tried to identify a candle by scent alone, I learned that my nose was blind.

[Sniffs] “That’s coconut, is that coconut?”

Sheri: “That’s more of a book leathery smell.”

Me: “Of course, that’s what I meant to say!”

But we had fun talking about her production and design methods, and sharing other information about writing, editing, and publishing books. Teresa bought two of her novels in her Sleepy Hollow series, so we’ll be reading and talking about them over the next month or so.

Ling Bai

Seamstress in Hershey

We also met at the show Ling Bai, a sewer, with her line of handmade bags and fashions. She displayed purses, laptop bags, clutches, and shoulder bags, made of beautiful Chinese-themed fabrics and expertly stitched.

She also developed this little earbud corral to keep the wires from entangling themselves.

cord corral
Keeps cords wrapped with just a snap!

But what especially impressed me were these beanbag phone rests, some of them in Penn State and Steelers fabrics. If I used a smartphone, I definitely would have gotten one of these.

beanbag phone stand

Ling Bai has an Etsy store, Larks Gift Shop, and is available for sewing jobs in the Hershey area.