November 18th, 2016 until November 19th, 2016
11:00 am - 7:30 pm
“Holiday Market,” Fri., Nov. 18, 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sat., Nov. 19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Refreshmentson Friday, 5:30 – 7:30. Complimentary Wine.
The Holiday Market will feature vintage gifts, antique prints and handmade jewelry, soaps and letterpress cards. Highlights include a wine reception Friday evening, Nov. 18, talks and book signings by guest authors both Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19, and DrewbaQ food truck will be here on Saturday.
“This is a holiday boutique that is an opportunity for small, local businesses to show their products and for residents to see our Wheeler House,” said Sue Gold, executive director of the Historical Society. “It’s a win-win event.” The market takes place in the Betty R. and Ralph Sheffer Gallery at Wheeler House. A percentage of the vendors sales will be donated to Westport Historical Society.
“We are all diversified in what we’re going to be presenting,” said Cynthia Grano of Wilton, the market’s organizer. Grano, the owner of Cynthia Alexander, designs and makes her own jewelry and also has an aromatherapy line of lavender-filled silk pillows and accessories.
Two other vendors also make their own products. Catherine Romer of Nod Hill Soaps in Wilton, makes soaps, candles and body lotions, her website can be found at Nod Hill and Karen Zuckert of Gingerbitz Bakery in New Canaan bakes gingerbread houses and cookies. Zuckert’s confections were well-known at holiday fairs around Fairfield County before she opened her bakery two years ago on Elm Street. Visit the website at Gingerbitz.
Romer started making soaps in her kitchen and now has a shop at 81 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, where she creates and sells soaps in such scents as, Honeysuckle Orange and Oatmeal, Milk & Honey, Country Lavendar. “I love everything there is about soap,” says Romer. “I am completely drawn to it – by the texture, the smell, the appearance, even the packaging.”
The list of sellers also includes:
M&F Antique Prints, owned by Fiona Mittag of Wilton, has original architectural engravings, some dating to the mid-1600s, and hand-colored lithographs. Subject matter includes Italian palaces and churches, flowers, flora and fauna and china, decorative porcelain and urns. Mittag, who has a degree in art history and studied interior design at Parsons, also sells high-end custom frames in 22-carat gold leaf and in woods such as cherry, maple and walnut. Some are hand carved. Visit the website at M&F Antique Prints
Suzanne Saltzman sells silk shawls made of fabrics from India, Italy, France and Nepal and scarves and evening bags. She decorates the items herself with black onyx, lapis, picture jasper, crystals, turquoise, Chinese jade and mother of pearl. The Manhattan resident formerly designed a line of jewelry sold at Bloomingdale’s and other department stores across the country.
Jean Forte Vintage Gifts carries antique and vintage flatware, sterling, glassware, silver plate, one of a kind vintage jewelry pieces, what she calls “an eclectic mix of beautiful things.” Forte, a former fashion designer and Norwalk residents, also has her own catering business. Visit the website at Jean Forte Vintage Gifts.
Anita Designs offers a line of natural linen napkins, fingertip towels and tissue box covers designed by Anita Sobelson of Weston. Sobelson also sells scented candles and other gift items.
Grano, of Cynthia Alexander, is a former investment banker who developed an interest in semi-precious stones while visiting Hong Kong on business. Some of her jewelry features jade carved in the traditional Chinese style that has “a Zen feeling.” She also has eye pillows filled with lavender and flax seed that are “very calming”.
Visit the website at Cynthia Alexander.
Saltbox Press, owned by Lynda Campbell of Wilton, specializes in custom wedding invitations and greeting cards made of cotton paper, which gives “a rich, soft, feel.” For the Holiday Market she will have a calendar with a separate letterpressed sheet for each month as well as holiday themed single cards with vintage images. Campbell does all of her printing in the basement of her antique saltbox house. Visit the website at Saltbox Press.
Talks will be given by Marina Marchese of Red Bee Honey of Weston and Dr. Sasha Carr, a psychologist specializing in child and family sleep.
Talks are scheduled for:
Friday, at 3:00 p.m. – Marina Marchese of Red Bee Honey. Visit the website at Red Bee Honey.
Marchese, a former illustrator and designer, switched careers in 2000 and now runs a successful honey business. She is also the author of “Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper and The Honey Connoisseur”.
Saturday, at 11:00 a.m. – Dr. Sasha CarrVisit the website at Dr. Carr.
Carr says she that after becoming a mom she “discovered there’s a science (and art) specific to dealing with children’s sleep within the context of a family,” an experience that led her to receive postgraduate training at the Family Sleep Institute. She is the author of “Putting Bungee to Bed,” an illustrated bedtime book for children.
Saturday 11:00 – 2:00 – DrewbaQ food truck will be at WHS selling their delicious BBQ and side dishes. Visit the website at DrewbaQ.
