The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Whimsical, practical homemade gifts
Holiday pop-up market offers varied wares from local crafters
HADDAM — Higganum jewelry maker, author and painter Janey Verney has transformed the front area of a salon in the village center into a veritable wonderland of handmade goods made by five local crafters.
And they’re all women. In this Holiday Pop-Up Market, Verney sells her CT River Glass Pendants created from Connecticut River glass, tumbled and polished by the water, wine glasses painted with “critters,” such as roosters, angels, pumpkins and frogs; and her two books; one for children and the other a self-healing volume.
The pendants are created from glass and pottery Verney has sourced and repurposed. She lives in a 200year-old house on riverfront property. “They used to use the beach as a dump. They built 300 tall ships in our front yard and some of us are questioning if it came from the ships. The colors are unusual. You can see there’s a little leaf in this one, and there’s a name,” she said.
Another find was shards of a soap dish made in the turn of the century.
“That was really cool to find that,” Verney said.
Anchor vendors are Deb Thomas, who sells The Woman on the Edge fiber art; Bridget Marshall, Oh Fudge chocolates and treats; Lindsay Wolfradt, Foxglove Soap Co.; and Megan Mularski, The Higganum Co. Candles. Guest vendors will sell photography, sterling, copper, “reiki-attuned” and other jewelry, needlepoint decor, pottery, fiber arts, treats and more through Dec. 15 in the front of the Shearmetrix salon at 3 Candlewood Hill Road (off Route 154/Saybrook Road).
Before learning about the space, Verney was selling through word of mouth, and had shown her talent at a couple of craft shows. She approached the salon owner with an idea of sharing the rent.
“I just threw it out on Facebook, and I was blessed with four other Higganum vendors who wanted to do the month with me,” she said. Because some artists were interested in just coming for the day, Verney agreed to serve as host for them in a rotating fashion. She is host to guest artisans from Connecticut towns, including Suffield, Guilford, Niantic, Suffield and Middletown.
Thomas crochets big, stretchy, double thick and chunky wrist warmers, which “close the chill gap.” She sources her fiber and other materials from basements, attics and junk drawers all over Connecticut. Thomas’ grandfather was a master weaver, and her other family members were artists and seamstresses and owned woolen mills. She bills her wares as “repurposed on purpose.”
“The glorious days of learning from them were priceless gifts,” Thomas wrote on the tags of her handmade goods, made from a variety of yarns, vintage and new. “It truly is recycled,” said Thomas, who grew up in northeastern Connecticut, where woolen mills were a common sight.
Relatives have cleaned out their closets and donated items such as sweaters, which Thomas and her mother sit down together and unravel. “Sometimes when I make something, and people purchase something, they’ll say to me, ‘I have all this yarn sitting around, would you like it?’ ” she said. “I’ve been given tubs of yarn. I look like I could be on (the show) ‘Hoarders,’ ” she said with a laugh.
Verney has written two books about what she calls her “healing journey,” “Roots 2 Wellness” and a children’s book, “Rainbow Bird.” In the former, she explores her philosophy of “unearth, weed, nourish, bloom. You’re unearthing what’s at the root of the problem, you’re weeding out obstacles that stand in your way of healing, nourishing yourself back to a beautiful bloom,” she said.
Verney, certified in integrative nutrition, teaches classes on gut health, how to cook essential oils, getting more greens in one’s diet, how to live gluten-free and reduce meat consumption. In 2009, she took part in three studies at Yale New Haven Hospital and one at the National Institutes of Health’s disease program, spending a week at the latter, with 50 doctors studying her. They only take 100 patients a year in the country, Verney said.
“Clinically, they treat me as if I have cystic fibrosis, but I don’t,” because her symptoms somewhat align with those of the genetic disease that causes lung infections and limits a patient’s breathing. “You’ll hear my lungs gurgle,” said Verney, who has difficulties “from gut to lung,” she said.
As far as her temporary business venture, Verney would like to encourage other municipalities to do something similar. “All of our towns around Connecticut have got empty space. Our economy has been such that businesses are not staying around for very long, unfortunately,” she said.
Taxes are so high, and a lot of businesses have left the state, she said, so her solution is “a win, win, win.” Vendors don’t have to set up and take down their displays daily, and the popup business fills empty storefronts and gives local crafters a place to sell their wares.
“It’s not the big-box stuff. This is all homemade, handmade with love,” she said.
“When I do the pendants or paint, I go into what I call zen mode. It’s total meditation for me. That’s been part of my healing journey for years,” Verney said.
Over at Thomas’ table, there’s a “teeny weeny” white amulet bag — about 3 inches in height. It is partially made from Samoyed dog hair: “soft and cuddly and sweet,” something a woman gave her from her yarn stash.
Many people have given her a single ball of yarn, leftover from a project, and Thomas has used her own remnants to create whimsical crocheted items such as nose warmers, fingerless gloves, neck warmers and hefty bags. Some of her tags advertise “very old-fashioned (and funny, too) but practical schnoz warmers.”
There are also change purses that can be worn on the neck, crocheted in graduated yarns in hues of green, purple, fuschia and others.
“That came about because someone needed lunch money for a child,” Thomas said. One little bag is made in a shell pattern to resemble a fish’s scales. She uses handmade maplewood buttons — each one in a unique shape.
“All of the artists here share that same thing. They’ve made something that’s beautiful, out of things they like. Anybody who has a creative (streak), it morphs into other things, too,” Thomas said.
The market runs through Dec. 15. It is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in addition to other special hours.
For information, visit roots2wellness.com.