I was walking through Liberty Station in Point Loma last weekend when I stumbled upon crafters working outside one building. They were power carving wood and assembling stained glass. When I poked my nose through the open doors of the nearby studio, I was greeted with a smile and shown lots of amazing stuff produced by creative people in the crafting community.
The San Diego Craft Collective has classes and equipment for creative makers of all ages. They have woodworking, clay and glass working areas, and there is bench space where people can work on their unique projects. A room full of sewing machines was very busy when I peeked in.
Walking every which way with my camera, I found macramé, puppets, ceramics, jewelry . . . you name it!
I’ve learned the spacious studio is also a great place to hold a birthday party or special event!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
This weekend, San Diego Made is presenting their 10th Annual Holiday Market at Liberty Station. Local artists, crafters, makers and entrepreneurs are selling unique hand made products that you might not easily find elsewhere!
I happened to be walking around Liberty Station yesterday, so I paid the six dollar entry fee to check things out!
I discovered a sunny field blooming with creativity! Check out a few of my photographs to get an idea!
If you want to start your Christmas shopping, drop by NTC Park today, Sunday, November 10 from 10 am to 5 pm.
If you just want to relax and have a good time, there are other activities, too, like an art creation station, kids crafts, live music, mini-golf, and great food! (I had a very tasty barbeque chicken sandwich.)
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Attention holiday shoppers! The big annual Balboa Park craft sale is fast approaching!
San Diego’s AgeWell Services Craft Sale will be held at the Casa del Prado next weekend, November 16 and 17, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm each day.
Senior crafters (age 60 and better) will be displaying handmade goods inside Room 101 and on the two outdoor patios.
The family friendly event is free to the public!
So mark your calendars! Then make sure to come on down to Balboa Park to discover beautiful crafts and works of art made with loving hands. You’ll find heartwarming Christmas presents for loved ones–or for yourself!
You’ll be rewarding creative seniors in our San Diego community, too!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages today celebrated Norse history and culture. The House of Norway provided food and entertainment, and a visit from Viking explorer Leif Erikson (an actor)!
What I found most interesting, however, was a living history “encampment” on the International Cottages lawn. Costumed members of Wolves ov Odin were showing what Norse life was like in the 8th century!
Perhaps you’ve seen Wolves ov Odin at the annual Viking Festival in Vista, California. They are a group that portrays Danish Vikings that lived in the Jorvik region of present day York, UK.
As you can see, curious people converged on several tables to see and touch history.
Read the photo captions for a bit of what I learned…
Viking chain mail armor on display. I lifted one end and it was heavy! Those steel helmets in the background were heavy, too! Better a sore neck than a hole in the head!Creating chain mail by interlocking iron rings was a long process undertaken by Viking smiths. Iron was rare and chain mail shirts were relatively rare.A beautifully engraved but deadly Viking axe. I wish I had learned more about it.A simple sundial made of wood, which could double as a compass to aid in Viking ocean navigation. An X marks noon–I took this photo a few minutes before the shadow lined up with it!Making a replica Viking coin, using a length of modern steel tubing for hammering safety.I got my own, freshly minted pewter Viking Raven Penny of Anlaf Guthfrithson!Demonstrating a replica Oseberg Sprang Weaving Loom, a loom from the Oseberg ship, a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in 1904 in Norway.Combing and spinning wool with a hand spindle preceded tablet weaving and making Viking clothing and ship sails!The spindles were very simple.It never occurred to me that Viking sails were made by weaving!Beads were a sign of wealth among Vikings.A smile and sample of Viking life.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
About a thousand years ago, Viking explorer Leif Erikson was the first European to set foot on continental America. He established a Norse settlement in a place he called Vinland. Today he arrived in San Diego, California!
Leif greeted an enthusiastic crowd in Balboa Park. He extended a greeting and read an ancient Norse poem. Then he adjusted his beard, pocketed his phone and smiled for photographs!
Yes, this particular Leif Erikson was an impersonation. Jordan Jacobo, a personality on KPBS, did the honors!
As you might have guessed, the House of Norway hosted their cultural lawn program today in Balboa Park. In addition to meeting Leif, families could gobble authentic Norwegian waffles and Polse i lompe (hot dog in a lompe–I had mine with shrimp, sour cream, mayo, dill and lemon juice) and wash it down with Saft (blueberry juice).
Kids were running wild, enjoying axe throwing, fish toss and other lively competitions. They posed with a Viking longship and could have their names written in runes. At several tables adults could learn about Norse crafts, including rosemaling (decorative folk painting), smøyg (pattern darning), wood carving, Hardanger embroidery and knitting. There was accordion music, too!
A living history encampment showed how life might have been in Norway during the age of the Vikings. I will be blogging about that coming up!
Enjoy some photographs!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park has erected a community ofrenda (altar) for Día de los Muertos. Visitors are invited to contribute in a special way by making their own paper marigolds and adding them to the altar!
When I visited the History Center today, I noticed their ofrenda includes photos of notable people from San Diego’s past. And a non-human too! Bum, San Diego’s famous town dog!
A table near the community ofrenda has instructions on how to construct a marigold from the orange paper that is supplied. Perhaps you’d like to make your own! I’ve included a photo of the instructions and I’ve transcribed the words…
The Spanish word, ofrenda, refers to an altar of offerings set out to honor the deceased. Traditional household ofrendas have three distinct tiers representing the heavens, the earthly world, and the deceased… Marigolds represent the warmth of the sun…
How to make a marigold!
1) Stack four sheets of tissue paper so they align; 2) Pleat the paper in an accordion fold; 3) Cut a half-circle shape at each end; 4) Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of the paper to hold it in place. This will also act as the stem; 5) Fan out the tissue then gently pull the layers apart to create a fluffy petal effect.
Between October 2nd and November 2nd, visit the free San Diego History Center in Balboa Park to make your own marigold!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
At the San Diego Museum of Art, you can do more than walk through its amazing galleries. You can create amazing art, too!
Yesterday, during my visit to Balboa Park, I stumbled upon two art-making workshops at the museum.
A table was set up on the grass of the museum’s outdoor sculpture garden. Participants in this Community Art Workshop would use geometry and compass to design their own birthdate star marker. The cool markers have an antique appearance, and depict a person’s birthdate and corresponding constellation.
This workshop will be repeated on Saturday, October 19th.
Next, I was kindly permitted to view a Book Binding activity inside the museum library.
According to the SDMA website, participants explore Islamic book binding techniques and the practices of codex creation by engaging in folding, wrapping, decorating, and binding a book.
The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County had their very popular Fall Plant Sale today in Balboa Park!
A small army of smiling Master Gardeners took over the Casa del Prado, both Room 101 and the two courtyard patios. The public could check out thousands of plants for sale, plus an art and crafts marketplace, educational booths and several master gardener speakers.
Plant purchases today would help fund many worthy projects around San Diego, including community gardens, public education and school gardens. Very cool!
I took these photos and have included some captions with a little more information!
Plants and more plants, and beautiful pots, crafts and more!Kids could learn how to plant seeds.Educational displays concerning plants and gardens could be found at many tables.A smile!The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County has a program for public education with the University of California Cooperative Extension.A Guide for School Gardens.Two-time Paralympian Stephen Cantu teaches Friendly Inclusive Gardening. He designs wheelchair accessible gardens. Watch his video here.Visitors to the Master Gardener Plant Show could check out this Compost Demo.Rita Perwich presents KISS In Your Rose Garden–Keep It Simple and Sane.Some bugs are nasty, some are helpful!Mother Earth among many colorful butterflies!So many plants for sale in Room 101.A long line of happy customers!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Those working inside Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s blacksmith shop forge all sort of interesting objects: nails, knives, different decorative objects… The other day I and several other visitors learned how leaves like the ones you see above are made!
Old Town’s friendly blacksmiths are always happy to provide demonstrations of what they do. Hopefully my understanding and simplistic description is fairly accurate…
When heated iron turns orange yellow, the perfect temperature is achieved. The metal you are working becomes plastic and shapeable. Too hot, and you will “burn” the metal, making it useless for the purposes of forging.
The following photograph shows the progression of a new leaf.
You begin with the rod-like piece that you see on the right. Next, to its left, you can see how a mass was produced by the smith’s hammer at one end of the iron piece. Next, sharp edges are rounded and the mass is flattened and formed until it assumes the shape of a leaf.
Leaf veins are produced with a chisel-like instrument with a straight edge (see my first photo). A stroke or two with the blacksmith’s hammer and voila!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A very cool street festival was held today in Rancho Bernardo. Several blocks of Bernardo Center Drive filled with vendors, artists, food, entertainment and fun for the North San Diego Business Chamber’s 36th Annual RB Alive!
I walked through the festival around noontime as it got underway. A good crowd appeared quickly, attesting to the popularity of this community gathering. (Unfortunately, RB Alive! was put on hold the past few years due to COVID.)
It was interesting to learn about many of the organizations on hand. Civic groups, politicians, churches, clubs, schools, you name it–everyone was smiling and ready to greet passersby.
This was my first time experiencing the event. I took some photographs as I walked about.
The RB Karate Center was providing martial arts demonstrations on one stage.
RB Alive! is organized by the North San Diego Business Chamber. They have numerous educational programs and events that support local business.
The Ed Brown Center for Active Adults is working to convert an old lawn bowling area in Rancho Bernardo Community Park into 16 pickleball courts.
The Rancho Bernardo Historical Society has a museum at the Bernardo Winery. The museum’s exhibits include a replica mud wagon stagecoach.
The Historical Society’s table had a detailed timeline of Rancho Bernardo’s history. Thank you for all the informative brochures. I need to visit their museum some day!
If history is your thing, why not join their efforts as a volunteer?
The Rancho Bernardo Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol acts as eyes and ears for the San Diego Police Department.
Are you 50 years or older? They’re always looking for volunteers!
More smiles!
I learned the Rancho Bernardo Public Library is just down the street. So after the festival I went there. Blog posts are coming up concerning my visit!
Creative vendors had all sorts of cool crafts and art out on display…
There would be entertainment throughout the day, including live music.
Loads of food everywhere you look!
I learned the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary is engaged in many charitable projects in Mexico and developing countries. They’re fighting childhood disease, providing clean water, building houses and hospitals…
The Rancho Bernardo Community Council is Your Voice in the Community. They are an all-volunteer organization acting as an advisory board to the City of San Diego on a range of public issues.
They also organize many fun community events! They’re glad to welcome volunteers!
Even the dogs were having a great time at RB Alive!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 