Giant metal flowers for your garden no water needed

Our long time artist Steven Cooper has sent us some fabulous giant metal flowers for the garden.

Considering we've had no rain for weeks here until the other day here is a bloom that will never wilt.

Stop in to see what we have.

They're great!

Some blooms are 14" across.

July 4 in New Bern

There is LOTS, LOTS, LOTS, going on in New Bern this weekend!

Of course there is lots of great shopping and dining at unique locally owned shops and restaurants.

Carolina Creations is open our regular hours for the holiday weekend.

Friday 10 am - 8 pm

Saturday 10 am - 6 pm

Sunday 11 am - 4 pm

Monday 10 am - 6 pm

July 4 UNION POINT PARK sponsored by New Bern Parks & Rec
- 11am - 8pm fun for kids bounce houses, giant slide, obstacle course
- 6pm - reading of Declaration of Independence, National Anthem, 2D Marine Aircraft Wing Band. Followed by a patriotic fireworks show.

We welcome coolers & service animals, but prohibit alcohol, glass containers, fireworks, & all other pets. Call 252.639.2902 for more info.

And at the Tryon Palace!
Saturday, July 2 – Monday, July 4
Celebrate the birth of our nation with a fun-filled weekend at Tryon Palace!

Saturday, July 2, 1:00 p.m.

Tryon Palace Theater: Making of the State

North Carolina History Center, Cullman Performance Hall
$6 per adult, $3 per student; Free with regular admission.
Come get yourself in the patriotic spirit and help us kick off our 4th of July weekend! During this interactive program, the audience will participate in our First Provincial Congress and help determine North Carolina’s course leading towards the Revolutionary War.

Sunday, July 3, 1:00p.m. – 4:00p.m.

A 19th Century Town Celebration

New Bern Academy Green
Free admission, all ages welcome
In the 1800s, the citizens of New Bern celebrated their 4th of Julys on the lawn of the New Bern Academy. You are cordially invited to attend a recreation of the celebration held there on July 4th, 1836 – the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Bring your own picnic and join 19th century New Bern citizens in patriotic merriment. There will be music, dancing, and games including townball – an early precursor to baseball. A special period reading of the Declaration will take place at 2:30 p.m., followed by the ringing of the bells celebrating the years of independence.

Monday, July 4

Celebration of the Declaration

Fife & Drum performance and reading of the Declaration of Independence: 11:00 a.m.
Kid’s Craft Activities: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
FREE Garden Admission: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Interior tours require the purchase of a ticket.
Come join us for a celebration of our nation’s Declaration of Independence! Enjoy patriotic kids craft activities, colonial games, and a special Fife & Drum Corps performance followed by a dramatic 18th-century reading of the Declaration of Independence -- all free of charge! Purchase a Time Traveler’s Pass or Governor’s Pass and enjoy interior tours of all our historic buildings as well.

Two new paintings for my show that opens during the July ArtWalk

Here are two new paintings I've just finished.

One is unusual for me, People are used to my black and white ink drawings but NOT used to black and white paintings!

New Work by Vicki Grant

Just in! North Carolina Sculptor and Potter Vicki Grant stopped in over the weekend and brought us some fabulous new work!

For sizes and prices visit our website by clicking here.

Highway 17

On our way home from Merchants Millpond we commented on how much the roads have improved since we moved here 22 years ago.

Slowly, slowly Hwy 17 is getting four laned.

Thursday at our Swiss Bear Board meeting Marc Findlayson from the Highway 17 Association gave us an update.

They are working on 5 projects on Hwy 17 right now, two are close to New Bern, one south of Chocowinity and the other west of Bridgeton. Unfortunately the section between what they are working on in Bridgeton and Hwy 43 is not funded, nor does it have a date.

Maybe in our lifetime this will be done!

The part that is the most important to us is the section south of New Bern through Jones County which is actually scheduled to be started in 2015, amazing.

I would like to see us put together a Hwy 17 Arts Trail. With shops, galleries and artists from Virginia to Wilmington along the corridor.

Anyone interested besides me?

- Jan Francoeur

Another trip to Merchants Millpond and points beyond

This year for Michaels birthday we went back to Merchants Millpond. This time we camped in the State Park Campground and paddled for two days.

The campground is beautiful, the sites are big with pads for your tent ( your tent not ours, we quit tenting a long time ago) a really nice fire pit and even a big hook to hang your lantern from. Hot showers! Cheap. Very well tended.

I've written about the Millpond before so will just post a few photos. It's an amazing place, it seems prehistoric. There are 3 alligators there but the place is so huge it's doubtful you'd see them. We saw hundreds of turtles, blue herons, dragonflys, minnows, a Pileated woodpecker that we watched for a long time, yellow-throated warbler and lots of other birds we couldn't identify.

 We rode over to Coinjock and had lunch at the Coinjock Marina and Restaurant. Very nice.

We rode up to the Hwy 17 visitors center to get a new map and information on other places to paddle.

We have been watching them build something across the river from the rest area, we hadn't been there for a couple years and were thrilled to see that it is now a state park!

You walk across the Dismal Swamp Canal on a bridge. They have a beautiful building with displays that talk about the Dismal Swamp and have trails and a boardwalk. They even have a paved 3 mile bike/walking trail that goes along the canal.

So far you can't camp there because they have to leave the bridge up at night so boats can get through but are trying to get a right of way with another way to get there so they can have camping there too.

You can rent a canoe there or launch your own and paddle the canal. We'll take another trip up that way to do that.

On the way back we commented on how much the roads have improved in the 22 years we've lived in eastern North Carolina. We still don't have 17 totally 4 laned but it is coming along. I'll write more about that after tomorrow.

It was a fun couple of days!
Jan Francoeur

Hand sculpted Nativities

He's back.....

After a six year hiatus we are pleased to announce the return of Cirrus Nativities!

We can help you finish your collection. give us a call and let us know what you need.

From left to right shepherd boy holding sheep

Joseph, Mary with baby Jesus, Shepherd with 2 sheep

Three Kings from left to right

Green, Blue, Purple

Ram and sheep, Camel, Donkey

Little Drummer Boy

Shepherd Girl, Goat

Large Angel

You can order online!

Copper Art for the Garden

Catherine Murphy has been a construction welder who worked on highrises, power plants and paper mills, then she attended a class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC and she never looked back.

We have been carrying Catherine's work for about 15 years and love how it continually evolves, new pieces are added as old ones retired.

Her studio has grown from a one-person operation to having a handful of employees who help her create her work. Catherine does all the design work and her helpers take care of business issues, apply patinas, cut the copper and do some of the welding.

Her studio has a relaxed atmosphere, since it is alongside the Haw Creek a kayak sits out back and is used for lunchtime paddling breaks. Her helpers bring their dogs to work and are in the studio four days a week.

For the most part, Catherine's studio produces whimsical garden art (or as they call it “jewelry for the garden”) butterflies, hummingbirds, and dragonflys and sunflowers.

To see more of Catherine's work or to purchase online follow this link.

The Best Advice My Dad Ever Gave Me

In our June 2011 Newsletter we asked people to send us the best advice their Dad ever gave them to be entered in a drawing for a $40 gift certificate.

Here are a few of the tidbits we've been sent - I love them all.

First I'll start with my own Dads - The world does not owe you one thing. That has served me well and made me a hard worker my whole life.

Here are some others -

“Always put things away where they belong and you will always know where they are when you need them.”

“If you want to play a better game of tennis, find someone better than you to play with.”

If you think about it, he really was talking about more than tennis. Took me a few years to figure that out, but once it set in, the advice has served me well through the years.

Hakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as "There are no worries". It is sometimes translated as "no worries".

"Get a good education so you can get a good job in case you marry some sorry man you will be able to take care of yourself."  All three of us girls graduated  from college and  had successful careers.  After divorcing a "sorry man" I WAS able to take care of myself!!  I have thanked my Dad many times for his advice!!!


I'll add more as they come in!

Chapel Hill Carrboro Elaine ONeil Fabric Artist

Made a quick trip to Chapel Hill and Carrboro today, on the way stopped to chat with Elaine O'Neil, Fabric Artist, who is going to have a show at Carolina Creations for September and part of October.

Elaine grew up in rural Maine and began sewing as a girl, winning 4-H contests and making all of her own clothes.

In college, she designed fabrics, enjoying the created effect of color and texture combinations. Later, while her three sons were little and she was home with them, she began creating "scenes" and portraits of a family boat ride, a cow farm, or a seaside picnic. The scenes were discovered by a gallery owner and that was the beginning of her career.

Elaine graduated from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, earning a BS degree in textile design. She is great-granddaughter to a lighthouse keeper, granddaughter to a farmer, daughter of an ardent seamstress, and mother to three sons. Her ties to her past are ever present.

Right now we have some of her note cards at Carolina Creations. We are really looking forward to her show.

While I was there, even though it was 95 degrees, I parked my car in Carrboro and rode into Chapel Hill. Anyone that complains about parking in New Bern needs to get a grip. I never walk down Franklin Street because you can't park within a mile of it. So riding my bike was great!

The other thing I discovered on the way back to Carrboro is a dedicated bike/walking path, it's not very long but it is very nice. Wish we had this in New Bern. It makes me nervous to ride on the road so I do most of my riding in town.

Janet Francoeur