East Brainerd crafter Ruthie Farrand is making her energy available to other women through her Embellishment Connection, a free craft party and swap held monthly at the Bethlehem Center’s ReSource thrift shop in Brainerd.
“It’s the whole idea that women don’t give themselves permission to play and I’m hoping this will be a good reason,” said Farrand, also known as the Embellishment Lady for her love of beads, paper crafting and rubber stamping.
Her flyers feature two sweet biddies talking with each other around the knitting table, and Farrand said that’s what she’s after, though with women of all ages.
East Brainerd’s Embellishment Lady Ruthie Farrand, left, and Bethlehem Center ReSource thrift shop manager Valerie Austin, of Eastdale, examine Christmas merchandise at the ReSource Center next door to Brainerd United Methodist Church. Farrand has started free craft party and swap meetings monthly in the center’s community meeting room. The next meeting is Jan. 15.“It’s what I call quilting bee style,” she said. “Our grandparents knew how to multitask and [crafted] in a way that they helped each other, but it was purely social sometimes.”
Local hobbyists are invited to bring their projects and extra material they may want to leave for others.