Saturdays I typically start my morning at the Durham Farmer's Market. I am not much of a gardener, but I love fresh fruits and vegetables and I love supporting small local farmers, so I enjoy my weekly visits to the farmers market. Across the street from the farmers market is The Scrap Exchange, an amazing resource in the triangle area. The Scrap Exchange collects cast off materials, primarily from local industries, and resells them for a reasonable price. There are standard items that are always there (lots of foam), and then there are the surprises; the surprises that keep me coming back and checking in often. A great resource for teachers, families and artists who enjoy working with found materials. When my son was little, the Scrap Exchange was a great place to fill up a bag (for one price) with interesting bits and pieces that were taken home to create a imaginative structure.
This week it was two bags of cotton scraps for quilting, etc. I debated which one to buy. (They were $8.00 each. I grew up in a family that did not have much money to spare. And when I was raising my children, money was often very tight. As a single parent, there were times when I had only $10 to last the week. So I am often still stuck in that thinking and way of relating to money.) My art is generally very frugally produced. But in the end I bought them both and was delighted to discover what was inside. Lots of fun, often whimsical designs.
