March 11, 2017, is the 2nd Saturday of the month and that means the Fernandina Beach Arts Market will be open in the parking lot of the bank located at the northwest corner of Eighth and Centre Streets. Artists, painters, woodworkers, jewelers, seamstresses, and more set up shop twice a month to show off their crafts.
Long time vendor and now local merchant, Black Frog Designs, transforms your favorite photographs, words, or personalized message, onto canvas or burlap. This week they celebrated the grand opening of their workshop and retail store in the Warehouse Square next to Lee & Cates Glass on South Eighth Street. Mermaids Walk, a jewelry maker with a store inside of the Buy-Go grocery store, also on Eighth Street, will be displaying their nautically inspired bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. One of the newest vendors at the Arts Market is Susan Lydick, of Suly Sewing and Design who sews handcrafted handbags and totes. These are just three of the nearly 20 artisans joining the market this Saturday.
Toe-tapping country and bluegrass music will fill the air with the sounds of Bruce Beville and The Laid Back Band, and our Booth With a Cause will be the Barnabas Center showcasing their variety of food programs. You are invited to visit their exhibit to learn more about volunteering in the food pantry, their Callahan food distribution program, and their Cooking Matters culinary classes.
Compared to other markets, the Fernandina Beach Market Place farmers market, located adjacent to the Arts Market, may appear small in size, but the product diversity is large.
Three of the vendors highlighted in the farmers market this week include Soap-Crafters, who makes goat soap bath products. They offer an amazing selection of scents in their lotions, soaps, bath bombs, sugar scrubs, lip balms, shampoo, and conditioners. The newest vendor in the Market Place is Therapy in a Tin. Made in small batches, here on Amelia Island, with all natural ingredients and therapeutic grade essential oils, Therapy in a Tin is an aromatic candle designed to be used in touch therapy applications. Simply use the warmed oil from the candle on your hands, cuticles, elbows, and just about anywhere you want intense moisturizing. Stop by their booth to learn more about their Immune Support Foot Creme and reflexology pressure points in the foot. Ladybug Gourmet, who has been vending in the Fernandina Beach Market Place farmers market for about a month, makes homemade marmalades, jellies, jams, preserves, pie fillings and caramel sauces. If you are a fan, you should sample one of their best-selling flavors such as raspberry balsamic, key lime, cherry, or the new orange-vanilla flavored jelly reminiscent of a Dreamsicle.