Dec 20, 2009

Christmas shop takes shape in five daysBy Erika HoeferDailyInterlake.com

Crazy talk.

That’s what most of the artisans said at a meeting Dec. 7 when Cathi Spence shared her dream of opening a gift shop for the holidays. Was she really pitching this idea less than three weeks before Christmas?

Spence herself was tired, having just completed her 13th annual Christmas show at her home over the previous weekend, but she didn’t see any harm in mentioning the idea to the group of friends gathered.

“I have always wanted to have a little shop through the holidays,” Spence said.

Darlene Cecil, a semi-retired advertising veteran, said “let’s do it.”

With only 2 1/2 weeks until the holiday, the women joined with Janelle Buchanen, the designer behind Cool Jewels, to put together the shop in just five days.

While most of the people at the meeting said they couldn’t put anything so big together without a year of planning, “three stubborn women said anything can be achieved,” Cecil said.

A seasoned pro used to participating in travel art and craft shows, Buchanen said she knew they could do it quickly. “Everyone is so professional in what they do. That’s our lives.”

Active with the Think Local art series, Spence and Buchanen already had a list of contacts for merchandise.

They had brought in 40 vendors for Summer’s Last Art Blast, held in August in Kalispell.

“That took months to put together,” Spence said. So even though the Christmas Gift Shop was her idea, she admits a little hesitation in going forward. After all, she has two small daughters who want their mom home for winter break and, following the planning of the summer art shows and her own private Christmas show, she was ready for her own break.

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