Planet Fantastic

What a Fantastic Summer!

2008-07-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends! It has been so long since I have posted a blog, I hardly even know where to start. Terry and I have moved out of our sweet, much-loved little apartment in the heart of downtown Astoria and moved into a real-life house! It is a wonderful, cozy, two-story, hundred year old home in the west end of Astoria. This old house had been unoccupied for the last six years, so as you can imagine there is plenty to do to re-hab our new digs. I know more about plumbing than I ever imagined! We have also been vending every Sunday at the Astoria, Sunday Market in our fair city. It is located on 12th street, right down town. We are in the middle of the market and we have been getting the tie dye to the masses! We will be there on Sundays for most of August and all of September. Shell has been very busy this summer sending us beautiful tie-dye to offer to the happy people at the Astoria Sunday Market. All three of us have such different styles, our booth is colorful and there is something for every taste. We are learning what you guys like, what you love, and what you are always asking for! We have dresses ready to dye and we will be adding the much loved hoodie to our fall booth. As for our retail web site, we have taken down much of our inventory to keep up with demand of the booth. What we have left up is at great prices, so if you like to shop on line, you will find some great bargains at our web site. When vending season is over, all of our stock will go back on line, so stay tuned! I will get some pictures of our adventures in gardening, plumbing and deck building up as soon as I can! Peace, love and we will see you at the market! - Karri

Peace and Protest!

2008-05-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hello you beautiful people!! We had so much fun at the Million Marijuana March and made some great new friends. We met some Portlanders, some Washingtonians and a special tie-dyeing Canadian! Having a booth in Pioneer square was a special time we won't soon forget. Here are some pictures of that special day;

Here are some of the first people to visit our booth.

The event was held to highlight the injustice of marijuana prohibition. Here are some of the protesters getting ready to march.

Terry taking time between tie dye fans to crack a smile.

My heart melted when I met this little doggie! I decided right then and there, we are going to add cute tie dyes for doggies! I am not sure if this little fella could get any cuter, but I would love to see him in a tiny tie dye!

Hello all Beautiful people!

2008-04-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all having a happy spring! It has been unseasonably cold here on the Oregon Coast - snow in April kinda cold. But I trust that soon it will be sunny and warm. Here is a picture of Ziggy the cat helping me try to get photo's up on the web. Terry and I (and Shell too, in spirit and by cell phone!) will be in Downtown Portland on Saturday, May 3rd for the Million Marijuana March. Our booth will be right in Pioneer Courthouse Square, and the event will be from 10am until 5pm. We can't wait to meet you! Then, starting on May 11th (Mother's day) we will be a fixture at the Astoria Sunday Market that is held every Sunday through the summer on 12th street in Astoria, Oregon. If you are anywhere near the Oregon Coast on a Sunday this summer, I urge you to check out our little towns amazing Farmer's market. I think it is the best in the State, and we are very proud to take part. I promise that I will take pictures of all the fun events we have this summer and post them here. Now....I gotta go and see if Ziggy has rinsed out the new shirts yet......

It's like getting a great new haircut!

2008-03-05T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends! If you have visited Bellabluetiedye.com lately, you might have noticed it doesn't look the same! Terry has been very busy learning more open source software to help us track inventory and lay the founding blocks for our website to grow! Planting the seeds of prosperity...sprinkling on some sunshine. We will be adding inventory as we go, so check back every so often. I am posting a picture of Terry at our friend's house getting ready to do a large batch of batik. (By the way, if you are thinking about moving to Astoria anyone, Mark's house is for sale by owner, it is an 1880's Victorian 2,000+ square-foot house, beautiful inside and out and it is only $265,000 - pretty good deal if you happen to have a suitcase full of money) Seriously, if you know anyone who is in the market, I would be happy to send photos of his house...it is amazing! Great views, close to the river, etc....But I digress.....Also, we have some jewelry posted done by our friend Raven. He has been working with some new materials and we really love his stuff. Look for more tie dye and more stuff to come....The latest batch of Peace T-shirts is really great. We can't wait to get them up on the web! Here is a photo of Bella blue hand-dyed silk scarves, some new stuff I have been working on. Terry and I and Shell are all working our 2008 vending dates, we should have it posted here at the end of the month. We can't wait to see you all in person! Sending you all my love - Peace to everyone!!! Karri

Gold on the Columbia River

2008-02-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! Another benefit of living in an area that receives so much rain is an abundance of rainbows. I captured this on a walk by the river today around 3pm. This is the mighty Columbia river looking across at the Washington state coastline. Bright colors shining through a darkened sky......so inspiring! The river is everything to the community where I live. Terry and I are spending the weekend here in Astoria. The annual FISHER POETS' GATHERING is this weekend and I hope to take in a little fishing lore, poems and music that will be held at bars and gatherings all over Astoria. People from Alaska, the East Coast, up and down our local coastline, and a few land lubbers as well come to be a part of this amazing one-of-a-kind event. In Idaho, we have had "Cowboy Poetry Gatherings" for years. It is a great tradition. The Fisher Poets event has been happening for 11 years, but it gets bigger every year. If you are interested in our local culture, you can learn years worth of living here yourself by tuning into our local radio station, KMUN that will broadcast some of the live events from 6pm until 11pm, tonight and tomorrow night (Fri and Sat, 2/22 and 2/23) PST. Listen in here (This is also where you can find my folk radio show on Wednesdays). Here is a sample of Geno Leach, a local poet in this 30 second reading from the 2001 event: "I miss the fish but I don't miss the fishing". More information on Fisher Poets at http://www.clatsopcollege.com/fisherpoets

Little Darlin'........

2008-02-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

It has indeed been a long, cold lonely winter. But here comes the sun! Terry and I have spent most of the winter driving between Portland and Astoria. I often think I am the luckiest person in the world to get to enjoy that beauty so often. The jeepster has been happily driving us over the river and through the woods. I do love the snow, but February is bringing us some much needed sunshine and an elevated mood as we begin to get excited about our first, busy, full summer season. We have been slowly updating the website and adding new products as we learn the web business. Every day a journey! When we get our full summer schedule worked out, I will post the dates and times here on the blog so you will know where you can find us. I have been working on some silk scarves and we will be adding Jewelry from our friend, Raven, in the upcomming days. I have also been working on some new radio projects for any of you that are following my radio career. I am doing the music for NORML's daily audio stash and you can find the podcasts here . You can also check out the daily blog I have about Podsafe music here . I am posting a picture of our friend's dog, Roscoe...just because he is so cute! Peace to you all beautiful people!! Karri

A fantastic New Year before us!

2008-01-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

Happy NEW YEAR to all our Bellablue Family! The New Year is just another day, another flip of the calendar and yet such a powerful symbol of new beginnings and fresh starts. As we cast off the failings, disappointments and trials of the past year we can embrace all the opportunities, blessings and adventure of a brand new year. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season. Here on the Coast we enjoyed some seasonal crab (To honor the holiday crustacean "Crusty the Christmas Crab") and even got to drive through the snowy coast range. It is amazing to see the woods all covered in snow. Honestly, I think every season is more beautiful than the last one. I hope you made a few resolutions that are both reasonable and unreasonable, joyous and serious. I am still working on mine. Here's to 2008! May the New year bring us closer to Peace. - Karri

The not quite so windy coast.....

2007-12-20T22:15:00.001-08:00

What a crazy season it has been. Our weather has returned to normal and things are getting better here on the coast. I can finally hear conversations about things other than "The Storm" in the grocery store and around town. You can still see some damage but it is amazing how hard people have been working to clean up. Here are a few more pictures that I took last week to document the damage done by the big storm of December 3rd, 2007. Our beloved Red Building on the water front lost its top floor. A few trees still leaning on power poles, entire hillsides wiped out, and a few houses that were destroyed by sliding mud. We are still very busy counting our blessings...........

Wow! What a difference electricity makes!

2007-12-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

The show in Idaho was FANTASTIC!!! We had such a good time and met so many new friends. It is always fun when we get to spend time together. Here is a picture of our colorful booth.

We had fun meeting you all and hope that we meet again next time we are in Idaho. Shell is looking forward to the Eagle Island Experience and maybe the Godessfest next summer. We will keep you updated.

The fun of the show and the excitement of the road trip was cut short when we heard about the devastating storm that was happening back home. Terry and I came home to the unimaginable! A storm on Sunday night reaching hurricane speeds whipped through our town and region leaving thousands of trees down and thousands without power. We didn't have any power, heat or "gasp" showers until late Thursday. I thought you might like a look at a few pictures I took this morning - a whole week after the storm. Tarps on roofs are a common site now

The roof just came off of some places, like this picture of our friends barn - check out the trees in the background!

Here is a playground close to our place - don't want to sit there!

And look at the size of the hole left in the ground! Don't fall in Terry!!!!

Here is a picture of another barn down

And the sheer power of nature - Doing her own logging!

Thank you for all your calls of concern. The community here is amazing. Restaurants cooked up free food and neighbors helped neighbors. We hear that the storm winds reached 130 miles per hour in town. If you want to check out more information about the largest storm in our recorded history you can check out our local paper at dailyastorian.com

I LOVE the FALL!

2007-11-18T04:22:00.000-08:00

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. I love this time of year here on the Oregon Coast. Yes, I am crazy to love the rain, but I can't help myself! Terry and I are getting ready to load up the Jeep and head over to Boise for a three day show at the Idaho Fair grounds on November 30th and December 1st and 2nd. Getting the Tie-Dye to the people and celebrating the comming of the winter. Shell has been working very hard and we are very excited to see her beautiful creations. Sharing ideas and getting our batteries recharged and ready for the busy Holiday season. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday - an entire holiday set aside to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. I am thankful for my friends and family, our health and happiness and the opportunities that lie before us all. Here is a photo from yesterday at the beach with the dogs. I am thankful for beaches and dogs! Have a wonderful and safe Holiday and we will see you in Idaho. Peace - Karri

2007-09-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a few interesting links - these first ones are various ways to view our eBay auctions, which of course include our tie-dyed t-shirts and clothing.
Sellathon.com Listing link from one auction (near the counter; Karri likes looking at this to see the popularity data of her auctions)

We're Dyeing to Please You!

2007-09-07T22:22:00.001-07:00

Aloha Everyone. We look forward to being with you in this beautiful world. Thanks for coming. Don't forget that our web site is located at http://planetfantastic.ath.cx