Mammoth Lakes, California Art Festival

September 14, 2010

We are finally home. What was a 3 day show turned out to be 10 days of insane travel. Krista, I, and Pauper’s Candle Company traveled the open road to Mammoth Lakes, California for an artisan show. We decided to take 395 South from Spokane to Mammoth Lakes. It was an incredible and beautiful trip. We traveled through the plains and desert of Washington, Oregon, and California. If you want to see some unique country in which the highway stretches on forever, then this is the road trip for you. If you don’t like the utter feeling of being alone, or that you are the only person to survive World War III, then this road of desolation is definitely not for you. However, we still highly recommend the mirror reflections of Lake Alberta in Oregon or the tufa spires found at Mono Lake, California.

In conclusion to our show at Mammoth Lakes, we decided to take a quick tour of our National Parks on the way back to Sandpoint, Idaho. We saw Yosemite Valley, Death Valley, Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Yellowstone National Parks. We have seen some of the most beautiful parts of our country. It was a refreshing trip to take during these turbulent economic and political times. If you are feeling lost, discombobulated, or overwhelmed by the negative media, we highly suggest shutting the television off and taking a road trip to some of our National Parks. Seriously, life is too short and we all need to find moments to enjoy and celebrate life. This trip was one of those times for us, and we recommend the open road of exploration to anyone who needs a fresh perspective.

Hopefully, we’ll see you at one of our shows at some unique destination for you and us.

August 24, 2010

Hello everyone in the blog-o-sphere. My name is Mark Webber; I am Krista’s husband and helper in times of need with Pauper’s Candle Company. Krista has become so inundated with orders and stocking for shows; she asked me to update the world as to the progress of the company. Well, Pauper’s Candle Co. still exists for one and is growing. We are expanding our shows for 2010, so be sure to swing by and say hi when we come to a town near you.

Another major change this year was our move to Sandpoint, Idaho. We have successfully set up shop and are currently filling orders and preparing for show dates. Sandpoint is beautiful and has the best recreational activities we like to enjoy, sailing in the summer on either Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced pond or-ray) or Priest Lake, and skiing in the winter at Schweitzer.

If you have been to the website lately, you’ll see that I have also updated our contact information. I have updated our new mailing address and phone number back to Krista’s original cell phone number. Unlike Mitchell, Oregon, we have cell service throughout Sandpoint. This is a mixed blessing because there is something to say about not being connected all the time.

As far as craft fairs this summer, Pauper’s Candle Company has been to Yamhill, Or, Richland, Wa, and Coeur d’Alene, Id. Our next show is over Labor Day weekend and will be in Mammoth Lakes, Ca. I am personally very excited to attend this show since I will be able to visit Yosemite National Forest for the first time in my life. Just one more item I can scratch off the bucket list. Our next update will be after the Mammoth Lakes Show with pictures of course.

Take care until then,

Mark Webber
Pauper’s Candle Company

Summer is Winding Down

It has been a while since I have added a blog. This summer went by so fast and was very busy. This was my first summer season in the Central Oregon Area. The shows have been quite slow. I was able to get into a show right at the end of the season that is located at Eagle Crest near Redmond, Oregon. This show was very nice and I will be able to be a vendor all of next season, which I am looking forward to.



I attended the Lavender Festival again this year and that was a super show. This show is located in Yamhill, Oregon, which is in the wine country here in Oregon. Labor Day Weekend I attended the Painted Hills Festival, which is in my home town of Mitchell. This was a very well attended festival considering the town I live in has 175 people. I had a great show.



I have completed my applications for the coming Holiday Season. I am looking forward to doing these shows. I have some shows I have been doing for years and I added a few new ones as well. In about a week I will be in Corvallis, Oregon, home of Oregon State University, to participate in the First Christian Craft and Art Show. This is one of my new shows.

Also this month I should be uploading my new website. My husband, Mark, has been working on it and I am adding the last finishing touches. I am excited with the new look of the site and new logo Mark created.

I will end here and I hope you all are having a super September. Remember to keep looking up and to keep our country Great!

Krista Webber

It's a Garbage Garden

I have never tried to grow a garden and this year I decided to make my first attempt. I have been reading like crazy to figure out the best way to have a garden in a rental house. I decided to make my garden by using recycled containers...Thus the name Garbage Garden.


I have been saving all my cans, jars, milk jugs and found some old planter containers I used in the past. I used some egg cartons to plant my seeds. The 24 egg pack from Costco has worked great. The egg carton is Styrofoam and I cut the top off and used it as a tray under the egg carton to catch the water. I also labeled by seeds by writing the seed info. on masking tape and taping it to toothpicks, which I stuck in the soil.


I have had success with the lettuce, peas, tomatoes, basil, sage, chives, and oregano, I planted. I am going to attempt again the peppers. thyme, onions, and cilantro seeds. I think that I soaked the seeds with water too long. I started watering the seeds from the bottom up and I think I did not drain them well enough before the next soaking. I now water the seeds with a bottle sprayer I had.


My peas are ready to be transplanted and I am excited. I am also picking up some strawberry plants for some hanging pots and I picked up a blueberry plant the other day and will be transplanting that as well.


I will report later on how the garbage garden is progressing.


Happy day to you all.

Mom's Weekend at OSU was GREAT!

On May 2nd I had a one day show at OSU, Oregon State University and it was an Awesome day! The night before the show I was staying with my parents in Corvallis, where the show was held, and it had been a great day. As the night approached the weather turned bad and it started to rain like none other. My mom and I looked at each other and said, It's Oregon, what do you expect?"

In the morning, the rain had let up and we dashed to the show to set up our tent. As we were getting everything out, the rain started again. Everyone was still setting up and so we did as well. As the opening of the show was approaching, the clouds parted and the weather cleared for about three hours. The amount of people who attended the craft fair was super. At about 1:30 the rain started and then at about 2:30 the wind came. My tent had weights, but I still had to hold it down. People were still buying craft items. By the time the show ended the wind kind of slowed and the rain stopped. We took down our tent and put everything away and again the rain came. As we were eating dinner we all looked at each other and were thankful that the show was only one day.

Even though the weather was not cooperative, the show was a great success!!

2009 Wine & Food Classic McMinnville, OR

The McMinnville Wine and Food Classic, also known as "The SIP" was held last weekend in McMinnville Oregon. This was my second time being a vendor. The show is held in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. The atmosphere is awesome! This year we were in the Space Museum instead of the Aviation Museum. There were many local wineries offering "sips" of their many different types of wine. Yamhill County in Oregon is known for their Pinot Noir Wines.


I was very interested to attend this show as it was my first show for the 2009 Season. As with my Christmas shows sales were down about 26% from last year. There were many people attending the show, but the public is cautious about what they are buying. The trend is still to buy more natural products and people are continuing to ask questions about ingredients and how products are made.

My husband, Mark, was able to be with me at this show. He and I thought that the show treats its vendors top notch. We, as vendors, were able to sign up for a free massage, there were snacks in the morning and afternoon, and there was always coffee, water, and lemonade available for the vendors. I have to say, I am not offered these "perks" at any other show I do. For more information about the McMinnville Wine and Food Classic, SIP go to http://www.macwfc.org/


My husband teaches high school English and History and after the show we were able to take some pictures of the many different space planes, space ships, and rockets at the museum. My husband was also able to get a guided tour of the main rocket and simulated count down they have at the museum. He and I totally loved all the information we read and history we saw after we had packed up our show. If you ever want to visit the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, you can get more information at http://www.evergreenmuseum.org/

My next show is in April at the Blossom Festival in Hood River Oregon. I am looking forward to the show.


Krista Webber - Owner

Snow, still a novelty

I have been enjoying the weather here in Mitchell Oregon. This last Saturday we woke up to snow! What a surprise this was. I decided to let Sierra, our dag, and Edison, our cat, enjoy being out in it. OK, I will be honest, Sierra enjoyed it and we had just finished a walk to the post office and local mercantile/store. Edison liked it for about three minutes and decided he did not mind being an inside cat after all. Maybe I will get tired of snow, but for now it is a beautiful thing.

I have also enjoyed living in the rural and decided to take a picture of our neighbors on one side of us. She was enjoying the bit of sunshine we were having on this 28 degree afternoon. The two goats were still in their "Home". My Kitchen window faces my horse and two goat neighbors and every morning I get to see them and see how they are doing. Once the weather warms up I may not enjoy the smell from my neighbors, but for now it is all good.



I am getting ready for my spring shows. I start my show season in March and have a few things I want to have done before it all begins again for a new year.

I am wanting to change my show set up for this year. I have to build some new displays, but I think that my new set up will be more efficient and display my products better and hopefully will result in better sales. Also, I am just about done with my taxes. Isn't this a fun part of having your own business? Gathering all your receipts, sales slips, write offs etc. etc. etc. I will be glad when I have everything submitted to the tax man. I take my paperwork to a professional so I can have to peace of mind that they are filed correctly. Also I want to try an online store on etsy this year. I will keep posts on this new avenue.

This is all for now and a picture and information is coming of my new candle line....." Lights of Liberty"

Have a great week!