Richardson Farms Craft Fair Draws Crowds

Colors filled Richardson Farms’ greenhouse on Feb. 12, but they came from crafts, not flowers, as more than 40 crafters participated in the .

The vendors also donated items to The Katie & Wil Brady Memorial Foundation Inc., which had a large table set up in the corner. The foundation honors the memory of the Perry Hall mother and son who were killed in 2008 on the Belair Bypass.

Money raised at the craft show will be used to build a trail in Katie and Wil’s memory at the Marshy Point Nature Center in Middle River.

The crowd was steady and strong, as shoppers from Richardson Farms’ store on Ebenezer Road in White Marsh joined those who had come just for the crafts.

“We came here to get the barbeque and saw they were having a craft show,” said Marie Edgeworth of Rosedale, who shops regularly at Richardson Farms. “I like it—I’m just browsing.”

An Essex resident, who had come just for the crafts, commented: “They have a nice variety of crafts. Everything isn’t the same.”

But parking was an issue—shoppers were parking amid the farm buildings and across the street, and one patron found the crowd off-putting.

“It’s too crowded; they need more room,” said one chase Resident.

The vendors loved the packed house.

“I’m very pleased; I think it’s great," said Kristi Graff, whose Thirty One merchandise featured purses and accessories in lively prints. “I am so surprised it’s this busy—I’m impressed.”

One eye-catching table featured the work of Wayne and Kathryn Naill, who paint crab shells with logos of sports teams.

Wayne, who retired two years ago, was looking for something to do. “I was eating crabs and I had an epiphany,” he said. He experimented with the best way to clean the crab shells—they fell apart when he tried to wash them in the dishwasher—but after trial and error eventually arrived at a method to clean the shells and give them a base coat of paint.

“The Ravens logos are the hardest to do,” he said. “It’s five colors and you have to wait for the paint to dry with each one.” He has shipped his shells as far away as Florida State and Oklahoma universities..

“People give me business cards and want to do their logos,” said Kathryn.

Eileen Rybak of Middle River and her son Steve started creating their signature displays of water fowl and other nautical items about 15 years ago, after Eileen went to a decoy show.

“They were so expensive, I said, ‘Let’s start making our own.' ”

She and her son took 10 pieces to a small craft show and “sold out and people came back and asked for more,” Eileen said. Before she knew it, she was doing 30 to 40 craft shows a year, and she quit her job as an insurance agent to devote herself to her business, Adopt-A-Duck by Eileen.

Now, she said, she’s cut back, doing just 15 to 20 shows a year.