green valley lake

Several years ago, when lizzie the littlest was about a year old, we went to london as a family (my parents included). It was something we had done almost yearly for about a dozen years and we realized at the time it just wasnt going to be worth dragging two small children to europe every year. It was too expensive and stressful. We researched a lot of different options and decided at the time to buy a cabin in our local mountains in a place called Green Valley Lake. If you are familiar with the area, its between Arrowhead and BigBear. It is surrounded by protected forest and most people who have cabins here are family oriented and down to earth. Its like a little nature oasis for us, we relish our little cabin in the woods! It goes with all i said about campfire, back to nature and a simpler life. We have no phone or computer up there and limited tv. We watch mostly old movies and spend a ton of time walking around the lake and playing at the beach and playground. We go up at least once a month and getting out of long beach (los angeles county) is such a relief! The drive is about an 1 1/2, sometimes my commute to work is that long, with many rewards at the end. Even though we struggle to make the payments on it, it is worth every penny and in lieu of a yearly vacation, it hasnt been as expensive as we initially thought it would be.

This little community has events for every holiday and the womens club (yes i am a member) has monthly craft activities, yearly rummage sales and community events. They fundraise for new street signs and improve the park area around the lake and community center. I cant tell you how wonderful it has been to be a part of a little town, almost village-like when i spend most of my time in a huge bustling crowded city.

This year we decided to join the "artisan tour" where three times a year local green valley lake artists open their studios (houses, cabins) up for a tour to buy their homemade goods. My husband and i had really wanted to do something creative together, we decided to hand silkscreen gvl t-shirts and make some kid crafted items. We signed up for the tour and this past thanksgiving was our big debut! It was so fun and we sold enough to cover most of our initial costs. We had reallly wanted to provide something other people might enjoy wearing and we did it together (everyone helped). Luckily my inlaws and sister-in-law were here visiting a couple weeks prior and with their help, we had the extra hands to get the shirts made. It was real trial and error in my garage, working at night since we dont have a darkroom, making a ton of noise spraying out our silkscreens at 10 or 11pm at night (hurrying back inside when our neighbors lights came on!). My sister-in-law and i felt like teenagers sneaking around outside and whooping it up with each successful screen. We had a blast!

So here are a few pictures or our cabin garage set up with product. There were shirts and hand painted rocks (a bargain at 25 cents, these were our biggest sellers), my owls (selling currently at bananaberry.com) and some homemade gvl games my daughter and i made together (the idea coming from kiddley). someday i will get that "insert link" button down so all my faithful fans can hyperlink to my references!

the green valley lake artisan tours are thanksgiving, memorial and labor day weekends. They have a website you can check it out!