Craft lovers crowd into Cape for three big shows

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BRANSON MO NEWS: Craig Cope, 7, is guided by Heather Freidin on how to use the toy bow and arrow Saturday during the Christmas Arts & Crafts Extravaganza at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.ANDREW J. WHITAKERIt was a big weekend for crafts in Cape Girardeau, as several large shows lured vendors and shoppers from the area and beyond.
The Osage Centre, for example, smelled like cinnamon rolls, filled wall-to-wall with vendors selling quilts, homemade jellies, yarnwork, jewelry, handpainted Christmas tree ornaments and more during the Christmas Arts and Crafts Extravaganza sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.
Some vendors, such as Tammy Clark of Dexter, Missouri, had been part of the event for over a decade.
“I love showing here,” she said, flanked by shelves of her hand-thrown stoneware pottery. “I see a lot of repeat customers.”
Pottery, she said, is a side gig she got into on a whim after seeing a pottery demonstration in Branson, Missouri.
Mary Pamler with Mary’s Little Lambs Products spins yarn Sunday during the Christmas Arts & Crafts Extravaganza at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau.ANDREW J. WHITAKER”This is my retirement job. … The only art class I ever had was in …