Arts & Shopping

Surprise Santa with a sense of style.After 33 years as a high school business teacher, Pam Chaffee thought it was time to put down the books. Three years ago she gave up computer software for soft fabrics, feathers and felt.The…

Polymer clay — transformed.In a word — stunning. How else to describe the wearable fine art of Kathleen Dustin of Contoocook?Dustin has taken a crafter’s medium without a fine art history and given it a shining presence. Polymer clay (Fimo)…

Sweet and Spicy! In a blind taste test, our staff compared four N.H. gourmet pepper jellies from around the state. Here’s what they thought and which one they liked the best.LollipopTreeSweet vidalia onions and bell peppers, combined with tart cranberries…

Wild weather, wondrous views and spring thaw soupIf you think a book about the Mount Washington Observatory is likely to be a real snooze, think again. Eric Pinder’s “Life at the Top” [Hobblebush Books, 2009, $16.95] is a great read…

Jon Gibson learned his craft at his father's knee. And not much has changed about the pewtering process since Raymond Gibson opened Gibson Pewter in 1966 in Hillsborough Center.Continuing the craft alone, son Jon turns out traditional pieces like spoons,…

Rich and creamy! In a blind taste test, our staff compared four N.H. gourmet chocolate truffles from around the state. Here’s what they thought. Ava Marie Handmade ChocolatesThe truffles from Ava Marie look good and are large but the chocolate…

Featured Shop – Liv’n Out Loud• Hampstead Tell it like it is. It’s a new year and, although I am a writer who cringes at “first person,” I for the sake of underscoring this article will regress for one issue…

What happened to Louisa May Alcott in Walpole?In the summer of 1855 the Alcott family, including 22-year-old Louisa May, were forced to move to Walpole, N.H., due to poverty — a kind family member’s charity gave them a rent-free home…

Featured Shop – Duncraft • ConcordAccording to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the purple finch is the bird that Roger Tory Peterson famously described as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” While his description may be accurate, the purple finch…

If you thought the kingdom of online videos was divided between the Star Wars Kid and “Lazy Sunday,” welcome to the New World of the Web series. You could call it a tribute to the early days of television, when…