Monday, June 2, 2003 | 8:12 a.m.
By now, those of us who are not rocks or lizards pretty much agree that it is too hot, too soon.
Beating the heat in Las Vegas sometimes means getting out of Las Vegas. And it seems a fair number of us did that over the Memorial Day weekend by visiting the tiny mile-high town of Prescott, in Arizona's Juniper Mountains. Just about everyone with whom we spoke was escaping either Las Vegas or Phoenix.
Anita Duesler and Laurie Jenkins were not only beating the heat of Sin City, they were making a little extra pocket money selling their hand-crafted wind chimes at a crafts fair in Prescott's historic downtown.
In Las Vegas, Duesler and her husband run a towing company. Jenkins and her husband own a dust-control water truck.
But in Arizona, they were artists hawking 250 unique wind chimes fashioned from some pretty odd stuff: Fred Flintstone juice glasses, grandma's teacups, Chevy hubcaps.
"We're neighbors. We're friends. We're like sisters," Jenkins said, tossing an arm around Duesler's shoulder. "We got this idea to make wind chimes, and it started going and going."
They start with an interesting cup or a distinctive bottle. One chime is made from an old Log Cabin maple syrup bottle embossed with an American Indian image. Strands of beads with pieces of stained glass affixed to one end completes the piece.
The dainty danglers are surprisingly strong; they survived a tornado. Duesler took a set of chimes to her sister in Texas a few weeks ago when the state was beset with fierce storms.
"The tornado came through, and the chimes were the only things still hanging there on the porch," Duesler said. "I could have sold 1,000 of them if I'd had them with me."
They probably could sell that many without a tornado. Prescott was the women's fourth show, and they've only been in business for a couple of months.
"We didn't know they'd be so popular," Duesler said. "We were invited to other shows and stores want to sell them."
Prices start at about $13. But the first day in Prescott a woman paid $125 for a large chime made from a long, purple bottle. She was sending it to a friend in France.
It was Duesler's favorite. Jenkins says her business partner sometimes puts a hefty price on her favorites, half-hoping they won't sell.
"But I try not to get attached to them because I know somebody will see it and want it," Duesler added.
A Hawaii storekeeper visiting Prescott asked to stock the women's chimes. People placed orders for custom designs and extended invitations to at least nine other shows.
"This was just something to calm us down after work," Duesleer said. "Now I hope we can keep up."
For now they will focus on marketing their windy wares at craft shows, such as one scheduled for June in Henderson.
Duesler still has the first chime she ever made, though she'd sell it if someone wanted it. It's fashioned from a red teacup that belonged to her grandmother. The cup is pretty, she said, and it seemed a shame to keep it on a shelf.
"Most of the time you've only got one of something," Duesler said. "So why not put it somewhere where you can see it?"
Or hear it?
archive
