COLRAIN — Celebrate 21 years of arts and crafts this weekend with the Crafts of Colrain Studio Tour. On Nov. 9 and 10,  20 artists will open their studios to all looking for a sneak peak into the creative minds that have made Colrain home.

Visitors can enjoy driving through tree-lined country roads along rivers and across streams as they follow a map of different studios across town, offering a variety of different wares. 

“We’ve always tried to maintain a balance of different crafts,” said organizer Cynthia Herbert, who is a featured crafter who weaves, knits and paints. 

This year the tour will showcase weaving, basketry and textile arts, pottery, jewelry and woodwork, painting, calligraphy, photography and even craft beers. 

Herbert has been involved with the tour since it began in 2003, as hav six other of this year’s crafters, she said. The event began after a Vermont blacksmith moved to Colrain and wanted to create a craft tour similar to the ones held in Southern Vermont. 

The weekend is about supporting local businesses, local culture and the thriving local artistic community. Each year 18-20 crafters open their studios from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to show off their crafting skills, sell their wares, and interact with the community.

New participants this year are Gabriella della Croce who creates nature-inspired functional ceramics and Lori Shearer who offers a collection of herbal products — soothing salves and herbal teas — as well as quilted and crocheted fiber work. 

Other participating crafters are Al Ladd, Marilyn Beal, Jennifer Kapitulik, Peggy Davis, Neil Stetson, Jim and Jill Lyons, Ken Noyes, Diana O'Brien, Sarah Schoedel, Kevin French, Justin Korby, Tony Palumbo, Bob Olson, Helen Olson, Cliff Daniels, Leslie Brooks, Genie-Shearer, and Herbert.

While many participants are returning from past years, Herbert said it’s still worth stopping at their studios as crafters spend all year honing their skills in order to offer new unique items during the tour. 

“This year I’m branching out and offering watercolors,” Herbert said. 

Herbert explained that she had to discontinue some of her popular woven items due to challenges with a supplier retiring, but she has always been into painting, so this year she will offering watercolor paintings of scenes of Colrain.

Additionally calligrapher Peggy Davis will be offering earrings, handmade books, and wall art this year, as well as her paper collages and calligraphic art. 

For more information on the crafters, and a map of the studios open for tour, visit craftsofcolrain.com