Avid philatelists, aka stamp collectors, were probably among the first to learn that Steven Bronstein, a blacksmith who operates Blackthorne Forge in Marshfield, was the lucky winner of the U.S. Post Office's Hanukkah stamp design this year. That is, his wrought-iron menorah was chosen to be photographed for the stamp — an annual designation by the USPO.

Bronstein himself was not contacted until the selection was a fait accompli. "I had nothing to do with it," he says, when asked if he had applied for the gig. "I got a phone call one day and they said they wanted to use my menorah for a stamp."

What he learned later was that "an art director saw my work at a craft show in D.C." and chose his design. The piece is in the style of what Bronstein calls "Classic Curve."

That art director was Ethel Kessler, of the Kessler Design Group in Bethesda, Md., who has designed some 250 stamps for the post office.

There is no remuneration to be on the stamp, nor is his name on it, but it's an honor nonetheless. Of course, Bronstein can't help wishing the image on the stamp didn't cut the menorah in half. "There is this artistic component — I'd like the piece to be appreciated," he says, likening it to a painting only half seen.

But he's quick to say he doesn't want to appear ungrateful. He was thrilled his work was chosen, Bronstein says.

When Ashley Campbell moved to Vermont from New Jersey six months ago, it was to join her boyfriend, Michael Orfan, chef-owner of Rustic Roots restaurant in Shelburne. (Alice Levitt interviewed him for Seven Days in June.) Orfan is known for his charcuterie, but he's not the only one with knife skills: Campbell is one hell of a pumpkin carver.

And not just jack-o'-lanterns — she has made incredibly detailed portraits, such as the one here (for a bridal shower; it took her 12 hours) — corporate logos, wedding decorations, and more, as her website reveals.

Campbell says she got into carving pumpkins — along with her father, Steve — when she was still a kid. "When I was a teenager, I started making my own patterns," she says of the overlay designs that guide her knife. And at her previous job in New Jersey, Campbell says there was an annual pumpkin-carving contest, which she always won. "My designs got more and more complicated," she says.

You never know what you might find at the Champlain Mini Maker Faire — the second one takes place this Saturday and Sunday at the Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms. Last year's drew more than 1300 people who bought tickets to see a pumpkin-chuckin’ trebuchet, a remote-controlled quad-copter and a pumpkin-headed robot monster.

“Makers” are essentially enthusiasts — people who create something for the joy of creating rather than for profit. Maker faires are opportunities for them to get together, share ideas and noodle around with technology.

The events have been cropping up all over the world since 2006, when MAKE magazine publisher Dale Dougherty held the first gathering in San Mateo, Calif. 

The line-up for this year's Champlain Mini Maker Faire — it's a little smaller than some of the others, hence the "mini" moniker — includes Bina48, one of the world's most social and sentient robots, as well as the team behind the Generator, a new 6000-square-foot "maker space" slated to open later this fall in Burlington. 

A fair highlighting sustainable living and featuring original art? Can't get much more Vermonty than that.

On September 21, the 10-year-old nonprofit Planting Hope is holding a ReUse Fair in Montpelier and is seeking artists and crafters to show and sell their wares.

According to director of operations Daniel Staples:

The ReUse Fair is a celebration of sustainable communities and is meant to foster a broader understanding of how one person can have an effect on their community and the environment.

The event will also highlight how reusing items for new and interesting purposes not only keeps them out of the waste stream, but can even help people in other communities.

Toward that end, artists and crafters who make work using found, recycled or repurposed materials are particularly welcome at the fair, which will run alongside the Montpelier farmers market. In addition to arty vendors, Staples says, there will be an outdoor sculpture park curated by central Vermont artist Janet Van Fleet, and an exhibit of works by University of Vermont art prof Beth Haggart.

"The Authority" sounds like a moniker for a big, muscle-bound wrestler in the AWF, or maybe an underworld crime boss. But in fact it's the sort-of-tongue-in-cheek name chosen by George Papp Sr. both for himself and for the title of his self-published book ... on building outhouses.

Yes, Papp is an authority on historically accurate "thunder boxes," if he does say so himself. And so his website and book reveal. Papp, who lives in Colchester, Conn., is speaking tonight in Bristol on the subject, and no doubt will have copies of his book ready to autograph and sell.

And there is no more suitable place in Vermont — maybe on earth — than Bristol for an authority on outhouses to visit. Because what comes to mind when you think of Bristol on the Fourth of July? The outhouse race!

On a shed-building website I found courtesy of Mr. Google, Papp reveals that he started building outhouses and sheds because "daddy made me do it." By which he means his daughter — after purchasing a rural home in New Hampshire — told him she needed one:

If you have a daughter you certainly know what daddy means. Dad is one thing, daddy is another, and she used the daddy card when she asked. When she uttered that word, I was obligated. When I built that Kybo in my driveway, it attracted more folks than ants to sugar and brought in several requests, and it has grown to a satisfying pastime.