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<p>PLYMOUTH TWP. &#8212; David Slatten and Tiffany Fitzsimmons&#8217; dreams are simple, but the dreamcatchers they create and sell are colorful and complex.</p><p>The couple, who have been together for about two years, travelled to Northeastern Pennsylvania from California earlier this year and are supporting themselves by selling their artwork on the side of several roadways on the West Side.</p><p>They recount the story of how, having their vehicle impounded by the police, they found themselves in Youngstown, Ohio, in a rainstorm near a truck stop with two dogs and no money.</p><p>&#8220;Tiffany kind of lost it that night,&#8221; said Slatten, 44. &#8220;But then I set us up, and we got some sleep and things got better.&#8221;</p><p>The Youngstown police, they said, came out the next morning and gave them vouchers for a meal and a hotel room for the night.</p><p>The two found a retired truck driver to drive them 400 miles to Northeastern Pennsylvania, near Fitzsimmons&#8217; hometown.</p><p>Not only have the couple had to face financial and weather-related challenges, they have also had to occasionally deal with police and municipalities that are not always supportive.</p><p>On Wednesday, for example, as Slatten was making a sale and trying to come up with change for a twenty dollar bill, Plymouth Township municipal workers arrived and asked the couple to move, saying they were on township property.</p><p>Slatten was quick to comply.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to cause a problem,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We want to obey the law.&#8221;</p><p>Last weekend, however, Slatten was detained by Wilkes-Barre Township police as he sold his wares near the Cracker Barrel restaurant.</p><p>Slatten said the couple had been staying at a nearby hotel and he was attempting to sell nine dream catchers to make the night&#8217;s rent.</p><p>According to police, he was charged with summary counts of trespassing, public drunkenness and soliciting without a permit.</p><p>Slatten said somehow, during the incident in which he was taken to the hospital, he lost track of some of his supplies.</p><p>Still shortly after he was released he said he and Fitzsimmons, 36, got back to making dreamcatchers.</p><p>And although the two say they love each other very much, their relationship is not without a bit of competition.</p><p>&#8220;Mine sell faster,&#8221; said Fitzsimmons.</p><p>&#8220;Not always,&#8221; said Slatten. &#8220;I guess they did yesterday.&#8221;</p><p>Of the two, Slatten is the senior dreamcatcher crafter, having started about five years ago after an injury prevented him from continuing in construction.</p><p>Slatten, who said he believes that making dreamcatchers is &#8220;something I was born to do,&#8221; with his love for crafting a result of arts and crafts he did as a youngster with his mother and grandmother.</p><p>The couple is now staying in a motorhome offered to them by a Plymouth Township resident.</p><p>&#8220;People in this area are much nicer than people in California,&#8221; said Fitzsimmons. &#8220;They are all about what&#8217;s in it for them.&#8221;</p><p>She said she misses the West Coast and is not quite ready to put down permanent roots.</p><p>&#8220;I could picture us buying a motorhome and driving around the country,&#8221; said Slatten.</p><p>The couple is trying to earn enough money to buy some more supplies. They hope for some thick colored string which they said make &#8220;some really nice patterns.&#8221;</p><p>Slatten said the couple will most likely sell their crafts out of a property in Larksville, near Classic Pizza.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re great there,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They really like us.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a dream catcher near the Plymouth Twp site she is staying with David Slatten. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a dream catcher near the Plymouth Twp site she is staying with David Slatten. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Slatten hangs a dream catcher while Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a new one. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers2.jpg</photo1><caption1>David Slatten hangs a dream catcher while Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a new one. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Slatten takes down his dream catchers for the day in Plymouth Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers3.jpg</photo2><caption2>David Slatten takes down his dream catchers for the day in Plymouth Township. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers2CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Slatten hangs a dream catcher while Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a new one. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers2CMYK.jpg</photo3><caption3>David Slatten hangs a dream catcher while Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a new one. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers3CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Slatten takes down his dream catchers for the day in Plymouth Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers3CMYK.jpg</photo4><caption4>David Slatten takes down his dream catchers for the day in Plymouth Township. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers1CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a dream catcher near the Plymouth Twp site she is staying with David Slatten. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080416DreamCatchers1CMYK.jpg</photo5><caption5>Tiffany Fitzsimmons makes a dream catcher near the Plymouth Twp site she is staying with David Slatten. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Duo selling creations along the roadside</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons</p><p>ggibbons@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Couple chasing their dreams by selling their art