Craft Event News, 20090817

Post date: Aug 18, 2009 1:04:11 AM

2009-August-17

I had a great time at the 2nd Annual Renaissance Festival at the Griswold Veterans Memorial Park in Jewett City, CT, this past Saturday. There was a roving accordion player, a troupe(?) of belly dancers, some jousters, and more attractions throughout the day. Many vendors and visitors participated in the theme of the day by dressing the part.

I had finally completed making my costume late Friday night. I had made the blouse a few months ago for the play that I was in, "Romeo and Juliet -- the Musical" (I was Lady Capulet, Juliet's mom). I only needed to make an adjustment to it, and that took less than half a day. I had also made a snood for that play, but had been dissatisfied with it, so I pulled it apart and started over. I finished that a little over a month ago. A few weeks ago, I finished the skirt and even wore it to a couple of places, where long skirts are appropriate attire. But the outer-garment-corset got tricky... or should I say 'I made it a little complicated'? I wanted to make mine reversible. I'm pretty decent at sewing if I have some idea of where to start, but I had never made a corset before. However, I have an undergarment corset from one of those fancy underwear catalogs. So I traced out the sections onto some fabric that I had in my 'pile-o-cloth' and cut out the pieces, drove to the nearest Jo-Ann Fabrics store (just over 30 miles away) and bought some boning (the stiff-yet-flexible strip of plastic wrapped in fabric for making garments hold themselves up), and put the project aside for a few days... a week... two weeks... ummm.... I'd better finish this!! So the morning before the Festival, about 10 a.m. or so, I started sewing and ironing and shaping and ironing and sewing and making buttonholes and attaching buttons and threading the lace and .... about 10 p.m. that night I finished the last buttonhole and button, tried it on and tightened the laces.... and it's just a little big in the bust, but the waist fits fine. *sigh* I had given myself too much seam allowance. All was not lost, though: I tried it on again, but this time with the intended blouse instead of the t-shirt I had been wearing that day. Due to the drawstring neckline and the generous amount of gauzy fabric, the upper part of the blouse sort of 'puffed' over the top of the corset, thus filling the small gap between me and it. That would do just fine. Anyways, back to Saturday.

Since I hadn't ever set up a vendor booth before, my parents volunteered to help, as my father used to set up at local craft fairs in the past -- he does oil paintings of landscapes and still life scenes. They donated a lot of the 'fixtures' that I would need, such as a pop-up canopy, folding tables, wood and mesh for building 'ventilated' walls (which also make hanging art easier), table covers, and the like. They also helped me set up my area and tend to the booth throughout the day. I did get to see the other vendors' booths, which wouldn't have been possible if I were all by myself. Electricity was not provided at my location, so I provided my own by using a power inverter that works off my vehicle's battery and turns it into 110V AC. This enabled me to keep my laptop charged during use and run the printer for the few on-the-spot requests that I had.

A lot of visitors thought my art rather interesting, though there were far more 'browsers' than 'purchasers,' as can be expected at any craft event. I had a few new requests for names, some of which I completed on the spot. (I will be adding the names Alisia, China, Clayton, Damian, Meriah, Shayne, and Troyal to my Name Art Page once I finish drawing the rest of them into my computer.) One of the ladies that works at the bank up the hill from the park bought one of my 'piggy' banks -- the dishwasher detergent bottle pig -- I call it "D.W. Pigg."

And speaking of "Piggs"... I have added a few new photos to my Word Art Page: peanut butter jar coin banks, piggy-shaped banks, and a triptych of Scriptural Word Art. But back to Saturday again...

At the end of the day there was a band playing modern music from the 50's through the present. My 4-year-old nephew got his harmonica out and played with the band. I took some photos. He's quite a natural at being musical, and he's not stage-shy. The band was quite pleased and said they'd put him up on their website. There aren't any new pictures on their website yet, so I'll have to look for that again later. You may tend to think of most children who get their hands on a harmonica and just make noise. Not Robert-- it seems as though he actually puts some thought into what noises the instrument makes.

Over the weekend there was an ad in the local paper about another craft event in Sprague, CT, that still had room for more vendors. I called yesterday after lunch and left a message. As there wasn't yet a response, I called again this morning and got to speak with someone. I now have a spot reserved for the Three-Village Fall Festival at the Babe Blanchette Field on Main Street in Sprague, CT, to be held on Saturday, August 29, 2009 from 10 to 6.

As I am setting up my booth in a new 'vicinity' I have more town names sketched in preparation for this upcoming event: Baltic, Hanover, Preston, Sprague, Taftville, and Versailles. I'll need to set aside some time to get them drawn into the computer. As they are completed, I will add them to the Name Art Page. I also want to try to sketch the town names of Bozrah, Brooklyn, Chaplin, Franklin, Hampton, Lebanon, Putnam, Scotland, Stonington, North Stonington, Thompson, and Woodstock. OK, so some of those in the second list are on the opposite extremity of Eastern Connecticut from those nearer to Sprague, but if I intend to set up at the Woodstock or Brooklyn Fairs, I'll want town names from those vicinities as well... and even further.... I'll need to look at a map....

Anyways... I have another new Word Art/Greeting Card design in mind that my 4-year old nephew can help with. It's a surprise until I post a thumbnail on the respective pages.... *wink*