September Gathering

This month has been so impossibly busy and disruptive to my routine, I couldn't begin to explain it all. Instead, I have for you a gathering of things that have made me happy (and sane) during the chaos. Enjoy!



The perfect late-summer print Floral Fantasy Luster must have fairies living in it. By Etsy artist Floral Fantasy Luster by Jean Vadal Smith




Megan has provided every icon you need for re-arranging your avatar life. Most are worth snatching, and she has beautiful icons from Labyrinth, Princess Bride, Willow, and Ever After and (!)Stardust!




I am much in love with this subtle wing cable sweater from Canary Knits. So brave to chart her own cables!




This is Knitting Betty's version of a pattern called Juno, released in Rowan #40. I just know they've stolen this sweater pattern from Middle Earth, specifically Edoras. This brings me great joy.



The background illustration of this summer's issue of Goblin Fruit is a source of happiness every time I see it.



Yesterday, my folded and ironed laundry boasted a color pallet worthy of Arthur Rackham. No pictures, just a very satisfying sight.



Finally, from the Endicott blog, this commercial from Japan for Asience Shampoo is lovely and makes me want to watch anime:

Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival

Exhibiting shyness at the Renaissance Festival can bode ill for thy health!



Luckily, I am not shy at the festival; I'm one of the select few (or so I tell myself) who can walk the line of irony between a life laced with cynicism and and the one bright day each year when I put it all aside and dress up like a fairy and hit the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival! Soup in a bread-bowl, bad accents, knocking over small expensive items with my wings; it is one of the best diversions autumn has to offer.



The Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival was formerly known as the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival. I began attending perhaps five years ago, though I cannot remember how in the world I discovered it. At the time my identity was solidifying; I was realizing that it was acceptable for my love of unicorns to have followed me stealthily from the 80s, through the tumultuous 90s, and into adulthood. My first festival experience sealed the deal: I could pretend, once a year, that it was real. Though the festival closed last season, they reopened this year under new management and it was my favorite festival yet.


(These guys sold me new fairy ears with only fifteen minutes left in the day. They're good.)

The trip to the festival begins with a long drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, flanked as it is by green hills, farms, and animals of varying colors and degrees of fuzziness. (I especially love to see the little white sheep fluffing along in the pastures.) This year, we made the drive relatively early and arrived in time to park mere rows from the Festival Gate. The upper level is a slightly sloping clearing that offers access to port-a-privies (my first destination each year), food (my second destination each year) and many of the clothing vendors. A glassblower demonstrates his craft on the hour. There is a woman who paints faces, there are rides, and there are games of skill. (And more food.) The lower level exhibits many of the stages and crafts, as well as the children's area. Soap, perfumes, jewelry, books, beer, pottery, candles, pirate gear, leather-work, glass, weaving, toys, costumes, more food - all of the trappings of fake Renaissance life are there to enchant your dollars from your pocket.



The joust, when it is good, (and this year it was) is one of the best parts of the festival. It plays out three times daily, and each time the story progresses, and you get to cheer loudly for the horsemen, one noble and dull, one evil and likeable. This year we cheered for the evil Roderick:



Of course the last joust concludes with the bad guy's death, because in Renaissance World everything happens for good. The street cast is friendly but not harassing (By my troth I was much harassed at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair, but only approached comfortably in Pittsburgh) and nobody takes themselves too seriously. It is a good fair to visit; smaller than many, but enough for one good day's entertainment. The paths are of dirt, not asphalt. The soup in a bread-bowl is much more delicious than anywhere else. It is shaded by many trees, and you can pretend to be an archery champ, see a good show. What more couldst thou ask?



The first four photographs were taken by me, but the rest (including the links) were taken by my time-traveling friend Casey West. He has many more fair pictures that are worth a glance (especially the Dead Pirate).

And the winner is...

I wrote down the names of the six entrants who answered the question of what they would like to see brought back from Faerie. They were put into my lovely French mug, thusly:

Here we go...



Enui is the winner! Enui, I will be contacting you, so be thinking of the magazine you would like.

Stay tuned for the Renaissance Fair Report, either tonight or tomorrow!

Rachael Direnna

As I hinted before, I had a most surprising opportunity over the weekend. My friend and I escaped on Saturday afternoon to A Fair in the Park in one of Pittsburgh's most picturesque places, Mellon Park. We weren't even going to go; I thought it was going to be a smallish affair with a handful of vendors and some funnel cakes. Happy mistake! There were rows and rows of vendors exhibiting beautiful work: pottery, jewelry, weaving, knitting, ceramics, photography, sculpture - there was not one craft that was not represented, I'm sure.

In this panoply of tents, my friend Chastity pointed out something she thought was interesting. I turned. Lo and behold, the familiar figures of Rachael Direnna's were right in front of me!

(The enchanting tent, which Rachael shared with Rose Clancy)

I had been planning to write about Rachael's work, having discovered her on Indie Public and loved her nature- and fantasy-inspired sculptures. I chickened out on Saturday, but returned on Sunday to introduce myself.









(I can't help but love this pair)


(The green lady's dress makes me think of Goldberry's)

Online, I fell in love with the shapes, but what really stood out to me on Sunday were the textures. They are more than organic; it's almost as if the sculptures are formed by wind and water with crushed, fallen leaves. They seemed to have brought into existence by the earth. Tree spirits, strange creatures, insects and bewitching women come to life at her hands. Entirely beautiful. (And made from recycled materials!)

Rachael is entirely beautiful as well (a fellow redhead) and was so kind to offer that I pick out some of her cards for myself. I chose the Fairy and the Washer-woman, and I cannot wait to place them somewhere I can see them each day. Are they not beautiful? Here are a few more images that I could not resist sharing, from Rachael's Flickr photostream:


I love how this is emerging, growing...the posture is splendid


Lovely wings on the Katydid!


I couldn't resist...the librarian pinup!

Rachael is so prolific, you really must check out her flickr, her blog Figurative Paper, and Etsy shop. Yes, you can really buy her prints and sculptures. If you ever have a chance to see her work at a show, please do - it is even more phenomenal in person. Extra thanks to Rachael not only for creating fascinating (and haunting) art, but also for allowing me to feature her here.

So spend the week being enamored with Rachael's work, and I shall return, barring illness or natural disaster, with the chronicles of my experience at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Fair!

Adventures in Spinning: Part 0

The enchanting art of spinning is hardly a lost one, but I would be leading you astray if I told you that my view of spinning is not highly romanticized (what isn't, in my life?). This view is fed by my near-constant immersion in the study of fairy tales and the culture of craft. Think of it! Once I can make this thread, I will have destiny in my hands just like the weird sisters. (The characters, not the band).

My spindle, is it not beautiful?


The roving that came with it. I cannot wait to try it out and make green, slubby yarn.

One of my favorite tales about spinning is called Habetrot and Scantlie Mab by Joseph Jacobs. He is famous for his Celtic tales, many of which are variants on the more well-known versions that are prevalent nowadays. A young girl must spin but has not had the practice (in this story, it is not a lying parent who sells her to a king - it is the girl's own fault for having 'untaught' hands). She meets an old woman with curiously disfigured lips who solves her problem for her. Read the tale at Sur La Lune: Habetrot and Scantlie Mab.

Some other tales that involve spinning:

Kinkach Martinko
Tom Tit Tot
The Golden Spinning-Wheel
The Lazy Spinner

Check back on Wednesday because I will be featuring some beautiful art by an artist I had the pleasure to meet this weekend at A Fair in the Park. (I was going to blog about her anyway - the meeting just makes it more special.)

Don't forget to enteryour answer to the survey for a chance to win the latest copy of your favorite magazine. You want to enter.

An Experiment and a Survey - Win a Prize!

Low End Fairytale Crafting

This month feels frenzied as I struggle to compile what could be called an inventory for my Etsy store's opening in October. All of the jewelry is finished, the stitch markers are done, the clothing is on its way, and the knitted wristlets are out of the picture for now. For some reason, when I was brainstorming for the inventory, I wrote "two books". I have taken one (1) bookmaking class, in the summer of 2002, and until today I felt relatively confident that it would return to me. This past summer, before any thought of bookmaking for profit came into my head, I pasted this monstrosity together:

Oh yes. I had started this baby waaay back, perhaps a year and a half ago, and just picked it up again a few months ago to be done with it. The gold paper was much too thick for what I wanted to do, and it shows. And really, this is not the kind of thing I want to be selling anyway; I want it to look like it came from Faerie, not like some dolt's uninformed version of Faerie.

So I spent my Labor Day between a pot of organic peppermint tea and my dining table:



I dyed about sixty little papers, for a total of twenty-one signatures, at three to a book. I like the idea of little blank journals, having recently discovered the value of blank paper as opposed to lined for journaling, and thought that others might as well. And so! I proceeded to make a model with some more of the lovely, cheesy Once Upon A Time cardstock. Again, it's too un-Faerie for what I'm going for, but in general it came out alright, and gave me a chance to see what needs to be improved in my binding:







I'm kind of a fan of the tie closure, and the soft cover. The inside of the cover is made of a sticky-backed canvass that I'm a big fan of for its pseudo-rustic quality. So I cheated and made the post about me and my artistic efforts - you wanna make something of it?

And now for the survey:
My Etsy store, Silverthread Path, is based on the premise that I, like many others before me, have traveled in the land of Faerie. I have returned with objects valuable and not so valuable, everyday items, which are familiar to the inhabitants of this land. And I'm selling them, here.
So tell me - what would *you* want me to bring back for you? I will put all of the entrant's names in a box and draw. The winner will receive the latest copy of a crafty/decor/writing/art/fairytale/fantasy magazine of his or her choice. Deadline is Saturday, September 15th, so get postin'!