Sunday, October 11, 2009

A Year in the Making, Day 41

Back from the Penumbra Faire, fortified with my traditional post-event KFC extra crispy chicken dinner, and now ensconced on the sofa with a glass of wine. It was a truly lovely event, and the organizers did a wonderful job. There are more events planned, and I hope to take part again.

Very few pictures were taken, but here's my booth setup:



You can see in front my new parasol holders, re-purposed wine racks. They're a bit tippy, so I've challenged the husband to find a way to mount them to make them more stable.

The overlying theme to the faire was the celebration of King Oberon's 2500th birthday. Queen Titania cast a spell to bring all manner of folks to the party, including Robin Hood, King Arthur, and Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Queen Mab invited herself to the cebration, and made sure that the Sheriff of Nottingham, Morganna la Fey and Captain Hook and Smee were in attendance as well. Titania presented King Oberon with an acorn from the Tree of Life as a present, and Mab proceeded to steal it. The entire faire, various characters were seen in possession of the acorn, stealing it back and forth between themselves. The Sheriff and his men also went around "collecting taxes" from the vendors, which Robin Hood would steal and give back.

I decided to represent the Dark Fey at the event. No pictures of today's outfit, but here's me on Saturday:



I was also wearing fangs, but opted not to mug for the camera. They came in quite handy, as the Sheriff's men decided after I grinned hugely at them that I must have already paid my taxes, so they didn't need to bother with me.

The faire site was beautiful, with the mountains all along one side of our field. It was covered in thick grass, which meant the dust factor, so prevalent at many outdoor events, was minimal. It was quite windy, but we were warned in advance. My tent weights are cement-filled PVC pipes, and weigh ~30 pounds each. With one of these on each corner, and my tables bungie'd to the canopy legs, I was nice and secure. The only drawback was the large insect and arachnid population. The spiders, especially, were everywhere, and I constantly was intercepting wee 8-legged beasties dropping down on silk from my canopy girders and carting them out to the grass. I found one beautiful insect hanging out on top of one of my earring displays when I opened up this morning:



Many lovelies were made in between chatting with visitors, and here's one, a piece I made this morning and sold this afternoon. Luckily I got a shot before it left my possession. An antique watch spring and gears, wrapped with garnets:



Time now for bed, as it's back to the regular grind and the mundane world tomorrow.

3 comments:

The Tote Trove said...

Wow. This sounds like it was an awesome, unique event! Your booth is lovely; I especially like the red feather boa hanging near the roof. And I can completely relate to the the post-show KFC ritual; I almost always treat myself to something decadent after a grueling day under the tent!

Rebecca - Fuchsia Bloom Studio said...

Hi Victoria - a beautiful costume and booth! And your new necklace was lovely! I love going to fairs - I will be dressing up for the King Richard's faire in 2 weekends and I sold my wares at the Highland Fest with my parents (we dress up as 18th century artisans)in Maine this summer.
Talk to you soon on the thread!
Rebecca-Fuchsia Bloom

Designs by Victoria said...

The red scarf is specifically to keep the taller gents from banging their heads on my canopy framework! I used to hang netting to cover the metal, but fire marshals hate it. The scarf was perfect for this, though!