lending my touch to The Nest

ive been busy getting ready for Pam Carriker, who is coming to teach a class on Saturday.

she'll be staying in "The Nest" (aka, the camper). we've had the camper for about 4 years now and i've just left it as it came(meaning i didn't pimp it up!). initially it was suppose to be a spot where my husband could go and chill (a man camper). but he wasn't using it, so i decided to start using it as a guest house. it's great for when friends come to visit or if i am hosting an instructor. (Michael deMeng will stay here in October)

in September, a few friends are coming to stay with me, so it got me thinking about putting my artsy touch on the camper. so that's what i have been doing for the last few days. i've brought in some art, some vintage items, added some vintage linens, made a new curtain for the back room (the curtain acts as a door).

i also made a cool banner and today i created this wall hanging to pump up one of the plain walls. ive been having fun.

more Art in the rough, 2010

What can I say about Art-in-the-rough? it was magical. it was like being back at girl scout camp, only funner because i got to enjoy it with my son. We were fed well - every meal was well planned and delicious. there was a campfire every morning and every evening. we had hot showers and plenty of room to do our art and in our tents. there was a delicious lobster bake one evening where they cooked the lobster in a traditional Maine way in which they also cook still in its stalk, corn on the cob. yummy! there were snacks in between and desserts at every turn. i taught a jewelry class one day and then took a banner class with taryn the next. we finished off the evening with silly photographs (quite fun to see know!) and then dinner and a movie in the barn (Alice in Wonderland). the planning, details and menu. everyone walked away with a door prize, even dillon. i give an A+. this group worked hard to show us a good time in beautiful Maine and it was perfect.

Art-in-the-Rough - behind the scenes prep

After Dillon and i spent the night in Marblehead, Massachusetts (those pictures to come later), we continued our drive onto Charleston, Maine. We arrived to a busy group of friends (Taryn, Scott, Robin, Shaun, Emma, Rachel and Stan). they were hard at work getting things in place for the upcoming event. 


Dillon and i dove right in and asked for jobs and we all set about getting stuff done. it was hot, but not hard work; lots of decorating, merchandising, stringing lights, etc.

(pool area)

(outdoor shower area)

(sink/vanity area)

shadow picture photo opp of taryn and i

as seen in the yard!

tents are going up!

the man crew hard at work. they were dubbed "thing 1, thing2 and thing 3"

tent city

me stringing lights (nice pony bun!)

as seen in the yard!

smile Dillon!

Taryn very hard at work while Lillian, their pup supervises

ever seen a Maine sunset? well, put it on your list. it is amazing.

sunset over the tents and cornfield

inside Taryn's house, we are starting to prep goodie bags. couldn't resist snapping a photo of her auction lamp. (she's lucky i didn't put it in my bag when i was leaving!)

prepping the goodie bags. how awesome are these vintage potatoe sacks Taryn got at an auction?

pins that Taryn made for attendees- each one was different

back from the festival

Well, we are back from the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. we left thurs around 10:00 and it took about 4 1/2 hours to get there (maybe a little longer since i got lost in this one spot). it was a nice pleasant ride and fun to spend that amount of time with dillon, uninterrupted. once we got closer, i set my GPS to take us on more of the backroads, so the scenery was much nicer (although, hard to find a restroom!) as we approached the festival we rounded this curve and saw big huge road signs saying "slow down, festival ahead". rounding the next curve, we were greeted with lots of color, tents, people, activities and more! it was quite a sight seeing all these tents set up along the ridge of the mountains. we turned off into the festival parking area and immediately saw Abby and her mom, Peggy. (abby is dillon's girlfriend). you could tell she was excited that he had arrived. after our hello's, Peggy, tell us that due to severe rain the day before, that our actual campsite is not accessible by car at the moment due to massive amounts of MUD and that we will have to carry everything up by hand or wagon. Yikes! so, 3 trips later up and down this muddy hill (thank god i had my rain boots), we finally finished (the last trip almost doing me in as i was alone loading the wagon and after safely getting it over a little careen area, the darn thing tipped over and our stuff was everywhere. thank goodness i was on a grassy knoll - no mud! but to top it off, it was sooooooooooo hot and muggy. we were sweating buckets when all was said and done. after setting up our tent, we all split up for awhile, since Peggy's camp, was set up down the hill (she was in a pop up camper and had to stay there until the roads opened). dillon wient with peggy and abby, while i stayed up the hill to set up our beds and organize our stuff. when i was done, it was back down the hill again to find their camp. then i went on an ice run to the "village" where most of the activities took place (food, vendors, concerts, dancing, etc.) this was a very well organized event. i was amazed at the village and enjoyed walking around and seeing the sights. there were lots of cool vendors; although, only 2 of them were handmade items (yay), the rest being imports (sorry, but ick). i immediately bought something from one guy who made all kinds of awesome jewerly from old antique spoons. i bought a pair of earrings and wish i had bought a few other pairs for gifts. i really enjoyed his things.

back to Peggy's camp with the ice and dinner. we just had some burgers, fruit and chips, but let me tell you, that was the best darn, hard earned burger! not too mention, Peggy made margarita's! some other friends arrived, so it was meet and greet everyone. after dinner we all headed over to the village. there were concerts going on and i went and listened to this folk band (i was calling them "fiddle rock") - called The Horse Flies. i so enjoyed their music that i bought their latest CD. the kids went to the dance tent and i stayed to watch them dance for awhile before calling it quits and heading back to my tent. dillon showed up some time later and crashed. i had a hard time sleeping though, because the sheets were damp from all the humidity (gross). also, it's kind of drag to have to keep getting up to walk to the portapotty. (don't forget, i haven't been camping since college!) you have to carry your flash light so that you don't trip over tent lines, but once inside the potty, i coudn't figure out what to do with my flashlight, except put it in my mouth (and it was a chunky flashlight...........)aww, the joy of camping.

we were wakened quite early in the morning to the sound of the port-a-potty next to our tent being emptied and cleaned. (lovely at 7:30am!) but again, i have to say, they did a good job of empty them and keeping them clean and stocked with toilet paper. for breakfast dillon and i had cereal in our tent, since we were the only ones at the campsite. then we washed our hair (with water in jugs i brought) and brushed our teeth and then headed back to base camp. they were all eating breakfast and the kids were going their separate ways, so i decided to go for a drive to try and find a store to pick up some things we all forgot (trashbags!) by the time i got back, the road to our campsite had been opened, so i got to drive right up - yipee! what a difference a road makes. i put my car in 4 wheel drive though, just in case. the rest of the festival was more of the same, music (we went to see a folk version of Beatlemania, which was cool), eating, dancing, etc.

we left on saturday. packing up wasn't as bad as i thought it would be and so much easier with the car there. we stopped at some falls before driving home, which was really pretty. 20 minute hike in and out, but well worth it. next post, i'll show pics. we had a nice leisurely drive home. dillon was quite tired (well, me too!) so he napped on and off. abby called him the next day and said it started raining again with hail and that tents were falling down and they all had to pack up quickly and get out before the roads got muddy again and they all were stuck there. i said, i'm glad we left when we did!