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!

heading out tomorrow

dillon and i are headin out tomorrow for the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival , in Hillsdale, NY. it is being held on Dodd's farm. should be very interesting! i've never been to a folk festival before, but dillon's girlfriend, Abby and her family go every year. Abby and her family left today and she called dillon earlier to tell him that it was torrential downpouring and they had not been able to get onto the farm to set up the campsite. as a matter of fact, all they can do is just sit in their car! we haven't heard from them this evening, but i would like to know what 's going on with the weather. i think we will still forge on tomorrow. i'm packing my rain boots though!

well, we had our show yesterday. it was held in Long Beach Island, about an hour from here. i've only been there once, but it is really cute down there. i'd like to check it out again when i have the time. the show, unfortunately, wasn't all that great. it was quite small and i didn't feel like there were alot of people there ( sign of the economy, lack of advertising, ?) the vibe was off to me, even with the other vendors. not much of a friendly atmosphere as opposed to other shows i've done (except for a sweet girl, Natalie). kind of an older crowd and although everyone thought my stuff was lovely and beautiful, not many purchases were made. it seemed like i sold mostly jewelry,which is good. it makes me think i should stop doing mixed media things altogether and just make jewerly. jewerly is definitely lighter and easier to set up as a vendor and you don't need as much space. i find the whole art festival circuit frustrating because they are so much work and often times, in the end, the work doesn't match the profit. if i was having to rely on this as my income, i'd definitely be starving! my husband says it's all about the experience, but after 4 years of this, i think i am experienced enough! the other thing about the show was that it was extremely windy! another factor to consider about these venues that are held outside is the weather conditions. the wind got so bad that people using tents had to hold onto them. things were blowing over, etc. my stuff was okay and maybe because i had a wall behind me. but it finally got so bad, we packed up about an 1 1/2 early. the ride home (on the parkway) was horrible due to all the bennies going home. A "bennie" is basically a tourist and is someone who drives to the beach every weekend. i don't know how they stand it because it was bumper to bumper (maybe getting up to 20mph once in awhile). they have to endure the traffic coming down this way on friday and then do it again to go home on sundays. no thank you~! we had taken two cars, so i called my husband and told him i was getting off the parkway, finding a bathroom, eating and going home another route. i was so exhausted when i got home, i was in bed by 7:30! and i am still exhausted this morning.

stubborn collage

this is a collage i started last week. the first part was a happy accident where she looks really old (done through trying to do the matte gel medium transfer method that didn't work so well.....), but then i sat her aside because she didn't seem complete, yet i didn't know what else she needed. so today i had some inspiration and added the tulle on her skirt for dimension, a ribbon for the waistline and a vintage flower from Tinsel Trading Co. i also added a little poem ode to my friend, Zhulia (she's a new blogger!) Zhulia was feeling wistful about some of her childhood dolls that she still wishes she had. She says she would play with them if she had them, because she sees no reason why not! i like that attitude. anyway, i 'm loving the collage now. it'll be going to the show tomorrow, since it now passes muster!

flea market find

this morning i went to the flea market in search of a good old pair of metal shears. i'm trying to cut spoons for jewerly and that is what my friend, Cindy, recommended. i did find a nice pair which i hope will do the job. i left a comment on Cindy's blog the other day telling her i even had a dream about her and spoons. in the dream i kept showing Cindy all my spoons saying "and you can cut this with metal shears" and on and on through the spoons i went! dreams are so funny. anyway, i kept walking around looking at junk. i came across a bin of dolls and some were wearing great old clothes, so i bought them to salvage the clothes. then i found a pink checkered doll and i thought, "hey, i know you"! her name is Molly and she is my neices most favorite and oldest dolly. Erika has had a Molly ever since i can remember and Molly goes with her every where. another time while i was thrifting, i found another Molly- so i bought her and she became "backup Molly", now known as Molly #2. So now i own my own Molly! i emailed a picture of my Molly this morning to my neice. then her and my mom got creative and took this darling picture with erika, her molly and my molly on the computer screen. (confused?) it's all good.

altered vintage purses

these vintage handbags were collaged and then hand painted. cute aren't they?

getting ready for a show

art shows/festivals/craft fairs are alot of fun - but so much work! i've been doing them for about 4 years now. i'm no where near set up like some of the other folks who do this full time; with the tents and special shelving, etc. my booth is very whimiscal, cottagey, shabby chic, homemade, etc. i find discards on the road (screens, shutters, doors) and along with some vintage chicken coop screens, i just sort of create a backdrop for my tables. then, of course, i have fun "merchandising" my stuff and decorating my back drop. i make my husband do all the grunt work while i supervise. (hehe) then he gets to relax while i unpack everything and display them all. usually the week before a show bring all my stuff from the basement, price things, organize, get bags (i recycle shopping bags). i also do a mock set up of my booth and then create display ideas. my new idea was to build 4 miniature shelves to drill into these old louvre doors (the narrow kind, for a closet probably). i will cover the shelves with vintage hankies. it just a way to bring some height into my display. and don't worry, i'll definitely take pictures. then today, i made a display for my new jewelry line using an old vintage easel that i picked up who knows where and has been sitting in my closet for an eternity waiting to be used in some cool and creative way. here are some pictures from a few shows of my booth:

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here is the jewelry display i made for the show on sunday:

Lillly and another collage

i have to show off my kitty, Lilly (she's a Himalayan) - she sleeps in the cutest position!

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here's another collage i finished today:

things i did today

here's some more "cworky" doll gifts i've been working on

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a mixed media collage piece based on my Charlotte doll and my old style of folk painting. i will be doing a series of these.

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using my charlotte doll in creative ways

lemonade and tricycles - summer fun

is this the cutest lemonade stand you've ever seen?

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