Renspace: Myspace for Rennies

My fellow Fantasy Artists of Etsy Street Team member Sacred Oak recently introduced me to Renspace. I must admit, I never really 'got' Myspace until I started exploring Renspace: it totally makes sense how people connect over there now! Again, I must admit, I still haven't signed up for Myspace yet, but I did for Renspace - it just seemed to make more sense since it's dedicated to the faire folk that I'm trying to connect with. I've neglected my blog a bit lately (the month of May has been insanely busy!) and so too with my Renspace page, but here it is. Come check out my page and explore the site - it's a really fun resource!

Cramming to Get Ready for Craft Fair on Saturday!

This was my table from a psychic fair a friend from work invited me to show at. This is from a LONG time ago when I was involved with beaded and wire wrapped jewelry, hemp, and candles. I had only just discovered chain maille and only had three pieces of it with me.

I found out yesterday that I can vend (free of charge) at a fair on Saturday. Well, it's really a grand opening of an art and activity center for kids that is hosting a craft fair as part of their grand opening celebration. I had been reluctant to do it because I didn't think it would be my demographic, but the more I thought about it. . .

Well, I'm hurriedly trying to figure out my display and some more kid friendly items. I'm a little stressed out about it because I have so little time to prepare. The way I figure it: worse case scenario, I get to spend the day enjoying being outside which is a luxury I rarely afford myself; best case, well, we all know best case is making some sales and meeting some people. I think I'm going to bring some of my beaded and wire wrapped jewelry, hemp for the kiddies, and my DIY Necklace Kits (with gemstones and sterling silver findings) in addition to my maille to try and tap more people's interest.

I also think I'm going to bring some rings and my pliers and do some demos. I wish I was in the middle of a large project to show and make it more interesting.

My to do list also includes all kinds of businessy kinds of things that need to get done, too, like: price tags, promo stuff, displays, bags for purchases, maybe making some kind of banner.

Here are some awesome fair tips from Amanda (aka MrsDragon) at her blog The Dragon's Wares.

What do you do to get ready for a fair? What's the one fair item you can't live without?

History Comes to Life

I've always been interested in the medieval and renaissance time period. Even as a child, I would go to museums and gravitate towards the armour and swords of the time period. I took a medieval art course in college and learned that although I wasn't a huge fan of the painting, I loved the sculpture, stained glass, and tapestries. I love reading historical fiction, especially with strong female characters. I've always been a creative person involved with scrapbooks, candle making, collages, sketching, macrame and knotwork, and eventually beading. The thing with beading is that although I find beads to be quite beautiful, I've always loved metal jewelry more. So, when I came across a tutorial (Euro 4-1 Bracelet) to combine my interest in the past (armour) and my love of metal jewelry I just had to try it. And, as they say, the rest is history.

So, it confounds me to admit that despite this interest in history, armour, and entertainment I had never been to a Ren Faire until just a few years back. I'm originally from New York and just a few hours upstate is the famous Sterling Renaissance Festival as well as the New York Renaissance Faire. It wasn't until I moved down to FL with Scott that I ventured to the Bay Area Renaissance Festival. Why hadn't I done this sooner? My theatrical background loved the entertainment and my inner geek thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere.

Although, it doesn't have a strict storyline like many other faires, it is still deeply rooted in the history of King Henry VIII and his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr. I also recently found out that there is a special day dedicated to bringing school children in; allowing teachers the opportunity to truly bring history to life for their students.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to the faire last year, but one way or another I plan to make it to at least one day of it's seven weekends this year. I have to. For research. . . ;)

Happy New Year! Huzzah!

*This entry is for the Etsy Bloggers Street Team weekly Carnival. This week it's hosted by AliciaMae.*

I hope everyone had a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

Mine was relatively quiet. Things at work have been a bit busy, so when Scott and I were both home at the same time for Christmas Day, we totally just vegged out. It was nice.

What's in Store for Athena's Armoury in '08? And what was with the "huzzah" in the title of this entry?

I feel the winds of change stirring in my life. In a good way. I have been a successful theatre professional my whole life, however in recent years I've been feeling like I'm in a rut. I could not for the life of me figure out something else that I would rather be doing with my life. Scott kept saying to me, you should think about doing Ren Faires. And I kept thinking no, I could never do that. Until recently, it dawned on me: "Why the hell not?" It will allow me to continue to be involved in an extremely theatrical environment, I would be able to work for myself, making something I love, and (hopefully) have fun doing it. I've started researching how to get started and all that it involves so that I can start making some concrete plans. In general, I plan to start bulking up my inventory big time, so hopefully that means continuing to list regularly at Etsy. Now, I have to learn to speak with an accent and learn the Elizabethan language. . . and get a costume! Look out geekdom, here comes Athena's Armoury!