Where to Find Me

A selection of bears and critters from last Saturday's show

For anyone interested in the schedule of my crafty endeavors (and it's quite a hefty one - I may be out of my mind, but that's for another post on another day), there's a new page on the blog, or you can follow the link.

A new page

For anyone interested in my craft show schedule, there's a new page at the top of the blog, or follow the link.

A good day at the craft fest

So the September edition of the Go West Craft Fest is now history, and a very good history it is.

Yesterday was a great day -- gorgeous weather, sunny and in the 70s, definitely the craft gods making up for the biblical floods of my last show -- and absolutely the kind of weather that brings people out to walk around and spend money.

I always go into a show hoping that one thing will be a huge seller, so I know how to narrow my focus and make less of a variety of things.  That didn't happen.

I sold 2 bears, 4 knit critters, a couple of toddler dresses, a couple of embroidered pillow covers and some other bits and pieces.  No potholders this time, and none of the small cosmetic-type bags.  I didn't take my new bag series, thinking that the $50 range might be a bit much for an outdoor event.

While I was there yesterday, I got handed a couple of applications for upcoming events.  I'm debating which ones I want to apply for (other than all of them; I'm beginning to enjoy the craft show circuit, but I'm going to need more inventory).

I also start a six week temp assignment next week, which will somewhat interrupt my inventory building.  I'll be working with one of my best friends while her secretary is out recovering from surgery.  My friend is well acquainted with my plans and told her office that she had the perfect temp -- but I was only available three days a week because I had other commitments.  I'm actually thinking this might be a good thing; I'll spend Monday, Tuesday and Thursday thinking of all the things I would rather be doing, and Wednesday and Friday doing them.

Friday with Friends : Cynhumphrey's Creative Creations

I wonder if I am so attracted to jewelry because it's something I don't make?  It's like my attraction to knitted and crocheted items - I don't make it, most of the techniques involved in the making of it mystify me, and I fear stashing another material.  Me with a yarn stash would NOT be a good thing.  Or a bead stash, for that matter.

So this week's Friday friend is a virtual friend, Cindy Humphrey, who is the captain of my favorite team on Etsy, the Upcycled Clothing 'N Things Team.  Obviously, there's more than upcycled clothing happening here -- Cindy can turn her hand to any kind of jewelry, but it's almost all upcycled from something else.

One of my favorite things in browsing her shop is the way she's inspired -- you can see from the two photo collages I borrowed from her for this post that she makes a group of pieces inspired by a photograph that attracted her.  Generally, as in the photo above, she's inspired by nature.

I love the lavender pieces, though the blue ones at right run a close second.

If you like her style, check out her shop -- I know she's putting some beautiful autumn-colored pieces in there this weekend!

This is where I'll be tomorrow

Another Recycled Collage

It's not that I'm not sewing, but I've been on a roll with the shop lately, so that's what there is to show off.

The holidays are coming, after all, and more than a few craft shows.  So I'm filling up the Etsy shop and trying to make extra inventory for shows, and the upcycling bug has really hit lately.

Mario and I have been reading my favorite series of novels in the evenings, in lieu of watching TV (or at least as much TV).  It's his first reading, and my third (?) or possibly fourth, depending on which book in the series we're talking about.  The books are the Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothy Dunnett, and they're set all over Renaissance Europe.  It's my favorite kind of reading - long, involved, historically accurate and ridiculously swashbuckling.  Romance and sex, too, but these are historical, not hysterical (those have their purpose, too; I can't say I've never read a hysterical romance novel in my day).

I think I've had so much of it in my head lately that it's started leaking out through my fingertips in the sewing room, because this group of bags I just finished (most of them sourced from a floral velvet jacket donated by a friend) have something distinctly Renaissance in their makeup.

Inspiration: it comes from a lot of places, and when it shows up, you try to listen to it.

The Handbag Chronicles

Have you ever had an unusual source for your inspiration to create something?  I'm working on a series of bags right now inspired by my favorite series of novels, the Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothy Dunnett. Mario and I are reading them aloud in the evenings, a welcome break from TV, and although I've read them before (some of them multiple times), I'm still getting something new from the stories.

Set in Renaissance-era Europe, literally all over Europe, the stories are swashbuckling high adventure, romance, intrigue and much more.  Picture a cross between James Bond and Errol Flynn, with sword fights and scheming villains and all sorts of costumed fun. With detailed plots and dozens of characters, not to mention quotes in every language, they're not an easy read, but that's one more thing I like - I'm a fast reader, so I really appreciate a story that makes me slow down and savor.

All that being said (and hopefully I've sent some of you off to Amazon to look at the book descriptions in more detail), I've had a head full of Renaissance colors and design for the past few weeks, and it's apparently starting to leak out.

To top it off, a friend gave me a bag of clothes recently.  She pulled out one piece and said apologetically, "It's not old, but I thought it was pretty."  "It" was a black velvet flowered jacket with gold buttons, and "it" is well on its way to making history as several bags inspired by my favorite books.  Combined with black and dark red satin, some scraps of gold fabric, a load of vintage trim and some buttons, that not-so-little jacket will end up being at least four bags.