Wednesday, May 14, 2008

What Mothers Day will bring. . .

What it brought us was a bunch of kittens!! We have been feeding this orphaned family of kittens on our deck since last July when I was at All Good Festival. Well, 2 of those kittens are now mamas, and of them brought all her kittens inside while we were gone for Mothers Day. We wondered how they were, when we spotted the in the hole of our pump house, nested alongside the insulation.


We found them in one of our comfy chairs Monday morning, waiting for their mother, who was waiting outside by the window we usually leave open when we are gone and throughout the day. I can't help but let them be there for a while. I plan on moving them to a lined box, then to one of the sheds outside. She is a young, but attentive mother, letting them nurse and cleaning them whenever necessary.


Don't you want a kitten?


Well, I told you I would describe the beadwork I've been doing lately. I did several peyote stitch dread beads for the next festies, and to give to those I love. Here's a few of my faves:




I also wrapped up a piece of reconstituted Turquoise. What is reconstituted Turquoise, you might ask? Well, it means they took all the shards and bits of real turquoise, and pulverize it. Then it is combined with a resin and formed into new slabs. So it is real Turquoise, but it's man-made. It turns out to be stronger than it's original form.

I added a Peyote Stitch-wrapped Quartz crystal, Bali Sterling Silver, Swarovski Crystals, a freshwater pearl, many stones, and used Sterling Silver to wrap the whole thing. The bail is a new style for me, herringbone, or something or other. A friend told me about it, saying it would make the bail stronger and the piece last longer. I really love it.

My next step is to make some sort of plexy glass case to display these small items inside my booth. They are just too small and valuable and unfortunately too easy to pick up with sticky fingers. No way am I gonna let my hard work go to some douchebag who refuses to respect handmade crafts.

I'm also about to update the website within the next day, so keep your eyes peeled!

Thanks for keepin' in touch ya'll!!!

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Monday, May 5, 2008

Where in the world is Justine?

Well, I'm back! I'm sorry to those I left waiting on the edge of their seats about my incredibly interesting life. I'll bet you missed me!!! haha!

I just hadn't felt like blogging. Nothing is wrong, and I'm feeling fine. I guess I've just felt a bit more private lately. But now I shall reveal. (drumroll, please!) Haha! Like there is some big mysterious thing happening with me lately. Not really, but I do have some good news; We are vending Rothbury Festival!!!

Ohhh! We are just uberly stoked!!! With an expected attendance of 40-50 THOUSAND people, this is certainly up there in THE FESTIVALS TO GO TO list. I mean, if you have lots of money and can have the luxury of paying over $200 for a ticket. But, really, it's actually a pretty good deal when you break it all down. It's basically 4 days of SOLID music. Go to the website and you'll see a whole slew of things to do. Cuz it ain't just about the music! Just last week they announced the opening of their indoor water park. Yes, that's right, folks INDOORS!!! I'm looking forward to seeing some good reggae while there. It may be too busy for us to even get a chance to get out and take a break. So we are looking for part-time helpers in exchange for handmade clothing, and food/drinks/etc, or for pay. Anybody interested, please let me know. We also have an extra ticket for those who are seriously interested in devoting at least 16 hours of work while there. Basically that is 4 hours each day.

We're also really quite proud of ourselves. Yeah, you can smack us later for all this "I'm better than you" crap. Apparently there were thousands of entries, and we were picked. We are sharing our goods with some of the Nation's TOP vendors. Woo-hoo that's us!!!! I'm also looking forward to seeing what other goodies are going to be there, as a new necklace and perhaps some new clothing is on my list to get or trade while we are there.

And who's this other person in the "we" description of going to Rothbury festival? Why my dear friend Natasha of Nature Gear, of course. She also makes a lot of kick-ass hemp clothing, which is something this festival is gearing towards. Eco-friendly. Yep, those words that have become a marketplace in themselves. We use hemp, soy, organic cotton and some bamboo fabrics in our sewn clothing, and I'll be using more organic cotton or hemp t-shirts with my batik line.

I wanted to share with you all a few pics of the latest festival I vended, our local 2nd annual 420 Jamfest. It isn't far from my home, which makes it so warm to my heart. I've really come to enjoy all the familiar faces and the fact that I feel like I'm right back on the page of the festie scene as I left it last. Good friends, happy faces, and unforgettable memories that I shall cherish forever.

Vending with me at that festival was another great friend of mine, Danielle, of Pixy Patch. Danielle makes neatly-sewn patchwork clothing and delicious herbal goodies made with TONS of love. Here's a beautiful pic of her, happily sitting in the booth while vending:



Here's a shot of our booth, snatched from Danielle's photo album.

I'm getting pretty sick of my banner. As you can see, you can barely even detect it. I've ordered a professional sign, but I need to dig up my sales confirmation and get on them about why I haven't gotten it yet! I'm going to have to rig up some sort of frame for it, something I'm sure my dad can help me out with.

We had lots of smiling faces come and meet us in the booth. Here's some of my favorite shots:


Oh, I love how my batiks look on dark skin! This lion batik was just calling for this dude to try on. It's like it was made JUST for him! Sweet little Willow is admiring herself in the mirror. Her mama and I have become good friends since I met her at Hookahville last Spring, where she bought the bug hemp set.

Alrighty, now onto some craft talk. I actually haven't sewn since before the festival. Oh my gosh--that's like almost 3 weeks ago! Bad girl!!! I guess I haven't been that bad, because I managed to work up some really nice beaded stuff last week and over the weekend. I was inspired my a lot of gorgeous stone wrapping and peyote stitches while at the last festival and it urged me to bust out my beads. I've made some beautiful pieces, but I'll wait until the next update to share the details and pics with you. Truth is, I've yet to photograph any of the new pieces yet, but I do have some great ideas for props n things to use. Ohhh! I'm so excited!!!

I do plan on sewing this week. Last week I picked up some beautiful calico fabrics to make some skirts and children's clothing out of. I'll probably do some other things with them too, but I don't wanna let the cat outta the bag just yet! I've got people reading this that will be at the next festival I'll be at, and I want to surprise them, too!

Okay, so Marlena tagged me in her latest blog, so here I go. haha! tagged ya back!!

Tagged:
Patchwork Underground. These mamas are building a home on a bus--by themselves. As if that doesn't kick ass enough, one of them makes seriously incredible clothing. Definitely one to check out. . .

Inner Chattings of Ms. Magnolia Skies. The name speaks for itself. This chic strives for perfection, and boy, does it show. Her meticulous crafts(wo)manship and exquisite attention to detail makes her eco-friendly clothing stand out. I like how she crops the pics so that only the garment shows. Let's be frank about it, folks; she's crazy. Crazy about creating.

Enchanted Gypsy
This is a thorough log of the life of another nomadic family, living in a bus on the west coast. Pixie's honest and sometimes heart-wrenching entries will keep your eyes moving throughout their journey.

3 Random facts about me:
1. I'm still kind of scared of construction cranes. I have to sort of NOT look at them while driving by. Sort of how you're supposed to look at the white line on the opposite side of the road when some idiot has their high-beams on.

2. I really don't like raw onions. It pisses me off when something gets ruined by them and I can't eat it.

3. Sometimes when I want to get out of the car with someone I envision myself jumping out and being able to run faster than the car is driving. "eat my dust, buddy!" Truth is, I can't really run fast at all and I'd be mad if someone just left me on the side of the road, running to catch up with them.

Okie dokey. I guess that's a good post for now. I promise to have something crafty to share next time, which will hopefully be a lot sooner than later!! Pin It
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