Unknown Taxonomy

 Remember when I bought that strand of jade cicadas? I finally created something with one of them! Of course, upon further thought I'm not sure if it's actually a cicada... maybe it's a firefly? Stone insects are so hard to identify!

 Have a closer look yourself. What's your vote for its species?

Here it is in the wild, being worn by me at the drum circle at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. I'm dancing with my friends Jen and Mary! Jen is also wearing a necklace that I made.

But the most exciting part is that this is my first piece as part of the Allegory Gallery Design Team! The two sizes of brown beads that I used in the necklace were provided by Allegory Gallery. They're very nice plastic. I don't normally use plastic at all, but I'm trying to overcome my snobbery. Besides, that stone pendant is SO heavy, it was nice to be able to cut down on the weight of the necklace by using lightweight beads. The plastic has a beautiful marbled appearance that makes it look like glass or stone from the distance; very classy.

In addition to the stone cicada (firefly?) and the plastic beads, I also used some antiqued jade beads to match the focal, some Afghani coins (including one that serves as a "clacker" turning the focal into a bell), a little Thai silver and a little red tiger's eye. I love it!

Return to Renaissance

Have you seen the latest FAETeam Exhibition yet? It's called Return to Renaissance and there are many elegant items included! As usual, Aquariann has done a wonderful job of tastefully arranging the selections, treasury-style. If you're planning a trip to the Renaissance Faire this summer, you should go take a look and see what you'd like to ad to your garb.

FAETeam goes to the Faire!

For Treasury Tuesday this week, FAETeam had a Renaissance Faire theme (suggested by yours truly!). It was a big hit -- I know, it's so surprising that a team of fantasy artists would be so enthusiastic about the Faire! My steampunk pirate necklace Piracy in the Age of Steam was included in Pirate Invasion at Ren Faire! by the lovely and talented Lithia. The equally wonderful Mermaiden included my The Sweetest Lady steampunk necklace in her treasury Huzzah! It's funny, I would have expected some of my tribal or fantasy jewelry to be chosen for the treasuries over my steampunk designs, but I am not about to complain! And really, that's one of the best things about jewelry -- you can make it your own and make it work with whatever look you want.

Of course, you know I also had to make a treasury! Mine is called Are you ready for the Faire? and it features costumes, jewelry, and images to inspire.

Sadly, our local Renaissance Festival ends this weekend. It's so warm here that we run in February and March, whereas most other Faires seem to be scheduled for late spring, summer, and even into early autumn. I may hit some other festivals and faires later in the year, but the AZ event will always have a special place in my heart, as Chris and I had our first date there!

A spiral, as promised!

I just listed this Trundling Beetle spiral rope bracelet in my Etsy shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I photographed all the other spiral bracelets, too, but I only had time to list one, and I decided to do the best one! I love the bone bead focal, with its little beetle. I'm surprised I didn't make it into something for myself, honestly.

Most if not all of the other spiral ropes will be listed at a discounted price, I think. There's nothing wrong with them, they're just not as fancy as I tend to make them now, and a couple of them are really small.

No dance class tonight, which makes me sad! But this weekend we'll go to the Renaissance Faire and I'll get to see my favorite live music and dance group, Ghazaal Beledi! I'm so excited to see them dance, hear their music, and get their new CD! Oh yeah, and all the other stuff we'll do at Faire, too. But mostly Ghazaal Beledi! If you go to the Faire, make sure to see at least one of their shows and give them a big ol' cash tip, too!

Colorful Bellydancers

Chris snapped this picture for me at the NY Renaissance Faire. I'm posing with one of the two belly dancers, though I regret to say that I forgot her name. She had a great gypsy persona and I think that her aqua and purple costume really suits her.

I'm pretty sure she was doing gypsy-style belly dance as well, though I'm not very good at identifying the various styles of dance. There were some hand movements that were very different from anything I've seen in tribal or Egyptian, including bringing her fists together and making a chopping motion up her arm -- they really weren't as violent as I made them sound, just very energetic.

As for me, I'm wearing a very orange skirt. When I purchased that Gahwazee vest, I decided that I really needed to wear it with colors other than green -- the orange and yellow paisley pattern gave me a good opportunity to branch out a bit. The orange skirt was a lucky $5 find, and while it's not full and floofy like a good tribal skirt, it did easily fit in my suitcase ;)

Happy National Dance Day!

It's National Dance Day! The first National Dance Day, even! I won't let the fact that it was apparently started by someone from reality TV detract from my enjoyment of the day. Instead, I'll shade this pretty photo of the Ghazaal Beledi dancers from the Ren Faire doing a beautiful fan veil performance. I was fortunate enough to see them perform live again last weekend, as part of the Tribal Pura performance.

Remember this is a day for all sorts of dance, not just belly dance, so no matter what style you prefer, get up and celebrate! Put on your favorite music and dance through the house, pull out some performance DVDs, or get dressed up and hit the clubs. I for one will be going to a party where there probably won't be any dancing, but that won't stop me from dancing in the seat of the car on the way up!

Dancing at Faire

Look who danced on stage with the dancers and musicians of Ghazaal Beledi! It's me! And my classmates Jacqueline (in the orange), Meghan (in the magenta) and Jen (behind Meghan)! The other magenta skirted dancer in the corner is Jen Bentz, one of the Ghazal Belede dancers, and the blue skirted lady in the back is the dancer who spotted us in the audience and came up with the idea to pull us up... I didn't catch her name because I was too excited.

This photo comes courtesy of Jen's husband Sam, who took a lot of pictures and a little video while we were dancing. My Mom has video, too, but she hasn't sent it to me yet. I'll share it here when she does.

Sorry that I haven't had time to actually post much this week, it's been crazy and now I have to finish getting ready for class.

Henna!

Check out my henna faerie! Chris snapped this shot right after she was done, because of course I was silly and got my first henna tattoo in a spot where I couldn't see it. I'm really happy with the design and the placement, so I hope it lasts for a few weeks. It's not as dark as it could be, because I got cold and put a hoodie on over my halter top, and it started pulling the dried paste off. But since I'm so pale, it still shows really well... it's a nice mellow brown-orange.

Chris's Mom is now back in New York, which means life will return to normal until his brother visits next month... and normal life means BEAD TIME! What should I make first?

Another Faire Picture

Just me this time! I was trying to strike a bellydance pose, but my posture is a little weird -- I don't know what is going on with my lower arm, and my chin is oddly tucked. Looks like I forgot to tilt my hips forward, too. Really, all I remembered is to lift my chest ;)

My costume consists of brown cotton gauze bathing-suit-cover-up pants, the adorable cotton striped skirt I picked up at the TEP show, and the awesome super-long halter top that I got at last year's Faire (I like it because it gives the bare belly look, while protecting people from the glaring whiteness of my skin). It's accessorized with my totally sweet new pouchy belt, my favorite old kuchi mirror belt, a zillion bangle bracelets (mostly from World Market), the Talisman of Sultry Undulations, and the hair stuff I talked about yesterday. Oh! And my cute bird ring from my tribal jewelry shopping trip last week. I need to get a good picture of that.

Fun and Sun at Ren Faire!

Here's a picture of me with my awesome mother-in-law Marlyn at the Renaissance Faire! I'm a woodlands belly dancer and she's a mischievous imp -- the horns and ears are from the NY Faire, but the awesome wings were purchased yesterday at our Faire. The skirt and belt are from my closet, we're close enough in size that I was able to help her with an impromptu costume. However, while we were there she picked up a couple of skirts, so she'll have her own costume when we return to the NY Faire in August!

This was my first time doing Tribal buns. I put my hair up in two little buns, wrapped the yarn falls around them once, clipped them into place with little barrettes and then added all of the flowers and sticks I could. I really love this new pair of falls, they're perfectly earthy and have more texture than my green and black pair. I could see myself getting addicted to wearing my hair this way. I just have to remember to sunscreen my scalp...

Yes, as usual I got a little too much sun with my fun! But it was worth it. Mediaeval Baebes were back again, this weekend only! We saw their show, two belly dance/world music troupes, and the falconry show, in between all our shopping. What a great time! The weather was perfect, the performers were all at top form, and the booths were well-stocked with beautiful goodies. And I even got my first henna tattoo! Yay!

New York Ren Faire

Here's a picture of me vamping it up a bit at the NY Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY. If I look just a little rumpled, it's because this pic was taken at the end of the day and that top sash had taken several dives into the muddy ground, including one where I thought I'd lost it for good. Luckily a vendor saw it in the path and hung it on her booth, and we walked by and saw it.

My costume is pleasantly cobbled together from items that I brought from home and items that I bought while in NY. Oh yes, and I'm wearing elf ears! I wasn't going to get them, since I don't do faerie costuming as much any more, but everyone thought that I should try them on and they looked perfect on me, so my MIL gifted me with a pair. She also bought a pair for herself, to go with the horns she bought last year. She looked so cute with her elven ears! The vendor even poked a hole in them for her cartilage piercing, making them look even more natural.

Over all, the Faire was muddy but awesome. There was an incredibly light misty rain off and on throughout the day, but otherwise the weather was perfect. Neither too hot nor too cold for my costume, and the clouds kept me from adding to my collection of sunburns. I was a bit disappointed that I had to layer my white choli over my green tie-dye top, but I think it looked OK.

The nice thing was that my brother-in-law Pete and his girlfriend Lisa were able to join us for the day. We wouldn't have been able to see them otherwise, as Pete is going to school a couple of hours away from home.

We caught quite a few shows throughout the day. I was excited to see that Wolgemut was performing that weekend, as I'd heard good things about their music but hadn't yet picked up any CDs. We spent a few minutes watching an impromptu jam session with them and another musician (one of the guys from Karpathos, I think), in an attempt to earn some free beer, and then we caught their 4pm show. Unfortunately, in the middle of their second song, their bagpipers pipe broke, a victim to the humidity. It was repairable, but not immediately so, so they apologized profusely and said they'd only be able to play one more song, which didn't involve the bagpipes. Then they said that everyone should clap along or dance, and of course, I chose the latter option. I was the only one who did so, and then to my utter amazement, they waved me up onto the stage.

So, without any warming up or preparation or anything, I improv-ed a dance to the song, using only a few moves because almost everything else that I knew totally fled my mind -- ha ha. But it was awesome! Possibly the coolest thing that has happened to me so far this year. After the song, they thanked me for my dancing, and Chris and his family told me how cool they thought it was, and of course, we bought CDs to make up for only getting a few minutes of music.

I was also able to get my shimmy on with the belly dancers later, when one of them caught me bouncing my hips along to the last song and pulled me out (they'd been pulling girls in throughout the show, but I was standing in the back avoiding notice... he he). It was a lot of fun, even if we were dancing in a muddy, grassy field (they were dancing in golashes!).

Anyway, my luggage finally arrived earlier (hence my ability to pull pictures off of my camera), so I should really go do some laundry and put away all of my purchases, so I can get the suitcases out of the living room.

A whirlwind of activity.

Well, this has been a crazy month. After gem show, I had less than a week until my in-laws were due to arrive, and the guest room was still cluttered with packed boxes from the move and BFAC items. Plus I had a scary doctor's appointment during that time (which thankfully resulted in non-scary news). So there were several days of cleaning and reorganizing and generally being too busy and tired to be on the computer.

That was followed by three jam-packed days with the in-laws. We went to the Renaissance Faire, where we got to see Mediaeval Baebes (one of my favorite bands), who were giving live performances for two weekends and President's Day only. It was nothing short of awesome. While at the Faire, I got two halter tops and veils for dancing (one set in saturated teal, one in green), and I got Chris a flute-staff. It's a bamboo staff, with a flute built in. Plus my in-laws bought us a really cool carved wooden dragon with hooks for hanging things, which will go up in the guest room. And of course, we got chocolate, because we always get chocolate for the road.

There was lots of shopping, eating, and talking during the visit, and it was really just a nice time. The corgis hit it off very well with my in-laws, and didn't even bark at them much like they sometimes do with guests. On Wednesday, we all went down to the dog park for the first time, where Maggie made friends with all the other dogs and we met a fellow corgi owner.

Since then, I've just been trying to recover and get things ready for the BFAC 2009 auctions, while at the same time receiving my BFAC 2010 kit. More about that next month, I'm still sworn to secrecy!

Anyway, I'm going to resume regular blogging now, and hopefully I won't have another prolonged silence like this.

My day at the Faire.

Ahhh, the Arizona Renaissance Festival. This was my 10th year going. It's been a tradition for Chris and I, ever since it was our first* date. We traditionally go during mid-March to mark our anniversary, but this year we finally decided that from now on we'll go in February. What prompted this decision? It was hot on Sunday. Rumor has it that it was 90! And as you can see, I was not dressed for 90.

Yep, the above is me in my Gothic/Tribal dance clothes, with my little shoulder dragon! This is the same thing that I wore for Halloween (well, I didn't wear the dragon then). You can see the yarn belt that I made, although my yarn hair isn't showing too well. It isn't full enough, I think I need to go buy some more green chenille and add to it. The skirt and the lace top are both thrift store finds, and the choli is something that I asked Mom to make to go with last year's costume. All in all, I feel that it turned out fairly well. A random little girl who was walking by looked up at me and said "You look really pretty" which basically made my day. Plus at one point, a woman grabbed my belt and showed another lady that this is what she was planning on making for herself.

Chris doesn't like me sharing pictures of him, but you can see his shadow in this picture, and see that he is wearing a cool hat. He bought it in NY from a drum vendor that also sells at our Faire. It's a woven straw hat from Africa, with leather accents. They're pretty sturdy and pretty cool looking, and a lot of vendors, employees, and musicians at the Faire also wear them. It was like Chris was part of some secret club... he and another hat-wearer would see each other, and either say "Cool hat!" or give each other the chin**. And two separate people stopped him and asked him where he bought it -- including one guy when we were standing in front of the drum booth!

So, the Faire itself. Other than the hot weather, it was a good time. Not too crowded, but busy enough that you didn't feel bad for the vendors and performers. We caught two shows of the band Tartanic, because we like them that much. We saw the falconry show for the first time, and that was pretty cool. The white-backed vulture decided to go rambling, so I got some pretty close looks at her. What an impressive bird! She was so close that, had I been a stupid person, I could have leaned forward and touched her. And we also saw two different music and dance troupes, which are the highlight of the day for me!

Both troupes had sword dances, which were incredible. I was very impressed at both dancers' ability to balance the blade on their head while doing floorwork, including some serious back-bends. And the first troupe also had a dancer who did fire eating while dancing, which was very cool. Actually, I noticed a lot more fire at the Faire this year, as there was also a whip trick guy whose finale was performing with two flaming Kevlar whips, and more jugglers with fire tricks. I have to wonder if there was some sort of ban lifted or something.

Shopping-wise, I didn't see too much that was wow-inspiring. It was mostly the same things as previous years, and the new vendors weren't too impressive. I did notice that they seem to be down to one maille vendor, and there may have been less leather vendors than usual, too. Some of the vendors that seemed absent really struck me as major productions in the past, but I have to wonder if this bad economy is really hurting them, and perhaps like many bead sellers, they've decided to stay closer to home for their shows.

As such, instead of making lots of little purchases, we limited ourselves to one large purchase each: Chris got the pants to match his leather doublet*** and I got some beautiful silk dance clothes. Plus we picked up a new Tartanic CD, and got our traditional end-of-the-day chocolate.

All in all it was a great day, and as is usually the case after the Faire, I'm really feeling inspired to improve my dancing -- starting tonight!

*Well, we say it was our first date, because that was the plan, but the weather ended up being bad and no one wanted to go with us, so instead we saw The Man in the Iron Mask and then went to the Faire the next day. However, since the movie wasn't that great, and we went with a friend who slept through it, I'm not sure it even really counts as a date, so the Faire may technically still be our first.

**I don't know what the rest of the world calls this, but in our circle of friends "giving someone the chin" is the reverse nod where you tip your chin towards someone in acknowledgment. In our gaming, it's a frequent form of greeting among stoic samurai warriors.

***This is the main reason for going in February. Chris wants to wear his leather doublet, without getting heat stroke.

Site status and more NY fun.

First things first: my web host package is still active, it was just my domain name that was down. I've just paid to renew it, but since they're not open on the weekend, it probably won't be processed until tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be quick about it, I always hate having my site down!

In more pleasant news, I'm still having a great time in NY. On Friday we went to Ace Handicraft, where I got some more great beads. They always have the coolest glass! In addition to glass beads, I picked up some carved horn, an almost dzi-style pendant, and a carved stone knotwork pendant. Chris also got a few clasps for his maille bracelets. The people working there were as nice and friendly as ever, and really admired Chris's work (the conundrum weave bracelet that he always wears has garnered a lot of attention so far this trip).

Yesterday we went to a Renaissance Faire in upstate NY. We didn't know about it until we got out here, but luckily I had packed some dance clothes, so between that and what I bought at the Indian import store, I was able to cobble together a decent costume which was appropriate for the 80 degree weather. Chris had no such luck, but he's not as obsessed with such things as I am anyway.

We had a really fun day... Little traffic on the drive, and there was a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny with a little breeze to keep it pleasant. The Faire itself wasn't quite as large as the one in Arizona, but it was still big enough to keep us entertained until almost closing time! Several of the vendors and at least one performer also do the AZ faire, but mostly it was different shows and shops. It was held in a forested area, which was so wonderful, a lot more appropriate than our desert setting, and also less dusty! Our faire is always either dusty or muddy.

One of the performances we saw was Dextre Tripp, who also performs at the AZ Faire. We love his show and had to share it with my mother-and-law, who really enjoyed it. We also saw some belly dancers (not as good as Syrene from AZ), a band called Karpathios, a pretty cheezy illusion show (the tricks were nice, but the spiel was lame), and a kind of cool knife throwing and whip trick show.

Shopping was great. I love shopping at these events, but after 9 years at the AZ faire with some of the vendors never changing their wares, it's not as exciting as it used to be. Seeing all these new-to-me vendors was a ton of fun. There were different weapons, different musical instruments for Chris to admire, and lots of different clothes for me to drool over. Plus various artwork and jewelry. The artwork was great, the jewelry not so much. I ended up with an amazing two-layer handkerchief hem skirt of hand-dyed silk, and a matching top of hand-dyed silk and hand-dyed handmade felt. It's simply gorgeous, with a flowing, faerie-like look and feel to it. I can't wait to dance in it. Chris got a blue-glazed porcelain ocarina and a cool woven African hat with an Asian look. He wanted to get one at our faire, but they were all sold out, so he was really happy to find one out here.

There were a lot of people out in costume yesterday, even several wearing full armor. It was also nice to see entire families dressed up. Oh, and there was one cool guy in a 17th century courtier outfit, very nicely put together. He was at the hand-dyed silk booth at the same time as me, so I overheard part of his conversation with the gals there about his costuming. I didn't catch any details, but his enthusiasm was apparent. It was cool to see something a little different from the usual medieval-style and fantasy/gothic costumes that are so prevalent at faires -- not that I mind those at all, it's what I usually wear!

I'm hoping to maybe even be able to swing a visit to that faire every year that we're out here, since it spans the time that we tend to visit. Only going to ours once a year is just not enough!

Well, I've babbled on enough. After I clean out my purse and find all the business cards, I'll share links to some of the vendors we bought from or admired.

Two Really Good Days.

So, yesterday was a good day because we spent it out at Ren Faire. We both had a great time and picked up some nice things. I'm happy because I got to watch some very skilled dancers and think "That's what I'll be when I grow up!" I'm unhappy because the two main places with dance clothes kind of sucked. On the other hand, I did see a costume that would be great for fire spinning, if it was made of something other than mock velvet (gotta use natural fabrics when playing with fire). It was kind of a jester or acrobat outfit -- Tight, probably capri-length pants that laced up the sides, a brief tanktop that laced up the front, and a little vest over it.

The most amazing thing was that I pretty much avoided sunburn. I have a few small places that feel a little tender, but mostly my skin came out unscathed. It helps that Chris bought me this really nice painted umbrella which did a great job of keeping the sun off. Since it was so hot and sunny, but with only the occasional light breeze, umbrellas were very popular out at the Faire! I saw a lot of people carrying them, and one lady near the end of the day asked where I'd purchased mine... After I told her, she said she wished she'd started the day out with one!

In a way, today was even better than yesterday, because Chris finally received a promotion that he's been trying to get for years. We'd both given up hope of him ever receiving it, so it was a very pleasant surprise. To celebrate, we'll be going out to the local dessert spot. Mmmm.

Today's Cool Thing is Cynthia Bicker's BFAC necklace. If you love dragonflies, you will be stunned by this necklace! It's one of my favorite items for this year. And of course, this is my not-so-subtle way of directing you towards this week's BFAC auctions ;)

Spring Sale!

I would like to direct you over to my website, where I am having a sale in honor of the upcoming Vernal Equinox! Select Spring-themed items will be discounted until the 23rd! I also have an ongoing clearance sale which you may want to check out.

I am up bright and early in order to go to the Renaissance Faire! It's supposed to be a beautiful day, so it will be very nice to be out seeing shows and shopping. I just have to remember to sunscreen thoroughly, as I am quite pale and will be wearing a midriff-baring choli! After the Faire we will go out for a nice dinner, to celebrate the fact that we've been married for 7 years! WOOHOO!

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to go get all costumed up :)

Fashionable Friday -- Faire Garb.

Have I mentioned lately that I'm going to the Renaissance Faire on Sunday? Well, just in case, let me say it again: I'm going to the Faire, weeeee! Oh, wait, I'm supposed to strive for a professional demeanor here, aren't I? I can't help it, I love the Faire! It was one of the first dates that my husband and I ever went on, and we've gone every year since. It's so much fun to wander around, shop, and see all kinds of shows. This year, of course, my big priority is to watch some belly dancers and get some more dance clothes!

The first time I went to Ren Faire, I was really worried that everyone would be dressed up, and that my brown jeans and embroidered Mexican Wedding Shirt (which fell somewhere between Renaissance and Hippie) would look kind of cheezy in comparison. But as it turns out, most people go there in normal street clothes. Now, that's perfectly fine, especially in Arizona, where the forecast is 90 degrees for Sunday, but personally, I love to dress up. I take any excuse to wear a costume, and Renaissance Faire is one of the best excuses in the world, next to Halloween and being in a play.

There are a lot of options open to you for Faire-worthy costumes. Remember that although it's usually called a "Renaissance Festival," Medieval-era clothing is just as acceptable. You'll also tend to see people in fantasy costumes (I was a faerie one year, I kept hitting everyone with my wings!), and maybe even Asian costumes from various eras (my husband and our friend Alex both dressed like Chinese martial artists last year, and I heard tell of a group in another state who went dressed as ninja). Don't ever feel that you have to slavishly adhere to historic accuracy. The most important thing when going to the Faire is to have fun! (please note that some historic recreation groups may require accuracy. This column, however, is geared towards the average person who wants to dress up for an open-to-the-public Faire)

If you're dressing up for the first time, I recommend starting small. Depending on your sense of style, you may even be able to cobble together a fun outfit from the contents of your closet (especially if you're a woman, as I imagine most of my readers are). If not, you can hit the thrift stores and/or resale boutiques. Sometimes, you can even find good things at the mall. You want to look for long, full skirts, poofy blouses, corset-esque tops, tops that lace up, shawls and scarves, that sort of thing. Heck, pair capri pants with the right top and a scarf for your head, and you're a pirate!

You can also use a store-bought Halloween costume for Ren Faire, but those can often look kind of chintzy by the light of day, and do not hold up very well. I do recommend them if your kids want to dress up, though. Kiddies grow up so fast that you don't want to put the money into buying or making a more authentic, durable costume that will just be too small when the next Faire rolls around.

If you're the creative sort, you can also sew your own costume. Most of my Faire wear has been sewn by my talented and generous mother (you rock, Mom!). A quick trip to the pattern book section of your local fabric store will show that there is now a plethora of high-quality historical costume patterns for men, women, and children, drawing from different eras and nations. There are also patterns inspired by Lord of the Rings and Star Wars (Jedi robes would not be out of place at a Faire, but lightsabres would). It's a lot of work, but you can end up with a nice, unique look, and make sure that it fits just right, too! Plus you can accent it with cool stuff, like the ribbons and trims from Realm of Regalia.

And of course, you could just buy a costume from one of the many vendors of medieval, renaissance, and fantasy clothing on the internet. One of my personal favorites is The Renaissance Store, which is based here in Tucson. They have a great selection of high-quality merchandise, and the people who work at their storefront are friendly and helpful. I'm also fond of Crimson Chain Leatherworks; while I don't own any of their clothes, they made my dice bag and it is roomy, attractive, and quite durable. If I hadn't taken up belly dancing and thus decided to dress like a dancer from now on, I would have one of their bodices by now! You can also find attractive clothing at Raspberry Beret and Arcane Lore Designs. Even Mechanical Bunny has some nice clothes that while not authentic, have a renaissance vibe to them, and are often more lightweight and hot-weather friendly.

It's oh-so important to accessorize, of course! Most modern handbags look out of place with a Renaissance costume. You can check some of the above links for leather pouches, or for a more lady-like look, you could buy a beautiful drawstring bag from AP2 Creative Designs. And if you want to add an air of mystery to your costume, you could wear a gorgeous mask from Andrea Adams.

Then of course, you might want some jewelry. Much of my jewelry is designed with the idea that it could be worn with a Renaissance or fantasy costume. I like to add that little touch of fantasy to my daily life, after all. Specifically, I like just about any Woven Collar with a costume. I also love to think that Lady Ghost, Queen of Love and Beauty, or The Moss Spirit might someday be worn to the Faire. My Bluebells anklet would be perfect for a dancer costume. Well-to-do lady costumes would be nicely accented by chandelier earrings, perhaps like Enchantment.

If you're seeking more clothing or accessories for Renaissance costumes, you may want to check the website of your local Renaissance Faire. They often have a vendor list which includes links to any vendors who have a web presence.

From An Eclectic Tribe.

Remember the little strip of beadwork from this post? Now look what it's grown up into! I think this may be the wildest, most eclectic necklace that I've ever made. I cannot wait to wear it to Ren Faire. Even for me, it's a bit much for every-day wear, but I definitely intend to make it a part of my dance garb.

For those who are curious, in addition to the Japanese seed beads, I used: Czech glass, Swarovski crystals, trade beads, vintage glass, coral, turquoise, mother of pearl, freshwater pearls, malachite, lapis lazuli, copper, tagua nut, those weird black beads with rhinestones and metal and stuff stuck on them, some random green stone (maybe a type of serpentine?), wooden skulls, a cowrie shell, a copper bottle, and a button made from a coin. In other words, more different beads than about 5-7 other necklaces put together.

I'd like to add some tribal-themed jewelry to my website stock as well. If I can just stop keeping all the good beads to myself, you might see some within the next month or two.

In Progress.

This is another in-progress item. When it is done, it will be similar to the "Moss Strands" necklace displayed over on the side of my blog. For now, it's just several inches of base strip. I really enjoy these multi-strand pieces, as it's so much fun to pick out all the different beads along the same theme, and bring them together. This one will have a very tribal feel, and is intended to go with my outfit for Ren Faire this year.

I spent the weekend working on another little something for myself, a feathered serpent done in polymer clay. I feel that I'm getting a lot better at claywork, but I don't expect that I will be selling it anytime soon. I take so long getting every little detail how I want it that I would just have to charge way too much. I do enjoy making things for myself and as gifts, though.

I have several items planned already for this week's update, plus more page maintenance.

Are you ready for today's Cool Thing? It's my talented friend Deb's 2007 Beading For A Cure necklace! This is my not-so-subtle way of pointing out that HEY! The BFAC auctions are up! After you enjoy Deb's beautiful work, be sure to click "View seller's other items" to see the rest of this week's offerings. And tell all of your friends!