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Come Away with Me to Faerie (Or: the 21st Annual Spoutwood Fairie Festival)~
Jenn and I arrived home very late Wednesday night--home from the 21st annual Spoutwood Fairie Festival, and a few day visit afterwards with the amazing Kat and Corey. <3 We returned home rejuvenated, brimming with magic, and just so happy and grateful to be alive~ (Hint: spending time with some of your favorite people in the world, in one of the most magical places on earth tends to do that to you. <3)
This was one of the oddest festival experiences we've had yet, with a lot of mirth from the Universe folded into the cavorting. Nothing turned out as we planned it, and in a lot of ways, that was a good thing, because of all of the festival experiences in recent years, this may have been the oddest, but--for me--it was also the most surprisingly magic-filled, in ways I could never have expected.
So, let me tell you a story...it begins, as all good stories do, with faeries...
Friday morning dawned a little later than we would have liked. See, in order to get everything ready for the festival, Jenn and I had to push ourselves beyond the realms of any mortal magic, into the strictly immortal kind. Which, you know, being human and all, exhausted us past exhaustion. We had done so much in the days leading up to the Festival, trying to get the update and everything ready that we...I mean. Gah. Just thinking about that level of work makes me feel weak all over again. So Jenn and I made the decision to be gentle with ourselves for once in our lives and give ourselves an entire TWO HOURS of extra sleep. ;D So we got on the road a little later than we would have liked, but we were okay with that. Unfortunately, there was a bit of traffic, and then Tommie (our GPS) was being all SASS INCARNATE, and took us SIXTEEN MILES in the wrong direction, so we arrived at the festival with ONE HOUR LEFT, exhausted and not feeling so fabulous. But it no longer mattered. When we parked on the hill, got out of the car and put on our bits of glitter and fairy finery, everything in the entire world faded away but the magic of the fairy world. <3
Since we only had an hour left of the festival, and Jenn's costume involved a lot of wrangling we said "screw it," and only I changed. We kept laughing and saying that Jenn looked like an LA fairy with an attitude. ;D (She was wearing big purple sunglasses, and a ruffled cardigan. TOTES LA fairy.) As such, there are NO pictures of Jenn from Friday (she kept saying BUT I AM NOT DRESSED UP DON'T TAKE PEEKTURS OF THIS, which I should NEVER HAVE LISTENED TO!)!!! Which is just crazycakes. There are actually very few pictures from Friday in general--it was such a short amount of time, and we just wanted to absorb as much as possible. <3
I wore my beloved Mayfaire Moon corset, along with the tutu I made for myself last year, a Glamourkin wand, and the Dream Queen crown that we'd made for the Fable Tribe, but I had fallen TOO IN LOVE WITH not to keep for myself~ ;D Of course, as most any corset wearer can tell you, only having an hour of cavorting in a corset is MUCH BETTER AND MORE COMFORTABLE IN THE LONG RUN than having six or so, so I was like BLESSING IN DISGUISE!
There's something about the festival on Friday--every day differs from each other in the caliber and tone of the energy, but Friday happens to be my favorite day. First (and most silly-y) off, it is a LONG STANDING TRADITION at the festival that Friday is TUTU FRIDAY! (REPRESENT.) Also, there are just fewer people, all of the vendors are getting excited about the weekend, the slant of the sunshine and the dew soaked grass, the smiles on everyone's faces...it's pretty much heaven. <3
Shel and Ryan and Kat and Corey were already at the festival, and we ran into them right at the gate. <3 There were ten thousand hugs around, and then we ventured into the magic.
Okay. MUSH TIME. One of the most amazing things about publishing The Dark Wife was meeting some of the people that I have through all of the networking and great big world of authorhood that I've now found myself in. FACT: James (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elven_wolf) is at the very top of that list. <3 I kind of adore him to pieces, and since he is AS OBSESSED with fairy culture as we are, he was kind of like O RLY A FAIRIE FESTIVAL, and he decided to come. It was our first time meeting him, and he's just effing wonderful. So, yes, very early on Friday at the festival, we ran into him, gave him a GINORMOUS HUG, and then started talking like we'd known each other for ten million years. Because that's how universal connections and glitter works. <3
James is the elf in the leaf corset, staring at me in some sort of bewilderment. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT EXPRESSION IS ON MY FACE, THERE WAS A MAGIC ACT GOING ON, OKAY. GOSH, THOSE CHILDREN LOOK ANGRY.
Friday was just general cavorting, massive-amounts-of-lemonade-drinking, and soaking in the wonderfulness that is the festival, and the best of company to experience it all. <3
Can I just mention here, for a second, how blessed Jenn and I are? OKAY, I AM MENTIONING IT. Everyone knew that it was going to be hard this year for Jenn and I to get to the festival, and our friends and loved ones went above and beyond to make sure we were able to get to that place in the world that fills our hearts. <3 Shel and Ryan not only got our tickets covered for the festival, they let us share their room (our love had forever been theirs, but it is now a ONE UPPED LOVE which is MUCH SPARKLIER than OTHER LOVES). Seriously, it was just so amazing and wonderful--we couldn't have gotten there without them, and it was so, so appreciated. <3 <3 <3 ;-; Kat and Corey came up with colorful and fun ways to stretch noms, and everyone gave us extra hugs and ordered a little extra from the Fable Tribe. <3 We love you guys. Thank you for helping us get home. <3 <3 <3
Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and early. And Jenn was sick. It was ENTIRELY based on how much work we'd done in the past week (it was a stomach thing brought on from working way too hard), and I was just stricken...she absolutely, positively could not go to the festival. Saturday was the day that we were supposed to wear our wedding dresses and be the wedding dress fairies (version 2.0) and bask in our marriageness, but it just wasn't going to happen. :( We came up with a last minute plan to have Jenn rest for a few hours in the hotel room, and if she was better by about two o'clock in the afternoon, she would come to the festival.
She collapsed into bed, and I scrambled with outfits. I ended up wearing my fairy hooping ensemble, and decided to bring my hula hoops (this was supposed to be Sunday's outfit). Jenn valiantly kissed me goodbye, and we all went to the festival without her. :(
Dancing the May Pole!
I must admit--it was excruciating being on the grounds without her. The festival is our space, our place...there's no other space in the world that is so US, TOGETHER than there. Also, knowing she was sick...just, gah. It was very hard. Fortunately, I had amazing people to cheer me up, and everyone was sending so much good energy to Jenn (who, really, just needed a lot of extra sleep and a lot of Pepto Bismol). So to take my mind off of the MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WORRY I was experiencing, I spent the morning doing a LOT of hooping.
I brought and carried ALL of my hoops with me so that everyone could have a chance to hoop (I am kind of a PUSHER when it comes to hooping :P). THANKFULLY, everyone is AWESOME and is like YES, SARAH, I WILL HOOP. Yes, my expressions are always this ridiculous.
THIS MADE ME SO PROUD I SHED A TEAR. <3 GO SHEL!!!!
James kept me company for the last leg until I rushed back to to the hotel to see if Jenn was better. <3
Okay, so EVERY YEAR at the festival on Saturday, out come the protesters. They have CLASSIC signs that they hold up outside of the main gate, using a megaphone to get their LAMENESS across, shouting at the line of people waiting to get into the festival. Because APPARENTLY, kids running around in FAIRY WINGS is the most Satanic thing IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE. The protesters used to bother me, but now I just find them VASTLY AMUSING. C'mon--if you're holding up a sign that says WICCAN IS WICKED and YOU ARE HUGGING THE WRONG TREE with a picture of a cross, YOUR AMUSEMENT POINTS ARE GOING TO BE HIGH.
So, on the way out, I had to go the opposite direction of the people standing in line, and--therefore--VERY close to the protesters. I gave them a huge grin and a ginormous KUBIANDO!, and then peels and peels of laughter when the following happened:
There was this ADORABLE baby Beagle puppy in front of me. Like, tiny--probably twelve weeks old. The woman walking him was a little older and taking her time, which was fine with me--it's a beautiful walk. But when we passed the protesters, the main guy took the megaphone up and shouted:
"YOU SEE THAT BEAGLE PUPPY THERE? IT CAME FROM THE FESTIVAL, SO IT IS FULL OF SATAN. IF YOU TOOK THAT PUPPY OFF ITS LEASH RIGHT NOW, IT WOULD TEAR INTO THE GIRL IN FRONT OF IT BECAUSE IT HAS THE RABIES FROM SATAN."
I.
Kid.
You.
Not.
I laughed so hard, I couldn't breathe.
Guys, you know what the festival is full of? Kids dressed in fairy wings. There is actually a very SMALL percentage of the earth-worshipping types that go there, it's just WELCOMING of them. So, of course, Full O'Satan Wheaties.
The Rabies. I'm going to use that for the rest of MY LIFE. :D
When I got back to the hotel and gave my wife eighty million hugs, I was relieved so much, I could have fainted. She was BETTER. <3 <3 <333333333333333
LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL FAIRY, OMFG, I AM THE LUCKIEST WOMAN IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE. <33333333333333
<3333333333333333 I was so fucking grateful she was better~ <3333333333333
The ESSENTIAL "MySpace" picture. ;D The awesome James. <3
Over the weekend, we got to see our absolute favorite musical geniuses perform--Frenchy and the Punk (OUR FAVORITE IN THE WORLD), Telesma and Wendy Rule. <3 There were also a lot of new strolling performers (including beautiful new fairy acrobats!) that we very much enjoyed--I loved these additions~ One of the best additions to the festival this year, though, was the much-changed Fairy House path. <3
Every year, they add more and more fairy houses to it. This year, they outdid themselves, creating entire little fairy house villages, and the festival in miniature! Walking through the tight, looping pathways and finding these fairy treasures was, as always, a pure delight--but this year, the magic was magnified. It was a feast for the senses. <3
On our own land, we have a much loved and tended Fairy Forest, with several fairy houses, but they're far removed from each other...we're now inspired to do an entire fairy VILLAGE. <3
Saturday: MUCH cavorting, ending in MUCH swimming (THANK THE EVER LOVING GODS FOR HOTEL POOLS), MUCH laughter, and MUCH joy and amazing conversation. <3
Sunday dawned effing BEAUTIFUL. <3 Jenn was feeling well, everyone was in happy and high spirits...it was the perfect day. <3
We divert you from your REGULARLY WRITTEN POST for a WEE second to do a bit of GUSHING about SPARKLY THINGS.
The amazing Stephanie (fizzystickss) is FABULOUS and WONDERFUL and sent Jenn and I a gift of fairy wings to wear at the festival. Do you KNOW how many compliments we got on them? It was crazy! Steph, seriously, I told eleventy billion people about your Deviantart (She MAKES them to SELL, YOU GUYS.). :) <3 THEY WERE SUCH THE HIT. YOU KNOW YOU WANT A PAIR OF YOUR OWN. LOOK HOW THEY SPARKLE. <3 (We love them SO much. They're SO comfortable and they are SO MAGICAL and SO fairy!!!)
PINK for a PINK FAIRY!
PURPLE for a PURPLE FAIRY!
SECONDLY, we've been obsessed with Butterfly Bones since it was at the festival two years ago. Jenn had gotten a pendant there, and it was her FAVORITE--a bit of moss that looked like seaweed encased forever in resin. <3 Well, when we were visiting her parents, about a year ago, it was lost! Like, lost forever, unfindable. For Yule, last year, I emailed Kyndl (the lovely owner of Butterfly Bones) and gave her the IMPOSSIBLE TASK: I don't have a picture of it! But I can describe it! Can you remake it? After five thousand convos back and forth and BACK and FORTH, from my DESCRIPTION, she created the EXACT SAME PENDANT. <3 <3 <3 AND she was so wonderful and kind and funny and amazing during the whole experience--seriously, the best Etsy experience of my life, right there. <3 So we were pleased as punch that she was at the festival again this year. I introduced myself as the "Crazy Yule Miracle Lady," (that's what we'd ended up calling the pendant experience! <3), and Kyndl gave both of us HUGE hugs, and we spent a large portion of the weekend in her booth. She is SUCH an amazing lady, so kind and wonderful and big-hearted. <3 So yes, MAJOR RECOMMENDATION FOREVER. <3
OH LOOK, THERE IS A SNEAKY PICTURE OF JENN AS THE LA FAIRY FROM FRIDAY. ;D <3
The lovely Sara (cloverdew) was able to come up to the festival for a few hours on Sunday. <3 Sunday was just such a happy day--James brought his baby, Merlin...
WHO WE ARE NOW OFFICIAL AUNTS FOR.
OMG, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I ADORE THIS PUPPY?
KIND of my favorite picture of EVER. <3333333333333
There was dancing in drum circles!
Watching the fairy acrobats! (EXTREMELY RELATIVE to a writing project I'm working on right now, in FACT~ <3)
Playing in the stream! (In which I coax Merlin in.)
An extremely nice picture of Sara, Shel, myself and Jenn. <3
AND NOW I SHALL REGALE YOU WITH THE MANY RIDICULOUS FACES I POSSESS.
WHAT the HELL am I DESCRIBING. Is it PERHAPS the SIZE OF A SHARK? JENN looks SERIOUS about it.
WHAT the HELL is GOING ON? Is the water PERHAPS a LITTLE COLD? Or was there a JOKE OF SEXUAL INNUENDO that I am MAKING A FACE AT? The world will NEVER KNOW.
I don't even.
There were Jasmine cupcakes!
I've been a fan of Twig forEVER, but it was only last year that I was able to meet her for the first time, as it was the first year she came to the Fairie Festival. <3 She, blessedly, came again this year, and I'd waited until Sunday to go up to her for a hug, and some fangirling. <3
I told her again how much her magic means to me, and how much she inspires me, and she did the BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED. She'd already given me one of her magic stones, but in that moment, she held up her hand to wait, and took a SPECIAL stone out of her BACK POCKET. It is reserved for the TRULY MAGIC AT HEART, and it sparkles like NOBODY'S BUSINESS. I may have shed a tear. <3 <3 <3
Yeah, so I totally made this face when it happened:
<3
The OTHER fabulous thing about Sunday was seeing the EVER lovely Chris (sihaya09) and Jenn (damejenn) dance along with their troupe again. <3 These are just such effing beautiful ladies, and they work so magnificently and gorgeously together--it's a joy to watch them dance. <3
ALSO, Chris and (my) Jenn and I talked, and we are IN TALKS to have a Sihaya Designs/Fable Tribe joint table at the festival NEXT YEAR. Which would be more PINK AND SPARKLE MAGIC than the WORLD has ROOM FOR. /Glittersplosion
Jenn is on the far left, Chris on the far right! <3
As the festival drew to a close, I felt the familiar weight in my heart of the ending of it all...but I had just experienced some seriously magical days with some of the greatest blessings and people in my life. <3 So I was content. <3
I am so effing blessed. <3 <3 <3
The love of my life. <3
Kat and Corey. <3
Shel and Ryan. <3
Our visit to Kat and Corey (including pictures of my nose piercing that I FINALLY have that I have waited for since I was SIXTEEN, the Universe MAY implode since it has finally happened, DEAR GODS XD) will be regaled in another post! <3 Thanks for reading and sharing in the sparkle~
<3 <3 <3
*All of the photos in this post were taken by either us, or Shel and Ryan. <3
This was one of the oddest festival experiences we've had yet, with a lot of mirth from the Universe folded into the cavorting. Nothing turned out as we planned it, and in a lot of ways, that was a good thing, because of all of the festival experiences in recent years, this may have been the oddest, but--for me--it was also the most surprisingly magic-filled, in ways I could never have expected.
Friday morning dawned a little later than we would have liked. See, in order to get everything ready for the festival, Jenn and I had to push ourselves beyond the realms of any mortal magic, into the strictly immortal kind. Which, you know, being human and all, exhausted us past exhaustion. We had done so much in the days leading up to the Festival, trying to get the update and everything ready that we...I mean. Gah. Just thinking about that level of work makes me feel weak all over again. So Jenn and I made the decision to be gentle with ourselves for once in our lives and give ourselves an entire TWO HOURS of extra sleep. ;D So we got on the road a little later than we would have liked, but we were okay with that. Unfortunately, there was a bit of traffic, and then Tommie (our GPS) was being all SASS INCARNATE, and took us SIXTEEN MILES in the wrong direction, so we arrived at the festival with ONE HOUR LEFT, exhausted and not feeling so fabulous. But it no longer mattered. When we parked on the hill, got out of the car and put on our bits of glitter and fairy finery, everything in the entire world faded away but the magic of the fairy world. <3
Since we only had an hour left of the festival, and Jenn's costume involved a lot of wrangling we said "screw it," and only I changed. We kept laughing and saying that Jenn looked like an LA fairy with an attitude. ;D (She was wearing big purple sunglasses, and a ruffled cardigan. TOTES LA fairy.) As such, there are NO pictures of Jenn from Friday (she kept saying BUT I AM NOT DRESSED UP DON'T TAKE PEEKTURS OF THIS, which I should NEVER HAVE LISTENED TO!)!!! Which is just crazycakes. There are actually very few pictures from Friday in general--it was such a short amount of time, and we just wanted to absorb as much as possible. <3
I wore my beloved Mayfaire Moon corset, along with the tutu I made for myself last year, a Glamourkin wand, and the Dream Queen crown that we'd made for the Fable Tribe, but I had fallen TOO IN LOVE WITH not to keep for myself~ ;D Of course, as most any corset wearer can tell you, only having an hour of cavorting in a corset is MUCH BETTER AND MORE COMFORTABLE IN THE LONG RUN than having six or so, so I was like BLESSING IN DISGUISE!There's something about the festival on Friday--every day differs from each other in the caliber and tone of the energy, but Friday happens to be my favorite day. First (and most silly-y) off, it is a LONG STANDING TRADITION at the festival that Friday is TUTU FRIDAY! (REPRESENT.) Also, there are just fewer people, all of the vendors are getting excited about the weekend, the slant of the sunshine and the dew soaked grass, the smiles on everyone's faces...it's pretty much heaven. <3
Shel and Ryan and Kat and Corey were already at the festival, and we ran into them right at the gate. <3 There were ten thousand hugs around, and then we ventured into the magic.
Okay. MUSH TIME. One of the most amazing things about publishing The Dark Wife was meeting some of the people that I have through all of the networking and great big world of authorhood that I've now found myself in. FACT: James (
elven_wolf) is at the very top of that list. <3 I kind of adore him to pieces, and since he is AS OBSESSED with fairy culture as we are, he was kind of like O RLY A FAIRIE FESTIVAL, and he decided to come. It was our first time meeting him, and he's just effing wonderful. So, yes, very early on Friday at the festival, we ran into him, gave him a GINORMOUS HUG, and then started talking like we'd known each other for ten million years. Because that's how universal connections and glitter works. <3Friday was just general cavorting, massive-amounts-of-lemonade-drinking, and soaking in the wonderfulness that is the festival, and the best of company to experience it all. <3
Can I just mention here, for a second, how blessed Jenn and I are? OKAY, I AM MENTIONING IT. Everyone knew that it was going to be hard this year for Jenn and I to get to the festival, and our friends and loved ones went above and beyond to make sure we were able to get to that place in the world that fills our hearts. <3 Shel and Ryan not only got our tickets covered for the festival, they let us share their room (our love had forever been theirs, but it is now a ONE UPPED LOVE which is MUCH SPARKLIER than OTHER LOVES). Seriously, it was just so amazing and wonderful--we couldn't have gotten there without them, and it was so, so appreciated. <3 <3 <3 ;-; Kat and Corey came up with colorful and fun ways to stretch noms, and everyone gave us extra hugs and ordered a little extra from the Fable Tribe. <3 We love you guys. Thank you for helping us get home. <3 <3 <3
Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and early. And Jenn was sick. It was ENTIRELY based on how much work we'd done in the past week (it was a stomach thing brought on from working way too hard), and I was just stricken...she absolutely, positively could not go to the festival. Saturday was the day that we were supposed to wear our wedding dresses and be the wedding dress fairies (version 2.0) and bask in our marriageness, but it just wasn't going to happen. :( We came up with a last minute plan to have Jenn rest for a few hours in the hotel room, and if she was better by about two o'clock in the afternoon, she would come to the festival.
She collapsed into bed, and I scrambled with outfits. I ended up wearing my fairy hooping ensemble, and decided to bring my hula hoops (this was supposed to be Sunday's outfit). Jenn valiantly kissed me goodbye, and we all went to the festival without her. :(
I must admit--it was excruciating being on the grounds without her. The festival is our space, our place...there's no other space in the world that is so US, TOGETHER than there. Also, knowing she was sick...just, gah. It was very hard. Fortunately, I had amazing people to cheer me up, and everyone was sending so much good energy to Jenn (who, really, just needed a lot of extra sleep and a lot of Pepto Bismol). So to take my mind off of the MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WORRY I was experiencing, I spent the morning doing a LOT of hooping.
THIS MADE ME SO PROUD I SHED A TEAR. <3 GO SHEL!!!!
James kept me company for the last leg until I rushed back to to the hotel to see if Jenn was better. <3
Okay, so EVERY YEAR at the festival on Saturday, out come the protesters. They have CLASSIC signs that they hold up outside of the main gate, using a megaphone to get their LAMENESS across, shouting at the line of people waiting to get into the festival. Because APPARENTLY, kids running around in FAIRY WINGS is the most Satanic thing IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE. The protesters used to bother me, but now I just find them VASTLY AMUSING. C'mon--if you're holding up a sign that says WICCAN IS WICKED and YOU ARE HUGGING THE WRONG TREE with a picture of a cross, YOUR AMUSEMENT POINTS ARE GOING TO BE HIGH.
So, on the way out, I had to go the opposite direction of the people standing in line, and--therefore--VERY close to the protesters. I gave them a huge grin and a ginormous KUBIANDO!, and then peels and peels of laughter when the following happened:
There was this ADORABLE baby Beagle puppy in front of me. Like, tiny--probably twelve weeks old. The woman walking him was a little older and taking her time, which was fine with me--it's a beautiful walk. But when we passed the protesters, the main guy took the megaphone up and shouted:
"YOU SEE THAT BEAGLE PUPPY THERE? IT CAME FROM THE FESTIVAL, SO IT IS FULL OF SATAN. IF YOU TOOK THAT PUPPY OFF ITS LEASH RIGHT NOW, IT WOULD TEAR INTO THE GIRL IN FRONT OF IT BECAUSE IT HAS THE RABIES FROM SATAN."
I.
Kid.
You.
Not.
I laughed so hard, I couldn't breathe.
Guys, you know what the festival is full of? Kids dressed in fairy wings. There is actually a very SMALL percentage of the earth-worshipping types that go there, it's just WELCOMING of them. So, of course, Full O'Satan Wheaties.
The Rabies. I'm going to use that for the rest of MY LIFE. :D
When I got back to the hotel and gave my wife eighty million hugs, I was relieved so much, I could have fainted. She was BETTER. <3 <3 <333333333333333
<3333333333333333 I was so fucking grateful she was better~ <3333333333333
The ESSENTIAL "MySpace" picture. ;D The awesome James. <3
Over the weekend, we got to see our absolute favorite musical geniuses perform--Frenchy and the Punk (OUR FAVORITE IN THE WORLD), Telesma and Wendy Rule. <3 There were also a lot of new strolling performers (including beautiful new fairy acrobats!) that we very much enjoyed--I loved these additions~ One of the best additions to the festival this year, though, was the much-changed Fairy House path. <3
Every year, they add more and more fairy houses to it. This year, they outdid themselves, creating entire little fairy house villages, and the festival in miniature! Walking through the tight, looping pathways and finding these fairy treasures was, as always, a pure delight--but this year, the magic was magnified. It was a feast for the senses. <3
On our own land, we have a much loved and tended Fairy Forest, with several fairy houses, but they're far removed from each other...we're now inspired to do an entire fairy VILLAGE. <3
Saturday: MUCH cavorting, ending in MUCH swimming (THANK THE EVER LOVING GODS FOR HOTEL POOLS), MUCH laughter, and MUCH joy and amazing conversation. <3
Sunday dawned effing BEAUTIFUL. <3 Jenn was feeling well, everyone was in happy and high spirits...it was the perfect day. <3
We divert you from your REGULARLY WRITTEN POST for a WEE second to do a bit of GUSHING about SPARKLY THINGS.
The amazing Stephanie (
fizzystickss) is FABULOUS and WONDERFUL and sent Jenn and I a gift of fairy wings to wear at the festival. Do you KNOW how many compliments we got on them? It was crazy! Steph, seriously, I told eleventy billion people about your Deviantart (She MAKES them to SELL, YOU GUYS.). :) <3 THEY WERE SUCH THE HIT. YOU KNOW YOU WANT A PAIR OF YOUR OWN. LOOK HOW THEY SPARKLE. <3 (We love them SO much. They're SO comfortable and they are SO MAGICAL and SO fairy!!!)PURPLE for a PURPLE FAIRY!
SECONDLY, we've been obsessed with Butterfly Bones since it was at the festival two years ago. Jenn had gotten a pendant there, and it was her FAVORITE--a bit of moss that looked like seaweed encased forever in resin. <3 Well, when we were visiting her parents, about a year ago, it was lost! Like, lost forever, unfindable. For Yule, last year, I emailed Kyndl (the lovely owner of Butterfly Bones) and gave her the IMPOSSIBLE TASK: I don't have a picture of it! But I can describe it! Can you remake it? After five thousand convos back and forth and BACK and FORTH, from my DESCRIPTION, she created the EXACT SAME PENDANT. <3 <3 <3 AND she was so wonderful and kind and funny and amazing during the whole experience--seriously, the best Etsy experience of my life, right there. <3 So we were pleased as punch that she was at the festival again this year. I introduced myself as the "Crazy Yule Miracle Lady," (that's what we'd ended up calling the pendant experience! <3), and Kyndl gave both of us HUGE hugs, and we spent a large portion of the weekend in her booth. She is SUCH an amazing lady, so kind and wonderful and big-hearted. <3 So yes, MAJOR RECOMMENDATION FOREVER. <3
The lovely Sara (
cloverdew) was able to come up to the festival for a few hours on Sunday. <3 Sunday was just such a happy day--James brought his baby, Merlin...OMG, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I ADORE THIS PUPPY?
KIND of my favorite picture of EVER. <3333333333333
There was dancing in drum circles!
Watching the fairy acrobats! (EXTREMELY RELATIVE to a writing project I'm working on right now, in FACT~ <3)
Playing in the stream! (In which I coax Merlin in.)
An extremely nice picture of Sara, Shel, myself and Jenn. <3
AND NOW I SHALL REGALE YOU WITH THE MANY RIDICULOUS FACES I POSSESS.
WHAT the HELL am I DESCRIBING. Is it PERHAPS the SIZE OF A SHARK? JENN looks SERIOUS about it.
WHAT the HELL is GOING ON? Is the water PERHAPS a LITTLE COLD? Or was there a JOKE OF SEXUAL INNUENDO that I am MAKING A FACE AT? The world will NEVER KNOW.
I don't even.
There were Jasmine cupcakes!
I've been a fan of Twig forEVER, but it was only last year that I was able to meet her for the first time, as it was the first year she came to the Fairie Festival. <3 She, blessedly, came again this year, and I'd waited until Sunday to go up to her for a hug, and some fangirling. <3
I told her again how much her magic means to me, and how much she inspires me, and she did the BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED. She'd already given me one of her magic stones, but in that moment, she held up her hand to wait, and took a SPECIAL stone out of her BACK POCKET. It is reserved for the TRULY MAGIC AT HEART, and it sparkles like NOBODY'S BUSINESS. I may have shed a tear. <3 <3 <3
Yeah, so I totally made this face when it happened:
<3
The OTHER fabulous thing about Sunday was seeing the EVER lovely Chris (
sihaya09) and Jenn (damejenn) dance along with their troupe again. <3 These are just such effing beautiful ladies, and they work so magnificently and gorgeously together--it's a joy to watch them dance. <3ALSO, Chris and (my) Jenn and I talked, and we are IN TALKS to have a Sihaya Designs/Fable Tribe joint table at the festival NEXT YEAR. Which would be more PINK AND SPARKLE MAGIC than the WORLD has ROOM FOR. /Glittersplosion
As the festival drew to a close, I felt the familiar weight in my heart of the ending of it all...but I had just experienced some seriously magical days with some of the greatest blessings and people in my life. <3 So I was content. <3
I am so effing blessed. <3 <3 <3
Kat and Corey. <3
Shel and Ryan. <3
Our visit to Kat and Corey (including pictures of my nose piercing that I FINALLY have that I have waited for since I was SIXTEEN, the Universe MAY implode since it has finally happened, DEAR GODS XD) will be regaled in another post! <3 Thanks for reading and sharing in the sparkle~
<3 <3 <3
*All of the photos in this post were taken by either us, or Shel and Ryan. <3