SeaHeart

I stayed up until stupid o'clock this morning, making the web site for the first annual Pullman Memorial Alternative Craft Fair, and finishing up the vendor application (after having used my knowledge of the ones I've filled out, plus having read eleventy million other ones. ;D It's my pride and joy. *pets it*). It's really real!



Jenn and I are co-chairs of our church's fund raising committee, and we brought up the idea to them for an alternative craft fair during the annual Albion Strawberry Festival. First off, our fair would get a tremendous amount of foot traffic, secondly, we'd be able to plug the Strawberry Fest everywhere, too (symbiotic relationships for the win!), and we would provide a different offering of crafts than what is usually associated at the festival, so not in competition, but providing an awesome alternative and addition to the Strawberry Fest.

The church unanimously (and excitedly! <3) approved it, and the Pullman Memorial Alternative Craft Fair was a go! So Jenn and I began to build the fair~ We've gone to a couple of indie craft fairs, now, specifically looking for vendors, as we wanted to make this an invitation only show, and hand pick some of the best local artists. We've found some amazing, beautiful, vibrant talent that was super excited about vending at our alternative craft fair, and now that the registration application is finally finished, it's coming together!

I love vending, I love the community aspects, how incredibly kind and we're-all-in-this-together people are at Fairie Festivals, indie craft shows, etc., so I'm so excited to learn this new dynamic of fair organizer, and am having the most fun ever with it~ :)

And yes, the Fable Tribe will be vending! :)

Jenn and I are also in talks with the church to put on a psychic fair in September there, and a Witches' High Tea in October (HIGH TEA. MOSTLY VEGAN FOOD. YOU HAVE TO DRESS LIKE A WITCH. I MEAN, MY GODS). ;D They are so excited about both of these things, and I think they're both a go, but they're not finalized yet. So exciting!!!

Pullman Memorial Universalist Church is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. And they need money to keep going, to fix the roof, to even meet this year's budget. It's a tough road, but I'm energized, enthusiastic, and we believe in this church with all our hearts. It's going to be amazing, and I know we'll hit this year's budget. <3

My Polish grandmother, when I was two years old, said: "she came, she saw, she conquered." ;D It was my life's blessing, I think, AND REALLY EXPLAINS ALL OF MY ENTHUSIASM. When I see something that needs to be done and I am passionate about it, I do it and with my whole heart. I am SO excited about the craft fair, what it can do for the vendors, and what it can do for the church. <3 <3 <3 I have a lot of hope~

The Fable Tribe update, filled with magical Glamourkins is live on Etsy! Any spreading of the word is deeply, deeply appreciated, thank you~ <3333

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

Beautiful people, welcome to the Fable Tribe's Glamourkin update for March~! <3 We have several sparkling, magical pendants coming your way--follow along at our Etsy, or you can see what's coming up at our Flickr~! <3

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

Today, Jenn and I went to the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair, where we were able to meet up with our dear friend, Hugh (of the Way of the Buffalo Podcast), and network and meet eleventy billion passionate, vibrant people who are doing amazing things in the world of independent press, and I'm kind of still euphoric from the experience, and since I decided to pull a (somewhat) all-nighter to finish Braided, I thought I'd start the Night!Of!Writing!(tm) by talking about the fair~

The venue itself was to DIE for at the Karpeles Manuscript Library at Porter Hall. Massive, brilliant stained glass windows gave the gargantuan, sprawling, wood-floored room an echoing feel, and everything (even the way the tables were laid out) seemed to point to the towering organ that was situated off to the side. Though the event space was very large, it retained a cozy aspect by how small the vendor tables were, and how there were EIGHTY MILLION PEOPLE there, shoulder to shoulder, coffee cup to coffee cup. Tattooed indie chicks and plaid shirted dudes laughed and touched each other's elbows and made jokes and had massive, intellectual, literary debates over hand-printed zines and business cards as they ambled down the lines of little tables. There was book arts and artists, enough hand-made journals to make any word lover swoon, and so very many self published books, and books and zines through small or independent presses that the array was staggering.

The energy was palpable. Whether there was a group of young people discussing feminism in the Bronte novels or what cover they preferred on a limited edition zine, there was passion and a deep sense of commitment to language and words that fueled Jenn and I on so many discussions and introductions. Whether we were talking about the Fable Tribe or my novels (or our lesbian fairy tale project), everyone we met was as excited about our ideas as we were about theirs. The brilliance of the artistry and community in that space was beautiful and humbling, and I think I'll carry that fuel of creative possibility with me for a very, very long time.

I met fellow lesbian author Deanna DiLorenzo on Twitter of all places, and have conversed with her for over half a year now. She's an awesome person, and I was tickled pink (HAH) when I realized she was also from Buffalo. She tweeted this morning, saying she was thinking of going to the fair, and I said I hoped she would, and she did! Her and her lovely partner spotted us (PINK HAIR FTW), and we talked for a little while about self publishing, her forthcoming novel and GLBT literature in general, and we are TOTALLY meeting up for coffee someday soon to discuss eleventy million more things. She is a fabulous, fabulous lady, and I was so effing excited to finally meet her in person~ <3

Afterward, Jenn and I went over to Hugh and Jer's for dinner (where Hugh made pan-seared sesame tofu, which was kind of one of the most amazing things I have ever nommed in all of my days. He is an EXQUISITE chef, and I kind of crave his cooking pretty much constantly ;D <3), and we talked for a wonderful long while about independent publishing, gay YA, and we sat around the kitchen table with our mugs of tea and talked about possibility, which is one of the most powerful things for any artist or writer or creator, of which we saw many, many manifestations of today. The synchronicity of one creative person touching another, a jumble of words, a smile, a business card exchange...it's a type of artistry in and of itself, these human connections.

And now, I sit in the quiet of the night, mug of coffee beside me, several cats and pups curled up around me, Jenn fast asleep...and I ready to take the final dance with a novella I love, to finish her. This is all, of course, in preparation for a much larger dance of a novel project I can't yet talk about (WHEN DID I START WORRYING ABOUT JINXING THESE THINGS? Oh my. ;D And, anyway, those who know my old project list will probably recognize the rough sketch for the cover~ ;D <3), but will hopefully within a week...I am fueled by creativity, by common passions, by the beautiful and completely wonder-full knowledge of community and fellow artists, and I am--in all of these things--joy-filled and content.

<3 It has been a truly beautiful day.

So, we've been working behind the scenes on the next roll out of The Fable Tribe, and we are pleased to debut it today!

The Fable Tribe:
A blog about fairy culture, enchanted lifestyles, small things and great magic!


We've had blogs about fairy culture before (Bit of Blue was one of my favorites), but our intentions for this blog are a little different and even sparklier. We've paired it with our Etsy shop, but The Fable Tribe, at its very essence, is bigger than one shop, and that's why we've begun the next phase of facilitating the evolution of The Fable Tribe, helping it grow and thrive and live. We hope you will LOVE the blog--we are SO excited about it!

There is SO MUCH SPARKLE COMING, you guys. SO. MUCH. <3 <3 <3

~*~

We listened to feedback from the first Fable Tribe update on Etsy--as our shop is new, we are going to continually evolve and change until we have the perfect combination of elements, and that's where this next announcement comes in.

We will be having two updates per month in The Fable Tribe--one for Glamourkins, one for everything else. We WILL be posting the update previews for the Glamourkin updates, but not for the Surprise!Expect!Magic! updates. We will still be doing reserves on the Glamourkins, but with the caveat that nothing can be reserved until the update is over (this way, everyone gets a chance--people not getting a chance was the reason we got rid of reserves in the first place).

So, the next update of The Fable Tribe will be February 29th, a Glamourkin update. It will be on that magical, moving day that sometimes exists, and sometimes doesn't, the Leap-year day of the magical leaping year. ;D <3

We have begun. <3

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com




Edited to add, 11:28 PM, EST: All right, guys--I am finally finished. <3 I'll make the big announcement tomorrow morning, but for right now, I am going to go sleeeeeeeeeep. :D :D :D <33333333333333333 See you tomorrow, bright and sparkly!

Lords and ladies, glittering souls and gentlefae, today marks the grand opening of our new shop, The Fable Tribe. Within small things waits great magic, and great magic is waiting for you. <3

I anticipate to begin the update around six o'clock (EST) this evening. Now, The Fable Tribe is not Glamourkin, and though you will see some familiar aspects in this update, the way we do things will be a little different, and I wanted to give everyone a heads up! :)

- We will no longer be posting update previews. While I know many people enjoyed them, some of the magic of The Fable Tribe is not knowing what to expect--you know how faeries love to bewitch and enchant and surprise! I won't mention ahead of time what will be *in* updates because there will always be new, enchanting things, so you'll have to tune in to see!

- We are bringing back Reserves! The hold cannot be indefinite (you must tell me the date you'll purchase/pay by and please hold to that <3), but yes, I know everyone missed this! So it's back! :D <3

- We can no longer offer free shipping. Though I know everyone enjoyed free shipping very much, it was not a sustainable business practice for us, and took away from our very hard-earned profits every month until it got to become an actual financial drain. This was our fault for not correcting it earlier, and--especially since some of The Fable Tribe's treasures are a little larger than Glamourkins--this just isn't possible for us going forward. But, you know that we won't charge anything outrageous for shipping. Thank you for understanding. <3

- As such, if you place multiple orders to snag the treasures you want and get overcharged for shipping, we will send the overage back to you. <3

I THINK that's everything--do you have any questions for me? Also...oh my GOODNESS, I can not WAIT to show you the update. :D :D :D <3333333333333333333333333 *bouncebouncebounce*

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

Because of our impending trip to Florida, we have moved up the very first Fable Tribe update! It will now be the evening of February 1, 2012--two days away!

The ONLY thing I can say about it is: expect the unexpected!

Watch this space for magic. <3333333333333

My dearest ladies and gentlefae, you know that my beloved wife and I have worked tirelessly on transforming an unused space in our home into a veritable grotto of sacred acts of creation involving much LIBERAL USE OF GLUE AND GLITTER (translation: A CRAFT ROOM :D). We have FINALLY finished.

It is:

THE SPARKLE ROOM.

And now, here, we present it to you in all of its purple, glitter, rainbow-y decor and glory for your amusement and enjoyment. BE WARNED: THERE ARE MANY COLORS. ADJUST YOUR EYES BEFORE ENTERING. <3 <3 <3

If you step over the rainbow rug, you will enter: SPARKLE ROOM.


( SPARKLES FOREVER )

It was so important to us to be surrounded by things our loved ones have gifted us with, precious treasures that make us smile and remind us of them. <3 There is so much joy and sparkle and love and happiness in that room--it is the most perfect place in the world to create, and we are so in love with it, happy with it, and grateful for it. <3

We want to go through and make posts like this for all of the rooms in our home. <3 We're so happy with how the bedroom looks, finally, and we're almost done re-ordering the Temple Room (AGAIN, we do this every month, I swear--we love changing it up! :D), so that'll be next~ <3

Once upon a time, there were two fairy girls. They made things out of sparkle and magic and old, unloved fairy tale books, and they made these little treasures with all their heart.

Now, these fairy girls had ideas, and they had words, and they had magic. Any one of these things is bright and powerful, but combined together, they began to spin and grow, putting down roots in the old stories, and unfurling green leaves toward the stars of possibility.

The fairy girls told stories. They told stories in tiny treasures you could wear, and they told big stories about what people can do and be, how great magic exists in small things, how hearts can grow and how people are capable of brilliance. They told the stories and some people did not listen, said that magic doesn't exist, that the world is a sad and lonely place.

But there were people who listened. People who loved the old stories, words, magic, glitter, promise, possibility. Who buried their noses in books, saw the veins of myth in our everyday lives, the glimmer of enchantment beyond the plain drywall of the mundane.

And they came together.

We are part of something larger than ourselves in the Fable Tribe. We are connected to the old stories, to new story, to the very fiber and essence and heartbeat of what Story is. We know the old myths and the fairy tales and the fables, and we create our own stories here and now, in our lives, and we join together, and become the soul of Story, alive and ever spinning.

Will you come and join us? Will you gather here, in the dusty, glittering halls of words, will you join hands with your fellow tribe, will you fiercely believe, passionately live, connect and grow and thrive?

Welcome to the Fable Tribe, where we tell you this story, among many others. It is a true story, and it goes a little something like this: within small things waits great magic. <3

Coming February 14th, 2012~

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com


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