March 15, 2010
UNbirthday Tea & Mosscreep Retreat
A reporter's work is never done! Cherry blossoms are beginning to snow down from branches in pink and white ruffles, reminding me that time flies this month like minutes of the White Rabbit's watch.Having a small reprieve from the constant flurry of faerie activity, I found myself instead invited to an UNbirthday Tea Party. I took my own tumble down the rabbit hole and decided to accept. Everyone was there from the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen,Palace Guards, Garden Roses, Noble Ladies, White Rabbit and a very Emo Alice.
It was an excellent party of finger sandwiches, pears and fruits, deliciously sweet truffles and tilted cakes frosted in bold colors - and of course a fine selection of tea!
Suffice it to say, we had an excellent time but lost track of it! After the party wandered the land of wonder until I found the path that led back toward the Mosscreep Forest and there I set about my journey to the Library of Tir Eolas.
That was when I learned that it was already halfway through theSakura Fairy Moon (the Hare could have said something!) In the spell between events, I had resolved to visit my quiet friend Faela. She is a Dryad Librarian in the Library at the Academy and I have spent no small amount of researching through her leaflets, stone tablets and tomes.
Late as I was, Faela welcomed me with a smile and showed me some of the research that she had been engrossed with. She has been working on a compendium of trees in the forest and just finished detailing the Baobab, Butternut and Cottonwood trees. She has completed over 85 of her trees so far with only a few left to go until 100!
I shared with her news from the outside world including the upcoming market at Norwescon as well as the Spring Fairy Festival. The way her eyes lit up for a moment, I thought she might actually adventure outside her library walls and make an appearance but it is difficult to say with Dryads, they do like the quiet solitude of their forest greens.
Faela and I have spent the last few days collecting a number of blossoms from the gardens. She is preparing to make some new batches of spring paper and stationary. Golden Plum, Cherryblossomand Morning Glory have all been laid out to dry. We have also been collecting a peacock, goose and turkey feathers for making new quills!
Tonight is the Full Moon and in a couple of Days, everyone's Irish - don't forget to wear some green and find your four-leaf clover!
Fair wind and fair weather, friends :)Vanya Sulie,Aerowynd:*¨¨*::*¨¨*::*¨¨*::*¨¨*::
February 06, 2010
Winter Celebration 2010 Review
Hello my germs and sprouts! This last weekend was the awesome Faerieworlds Winter Celebration down in Eugene, Oregon. Every fairy who is any fairy attended the smashing array of events from starlit concerts and shadow-shows to an amazing Fairy Marketplace during the day.
Of course the usual suspects (Hawk, Copper, Maralily, Rhiannon, Rowan, Jasmine, Dymphina, Lyra and COMFy crew) were seen rubbing elbows with the Pearldrop and Iris Queens, a Craven Corax and Toby Froud and his mechanical monkey and even right up on the stage with Abney Park! I hear tell that their new album Aether Shanties is really quite good.
Unfortunately for me, I suspect a Boggart or perhaps even a Redcap put something disgusting like windshield wiper fluid in my fruit punch because I was very ill on Saturday so I spent most of my time shopping and watching the colors blur as faeries took to the dance floors at sundown.
Nevertheless! I managed to find some really great faerie wares and see some fantastic performances that I'd like to share with you all :)
Goblin Road: This family owned toy company debuted two new stuffed little friends. The Furry Gob-mother, Redcaps and Mud Goblins (the little brown ones amidst all those Nose Goblins!). When I got home, you can imagine my shock at discovering that one of the Mud Goblins stowed himself away in my suitcase!
He's made himself quite at home and immediately took a liking to my little gobbler, Grubs. The Mud Goblin has been pretty quiet about his name though and I still don't know what it is so maybe you all there can help me discover it! If you think you have a good guess as to his name, leave a suggestion here!Steambaby: Never fear! The Fairy Market has things for K'nockers, Boggarts, Redcaps and even Orcs (and maybe a Barbarian named Wotan)! Mac McGowan of Steambaby makes some of the finest goggles,
monocles and leatherwear available from the Pacific Northwest.Samiah Clothing: If you have never seen the amazing quality and unique design of Samiah's clothes, you are missing out. She has an incredible style with brocades and velvets, crafting them into jackets, dresses, tailcoats and more.
Glass by Lais: This glass-blower, James, had some amazing and original work. I was personally a huge fan of his surreal flower garden but the comments seemed endless on his iridescent faerie wing pendants. He had some pretty popular little jars and hanging sconce vases as well (I think one went home with Lady Laume :)
Well my lovelies, that sums up the Winter Celebration for 2010. If you weren't there, don't be so square next year and start gearing up for the Summer Celebration!
Next up this Sunday the 7th of February is the Sweet Sorrows Show at Club Motor in Seattle, WA. This ought to prove to be a truly strange and macabre Valentine's market.
Fair wind and fair(y) weather, Vanya sulie my magic friends. Aerowynd Flightfeather, over and out!
January 18, 2010
Rustycon 2010 Review
With that, my name is Aerowynd Flightfeather and I have been hired by the Amethina to take over this blog column. Last year, Amethina discovered that she was becoming increasingly swamped with making magical glammeries, crystal potions and collecting fantastical feathers for her quills.
All that whisking around the Magical Realms was keeping her quite busy so she hired your's truly - a travel writer - to follow her events and report the exciting news and gossip!
As many of you dear readers may already know, this last weekend was Rustycon 2010 in Seattle. Rusty turned out to be a relatively laid-back fantasy sci-fi convention which was a nice change of pace.
There were all the goodies of your standard con such as panels and goody-bags, art-show, and dealer's room but I'd like to give a nod to some notable activities:
--Masquerade: Normally conventions have a masquerade where people shed their mundane mortal costumes of jeans and corporate clothes, and appear before audiences as their true inner-spirits. A panel of judges votes on who has fancied up the best and there are prizes and prestige to be had. Rustycon chose to approach this in a new, audience-inclusive way: they took pictures of everyone decked in their best finery and then posted those pictures on a huge board. All attendees were allowed to vote for who they liked best and participants got to take their pictures home when it was all said and done!
--Lazertag: On Saturday night, there was a huge lazer-tag game in one of the rooms. The elder grumps called it "pick-off-a-pixie", which made me chuckle. This was actually a really awesome activity for the kids which began around 8pm or so. Talk about letting them run loose like a horde of screaming bhan-sidhe! I was tempted, I admit, but I had a dinner-date. If I was a still a spriteling though, that would have been the BEST thing to do before bedtime!
--Costumers Garage Sale: On Sunday, there was an indoor 'garage-sale' for old costuming outfits, jewelry, you name it. Attendees filled a room with bargain pieces, some of which were at really incredible prices! I even found a flight-cloak for one of my little lost boys :)
Overall, Rustycon was a pretty nice event to go to with a low-stress atmosphere and in a great setting. The atrium and swimming pool area, as well as the party wing were all really amazing.
My next stop is the Faerieworlds Winter Celebration so I need to get on the silver path to the next event! I promise I'll tell the story of arresting Wotan at Orycon from the trail over the next couple of weeks.
Vanya sulie, fair winds my magic friends!
November 22, 2009
November Faeriecon
Baltimore was the place to be this November. Faeries near and far gathered at one of the best soirées of the season at Faeriecon 2009. The Fairy Market filled the entire convention space with merchants galore all vending some really amazing magical wares.
Although this wasn't a vending convention for the Gilded Quill, I spent Saturday modeling the character of Illumé. The costume was arranged at Faeriecon 2008 and then photographed by digital graphic artist Susan Schroder and made into one of her new pictures entitled "The Illuminationist". The picture was premiered at Faeriecon for purchase and the day was spent taking many a photo with other costumed individuals.
The Bad Faeries Ball was incredibly fun with fantastic live music by bands such as Priscilla Hernandez, Faun and Gypsy Nomads. Good Faeries Ball included music by Woodland, Telesma and SJ Tucker. Overall, the line-up for both nights was pretty darned great!
This coming weekend is Thanksgiving and Orycon 31 in Portland, OR. It is the largest Sci-fi Fantasy convention in the area with thousands of attendees. I'll be vending there but every event is an adventure so feel free to follow along. Pictures can always be found in the Gilded Quill Blog or by following me or the Gilded Quill on facebook!
October 26, 2009
On the Samhain Blog Train!
Since this is my first post to my Artfire blog, it might do well to prepare potential readers of my blogging style! *ominous drum roll please....* The Gilded Quill main Blog can be found on blogger but I'll do my best to cross post here. It can also be followed from my Facebook Fanpage and Networked Blogs.
Usually my posts try to highlight and recap upcoming or completed events by following the adventures of the Fairy Amethina (and sometimes her friends Absinthe the Green Fairy, Annbug and Sugarplum :) The magical shoppe of the Gilded Quill shimmers into many faires, conventions and balls so the Adventures of Amethina are quite fantastic to follow.
This month Amethina and Sugarplum have been to the Penumbra Faire (which was by and large full of mischief and fun), the Green Fayerie Ball, The Mourning Market, and the Witch's Ball so there has been a lot of activity. Fortunately, there will be a small break before the November show.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy my blog!
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