New Fairy Wing Design

You can see the design process here. Check out how dreadful they looked to start with.

I got them after last Halloween for five dollars. I could see why they were rejected...the paint job was really poor. And they were ugly, too!

I started by overspraying them with "oil-rubbed bronze" paint. Then layers and layers of iridescent paint, glitter paint, and glitter gels, all applied by hand. Both sides are done to the same finish. So far, I have in about 24 hours of work. The last thing remains to be finished, which is an aqua tulle glittered bow in the middle with a black feather and aurora borealis gem center.

I work slowly, waiting for things to dry, and also letting the design develop as I walk away and come back to gain new perspective. The flame inspiration on the upper wings came from Guy.

I have two different fairy dresses I have to choose from. Whichever one I don't choose will become a new mermaid costume for Dragon Con in the Fall. More pics to come from the Ren Fest!!!

Solar Eclipse

Here on the East coast, north of Atlanta, we may see a short bit of the big solar eclipse before it sinks behind the horizon. On the West coast, there are large viewing parties...in Colorado they are trying to fill a stadium to break a record. They have sole over 39k pair of viewing glasses. I read they are made of number 14 welder's glass.

This is all part and parcel with the SuperMoon of two weeks back. Now the supermoon has reached its apogee, so it is blocking the sun with its Superness!!

I'm rather excited even though I won't see much, or maybe any, of the eclipse (I'd have to find a clear view of the Western horizon.) because tomorrow we are going to the Renaissance Fest for our annual trek into the land of knights and fairies. I've been working on my new wings for over a week.

This weekend at the Renaissance Fest is Fantasy Weekend.

I am not feeling particularly eloquent today; I'm sorry.

I have been to Ren Fests in...oh...let's see...
California, Wisconsin, Kansas, Georgia and Tennesee.
Oh! And Oklahoma! The famous (infamous? lol) Castle at Muskogee.

I think Georgia has the nicest permanent set-up. Wisconsin was also an excellent Fest.

My only complaint about the one in Georgia is that
the food vendors are getting a bit "carny" in their selection and presentation.

For some reason it makes me think of the trip Guy, Reid and I took last summer to Universal Studios to visit Hogwarts. I had a blast. Just enjoyed the heck out of it. Especially the Three Broomsticks was spot on. We all thought the Butterbeer was gross. But I could drink gallons of the "pumpkin juice." (was a pumpkin/apple cider concoction).

Last year, you may recall, at the Ren fest, I was a woodland fairy. This year (I'm so excited!!) Guy's gorgeous girlfriend, Grace, is wearing my woodland wings with her take on the woodland costume (she is getting a big surprise extra from Guy for her costume...I'll post lots of pics). I'm trying to decide what to call the kind of fairy I am this year. Hmmm...maybe a water fairy? My dress is teal and my wings black, red, and teal.

We shall be the belles of the ball, I have no doubt. I've already warned Guy that he will have to be chief photographer and cannot balk no matter how many pictures I require. I'm hoping I can get a big group shot with a lot of other Fairies!! 

The weather is supposed to be perfect tomorrow, and the magical eclipse will be "on the horizon," so to speak.

Re-Queue-sition

Well, today I learned that I can't post from my Kindle Fire while staying in bed. It decided to reformat my post. Queue was supposed to be a short poem...  it even autocorrected the title!

Queue

In the box of numbers I stole
From its perch on the gas station sign,
Was the letter Q.
What else can one do,
But draw a line in the sand,
for others to stand behind.

Please get in line,
and do take a number. 

Que

In the box of numbers I stole From its perch on the gas station sign, Was a letter Q. What else can one do, But draw a line in the sand, for others to stand behind. Please get in line... And do take a number.

Lily Pad

If I am out of earshot, past what you mayhaps will call me,

between one sun and the next- arrives the Scorpio moon.

Morn finds you chasing a fairy, the last of my kind that will fall, free,

Scraping dead coals into ashes, looking for strains of my tune...

It isn't the season for dirges, the lilies aren't blooming quite right,

Did I lose all my reason to urges, was it a mistake to alight?

Tiny Cubes

Possessions forward themselves readily to a new location,
Chairs arrange themselves in proper relation to friends and tables,
Furniture does not look lost,
or forlorn; it all finds a place and nestles into the carpet,
breathing in the new air,
hoping for new acquaintances, happy to welcome...
happy to be.

You can put your heart,
all the wee droplets of what you feel,
and even more, all the dreams you crush inside into tiny cubes
to stack behind the wall of beating heart muscle...
You can bring that to your new home,
hiding it again behind the many pillows,
slicing things thinly to fit between the soft sheets,
all that will come with you,
It just takes a bit more strength and,
you can't hire handy help to move your dreams.

But you can't make anyone else
move their heart into your home.
It isn't within your power to play treasure hunt behind their pillows,
What they feel in rainbowing arcs as the droplets hit the sun,
is not printed in a graphic novel, that makes it all clear,
instead is washed across the pavement like a chalk drawing 
after a thunderstorm...in colors you're not sure you even see.
And what their dreams are you don't know,
Only yours in tiny cubes,
making a home again.