Strange Folk is the first festival I've had the privilege to attend. Honestly, I had no idea anything so cool would come so close. When you grow up in the Midwest, you just get used to the interesting events happening elsewhere. I have to say, Strange Folk was great. It was busy, but not crazy, there were a lot of interesting things to see and people to meet... though, I'm not the best at socializing. I have a small voice and people make me very nervous, especially in those settings... but everyone was very friendly and just seemed happy to be there. I really hope to be a vendor there next year, and maybe, just maybe, if it doesn't seem too stressful to do both, my band could also be on the ticket. Then I could make Johnny shamelessly promote my table while I sit behind my Wurly and blush (hee, hee).
Anyway, highlights from the weekend:
A very cheap, clean (as one can be, really) hotel in Fairview Heights. What six year old doesn't love two bouncy beds side-by-side? For that matter, what 26 year old doesn't love that?
Hope totally dug shrinky-dink. She colored her picture, it went in the oven, and came out tiny. Hope loves everything small. This was a phenomenon.
Alpaca farms are fun. Though, I do have to say, catching this moment was a fluke. I thought I was snapping a happy picture of my girl petting one of these walking sweaters, but what I really caught was the exact moment one had kicked her. She was not pleased.
We did go back over. She was fairly resilient in this situation and
was pleased as long as she didn't get too close. She ensured this
by deeming herself the photographer and snapping pictures of the
other kids doing the petting.
The festival was decorated with cute little mushrooms and gnomes everywhere. It was so charming.
One of my favorite parts was recognizing sellers from Etsy. I got to meet Nichol Brinkman who makes Pillow Monsters. I was delighted after we exchanged our hellos and she said she actually knew who I was. I was in shock. As you can see, her stuff is amazing. I came home with the cutest Abby in a bear suit, which was my favorite purchase from the festival. Johnny keeps laughing at how childlike I am with this plush. Abby just makes me smile, so I choose to carry her everywhere with me right now. Nichol was a sweetie and I'm really happy to have met her.I also saw the Sparrow Fist table. They had the infamous accordion necklace sitting out for me to touch, so I had to come home with it. You may remember this post.
Anyway, it was a fun weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather, the people we came across were so friendly, we found some true treasures, and we all just had a great time. Hopefully you'll see me there next year... selling, playing, doing a jig (not really doing a jig)...
