The annual renaissance faire trip

Now that we’re in Maryland we couldn’t possibly let a summer go by without our trip to the renaissance festival. The performances are wonderful and the food is sinful, but honestly my favorite part is the crafts and other such joys. I wish the economy was better this year—we only brought home a couple of things, and you could tell many of the artisans weren’t having quite their usual booming business, which is a shame. I’d far rather spend my money with artistic, creative individuals living their dreams than with faceless corporations running assembly lines, so we did get what we could, planning ahead for winter gift exchanges and such. Anyway, here are a few photos of very nifty crafts from the faire. You can click through for larger versions, as well as notes regarding each artisan:

How cool a last name is “Smith-Smith”, anyway? Ya gotta have parents (or a spouse) with a sense of humor to end up with a name like that! What a great way to turn the most ubiquitous, bland name ever into something much rarer and entertaining.

New review of Deidre Knight’s Red Fire is upcoming in a day or two. I’ve also been playing around with wire-wrapping some semiprecious stones I got at the faire and turning them into pretty pendants.