Trinket Trading

      I really enjoy renaissance faires and I am glad I finally started going to them. I had never been until this year and then I went to several different faires. Most of them I went to more than once. I think I always wore something different, even if it was just a bit different. This dress I wore once before, but with a different corset. This was the day we went with my friend Aly and her kids. It was definitely a ton of fun. I love going with different people. 

     One of my favorite things at the faires is trinket trading. At the Connecticut Renaissance faire, which was the last one I went to this year (several times) they had organized times for trinket trading. You gather at a specific spot in the faire, at a specific time, and then one of the fairies opens the trading. Some people don't seem to understand how trading is supposed to work and they would try to trade only for things of similar value, or they would say that this thing they had to trade could be for multiples of someone else's things. That's not how trading should work. 

     The basic idea of trading isn't trading at all, it's gifting. You bring little trinkets of some kind with the idea of gifting them to people. If you really like someone's outfit or they did or said something that added to your enjoyment of the faire, that is reason enough to gift someone. And also just trading in general. I collected so much random crap that I have no interest in. But I never said no to a trade, I never said no, your trade isn't worth my trade. I always said thank you (which is appropriate). I had a woman trade me the pop top off a can. I said thank you, added it to my stash and let her choose one of my trinkets. For me, trinket trading is about the connections. Sometimes you get a chat with someone who is also out enjoying the faire. Sometimes you get to see a cool costume up close. Sometimes you get to make a child super happy. All of it is fun to me. 

     These photos are of most of the trinkets I got this year at faires. Elecktra took a few things from me at some point (because she liked them, and for me it's not about getting or keeping the things) but this is most of what I collected. Some of the things will go on my Yule tree, because they are super cool and I think they would be perfect for it. Some of the things I will keep and look through every now and then. Some of the things I will put in a stash to bring to faires for trading in the future. Sometime I may also do a post with some of the trinkets I have made to trade. 

Semi-Live sale explained

    

 On Instagram, and my studio page on Facebook, I have been posting some photos advertising my Black Friday semi-live sale. The details already given were that it is going to be Friday, November 28, 2025 at 3:00pm ET. And I promised there would be more details to come. So here we go. 

    What is a semi-live sale? For many years I held live sales. I had a lot of complaints that people didn't have a fast enough connection to ever snag any of the things they wanted. So a couple of years ago I moved to the semi-live format. What happens is I publish a list of items I have for sale with photos. Then, to make it super easy for everyone, I publish a list of exactly what time each item will be listed for sale on the day of the sale. The schedule is usually separate from the photos of the items and will be again this year. Then, on the day of the sale, items will post at their scheduled time and will be available to claim. I will also go live on my studio page on Facebook. 

    *This part is really important* You do not have to watch the live portion of the sale to claim anything. 

     People seem to enjoy watching me sort things into bags as people claim, and there is a good amount of interaction. I often end up telling stories of some kind, I sing the alphabet (to put the claim bags in order, obviously), and I sometimes have trivia with prizes. I do not know if I have the energy to do trivia. I may or may not award prizes for random reasons. I haven't decided if I can manage that just yet. It is also possible that I will pull out the prize wheel that I brought to Breyerfest last year (and maybe this year, I honestly don't remember) but first I would have to find where I put it, and the prizes. 

     So how does it work? Let's say that mystery boxes are going to be available at 3:00 according to the schedule (they will be). When the photo pops up on my studio Facebook page, if you want to claim a mystery box, you just need to comment the word "mine". That's it. If you are the first person to claim (or if I have more than one of the thing, as with mystery boxes) I will love (heart) your comment. That is how you know you got it. The beauty of this is 3:00 is 3:00 for every computer. You do not have to have the fastest connection, just the fastest fingers. My suggestion is, if you know an item you want is coming up, obsessively refresh. That is how I have managed to claim things I want from similar sales. 

      I do have something a bit different for this year. Every year, during my live sale, I post a bunch of things from my personal collection that I have decided to sell. I will still be listing a whole bunch of stuff for sale, but I will do that on Thanksgiving. I haven't decided what time yet, but I will post photos of the items that are from my personal collection. Probably sometime in the evening. That way if people want to shop after dinner, there are things available. I know I used to love to buy the newspaper on Thanksgiving to look at the Black Friday sales fliers. Anyway, the Thanksgiving sale will have no live portion (I am cooking and definitely don't have time for that!) but photos of the sales items will go live at whatever time I decide, maybe in batches, maybe all at once, and they can be claimed. Anything claimed during the Thanksgiving sale will be invoiced AFTER the Black Friday sale (either Friday night or Saturday morning). All items from the Thanksgiving sale and the Black Friday sale will ship together. 

     I think that is about it. I will be posting the Thanksgiving sale preview and the Black Friday preview posts early next week. The schedule for the Black Friday sale will likely be posted either Wednesday or Thursday. Please let me know if I missed any important points or if you have questions! Thanks for reading!

Dolls (sale!), Dancing, and more Dolls

      I have not been dancing nearly enough lately. I have been in more pain and have just not been feeling super when I dance. The last time I danced was near the end of September and I took a break until this past Wednesday. I finally went to a class and stayed for a couple of dances at the social. But I still kind of took it easy. I didn't feel super fantastic after the dances, but not as bad. Which was promising. My friend Roshay (the one I made the doll for) was hosting a social dance yesterday at a new place. It was local, super affordable, at a great looking venue, and had a free salsa lesson. I don't love salsa but I do love how Roshay teaches. And I wanted to be supportive of my friend. I feel I should get bonus points for having an outfit that perfectly coordinates with the host's outfit. I kind of want to steal his rhinestone hoodie...

     The lesson was incredibly fun and the social dance was fantastic. I saw a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while and I was feeling quite a lot better after my dances. I think I am getting back to normal after whatever was going on with me. I still hurt, but that just reminds me I need to stretch and do my physical therapy. Those are things I really need to make time for. 

    The other day I posted a bunch of dolls for sale on Facebook on the Model Doll Makers group. I have a lot of dolls in the studio and I feel I am getting slightly overrun. So I am offering them, through the weekend, at discounted prices. And since it is a holiday weekend I am counting Monday as part of it. The dolls are brand new and ready to go. Shipping is $10 to US addresses for up to 3 dolls. I will ship internationally, contact me for a quote. Feel free to email me with questions or purchase inquiries, fieldofdolls@gmail.com. Or you can send me a message on Facebook. Prices are below the photos of each doll. 

$210

$200

$200

$210

$200

$200

$210

$220

$200

$200

$220

$220

$210

$220

$220

Renaissance Faires

 
   I have always wanted to go to a renaissance faire, but I never went until this year. But in May, I went to the Enchanted Orchard faire somewhere in Massachusetts (I forgot where). Elecktra shopped my closet before we went. I have enough fun stuff to outfit several people. I really liked this outfit. 

      I next went to the Robin Hood's Medieval faire in Connecticut (somewhere). This outfit was OK, but it didn't make me as happy as the first outfit. And I decided my horns were kind of frustrating. 

      The second time I went to Robin Hood's faire it was 95 degrees. I skipped the boots, my horns, and added a parasol (which I got for this faire and then brought to Breyerfest). It was HOT. I had to sit a lot and I was still very sweaty. My skirts kept sticking to my legs and making it hard to walk. But it was fun. I love dressing up. I also love how much joy other people get from a cool outfit. I know I love seeing people all dressed up. 

      The Connecticut Renaissance Faire (which is held in Lebanon, CT) started at the tail end of August and goes through the second week of October. Travis has one faire outfit and he will choose to wear his armor or not depending on how hot it is. The first time we went to the CT faire, at the end of August, it was lovely, maybe about 70. This outfit was very comfortable, even with the layers, and I am finally happy with my horns. I also get a lot of compliments on them. 

     Today, Travis, Elecktra and I went to the Connecticut Renaissance faire again. It was hot, about 85, and even with short sleeves, and Travis with no armor, we were very sweety. But it was another fun day. I wasn't feeling super great so we only stayed a few hours. I think I am going next weekend as well. I hope the weather will be a bit cooler. 

     Just for fun, a nice close selfie with Travis, because everyone should see my cool eyes. Colored contacts are a new thing for me. But I really like the way my faire look is coming together. I know that some people don't like any sort of fantasy looks at renaissance faires, but a lot of people like it, and I think it's fun. I am working my way into a full on Maleficent-type fae look. There are some really beautiful wings I would like to get, but that will have to wait (they are expensive).

     I do have a lot more I can talk about with the faires; joisting, parades, trinket trading. I will talk about that eventually. I have been busy and tired, and school started. Though that is going extremely well. Hopefully it just keeps on getting better and better. 

Projects

     I have spent a lot of time recently conjugating Spanish verbs. I have been trying to learn Spanish for a couple of years and it is an ongoing work in progress. When you first start, everything is in present tense, so I am a lot better with present tense than past or future. Or any of the variations of past and future. I am trying to get the rules for regular verb conjugation to stick in my head, so I work at it. A lot. I am finally starting to remember. Some of the time. I also have charts of irregular verbs, which are a whole different issue when learning. But I am determined. 

      Today is Friday, so the end of the third week of the school year for me. It is also the first full 5 day week. It has been pretty great. This school year is, so far, very much beyond my expectations. The bar was extremely low after last year, but I am hopeful that this year will continue to be amazing. I have a student who is coming to me, starting late, that is going to need a lot of special skills to work with. Luckily (for the school) I have all those special skills because I have been saying for years, just give me the hardest kids to work with (and leave me alone to do it). I want to make all the invisible kids visible. Everyone deserves that. Everyone is teachable. But until my new kid starts I am working on projects. Some things are prep for my kiddo and some are for the classroom in general. As long and I am busy and feel useful I am happy. And I have been VERY busy. 

     One of the specials my kids have is art and one of the kids in the class (not one of mine) made this for me. She also made larger versions. It is like the old fortune tellers we would make when I was in elementary and middle school. But she made them compliment tellers. Once you went through the steps you would read a compliment (instead of a fortune). It was a cool idea. And the tiny one is just adorable and now is hanging out on my computer so I can enjoy it all the time. 

      The 555 day streak on Duolingo was really gratifying. I am a ways beyond it at this point, but I have been a little bit busy so I haven't had time to post. While Duolingo is never going to make me fluent, it is a fun way to practice. So I keep going. 

      I was thinking of going to a renaissance faire again this weekend but I need to go and get my hair done tomorrow. And right now I am way too tired to think about going to do anything else anyway. Maybe I will feel differently on Sunday. 

New Things and Old Things

    Last week was my last week of vacation before we go back to school. I start on Tuesday, so I have a couple more days, but my "extra" time is running out quickly. I also have no idea what I did this summer, because I seem to have had very little time. But to be fair, I went to Kentucky for 8 days (well, 7, we went to Philadelphia for one of the days we were supposed to be in Kentucky), I took a lot of Spanish lessons with a tutor and by doing that made a friend in Venezuela. I made some dolls, did some house cleaning/sorting projects, and I danced. I danced a lot. My friend, Kevin, and I started going down to the Garage on Tuesdays. It's about an hour away, in New Britain Connecticut, so it's not a place I can go during the school year. At least not until vacations. On Wednesdays I teach dance, or if there are no beginners I join the intermediate lesson, usually as a leader. I have also been taking lessons with my friend I made the doll of. I took a lot of dance lessons this summer. And I danced at a lot of socials, sometimes in new places. Last Sunday, I went down to The Assembly Room, also in New Britain Connecticut, with my friend, Martha. It was mostly salsa, but it was fun to go out dancing on a Sunday. Tuesday Kevin and I went to the Garage, Wednesday I was in an intermediate lesson as a leader, Thursday I had a private bachata lesson and then Thursday evening I went to New City Brewery for a kizomba lesson and Latin Dance social. I danced a lot this week. I am sore but happy. I won't have that much time to dance again for a while. I am not even sure how my Wednesday teaching is going to go, since I will finish at 9:30 and that is actually past my school-year bedtime. 

     A few weeks ago, Travis and I went to a bowling group through MCS. Travis and I went so we could see if he would enjoy the group. I also needed to meet the community helper, Joe, who would be looking out for Travis. We met Joe the second week, and his son Joey, and now Travis has an activity he can go to without me. Even though I give him his space when we go places (dancing or Barnes and Noble usually) it's good that he has something he can do completely without me. And he has some friends to hang out with. Plus he does really seem to like bowling. In the same way I like bowling. It's fun to see how many pins you can knock down, though we don't concern ourselves with things like the score. 

     Next Saturday is the first day of the Connecticut Renaissance Faire. And King Richard's Faire is starting at the same time, I think. I had always wanted to go to a Ren Faire and this past Spring I finally did. And then I found a lot more faires and went to as many as I could. I can't remember if I have talked about the faires at all, and I am too lazy to go and search to see if I have, but I do plan on posting about those at some point. Maybe even soon. 

Plastic Performance Ponies-Wrap Up

    I took a very long break from live showing. Up until this year, I haven't show at a live show since November of 2019. I judged a few times, but hadn't actually shown. I think I needed a break. I showed at Resin Renaissance at Breyerfest and did reasonably well, but when I showed at Plastic Performance Ponies I did amazingly well with Mocha Latte. At the end of the show we had call backs for overall champion and reserve. Mocha Latte had won champion in 3 of the 4 AR/CM divisions (she didn't show in harness because I do not currently own a harness) and that was enough to get her overall champion. I was extremely pleased with this! I am a good performance shower, but I have never done that well at a show. The lowest placing Mocha Latte got was third and she got more firsts than anything. It was an extremely good show day!

     It's been a long time so I had forgotten that people like to get photos of the shower, with the horse and the awards. Ann Harris took this photo, since she remembered. 

     A week or so after the show I put a bunch of the model sized winnings on Mocha Latte for a picture in the studio. Over the years she has won several halters, this neck sash, and several model sized rosettes (that I forgot to put in the pic). She also won this blanket at PPP and I think it is wonderful!

     I only showed in 2 showed this year, and both of them with Mocha Latte. But it has definitely been nice to be back to showing. For PPP I was really motivated to find new things to do and I found a lot of new entries, or updated some older entries. Before I stopped showing I was kind of stuck in a rut of showing the same things over and over. Now I want to keep looking for new things to do. Maybe I will keep an eye out for shows next year and see what I can do.