The past two weekends have been filled with festivals. Some better than others.

Last weekend I went to the Inman Park Festival with Karla and James. That is when the following entered my life:

Completely an impulse buy, but a perfectly reasonable and practical purchase since I wear skirts all the time. (Oh, the rationalization…) It was impossible to resist buying something from the crafting folks at the Supercute! booth. Can’t really say it any better than they have: “SuperCute! is a collaboration between three independent artists who believe that a kinder, happier, sustainable world is possible with just a little optimism and a whole lot of cuteness.” They use recycled/repurposed materials and are wonderfully committed to their cause. The skirt I bought was made by Lorigami. Karla had been to the festival the day before and brought back glowing reviews of “the skirt”, so she took me by the booth on Sunday knowing full well that as soon as I had that puppy in my grubby little hands it would never be leaving them… How I love it. And what a joy it was buying it from the girl that made it. Then out of nowhere came the kicker - she handed me my new skirt in this:

I was floored. What a wonderful thing. In line with their philosophy, they sew these bags from leftover recycled fabric and give them to customers as shopping bags (who are to re-use them) instead of giving out disposable bags that will just be thrown away. I tell you, their plan worked. I think about their mission quite frequently. So the bag already had a dedicated purpose before I left the booth - it is currently holding Amelia’s nearly-finished 2nd birthday present:

So close I can taste it. Just needs the elastic in the bodice, then to knit the straps, and then to pick out the ribbon. (Let’s all bow our heads and say a prayer that the elastic and blocking will fix the crazy rolling at the top from the picot cast-on edge. Otherwise I’ll have to get, um, creative.) FYI, the bottom is supposed to be a tad roll-y.

I think it is also important that you know that Lorigami currently has the following Happy Caterpillar and Mushrooms available at her etsy shop:

Yes, they are made from recycled sweaters in case you were wondering. They take the cuteness to the extreme I tell you. Truly an act of my will to not be purchasing them right now.

I also picked up the following:

I couldn’t even fake a rationalization for this one. But do you see the wire for the spouting water? And the crooked tail? The artist is Mike Norman - unfortunately his business card didn’t have a website. But he’s in Peachtree City, so he’s local. His e-mail is mnorman172@bellsouth.net. Whale is currently living in my bathroom.

So the springtime outing this weekend was to attend the Renaissance Festival. I haven’t been to this festival in 15 years. I think it will be a minimum of 15 years before I return again. Not sure what we were expecting. It was still nice hanging out all day with Karla, James, and Joel. And we did eat turkey legs, which was our primary mission of the day.

I swear every other sign/food item was a pun or a terrible joke. Steak on a Stake. Or maybe:

I swear, if I hear the word “wench” one more time….