Summer craft shows are done...

... and RagsReborn is officially on break! I am still accepting custom orders (as always) but I won't be participating in any more events until fall craft shows start. I had a pretty good summer craft show season. I participated in the Friends of the Library Book Sale at the Newcastle Public Library, Wanderlust Pop-up Shops at the Wheeler Ferris Wheel and the Made in Oklahoma Fest in Midwest City.

I didn't expect too much in the way of sales for the Friends of the Library Book Sale because the main event was the book sale. The local crafters and vendors were an afterthought. I was placed in a back corner but I was still able to make a handful of transactions. Even if I didn't, I would have been  happy to participate because I love libraries and their cause. I had a couple of vendor friends also participating so it was nice to spend the day with them. The event coordinator was top-notch!  She and her daughter helped me unload on set-up day and checked on me throughout the entire duration of the show. At the end of the show, she--along with her daughter and son--followed me to my car to help me pack up without me even asking them to. All of the other volunteers treated the vendors with much respect and I could tell that they truly appreciated us ... and sometimes that is more important that making sales.

The complete opposite happened at the Made in Oklahoma Fest. Sales were decent but the event's staff was absolutely horrible! The festival had been managed by the same woman for the past six or seven years. I had corresponded with her before I sent in my registration & fees and she was great. About a month before the event, it was announced that she was moving on to another job and the festival would be run by a handful of newcomers. Then about two weeks before the event, all of the vendors received an email with a map detailing everyone's placement. I was placed outside of the vendor area in the back corner of the foyer with the advertising sponsors. I found this very disconcerting since none of the other vendors were placed there. I figured that the main ballroom was probably full and they had to move someone out, but why my booth? I double checked my application to make sure that I had done everything that I was supposed to. Hoping this was a simple mistake, I emailed the new festival coordinators and politely asked for this to be corrected. No response. This was on Monday June 4th. The festival was to be held on Saturday June 16th. I gave it a few days and called the festival coordinators on Thursday June 7th, left a voicemail, no response. Then I called again Friday June 8th, left a voicemail, no response. Finally, on Monday June 11, I received an email that simply stated, here is the new map. No formalities or apologies.  I felt a little disrespected but was glad that I was in the main ballroom with the other vendors.

Vendors were advised to set up on Friday evening since it would be too chaotic the morning of the festival. When Wes & I got to the Reed Conference Center, there were no signs, no event staff, no maps. Luckily, Wes had attended events at the venue before so he knew where to park, where the elevators were, etc. Every show that I have participated in, from small church shows to large renown events, has a check in table with at least one person to show you where your booth is. The Made in Oklahoma Fest did not.  We wandered around the ballroom until I found a table with RagsReborn labeled on it. Then on Saturday, there were supposedly volunteers throughout the day but not a single person checked on me. There was a mother daughter pair that I assumed were volunteers since I saw them walking around the ballroom all day. I once tried to make eye-contact with them because I needed someone to watch my booth while I stepped away. They literally turned around as soon as I  made eye-contact so they could avoid me. None of the event coordinators introduced themselves nor did anyone thank me for my time. The only good thing is that my picture (above) supposedly won one of the photo contest prizes (that I still haven't received, yet). LOL

After that terrible experience, let's spend the last paragraph praising Revolve Productions, Tobi, her mom and her son and the wonderfulness of Wanderlust Pop-up Shops. Wanderlust is held twice a year at the Wheeler Ferris Wheel. The first show is usually in the spring but it was rescheduled to summer due to inclement weather. It was an extremely hot day but well worth it. There were customers all day long, I had friends come out to visit me, my tent neighbors were beyond great and sales were really good as well. I would say that it is one of the top ten most well attended shows in the Oklahoma City metro. The entire staff at Revolve Productions does everything imaginable to run a smooth show, from something as important as advertising to the small thoughtful things like giving vendors bathroom breaks. Although the scale of the show is enormous, Tobi and her staff managed to stop by each vendor tent to chat and thank us for being there. I always have a good show at Wanderlust. It pairs the two most important things - vendor hospitality and above-average sales. I have done a lot of shows as RagsReborn and I can say that only about five other shows are as good as this one.

So that's a wrap. Thank to everyone who came out and supported me. You are amazing per usual. I have some fun ideas for new products in the fall. I'll keep you posted and will post my fall craft show schedule as soon as that line up is finalized.

Wes & Erica go see Judas Priest...

...for our wedding anniversary because nothing says romance like heavy metal music. HAHAHAHAH! Before we start, let me note that this happened months ago. Our trip and the concert was on April 26th but I've been too busy (or lazy) to write this until now. I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic this evening.

The concert actually worked out as an anniversary trip because the traditional gift for the third wedding anniversary is leather and each of the three bands that performed all were spectacularly clad in leather. Its like they knew we were coming!  Rob Halford (of Judas Priest) is one Wes' top three metal singers. Sadly, I think the other two have passed on. Because of this, when Wes found out that Judas Priest was coming to town in April he decided that we MUST be there. Heavy metal isn't exactly my preferred type of music but I agreed to tag along. We watched an early Judas Priest documentary and listened to their new album, Firepower, on the drive to Tulsa. I felt like I needed some sort of education before stepping foot into the concert arena. LOL But seriously though, it was a great show and also gave us an excuse to travel to Tulsa. Any excuse to leave work and take a mini-vacation, right?

Up close and personal! We were in the third section! 

Since we like to pretend to be foodies, we stopped at a Korean fusion restaurant for dinner before the concert.  Wes got the kimchi burger and I got the bulgogi tacos. I'm not sure if Wes enjoyed his burger (he's a bit of a hamburger purest) but my tacos were so delicious. We misread what time attendees were allowed into the concert venue so we had some to kill after we ate. We hung out at Barnes & Noble where to got a rad rainbow unicorn named Fuego. I found it fitting.

Since this would be my first ever metal concert, I had zero expectations. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The bands and other concert attendees were exceptionally friendly. I guess the crazy clothing, tattoos and "bad attitude" is all just part of their stage presence. The first band to perform was Black Star Riders. They consisted of two members from Thin Lizzy and some other dudes. The lead singer tried really hard to engage the crowd but to no avail. He wanted us all to clap and sing along but I don't think anyone was familiar with their music, which was an odd blend of Irish folk song and hard rock.

The next band was Saxon. I've never heard of them but they are apparently very well known among the heavy metal community. Saxon started performing around the same time as Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden made it big on the national and international scene but Saxon was the more popular band locally (somewhere in the United Kingdom).  I think Wes was almost more excited about their appearance than Judas Priest's. Everyone perked up as soon as the lead singer stepped on stage. These guys are in their sixties and seventies but you would never know from the energy they emitted on stage.

After a long wait (that included a stage prop malfunction), Judas Priest came on stage. They opened with the title track of their new album, Firepower, with the lead singer dressed from head to toe in gold colored leather with fringe. Their entire performance was amazing and Rob Halford is my new fashion icon. The stage had everything you could imagine - smoke/dry ice, lasers, a gigantic projection screen, numerous props, and many many outfit changes. Rob wore ten different leather jackets throughout the show. They performed a good variety of music from each of the albums throughout their long career. Wes noted that the stage set and Rob's jacket matched the era that the songs they preformed was from. The band had a hypnotizing stage presence. I didn't know any of the words to their songs but I shouted along anyway. For two hours, I became one of heavy metal's biggest fans. Wes' favorite song that they performed was You Got Another Thing Coming and his favorite part of the show was toward the end when Glenn, the band's guitarist who can no longer play on tour because of his Parkinson's disease, came out to play the last few songs. This was a big deal and the crowd went crazy! The outfit changes, while much less significant, were my favorite part of the concert.

The concert was a lot of fun and most importantly, Wes enjoyed it immensely.  He said getting to see Saxon perform was an added bonus and then Glenn coming out to play the last few songs of the Judas Priest set was the cherry on top of an already amazing sundae. (Okay maybe I said that thing about the sundae and he just said, "The whole show was really cool," but I know that's what he meant.) And the music has stuck with me. We saw the show about a month ago and I still have Firepower on my iTunes on regular rotation.

Erica attends a sewing retreat

I have officially been a member of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Sewing Guild for one full year. The guild is made up of around fifty kind & wonderful women who have taken me in as one of their own (even though my attendance record for meetings is awful and my sewing skill level is a little shaky). Each year, the guild holds a three-day sewing retreat at Canyon Camp in Hinton, OK. I was interested in participating but wasn't sure if an all-weekend retreat was right for me. My friend, Brenda, encouraged me to ask if it was possible for me to register for just a day. Jane, the former President of the Oklahoma chapter and chairwoman for the retreat, made an exception for me to only attend Friday's session. Attending retreat for one day meant twelve hours of non-stop sewing (9am - 9pm). I decided to pack ambitiously and brought three projects to work on. At the end of the evening, I had only finished one of the three! As mentioned above, my sewing skills are a little shaky. LOL

Note the picture of my rugged Subaru in the outdoors. LOL

Canyon Camp is a beautiful campsite for the United Methodist Church. We were housed in the conference center which was about a quarter of a mile away from the cafeteria. (There were many other buildings and cabins but I wasn't allowed to explore too much on my own. The only downside of being the youngest member attending a retreat with fifty-two older women is that I had fifty-two "moms" looking after me.) Jane was waiting for me when I arrived -- I was late, no surprise -- she greeted me wholeheartedly with a "There she is! Erica!!" and goodie bag. The goodie bag was a handmade lunch bag filled with treats and supplies for the weekend. The Sewing Retreat Board has spent all year preparing (aka hand-making) these for us. I was lead into the main conference room to set up my sewing station and then to the kitchen for snacks. Wes made a pecan pie from scratch for me to bring to share. All the women were impressed that my husband bakes. I was placed at the end of a long table across from Brenda and her friend Karen (I think that was her name. I'm terrible!)

Top: Our sewing room. I sat in the back corner (not pictured). 

Bottom: Wes's beautiful and delicious pie amidst all the other snacks.  

When I started teaching myself to sew a couple of years ago, I noticed that everyone was 1. very eager to help me learn and give me tips & tricks and 2. astonished that a "young person" has taken an interest in sewing. The ladies of American Sewing Guild were no different. A week before the retreat, Jane emailed me a pattern of a stuffed animal (sloth) that she thought I should make during the retreat. I brought all of the supplies and decided to start on that project first. Jane came over to my station to help me get settled and started on the project. Throughout the remainder of the morning, it felt like almost everyone came up to me to check on me and ask what I was working on. This is a very close knit and social bunch so it wasn't that much of a surprise but I think a majority of the attention was fixed on me; maybe because this was my first time attending retreat and they wanted me to feel extra welcome. I enjoyed the attention and making friends but with all the chatting, I barely got anything done. Brenda later told me that the retreat is more for socializing than for sewing. I am very slow when it comes to sewing projects and this sloth project was no different. I spent the entire morning tracing and cutting my pattern and then it was lunchtime. Where did the time go!?!

We enjoyed a nice trek to the cafeteria for lunch (baked potatoes, chili and salad bar with an apple tart for dessert).  After lunch, we had our first workshop. Another woman named Brenda taught us how to make a matching coin purse and pin cushion set. I was doing great until my sewing machine broke. Oh no!!!!!! This is the same sewing machine that was giving me trouble during my sewing course at Frances Tuttle a few months ago. I thought I had fixed it and it was working fine in the morning but it was not cooperating this afternoon. The machine was not picking up the bobbin thread, instead it was forming "birds nest" knots with my thread. Luckily, I was surrounded by sewing machine pros and everyone came around to have a look. My friend, Brenda, Susan and LuElla each spent around 10 - 30 minutes sitting with my machine trying to fix it. After that, I spent another forty-five minutes or so trying to diagnose and fix the issue via help from the Internet. I followed every troubleshooting tip but had no luck. I was afraid that I would have to end my day early but Brenda (my sewing machine savior) lent me her machine to use for the remainder of the day. She claimed that she had a lot of tracing and cutting to do and wouldn't be needing it. I think she saw me about to burst into tears of frustration and swooped in to save the day.  I owe this woman so much.

Along with lending me her super easy to use digital sewing machine (I want one of these SO BAD!!), Brenda gave me a private lesson on the coin purse and pin cushion. Our teacher, the other Brenda, had completed the workshop and was busy with projects of her own by that time. I missed out on a majority of the workshop but Brenda had previously made the project before so she had no problem guiding me. The afternoon flew by and then it was dinner time before I knew it (I was still not done sewing my sloth).  We made another walk to the cafeteria for dinner (chicken tacos, Mexican rice, refried beans and a salad bar with a lemon bar for dessert). I ate quickly and returned to my sloth. I was determined to at least finish one of the projects I had brought. The project called for adhering fabric with fusible web. I had never used this before but the instructions seemed fairly straight forward so I started without asking for help. Little did I know, you need to use a press cloth when ironing on the fusible web. So, dumb little me ruined Jane's ironing board cover. I felt so awful because 1. Jane had already done so much for me, 2. she handmade that ironing board cover (read: irreplaceable), 3. it was a shared ironing board so I ruined it for all the other women who needed to iron and 4. I didn't know how to get off the ironed on sticky mess that I had made. After confessing to Jane, I went to Marilyn for help (she's previously invited me over to her house and given me fabric so I felt pretty close to her as a ally). She told me not to worry, the mess would wash out but in the meantime, we could turn the cover inside-out. The second time someone had to save the day for me. After regrouping from my mini panic attack, I finished my stuffed sloth and showed it off to all my new friends. By that time, it was getting dark and it was time for me to leave.

All I have to show for after a full day of sewing - one stuffed animal, one pin cushion and one coin purse.

I had a wonderful time at the annual sewing retreat (even with the aforementioned hiccups). I learned a ton and met many new friends. Each and every woman in attendance was extremely kind and welcoming. They invited me to sit with them during mealtimes, showered me with encouragement and constructive criticism and showed me their finished projects and asked for my approval (like I had any idea what I was doing. LOL) At times I felt like a burden with my many requests for help and faulty sewing machine but that was just my lack of confidence creeping in. They never did anything to lead me to feel inferior. I'm not sure if Jane will invite me back after ruining her ironing board cover but I will be happy to return to 2019's retreat if they'll have me.

Finally getting around to writing this... Erica & Wes go to New Orleans, pt. 2

...aka The Darkness concert that blew our f*cking heads off!! But we didn't sh*t ourselves. (Please reference lyrics to the song Solid Gold to understand this joke.) Most people have no idea who The Darkness are but let me assure you that they are awesome and hilarious and great. They're a British rock band best known for their 2003 song I Believe in a Thing Called Love.

I'm wearing my t-shirt that I got at the concert but you can't see it in the picture. I was so happy to get a concert shirt because they didn't have a merchandise booth when we saw them last time in Dallas.

The Darkness is one of my top three favorite bands of all time; the other two are Goo Goo Dolls and Weezer, and Wes doesn't really like either of them but he does like The Darkness so when they tour anywhere near Oklahoma, we gotta go see them! New Orleans isn't exactly near Oklahoma but whatever. The concert took place at the Civic Theatre, a small intimate venue. Wes got us floor tickets so we got to be up close and personal. Speaking of up close and personal, we saw the lead singer, Justin Hawkins, coming out of his tour bus and into the venue. We saw his front side but he had already turned toward the door by the time I got my phone/camera out.

My chance at being a paparazzi... its Justin Hawkins!! 

Diarrhea Planet

The opening band was Diarrhea Planet. The lead singer more screamed than sung their lyrics so I have no idea what their songs were about. But I still liked them. Wes claimed that their problem was that they had too many guitarists and only one of them could really play. LOL There were four guitarists, one bassist and a drummer. They were loud and fast and reminded me of the bands I grew up on (think late 1990's and early 2000's alternative college rock scene). The night of the concert was the bassist's son's birthday so we all sung Happy Birthday to him while he recorded it on Facebook Live. I would have been supportive and bought an EP but their merchandise booth only accepted cash and I used all of mine on my The Darkness t-shirt. *sad face*

The name of The Darkenss' tour was Tour De Prance and they surely did a lot of prancing and dancing! They are a every entertaining band and you can see how much they love performing. Definitely one of those bands that you have to see live. My absolute favorite song by them, Love is Only a Feeling, is part of their regular set list so that's always my favorite part of their shows. They played every song off their first album, Permission to Land, and scattered in a good variety of songs from all of their other albums as well. Besides doing a terrific job at playing music, they also did a really good job of interacting with the audience. The lead singer chatted with us throughout the show, attempted throwing guitar picks into the chandelier, did some headstands on the drum set riser, and improvised a little bit of jazz in honor of Louisiana's jazz scene. We also had several sing-alongs.

The Darkness came out to perform! After their first song, the lead singer looked out at us and noticed there were significantly fewer of us than he had expected. He explained that their marketing personnel informed him that they had sold out the theater but instead, there were only about 370 of us present. (I'm not sure how he counted us all so quickly.) He blamed it on the Jazz Festival that was going on that same weekend. LOL He seemed only mildly upset but quickly put that aside and did their best to entertain us as if it was a sold out arena. I think they put on a better performance because there were so few of us and they really tried their best to give us a good show. They even came out for an encore! At the end of the show, they distributed everything -- guitar picks, drum sticks, set lists, articles of clothing-- into the audience. Sadly, I didn't catch any of it. Wes and I saw them on their last tour at The House of Blues in Dallas, which was a sold out show, and I think they did better at this tiny venue. This concert was the last of our events in New Orleans. I think it was the perfect way to end our vacation. Good bye, NOLA, you were great!