The Crooked Stamper Goes to Virginia

Today was a good day. I had my second of three Holiday shows today, and it was the one I begged to NOT do, but they wore me down, and I agreed. It was in Virginia, which is no big deal here, because DC/MD/VA is one big happy metropolitan area. No, it was not just that it was in VA, but it was far, as in "not 5 minutes from my house". But I went, and I am glad. Except for the part where I got up earlier than I do for work, then drove in the dark to VA, and arrived 30 minutes before anyone with a key to open up the place. But I sat in my car and listened to The Acoustic Storm on the radio. Yeah, that part was good. :-)

Here is the building which housed our little event:

Once inside I realized it was bigger than my entire condo. Nice, though. Small spaces, so I grovelled and got a primo end spot:

Sweet! It started out as a U-shape, but since I, once again, had no place for a chair, nor did the poor young lady behind me, I later shifted that right-hand table around to be parallel with the back table. It gave us enough space to put our chairs sideways between my table and hers so we could both sit down. That's the thing about craft shows. Most of the time we are more than willing to help each other out, and that is what makes things so much fun!

The young lady next to me was selling etched/stained/dyed eggs. Not painted. She applies wax to the egg in a pattern, then whatever is not coated absorbs the color into which it is dipped. Very tedious, but amazing and beautiful. She learned it from her Mother starting at about the age of 5. Her mother learned it from her Grandmother. It is a traditional Ukrainian craft, and a surprisingly-large number of people who stopped by to ogle knew about the craft.


This one is a goose egg. So pretty!

I took this pic with a quarter for perspective. Teeny tiny! I forget what kinds of eggs these were...sorry.

That big egg is an ostrich egg. The dark one behind it is emu, and the cream-colored one behind it is a rhea egg. Did you know that emu eggs are naturally that dark color? For those, she actually uses an acid mixture to remove the dark coating. Each successive application removes some of the shell to reveal lighter and lighter color, and the texture of the outside is just amazing.

Did you also know that commercial egg-laying facilities fake out the hens to force them to lay multiple eggs per day? And that this means the amount of calcium normally found in a single egg gets spread across two to three eggs, making them too fragile to use for this craft? The things you learn on a Saturday in Arlington, Virginia.

Now, on to the stars of today's show! The dogs! This is a Malamute:

What a stunning creature. She is 5+ years old.

Here she is sitting quietly while two kids came up to pet her. She is gorgeous!

Baby Malmutes! So cute!

And one of a different color.

There were lots of other dogs there, too, looking for someone to take them home.


Puppies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And if I did not have an Only cat, this sweet fellow would have some home with me!

Sales were pleasingly brisk! I sold 8 of the 10 candles I made, and I donated the last 2, plus the remaining packs of note cards, to the Rescue group to use as door prizes or whatever they want. I know *I* will never sell them, and this way I did not have to take them home!

As an added bonus, the vendors all got to take home a selection of produce from the farmers market corner. I took some Granny Smith apples and a few sweet potatoes. As you all know, any food in this house will get fuzzy before it gets eaten!

So that was my day, and so far I am still vertical.

In other news, some of my Tweeple and I are plotting something for Cyber Monday - the Monday after Thanksgiving - with our etsy stores. Stay tuned for more information on that effort. You can keep up with it on Twitter by searching for the #mimosaclub hash-tag keyword.

Gotta go find something in this place to eat. Thanks for stopping by!