Arizona Renaissance Faire Round 2
purplestripe66 and I went to the Arizona Renaissance Faire again today.
*SO* much fun! Even more than last time! ♥
The guy taking our tickets at the gate told me I had an 'excellent costume', which still makes me grin. (I was wearing a long green skirt, white tunic-looking blouse, and one of those sashes with coins all over them that jingle as you move in white and gold, with the sides of my hair braided and pinned back in an attempt to make a crown. Ruby's outfit was much better, but it was still nice to hear. ^_^) We attempted to wait for Ruby's friend from work we were gonna meet up with, but she never showed, so we went ahead and started walking.
Highlights of the Day:
- The first artist we met, who was very sweet. She autographed the two cards I bought, asking me if I wanted them signed on the cover or inside (I went with inside, since I didn't want to ruin the beautiful drawings), and dedicated them to me. ♥ She also told me about the bookstore, and gave us directions to find it. Which turned out to be wrong, but that's beside the point.
- Found a stained glass five pointed star in green, red, blue, yellow, and white points - the five elements. I've *never* seen one like that. Let alone one I could afford. Now I just need some place/something to hang it with.
- We were at another stained glass booth where a group of people in period costumes were standing around talking. I noticed that the sheath of one of the gentlemen's sword was starting to slip under my skirt because it was such a small area. I was about to step back when one the ladies noticed it too, and warned him that his sword was 'trying to get under up my skirt'. This prompted a round of laughter from everyone as he stepped back and apologized, and they started making cracks about how being French, their feet were filthy and their faces were even filthier, and all sorts of jokes about him and his sword trying to get under my skirt. Ruby, who had been distracted by the pretty shiny thing, turned around at the worst possible moment and blankly said "What?" with this totally lost look on her face. Everyone busted up laughing, and one of the ladies immediately apologized that she wasn't laughing at her. I explained the joke, and Ruby started laughing too of course, but the timing of her coming into the conversation was just ... perfect.
Then the guy who'd been trying to get under my skirt asked for my hand, which I gave to him. He kissed the back and formally apologized to me. The other guy in the group immediately took my hand and kissed it as well, insisting that he would not be out done. ♥
- We had to stop to find me food because I was starting to get rather out of it. Found a place that sold vegetable lasagna, where the guy at the booth told me it was probably safer for me to eat than the vegetable fried rice if I don't eat meat. Not everyone is always so helpful at these places, so it was nice to have someone that didn't want to chance poisoning me. ♥ Also, the lasagna was totally yum.
- We found another artist that the moment I walked in the door, I caught site of this gorgeous drawing of a pegasus rearing up against a very detailed background. I fell in love with it, but the price tag said $44. x.x Ruby suggested looking for a smaller size, and when we didn't find one, she told me to ask the artist if there were any in the back, since he was in the middle of coloring one of his sketches behind the register. I asked him, but he didn't - but he *did* tell me he had an plain, un-matted drawing in the back for $15. (Apparently he was having a sale because he won't be at the faire next year. ;_;)
I told him I'd take it.
- Ordering The Princess Mocha at the coffee stand, and when Ruby asked if I could get it with whipped cream, the server turned back to the kitchen with my drink and loudly called for them to 'whip that princess'.
- With help from the guy at the lasagna booth, we finally managed to find the bookstore. OMG so many books! So many things I wanted! I ended up finding a Mercedes Lackey book for *$2*. It's a former library book, but I DON'T CARE.
- The Joust to the Death was kind of meh for me (I've never been a huge fan of these things), but we went to watch the knights cooling down their horses afterward. Ruby asked if we could pet them. Our knight - appointed by which stands we were sitting in - said 'Not this horse', which was understandable because from the moment he first rode out it was pretty obvious his horse was in a bad mood, which meant it was highly likely he'd bite. But one of the other guys brought his horse over and let me stroke his nose a couple times. It wasn't much, but it was still very nice of him. ♥
- I dragged Ruby over to what turned out to be a semi-precious stone booth. (I later told her the next time I try to go into a stone shop to just hit me. x.x) While we were in there, I found a quartz unicorn, about two inches high, and these teeny tiny emeralds slightly larger than the period at the end of this sentence for $5. Which, considering I've never been able to afford anything emerald *ever*, was a pretty damn good deal no matter how small it was.
Then, I discovered the buckets.
They had these buckets for $7, $15, and $30 dollars. They were filled with dirt, and had a few stones buried inside. You buy the bucket, go over to the trough, and run the dirt through a seive into the water, which reveals your stone. You're guaranteed to get at least a couple stones, so I figured heck, why not, and went for a $7 bucket, picking one that seemed to call to me.
Even the lady who explained it all to me was shocked by what I found. One of the first pieces she showed me that I'd gotten was either kyanite or calcite; I can't quite remember now. But she said that out all the buckets she'd sold today, I was the *only* person to find that. I also found a piece of pyrite, a shark's tooth, rhodonite, quartz, and amethyst - and that's just what I've identified so far. She gave me a mini sandwich bag to put my stones in, and it's seriously about half full. We were both amazed: even she hadn't realized how much was in that particular bucket. I'm *never* that lucky with these things, either. o.O
- Returning to the booth for the first artist we met where I got my cards to buy Ruby the print she and I both loved that she *REALLY* wanted, and finding that she remembered us. She found us the picture we wanted, signed and dedicated it to Ruby, and even asked if we'd managed to find the bookstore she'd directed us to. We told her that we had, and Ruby told her where it *actually* was when she asked if she'd been right about where to find it.
- Coming home and having veggie burgers and french fries for dinner, followed by a sample container of Starbucks' Java Chip Frappuchino ice cream. ♥
Final Summary of Loot:
- Two handmade, autographed and dedicated cards by artist Ruth Thompson. One is a black dragon with a green gem for its eye, while the other is a half-naked warrior woman kneeling in the snow and holding on to a spear with a black and white pinto pegasus behind her.
- A tear-drop shaped glass pendant with a bright yellow flower inside
- Two golden brown leaf-shaped beads (I plan to turn them into earrings.)
- A stained glass five-pointed star window hanging with multi-colored points
- A pewter dragon about half an inch high sitting on a yellow stone
- A stained glass eight-pointed star in green
- A silver dragon-shaped pen with gold accents covered in green glitter
- A silver wax stamp ring in the shape of a swirly sun and a stick of yellow wax
- A 9x14 (I think? I can't remember the exact numbers now, but it's big.) black and white drawing of a rearing pegasus
- A brown cord with a metal loop (To hang my glass pendant from.)
- A two inch tall rearing quartz unicorn
- A tiny emerald
- A bag of semi-precious stones
And while it's not for me, I also bought a beautiful painting of a six-winged fairy woman in black and purple with a white unicorn, a black draft horse, and three snow owls gathered around her.
Yeah. It was a good day. ♥
*SO* much fun! Even more than last time! ♥
The guy taking our tickets at the gate told me I had an 'excellent costume', which still makes me grin. (I was wearing a long green skirt, white tunic-looking blouse, and one of those sashes with coins all over them that jingle as you move in white and gold, with the sides of my hair braided and pinned back in an attempt to make a crown. Ruby's outfit was much better, but it was still nice to hear. ^_^) We attempted to wait for Ruby's friend from work we were gonna meet up with, but she never showed, so we went ahead and started walking.
Highlights of the Day:
- The first artist we met, who was very sweet. She autographed the two cards I bought, asking me if I wanted them signed on the cover or inside (I went with inside, since I didn't want to ruin the beautiful drawings), and dedicated them to me. ♥ She also told me about the bookstore, and gave us directions to find it. Which turned out to be wrong, but that's beside the point.
- Found a stained glass five pointed star in green, red, blue, yellow, and white points - the five elements. I've *never* seen one like that. Let alone one I could afford. Now I just need some place/something to hang it with.
- We were at another stained glass booth where a group of people in period costumes were standing around talking. I noticed that the sheath of one of the gentlemen's sword was starting to slip under my skirt because it was such a small area. I was about to step back when one the ladies noticed it too, and warned him that his sword was 'trying to get under up my skirt'. This prompted a round of laughter from everyone as he stepped back and apologized, and they started making cracks about how being French, their feet were filthy and their faces were even filthier, and all sorts of jokes about him and his sword trying to get under my skirt. Ruby, who had been distracted by the pretty shiny thing, turned around at the worst possible moment and blankly said "What?" with this totally lost look on her face. Everyone busted up laughing, and one of the ladies immediately apologized that she wasn't laughing at her. I explained the joke, and Ruby started laughing too of course, but the timing of her coming into the conversation was just ... perfect.
Then the guy who'd been trying to get under my skirt asked for my hand, which I gave to him. He kissed the back and formally apologized to me. The other guy in the group immediately took my hand and kissed it as well, insisting that he would not be out done. ♥
- We had to stop to find me food because I was starting to get rather out of it. Found a place that sold vegetable lasagna, where the guy at the booth told me it was probably safer for me to eat than the vegetable fried rice if I don't eat meat. Not everyone is always so helpful at these places, so it was nice to have someone that didn't want to chance poisoning me. ♥ Also, the lasagna was totally yum.
- We found another artist that the moment I walked in the door, I caught site of this gorgeous drawing of a pegasus rearing up against a very detailed background. I fell in love with it, but the price tag said $44. x.x Ruby suggested looking for a smaller size, and when we didn't find one, she told me to ask the artist if there were any in the back, since he was in the middle of coloring one of his sketches behind the register. I asked him, but he didn't - but he *did* tell me he had an plain, un-matted drawing in the back for $15. (Apparently he was having a sale because he won't be at the faire next year. ;_;)
I told him I'd take it.
- Ordering The Princess Mocha at the coffee stand, and when Ruby asked if I could get it with whipped cream, the server turned back to the kitchen with my drink and loudly called for them to 'whip that princess'.
- With help from the guy at the lasagna booth, we finally managed to find the bookstore. OMG so many books! So many things I wanted! I ended up finding a Mercedes Lackey book for *$2*. It's a former library book, but I DON'T CARE.
- The Joust to the Death was kind of meh for me (I've never been a huge fan of these things), but we went to watch the knights cooling down their horses afterward. Ruby asked if we could pet them. Our knight - appointed by which stands we were sitting in - said 'Not this horse', which was understandable because from the moment he first rode out it was pretty obvious his horse was in a bad mood, which meant it was highly likely he'd bite. But one of the other guys brought his horse over and let me stroke his nose a couple times. It wasn't much, but it was still very nice of him. ♥
- I dragged Ruby over to what turned out to be a semi-precious stone booth. (I later told her the next time I try to go into a stone shop to just hit me. x.x) While we were in there, I found a quartz unicorn, about two inches high, and these teeny tiny emeralds slightly larger than the period at the end of this sentence for $5. Which, considering I've never been able to afford anything emerald *ever*, was a pretty damn good deal no matter how small it was.
Then, I discovered the buckets.
They had these buckets for $7, $15, and $30 dollars. They were filled with dirt, and had a few stones buried inside. You buy the bucket, go over to the trough, and run the dirt through a seive into the water, which reveals your stone. You're guaranteed to get at least a couple stones, so I figured heck, why not, and went for a $7 bucket, picking one that seemed to call to me.
Even the lady who explained it all to me was shocked by what I found. One of the first pieces she showed me that I'd gotten was either kyanite or calcite; I can't quite remember now. But she said that out all the buckets she'd sold today, I was the *only* person to find that. I also found a piece of pyrite, a shark's tooth, rhodonite, quartz, and amethyst - and that's just what I've identified so far. She gave me a mini sandwich bag to put my stones in, and it's seriously about half full. We were both amazed: even she hadn't realized how much was in that particular bucket. I'm *never* that lucky with these things, either. o.O
- Returning to the booth for the first artist we met where I got my cards to buy Ruby the print she and I both loved that she *REALLY* wanted, and finding that she remembered us. She found us the picture we wanted, signed and dedicated it to Ruby, and even asked if we'd managed to find the bookstore she'd directed us to. We told her that we had, and Ruby told her where it *actually* was when she asked if she'd been right about where to find it.
- Coming home and having veggie burgers and french fries for dinner, followed by a sample container of Starbucks' Java Chip Frappuchino ice cream. ♥
Final Summary of Loot:
- Two handmade, autographed and dedicated cards by artist Ruth Thompson. One is a black dragon with a green gem for its eye, while the other is a half-naked warrior woman kneeling in the snow and holding on to a spear with a black and white pinto pegasus behind her.
- A tear-drop shaped glass pendant with a bright yellow flower inside
- Two golden brown leaf-shaped beads (I plan to turn them into earrings.)
- A stained glass five-pointed star window hanging with multi-colored points
- A pewter dragon about half an inch high sitting on a yellow stone
- A stained glass eight-pointed star in green
- A silver dragon-shaped pen with gold accents covered in green glitter
- A silver wax stamp ring in the shape of a swirly sun and a stick of yellow wax
- A 9x14 (I think? I can't remember the exact numbers now, but it's big.) black and white drawing of a rearing pegasus
- A brown cord with a metal loop (To hang my glass pendant from.)
- A two inch tall rearing quartz unicorn
- A tiny emerald
- A bag of semi-precious stones
And while it's not for me, I also bought a beautiful painting of a six-winged fairy woman in black and purple with a white unicorn, a black draft horse, and three snow owls gathered around her.
Yeah. It was a good day. ♥