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FaerieWorlds 2008

If the above slideshow doesn't work for you, you can visit the photo album here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/565389633NTUQzm?vhost=good-times Hello all--

Above is the slideshow from my adventure at FaerieWorlds this year...what a magical time we had! There were too many great pictures to choose just a few for my blog, so I found a way to add them all :)

It wasn't just the festival, it was also a family re-union of sorts (the bearded man you see me with in so many photos is my father :) We had not seen each other--and he had not seen his grandchildren, for five years. We thought FaerieWorlds would be a good excuse to all get together for a camping weekend and finally get to spend tim with each other.

We also shared a ride up to Oregon (and back home) with two dear people who we are now proud to call friends, who we may never have met otherwise, so this trip was triply blessed.

Quiet Camp is where we chose to stay (which was lovely, but not so quiet after all!:) It was quite festive, though, and we were fortunate to have many sweet people for neighbors:)

My favorite part, besides being able to pitch our tent beneath an ancient oak tree straight out of a fairytale, were the sun showers--I'd never showered outside beneath the blue sky and I just loved it!


I must say now that my weekend was made by the fact that my first day, first five minutes after walking into the festival, I met Brian Froud, who is such an important artist--a real hero--to me. He was as friendly, kind and gracious as I've always heard--and Wendy, as well, was absolutely lovely. I was more than thrilled to meet and get to speak with her, and be able to give them my Jack In The Green doll as a gift (though I was so shy that I don't even think I told them my name! :P

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A funny little anecdote regarding meeting the Frouds: Toby was also there, and walking around with the most amazing goblin puppet (as you can see in my photos.) When we saw him, I said to my five year old (who LOVES the film Labyrinth!) "See, Nikolai? That's Toby, he was the baby in Labyrinth!"

I thought this would make my little one very happy, but instead he looked a bit disturbed...distressed almost. I thought he was just being shy, maybe not able to comprehend that the man in front of us was the same as the baby Toby in the movie.

Later that evening, when we were snuggling into our bed, Nikolai says to me, with that same expression of alarm, "Mommy, so they really DID turn Toby into a Goblin!!"

:)

(You see, he thought we meant the GOBLIN puppet was Toby! :)

Children are so wonderful.

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Which brings me to my very favorite part -- watching all the children, they are so magical! For them, it is completely real. It was so wonderful to see how many families there were there, and tp watch the pure joy in the faces of the little ones.

FaerieWorlds was split into three themed days--Good Faery Day, Bad Faery Day (I thought the costumes on Bad Faery Day were just the best--you can tell my husband an I and our two children belong to the same Bad Faery tribe, as we all decided to paint our faces that day :)

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Speaking of costumes, I must take a moment to thank FairyNana from http://www.fairynana.etsy.com for my amazing gowns! She does just incredible work, (and custom orders too!) I felt just like a fairy princess in those dresses.

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The art (and oh, the dolls! There were so many I wanted to take home!)
and the music were superb... the latter lasted until midnight each evening, and if I do say so myself, Faerieworlds was even more magical after dark.

One of the best parts, to my mind, was the walk back to the car, strolling down a pathway through trees decorated with faery lights! ( I don't know what those other lights in the pictures are-- I'll let you decide. But my eight year old says, very matter of factly, that those were the real fairies!)

And who knows? Perhaps he is right :)

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and so it was with FaerieWorlds, but what beautiful memories we have!

I will be going back next year, and hope to see many of you there--everyone should experience the magic at least once :)

warmest wishes,
Jennifer
FaerySpell Creations
shop: http://www.faeryspellcreations.etsy.com
blog; http://www.myspace.com/faeryspellcreations