Busy, busy month of May

May has been a VERY busy month.

I am working on a mud-dye and rust-dye tutorial for our upcoming Griffin Dyeworks Fiber Retreat and sewing on several projects.

We saw the Star Trek film at Paramount Studios thanks to Gene Roddenberry's son, Rod. We saw it again the next week with friends in the Valley. We like it. Of course there are nits to pick: I don't like Vulcan female garb - on a planet with a standard 140 degrees F temperature, it would be illogical to wear anything close-fitting or heavy. Any starship THAT close to a black hole would be toast. Stuff like that. But in general, it is a good nod to the original Trek while allowing them to go in a new direction. That is a Good Thing, really. The old Trek was too tired to be revived with any success. Love the young actors who played Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura. Doohan would have liked this Scotty, I think.

The whole family participated in Minnie's Midnight Madness, an unusual team-builder held every year at Disneyland. This is held after the park is closed to the public. We get into costume and give out clues to teams of Disney cast members (employees). The teams have paid to compete for some really nifty prizes. Outsiders are used for the clue-giving to lessen the chances of cheating. And some of them do cheat. We've been clue-givers for the past 5 years and enjoy it thoroughly.

This year we were a Robin Hood clue corner so we could wear our medieval garb. I handed out the stickers for the clue-gatherers envelopes that they have to hand in. John played King Richard, wearing Lora's viscountess coronet. Lora and Kathryn were over in the 70s Disco Gong Show clue, which was so popular that people came back after they'd handed in their questionaires just to dance!

I made Lora widely flared bell-bottomed purple slacks for the game, and repaired a vintage lettuce green polyester leisure suit by adding rust-red fake suede cuffs and pockets for the game show host. Very funny.

We had several one-day and weekend SCA events to attend as well. In our capacity as Baron and Baroness of the Angels (greater LA area) we are expected to appear at these events. So it is lucky that we enjoy doing it. However, it does take up a good deal of our weekends if we let it.

Now we are getting ready for Potrero War (a large 4-day SCA event) where I will teach a dye class and a period pigments class where we make our own egg tempera. I thoroughly enjoy teaching crafts.

It is also important to bring Griffin Dyeworks & Fiber Arts to everyone's attention so we can build up the business. When I teach dye workshops, I always have flyers to hand out. We've only recently introduced the pigments and a really nice period pigment kit for people who would like to try the art of illumination without spending a small fortune. Go visit our website and see!

After that, over the May 29-31 weekend, we will have our ever-wonderful Griffin Dyeworks Fiber Retreat in the Tehachapi Mountains above Castaic, and that's the end of May! Whew!

As soon as I get a few minutes to sort myself out, I'll post some photos, too.