On a sleepy endless ocean when the world lay in a dream...

This is a song written by the late, great Dave Carter for himself and his partner Tracy Grammer. The song is called Gentle Arms Of Eden and is available on their album Drum Hat Buddha. It's a great album, I highly recommend it!

I didn't become aware of these two until after Dave had passed away, and that saddens me deeply. I was thrilled when I came across this video of them performing live, because I had never seen him play before! Dave and Tracy are another way that I have kept myself close to home while traveling. Their music is so rich and emotional that it moves me to tears at times. When I need to feel close to my family, this is the music I turn to. My younger brother covers a good number of Dave and Tracy's songs, and we have a great time singing them together as a family. This year I'll miss Tracy's performance at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and I'm hoping that my family will sing extra loud for me!

If you would like to hear more from Tracy she has some really great songs up on her MySpace page! I urge you to support her. I can't think of an album of theirs (or her's alone) that I don't recommend!



I have to add a bonus, because I can't only share one song! This is another family favorite. I didn't make this video, it was made by another Dave and Tracy fan. I think it's great!

Tanglewood Tree by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer from their album Tanglewood Tree.

Want more Music Monday? Click it!

Festivaaaaaaaaaaaaaaals

Right, so this is old news but my BFF Amanda took all the photos this summer of all the events we did, and due to hurricanes and mad amounts of work in her new home in NOLA she's not been able to share them with me, until now! So instead of writing about what I've been up to lately I thought I'd finally share with you some of what I did this summer, in storyboard format!

GRASSROOTS Festival of Music and Dance, Trumansburg, NY

Grassroots was a blast, late nights, great music, lots of support:






(you'll be happy to know I still had to pay him!)


There were periodic rainstorms throughout the weekend, but thanks to my good friends Paul and Maria of Asia Luna I had an extra roof on my tent which meant we stayed dry:


These girls did not:


Coming home we found a giant turtle, and had to stop and take photos (obviously!):


FALCON RIDGE FOLK Festival of Music and Dance, Hillsdale, NY

Although Falcon Ridge began with much rain, the majority of the weekend was nice and sunny:


Until it wasn't!
The sky was ominous! This is the last we saw before we zipped up and buckled down (and then it proceeded to pelt us with quarter-sized hail and huge gusts of wind):


We held on tight (this funny photo really doesn't convey the violence of the wind, because we didn't have time to take photos when we were all hanging on for dear life!):


And despite some serious flooding (and seriously white thighs, sorry):


We managed to to escape yet again without a leak from the top!:


Others were not so fortunate:


For some it was no matter. This is sort of how I was feeling, even though everyone expected me to be really upset:



It was an eventful summer, and I have to thank Amanda again for taking so many photos, for all the hours spent working on tedious tasks (like tying bows and gluing boxes) and for always being there for me when I was stressing out, or when I was overjoyed.

And the award for most neglegent blogger goes to....

I think that'd be me. Sorry.

I know I should have blogged about the fantastic trip I had up to Ithaca with my booth. I know I should have fabulous photos to prove that Grassroots was a fabulous festival! I know I should have blogged about the huge, terrifying storm that hit Falcon Ridge early Sunday afternoon, effectively shutting down the festival. I don't have photos of that either, so check out that link to see a video, check out this one to see another, and someday I'll wrangle some photos away from My dear friend and savior Amanda when I'm sure she's more settled in her new home! She's got photos of my pasty white legs standing in a river of muddy water running higher than my ankles through my booth. It took four of us hanging on the EZ-Up to keep it from lifting off, but I am very proud to say that my meticulous weather disaster plan was 100% effective! Nary an earring was lost, and the paper goods all survived as well!

My lack of blogging energy hasn't been helped by the fact that until this week I hadn't read an entire book all month (the horror!) and I've been on strict knitting probation thanks to my lovely OT who's trying to fix up my elbow. In other news, I've started hula hooping pretty much obsessively, and I'm cleaning and sorting and packing in preparation to head back to school next week! I can't believe my break is so close to ending.

Boo.

Soasa Calendar!

Late Summer & Early Fall 2010

September 19 Van Houten Avenue Street Fair, Clifton, NJ
September 21-23 Fall Northeast Art & Craft Show, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY
September 26 Haverstraw Street Festival, Haverstraw, NY
October 2 Hudson High School Craft and Home Expo, Hudson, NY
October 3 Warwick AppleFest, Warwick, NY
October 9-10 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT (one of my favorites!)
October 23-24 Connecticut Renaissance Faire, Hebron, CT
October 26-27 Thanksgiving Northeast Art & Craft Show, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring and Summer 2010


Edit 6/24/10:

This should be it. For real. See you there!

June 25-27 Oldsongs Festival of Music and Dance, Altamont, NY
July 18 Nyack Street Fair, Nyack, NY
July 23-25 GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, Trumansburg, NY
August 5-8 WOOL, Lake George, NY
August 28-29 Old Bethpage Village Craft and Gift Show, Old Bethpage, LI, NY
September 4-5 Eisenhower Park Craft and Gift Show, East Meadow, LI, NY
September 11-12 Bayville Waterside Craft and Gift Show, Bayville, LI, NY
September 18 Pawling Art and Craft Fair, Pawling, NY


There will be more events for October - December!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winter 2009

Nov. 21st Valley Central School, Montgomery, NY
Dec. 4th Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Dec. 5th Hawthorne Valley School, Harlemville, NY

If you decide to stop by don't forget to print out this coupon and save 15% off your entire purchase!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fall 2009

I'm not quite as busy this fall because it was difficult to organize everything from abroad, but here's the plan! I hope some of you can stop by! There may be additional dates, so check back around the end of the month.

Sep. 19 Pawling Arts & Crafts Fest, Pawling, NY
Oct. 3 Hudson High School Craft Fair, Hudson, NY
Oct. 10-11 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT

Oct. 17 Hillsdale Farmer’s Market

As always, if you've got any questions or need directions don't hesitate to ask!

RobinMarie [at] Soasadesigns [dot] com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summer 2009

I'm currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina on study abroad. I will be back in the states on August 2nd, and hopefully geared up for a good fall season! I have jewelry available on my Etsy site RobinMarie.Etsy.com that my mom has kindly agreed to ship out for me!

Have a happy and healthy summer!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The holiday season is here!

Nov. 21-22 Housatonic Valley Waldorf School Holiday Fair, Newtown, CT
Nov. 29 Jewelry Sale at Off The Beaded Path, Great Barrington, MA
Dec. 5 Bard Craft Fair, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Dec. 6 Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School Yultide Fair, Harlemville, NY
Dec. 13 Sheffield Market, Sheffield, MA
Dec. 20 Sheffield Market, Sheffield, MA

If you've got any questions or need directions don't hesitate to ask!
RobinMarie [at] Soasadesigns [dot] com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come find me this Fall, I'm going to be all over the place!

Sep. 6+20, Oct. 4+18 Hillsdale Farmer’s Market
Sep. 14 Mountain Music Festival, Bethel, NY
Sep. 20 Pawling Arts & Crafts Fest, Pawling, NY
Sep. 21 Earth Day Festival, Bethel, NY
Oct. 4-5 Hudson High School Craft Fair, Hudson, NY
Oct. 11-12 Warren Fall Festival, Warren, CT
Oct. 18 Green Meadow Fall Fair, Chestnut Ridge, NY

As you can see there are a few dates that are doubled. In those cases my Mom will be working the Farmer's Market for me, so you should really go keep her company!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's going to be a busy one! I'm incredibly excited about how much everything has progressed in the last three years, and this summer is just a whole new level.

Every 1st and 3rd Saturday from June - October I'll be at the Hillsdale Farmer's Market in Hillsdale, NY
June 26-29: Old Songs Festival of Music and Dance in Altamont, NY
July 17-20: Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, NY
July 24-27: Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, NY
August 23: Blueberry Festival in Ellenville, NY

I've also got quite a few events booked for the fall, but I'll let y'all know about those as the dates get closer.

She Has Pictures!

Yep, finally had to unload my camera, and I'm actually much happier with what I've got than I expected. My chances to take photos at the market were aways rushed, so I thought I'd sold a lot of pieces that I'd never see again. Turns out I have some pictures! These here are my mushies, I love them very much. I don't really expect to sell them, they're easily the most expensive and strangest piece I have displayed, but I like to show them anyway and see and hear people's reactions.

Tomorrow morning my brother and I are off to Falcon Ridge for a weekend of fun and adventure! I'm taking some jewelry and supplies with me to keep me busy in the blistering heat of the afternoon, but next year I'm hoping to vend there legitimately! My new pavilion (the brilliant one) is coming with us, so we'll have some shade and a really sweet campsite! We're called The Hip Ship:) When my brother and younger cousin were about 13 they made a raft and named it the Hip Ship, with a little peace sign flag and everything. So we've designed our campsite in memory of. We're also doing a Free Hug campaign at the Ridge, which my mom is less than thrilled about, but we're all excited for!

I'm stressing big time about Musefest because I'm not ready! It's all I can do to keep myself stocked for the Market, but Musefest falls on the first week of school, the weekend between two Markets and the same week I'm moving into my new apartment! I'm bugging out! I just placed two giant orders yesterday, one with Fire Mountain the other with Lotta Displays and they should be here next week. Then it's just production production production, not to mention figuring out how to use the lanterns and sidewalls I just ordered!

Help!!

In any case, the bead store is still wonderful, so far this summer I'm almost making profit with my jewelry, and I'm having a load of fun! As you can see I don't know a ton about formating these pictures (I only just found out you could upload directly!) and I'm just going to leave you with one more of a section of my booth. Perhaps I'll post more later:)



Peace and love!

Hip Ship Crew Mom

The Neeeeeews

Alrighty, an update! Tomorrow, pictures! (I'm not sure where my cord's gotten off to.)

The farmers market was yesterday. It rocked pretty hard. The first two hours were sheer misery, and then suddenly there were so many people they were bumping into each other. Just had to wait it out I guess. I got the guts up to invest in a decent tent and let me tell you that made all the difference. I got the EZ Up Express II. Anyone looking to invest in a pavilion this is THE one. I love it, and will post pictures soon.

I'm thrilled because all the new designs I'm trying out are selling like mad. The only down side is I don't think I've got pictures of half of them, and don't know how the pictures I did get will turn out! Here's hoping I have something to shop for myself!

I'm exhausted, just home from the Dunkin' (I only wanted to cry twice tonight, which is a record) and Harry Potter 7 is waiting for me in my warm snuggly bed:)

Peace out folks!

Also!

I'm looking for a housemate, so if you know anyone looking for a home in New Paltz, I've got one! $333 a month!

Additionally, anyone coming to Falcon Ridge best be stopping by The Hip Ship, located in the Lower Pasture, to make signs and t-shirts and participate in our Free Hugs campaign. We've also got free veggies compliments of my mother:)