After Show Report: Steampunk Frederick

Wyrd Armouries

We don’t do a lot of one day shows, and this one was unique. Fun, creative… It was great for a small show’s first year, and I really look forward to seeing what it becomes.

In August in the historic downtown of Frederick, MD, there is a Penny Farthing race. You know those Victorian bicycles with the huge wheel? Yup, people race those. Steampunk Frederick was located at a small theater about a block away, with all sorts of interesting creative types. It took a lot of adjusting to figure out how we were all setting up in the odd spaces of the hallways and small rooms, but once we worked that out it was a fun, long day.

We got our almost two tables worth of space along a wall across from the entrance to the actual stage.

Thank you neighbor, we think you’re awesome too!

Hello again Momo!…

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Show Review: Scares That Care Weekend

Wyrd Armouries

Hello again! We are entering our slow time between shows, so I’m getting caught up on all of my show photos and such from this past year. Then it’ll be time for year in review and fun planning for next year!

Scares That Care Weekend is one of our favorite events. It is not our most profitable, but it’s a weekend of awesome people who love horror and trying to do good for charity. This year, we got a whole conference room to fill with our stuff however we wanted. Up side – we could show off a lot of stuff and be creative with our display. Downside – the second floor gets less traffic and the room we chose was… well, more hidden than we realized.

Come on boney, help us show people where we are…

So, leave the haunted house, then take a sharp turn…

…down the skinny…

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Shore Leave 2016 – After Show Report

Wyrd Armouries

Shore Leave was one of my first conventions I did regularly. I have a lot of early convention memories from this show – volunteering with the art show, hanging out with Klingons, getting some of my first celebrity autographs. But, after a couple of hit or miss years of sales, I hadn’t vended at this convention for a while. Looking for more shows this year, and now that I am selling completely different things than I used to, it was time for another try.

All told, it was awesome to be welcomed back. Sales weren’t amazing but weren’t bad, good staff and fun to see people again.

Getting ready for a show is always interesting. Here is what going through the inventory looks like.

No need for a mirror – there’s a huge one behind us! We got creative with splitting a six foot table, which is a small display…

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Awesome Con 2016 – Still Awesome!

I love having a convention as fun and successful as Awesome Con within easy commute of home. I have been a vendor since its first year, and it’s been amazing to see it grow.

This year, just about every vendor I spoke to was happy with the crowds and their sales. It was an excellent show, and in my case needed after a couple of lackluster weeks. It always feels nice when you have a good show – as a handmade craftperson, it is a boost in confidence when people like your work and pay you for it.

I really like how this one table display worked. The waist cincher display took a lot of space, but got a lot of attention. I’m definitely doing a similar display for this year’s Dragon Con.

The masks were a huge hit this year – the cylinder displays work great.

One of my masks, as just the right finishing touch for Batgirl!

Mark had a great convention wander as Kingpin.

Happy little heroes with their new masks!

She was adorable, and insisted I take a picture of her super kitty as well. I love small fans!

Here’s a different view than most people see – the convention breakdown at the end of the night. Honestly, my only criticism with this event is load out. But as all things go, that’s minor!

Virginia Renaissance Faire 2016 Wrap-Up

Wyrd Armouries

One of the challenges of doing faires and festivals is weather. It is completely out of your control, but your sales can depend on it. It can make a show vary a lot from year to year. So this year, five weekends and only one of them without rain… well, it did not make for a great Virginia Renaissance Faire this year.

We still love our small-ish state renaissance faire. We made great new friends and had a lot of fun. Hopefully next year the weather will be with us again.

First weekend – Sunny day, but just after ten straight days of rain. Mud certainly made set up interesting.

Our new sign! Finally got a good booth sign made.

Fun and colorful for opening weekend.

One of the best things about being a vendor is seeing old friends.

Next weekend, more rain and mud. Did the best we could…

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Event Review: CSM Renaissance Faire 2016

Wyrd Armouries

As every vendor at conventions, faires, and craft shows knows, sometimes you just don’t have a good weekend. It’s particularly unfortunate, though, when it’s a show you’ve previously done well at.

CSM Renaissance Faire is a small fair we’ve been involved with since it’s first year. It’s on the same weekend as a lot of other possible shows, but we’ve kept doing it because it’s a fun little thing, and turns a nice profit for the cost. Unfortunately, this year was painfully small. From the outside, it does not look like they’ve really even let the college students know that this event is going on on their campus. There were a tiny number of vendors, so really not enough to keep those who did come out around.

We spoke at length after the last day to one of the organizers, and he seems to want to make this show work…

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Making Custom Work

Yes, I like making things custom for people. I like the challenge of it, the new materials I end up working in, and the new techniques I push myself towards. It takes me out of my comfort zone and inspires me for new projects.

Here are a couple of interesting custom projects that I’ve made for people in the last year.

This store bought cloak was warm, but the outside material looked and felt cheap. So I was asked to do a new outside layer to match the quilted purple inside. And since the owner is a leather worker, she wanted leather details.

A navy microsuede layer was added, with a soft leather shoulder detail and tooled leather clasp.

Close up of the leather tooling. These clasps have now become an item I am making for other people’s cloaks.

And experimenting with sewing thin leather.

This custom pelt cape was made for a Princess Mononoke cosplay. She picked the material, wanting a more natural look.

There are magnets under the front tabs so it can be attached to the costume shirt, and there are hidden elastic arm loops to best get the cartoon look.

From the back, the full hood and luscious long fir. This nice faux fur was a delight to work with – if a bit time consuming to not catch the ends of the hairs in my stitching.

After Show Report: Southampton Renaissance Faire

Wyrd Armouries

We added a new fair to our shows this year – Southhampton Renaissance Faire, near Virginia Beach. As an April show, it was still a bit chilly be this was a fun, vibrant weekend fair and great for getting the fair season rolling.

This fair really had a great atmosphere. Lots of vendors happy to be out on a lovely weekend, good crowds, and an entertaining night life. This fair threw one hell of a pot luck feast for people staying on site Saturday night, which was both delicious and an awesome way to hang out with show friends we’ve made over the last couple of years.

The only criticism is that the flow of how they set up the space was kind of bizarre, and we definitely want to be farther from the entrance next year. But this is a firm contender for a regular event for us.

We…

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After Show Report: Dragon Con 2015

I’m working on catching up, and realized I never shared my photos from last year’s Dragon Con! As it is one of my favorite shows of the year, here is a little journey back to last summer.

My first time bringing my leatherwork to DragonCon, and it was a hit! All of the Wonder Woman sets sold out in the first day. This was my first year really running out of things.

I really didn’t expect much call for cloaks in September in Atlanta. Silly me. Not bad for a first display. Next year, complete cloak rack!

By the time I set up, the large booths beside me had filled in the gaps that were supposed to be there so that we could get out from behind tables. So I had to squeeze in a tiny booth design. Not entirely happy. Next year, I just may give in and have to crawl under my table to get out.

Nathaniel made this awesome light up sword for me. The scale was an interesting challenge.

So many ruffles! Stunning Beauty and the Beast.

This Maleficent had one massive train!

It may have been years since Babylon 5, but this Kosh was absolutely amazing! Looked like he stepped out of the show, light up parts and all.

Even the bars get in on the silly fun.

This Jeanie looked completely adorable.

There’s a wonderfully DragonCon moment! Great collection of costumes in one group of friends.

I love looking up in the DragonCon hotels!

Nicely classic Ninja Turtle!

That’s father/daughter bonding in an all new and completely awesome way. Go Deadpools!

Cosplay is amazing at any age. She made sure everyone knew her daughter made the costume for her.

I admit I don’t know if these two were costuming as anyone in particular, but I love the costumes.

Here’s a smile from my childhood!

One of my favorite chick flicks, but hardly one I expected to spot at Dragon Con. Cutting Edge!

Shark Week!

Sometimes simple costumes are just awesome. Pac Man ghosts made out of umbrellas!

My main costume of the year, and one I will happily wear again and again – Scarlet Witch! Slightly reinterpreted so my hands are free to handle things in my booth, but so much fun.

After Show Report: Madicon 2016

First of the Show Report catch up – enjoy Wyrd Armouries’ time at Madicon this year!

Wyrd Armouries

Well, I’m definitely a bit behind on sharing our awesome show stories, but we’re in a good catch up time, so here we go!

Madicon is a fun little convention at James Madison University every March. It is one of the smallest events we do, but it’s great for getting our year rolling. Plus, we get to reunite with a bunch of vendor neighbors we meet over the year.

This year they expanded the vendors a bit. I’m not sure how that did for others as far as sales, but I liked the feel of the newly set up room. We did nicely, but partially that’s from a lot having been learned working as hard as we have over the last year.

So, without further ado, enjoy some photos from March’s Madicon!

We got a table on the end, so I was able to bring my nice new rolling rack…

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