Craft Sale

A few weeks ago, I attended the annual craft sale at my place of employment. I'm currently working at the EPA, and most of the people I interact with there are scientists of various specialties. Now, I've not attended a craft sale since I was quite young (and my sister recently uncovered a picture of that sale, I'll post it later. Really brings back memories) so it was, much like this whole recent enterprise, somewhat experimental. When I was nine, I sold lots and lots of pipecleaner creatures, but I was young and cute. And I'm kind of not anymore- if I sell something, it's hopefully because the piece had merit.

Since my recent foray to MACE was among gamers and fantasy enthusiasts, I was not surprised when my dragons sold as fast as I could make them. But among the EPA scientists, I once again could not make them fast enough to meet the interest they stirred. (I even made a man hugging a tree- surely appropriate for the Environmental Protection Agency- but it remained behind, while dragon after dragon sold)

So whether you are a scientist, gamer, or whatever, dragons are just plain cool. Good thing they were always my favorite thing to make. Heheh.

One side effect of this, though, is that I wind up making an awful lot of the same thing. None are identical, each one a little different from the last, and I'd like to believe I refine the technique each time, but it's a strange line to walk. Sometimes I am an artist, making original sculptures. And sometimes I am a toymaker, asked to make the same popular toy over and over. Which is fine, as long as it remains fun for me to make them, and I seriously doubt dragons will stop being fun anytime soon. (Sports team mascots may be a different story though- I just finished making three of the same mascot in a row, and I'm fine with stopping that one for a bit.)

I've tried to catch a picture of each creature I make, but many got away from me unphotographed. However, I've still got a fair number of photos, which I'll be posting over the next while, along with my thoughts about the experience each entailed.