Handmade Nation Documentary

The documentary is nearing completion - it is in editing phase, and the clip below is a taste of what’s to come.

Wait, wait, what is this? It’s a woman who took 2006 to document the rise of the DIY/craft/indie/making movement in the US. More info? Check out the website.

See if you can spot all the Austinites and Austin pics in this clip. Wow.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2HWPfwpOw]

Weekend Warrior: Bat Fest 2007

Living in Austin means bats. We have a huge bat population in Austin, and a crowd of them - in fact the largest urban bat population in the world- lives under the Congress Avenue bridge over Lady Bird Lake. Three years ago they began the annual Batfest, which is a combination craft fair and music venue in addition to food, bat watching and other stuff.

Here are some pictures of my time at the craft festival - water in hand, thinking about the sunburn I was likely to get, listening to Texas rock and zydeco, wandering down the middle of a bridge. Sadly, it started pouring about an hour after I got there, but not before I got a good look at some things.

This is my husband, Jeff, on the Congress Avenue bridge with the craft fair and downtown Austin behind him.

This next is a lovely display of stained glass. There was a particularly nice sun piece I would have gotten if it hadn’t started pouring rain.

This is the booth for Fleegal Farms handmade soap & body care. The owner is there on the far left. I tried a bunch of stuff and talked a while to the owner and bought …

Two bars of soap! The Lavender Fields is for my mom, who is a Big Fan of Purple. The clay soap is for me, as I love facial clays.

Jewelry booths always seem to be the most popular, such as this brightly colored display of necklaces. There on the right is the necklace I bought from this very table.