Jane Austen Festival, Louisville, KY 2014

I've just returned from the 7th annual Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, KY, hosted by JASNA Louisville.

I'm exhausted and creatively wiped out, but I can honestly say that this was, perhaps, my favorite festival year.  The weather was a big contributor to that.  The day was slightly overcast, and the high was only around 76* F.  All of us who were portraying Merveilleuse and Incroyable had sooooo much fun being loose and carefree...no pretentious, upper-class snobbery, or stiff, buttoned-up prudishness from this crew.

I always enjoy seeing fellow costumers/reenactors that I only get to see once a year, but that I dearly love from afar.  Being around like-minded people not only makes me feel "normal," but fuels my creativity for future projects.  Although I am creatively beat right now, ideas are passively swimming around in my head.

On Friday, I went solo onto the cool, drizzly grounds of Locust Grove, and participated in a Turkish paper marbling class given by the Master paper marbler John C. Bielik.  Fascinating stuff.  I only wish I had the materials to do more marbling at home.  You can see my attempts above...I obviously need to work on this art form.  Here's a video of him doing what he does best: 

NYS Fair features ancient marbling art from Katrina Tulloch on Vimeo.

On Saturday, the day progressed slowly and casually, beginning with a little window shopping.  It took a lot of restraint, but I refrained from buying any more fabric.  I did purchase a few small items...some 1/4 inch twill tape, a few buttons, some new bee's wax and some Dutch black tea.  Our little group spread out some blankets, and picniced on the green while listening to the two British speakers, authors Jo Baker and John Mullan, who were near by in the 'big tent.'  We also participated in the Regency Promenade, where Oh!, did I mention that we broke the record for the Guinness Book of World Records attempt at most people dressed in Regency attire?  Yes.  Yes we did.  Take that, Bath, England.  It's on!  You can watch a neat little video about it HERE.  We ended the day with a relaxing tea.

Because there are so many photos that I want to share with you, I'm going to just throw them all out at once from here on out, with hardly a comment.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comment section.  Enjoy!

A shameless selfie.

We were trying so hard to be so serious...

It obviously didn't work.

At the "big tent"...listening to the guest authors.

Lining up for the record setting promenade.

Relaxing at tea time.

A view of Carson's Incroyable hair.  I cut and styled it myself.

And finally, the only shot I could get of my hair was after the festival, so I'm afraid it might not be in top shape.

If you couldn't come to this year's festival, there's always next year.  The time to start planning is now!