Sasha Festival 2010 - post 6

This will probably be my last post about the festival, though I'm sure many of the clothes and props pictured here will show up in future posts. After four days at the festival and almost a week organizing my pictures and documenting the festival online, it's time for me to focus my energy on non-Sasha stuff for a while. Here are the remaining items that I brought home, things I purchased directly or indirectly. How did I get everything home (including three dolls) without checking a bag?

I went shopping by myself in San Francisco on Thursday. I bought some fabrics and notions, a crafter's iron, a little Chinese doll, and three doll-size parasols (two are for Boo's dolls, Calla and Rose).

The gift exchange was Friday afternoon. I brought a gift bag containing a smocked dress (like this) made by Patty at The Sasha Wardrobe, velvet hair ribbons, and a little Chinese doll. I wound up with this cute outfit, a green Scottie sweater and cap with white corduroy pants, made by Beverly Schacht.

The Children's Fund Auction was Saturday afternoon, and raised a total of $6874 for two charities: Child Help and Save the Children. I was the high bidder for two items, a purple and white sweater and cap from Switzerland (made and donated by Amei Walder) and a Boneka smocked dress (donated by Bonnie Jean Kennedy).

The sales room was open on Saturday evening. I bought some clothes, a stroller, and ... a doll. Clockwise from upper left: a Boneka dress that was a gift from Nancy Miller when I purchased my doll, Boneka shoes that I bought from Nancy to go with my auction dress, pink and yellow wool sweaters knit by Erica McLeod, a pink commercial babygro resized by Sheila Foery, a red check smocked baby dress and panties tagged Millie Dingham, a blue floral smocked dress and panties tagged Laura Lindberg, and a swing-top and plaid capris made by Sheila.

Dawn Law had strollers and baby carriers for sale, made by the Spanish company Diset. As Chloe and Cleo demonstrate, the stroller is small enough to be pushed and large enough to be ridden in. And it even folds for storage or travel, which made it easier to pack in my carry-on bag.

The helper item tickets were drawn on Sunday. There were lots of lovely items, and I wound up winning two of them: a set of wooden village blocks made in Germany, and a lace collar knit by Erica McLeod. The lace collar came on a card that reads: "Lace collar for Sasha knitted in fine merino wool. The original of this pattern was inspired by one seen in the Swiss Village Museum in Wisconsin. The pin represents the edelweiss flower."

Here's a picture of my new doll, taken as the festivities were winding down on Sunday. She's wearing the dress I won in the auction, and the lace collar I won in the helper item drawings. She still hasn't told me her name yet, though perhaps I haven't been listening closely enough.

UPDATE: After lots of contemplation, she and I have settled on the name Juliette.

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 5

Like last year, I came home with a whole lot of Sasha-related stuff. In this post I'll show the festival souvenirs and other table hostess gifts that I received, saving the items I purchased or won (gift exchange, Children's Fund Auction, sales room, and helper items) for my next post.

At check-in I received: a festival bag containing maps and information about Switzerland, the Festival Journal, and a booklet with auction item pictures and descriptions; my auction paddle; and my name tag on a Switzerland lanyard. Also in this picture is the card with information about next year's festival that we received at brunch on Sunday; the theme is "Pieces of Time" and it will be held July 14-17 in Springfield, IL.

The festival outfit was spread out over the three meals. At Friday dinner we received a little beaded bracelet and a raffia-tied package containing a Bauernkind (farm child) outfit - underskirt, skirt, apron, shirt, and kerchief. Each outfit was one-of-a-kind, with coordinating pieces made from second-hand men's shirts. My outfit has a blue and tan color scheme, with a chambray apron. At Saturday lunch we received a box containing a little basket of eggs, and at Sunday brunch we received another box containing leather boots and Glorex Swiss doll socks.

I changed my mind about bringing Muriel at the last minute, so to compensate I'm letting her model the festival outfit:

And here are some pictures from the festival, showing the variety of colors and patterns:

There were several other items on the tables at various meals that I'm almost certain were received by everyone at the festival: a bucket, bandanna, stuffed bunny, cow, and ice cream cone, plus Swiss flags on toothpicks scattered about. There were little Lindt and Toblerone candy bars as well, but I ate them before I even boarded the plane for home. Also in this picture are the floral wreath and hair clip that I made at the workshops on Friday.

Tina and I hosted a table for Friday dinner, so I have the little tote bag of Swiss souvenirs that she and I created (I gave my special Lindt bar to the festival hostess). I sat at very generous tables for the other two meals, receiving clothing from the hostess as well as gifts from other people at the table (including saltwater taffy from Maine, which was eaten instantly and thus not pictured).  The dress on the left uses a vintage handkerchief for the skirt, while the pinafore on the right is made from vintage linens. I love them both!

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 4

I previewed bits of Table Hostess gifts (here and here), and want to share all the details now that the festival is over. In keeping with the "Return to Switzerland" theme, I'd come up with the idea of a bag of Swiss souvenirs. My plans were more grandiose than my skills however, so I enlisted the help of my talented friend Tina to be my co-hostess. She made Swiss cheese wedges out of Fimo, cut and sewed bandannas from some original dealer replacement fabric (an eBay find), and gave me lots of encouragement and positive feedback as I worked on my projects.

I persuaded my husband to make miniature Toblerone bars in both regular and dark chocolate versions, scanning the original packages and reducing them to 1/3 size (he has patience with X-Acto and glue from working on his RC Airplanes). Here's a picture of Calla and Boo checking the size of his prototype:

I went shopping online and found alpine bell keychains and edelweiss charms (from Germany), and small Swiss flag patches (from Thailand). I removed the keychain portion from the bells, and made Sasha-sized necklaces from the charms. I created little cards on my computer explaining the significance of the bandannas. And I started sewing totebags using Peggy Trauger's pattern. This was the hard part. I recently purchased a sewing machine, but haven't done any sewing (other than simple mending or craft projects by hand) in the past 25 years. I was thrilled with how well they turned out, even though they were finished with little time to spare. Here's how everything looked as Tina and I put the bits together at the hotel on Thursday evening:

There was a second portion to our gift as well. I had been mulling over some sort of card with our names and the bandanna information, but I separated the two ideas after some brainstorming with Tina. She suggested we make Lindt bars instead of the Toblerone due to their connection with Sasha. I liked the distinctive Toblerone shape, but thought Lindt bars would be nice if I had one of the old labels to miniaturize. That morphed into creating modern versions of the labels, and using these to identify ourselves. I selected my 1968 dolls to use as models, and set up a "photo studio" with a solid color background and decent lighting to photograph them. My husband is a whiz with Photoshop, and helped me figure out enough to create the labels I'd sketched by hand on a piece of paper (modeled after the originals, which Tina emailed me scans of from a magazine article). Once they were complete, I used them as sleeves around Lindt bars. Here's a picture of the five versions, which all have the same back:

I hope everyone who sat at our table enjoyed receiving these gifts as much as we enjoyed creating them.

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 3

The dolls and clothing are marvelous and the festivities are entertaining, but to me the Sasha Festival is all about the people. Nowhere else can I hang out and socialize with so many other people who understand my love of Sasha dolls. I met or became reacquainted with so many fascinating, friendly, fun people during the long weekend in San Francisco, far too many to mention them all individually.

Last year I was eager to meet people who I'd been communicating with online. This year I discovered that there were people who were eager to meet me because they read my blog. Pretty cool. Victoria (from Australia) felt like an old friend, since she knew so much about me and my dolls from what I've shared online. I'm already looking forward to seeing her again. She joined in with Michele (left) and Tina (right) when we took a post-workshop picture like last year.

Ai made me feel like a rock star for a moment. She came bouncing up to me at the workshops and introduced herself, then told me she reads my blog and asked if she could take a picture with me. Again, she felt like an old friend when we socialized during the weekend. I hope to see her and her daughter again at future festivals.

Something else struck me when thinking about people I met at the festival: there were quite a few couples I had fun talking with. I enjoyed meeting the husbands as well as the wives, and it was nice to see such supportive and loving couples.

Tom and Carol

Mary and Hans

Erica and Ian

Jackie and Sammy

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 2

I uploaded almost 300 Festival pictures to an album on Picasa. There are lots of pictures of Sasha dolls and Sasha doll enthusiasts, group meals and gatherings, Dress-A-Sasha contest entries, helper raffle items, and all of the Children's Fund Auction items. Here is a slideshow of the entire album:



Clicking on the picture below will take you directly to my Picasa album. There you can see all the photos from this slideshow, along with descriptive captions. Feel free to email me (franberry at aol dot com) or add a comment if you know of corrections or additional information for any of my captions.

Sasha Festival 2010

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 1

I wasn't planning to buy a doll at the festival, but this lovely girl came home with me. I am still so excited about her that words fail me. Other than perhaps yipee, or woo hoo!

The Festival was fantastic! I have about 300 pictures, and lots to talk about ... but it will have to wait until I get some sleep (and deal with some of the more mundane aspects of life).

UPDATE:  After lots of contemplation, she and I have settled on the name Juliette.

San Francisco Or Bust!

Well, I haven't finished the Swiss dress that I planned to sew for the festival (though I did start it). Unfortunately I was too busy working on various projects for Table Hostess gifts.  I said I was going to keep the gifts a surprise until after the festival, but I'm so excited that I need to share another part. I just finished sewing 10 tote bags (with three hours to spare until I pick my kids up from camp then head to the airport!).

Now I need to get packing!! I won't be blogging from the festival, as I don't have a portable computer I can bring. I will attempt to post a slide show of pictures shortly after I return, similar to my second festival post from last year. I'm sure I'll create a few themed festival posts as well, but I don't have anything specific planned as I'm going to let the experience dictate my posts. Not only will it be different event from last year, but I won't be viewing it as a newbie this time.

Table Hostess

Only three days until I leave for the festival, and I'm still busy working on various projects. Tina Gross and I volunteered to be Table Hostesses together, and I've been pushing the boundaries of my creativity. I'm going to keep the gifts a surprise until after the festival, but will definitely share pictures when I return. For now here's a sneak peak at part of one project, a montage of my 1968 English Sashas.

Festival Schedule

Here are some additional details from Jan Johnson regarding this year's Sasha Festival schedule:

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
4:00pm Early registration begins, in the hotel lobby
6:00pm Meet and Greet - Hotel Library, adjacent to lobby - no-host bar, light hors d'oerves

Friday, July 16th, 2010
8:00-12:00 Registration, in the hotel lobby
9:00-12:00 Workshops - Sierra Ballroom
12:00-1:30 Lunch on your own - Chutney Grill in hotel, or downtown Burlingame
1:30-3:30 Gift Exchange (bring a wrapped Sasha-related gift, $20 value) - Sierra Ballroom
3:30-4:30 Guest Speaker - Sierra Ballroom
4:30-6:00 Free time! Shopping in downtown Burlingame, walk along the Bay, socializing
6:00-9:00 Banquet Dinner and Program - Sierra Ballroom

Saturday July 17th, 2010
8:00-5:00 Helper Items Viewing - Tiburon/Sausalito rooms
8:00-1:00 Auction Items Viewing - Sequoia/Redwood rooms
9:00-10:00 Dress-A-Sasha Contest (details here) - Sierra Ballroom
10:00-12:00 Free time!
12-1:00 Lunch Buffet - hotel courtyard
1:00-3:30 Children's Fund Auction - Sequoia/Redwood rooms
3:30-7:00 Dinner on your own - Chutney Grill in hotel, or downtown Burlingame
7:00-9:00 Sales Room - Sierra Ballroom

Sunday, July 18th, 2010
9:00-12:00 Brunch (thank-yous, 2011 festival, helper item/raffle drawings) - Sierra Ballroom

Swiss Dress Plans

I decided that I need at least one Swiss-style doll dress to bring to this year's Festival, so I plan to make one. Hopefully posting about it will give me the motivation I need to complete it. Since I don't own a sewing machine right now, I'm going to have to sew by hand. Ugh! I chose the pattern, purchased fabric and lace, and am ready to get started.

Now all I need is patience, perseverance, and a whole lot of free time!

♥ 2010 Sasha Festival ♥

The 2010 Sasha Festival is happening July 15-18 in San Francisco, California. This year's theme is "Sasha Returns Home to Switzerland". The registration deadline is May 8, so there's still time to send in your registration if you haven't done so already. Registration information can be found at the official website.

Here are some additional details from Jan Johnson regarding this year's "Dress-A-Sasha Contest".

Themes:
1. The Life of Sasha Morgenthaler
Base your entry on one facet of Sasha Morgenthaler's life. Your entry could represent Sasha as an artist, midwife, humanitarian (aiding refugee children after World War II), world traveler or doll maker.
2. Switzerland
Your entry can represent one of the following aspects of Swiss life:
The story of Heidi by Johanna Spyri (perfect for Sasha as Heidi and Gregor as Peter)
The story of William Tell (Gregor as William Tell and a Toddler as his son)
Clara Barton - Founder of the American Red Cross (inspired by her 1869 trip to Geneva, Switzerland)
Watch-making (Gregor would make a great watchmaker!)
Swiss Banking
Chocolate-making
Cheese-making
Mountain climbing in the Swiss Alps

Classes of Entrants:
Youth: 12 to 17 years of age
Adult: 18 years and up

Categories:
1. Outfit made by entrant.
Adults only - all clothing must be made by entrant, except shoes, socks, underwear and accessories.
2. Outfit assembled by entrant.
Adults and youth - clothing may be purchased or made by someone other than entrant.