Kickstarter Update + Renegade Holiday Craft Fair

Our Kickstarter project's funding deadline was 11 AM this past Friday; I'm pleased to report that we reached our goal! It was a bit of a nail-biter, but it all ended well. I cannot tell you what a huge relief it is to have that phase of the project complete. It was hard work, but will definitely be worth it - we've already started phase II, wherein we begin pressing the first single!

Since Tyler made the video and set up the project, I was in charge of the promotion. I'm certainly glad that I had the help of our friends and family, who shared our updates and project page to help get the word out. It's nice to know we have so much support! I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that only one of our four former strings players took the time to share the project with their friends and family. Even though they are no longer in the band and we don't see them socially, it would have been nice if everyone could have pitched in and at least posted the link to our project a few times during the 30-day funding period. Tyler and I each messaged them to let them know it was live, and they each played on several of the 7 songs, so.....oh well, we still made our goal, so I'll try not to dwell on that.

Crazy Crowds at RCF - Photo courtesy of my friend Dan

Moving on....yesterday Tyler and I went to the Renegade Holiday Craft Fair, which I've been eagerly anticipating! I went on Saturday afternoon last year and it was impossibly crowded - you could barely walk through, much less elbow your way into a vendor booth to purchase anything. This year, it looked like it was similarly crowded for most of the weekend (judging by my friend Dan Grzeca's photo at right), so Tyler and I waited til late Sunday afternoon before we mustered the courage to drop by. We breezed in and out in less than 30 minutes, if you can believe that. I think I might have craft fair fatigue - there is literally some sort of handmade craft fair in Chicago every weekend, it seems. While I don't go to the lion's share of them, I did attend the DIY Trunk Show in mid-November, which is probably why I didn't feel compelled to linger, much less buy anything. We did see a few of our friends, which is always nice (and, quite honestly, why we make a point to go at all). I'm glad to know that so many people are buying handmade for the holidays, though!

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