The Everyday Lore Project

8 March 2020 – International Women’s Day

8 March 2020 – International Women’s Day

Today I’ve been celebrating International Women’s Day by creating a ‘Strong Female Character Prayer Candle’ from the book Crafting With Feminism. I was given this amazing book by people who knew me far too well, and it contains crafting project classics such as ‘Heroes of Feminism Finger Puppets’, a ‘Huggable Uterus Body Pillow’ and a ‘Feminist Killjoy Sash’, but the prayer candle meant I could combine a calendar custom, material culture, a folklore heroine, and stick on rhinestones, so it was win win all the way. Plus it was a relatively low key affair after yesterday’s late night.

However, most of this project was spent trying to figure out who to feature on my prayer candle. Eventually I whittled it down to two: Maid Marian from Maid Marian and her Merry Men and Princess Leia. Which was slightly unfair because of course, if the incomparable Carrie Fisher is in the mix, there’s no contest.

It was then I realised I hadn’t actually bought a very compatible candle as most of the iconic Leia shots I found were of her in a high necked number and Candle Jesus was flashing some serious décolletage (I chose Candle Jesus so I wouldn’t be covering up another woman). I also had a quandary about which era Leia I was going for, Princess or General. In the end I went for Medal Ceremony Leia at the end of Episode IV. Mainly because of the neck situation. And mainly because she is awesome throughout.

After that, it was just a case of printing, cutting out, gluing and blinging. And I really wanted to enjoy the whole process more, I should have enjoyed the process more, after all I love doing this kind of thing. But with so much going on at the moment, fiddling about with tiny rhinestones just felt like the last thing I should be doing, even though I was the only one imposing them on myself. Plus I never know when to stop. Judging by the amount on my candle, probably half a sheet ago.

Still, I now have a slightly tatty, grinning Princess Leia gracing my desk, ready to inspire me. And it doesn’t really get any better than that.

Tattytracker
Right, so I posted a midweek Tattytracker on Wednesday due to the very frisky nature of my haulms. But today I’m wondering if I’ve not planted Triffids instead. They’re so huge! I managed to haul the grow bag round a bit to make them grow a little more straight, but they’ve got so tall I’m now out of compost. I have nothing to compare this to, is this normal? I’ve also chucked in a couple of pips I found germinating in my apple this morning, although I’m not sure growing a tree in my spare room is entirely advisable. 


Resources

Burton, B. (2016) Crafting With Feminism, Philadephia, Quirk Books

Published by Liza Frank

Author of My Celebrity Boyfriend. Obsessed with hula hooping, sons of preachermen and fresh dates, sometimes all at the same time. Curator of Folklore Agony and The Everyday Lore Project.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.