Women and Archery

I'm so thrilled that the Paleoplanet group, that used to be so anti-women, is now over it and teaching women and girls to make bows. And a lot more women and girls are coming out and digging in because of the exposure to the movie Hunger Games and the movie Brave that comes out in 2 days. I haven't heard a man in our group make a sexist remark about women making bows in a long time. And I see that as great progress.

Brave Movie Promotion Archery Event Today in Pasadena

Guy Taylor from Greenman archery.

We had a great turn-out for the Brave archery competition today. Someone from Disney was there giving out big double sided posters of the red headed girl in the movie.  There were also stickers, coloring pages, postcards and other swag.  We love swag, yes we do.

My necklace booth had a steady flow of kids wanting to make a leather necklace.  One sister and brother even came back for seconds so they could make them for their dad for Father's Day next Sunday.  Most of them were surprised that the stamps were carved from erasers. I took lots of photos but my camera is still in the truck and I just don't have the energy to deal with it right now.

Two of my SCA friends, Dole and his wife Rebecca came to the event and watched Sal's arrow making demo. We all had a blast. The kids in the archery contest got nice certificates. A lot of people stepped in to help.  The Pasadena Roving Archers were raising money for Ronald McDonald House in Pasadena. High Tech Archery did a lot of the behind the scenes stuff.  Greenman Archery and Ken Villars Custom Bows did demos all day.  Aimee and I showed off our leather work and beading.  I think everyone learned something and went home with some mementos of a lovely day in Pasadena, CA. And thanks to the tons of volunteers that set up all the targets, safety fencing and netting, and general schlepping of bows, water, tables, etc.

We can't wait for the movie Brave to come out on June 22, 2012.

Jim works on a longbow.

A young girl tries out archery.

Sign up booth.

Taking a break at the necklace booth.

Young archers line up to hear the rules.

Row of targets.

Chamberlain Ranch Shoot in April 2012

I may get to go to the Chamberlain Ranch Shoot. Oh goody! I haven't been in years but this year we are getting a cat sitter I hope. It's a 3-D archery shoot over hill and dale on a private ranch. If you go, find us at the Greenman Archery booth. My boyfriend will be there either way, but hopefully I'll get to go too this time.

I wish I could buy my boyfriend a new kilt for it here: http://www.utilikilts.com/store/kiltsaresexy 

One year another archer in a kilt had a booth right across from us. He made leather quivers. Hope he is there too. Kilts and archery just go so well together.

Gene Foster Shoot Video

I put the link just in case you can't see the embedded video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZnWBJluobE

Atlatl Time

I just got back from the Conejo Archers traditional shoot in Simi Valley. What perfect weather we had! We are so spoiled in S. California.

I met two atlatl makers named Chris and Cary.  Coincidentally they also use the name Paleoarts. When I ferret out their business card from our many bins, I'll add their link. Cary lent me a fancy atlatl to test out. I didn't have much luck with it, but she's really good with it. I think you just have to try a bunch of styles and weights until you find one that works with your hand, arm, shoulder form of throwing.

I found that one of Tom Mill's atlatl's worked really well for me so I traced that one to make my own hopefully. It's going to go into the 'roundtoit' pile until I have more time. I'm taking today off just to unpack, do camping laundry, and get my banking into order because those bills keep coming whether I'm out of town or not.

After the dust settles, I need to finish my own atlatl darts.

On Friday I tried out atlatl's again for the first time in about five or six years. That first contest I only got an 8, but the next day I did it again and got 23, so I'm improving already. Go me!
Sunday I was manning the arrow booth so I missed not one but two atlatl contests. Ah well, I'll have to wait until the next Pasadena meet to try again.

Photos soon. I have to unbury my camera before I can download them.

Conejo Traditional Archery Shoot

We just got back from the traditional archery shoot in Simi Valley. My little craft booth did fine. I don't know what I was so worried about. I took lots of photos that I'll be posting soon. Archery is truly a sport for both genders and all ages. The Conejo Archers put on a great event.

The face painting was a big hit too. A lot of the younger kids were volunteers and enjoyed some face painting fun to go with their jobs in the snack bar and on the archery range. We shoot at big foam animals and someone has to haul them all out there over many acres, set them all, up, and bring them back in later. So the younger volunteers helped with that too.

They had prizes for the best archers and a big raffle. They gave away a lot of smaller items and also 2 bows.

Our campsite was busy making bows, mending arrows, grilling sausages, consuming carnitas tacos, and having fun. We had a jam session Sat. night with a guitar, drums, a ukulele, and flutes.

Then we went to sleep in our tent with the buzzing snores of our fellow archers. Then everyone was up early to do the 2nd day of the shoot. Except for me and the other vendors. We went to set up our booths for the day.

This post is getting long enough so more later.