Evernote and Renaissance Faire Reference Material

[Renaissance Faire reference image]

In between my chore of stuffing things into boxes, I am making use of the unbelievably fast cable internet to collect reference images for Renaissance Faire costume development. These images will be priceless when I get back to Wolf Creek and start designing in earnest.

I use a service called Evernote, which I can't recommend highly enough. This service lets me scour the web for information and images, clipping it all into a virtual notebook. This is better than bookmarks in a many ways:

1. The information is collected and stored with a reference to the original page. This means that the original website can disappear and I will always have the information that I wanted.
2. It is seamlessly synchronized to my local hard drive for use in the Evernote application. This is a key feature for me because I do not have online access from my cabin, where I'll be doing most of the design work.
3. The notes are available on my iPhone. I can mark certain notes as favorites and the data stays on the phone even when I'm offline. (The whole database is too big to take with me.)
4. I can access my notebooks from any web browser.
5. I can share any notebook with anyone, giving them access to all of my research.
6. Everything is indexed and searchable, including text and handwriting in images. I don't need to remember where something is - I can search for it.

You can see my Renaissance Faire research notebook by clicking here: http://www.evernote.com/pub/blossommerz/renaissancefaire. Notice that this is a live notebook. If you keep checking back, you'll see more information, images, and eventually cloth and garment patterns as I create or find them.

You'll notice that it focuses on two things: good-looking men's costumes and articles of clothing that would look good if they were made from handwoven cloth. When I get home I will have just a few months to design and weave the cloth for my costumes and the merchandise I'll be selling in the booth. (And to learn the Basic Faire Accent and communication style. Eek!) The timing is extremely tight, since I've never done anything like it before.

Thankfully, the pressure isn't on as hard as it could be. The booth in April is Annie's and will be mostly stocked with her merchandise. I just need to have enough product to make a good show and familiarize the faire organizers with me and my abilities. These organizers will be deciding whether I am good enough to take over the booth space the following year. No pressure, though. (Nervous laugh...)