LT Days 2023
One of my biggest supporters, Rasa Šilkaitis, visiting my booth and spreading the word of my business by wearing a necklace she had previously purchased from me.
Last year, I had planned on having a booth at Lietuvių Dienos, however things did not work out. The Saturday morning of LT Days, I found out I had COVID-19 and informed the festival committee that I would not be able to attend and sell my jewelry and crafts. Through online sales and social media, I was able to sell some items and sell out of others. It was a great experience for me, but there was still that passion to share my items in person, speak with the customers, and celebrate LT Days with all my friends, old and new. This year, I made sure that I was healthy and ready to spend two days, in the sweltering heat, to share all my work with the attendees of the 37th Annual Lithuanian Days Festival.
My approach to amber jewelry is that it be accessible. I had always believed that gintaras was the gold of Lithuania, that it is prized for its beauty and held in high esteem. And while my perception was accurate, the value of amber, and its significance, has changed. In a conversation with a friend during LT Days, she explained to me that many years ago, gintaras was readily available, affordable, and people would buy it by the bags. Whereas now, the price of gintaras has increased and yet the value has decreased. In America, it can be difficult to find true Baltic amber and it can be quite pricey. While in Lithuania, gintaras is less prevalent and has lost some of its value and esteem.
It was a true joy to get to see so many people during Lietuvių Dienos and to share my wares with everyone. There were a few moments where my booth was so full of people, I could barely move around! I had a wide variety of earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, and my (now) signature linen and cotton bandanas. In honor of celebrating the 700th anniversary of Vilnius, I designed a bandana featuring a silver geležinis vilkas surrounded by a trispalvė rope wreath, flanked by gold Gedimino stulpai, and golden rising suns and wheat stalks. On hand-dyed black linen bandanas, I printed Lietuvos trispalvė with a centered yellow sun, a wreath of green rūtos (rue), and scattered red hearts in the style of margučių raštas. In honor of two Lithuanian children’s songs, I designed two additional bandanas featuring golden bees and herons. Bitutė, printed on natural linen, celebrates the bees that work hard to create delicious honey that is used in a variety of Lithuanian recipes, and features a design of black honeycomb and native Lithuanian flowers with golden bitės throughout. Garnys, garnys depicted the various features of a heron, as mentioned in the well-known song, ilgas kojas (long legs), ilgą snapą (long beak), and ilgus sparnus (long wings) with flax flowers on a slate blue 100% linen bandana. The final 3 fringed cotton bandanas were designed in honor of our national flag: a yellow bandana with small suns, a green bandana with rūta corner borders and small flowers throughout, and a red bandana with hearts and stars in the style of margučių raštas.
