Nova had a chance to visit the Colorado Renaissance Festival with me this summer, which was a wonderful excuse to style a new coordinating outfit to wear her with and a new carrying case. The fun converted cat backpack I brought her to Supercon in didn't quite fit the theme of the event, so I started brainstorming a cage-style case.

Nova's original carrying case was a converted bird cage-style decoration, but the addition of her new addressable LEDs and extra stuffing made her body a little less flexible - she had completely outgrown it!

I quickly got to work trying to find a replacement cage online or in local craft stores that could not only act as a carrying case but also let her stretch her wings a bit. I ended up finding a terrarium-style cage at a local Michael's crafts and set to work upgrading it for the occasion.

I added a false bottom to hold a battery bank and cable so that she could have an additional power source if needed and covered it with a fun butterfly print fabric harvested from some thrifted leggings.

After a quick fit test, it was on to some more upgrades.

The weather here in Colorado in summer can be quite unpredictable, so I was worried about being at an outdoor event with an electronic companion. I sewed up a custom vinyl cover for her cage to help protect from rain and added a small pouch I found from Dollar Tree (and custom painted to match) for holding the cover and other accessories for the day.

The rain cover came in quite handy as a good part of the afternoon was spent under umbrellas and waiting out a thunderstorm! 

The weather meant we didn't get to have as many wonderful interactions with festival attendees as we would have liked, but did get a chance to have some whimsical interactions with staff members and a few kids throughout the day. My favorite part of building this companion is the joy on people's faces when I ask if they'd like to hold her. Hope to bring her out again next year on a day when the weather will allow us to meet more people!

I was a little worried Nova wouldn't quite fit in, but we even met another handcrafted (though non electronic) dragon friend! 

I'm excited to bring Nova out to more events where people have never seen a companion robot and have great conversations with folks about how she works.