Urban Craft Uprising: WIN

Saturday I went to my third big craft fair this summer. The first was Art Star in Philadelphia; the second was Renegade in Brooklyn.

On Saturday morning (not early enough, we soon learned), Rhiannon, Lili, Becka and I hit the road. As Lili pointed out, we would be crossing the border on the first morning of a long weekend and the Canadian dollar is very strong against the U.S. dollar right now. Translation: there would be a lot of British Columbians driving south. We sat at the border for hours. Good thing we all got on so well.

Unlike Art Star and Renegade, Urban Craft Uprising is indoors. And air conditioned. I admit that I used air conditioning as a carrot dangled in front of my crafty friends’ noses when I was trying to entice them to join me on this trip.

After the insane border wait, traffic on the freeway approaching Seattle, and the NOT AT ALL navigable part of the city where the event took place, we only had three hours there (I know what you’re thinking; three hours is a ton of time to spend at a craft fair. Au contraire).

We arrived just in time for Sister Diane‘s book signing. I was so excited to see her! We hugged across the table, and she signed a copy of Kanzashi in Bloom for me. I can’t wait to make some flowers. And then she surprised me by giving me a flower she’d made! I felt so special, and I absolutely love it. Diane is made of awesome.

It was like a mini PDX Craftgasm reunion (minus some sorely missed people!). We didn’t really have a chance to catch up, but fly-by hugs were passed around. There may or may not have been brief chatter about getting together in Vancouver… Sushi is a mighty lure.

Look! It’s Tara from Blondechicken Boutique! I love the pink streak in her hair. Also, I just pretty much love her. It’s been such a treat to see her twice this summer after only making her acquaintance on Twitter at the beginning of the year. I bought some yarn from her. It’s bold and lovely. It will eventually become a toque.

I don’t often go nuts shopping at craft fairs. I don’t often go nuts shopping, period. (Recent spree buying art on Etsy notwithstanding. We renovated two big rooms! It was necessary.) This fair was an exception. Mostly because after drooling over her bags online, I bought a hobo from Crystalyn Kae.

Here I am with it, next to Crystalyn (who is cheery and awesome; I loved meeting her), and some very awesome crafty Vancouver friends.

Here’s some of the rest of my loot (absent are a couple of gifts I bought for friends and a skirt that just didn’t fit on the table). The coasters are actually from Becka. The drive to Seattle was so long, we decided we’d make the drive back more exciting by doing a wee secret-Santa-like exchange ($5 maximum!). Of course, we ended up not hitting even a hint of traffic. Anyway, aren’t those coasters adorable? And I needed some for my new desk. Perfect end to a lovely day.

Have I ever told you that summer is my least favourite season? Well here I am post-heatwave, still in the middle of dread summer, very grateful to have wonderful crafty people nearby. I’m very much looking forward to the winter craft-fair season!