Urban Craft Uprising

This morning Chelsea and I headed down to the Seattle Center for Urban Craft Uprising, a craft show that features independent crafters and small businesses. It was kind of like stepping inside Etsy! We saw lots of really amazing stuff, and although we didn't drop any cash (aside from the donation at the door), we agreed that we both felt inspired to get our own crafty hands active again!

This picture doesn't do justice to this dress. The lace applique work was just amazing.

Deviled eggs! Complete with paprika sprinkles! How cute are these??

We saw TONS of letterpress. I just love letterpress - something about the simplicity of the designs, combined with the richness of the texture. I'd love to learn more about this process.

How cool is this lampshade? This booth had lots of upcycled crafts, like bowls and bracelets made from old vinyl records, jewelry made from soda can tabs, and more lampshades made from safety pins and forks.

I loooooove kokka fabric, and these bears strike me as the perfect use for such whimsical, hip designs.

Again, this photo doesn't do justice. This is a photo of an old abandoned room, which the artist has overlaid with drawings of a mother and her two little boys. Look at how the little boy on the right is peering out through the hole in the wall. I love how reality and fantasy interact here.

This coat has three great things going for it: it's a wool coat, it's orange, and it features poppies. Love!

Finally, here was my favorite seller. This man also specializes in letterpress, but he then mounts the letterpress art onto wood blocks to create wall art pieces.

My very favorite item of the whole show:

While at UCU today, we saw lots of signs for another craft show, to be held in December in Portland:

Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale!

December 11th + 12th

times TBA

at the Oregon Convention Center

777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Exhibit Hall D

See you there! :)

Edmonds 4th of July Parade

Yesterday I went to a 4th of July parade with my mom, aunt and uncle, and cousins. Is there anything better than a small-town parade? I think not! Edmonds did not disappoint.

My cousin Rory, who is going into 6th grade and is sassy and fabulous, sat with me on an ivy wall to watch. Which was great, because she's just hitting that age where it's way more fun to make funny comments about the parade than to run around collecting the candy that gets thrown.

Of course the parade had to include clowns:




Next came those most patriotic of all creatures, Stormtroopers from Star Wars:


Followed by Uncle Sam's cousin, Darth Vader:

Rory goes, "Why isn't Darth Vader throwing candy? Is he too good for that?"

...And rounding out the unholy trifecta, there were pirates.

This is their ship. They may have plundered and pillaged their way around the Carribean, but that doesn't mean they don't love America, gosh darn it.

And last of all, a whole backhoe full of candy. Woot!

For me, the highlight of the parade was when I was accosted by a crazy lady who didn't like where we were sitting. Here's the conversation we had:

Crazy Lady: You know, you're sitting in my ivy. (please note that the ivy in question was on the sidewalk, not in a yard or anything like that. I would never be rude enough to plop myself down in a stranger's front yard)

Me: Oh... um?

Crazy Lady: That's my ground cover.

Me: Well, ivy is pretty hardy. I doubt that we're doing any damage to it.

Crazy Lady: Oh no, you won't do any damage. The ivy will be just fine.

Me: Okay... good...

Crazy Lady: But it's mine. (drifts off, never to be seen again)

I'm still not sure what that was all about, although I guess there's nothing more patriotic than declaring posession! So maybe she was just celebrating in her own way. Although I wanted to go find her and invite her to sit with us, which in my thinking would have been way more fun.

Happy belated 4th!

Sewing Expo 2010

Oh, what a Sunday I have had! This morning I headed down to the Puyallup Fairgrounds to attend the last day of Sewing and Stitchery Expo 2010. Now I've returned home with sore feet, a lighter wallet, and a head swimming with ideas and inspiration. Would it really be so wrong for me to fake sick tomorrow so I can stay home and sew?



This is called a Tidy-Tote. In addition to the power of alliteration, it also has the power to sit on the edge of your sewing table, hold your pins and other metal whatnots, and contain your stray threads and garbage. I bought a kit, but they were out of the full starter kits (which had the pattern), so I had to buy the "refill kit." It has everything except the pattern, so I'm in for a fun time trying to figure out how to recreate it based on this blurry photo!



This fabric has become my holy grail. Pacific Fabrics' booth was sold out by the time I got there, so after the expo I went to my local PF, hoping to find a bolt. Sadly, the expo bolt was the Northgate store's bolt. So now I am on a quest to find it. It's from Etsuko Furuya's Echino line, and I will make it mine.



This picture just makes me smile.



Isn't this little turtle the cutest?? It's from a Heather Bailey pattern, and I think I annoyed a Bernina saleslady because I was much more interested in it than in the $4000 machine she was trying to sell me.

Here's my haul from the day. 3 yards of various fabrics, a Tidy-Tote kit, a baby quilt kit (quilting - eek!), a cute vintage-inspired table runner kit, some Venetian buttons from the 1920s (found in the basement of the American Embassy by the very sweet woman who sold them to me!), a pattern for some adorable fruit pincushions, and various sewing tools. Woo! Add to that one gyro, a Nutella crepe, two diet Cokes, and a Fisher Fair scone, and you have a recipe for a VERY happy me!