Craft Lake City (August 8th)

So I am so glad that my friend, Candace, told me about this event cause it was so awesome. Craft Lake City was limited to 80 vendors who had to submit their work before-hand and were chosen by the sponsors so there was a really great variety of work there. Salt Lake has become quite the hipster place (similar, I've heard to Austin, TX) so there was a lot of really whimsical stuff there - owls, octupuses (how do you make that plural), birds, great fabrics and textiles, and a surprising amount of really cool felt crafts like stuffed animals and finger puppets. Along with that, there were great prints and paintings, hand-made jewelry, fabulous card sets, and clothes. I spent way more money than I planned on but it's always nice to have something original, independently made, and local. Since my husband is a local artist, it kinda feels like I'm paying it forward and supporting that whole industry. After Brandon saw the success of this event, he is thinking of submitting his work to be a vendor next year.

Here is Brandon and our little girl in the Baby Bjorn. She is still in her pajamas because she was mid-nap when we left our home for a family lunch and we didn't want to unnecessarily wake her to get dressed. And I was also thinking ahead since I knew we would be outside, it was chillier that day than normal, and I wanted something that had a little bit more full coverage from the sun. But thank goodness that I always keep an extra set of clothes in her diaper bag because she of course, had a blowout (always when we aren't home it seems). And thank goodness Elaine sent me Maya's old hat cause I'm afraid that Lucy's head would be burned without it considering how much we are outside.

Here are our good friends, Candace and Jared - they are one of our favorite couples we know. Jared is also a local artist and teaches sculpture up at the University of Utah. He didn't have a booth at this event either but you can check out his work here. Candace worked with me at Salt Lake County Aging Services and even though I don't work there anymore, I'm glad that we still have been able to hang out. She's constantly trying to convince me to buy a house on her street so we can be neighbors and Brandon and I are quite tempted...

We thought we needed a girls picture...this was after the blowout - Candace found me right as we were changing Lucy and she just got a kick out of the mess. But Lucy is all clean here and flashing her tummy a bit.

This is another cool couple we know who both work at EA with Brandon - Xavi and Shelly. Shelly had a booth at the event and Xavi was helping her out like a good husband should. Xavi is from Spain and plays soccer with Brandon (and thank goodness he does because he scores the majority of the team's goals). You can check out both of their work here and here. I purchased one of Shelly's octupus shirts (that she is wearing) but in brown. You can see me wearing it below:

And here are the rest of the goods we got:

All the rest is for Lucy although I was pretty tempted to make some purchases for myself. This cute print is by Candace Jean/The Westfold Press and you can see her work here. I love the racoon and lobster - she had another print with the same characters I was so tempted to get. Maybe next time... I'm excited to get Lucy's room all decorated with these things.

One of the many owl things they had at the fair that is also made out of felt. This was done by Isabell's Umbrella and you can see her work here. She had some fabulous card sets and other prints with Japaneses kokeshi dolls and also gnome stuff.

More felt. Brandon made me get this finger puppet because I was just telling him how much I loved David the Gnome when I was a kid when it used to play on Nickleodeon and he made fun of me because the lip synching was never accurate on it. He even made me watch an episode on YouTube to prove it to me but I still didn't care - after all these years, when I watched it, it brought back all these memories and I love it more than ever. I totally want to get the DVD for Lucy to watch. But anyway, back to the main subject, this was purchased from Caitlin Bell/Nifty Kidstuff and you can see her work here. We also bought the crown below from her:

Although there were really cute girly crowns, I specifically buy these things gender neutral in case we give Lucy a baby brother in the future (No - we have no special announcements to make!) but that is just the type of person I am - ridiculously rational and pragmatic. But whether the crown was pink or yellow, it is still adorable on her although a little big but she will grow into it and it is adjustable as she grows older.

Here are some of the other vendors that I loved but just couldn't afford at the moment. Maybe I will buy some of their stuff later on or leave helpful hints for Brandon on my birthday and Christmas. I also wanted to buy stuff for my cute nieces and nephew, but again, I don't have a money tree in my backyard, so it will have to wait. A lot of these things, I swear I feel like I could make myself but then I realize that I would never be creative enough to think of these ideas and even if I did, there is definitely an opportunity cost to buying the materials (and some of the fabric was just gorgeous) and then actually getting it done.

Winborg Sisters' Design - These were the most beautiful children's paintings but they were a bit out of my budget. But I so love original art like this. Her friends are lucky if they receive these paintings for baby shower gifts. I'd love to get some of these for Lucy's room in the future (once I get that money tree going...).

Sorry Clementine by Suzanne Clements - She had the cutest owl and octupus shirt for only $15 each but I ran out of money. I tempted to buy them from her on-line. Maybe for my birthday....

Card Sharks - Even though there were a ton of card sets being sold, these were among the best and were just very clever. My favorites are their animal alphabet, reindeer, frosty, santa, and little beasties. But in my pragmatism, I realized that I don't write too many letters or send cards to many people. Maybe buying these would be an excuse to start...

Sycamore Street Press - This had some great alphabet and number prints that were reasonably priced - I think I would like to order some of these for Lucy's room.

Cavalcade - This person made these beautiful cake stands but before I even saw her stuff at the fair, a girl from my church showed me how to make this craft and we are planning on doing it for a church craft class. But she also had adorable hair thingies (which I never wear so could not justify buying) - kinda reminded me of SJP in Sex & the City movie.

Julie Stutznegger - She had some beautiful kiln fired glass that I thought we be nice adult decoration in our living room or bedroom. I don't think the pictures on-line do her work justice - you really have to see it in person.

Vintage Fern

Frosty Darling