Indieana Wrap-Up

Well, I’m back in the big city, starting to unpack after a quick and busy Indianapolis weekend. The Handicraft Exchange was a great time– beautiful weather, good crowd, friendly people, lovely crafts, plus lots of family and old friends stopping by.

The best part of any fair, to me, is meeting new people and discovering talented crafters I didn’t know about before (or at least hadn’t seen in person). My neighbors at the fair were super friendly, which is always great. Behind me was Matthew Reidsma who draws super cute comics. I didn’t really have a chance to read through them, which is a shame, but I love his style, and these little ink drawings he had for sale on his etsy–

Also Wendy of Windy Weather Bindery had lovely handmade journals with the most beautiful fabrics, and this super fun little zine about making yogurt. Some day maybe that can be a project to undertake

Next to my table was Matt Cipov, an illustrator with some awesome prints. My brother came and ended up taking home half a dozen zombies for the “Zombie Bathroom” to-be in their brand new house. Me, I was totally digging the forest animal prints and, of course, the owls.

It seems like at nearly every craft fair, I end up buying something from the booth across from me– All those long hours staring at all the goodies, its hard to resist. This time, I was (just barely) able to resist, but not for lack of pretty things to buy. Freshie and Zero has the loveliest work–one of the hammered metal necklaces may end up coming home with me at some point in the future…

I also talked with very nice Eric of Eric Erf Wood Designs. His birdhouses from reclaimed materials are so interesting– not the design aesthetic I’m usually attracted to, but I really really liked all the interesting reclaimed pieces of wood and metal. He’s from Chicago, so I look forward to finding an excuse to gift one of these sometime soon. His work is featured all over the city– at Whole Foods and Renegade Handmade, so look for them!

Anyway, it was a super fun weekend. I like this fair because it’s an excuse to go home, and there’s never a shortage of friends who’re willing to sit and chat during the long day, which makes it fly by. Here’s to the start of another craft fair season!