Trading: almost as good as making money

I had a booth at Rebel Rabbit craft fair this past Sunday, which was my first time at this Portland event. The space inside Hipbone Studio was amazingly well-lit from skylights, and I loved the sketches, paintings and sculptures adorning the walls.

The bad news was that there weren't many customers. I heard later that there was another big event in north Portland that may have drawn everyone outdoors, but not many folks came through our space.

The good news was that all the vendors got to hang out and get to know each other a little better while also trading goods! I got to chat with my table-neighbors while knitting a sweater I'm working on, which made the event feel like a crafty meetup, rather than a day of working a fair.

I ended up trading some of my things for an awesome set of Koozies from PDX Softgoods and an original painting and magnet by Ian of Bend Rivers!!

Merritt's koozies got immediate use at my house for keeping my evening beer cold, and I'm sure they'll be a hit when we have friends over. It was almost impossible for me to decide which designs to get (she also has scooter designs, and a tattoo flash swallow design that says "Portland Forever"!), but I ended up choosing a pre-pack with cowboys/cowgirls and horses. Each one even has a cute name next to their picture!

I am so in love with Ian's paintings, I can't wait until he has an active Etsy shop! For now, I'll just have to hope we run into each other again at another Portland event. He paints amazingly layered pictures on wood, then heavily shellacs them for a sturdy, uber-shiny finish. I love that his imagery contains words, bright colors, robots with wavy arms, animals, and all kinds of iconic shapes. Everything has so much energy to it, it's hard to stop staring at! The painting I picked up was a reclaimed landscape painting that Ian made into his own work of art. I wish I could put one of his little masterpieces in every room of my house! Luckily, with my new vampire teeth magnet, I've now got two rooms covered.

The bird collage that hangs above my new robot painting is actually my first Etsy purchase! It was made by Flukey Madera in Spain (who appears to no longer maintain her shop). I bought one of her other bird collages for a friend's birthday, and had to have one for myself!