My New Favorite Shower Art

Urban Craft Uprising ....it's air conditioned

If you're in Seattle right now, you know one thing: it's freakin' hot. It's hot. Super hot.

So cool off this weekend at Urban Craft Uprising. Over 100 indie vendors in one giant, air-conditioned place.

It's gonna rule. Plus it's free. Plus, if you get there early enough, you'll get a swag bag filled with awesome stuffs.

Urban Craft Uprising is coming....

This weekend Urban Craft Uprising takes over the Seattle Center...well, part of it at least. The part under the ballet. Yeah, I know -- that WHOLE part.

They cram over 100 indie vendors and crafty authors and well...YOU into a two day show that start 8/1 at 11 a.m.

Be there.

Be there early and get a bag of swag.

SWAG!

Swag=free stuff.

You like free stuff.

We all do.

It's exciting.

And romantic?

Come to Urban Craft Uprising or live to regret it.

And check out Estrella Soaps while you're there.

They make the best soap in the whole world.

Pinky swear.

Ray Guns in My Future

bARTer Sauce just traded for a Blueray Gun. It's ceramic. And blue. And super awesome.

I had to give up my Gumball Machine-shaped Kitty Cat Feeder in exchange, but I still think it was worth it.

Are you wondering what the hell I'm talking about? Then you probably don't know what bARTer Sauce is. And that's too bad because I'm not going to tell you either. Google it. You know how.

Renegade in San Francisco - I want to marry you

Okay, I knew Renegade in San Francisco was going to be good. I knew that. But seriously, I had no idea just how good. It was so good that I would very much like to go back and re-live that weekend several times at least and perhaps over and over forever if you really want to get technical about it.

We sold Shower Arts there and shared a booth with our long-time booth-mate Miss. Tara Smith from Revival Ink.  

I kept telling Doug (seen left in the Arkham Fire Department T Shirt) that he shouldn't let me out of his sight. That I would walk around and single-handedly wipe out every penny of our savings. He didn't listen... and here's what happened.

I found this stationary from Letter Writers Alliance right away but Donovan doesn't take credit cards and I didn't have any cash (my pitiful attempt to prevent myself from spending our life savings) so I left. Then, I sat and thought about that stationary all day until I finally got up, walked about 3/4 of a mile to Safeway where I purchased a pack of gum and got cash back so I could purchase quite possibly the best stationary I've ever seen. 

People always say you have to take credit cards in order to make sales. But I guess Donovan just proved that if you have the coolest product in the world, even lazy people will find a way to purchase said product. My stationary came with a membership card. I am member number 000534. Take that!

Check out her Etsy shop: DonovanBeeson

And if you ever wondered how you could build your own card rack display -- stop - she'll tell you how. 

If you know me at all, you know I'm a sucker for socks. My favorite website of pretty much all time: Sock Dreams. I ordered socks from them once at midnight on my birthday while drunk. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I was walking along, trying to mind my own business when these ruffled leg warmers from Super Sugar Ray Ray caught my eye. And you're right, they're not socks .... exactly.... but close enough to stop my heart for a moment.

I loved them at first glance.

Here's Rachel. The genius behind the ruffled leg warmers. 

And now I just have to find something to wear with them... comment below with your recommendations and you just might win a super fantastic prize of some sort. 

Here's Cathy from Bossa Nova Baby. She's from Portland and I've been at shows with her a couple of times in the past. And I always have to buy something because it's just impossible not to. She prints on thrifted sweaters and sews the best skirts in the world. I have a couple of the sweaters already, so this time I opted for a skirt. With a deer printed on it and little green lines sewed around it like grass. 

Visit Cathy's Etsy shop or read her blog, Stitch and Destroy.

Awwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhh

It's also my favorite color of green.

And it has a little pocket.

And I love, love, love it. 

And this is Amy from AC Clothing and Bags. She probably thinks I'm a stalker because I went to her booth about 50 times, but I had to look at every single thing that I thought might possibly fit me. 

Her dresses are stunning. And affordable. And stunning. Did I mention stunning?

You should become a fan on Facebook or visit Amy's Etsy shop. 

Here's the dress I got from Amy.

Yes, my neck was itchy in this picture - but sadly this is still the best one in the bunch. I like to ruin nice pictures by making stupid faces and then I live to regret it when I actually want to use a picture that looks like a regular woman instead of a puffed out space alien. Oh well. The dress is pretty.

I got this tote back from The Black Apple so I could haul around all my awesome finds. Emily is the best example I've seen of someone who really knows how to write a good blog. Plus, she's an incredible artist. Plus, she likes socks...so I already know she's good peoples. 

And then there was the fighting chipmunks sweater from Stella Neptune. Yes, for reals. Fighting chipmunks on a sweater. How could you NOT buy that?

It's impossible. 

So here's mine. In my favorite color green. Ahhhhhh....

I saw my pretty friend Jessie from Cakespy at Renegade too. Her cupcake art is so adorable. And when she combined it with bacon on a greeting card, me and my $2 said, "YES YES YES!"

But we said it quieter. 

Doug told me about this t-shirt at the beginning of the weekend. He had seen it while strolling around and thought it was hilarious. 

I walked all over trying to find it so I could buy it for him. Then, we discovered that it was in the booth right next to us, Big Stone Head. Dur!

We also bought this Abe Lincoln pillow from Big Stone Head for our house sitter, Lizzy. We've decided that she likes all things Abe Lincoln and I'm not really sure how that started. What I am sure of is that I'm not ruining the surprise since no one reads this blog. Snort. 

Have a great weekend all. And if there's a Renegade near you. Run. Quickly. Toward it.

bARTer Sauce EXPLODED

For some reason there has been a renewed interest in bARTer Sauce, my experiment in trading for art and odd objects. The idea is that whatever I get, I trade for something else. And everyone I trade with has to tell me a story. This past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of trades and trade offers. Ba-zang!

Here's what I got from Will recently (click on the links to read the stories that came with each item): 

A Russian book (Will got Wedding of the No Face Couple in Exchange)

A French Telephone (Will got Terror for Terror in exchange)

This Weird Orange Cross with stuff smooshed into it all over (Will got the Stuffed Dooky Kiss in trade). This cross also came with a somewhat heart-wrenching story about a man named Phil who advertises his "skills" on matchbooks. 

And finally, the pride of pack 314: A trophy shaped like a totem pole commemorating the 1979 Cake Bake. Woot! (Will received a slightly broken Hugs for Jesus statue in exchange)

I'm afraid I had to make an example of Will. You see, many times people I'm trading with send along "extras" with their trades. Things that are odd, yes, but that now I have to deal with. You see, part of the idea behind bARTer Sauce is that I trade for odd things -- BUT THEN I TRADE THEM AWAY -- to other people. For them to enjoy (translation= "deal with"). 

Will was no exception. In fact, the trophy and the book were not sanctioned trade items.  So here's what happened (and what will happen in the future to all Sauce traders who send me "extras"): I "punished" Will by sending him one bARTer Sauce item (of my choice) for each "extra" he sent me. At first Will did not understand this punishment and set about trying to tell me what to send. He did not understand at all. 

You see, this was an opportunity for The Sauce. An inventory overhaul opportunity. And I took it. Will received the Hugs for Jesus statue, which, while hilariously named, is not all the wonderful to look at -- now especially since he arrived a bit worse for the travel and was in several pieces. 

Enjoy Will! Enjoy!