The Fridge: DC

A long, long time ago, we visited D.C. for the Crafty Bastards show. It rained hard. And it's an outdoor show. And it was my birthday. And I still had a fantastic time. (Crafty Bastards rules that much - for the record). 

While we were in town, we stumbled across a cool art gallery in an alley called The Fridge. I took a few pictures of the murals on the building - and on some boarded up buildings leading up to it. 

Enjoy: 

Crafty Bastards - The Vendor Edition #1

So by now we're all familiar with the wonder that is Crafty Bastards in Washington D.C. but let's get to know the handful of vendors that I was able to talk to while I was there.

#1 Let's talk about Caitlin at Rebound Designs. I put out a call on Twitter to see if anyone had an extra table I could borrow and she was kind enough to answer my plea.

Thanks Caitlin! You have to be a special kind of nice to drag an extra table to a craft show.

Caitlin invented the Book Purse - which is - exactly what it sounds like: a purse made out of a book. I can't think of a better way to create a memorial to your favorite book that might be fallin' apart.

#2 McBitterson's - Tasteless Wares. They were our awesome booth-mates (who also have a really awesome website). Sadly, it was so busy that we didn't really get much of a chance to talk - but it was obvious to me - even without much convo - that we share a similar sense of humor.

McBitterson's makes fantastically sarcastic things with paper and plush.

The giant plush cigarettes with little frowny faces were a big hit. "He's sad cause he's a carcinogen!"Bah-ha-ha!

Figured out while we were there that I had actually seen them at another craft show -- in Madison, WI at the Sixth Annual Summer Craftacular. Neither of us live there. How weird is that?

Jennifer Cooke and I must have shared some sort of florescent pink day-dream obsession. I saw her booth out of the corner of my eye while I was trapped in mine taking everyone's money (mmmwwwahahahahahahah!)

The show was almost over when I HAD to bolt over there and check out her stuff. She prints in multiple colors (one of them florescent pink) which makes for an effect that I personally love. I ended up with a shirt and a bag (I almost had to fight another woman for the bag).

Check out r a e b u r n  i n k if you have also been dreaming in florescent pink.

Also, if you're into making stuff yourself, check out her book Design Your Own Tees and try out some of the printing methods.

I love my purse. So do others. People comment on it where ever I go. So go get your own and quit eyeing mine.

And thus concludes the first edition of the Crafty Bastards vendor highlights. Look forward to edition #2 coming 'round the bend.

Washington DC - day one ( the non-Crafty Bastards day)

Stumbled upon this cute antique-ey slash vintage-ey slash design-ey shop called Skynear Designs. It's a personal rule that I must enter any building that has a large cartoon thing climbing up the side. So we went in. Within 20 minutes I had fallen in love with 3 or 4 things that cost over $900 on sale so it was time to leave.

We headed to the Textile Museum based on the recommendation of pretty much everyone in the crafty world. It was just okay in my book. This was probably because we walked over a mile in the hot sun to get there and then discovered that all but one room is closed due to some construction. Booooooo. What we saw was fantastically beautiful and I would absolutely go back for more if I'm in DC again in the future. I can also say, without a doubt, that the woman manning the front desk was perhaps the genuinely nicest person I have ever met. It's probably worth going just to see how nice someone can actually be.

Then we headed to the obligatory Abe thing. He's big. Real big. And you can't climb on his lap (in defiance of what my co-workers told me).

And here's the reflecting pool-ey thing next to the Abe thing.

And one more reflect-ey pool thingie.

We were milling about at one point and Doug said, "You pick where we go next." Moments later, we walked past this yarn store. And when I say we walked past it...I mean we went right in. Looped Yarn Works is on the second floor. And it's filled with yarn. Delicious, delicious yarn. It just so happened that they were going to Crafty Bastards as well. I couldn't buy anything because I have a huge ottoman full of yarn that I have to get through first, but the folks there were totally nice and talking with them made me even more excited for Crafty Bastards.

We ate at Teaism twice. In two different locations. Delicious. Try the salty oat cookie. It's delicious. DELICIOUS. D. E. L. I. C. I. O. U. S.

And finally, Albert Einstein. He's big. And kids like to climb on him so it's difficult as hell to take a picture of him without some little kid you don't know ruining the whole deal. He's big. And bronze. But his texture kind of looks like poo. A little. No disrespect. Just a little honesty.

   And that, my friends, is the end of Day One. Washington, D.C.