Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Urban Craft Uprising Summer 2012 Craft Fair

My awesome friends Thamires and Carolyn drove up from Portland on Friday to hang out and celebrate my birthday. On Saturday, the three of us went to Urban Craft Uprising (henceforth "UCU"), the big Seattle craft fair held at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.
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Ready for the fair!
Thamires, me, & Carolyn

My first UCU fair was the winter 2011 show. Jacob and I attended and we were both thoroughly impressed. The UCU team does a great job curating each show. They include a good mix of vendor types and avoid repetitive styles. The summer show did not disappoint, with a refreshing 40% new vendors as well as the return of many of my favorites. Thamires, Carolyn, and I all have very different, distinct tastes, and somehow we all ended up finding quite a few booths we liked and purchasing quite a bit.

Just like I did for the Unique LA Spring 2012 Show, here's a run down of my favorite booths!

MONKEY SOCK MONKEY and THE BOWL MAKER
Cary Lane is multi-talented - she makes awesome ceramics with poems on them and together with Samantha Fisher, sells cute sock monkey craft kits and artwork. I especially loved the colorful ceramic bowls with whimsical characters and short poems around the side. The cups (on the miniature shelf) would be perfect for holding brushes or pens in my craft studio. The sock monkey kits include all the materials and instructions necessary to make colorful sock monkeys!
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Samantha Fisher of Monkey Sock Monkey



I picked up three postcards for myself, which you will see at the end of the post.


CARNIVOROUS TERRARIUMS
Hands down coolest plants ever.  That's right, an entire booth dedicated to carnivorous plants. There were some seriously cool varieties here. These would go so well with my cacti. I would love to get a carnivorous terrarium someday!
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Check out that awesome, tall plant!

Mike Dippery of Carnivorous Terrariums

We stopped by a cute little booth and took a photo! And one of Carolyn trying on a fun hat, after we tried some delicious chocolates (Carolyn got a box, as you can see). 
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FABLE & FURY

I first saw the amazing jewelry from Fable & Fury on Shana Logic. I also saw them at the UCU winter show and Crafty Wonderland winter show (in Portland) last year. Stainless steel silhouette jewelry? Super cool! The pieces are amazingly sturdy and detailed. I especially love the raven design. I also think Fable and Fury has one of the best booth designs I have seen - that adorable table skirt gets me every time I see it.
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BLUE DIAMOND
When Jacob and I went to the UCU winter show, I fell in love with a sweet little stamp set: a pair of tattoo-style swallow birds. Jacob pretended to go to the restroom... and the Blue Diamond set mysteriously appeared as one of my Christmas presents. =) Alright, I knew (sorry Jacob, you're not as sneaky as you think), but it was still cute. This show, Thamires picked up a stamp of her own.

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Liz of Blue Diamond

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BEAUTIFUL BRINY SEA

At the UCU winter show, Jacob and I bought four of the delicious, flavored salts from Beautiful Briny Sea... one for me, three as gifts. I seriously love my mushroom salt! Trying the salts made us really hungry. Thamires picked up a mushroom salt and Carolyn brought home lavender.
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Robbie of Beautiful Briny Sea


truffle, pink peppercorn, santa salt, rosemary, magic unicorn, lavender, mushroom, friends forever
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LA RU
When I saw LaRu art at the UCU winter show, I completely fell in love. Gorgeous, bright colors and adorable characters! I have a few prints and magnets from that last show. Yeah, robot hugging an octopus, dinosaur with a gun... so much fun! Thamires picked up a few pieces! Unfortunately, I did not get better close-ups, but you can see LaRu's gorgeous work at her shop.

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Lauren Rudeck of LaRu


FLIPSIDE HATS

Thamires and I stopped by Flipside Hats and tried on a few! This red and black hat is totally my style. I also liked the pretty, detailed flowers adorning most of the hats. Thamires tried on a few!

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CAREFUL, IT BITES

Careful, It Bites had the coolest booth at the show! Awesome fuzzy monsters... and the funniest business cards I have seen (picture at the end of this post). Yeah, I am a bit of a sucker for cool business cards... weird, I know. What a great shop name and cool plushies! Even the shop sign was fuzzy... hehe.

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Kelice Penney of Careful It Bites

Yeah, that is a monster toe peeking out from the corner of the table. It's all about the details!

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ESTRELLA SOAP

I could have stayed at this booth all day just smelling the deliciously aromatic soaps at Estrella Soap. The Sweet Mint was my favorite scent, but they were all seriously scrumptious. I wanted to take them all home! Carolyn pretty much did... hehe. She brought home quite the bag of goodies!

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MOLLY MOON'S and CRIMINAL CRAFTS

Anyone who has lived in the Seattle area for long enough has been to Molly Moon's. Well, she came out with an ice cream book! Mmm... homemade ice cream with fresh ingredients. So good. And I would love to try some of the crafts in Criminal Crafts... if the tagline "Outlaw Projects for Scoundrels and Armchair Detectives" isn't enough for you... then I don't know what would be!

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IMPS AND MONSTERS

Justin Hillgrove is the artist behind Imps and Monsters - Jacob and I first came across his art at the Winter show and loved it. Clever and colorful. Last show, Jacob got a t-shirt featuring the adorable Group Hug piece and we bought quite a few prints. This time around I picked up a few magnets. =)

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Justin Hillgrove working on a new piece of art.
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THEA STARR
We found some cute starry accessories at An Original by Thea Starr. Thea makes pretty, colorful hair adornments with a distinct style. Thamires tried on a few things... and ended up getting two headbands!

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Thea Starr
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Some of the items there were so ornate. Count me very impressed.
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KENDRA BINNEY
One of my favorite vendors was Kendra Binney. I have seen her work at a previous show - so dreamy, ghostlike, and unique. This show, I picked up an art tile of my own! I definitely have my eye on her shop and someday, when I have a whole house to decorate, I will pick up more of her art.

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Check out my adorable new artwork piece!
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PINYADAYADA
I was immediately drawn to Pinyadayada's fun and colorful booth. Seattle Piñata! Ampersand Piñata! Yes, please! I would love to have one of these colorful piñatas at a grand party. Too bad my birthday just passed! Sara was incredibly sweet and friendly too. I love meeting cool vendors.

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Sara of Pinyadayada
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TRY MY TOFFEE
In my life as an accountant... I actually work at the same company as the Tamara of Try My Toffee. At our company's winter craft fair last December, I took the shop name's advice and tried some toffee (and caramels)! I definitely bought a bag of caramels at that show, and it was gone within a few days. I picked up another bag at UCU and I'm trying to make this one last a little longer. So delicious!

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ANNA TODARO
Anna may have had the brightest booth in the show! Anna Todaro's pretty, whimsical characters made me smile. Her fun juxtaposition of fictional characters (anyone spot Yoda and Spock?) with pretty, tropical flowers definitely stood out. I especially liked her artwork pendants.

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Anna Todaro

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MATTHEW PORTER
Matthew Porter was at the UCU winter show and I absolutely love his artwork. I have a few prints from last show, but I couldn't resist getting three more prints and two giant artwork magnets (the unicorn and fox were calling to me). We were near the end of the show and it was a little less hectic, so I had a chance to speak with Matthew briefly this time around - he is very cool and friendly!

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Matthew Porter
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Matthew explained that he created this set of artwork for two young brothers. The pieces will be hung up in their shared bedroom, and when they are older, each of them will get to pick a piece. How cool is that? Well, I have my own print version now too!
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HALF PINT HOMEMADE ICE CREAM
We saw Half Pint, an ice cream vendor, and absolutely had to try some! I am seriously not sure I have ever had a better flavor than cinnamon oatmeal cookie. So good! I must have said it five times there too because I was that amazed. Thamires and Carolyn both had aprium sorbet and loved it. Jacob and I have an ice cream maker, and I may try to make my own version of cinnamon oatmeal cookie... that or just trek over to one of the farmers' markets listed on their site to get a pint (or a few...)! The name is a bit deceptive - if I had this at home, there is no way I would be able to stop at half the pint. =)

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BAZAAR LATINO
We saw one last cute shop before heading out of the fair! Mi Bazaar Latino was full of pastels and flowers with a vintage-y feel. I especially loved the gorgeous lace display and the flower bunch jewelry. Lots of mints - my current favorite color.

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After leaving the fair, we walked back through the Seattle Center. I loved the decorative paper lanterns.
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And... a few minutes after taking the photo below, Carolyn ran off to play in the fountain. And stopped short when she realized that there was a group of naked guys standing right in front of the fountain. Buck naked. Eh?! Seattle - so weird sometimes!
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MY HAUL!!
My awesome purchases (other than the ice cream from Half Pint... yum)!


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Three prints and two giant magnets from Matthew Porter
Three postcards from Monkey Sock Monkey
One artwork block from Kendra Binney
One big bag of caramels from Try My Toffee
Two magnets from Imps and Monsters

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My collection of pretty business cards from this trip around!
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Thanks to the Urban Craft Uprising team for setting up yet another amazing show! I already can't wait for the winter show. And thanks to my awesome friends Carolyn and Thamires for going with me! =)

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for your comment :] So glad you enjoy it!

    Um . . . so this craft fair looked AMAZING. Just as I thought I'd picked a favorite booth from your pics, the next booth was equally awesome. I think I like the caniverous plants and the plush monsters best (if I absolutely HAD to choose), but they're all so cool. Glad you had fun!

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    1. I know, UCU does such an incredible job curating these craft fairs! I already had a hard enough time narrowing it down to these!!

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  2. That looked like so much fun!! I love the artwork you got. It was really cute :)

    ♥ Naomi {Starry Eyes + Coffee Cups}

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  3. winkelhaven7/18/2012

    You are such an enabler with this post -- I have to check out all these artists/sellers!

    Regarding the photos, I am particularly interested in how you were able to take a picture of tiny business cards and still have them be legible. What camera do you have? I have a Canon Powershot SD800 IS and the macro setting + zoom allows more detailed focus of small items but not items as small as the business cards.

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    1. Haha well imagine actually being there... so many cool things - it was hard to pick just a few things to buy! And I came home with more than just a few things... as did Thamires and Carolyn. =)

      I have a Nikon Coolpix S8000 and generally like it!

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  4. Wow, this looks like an amazing show! We have a lot of craft/art shows here but nothing with this kind of diverse style. I absolutely love the artwork on those post cards from the Sock Monkey (I think lol). But all of the booths you featured are so awesome. I agree with Sarah, every time I thought I had a favorite the next one was just as cool. Thanks for sharing :)

    xo

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    1. UCU is definitely the best curated show of the ones I have attended. Not all of them are as diverse as these (and there were a lot more booths too!) - luckily for Seattleites, UCU is twice a year! =)

      Glad you enjoyed and thanks for reading, Aubree!

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  5. Anonymous8/12/2012

    Hey thanks for posting such great pictures! I am a crafter and will be moving to that area I'm happy to see such awesome events!

    ReplyDelete

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