Indy Craft Experience

Last weekend I went to a craft show called the Indy Craft Experience (ICE). As you probably can guess from the name alone, this was a craft fair that aimed to be a bit more sophisticated than most. Rather than funnel cakes and corn dogs out in the sun, there were macaroons and the poodle  (a hot dog in french toast bun topped with apple slaw) in an air-conditioned art gallery. While most craft fairs have anything goes feel with vendors selling everything from barbecue sauce to hair scrunchies, the vendors at ICE were "curated", giving you the feeling of Etsy brought out into real life.

As one of the first 250 through the door on Saturday, I got this awesome swag bag, which completely justified the $5 entry fee. It was mostly filled with business cards, but there was a pet rock, some 3x5 art cards, a couple of fabric pins, a magnet, and other fun items, not to mention the tote bag itself.

I love the design on the tote: Ice, Ice, Baby

Walking around the show, had to laugh after one too many crafters decided to put a bird on it, but there was really some great stuff. I felt weird about taking pictures of the vendor's wares while I was there, but I figure it's okay to repost some of the pictures from the ICE website. There were several tables of sewn items, including these cute tote bags and summery circle skirts:

A Squared W

SoSheSews

The ridiculously cute amigurumi at the NeedleNoodles table made me want to pick up their book Creepy Cute Crochet and give crochet another try.

NeedleNoodles

And I loved this jewelry, but sadly, it was not in my (tiny) budget.

Cameoko

I was able to pick up this adorable and inexpensive art print by Katie Coleman Illustration, which really captures the essence of our cat.

"I'm tough"

Pippin thinks of himself as hard-nosed tiger, spending his days ruling over the squirrels in the woodsy view and keeping his mouse toys in line, which is a little at odds with the reality that he desperately (desperately!) needs to be petted the nanosecond I wake up in the morning because he had to go 8 long, arduous hours without anybody adoring him.

The Indy Craft Experience was a pretty pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning. My only regret is that I ran out cash and didn't get to try a poodle...