This Ain't Your Grandma's Craft Bazaar

Back in December...This was BIG!

It's the Super Colossal Crafty Wonderland Holiday Sale! And yes, they mean colossal.

I had been anticipating this event for months now. I made sure to clear my calendar for that day. I was even planning on volunteering to help out until I came down with a very awful cold (which is still lingering, sniff, sniff). On the advice of my sister (God bless her) I bowed out of that role, and opted to merely attend. I was not about to let a few sneezes and sniffles keep me from this mecca of handcrafted goodness! So I mustered up every ounce of energy I had left in me, took the maximum dosages of dayquil, stuffed my pockets full of kleenex, pulled on my boots and headed out with my sister for a day full of unique and adorable craft shopping.

Here we are waiting about a quarter mile back from the beginning of the line. We even arrived almost an hour before the doors were to open. This was the first time I had attended. I had no idea!

This was the look on my face when I finally realized that we were most likely not going to be in the first 200 people to get a goodie bag. If you squint real hard, you can see that the line continues all the way down the long hall, up the stairs, and around the corner! WOW!

But I was wrong! WooHoo! We did get a SWAG bag! I was so pleasantly surprised. Here's mine. There were loads of cards, pins, buttons, magnets, cute crafty tags, and I even got a nifty headband and hairpin too! I made a pretty good haul I think.

But that's not all. Once inside with the over 200 vendors, my sister and I set out to systematically make our way around the entire show in order to see every possible item. Our plan: use the map given us and start with the perimeter. Then, move on to the rows and rows of vendors by weaving our way down and up each aisle.

Good plan. SO many people. It's a good thing we had the whole day. We probably spent 4 hours browsing through all the wonderful, artsy items. It was well worth it. I even got a little Christmas shopping done too. Two for them, two for me. A pretty good deal if I do say so myself.

Free lip balm from KneLow was part of the SWAG bags. I got to choose the flavor once I visited her booth. I went with pomegranite, yum. I'm wearing it right now in fact. Thank you KneLow. Check out her etsy shop: http://www.knelow.etsy.com/

Sorry, I don't remember who made this, but I thought it was great. Cute with a side of sass! (kind of like me, haha!)

Two super cute lockets from Locket 2 You. Top photo is the ball locket style, while the bottom photo shows a more traditional shape of locket. I ended up buying all three of these; one for my sister, one for my mom, and one myself. Yay! You can find many more style and colors to choose from at http://www.locket2you.com/.

Lastly, I could not pass up getting this poster for only $5 bucks. I absolutely adore everything about this artists' work: shapes, colors, style, motifs and especially the fact that she paints on reclaimed cabinet doors. What a great reuse! Why didn't I think of that? Anyway, check out more of Whitney Superstars work here: http://www.whitneyjsuperstar.blogspot.com/

If you like what you see, be sure to check out the Crafty Wonderland Super Colassal Spring Sale on May 1st and 2nd at the Oregon Convention Center.

More info is at http://www.craftywonderland.com/

Stay Crafty Portland!!