Taps to the Crocodile

Oh what a weekend was had by many a crafter and craft supporter alike. After my adventures at Portland's Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Sale (more on that next) I returned to the city of Seattle to hear the news that the Crocodile Cafe shut it's doors forever. And they did it mere hours before the last scheduled I Heart Rummage show. IHR had to scramble to find a new location and it is sheer force of will and some sweet contacts that I think saved their asses. They ended up cramming into BLVD Gallery one block down and still managed to have a sucessful show. Pretty darn amazing. I'm really glad for the vendors that something worked out.

But yeah - the Crocodile Cafe - home of years of local bands, one of the nation's longest running DIY craft shows and the BEST homemade veggie burger ever? Gone. Closed. No more. I toast to you Croc. Belltown will sorely miss your green glow.

Hearing this news upon my return made me doubly glad that I ended up at the show that I did though. Crafty Wonderland was HUGE! (It even got a mention on CNN!) Portland wins the "Buy Handmade" medal for sure. Not only did they have a line going around the block upon opening at 11 am, but that line remained until almost 4 pm because they could only let in so many people at once. It was sheer madness and quite a few vendors just completely sold out. Estimated crowd of nearly 5000. Whew! I was so completely tuckered out I couldn't even manage to post about it until now, three days later.

Now I'm pushing myself onwards into the thick of the holiday craze. Having the first 3 weeks of December full of art shows sure has messed up my gift organization skills. Got about three days left to attempt to cram in some last minute homemade gifties. But first, a trip to Ikea for frames. Here's hoping I make it out of there alive!