Craft:

I just landed in chilly Minneapolis but have been slowly warmed by the enthusiasm of the No Coast Crafters (they really are friendly out here in the midwest)! I happened to fly in on the same flight as Trish Hoskins' sister, so I got a ride from the airport with her parents to the No Coast Craft-o-rama preview tonight. Trish runs Crafty Planet, a craft store in Minneapolis, and is one of the amazing organizers of the event. I had time to quickly run around and catch a few of the vendors before they packed up for the night:

Hazel and Melvin's Room is sharing a booth with Smiling Ram, and they are a dynamic duo. I love the tiny paintings and the great screen-printed onesies, and the sock monkey toddler T-shirts are absolutely adorable (you can even buy matching pants with a little monkey tail). Rebecca's sock monkeys are seriously like no sock monkeys you've ever seen before, and if you haven't seen her sock monkey dress, you should really check it out.

Crabtree Studio. My photo doesn't do them justice, but trust me, those little toy llamas (or are they alpacas?) are hot hot items here, and the felted bird just melts my heart.

When I got back to my hotel, I had to pull out my purchases and gloat.

It will be hard to give these gorgeous silkscreened gloves by Funeral Boutique to my friend Emma, but sometimes we just have to accomplish difficult tasks...

The calendar by Happify is mine, however. Each month is actually a post card, so if I'm feeling particularly generous, perhaps I'll send out the months after they've passed.

Don't tell my boyfriend, but he's getting this card by Boiled Art Editions instead of a postcard.

All in all, the event looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. There are an amazing number of crafty, talented vendors, and the stalls are woven between the specialty shops of the Midtown Global Market, so you can find Hmong weaving, African carvings and local honey in and amongst the crafters. I'll report back on the full event tomorrow!