Cheery Observations

Yesterday, we got to be one of ‘those people who stand in lines’.  I see these random lines all over Brooklyn and New York City and I often have no idea what the line is for.  For example, when we were up here in October to find an apartment, there was a massive line on Atlantic Avenue (100 plus people) all of whom were being led down a manhole.  What?!  I never did find out what that was about.

Our line standing was because we were waiting to get inside the ‘Bust Holiday Craftacular’.  I had randomly seen something on Yelp about this and thought it might be fun to check out.  I don’t read ‘Bust’ magazine (and Justin definitely doesn’t), but hey, that didn’t mean I wasn’t up for checking out some amazing artisans.

The market was located in the Metropolitan Pavilion and was absolutely packed.  We managed to see a lot of creative vendors before reaching our claustrophic quota.  It was pretty exciting to see some vendors that I already knew about courtesy of Etsy.

Here are a few highlights (and people worth checking out and supporting!):

Kate Durkin:  A creator of whimsical pillows and prints with designs that are perfect for a child’s room or as an accent in a creative space.  I am always drawn towards anything with whales, so her pillows were why I initially stopped by.  Her designs are comforting and sweet, with great folk elements.

Ink and Wit:  I was quite pumped to see Ink and Wit, as I had highlighted one of their cards on Cheery Observations awhile back (’You are so Deer’).  I love Ink and Wit’s color and animal choices.  The designs can be minimalist but effectively convey a great deal of emotion (especially in the animals’ faces).  Ink and Wit also offer Graphic Design services.

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Last week, on our way to Falmouth, we first stopped in Mashpee to stroll around Mashpee Commons.  Besides visiting the standard variety of shops (William Sonoma, Vineyard Vines, etc) we also wandered the Mashpee Open Market,  associated with the SOWA open air market, which we visited later in the week. There were quite a few ‘preppy artisans’ (very fitting, of course!), and jewelers, potters, and home items.  My favorite tent was that of Kristin Crane.

Kristin designs handmade books, stationary, and journals using maps and travel themes.  She is able to custom design a book or journal with the map of your choice (making this a wonderful gift idea for almost anyone!).  I love looking at maps; they help me remember places I’ve been and dream of places I’d like to go.  Kristin’s binding style has a unique, open feel to it and I enjoy the variety of slightly quirky sizes she offers in her journals and notebooks.  I am tempted to custom order a Copenhagen journal, to help me reminisce my study abroad days.

Here are a few favorites from her Etsy shop:

…A US ‘pocket’ journal, a Boston journal, and a Washington, DC journal.

Twig and Thistle directed me to to Wonderthunder’s Etsy site, home of these reusable vegetable bags:

Finally, there’s a practical solution for the multiple plastic bags I end up using everytime I buy produce.  Not only are they cute (major plus), they are washeable, lightweight enough not to weigh down the scale, and come in four different sizes.