Selling things at the Art Star Craft Bazaar didn't go all too well for me, unfortunately. My table was one of 18 tucked back in this weird, fenced-in parking lot area, and I don't think a lot of people knew we were there. Either that or they were afraid of venturing too near to the crafters so fearsome that they had to be fenced away from everyone else. Look, I know: embroidery is threatening.

Anyway, even though selling didn't go well for me, buying certainly did. Often at these events I'll see the same stuff over and over ("Oh, another t-shirt with an elk, curly lines, and a silhouette of headphones. Neat."), but I was really impressed with the variety of work at the Bazaar. So you can be impressed too, here's what I got:

1) Yarn Remnant by Woolerina
A good idea from Woolerina: selling scraps of handmade yarn for small amounts of money. This will be a mail-gift to a knitting friend.

2) Microwave Guy T-Shirt by Family Dinner For One
I am jaded by most t-shirts (see elk and headphones, above). This shirt has a picture of a man looking in a microwave with a "no" sign over it. Is he going to go sterile? Are his teeth going to fall out? I don’t know, but I am wildly in love with this shirt.

3) Bird Block by DeadBird
Cat Campbell makes amazing and often hilarious mixed-media work of animals. I would cover my walls with it.

4) Book on Wool by Betsy Ross Patterns
My friend Aimee makes easy-to-follow sewing patterns and related products, including a super-cute series of books on different fabrics. There’s real wool inside!

5) Chair Sticky Notes Set by Good on Paper
Four different sets of sticky notes with drawings of furniture on them, when individually wrapped, make for four cute little gifts. If you are a friend who is reading this and you get one, act surprised.

6) Crazy Sewn Shirt by Laura Alexander
Laura and I traded shirts. That was great. Does anybody else who makes cool shirts want to trade? I don’t know if you can tell, but the circles on this shirt are made of sewn-on mesh. Pretty neat.

7) Flower Choker by The Candy Thief
I am on a quest to find bigger and bigger necklaces. One day I will find a necklace that covers my entire body (and yes, it will be a necklace, not a body stocking or such nonsense). The Candy Thief makes fantastic, large flower chokers. Swoon.

This Saturday and Sunday, the Art Star Craft Bazaar is overtaking Liberties Walk (1030 N. 2nd St.) in Philadelphia. You should come! There will be about 100 artists and craftspeople hocking their wares (myself included), various workshops, and on Saturday some rock music will be starting around 4:30. The hours for the bazaar are 11-7 on Saturday and 11-5 on Sunday. For more information on the workshops and artists, check out the Craft Bazaar's webpage.

Sickness grabbed on to my pretty little chest last Monday and has been doing a good job since at crawling around my insides. I didn’t go to work for most of the week, but instead spent it in a sleeping, drooling (yes, I did drool a couple of times) stupor. Today is the first day I’ve felt remotely normal, and I still can’t do anything for too long without feeling worn out or lapsing into a coughing fit.

Needless to say, I haven’t been very productive lately. I did, however, manage to finish one project, my ode to Laika:

Laika was, for those of you who don’t know, the first dog shot into space by the Russians. I’ve become kind of obsessed with her lately. You can read more about her on Wikipedia.