Adventures in Crafting!

When I was visiting the Lehigh Valley I decided to go to the Indie Made Craft Market in Bethlehem. The IMCM has been around for a couple years I think, and I always miss the opportunity to go.  This time around My good friend Meghan insisted we go, most importantly to be one of the first 50 people to get free swag bags, and also because it was World Wide Knit in Public day. I myself am not a knitter, but Meghan is, and I do love me some free swag so we set out on our way.

 Even the posters were crafty!

The IMCM was being held at the Bethlehem Ice Skating Rink, but Meghan and I ended up going to the wrong ice skating rink. Seriously Bethlehem, how many ice skating rinks do you have? I thought, wow there are a lot of people here, but rather than seeing fellow craft enthusiasts, I saw people getting out of their cars with skates and hockey sticks. Strike one. My phone died and I couldn't figure out where else we had to go, but eventually we figured out where to go, got there, and hoped we still were eligible to get some free swag. I ended up being the 48th person in line, as Meghan was the 49th, and we did end up with some sweet swag bags. Each one was different, and had little somethings from the different vendors at the market.

So many business cards! So much awesomeness!

I wanted to share with my readers all the things I found(bike related, and non-bike related) and shout out to the vendors that I absolutely adore.

First off, the only reason I know about the IMCM is because of my good friend Emily. She's been making jewelry for many years, and is in an amazing jewelry group call Blue Stem Studios. They consist of many individual artists, but I definitely recommend checking out Emily's shop on Etsy, especially if you like quality stone and metal working with the occasional found items such as plastic dinosaurs.  

This is part of a broken plate made fabulous!

I may or may not have a new love interest(remember that drama I keep talking about? Yeah, I'll tell you later). So I saw Geek Boy Press and immediately had to buy something for him. My friends Patt and Emily have plenty of Geek Boy's lady superheroes and villains decorating their daughter Wylie's room, so I always wanted to see what else he had to sell, as I'm not the biggest marvel/dc comics kind of gal.Geek Boy has everything from comics to Star Wars to Ghostbusters to popular movies and other TV shows. He even does commissions! Looks like I might be getting those Bioshock posters I've always wanted.

I went with my favorite droids, and he loved it. <3

Next I stumbled upon Survive Design and their stunning but simple bags. I got one for free in my swag bag - the pink and green bunny watching tv. However, when I saw their other designs I wanted to swap it, or collect them all. While these are more my style, they also have larger purse/tote styles available.

I love the bike, the owl, and the robots.

A good part about the show was that I got to spend plenty of time with my friend Meghan, as we hadn't spoken in quite some time. Here's Meghan doing what she does best, being awesome. She also is an artist, so check out her site too!

She just learned a new knitting technique. So proud!

While I was sitting with Meghan in the knitters circle, I couldn't help but notice that Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation was staring at me from across the room(see below). I had to go over and see who had made this glorious thing, as I am a huge fan of parks and rec. I approached the stand and got to meet Aaron and his wares called Aaron Takes Pictures. We talked for a while and he also offered me some PBR goodies that he had left over from the Philadelphia PBR craft show. His photographs are pretty amazing in their simplicity, and not to sound shallow, but it definitely helps that he was downright cute.

Ron Swanson, giving his best Ron Swanson.

I thought I'd leave the best for last. While each booth had a couple items I wanted, BubbleDog made me want to run off with the whole table of goodies. Everything from plushes, shirts, pillows, belts, and paper crafts. If you click any of the links on this blog, Bubble Dog is the way to go.  He makes so many interesting characters and each one gets more adorable. I was completely overwhelmed by his collection of belts. I knew I had enough money for one and that I needed a new belt. I spent about 30 minutes though in front of his stand trying to decide which one suited me the best. I even needed Meghan's help. I decided to get this one.

Narwhals in LOVE!

I wish I could post everyone of BubbleDog's items on here, but check out the website again. He also sells exclusive items here at ShanaLogic. They also have tons of other cute adorable things that I insist you look at.
I've already found two amazing bike-related shirt dress there that I want. This one and this one.

So glad I went and I had a blast. Can't wait to go to the next one! Next time I will have to take my good friend Alicia with me who probably has an equal love for Ron Swanson and Narwhals, but more importantly crafts!