yesterday i spoke to my sister who spent the day the the bust magazine holiday craftacular.  jealous!  but i got my own taste of handmade movement goodness at the atomic holiday bazaar in sarasota.  i went to do some field research as well as to shop.  there were only two ceramic artists there, one potter with wild colorful glazes and a slip caster with parts of different molds assembled into fanciful creatures.  i saw a few people selling books (with other stationary items) and starting thinking how cool it would be to do a fair like this with m and her books. and i would love to bring my clay stuff next year.

my fan favorite (do i watch too much top chef?) was definitely jewelry maker opulent oddities.  her work was too good to pass up and i chucked my “browse and return” system to drop some cash at her booth.  i even had to run across the street to the atm for more because i needed to walk away with multiple pieces of her work.  i justified my purchases by focusing on the fact that i barely own anything these days.

necklace with green charms, sphere, fist and pocket knife!

necklace with map measurer pendant. (the other side is a compass so i knew it was meant to be!)

i also had the very pleasant surprise of seeing old friends megan (of flying heart jewelry) and don and family and another very old friend who i have not seen in nearly 15 years.

afterward we all went to liz’s and enjoyed cheesy delights and cocktails.

*sorry about the low quality pictures!  they’re from my cell phone, all i have at the moment.  working on it, hoping santa claus will bring me a camera for christmas…