Red Hot Ice

Yesterday, Missy and I spent the whole day in ATLANTA on a shopping spree of sorts. First stop was at CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK for I.C.E. ATLANTA's 2-day craft sale. We're usually one of the vendors at this twice-yearly sale, but were here this time lending our support as spectators and shoppers. It felt kinda weird, to say the least, to be on the "other side of the table"...a side that we seldom get to enjoy...



We got to the park a little before the start of the event so that we could scoop up a couple of swag bags. We stood in line with a couple hundred of people also waiting to get theirs. There were about 500 swag bags and they were gone within an hour...







The food tents set up at the entrance teased the queue with savory smells...



Shannon of PATINA, one of the organizers of the INDIE CRAFT EXPERIENCE, gave Missy a little handmade PINWHEEL after we made it through the entrance. We made our way down the rows of vendors, looking at all the goodies. We both had a spending limit in mind, which we both subsequently blew...there was just too much good stuff to be had! I refrained from photography close-ups of people's booths...I was worried that most vendors would be a bit paranoid about people taking pictures of their booths in order to "steal ideas"...a very real plight as major companies (Urban Outfitters, Target, Walmart, etc.) have co-opted the "handmade look", and in many cases, have outright stolen designs from indie crafters...






(CNN looming over the sun-kissed tents of I.C.E. Atlanta)

My first purchase of the day...a brand new guitar strap from Chicago's SOULDIER, who specializes in straps:



We were pleasantly surprised to see Columbus, Ohio's WHOLLY CRAFT here, manning a booth of their own. Wholly Craft is a brick and mortar store in Columbus which features indie arts and crafts, including many of Missy's (and sometimes my own) creations. We stopped to say "hi!" and formally introduce ourselves...and of course to do a bit of shopping. They had some buttons Missy designed exclusively for SWEETIE PIE PRESS (bottom left). Yay! And we were instantly smitten with this cheeky pot holder...





We ran into the BATSEL SISTERS while shopping...Katy, who writes the wonderful BOTTLE ROCKET indiepop fanzine, and Hannah (a.k.a. M.C. SUGALOAF) who showcases her burgeoning talents on a blog called CHARACTER ZOO:



We checked out the rest of Centennial Park after we were done shopping...Missy played around in the fountains and tried desperately not to get wet...


(Missy is good at mimicking statues)

ICE 4279 from Raoul de la Cruz on Vimeo.

Afterwards, we headed out to the PONCEY-HIGHLAND district for lunch and even more shopping (an area that Christy Petterson - one of the other organizers of I.C.E. - wrote all about in the most current issue of READYMADE MAGAZINE...check it out!). We hit up SOUL VEGETARIAN to escape the heat. Missy had a "fish" sandwich with baked potato slices (which, inexplicably, they called "Hebrew Skins") and I had a plate of BBQ tofu with brown rice and broccoli. By the time were were done eating we were way too full to even try their famous SOY BEAN ICE KREAM:







We walked over to the YOUNG BLOOD GALLERY, where we did more shopping and looked at their current exhibit. We saw more of Missy's items in stock and on display...







The exhibit they had on display was called SK8 OR DIE and it featured 100 SKATEBOARD DECKS decorated and re-constructed by 100 local artists:









After Young Blood, we trolled our way through several basement antique shops, looking for cool stuff. By the time we resurfaced and hit THE ATLANTA CUPCAKE FACTORY (a.k.a. THE BEST CUPCAKES IN ALL OF ATLANTA), we were more than ready to treat ourselves to some dessert. The chocolate cupcake Missy ended up getting was super rich and decadent...the perfect cherry-on-top to cap off a day of unfettered shopping...mmmmmmmmmmm!