No Coast Craft-o-rama

In the Twin Cities there are only a few big craft sales throughout the year, and the No Coast sale is the biggest of them all. There are a variety of different vendors from all around Minnesota, Wisconsin, and some from even more far-flung places than that. It is decidedly the most quirky, crafty, and cool place to be for the two short days it is run.

Which brings me to today.

Today me and my mum and sister finally made it out to the cities to check it out this year. I say finally because we had planned to go yesterday, but as you may or may not know, we just got a ton of snow dumped on us. It was about half-way to the sale that we realized just how badly things were going, the freeway was crowded, crawling, and icy. This is a very bad combination for my mom's lightweight Fit, which doesn't handle snow very well. Still, we journeyed onward... until we saw the accident in the middle of the road, prompting us to turn around at the next exit and head back defeated. Today, however, the roads were (mostly) cleared and we could make the hour long trek safely.

Can I just say... it was crowded... like really really really crowded. I understand that cities are generally more crowded than small towns, but... wow.

And I think I could have dealt with the crowds if there were some super awesome vendors to visit. Something new, something innovative, something... other than plushies, jewelry, and weird screen prints. As much as I love all three of those things, I have enough to last me a little while... or a little more than a little while. The stuff that I saw (all those necklaces, prints, and critters) was all very well made, very high quality materials, very Cute! But expensive. If I already have a surplus of the objects you are trying to sell, it is going to take a good deal, a cute design, and something DIFFERENT to make me look twice.

Which brings me to my second beef with the Craft-o-Rama this year... there wasn't anything new. I have attended this show for about five years now, and I haven't seen many positive changes. Sure, they had the stand-out vendors like Adam Turman and his wonderful prints, but other than that, all I saw were the same kitschy things posted all over the internet. So, as much as I hate to say it... The big, awesome No Coast Craft-o-Rama was kinda a bust.

Tomorrow, however, I feel will be better! Sorry to start off the blog with such a negative review, but I was really hoping it was going to be better than this!