Newberry Book Fair Treasures

The Newberry Book Fair is one of the highlights of my year. It's basically Christmas in July for me. There are rooms and rooms filled with books of all kinds. I spend most of my time in the Science Fiction section and the Special Collection room. I also keep an eye out for atlases to scavenge from.

There weren't that many atlases this year, unfortunately, but I did get one enormous one! It's about 3 feet high. Buying it made me a temporary celebrity. I was the Girl Buying the Huge Book. The maps in it are also large and so I'm contemplating what to do with them. Large envelopes perhaps... Among my other finds were some old board games including Trivia Pursuit [for $2.00!] and a type style catalog for the Chicago Sun Times. I also picked up a bunch of Stainless Steel Rat books and some other assorted bits and bobs. I ended up spending less than $40.00 and I feel like a winner. I can't wait for next year!

Southport Market Reminder

Only two more chances to come see me at the Southport Market: Saturday, August 16th and Saturday September 27th. I'll be there bright and early at 8AM along with other Chicago crafters and many fine food vendors. Last time I was there, I picked up marinated olives, blueberries, parsley, a baguette, and some of the best string cheese I've ever had the pleasure of eating. I also purchased a bowl from Circa Ceramics.

Orange You Punny

As an entry in the Chicago Style Crafters team challenge, I've created some new postcards. I based the designs off of the illustrations on old fruit crate labels and then drew my own in Illustrator. The theme was orange and I can't resist a pun. I printed them on 100% recycled stock from French Paper, and then rounded the corners. They are printed from my laser printer, but the more work I do like this, the more I think I want to buy a Gocco printer.

From the HandyGirl Files

So I survived DEPART-ment. I have mixed feeling about the experience. The people are nice and the organization is good, but, much like a street festival, I just don't think people are inclined to buy non-poster papergoods at a music festival. The best part about it was that because of space constraints, I needed to build a display platform for my cards. Kathy had previously created some individual display holders but I needed something that was vertically inclined.

I created it out of foam core, hot glue, straight pins and craft paper. I made sure to put in supports so it doesn't sag in the middle. The resulting structure is 24" tall by 20" deep. It's sturdy and lightweight. It fits through the doors of the bus which was a concern seeing as I had to use public transit to get to the festival. The craft paper did wrinkle in spots, but those places are covered when the cards are on display. I'm exceedingly happy with it, and I'll definitely use it at Renegade. It will really open up table space.

Here is a shot of the display in all of it's glory!