Seattle Square 4.0 (our last for the season)

"This is my domain and I protect those who come here...

...for I am the Seagull King of Seattle Square!"

Um, or not.

Beneath the watchful eye of King Seagull, the vendors set up for the day.

And a beautiful day it turned out to be. Not too hot, not too cold, and thankfully not at all wet.

Vendors vending, shoppers shopping. And occasionally buyers buying, which makes everybody happy, trust me.

Shall we take a look at some of those fine vendors? LET'S.

The beautiful jewelry of Baltica really has to be seen in person to be appreciated... so come to Seattle Square on September 18 for a closer look. (This is also the genius behind PaperCutWorks, deftly mixing cartography, anatomy and just a dash of scherenschnitte.)

Behold the cheerfully caffeinated fashion of Coffee Purse! Purses and messenger bags made from reclaimed coffee sacks, latte art, and much more for your inner barista.

The only thing better than buying fabulous jewelry is getting to chat with the person who made it. Lisa Baker of Lisa Baker Designs is not only a talented artist, she's a fun conversationalist.

Behold the reclaimed goodies of Eklectopia...

...both earrings made from upcycled rubber and aluminum, and hand-etched drinking glasses. Stylish and environmentally sound. Score!

Marilyn's Nut Butters are not your gramma's peanut butter. Flavors like Cinnamon Walnut Pecan and Pistachio Hazelnut with Cumin and Black Pepper... nom!

Dear Ninja: beware the boomerang throwing star. Oy, such a headache it will give you!

I have put up this image in the full knowledge that the minute Miss V sees it, she will bodily DRAG me back to Seattle Square and beg me to buy her a cute Japanese pop culture Namu shirt. Such are the trials of being an auntie.

Oh, the screen-printed love that is Slide Sideways.

I know a couple of people who would like these, don't you?

The many bijou curiosities of Deviant Decor are well worth a gander; this is another shop whose goods must be seen in person to be appreciated properly.

Some of the many handmade bags (including a few necktie purses!) available at Trizanh.

There are a lot of fun designs to be had at Choke Shirt Company...

...but this one's my favorite. All the named neighborhoods of Seattle in a single iconic design.

And now for the moment you've all been awaiting: STEAMPUNKY GOODNESS!

Been wondering where you might lay hands on a Nitikin Sonic Pistol No. 2?

Or perhaps a larger-bore instrument of mayhem is more to your liking? In any case, Tinplate Studios stands ready to bring your steampunk dreams to life.

Seattle Square would not be Seattle Square without a little performance going on. This young lady (whose name escapes me) danced and did various fun tricks with hula hoops for hours, working to fund her nursing school education.

And then there's us, but you probably already know about us. We don't have any more dates coming up at Seattle Square this year, but will let you know if we have any upcoming appearances elsewhere. IN THE MEANTIME, YOU REALLY SHOULD GO TO SEATTLE SQUARE. It is full of awesome, and a fun place to go on a Saturday afternoon.

(Vendors: did I get something wrong? I've been known to do that on occasion. Drop me a line in the comment section here, or convo me over on my Etsy store, and I'll make it right. Thanks!)

Seattle Square 3.0

Again we greet you from the mighty totem poles and cabana brollies of Occidental Park, Seattle.

Seattle weather any time of the year is... um... capricious. These pictures don't reflect it, as they were taken late in the afternoon, but it's been fiercely hot here in the Puget Sound area. ("Fiercely hot" around here means anything over about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Stop snickering, New Yorkers.) That's quite a change from the rain and drizzle of a week ago.

For most of the day, we sat in the heat of the full sun, protected only by a fortuitously-purchased parasol from Daiso. Near the end of the day we finally started getting some shade. Here, at end of day, Captain Midnight clearly lacks the will to go on. (He does, however, possess the will to go on eating sugar snap peas.)

Goodies made by Miss V and me, arrayed in all their splendor.

Plus this week I finally got smart and picked up a cork board -- the better for shoppers to see our wares from a distance, my dear.

Well, it does.

So would you like to see some of the other vendors? There were at least 45 of them at the Square last Saturday.

Check it out.

Fabulous jewelry at Carlotta Valdes (the owner tells me she and her boyfriend have just discovered a shared fondness for Legos).

If people are good, they go to heaven when they die... but if sweaters are good, they go to Wooltastic.

Fuzzy friends (including stuffed salmon) ready for adoption at Adorable Seattle.

It's never too early to start breeding a geek. Cute and clever onesies by Katy and Zucchini.

We have to take the time to show you Ilee Papergoods again...

...because otherwise you might miss their beautiful letterpress cards... and that would be both sad and disastrous.

I didn't get this guy's official name, but his sign proudly proclaims all his wares are "Hand Forged in Georgetown."

The good folk at (from left to right) Sweet Anthem and Tweet Toffee. Delicious scents + delicious toffees = outstanding deliciousness.

Then there was mobile food. Mmmmmmobile food. Where Ya At Matt had moved on before I had a chance to capture them on (pseudo)film...

...but Here and There were still on the premises...

...as were Ram and Rooster Dumplings. Mmm, dumplings.

And of course there was Parfait. As in "that whooshing sound you hear is my diet being blown" Parfait. Oh yeah.

Hey, on a day this hot, ice cream is practically heatstroke therapy, people.

This is Mr. Remote Controlled Parlor Palm. RCPP spent most of his time today dancing with kids, chasing bemused shoppers and generally whizzing around the stalls and booths of Seattle Square.

The One Man Band showed up late in the day to do his thing.

And that is how you do your second week as a vendor at Seattle Square. Next week: our third and last appearance for the season!

Stuff! And... uh... things!

I hear today is the birthday of one James Lileks, blogger extraordinaire, whose prose is by turns hilarious and touching. If you don't already read The Bleat on a regular basis,
WHAT THE SAM HILL IS WRONG WITH YOU?*ehem* perhaps you ought to rectify that post haste.

Go on. I'll wait.



Yeah, yeah, you can thank me later.

Ugh. Lots to do today, very little desire to do it. I sorta slapped together the booth for the last Seattle Square appearance, and it showed, so it's time to get the lead out and determine some way to get things looking a bit more professional. Also, some Pay It Forward boxes need to go their merry way, so if you're languishing in the Slough of Despond wondering where your goodies are, fear not.

Seattle Square 2.0

I could tell you a lot about my first day as a vendor at Seattle Square...

...about setting up and talking to people...

...about putting together our booth...

...in all its manifest splendor...

...not to mention our fabulous spokesmodel.

The word of the day was "soggy." It rained (off and on, mostly on) the whole time. But this is Seattle. It's no biggie. I just put a tarp over everything and went on with the show.

Considering the weather, it went pretty well. Then I went home, did laundry, had a huge bowl of jjajangmyeon, and now I'm about to fall into a carb-coma.

*thunk*

Seattle Square

So today Jenny and I decided to attend the first Seattle Square craft and antique fair.

It was pretty fun -- good venue (Occidental Park), some good vendors, beautiful weather -- although Jenny and I noticed it does run the slight risk of turning into a fancy-pants garage sale. If they're still accepting vendors, I might sign up for a Saturday or two.

Now THAT is an ice cream truck.

We both had scoops of Decadent Chocolate and Butter Toffee Crunch. They were divine, especially the Butter Toffee Crunch (and this is coming from an ardent chocoholic). If you should happen to track down the Parfait truck this summer, don't miss your chance to have some real ice cream.

Among our scores today were many beautiful letterpress cards made by Ilee Papergoods. They are even more impressive in person and were being sold for a song.

After perusing the vendors we continued on our walk down Occidental.

We came to a glassmaking studio that had all sorts of interesting objects for sale. Some sea life sculptures...

...a plate reminiscent of a mollusk shell...

...and glass bugs.

Lots and lots of glass bugs.

Jenny reminiscing about the time when her apartment was full of cockroaches.

Down on 1st Avenue, we came across a shop called "Interesting Stuff." So of course we went in; how could you not, with a name like that?

They had all sorts of wonders, including this Indonesian shadow puppet.

Interesting Stuff is run by a retired professor of epidemiology, who is very helpful and personable. When I mentioned that I was fascinated with the sad story of Pripyat, one of the Chernobyl ghost towns, he lit up. He had lived in Kyiv for some time and had a great deal of information on Ukraine, including several books. Perhaps the store should be called "Interesting Proprietor."

Nearly everything in the store was 25% off today, including the magic carpets for sale upstairs.

The considerable numbers of postcards were not part of the 25% off sale, but they were nonetheless awesome. Here's a batch of vintage Soviet-era postcards I bought from the shop. I also got a series of Ukrainian recipes and some images from the inside of the Kremlin.

After our adventures in Pioneer Square we went to Uwajimaya, had a Hawaiian plate lunch and bought various Asian goodies. But as so often happens to me on these trips, I forgot I was carrying a camera, so I have no further foties to share today. Sorry.