Gobble Up 2018!

I'm back! Backstory: Phone got stolen, thought photos were lost forever. Got new phone, set up Cloud features, turns out photos from old phone were uploaded to the cloud after all.  :D

And what better way to resume blogging than to write about my Saturday at Gobble Up? 

Organized by Urban Craft Uprising, Gobble Up 2018 was heavily promoted in social media. Being a fan and small-time dabbler of many things crafty, I checked "Going" on the Facebook Event invite, signed up for tickets, and went.

Gobble Up 2018 at Bell Harbor Conference Center

Although I missed the early bird/be-one-of-the-first-100-to-get-a-goody-bag morning special, I grabbed a friend to come with and showed up anyway. At a little past 3. In the afternoon. 3 hours before 6, when the event ends. No matter, because by then there was a good-sized crowd for it to not be too overwhelming but still lively. It was a nice setup in an open space, with large windows facing west overlooking Elliott Bay. Vendor tables were lain out in a large horseshoe with a smaller arc in the center, so it was logical to start clockwise from one end to the other while traversing between the two. The first table I saw had a bunch of colorful macarons. They looked great, but I skipped them because although pretty, they're not my first love of a sweet. Next, I went on to the JonBoy Caramels table, where I got a box of my favorite variety: Absinthe and Black Salt. I proceeded to go from table to table, picking vendors that piqued my curiosity based on interest, creativity of setup, and approachability of vendor. Overall, everyone was nice and welcoming. Everyone I talked to was truly passionate about their product or craft, and the volunteers were down-to-earth and informative. 

The following are a montage of photos from the day. My friend L and I stayed till 5, and we left with a bunch of loot and a gift card to a fancy restaurant in Edmonds (what a coincidence, being that's where I live). 

CG Sculpture and Jewelry - metal and glass enameled little spoons and bowls

This was a great booth to visit! A younger me would have bought a whole bunch of this stuff. I was drawn to the creativity and quirkiness of the ornaments, pins, and fun items like that Lucky Coin and Clam Gum (not shown).

A nice table for the beer and spirits connoisseur, 33 Books was super nice and had me try a bit of the hop concentrate. It tasted like a tincture (like dit da jow, even) with herbs. I was given a pin showing how much great taste I have. ;)

Seeing these handmade ceramic kokeshi dolls and adorable doll faces that can be planters, tea cups, diffusers, drinking vessels, and even 3-D pins was a delight. It reminded me of when I collected these dolls when I was in Japan. Jennifer was also great to talk to. I had to get a piece from here so I got a planter.

ModHome was another one of the vendors I felt I connected with in terms of art and interests. I really admire Nicole, curator and artist behind ModHome's products, for her attention to detail and aesthetics. Those patterns are not printed, they are carved into the ceramic much like woodblock, and then painted and fired (I'm putting it simply)! 

I almost passed this table. But I was wondering why bags of beef jerky would be so good they'd be called "Krak," so I stopped to find out why. Turns out this is honeycomb chocolate, and yes, it's very addicting. My peripheral vision detected an attendee coming back a few times for more samples as I was conversing with the owner lol.

Shoreline-based Crum Cakes and Cookies had an excellent display with a ton of decorated sugar cookies and cake in a jar.  It's a thoughtful touch to have paint-your-own sugar cookies that the littles would love. Their sugar cookie button samples were nice, too. I'll be looking for them at the area farmer's markets. 

After Gobble, we decided to eat at Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya. There was a pretty big wait time, but whatever, they had hot tea while we waited and benches to sit on. The legitimately presented takoyaki and sizeable karaage were worth waiting for. L had ramen, and I had the chashu pork rice bowl with sliced wood ear mushroom. Oishii!!

Promo loot! Well, we won the gift card to Salt & Iron via raffle.

Stuff I bought. Worth it! Those Lil Miss marshmallows are the best marshmallows I've had in a while. And I'll probably purchase Jaipur instant chai tea packets through Amazon regularly.