In mid April I (Wayne) made my first trip to the city of Chattanooga, TN. Julia, had participated in Chatty Crafty the previous fall and told me I would love Chattanooga; she was right! Chatty Crafty was part of HATCH CHATT, a ten day showcase of creative culture in Chattanooga. The vibe in the town was very cool and funky and there was immense support for all things local & creative. I joined the festivities on Friday evening where Chatty Crafty was taking part in a local craft and food market. After five or six hours in the car I was very glad to see this right across from the Chatty Crafty tent.
Good Dog is a local eatery that provides hot dogs (and veggie dogs) with house made sauces and buns that are baked fresh daily at local bakery. My Hawaiian veggie dog was yummy! There were lots of other vendors and crafters as well as some large scale art installations like this one:
On Saturday Chatty Crafty got started in earnest! The space was incredible. It was a nice green lawn across from the Tennessee River. Here is a shot of the river just across the street from our booth. There was a temporary art installation here as well.
The layout was great. There was lots of space between the aisles so we vendors weren't packed like sardines. There was also a large square in the middle that made a great space for visitors to hang out.
There were a wide variety of vendors, some we met at other shows, and some were new acquaintances. Beth, from Quill & Arrow Press, had a wonderful collection of creative letterpress items. From envelopes and journals to postcards everything was funky and fun.
Sew Few was our neighbor at the Handmade market last summer. Her bags are absolutely beautiful. Julia actually wanted to get an iPad just to have a reason to get one of her iPad covers. :)
Talia from Conduit Press was really nice and was one of the vendors who participated in the Friday night shindig mentioned above. She makes wonderful notebooks and journals from re-purposed goods. She also makes hollow books which are super cool for house decor.
There was also some really neat pallet furniture. This lamp was almost six feet tall and looked like a cross between Woody from Toy Story and the lamp from Pixar movies.
Seven Feathers Tribe had the coolest booth. I saw soooo many kids with these masks on I had to come check it out.
The biggest treat of the weekend was meeting Magar, an absolutely beautiful Irish Wolfhound. Her demeanor was so kind and gentle and the picture does not do justice to her size; she was GINORMOUS!
So while festivals are always tons of work this one was a blast. The organization was great, the location was perfect and Chattanooga was very cool. I can't wait to go back for the next Chatty Crafty!