As central as the location may be I live far away from it, especially considering I don't drive and so this trip always takes me about three days, spending the nights at sister's house, which usually includes her making my favorite dish for dinner as a bonus.
The fair itself is big and busy and full of stuff you want, so we always end up being exhausted and carrying bags full of goodies. To not have to think too much about the costs I save up money all year round just for this event in the form of bigger coins of euros. Usually I end up with several hundred euros that way to do with as I please and that is fun. ;-)
I didn't take a lot of pictures of the stands or the fair itself this year, but I did want to give you an impression of how big and busy it was and of course show you what I bought.
First some impressions of the fair and it's customers:
The fair consists of two big halls with hundreds of stalls on just about any kind of hobby, craft and art you can imagine. It takes us all day to walk this fair because we basically want to see everything. Some people can walk it in only a few hours by being a lot more choosy, but we are simply not made that way.
Now as for my purchases, here they are:
 |
| Scrapbook stickers (they were on sale, yay!) and a lot of collage sheets. |
 |
| Cute little cards, ephemera, black felt and a snow flake stencil. |
 |
| Stamps, ink and some square envelopes for my snail mail. |
 |
| A book on doodling and lettering, a molotow aqua pen, washi tape, a dylusions journal and a watercolour pad. |
Even though I scored pretty well I have had years when I bought a lot more, so I actually had quite a lot of money left to put back in the piggy bank for next year or another creative adventure.
I am very happy with my purchases and they all already have found a place around my house and studio.
Did I need any of these things? Hell no! But this is the one time a year I get to just splurge on things I like just because I like them. And I will very happily integrate them into my arts and crafts, be it today or tomorrow or in six months.
Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy day!