i finally made it to artisanal la this past weekend! their spring 2015 show was at the reef event space in downtown. in the past, i've really only been to craft shows, so it was a nice change of pace to attend an event much more heavily focused on local makers of food, beverage, and items for the kitchen and garden.

the food story-telling site and magazine life & thyme was there with copa vida. i captured an accidental camera selfie while trying to get a shot of our queue-ing cups.

small local foodmakers like pop up pastries, massey honey co and olimila gourmet emporium were out in force with friendly faces and lots of free samples.

i loved the beautiful wares on display at beast and babe, amanda mcaulay and robert siegel studio. it's always exciting and inspiring to scope out beautiful items for the home and kitchen (and even the pup)!

you could even learn about urban farming from heart beet gardening, or build your own terrarium with birch and bone. in fact, there were several "classes" you could take to make your own leather goods, or learn the art of chalk lettering.

jewerly maker bunnies in LA was a big hit with her adorable snack food heart necklaces. i bought the gluten one, because, well, i love gluten!

the sanctuary at soledad even brought a baby pig and baby goat. utterly adorable.

i had a refreshing 808 (strawberry, mango, pineapple green tea) from boba bear and took home a bag of goodies that included:

two bags of three jerks jerky (memphis bbq, chipotle adobo)
a bag of semolina pasta's conchiglie
two cookies (birthday, white chocolate macadamia) from milk jar cookies
two doggie donuts (blueberry, pumpkin) from bobby and bambi bakery (sanford approved!)
a bunnies in LA 'GLUTEN' heart necklace