Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago


My sister and I make an annual journey to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago from our places in the south suburbs.  We got there early, right at opening at 11 am, to a drizzly rain and most of the booths not open and still setting up.  We walked the place once around before the rain stopped and the booths really opened.  
We had a good time looking at the wonderful displays of merchandise and things that I would never make myself and leave to other experts in the field to make for me.
Cory and I noticed that there were fewer of the "shirt" booths from previous years, though they were still in abundance.  We did see a few "hot topics" for crafts this year... Octopus/squids, whales, and owls.  They were everywhere.  Renegade's mascot is an owl, so that didn't help matters.  But we saw octopuses everywhere.  We started to make a joke out of it, and I sort of wonder if I was unduly influenced in my "theme" for this year.  As we walked through, we noticed other patrons mentioning that is was still heavy on shirts.  I thought there were fewer than year's past. 
I also got to chat with so many artists whose blogs or etsy sites are in my saved lists.  It was great to see and buy merchandise that I have coveted online for a while.  (I buy a lot of stuff on Etsy...  I should post more of what I buy, because I score some great things from some wonderful folks.)
So, show and tell time, right?  Here's what I got and who it was from.... 
I coveted this from last year, and she had run out of this in red.  I don't do pottery, so I do adore it when I find stuff that's well made.  From Raquel Masri.
Isette is an etsy shop that's long been in my saved favorites, and this peony necklace has long been sold out but on my saved favorites list.
I love letterpress cards, and I love snarky sentiments.  The Hello adorable robot postcards are from Little Korboose, who had something my sister absolutely loved.  The rest are from 16 Sparrows, the home of the Letter Writers Alliance whose banner you see on the right.  
Blown glass is another hobby I will never get into, and I admire "witch balls" when I do find them.  The price at this booth could not be beat, $12!  I loved this red color.  By Kit Paulson
If you know me, you know I love earrings.  I love any and all kinds of earrings.  But octopus tentacle earrings?  OMG...  So when I spoke with Peggy Skemp, the creator of these earrings, she told me that her great grandmother had a preserved tentacle that was shellacked in antiquity that was the original used for the molded earrings here.  She had gorgeous stuff, all with a story. We loved that.
One thing I don't have a pic of yet is a jersey scarf from Garbella, it's black with neat gears and cogs on it.  Check out the link to see what I mean, she has cool stuff in her shop.
Hope you enjoyed my little show and tell.

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