Renegade Craft Fair -- Brooklyn -- June 18, 2006 - Day Two

With great excitement, I took my daughter to the Renegade Craft Fair held in Brooklyn this past Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately I couldn't make it Saturday because I had to do my mother's hair for a party...only my mother, 58 years old and can't curl her hair with a curling iron but I digress. We were supposed to catch a ride with my aunt into Brooklyn Saturday night after the above mentioned party but my mother and aunt went to an after party at a hotel. (Again, only my family, lol)

So Sunday morning arrives and my daughter and I get up to make the long trek from New Jersey into NYC. Luckily transportation runs smoothly...bus into Newark, PATH into Manhattan, and L to Bedford Ave...everything connects back to back. I'm so thankful because anyone who has a four year old knows their lack of patience. I try to make long trips into adventures by telling her to count the stops and look out the windows and tell me what she sees. She was excited about riding two trains so that keeps her entertained.



We get to the park in great time. Just in time to get a goodie bag. **!!BONUS!!** I figure we'll walk around and get an idea what's what before we really shop. As I walk around I recognize many of the vendor names:
India Romeo
Crafty Chica
Seamripper
Twigs and Heather
Supermaggie
MissHawklet
To name a few...

I especially ones I have requested wholesale materials from like If'N Books and Biggs and Featherbelle. My daughter quickly reaches her first of many expiration dates of the day and demands a hot dog. I calculate its been a few hours since her morning bowl of Fruit Loops and stop a vendor to get "dos perros calientes" with ketchup and mustard. I snap a few pictures of the booths of TwoSpace and GirliePants







Little did I know these would be the only pictures I would get.

After stuffing ourselves with suspicious pink meat we continue walking around. I recognize Jess of Miss Chief Productions and spend a few minutes introducing myself and chatting with her about the fair. I score some awesome paper magnets for my mom who is a magnet freak and some cool bottle caps magnets for myself. My daughter gets a cool retro sticker.





We didn't get far before I fell in love with the glass at Kiku. I could kick myself for not bringing more cash. I resigned myself to just purchasing a pair of hair pins rather than the necklace I really wanted. I grabbed their business card. I will definitely buy online.



We kept circling the whole park...stopping to admire different "pretties" I admit I was alittle burned about one thing...are there no diyers making plus size clothes...I would if I could sew! But all in all great stuff to be found. Fell in love with more glass at Anna Built but had to walk away because I had just bought a beautiful hand blown pendant from the ladies at Shevon Gant's booth. I guess you can tell I love glass and ceramics. Maybe because I was so clumsy as a child and had to admire them from afar. Shevon's ceramics are gorgeous. I gave her my business card hoping she'd consider placing some product in my store.





By this time, my daughter was entering melt down #3. She wasn't satisfied with the chocolate ice cream cup I'd spent $2 on. Four year olds you gotta love them. Stopped in Kate Black of Bad Buttons' booth to introduce myself...I carry some of her buttons in my shop but we've only "met" through emails. She was great...even offered my daughter an ice pop.

Next up, stopped to introduce myself to Sarah of The Small Object. I can not express how much I love her stuff. The quality is outstanding! I'm glad to carry her products. She recognized who I was as soon as she heard my name. That was great! I love that the indie community is so close and personable.

After looking around, I took my daughter to My Paper Crane to pick out a creature. I personally love the cupcakes and milk cartons so I was happy when my daughter chose a pink cupcake as her new little friend. It has a place of honor in her bedroom.



After that it was pretty hot and we were both getting tired. My mom and aunt were coming to pick us up so we went for a walk to a local bodega to get some water. While there we ran into Vickie Howell and Jennifer Perkins. Again I introduced myself and chatted a bit about the hot weather. They encouraged me to be a vendor for next year's show. Ha! I haven't designed stationery in awhile and I have a few craft projects waiting to be finished but I'm considering it. We'll see.

After returning the park, I picked up some cool hair clips from Rainbow Sugar and we soon were picked up by mom and auntie.



Overall a good day...as I said I wish I had budgeted more cash. I used my credit card once but didn't want to get carried away. Was definitely worth the trip and solidified and energized my passion for indie products. I wish I could have visited Art Star last month in Philly but I'll definitely try to visit some of the local markets in NYC.

Collective Elements on Miss Evil Kitty Indie Shop Reviews

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Gabbie of Miss Evil Kitty for her Indie Shop Reviews site.



Read the interview here...

Coming soon to a town near you!

It's finally time to prepare for seasonal flea markets and street fairs.

I really need to get on the ball...

First one:
Lakewood Blue Claws Flea Market, July 16, 2006
My brother told me about this flea market. It's a new one opening this week in his town. It's only once a month so I don't know how busy it will be. It's at a stadium for a local minor league baseball team. It's a short day 8am - 2pm. So I figure its a great trial run. The space is 18 x 18 for only $30. I can't beat that with a stick. I need to send in my application and check and I'll be all set for that. I just wish there was a home game that day. More foot traffic.

2nd one:
Meadowlands Flea Market, August 2006
This is a weekly flea market at the stadium the NY Giants play at. It's pretty large. We scoped it out last month. A mixture of new, vintage, antique, and plain old junk. I'm concerned about placement but hopefully we can find a good spot. Heavy foot traffic. I need to pick a weekend for August. I'm hoping I can find a street festival to replace this but we will see. I would rather be a vendor for the Howard/Grambling game but they want WAY too much money.

3rd one:
Bloomfield Harvestfest, September 16, 2006
This is the largest event I signed up for. I expect good foot traffic. Plus its a young hip town with a local college...good customers for my products. Plus its heavily advertised locally and statewide.