Wednesday
16Jul
Renegade Craft Fair SF!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 10:30PM 
This past weekend I grabbed my friend Genevieve & moseyed to the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion for the first Renegade Craft Fair to hit San Francisco. Yup, previously seen in Brooklyn and Chicago, SF got their own gathering of all things handmade, creative, funky, and fun. As always when attending craft fairs of late, I was impressed by the quality and innovation to be found among the many beautiful products and their incredibly diverse creators.
Before I get into my favorites, I must say that the two main trends that stuck out to me were the continuing influence of letterpressed stationery, and the increasing usage of natural woods in jewelry and accessories. I wouldn't have thought of wood jewelry beyond the odd bangle here and there, but there is a growing group of artisans who design and craft incredibly professional, modern pieces of wood. No hippy-dippy trinkets here! Pieces are very finished, smooth, shaped and polished to beautiful shapes and rich grains. Clearly this is the influence of all things organic and eco-chic, but leave that image of undyed-cottons and lumpy hemps out of your mind. This is a trend even fashionistas can get behind!
Wood pieces from TweeThe first (and favorite) wood crafter I saw was Twee - a design pair of two ladies from our norther neighbor, Canada. Twee crafts beautiful buttons, earrings, brooches and other odds and ends from natural wood. They even offer a few knit pieces with wood embellishments. "Our Moms do our knitting," one of the designers told me. Now that's twee if I ever heard it.
Don't Quilt Your Day Job offered fantastic quilted "bags of bags" - the annoying plastic bags handed out at grocery and mass-market stores are patchworked together into reduced and reused grocery and lunch bags. These are light enough to be stashed in your big handbag and whipped out for any use, but also eye-catching; the many logos of the mass-market retailers put in sneak appearances. Very cheeky!
I indulged in a small notebook from Vinyl Frontier - they make different sizes of journals covered in vintage album covers. Cropped to showcase the best part of the album art, I had a very difficult time deciding between Thriller, Tower of Power's Back to Oakland, The Beatles' Revolver, and any number from Frank Sinatra. In the end I went with The Beat of the Brass from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass...'cause, you know, Herb's my guy. So now I have a gorgeous book covered by a field of yellow flowers and some dudes in tuxedos. Love.
Pie Bird PressI was very happy to see one of my favorite stationery lines, Pie Bird Press, and their many colorful and elegant cards presented in such an adorable way. It's only appropriate to put them into candy dishes since that's just how appealing they are...
Another stationery line that absolutely wowed me was the San Francisco line of Hearts & Anchors - modern but slightly Victorian and very witty, and all letterpress. The website is beautiful too! I love getting a history of any craft technique and then tying it back into the product line - very smart!
Ted Lights from Domestic ConstructionAs soon as I spied the "Ted" light fixture from Domestic Construction, I ran across the room to take a closer look. Made from vintage teacups, these lights are available as singles, or as a full cluster made to your customization. This brand also creates surface designs and a few other things, but they are moving into light fixtures full-time, hoping to launch a collection of vintage glass lights sometime in the very near future. Could not help but be impressed!
There was an amazing amount of note-worthy jewelry, as there always is at any craft fair, but only a few really jumped out at me... First, the Lucymachine line of metal pieces is just incredible. Modern, technical, faceted - looking much more professional and finished than mere "craft". I loved the interesting shapes and lines created by the designers - they look industrial and a little tough, but they also have a lightness that is difficult to come by when a young brand.
Like a Fox's original merchandising...Like a Fox jewelry comes from vintage findings, put together to create bold, unsual pieces. Colorful and a little bit odd, these are the kind of pieces you wish you were clever enough to have put together yourself. I also loved the way their booth was merchandised - ornate frames painted black used to showcase the jewelry - sweet, yet unexpected.
I absolutely LOVED the Jessica(fied) line of jewelry. Also made from found elements, these pieces group unusual mixes of beads and charms with vintage statement elements. I really have to get one of these, but I was too perplexed about which to choose! Maybe I'll request one just for me...
Finally, the haunting artwork of Michelle Caplan was wonderful to see in person. A mixture of collage, vintage images, text, and vivid colors, the pieces look simple on the surface but are difficult to leave behind due to their deep richness. The artist will make individual comissioned work for very reasonable rates too - a perfect gift for birthdays and big anniversaries.
Overall, I sincerely hope the Renegade group will bring the craft fair back to SF again - maybe in time for Christmas? I can hardly wait to see the next gathering of good stuff...
Etsy Shops:
Twee - natural wood necklaces, earrings, buttons, etc...
Vinyl Frontier - notebooks covered in vintage album art...
Lucymachine - metal jewelry from Seattle, WA...
Jessica(fied) - charm jewelry made from found and vintage elements...
Michelle Caplan - collage art made from vintage photos and text...
Reader Comments (1)