Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair

So, I did get to go.  I did pay for it later but it was awesome to now know what the fair looks like.  It can be described as etsy live.  Now, that is both a good and a bad thing.  As we all know, etsy has tons of amazing, varied vendors and is chock full of unique handcrafted products.  But, as we also know, etsy has quite a share of "interesting" (in a bad way) things.

That being said the weather was quite nice.  It was warm but not terribly hot and it was a waterfront venue so there was a nice breeze in the air.  I have to be honest, I wasn't blown away by anyone.  I came home with less than 10 business cards of shops that I personally found truly unique and interesting. There were many nicely set-up booths and, strangely, there were lots of empty ones.  I bumped in to Melanie (a fellow paper crafter whom I had applied to the fair with) and we were both puzzled by that. I do know that the fair's venue was changed at the last minute so I am attributing the extra space to that. Maybe they didn't realize that they had room for more vendors?

There was ample room to lounge on the waterfront and tons of food choices across the street as the Brooklyn Flea has Smorgasburg going on.  We enjoyed some really tasty empanadas at La Casa de Camba.  I am Latina and had never had empanadas like these.  Very different from what I grew up eating.  The guys are also really nice and friendly and easy to chat with.

We (hubby and I) made one purchase and it was men's facial soap from (1) Sea Grape.  My friend purchased a really cute embroidered initial necklace from (6)The Merriweather Council.  Among the vendors that I personally liked were (4) The Little Things in Life Studio.  The vendor was super sweet and the booth popped with color, which I love.  (2) Jill K Davis Jewelry had THE most adorable skeleton key necklaces and super delicate, feminine and VERY unique rings. I also fell in LOVE with the reclaimed wooden frames at FoundRe.  I wanted one of each.  Hubby very much liked (3) Scraptones, which had pretty cool and masculine graphics on slabs of reclaimed wood.  And, last but not least, was (5) Goose Grease who has been on my favorites in etsy forever.  It was like seeing a famous person in real life.  So cool!

I didn't dare take pics of anyone's booths as I feared that they would think I was trying to copy them.  I can also imagine that there must be a huge sense of fear of copycats when participating in a craft fair of this size.  So, I respected that.  I took a few shots with my phone but nothing amazing.  We had drinks from the Mud Truck.  (Finally!)

One thing I did learn/notice is that people are really not afraid to charge what they think their art is worth.  I mean, some things kind of made me gasp internally.  You either bought a $4 letterpress card (and there were TONS of those) or paid $150 for a letterpress print.  Sorry, I don't mean to hate on letterpress.  I find letter-pressed prints beautiful  but, they were pretty much the only representation of paper to be found.  That and some cool sketches I saw.

I did some online searches for reviews on the fair and this one really mimics how I was left feeling:

But, because humans are innately stubborn, I do intend to apply again in the future and hope that one day "wait list" is not in the e-mail.  I truly feel that The Sweet Spot and MannM would have rocked a Renegade Craft Fair booth!  (I just had an epiphany:  Sweet Spot and MannM - like M&M's- HA!  So cute!)  And we would have represented paper as what it is, an amazing medium that can be used in tons of ways, not just pressed!

I love NYC in the Summer!  So many street fairs and events and SO many people bustling about.  It's so invigorating.  I found out about a cool photography event called Photoville at BB Park and I'm dying to go.  Let's hope I can make it there on one of the upcoming weekends.

I hope you all have an amazing week ahead of you with no aches and pains and lots of love and SWEETNESS!