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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The 5th Annual Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair

The 5th Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn was held this past weekend at McCarren Park, located on Bedford Street to Bayard Street, between N.12th and Lorimer Street, in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Over 300 indie crafters from all over the USA participated in the fair, and the vendor list with links to their websites, can be seen at this link

Lots of local resident shoppers were there, as evidenced by all the bicycles chained to the fence.

The vendor tents surrounded the whole McCarren Park

The park is well loved by the surrounding neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and is actively used for soccer, baseball, bocce, handball, basketball, football, and tennis, and running meets, and has a playground for children. In the photo above can see how the craft fair tents circled all around the park's 35 acres.

Information from the Renegade Craft fair web site:

"The Renegade Craft Fair is a unique, DIY event showcasing over 300 of the most talented Artists and Crafters around. The fair takes place in cities across the US, including Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles & San Francisco. At RCF you’ll find all sorts of cool handmade stuff - including plush items, jewelry, posters + prints, craft kits, clothing, stationery + more."

If you're a fan of the Brooklyn-based Etsy web site site, and like shopping for handmade goods, and are young at heart, you would find it fun to browse and shop at a renegade Craft Fair.

Some examples of the offerings at the Berkley Illustrations booth above.
The Renegade Craft Fair event is sponsored by Etsy, Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine, VenusZine, Yelp, and The Village Voice.

There was so much to see and almost an overload of booths to visit! They were selling messenger bags, paper goods, pottery, whimsical stuffed dolls and animals, handcrafted jewelry, knitted and felted items, framed sketches, soaps, teas, screen printed tees and baby onsies, etc.

The crowd was, for the most part, young and hip!




Johagi was selling one-of-a-kind handbags made from recycled, retro and vintage materials.

If you like squids Cleo Dee's had cards and pins and other things with their image.

Click on to enlarge this photo to read the clever sayings in the designs of the tee shirts in this booth.

Pretty fabric towels and dolls for sale at the Murdoch Designs booth.

Catnip stuffed fabric mice and sticks, and cute paper cards and place mats at Kitty Jones

I spent a long time browsing at the Pretty Theory booth.

They make pretty pins, earrings, magnets, bookmarks and small pieces of art work from pieces of old discarded books and old game boards and game pieces.

Click on to enlarge to see all their wonderful little pieces of collage art works.

Look at all their amazing purses made from old books! I loved looking at all the titles, and if I was a person who carried just a few things in my purse I would have purchased one of these just for the novelty factor. You can see a selection of their purses made from book covers on their website.

This was a fun booth called Something's Hiding In Here. They sold stuffed moustache pillows, moustaches on a stick, papergoods, handbags, and yo-yos.

Another booth selling drawstring bags.

I don't think many would use this unusual china unless it was Halloween! Click to enlarge to see the bizarre patterns.

Vintage and unusual hand painted luggage for sale at the Final Approach booth.

The Etsy information booth at the craft fair.

Pottery from Bow and Arrow
PinkyPunk was selling her unusual stuffed pillows/dolls.



Charlie and Sarah's, a husband and wife team, had adult shirts and baby tee shirts and onsies, many with British themes like wellies, brollys, prams and mini coopers screen printed on them. Charlie is from Brighton, England, and Sarah is American and they live in NYC.



As I walked around the fair I found it was almost as much fun to people watch, as shop, as many of the other shoppers were creatively dressed.



Tiburon, a Brooklyn based store in Red Hook had racks of cute summer sun dresses made from men's shirts.

They also were selling cute, hand painted, canvas market bags such as these.




The Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair is held each year, is home to a thriving art community Many ethnic groups have enclaves within Williamsburg, including Germans, Hasidic Jews, Italians, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans. The neighborhood is also a magnet for young people moving to the city, and is an influential hub for indie rock. The old immigrant housing style shown in the photo above .......

...was rapidly changing to one of high rise expensive condos that have a views of the Manhattan skyline. As a growing young population of artists and hipsters moved in, the look and feel of the old neighborhood was quickly changing.

Whether the nation's economic slowdown will also stop the rapid development of the Willaimsburg neighborhood remains to be seen. An interesting New York Times article about the parent subsidized young of Williamsburg can be read at this link.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into the 2009's Brooklyn Renegade Carft Fair!

I have been really busy the past few days preparing for a few special occasions we have coming up, with my grandson's visit amongst them, so I'm sorry that I have not been able to visit many blogs or answer all the comments made to mine. As soon as things go back to normal I'll be back to blogging more frequently and visiting all of your wonderful blogs.
In the meantime I'd like to offer this cute, large, handpainted muslin market bag seen in the photo below that I bought from the Tiburon booth at the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair as a blog give away to someone who comments on this post. I will chose the winner by picking a random number and then matching it with the same number blog comment. If you do not have a blog please leave an e-mail address in your comment where I can reach you in case you win!

I think everyone is trying to cut back on the use of plastic and paper grocery bags that end up in landfills and ruin our environment, so using a bag like this instead makes sense, and adds a touch of humor to the chore of grocery shopping. I think I may even incude a few surprises inside the bag!

I'll be announcing the winner next week. Thanks to all for being such great blog friends!


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34 comments:

  1. I love the craft fairs. Ours is held in the fall. This was an amazing tour of the fair. Your pictures were great. My SIL does the purses with old book bindings. Yes they are small but trendy. I would love that bag as I hate the plastic bags that are overflowing sometimes if I try to keep them.Hurry back to blogland. Enjoy your visit. Blessings
    QMM

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  2. What a clever bunch of craft (y?)artist you have shown here. I enjoyed the tour of the fair and the quirky styles and approaches to decoration (heart on a plate takes on a new meaning!). You did a lot of work here with all of the links, photos, and commentary. Great job sharing the joys of Brooklyn going renegade!<3

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  3. That craft fair looks like a lot of fun - and a good place for me and my money to part ways.

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  4. Great pictures, Pat, especially when I clicked on them. I could see all of the details. One of the things I love most about Brooklyn (other than it is where my parents came from) is the diversity. It showed up in all of the crafts. I had to crack up though when I looked at those dishes. I could see my kids thinking that the Goth look of the skull would be cool, but until you have lived in an apartment with roaches, you can't appreciate their likeness on a plate...UGH! Looks like the weather was perfect for the event as well. Thanks for another great post.
    ♥, Susan

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  5. I completely forgot there was a craft mafia fair there....i wanted to go :-( I love those plates!!!! hope you are well :-)

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  6. I love craft fairs! I saved the website for the book purses! I want one of those, although I don't you can carry much in it! :)

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  7. excellent post! I loved seeing all the different vendors & thanks too for the wonderful links.

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  8. You do have a lot of fun events out there in Brooklyn! I love to walk and look...and not always buy....and how fun to do that from my computer chair.

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  9. Pat, I would have loved browsing through the craft booths with you. I don't know if I've ever wrote about this, but my girlfriend and I sold our handmade artwork and crafty things at local art shows together for about 9 years. We also had a booth together at a couple of area craft malls. I had to quit about the time my marriage fell apart so that I could go to school and get a "real" job. Those were some happy days. I think I will rustle up photos of what I used to make and blog about it soon.

    I love those book purses. Etsy is my favorite place to browse and find out what is new in the world of crafting. Once again, I have to say "Lucky you" for having access to so much fun stuff.

    BTW, love the bag you are so generously giving away. I hope you bought one for yourself! Have tons of fun with Leo! See you soon.

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  10. LOVE craft fairs, and this one looked especially fun... such a terrific variety of arts & crafts! Everything is wonderful, so many talented artisans... And creatively dresses crowd too! This was fun, Pat. :o) And your giveaway is lovely--do count me in on the fun. Happy Days ((HUGS))

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  11. That sure looked like a fun place to walk around. As I was looking through your photos I noticed that little To Market bag and thought "I would have bought that one for sure".

    SO I was excited to see you have it as a giveaway. Please add my name to the hat as I would love to win.

    Big hugs
    Joanne

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  12. Y'know, as much as I love looking at all the handcrafts at such fairs, people-watching is just as fascinating. And what fantastic things to pursue in the booths (some of the company names are so adorable), but I do agree the plates would be something I could only use at Halloween. Anyway, what a great day and it does indeed remind me a bit of my own biker bar craft show adventure--what a hoot that was!

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  13. That looks like a great day out. Only problem would be coming home with not much money, far too many desirable items. I'm already a bit of a bag lady, one more wouldn't hurt.

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  14. I would LOVE this fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Never apologize about visiting or leaving comments on my blog. Blogging is what it is and can take up enormous amounts of time. Life comes first, always:) Have fun with your preparations for the visits:)
    Cheers, Shelagh

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  15. Thanks for showing us the fair Pat! What a fun day:D I am most assuredly young at heart, so all that stuff is right up my alley! Love it.
    And thanks for the chance to win the market bag! How very generous of you!! We grocery shop with all reusable bags...but we have a pretty rag-tag bunch of them, so your cute one would be welcomed at our house:D
    Oh, and I love that building with the neat geometric pattern in green and cream. If that's one of the new ones they did a nice job of giving it some retro style:D

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  16. I am a craft fair addict and would have loved to have visited this one. I hope you have a wonderful visit with your adorable grandson.

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  17. Hi Pat

    I love outdoor festivals like this one---I looked up the moustaches on the ETSY site...they are just plain fun! Glad you had a good time...and don't we need fairy godparents to subsidize our living?? Heehee!

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  18. I love that bag...and to see you are giving it away...oh MY OH MY!

    I would have had a *field day* -- and empty pockets -- at the craft fair. The book binding purses would have been difficult for me to pass up!

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  19. I love those fairs! And I want that pink elephant!! So cute. I've never seen purses made out of book. I know people who would love those.

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  20. Hi Pat :)

    What a great bag! I would love to win it :)

    That fair looked like a lot of fun and you're right about the people watching. I could do that all day LOL

    Have fun with Leo and his mama and daddy!!

    hugs,
    rue

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  21. What a fabulous fair, such a great mix of craft, thanks for sharing.

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  22. I loved the peek and I definitely would have bought one of those cute market bags. I also adored the purses made from books - oh that is right up my alley! Poeple are so creative. The pink knitted elephant - was a hoot! Thanks for the tour.

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  23. ohhhhh i love craft fairs & bags! i'm a little behind on blogging myself!

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  24. What a wonderful craft fair. Thanks for taking me. So many interesting things. I like the way a lot of old things were done up to make chic modern stuff. I am all for re-purposing things.

    I know a certain son who would delight in the gruesome crockery. LOL

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  25. Thanks for sharing your pics. I like to go to craft fairs, lately we had a few of them around here. My husband has always to restrain me or I will be broken in just one hour!

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  26. Thanks for sharing pictures of the craft fair. Your blog is wonderful, Pat!

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  27. This is something great...What a market and that too mainly of craft..The products displayed were simply amazing...May be i would like to go there once..Thanks for sharing...Also I Have Started My Own Website And Would Like You To Have A Look At It.I Would Love To Have Your Comments On That Also.Unseen Rajasthan

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  28. Hi Pat! Great post. Lovely pictures, interesting texts and a wonderful message to close it all!!

    Blogtrotter has a nice lunch location for you. Enjoy and have a great weekend! I’m having the benefit of the holidays in Portugal this week... ;))

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  29. Yes Brooklyn like most places are changing or perhaps we are just maturing:) I miss those craft fairs. We have a huge one here at Stone Mountain in the Fall called the Daisy Festival which I try to attend each year. Such unique items for sale. Enjoy your visit with Leo. My entire crew will all be here at the same time this month. Can't wait and I am all ready with a crib and pack and play and a zillion more baby items.
    Joyce

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  30. Pat,
    Sorry! Happy belated birthday to you and a great birthday for your husband on Sunday!!
    We'll be having a party for three birthdays on Sunday!!!

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  31. Lovely to catch up a little bit with you this evening, Pat. This craft fair looked wonderful. I did enjoy seeing the collages in a larger pic...so creative and fun!

    Hope your little guy is already on his way by now...even there?? What fun! And oh how his Nona will love sharing NYC with him. You can't start too young.

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  32. Oh my gosh, the craft fair looks fabulous. So many ideas and wonderful things! Wish I could have been there. Thanks for all the links.

    Hugs,
    Donna

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  33. I love craft and art fairs like that! It's neat to see the results of very creative people.:-)
    I saw the bag you're giving away in one of the photos of the fair and thought to myself, "Oh, I like that bag!" and then there it was. So I am hoping to be a winner in this giveaway. I do so enjoy your blog and always the music you choose!

    judi7597@bellsouth.net

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  34. Did anyone give you trouble about taking pictures at the crafts fair? I recently went to a local RI crafts fair and was surprised to have one angry crafter point at me and rudely say "No Pictures!"...then I noticed in many other booths signs stating no photos allowed...I assume they were worried about others stealing their craft ideas but I have to say that none of these crafts were particularly original...it seemed so silly to me not to allow photos...

    You got some great shots and this craft fair made me wish (again) that my daughter still lived in Brooklyn!

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