July 31, 2012

Weekend Renegade Roundup

On Sunday, I headed over to the LA State Historic Park for the 4th Annual Renegade Craft Fair. Despite the sunny SoCal heat, I was on a mission to shop. Luckily, Front Porch Pops was there to keep us cool with their delicious popsicles. I had the melon mint and Kevin got the creamy chocolate chip. Sorry I couldn't get any pics of them, the heat was melting them quick and it quickly got messy.

My friend Janet also came along with us. We've been working on a side project together that might turn into a webcomic or plushes or both? in the future. One of the first booths we checked out belonged to the lovely Jenny Smith. Her plushes definitely had us dying of cuteness and she also happened to be featured in the current issue of Stuffed. We couldn't decide with one was our favorite, but it was between the raccoon or cat for me.


Kevin walked a little bit ahead of us and it just so happened that across the way was our friend Joey Chou's booth. He had some new prints like the Strawberry Fields Forever piece he did for Gallery Nucleus' Beatles Tribute Show as well as the Small World-themed works he did for Disney. But my personal faves are his Yuki 7 prints.


Then I was off to visit a couple of my favorite ladies…and of course, they were sharing a booth together. I first said "Hi!" to Faheema of Unicorn Crafts. She makes super cute shrinky dinks jewelry that she illustrates herself.


And as usual, Faheema shared a booth with Genevieve of Le Petit Elefant. Genevieve has seriously grown in popularity over this past year. It was difficult just trying to pry her away from fans for a sec just to say "Hi!" and give her a hug. And it's easy to see why…her illustrations are so adorable and relatable!


I came across some awesome jewelry from Upper Metal Class. I took a glance and took photos and walked away really fast before I got my wallet into some serious trouble. They combined two things I can't resist: geometric shapes & shiny metal objects.


Then I stopped by JanieXY because I just had to see what kind of crazy booth she built this time. We caught up with each other and talked shop for a bit. And then she encouraged me to apply for Renegade SF. Way to bring on the pressure!


One of the most unique vendors I've seen in a really long time was Kitty Baby Love. All their products are totally cat-centric. Cat Bowling Set?! Why Not! Although I'd be very sad about burn those Kitty Egg Candles…


And then I saw their Kitty Egg Crayons. I love all the color! And the display was just perfect. I wish they had been around when my nieces were kids so I could've gotten them these. They're way cooler than a pack of Crayolas.


And last, but definitely not least, I finally got to meet Lindsay of Em & Sprout/Sick for Cute/Kid Pirate (R.I.P.)! Linds and I have been internet gal pals for 4 years now (at least!), and we were both super stoked to finally meet each in person. This was also her first time vending at Renegade! Can you guess which shirt I had to get from her?


MAGICAL KITTEN PAWS!!!

This was definitely one of the funnest trips to Renegade I've ever had. Mostly because when Renegade first came to LA, I hardly knew any of the vendors and I was generally unimpressed with the setup. But things have certainly changed and it's much more fun now than it was at the beginning. Over the years, going to craft fairs have become less about shopping and more about just chillin' with friends.

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