Amytha and I spent the day up in San Francisco, mainly to attend the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason this weekend. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I heard about it coming to San Francisco, after reading about it going on in Chicago and Brooklyn in the past.

We got up there shortly after it had started, and parking wasn’t too bad. They had the entire Festival Pavilion reserved, and for a building that size, it was great to see it 3/4 full of craft tables. It was probably the biggest craft fair I’ve ever been to, and the best part was that there was no admission fee (other than parking, which ended up being $1 for 1-1.5 hours).

We made our way up and down the aisles, picking up a few business cards, inspecting items here or there, and continuing along. The first actual items we got were free promotional items from SF Weekly and Yelp, both sponsors of the event; the Yelp tote bag was especially nice.

As for the craft booths, I saw a few things that caught my eye, but I didn’t really feel compelled to buy anything right then and there. After awhile, it felt like everything started blurring together, with very similar items (so much vintage clothing!) and designs (enough birds already!) at one table after the other. That’s not to say that there weren’t any unique things there, but it just wasn’t earth-shattering or anything.

Now I recognize that part of it may be that I know a lot of what goes into making some of these things, and I see a lot on the craft blogs and online shops that I visit regularly. But even so, it seemed like there were an awful lot of similarities (and somewhat high prices) going on. Maybe part of it is that once you get to a certain level, you need to appeal to certain audiences to sell items. And maybe that audience just isn’t me. I don’t know.

That said, I will reiterate that I did see some things that I liked, even if I didn’t buy anything right away. I’ve bookmarked a few sites and plan on visiting them to reconsider a purchase. You might like to visit them too:

• Twinkle Jewelry
• Fernworks Fine Art
• Pinkie Paper
• Brookadelphia
• Seibei

YUZEN wooden clothes pins
Originally uploaded by karaku*

Aren’t these gorgeous?

You can buy these and other handmade items from the creator at her Etsy store.

The workshop for this month’s South Bay Craft Group meeting was making shrines, and you could either use a wooden box or a paper one, including making your own matchboxes. I didn’t really know what to put inside of mine, so instead I focused on making and decorating a matchbox, similar to the ones I’ve done before.

I used a scrap of cardstock to create the box, and then covered it with some origami paper I happened to have with me (for making envelopes, of course). I made the lid from a cardstock tag, then wrapped a piece of a Japanese map, more cardstock, and a bit of sparkly fiber around it.

I couldn’t decide what should go inside it, so I just brought it home in that state. Unfortunately, the box is coming undone on one end, so it might need a bit of fixing before I use it. It would be perfect for a Japanese matchbox swap though. (Not that I’ve been participating in any swaps recently.)

Speaking of Japanese designs, I went to a Japanese/Asian-themed craft fair this morning. It’s a regular event to raise money for a local Japanese-American senior fund, and pretty much everything sold there is Japanese, Hawaiian, or Asian in theme. Hanko Designs was there again, and I ended up buying a few packs of yuzen washi paper, as if I need more of that. Most of the other items being sold were handmade purses and art and things like that, but nothing really stood out at me as something to have.

I did happen to see a colleague of mine at one of the tables, as she was helping her mother sell rubber stamps. She just moved here from Hawaii and illustrates some of the rubber stamp designs, which are in Hawaiian and Asian themes. You can check them out and buy them at the Mari & Me web site.

After my preparations for the craft fair, I sort of lost interest in crafting for a bit, possibly from having cranked out so many cards and things in such a short time. I decided not to push it initially, though eventually I thought I’d jumpstart things with a cross-stitch project. Unfortunately, that didn’t get too far.

I felt like I wanted to work with similar materials, but on a larger scale, possibly with yarn. I remembered the vintage “Weave-It” loom that I bought a few months ago, so I dug that out and started reading up on how to use it.

I messed up my first two squares, but then I figured out what I’d done wrong and have the hang of it now. It’s not too hard to do, especially since there’s only one long strand to wind around, rather than having several threads going each way. I’ve got a small pile of woven squares now, each just under 4 inches on each side. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with them yet, but you can sew them together to make larger pieces. On their own, they’re about the size of a nice coaster, so there’s one idea.

The weaving itself is a nice process, without too much thought required. The fun part though is choosing the yarn and seeing how it’ll turn out. The variegated ones are best, since the changing colors create nice combinations when you’re done, but the textured yarns are nice to try as well, since I’m still learning what kinds work best.

Of course, the yarns I had to begin with weren’t that varied, so I’ve been doing a bit of shopping at a few local yarns stores. I’d heard about a few of them before, but hadn’t ever been in a single one, seeing that I don’t really knit or crochet or anything. It’s really great to see what they have, especially compared to what I’m used to seeing at the chain craft stores. The local yarn shops may carry more expensive yarns, but they’re definitely a lot higher quality, so it’s usually worth it. I’m even thinking about trying to learn how to knit and/or crochet again, but no promises.

For what it’s worth, the loom I’m using is called a “Weave-It” and I happened across it in a local crafters’ mall, sitting among some older craft supplies. They’re no longer manufactured by the company that created them, but you can find some older ones on eBay. Another company is actually making a new version called Weavette, and there was a feature about them in Martha Stewart Magazine a few months ago. They’re definitely not like the hardcore looms you think of when you talk about weaving, but it’s not a bad place to start.

The employee craft fair is only a few days away, and I think I’m just about ready for it. I printed up some business cards earlier this week, and though they’re not professionally done, I think they’ll do. I haven’t made any more items to sell, but I need to make one item for a raffle they’ll be holding. And perhaps make up a sign for my table. Oh, and price everything. That would probably be important.

I’m still unsure about how it will go, but I will definitely keep in mind that I can always list things on my Etsy store if they don’t sell. (I’ve actually already listed a few cards there too.)

 

They’re very simple, but I like them that way, especially with how vibrant the colors are. And these are easy enough to reproduce, so I can always make more if they do sell. No takers yet though.

Otherwise, I’ve just been collecting more lovely Japanese papers from various online sources. My favorite paper purchase came from Paper Jade; I bought the large kondo yuzen set, and it was filled with so many beautiful designs that I might have to buy another one eventually. I would definitely recommend this shop if you’re into paper though. The owner has shipped everything so quickly to me, and has been kind enough to exchange emails with me about the items for sale and even sent me a free holiday gift set.