Thursday, September 15, 2011

Renegade Craft Fair! A Review.

I had put off getting a ticket to Chicago for this year's Renegade Craft Fair, but at the last minute I bought my ticket and went. I am so happy I did. Being at that fair (this was my second year) makes me happy inside in a way I can't explain.....but I will try.

I love the feeling of being around creative people. I love seeing what other people create. I love inspecting the workmanship of something up close, and talking with the creator. I love shopping for cute things and weird things.

My friend Blair lives in Chicago and she so graciously hosted me for the weekend. When we arrived at the fair, I asked just one thing of her. That is, that if I act interested in something, she should encourage me to buy it. I wanted to spend money and I didn't want to leave with the feeling that I left something behind. I had a great time shopping and made sure to visit each booth twice to ensure that I was leaving nothing unseen.

That's Blair and me. Spending money makes me happy.
I purchased quite a few art prints. This one, from The Frantic Meerkat, is one of my favorites.



I also love love love Berkley Illustrations. I purchased two prints for myself last year and this year bought an admiring friend a print. A Badger. One of the fun things about these prints besides the obviously fun 'animal dressed in clothes' part, is that each one comes with a little description. 

This one says, " You might not expect the world's foremost authority on dungeon mastering to excel in the field of freak dancing, but this is not your ordinary badger." Fun, right?


Two of my favorite purchases include a Morse Code necklace from Coatt and a cute bag from Jenny N Design.


I think in total, we were Renegading for 6 hours. That's a long time, and I barely ate anything all day. I had the feeling of not wanting to miss a single item, of taking it all in, of really experiencing the fair. I didn't want to waste time on silly things like eating and drinking....(it's true, I didn't drink water all day long because I didn't want to pee in a port a potty.....unfortunately, my feet were little, swollen butterballs at the end of the night). 

I had the best time, and next time, I will drink more water. I promise.

2 comments:

aubrey e said...

renegade was awesome this year! i live about an hour east of south bend, indiana, so we drive to the sb airport and take the train in. that many crafty people all in one space gives me the urge to say, SCREW SCHOOL; I'M CREATIN'!

Cheryl Birkey said...

Have you ever been to one in another city? I've been thinking about venturing to somewhere besides Chicago to see if there is a difference in vendors.