An Awesome Day at the Renegade Craft Fair!
I love the Renegade Craft Fair! I try to go every time they come to town to scout for new merch for the shop. The fair plays host to so many talented vendors, and it's fun to experience so much cool, handcrafted stuff all in one place. As a shop owner though, I'm not just your average, lazy craft fair shopper. This is a serious operation, and I'm on a mission to find as much cool stuff as possible to carry at Marion & Rose. Therefor, when I go to the RCF, I am super prepared. Here's my checklist:
1. A Scarf. Visiting the Renegade Craft Fair is like going from summer to winter! Brrrrr... The show is at Fort Mason, which means it's safely 10 degrees colder and 10 miles-an-hour windier than in Downtown Oakland.
2. Reusable Shopping Bag. For carrying all of my purchases and my business cards, which I like to hand out to vendors. This time I used my super cute "thank you" bag by The Workshop Residence.
3. A Map. I went through and marked off all of the must-see vendors on my list. Once I hit all of them, I allow myself to stroll around and shop like a civilian.
A pro tip – be sure to scout the bathroom when you first get there. After sitting in Sunday San Francisco traffic, the first thing I think about when I get there is beelining to the WC (Ladies, you all know what I mean).
And lastly – know your coffee options. Because you're going to need a pick-me-up (or two) to keep you going for the day. This time there was a tent serving Four Barrel at the front entrance. Score!
The fair was grand, and I was really excited to see and meet some of the vendors I've worked with over the past year, who hail from all over the U.S.
My first stop was at the booth of the fabulous Sharon Z Jewelry. Sharon's positive attitude is infectious, so I was happy to kick off the Renegade voyage at her booth. When I stopped by, she was playing an impromptu game of Renegade bingo that one of her booth neighbors had just created. The jist of which was... "take a picture of the nine things on the list and win a prize." One box said "bike helmet," and another said "garlic fries." Fun!
From there, I moved on to meet a couple of my out-of-town vendors, including the lovely couple who are Peg and Awl. They were so sweet, though very tired from two weeks of traveling from Pennsylvania and first hitting the Renegade show in Los Angeles.
I also tracked down half of Bison Letterpress husband and wife team from Washington State. I was excited to finally meet them in person!
My next stop was to see the Shapes & Colors booth and the smiling face of Samantha Cisneros. It was a beautiful booth, and as always, she was surrounded by lots of fun colors!
I then on to see The Heated, which is the creation of the adorable Cristina Espinosa. I have worked with Cristina for a long time and she always has something fun going on. I can't wait to get some of her new designs for the holidays.
Along the way, I ran into the two amazing Oakland designers behind Bird vs. Bird and PollyannaCowgirl, who happened to be sharing a booth space. I couldn't resist snapping their pic and purchasing a super fun ring from PollyannaCowgirl!
My visit was short, but jam packed with smiles, laughter, and fun. Stay tuned for some great new designs from our current shop vendors, and introductions to some new future vendors whose designs will arrive in the shop in this Fall!
