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!
Check Out Our Mason Jars Turned Travel Mugs
This 4th of July we're going to be imbibing in style, mmmkay? We just got in our Cuppow lids, which turns mason jars into stylish travel mugs, and we even have a selection of blue mason jars just ready for gussying up.
We love that Cuppows are made in America (Somerville, MA to be exact) and with recyclable, BPA-free plastic. Check out the handy dandy infographic below to see how these puppies work. We've got 'em in regular and wide-mouth sizes.
Thanks to local jeweler Sharon Zimmerman for tipping us off to the fact that they exist.
By the way, we're going to be closed on July 3rd and 4th, so you may want to get your Cuppows (in our online shop or in the store) sooner rather than later. Have a Happy America Day!
CUPPOW!fromPaper FortressonVimeo.
Our New Guest Curator... Nicole Grant Kriege!
We're excited to have a new guest curator in the shop… Nicole Grant Kriege! Some of you might remember we hosted The Bold Italic's pop-up shop inside our walls over the holidays, and Nicole was the visionary behind that endeavor. She's since left The Bold, moved over to the East Bay, done some marketing and PR consulting for small businesses, and joined up as a guest curator at our shop. Here's a little Q&A with Nicole so you can get to know her better.
What inspired you to join up with Marion & Rose?
I loved hosting The Bold Italic's pop-up shop at Marion and Rose, and Kerri (the store owner) and I hit it off. I was really inspired by her excitement around revitalizing downtown Oakland through commerce that supports small batch artisans. There's a magic surrounding certain retail shops, and Marion and Rose has it. I like meeting all of the neighbors, vendors, and local characters who come to interact with the store – it's definitely a community hub.
What are you bringing to the shop?
A little of this, and a little of that. There are so many designers that inspire me aesthetically, it's a constant challenge to stick to my buying budget. Kerri and I have committed ourselves to only carrying USA-made product, and often times the items we find are made right here in Oakland. The shop has an awesome ethos of spotlighting American craft traditions, and supporting independent artists and local economies in the process. Designers I've brought into the shop include:
W+P Design - Inventors of The Mason Shaker! A cocktail shaker fashioned from a mason jar.
Rifle Paper Co. - A husband and wife company selling adorable cards and notebooks.
Little Otsu - A Portland outfit and inventor of the Film Diary.
What else are you up to these days?
I'm firing up my consulting business. There's so much change going on in Oakland right now, and I'm excited to be a part of it. I've been helping out both Marion and Rose and Popuphood (the small business incubator with the vacant storefronts initiative in downtown Oakland), and I'm looking forward to working with other small businesses who want to expand their marketing and PR efforts. I'm also making our new home in Berkeley purty, and spending some time in my garden.
Nicole's in the shop on Thursday afternoons – come on by and say hello!
The Oakland Indie Awards... And A New Shop Video!
You might have heard right here on this blog that Kerri Johnson, owner of Marion & Rose, was nominated for an Oakland Indie Award in the "Soul of Oakland" category! Here at the shop, we try to embody the entrepreneurial, do-it-yourself, creative, and community-oriented vibe that Oakland's known for, so we were really excited for Kerri to be nominated, especially since the other nominees are doing such inspiring work.
While we didn't take home the main award, one of our vendors, Juniper Ridge, won the Green Award, and Tina Tamale, our fabulous neighbor in Old Oakland, won the Oakland Pillar Award. And we do have something to share from the festivities – a fun little video about the shop. (Thanks to the ever-so-talented Joshua Farr "Fish" of The Volcano Club for lending us his videography skills.)
Oakland Soul - Kerri Johnson from The Volcano Club on Vimeo.
And boy, did we have fun at the awards! The Kaiser Rooftop Garden is such a beautiful green venue. Here are some of the things we saw:
Lots of vendors! We did a little shopping ourselves at the Indie Marketplace. The free food by Souley Vegan was a hit!
Lively performances.
Beautiful artists.
And just tons and tons of people!
You can bet we'll be saving the date for next year's event – we had a blast.
Photos by: JZ Lim, Bonnie Chan of Oakland Local, and Nicole Grant Kriege
Our New, Schmancy Website
In case you haven't noticed, we have a new website! It took a lot of work to get the new site together, and we're really excited it's finally up. Some of our favorite items in the shop are already for sale online, but hold onto your credit cards because one of these days we'll have all of our products for sale on the site.
Be sure to stay tuned to this blog to find out when new, fun things come in and are ready for your online ordering pleasure.
For up to the minute information, you can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
We Are All in This Together
"We Are All in This Together"
That is a statement we feel strongly about. At M and R we are proud to work with vendors and companies who give back to their communities and/or use sustainable manufacturing practices. We will continue our commitment to community and environment by searching for recycled alternatives in packaging, working with US union shops for manufacturing, and making a conscious effort to work with designers and artists who also hold the same standards and practices as important.
L.A. based Sugarcube Press who make all of their cards from 100% cotton rag paper (the cotton is reclaimed from the garment industry), use non-toxic inks, and compostable clear protective sleeves made from corn.
Oakland based Modify'D make all of their products from upcycled cashmere and fabrics purchsed from the garment industry. They rescue sample sweaters and manufacturing mis-steps that were destined for the landfill and turn them into super snuggly stuffies, arm warmers, dog beds, hats and more...PLUS they give 5% of their profits to different animal causes!
Bay Area based Juniper Ridge are all about sustainability. They physically go out and sustainably harvest wild plants along the West Coast, distillign them down to make natural room sprays, soap, incense and tea. They use eco friendly packaging that is made from recycled materials and often times compostable! Giving 10% of thier profits to defending Western Wilderness.
MA based Two Trick Pony create eco-friendly paper goods using non-toxicwater based inks and 100% post consumer recycled papers. They also create special products for their "charity" line. Giving proceeds to animal sanctuaries, Sandy Relief and Freedom to Marry.
Happy New Year!
As we wind down the first month of 2013 we have much to be excited about!
Recap:
We celebrated our first year of business in December and want to take a minute to thank everyone for your support and love in 2012.
Look Ahead:
We are steadily populating our online shop with some great new products perfect for gift giving and maybe a little personal indulgence! Stay tuned for gift sets for babies, housewarming and weddings. Happy 2013!