Next Show:
San Francisco's Favorite Craft Fair

animals of Hue

May 12th, 2010

I was born in Taiwan in 1978 and I have lived in America for most of my adult life. Since I was young I have had a love for color and form. With the support of my parents I came to California in 1996 to pursue my education in art. While a student at San Francisco State University I began to focus on ceramic sculpture. After I graduating in 2003 I went back to Taiwan for a year to reconnect with my family and culture. I moved back to the Bay Area where I can live with a wider range of artists. I currently teach ceramics in several places as well as maintain a studio practice in Oakland, CA.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I remember back when I still had a 9-5 job, I was so unhappy and not motivated to do anything creative, so withsupport of family and friends I quit my job and went into the craft business. But I do still work outside of my studio; I work about 10-20 hours a week teaching ceramics in the bay area, and the rest of time I get to stay in my own studio!!

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. I love animals, all different kinds of animals. Every time when I see an animal I just want to narrate for it, and sometime I feel like I am the animal that I am drawing, this drawing process has a special connection with me.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I like being able to make money doing something I love. The worst part is having no guarantee of the amount of money I will actually make.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? “Don’t undersell yourself.”

I have an open studio June 5,6 and 12,13, It’s at my home/studio in Oakland and is the best way to learn about me and my work. You can find information about events that I will be at on my Blog www.justhue.blogspot.com, or shop on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/pikahue

Casa Murriguez, inspired by the bay area

May 12th, 2010

Casa Murriguez, Casa M for short, makes environmentally and socially sustainable handmade housewares and home decor featuring illustrations by Sharon Murriguez. Products include throw pillows, tea towels, art prints, stationery and other such items that will turn the style knob of any room in your home up a notch. No need to choose between style and conscience when you can have both!

Sharon Murriguez, the owner and currently the one-woman manufacturer of all of Casa M’s goods, is an Oakland-based artist who has been making art since she was 3 years old. Through the years, Sharon has focused her studies on filmmaking, photography, and printmaking. She is excited to see all of these creative endeavors intersect with the production of Casa M goods.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I love making stuff and I was ready to take the leap into self-employment! I left my day job working for s non-profit last September and I am not looking back. Even though managing and balancing the creative and administrative elements is a constant challenge, I can’t imagine having it any other way.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. In developing Casa M wares and more generally in my artistic process at large, I’ve found my biggest inspirations to be from everyday things. Whether it’s the view from my living room window, photos taken from a walk around Lake Merritt, images that pop up on Google searches for “vintage audio,” long distance road trips, or doodles drawn while riding BART, bits and pieces of all these experiences can be found in every Casa M design. I love the process of prototyping, from making a new illustration to figuring out how to pattern it to exploring different color and construction possibilities.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I love having the creative freedom and flexibility to actualize an idea for a design, product or color palette. I also have gotten really into understanding the business side of things and have found it very empowering to understand the holistic reality of being a self employed business owner. And of course I have a ton to learn.

The worst part is always feeling like I wish I had more time and money. It has been a real challenge to increase production volume when every step in the making process is so labor intensive and materials are costly. It all takes time and sometimes I have to check my impatient tendencies, take a deep breath and appreciate the process. And sometimes these are the challenges that force me to be more creative.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? The best advice I have received – which is totally relatable both to business and craft practices – is to put the right systems into place to make your life easier to be as efficient as possible. I’ve got my own little assembly line process for all my products and that has helped with scaling up production.

Website: http://www.casamurriguez.com/
On Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CasaMurriguez

absurd things happening to ridiculous people, Wondermark

May 12th, 2010

I’m the creator and author of the comic strip “Wondermark,” which is syndicated in some newspapers but also runs online. My website, wondermark.com, is the hub of the entire enterprise, which is where I write and design interesting things for people to read and look at and enjoy. Most of what I do is just creating free entertainment for folks, but I also put a lot of time into crafting books, stationery and gift items, and art pieces for folks to add to their lives in physical form.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? Making my comics and their related projects/products is my full-time occupation! More precisely, managing the business that revolves around the comics and so on is my job, and it’s a lot of administrative nonsense most of the time, but the core of it is my creative product in its myriad expressions. I started making comics as a fun lark when I was working in advertising — a business that can easily eat all of your creativity — and when I began to apply my efforts in the service of fun products that people wanted to buy, it led me down a path that eventually led me out of advertising and into “whatever I want to do next, let’s do that.” So that’s been comics, books, handmade stationery items, wall art and prints, original art and commissions, design work… what fun!

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. My comic is mainly about “absurd things happening to ridiculous people,” which is to say that it can be about anything! So inspiration comes from everywhere, and whenever I think of some peculiar situation that might work as a comic, I turn to my collection of 19th-century books, find some neat illustrations in there, fire up the ol’ coal-powered scanner and get to work on a collage. The use of authentic old engravings gives my work a very distinctive aesthetic quality, and it serves as a unifying theme across all of my work — whether it be in book form, or other designed work like cards, posters, calendars, etc. So in a nutshell: 1. Think of something strange. 2. Make it look old-timey. 3. There is no step 3?

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? The best thing is that the Wondermark name is infinitely expandable! It can encompass comics, novels, strange anachronistic books, greeting cards, trinkets like stickers and T-shirts, short stories, posters and other types of weird art prints, even live performance and lectures! Basically anything I find interesting, I can explore with Wondermark. The worst is probably the constant desire to top myself. Everything I do is (hopefully) better than whatever came before it — which is great for you, but bad for my sleep schedule.

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? Always make the thing you like, rather than trying to please some imaginary audience. Making the thing you like will attract readers/fans/customers/whatever that share your tastes, which means that anything else you make, they’re probably already on board with. And be nice, too. That way you make things that nice people like. Having an audience of nice people who like what you like is the perfect situation. Making something mean or callous or calculated or simplistic or dumb attracts people who like those things, which is not the ideal audience to have, in my opinion.

Craftypants, a happy and productive crafter

May 12th, 2010

Rebecca Morrissey started MsCraftypants 2 years ago in an attempt to stay home with her newborn and still do something she loves. She has been a seamstress since high school and loves putting fabric together in new ways to create functional pieces with color and design.

Rebecca: “You can say my day job is watching my two-year-old son, but it’s really a night job too. I make time for my craft wherever I can. It wouldn’t be possible without my awesome husband who pushes me to keep working when I’m tired, stressed or just plain worn out. He’s always right too: sewing makes me feel productive and happy. I love that sense of accomplishment you get from creating and building something yourself.

Ideas come to me from all over the place. My first idea was to create a diaper pad that I could easily use in the smallest bathrooms around (you know who you are you tiny back rooms of hole-in-the-wall restaurants). I have now conquered that moment of not being able to change a smelly uncomfortable kid because the bathroom is actually worse than their diaper – Ha!

I usually come up with a problem I want to fix and then go from there.
Example
Problem: All the baby gear out there looks like an infant wears it instead of a modern parent lugging it around.
Solution: Design my own baby gear with bright colors and loud prints that are also functional and washable!

The best thing about what I do? I love having someone comment on the diaper bag I’m using and getting to reply, “Thanks I made it!”

The hardest part is never feeling like I have enough time to do all the things I want. I wish I didn’t need sleep/get tired. Don’t get me wrong – I love sleep. I just wish I had more energy in a 24-hour period.

My advice to anyone hoping to turn their ideas into a business: stick to your guts. Try new things and don’t stress too much if your first attempt doesn’t work out. Working through failed designs helps perfect your eventual product. And remember: no one else out there has your point of view. Be an original. Secondly: make a specific place and time for yourself to work on projects. Crafting is more than a hobby; it is a part of you and your opinion matters. If you are serious about making your creations into a business, check out a great book called Craft Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco. You’ll be glad you did. A friend of mine gave it to me and it’s a good way to look at your passion professionally. Sometimes I think we don’t regard crafting as serious work. Seeing other people succeed and getting tips from them on how to do it can give you the gumption to persevere when you are feeling silly for even trying.

I hope to see everyone at Maker Faire! Its more than just a craft show, it’s a crafty extravaganza of innovation and the most amazing inventors are there along with their toys – that you can actually play with! To put it bluntly: it’s my Mecca. If you are creative at heart, then you know exactly what I mean.”

MsCraftypants makes baby gear and bedding for the modern family. Her focus is on design and function and No Pastels!! For more info you can visit her site: www.mscraftypants.com. She is currently working on her stash of goodies for the upcoming show and hopes you’ll take a look.

lines for Bird Mafia

May 12th, 2010

I started cutting paper three years ago and have crafted since I could sneak into my mom’s sewing box. Bird Mafia is a way for me to combine my art with my love for crafting. Every Bird Mafia item is hand-printed with cut paper inspired designs and constructed with the most eco-friendly materials I can find.  I love lines and movement and the way paper-cutting translates an image or a texture.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I started out cutting paper like mad, but I found that I was holding too much back in the fine art world. I wanted to extend, and as I have always loved “making”, crafts seemed like an obvious step. I don’t have a real “day job” in the common sense of the phrase. I am a mother and I make vegan candy at a local café, but other than that I live and breathe Bird Mafia.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. My process goes something like this: draw a lot, find that special drawing that has just the right lines, cut this drawing out of paper, if worthy of reproduction, burn into screen and print on anything I can make that I find clever or useful. With the stipulation that I can get my hands on materials that fit my convictions.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? Worst – Only having two hands.  Best – Hands down, doing what I love everyday and sharing it + meeting some really amazing people (and some of my favorite artists/crafters.)

What’s the best advice you have been given about your business or craft practices? I’m just rounding out my first real year of the biz and indie craft shows. I haven’t had that one amazing piece of advice that has really stuck with me yet. Though, the community of crafters at the shows I have done, have all been amazing about giving me helpful tips here and there.

PROMO: Get $5 off a t-shirt purchase at birdmafia.etsy.com, when you mention this interview in the comments section. (the $5 will be refunded to you through paypal.)

website: birdmafia.com

Vendor Gallery – San Francisco Bazaar Maker Faire 2010

May 11th, 2010
Ach Ach Liebling

Ach Ach Liebling is a one-woman jewelry studio in Oakland making beautiful and sustainable accessories in an affordable price range. Ach Ach Liebling draws on traditional metalworking, vintage parts and a keen sense of style to craft a line of high-quality jewelry with unique appeal.

alena hennessy

Alena Hennessy is doing what she loves best, making art and thoughtfully designed products available to people everywhere, everyday. Her work can be seen in boutiques and galleries around the states and abroad. She is inspired by the natural world and it’s perfect design.

Alla-Mano Creations, LLC (dba foamywader)

Foamy Wader offers unique, fun, hand-made gemstone jewelry for everyday wear and special occasions. And knit beards for the ladies, spies and facial-hair challenged.

Ana Apple Designs

Ana Apple Designs proudly creates quality + affordable upcycled goods for quirky ladies, the guys that find them adorable and their delightfully eccentric offspring. Comfortably classic, happily handmade.

Applesauce Designs

AppleSauce Designs is a collaboration of sisters
Elizabeth and Monica Buenrostro.
They create unique, vintage-inspired garments for children, both boys and girls.
Using primarily vintage fabrics, trims and buttons, their products are eco-friendly and low-impact, made entirely in the USA.
With an eye for detail and mixing unusual colors that flow together, their designs make any child feel whimsical and one-of-a-kind.

ARCHICRAFT

As the sole designer and fabricator for ARCHICRAFT, Cindy Liu blends skills acquired during her 3 year stint in architecture school with her lifelong obsession with arts and crafts to produce a wide range of items that are a hybrid of modern design and handmade detailing with a touch of humor. All of our products are handmade and NONE of our products are outsourced.

As Wood As It Gets

Tony Fredericks is a local Bay Area artisan specializing in wooden “sculpture” in the form of lathe turned works of art. From custom wood vases to peppermills to pens, all of his items are made from highly figured, sustainable woods. All items are truly one of a kind as each piece of wood is unique.

Berkley Illustration

Ryan Berkley creates comic inspired art and prints for your walls or family photo albums. Perhaps best known for his “Animals in Suits” series, Ryan likes to tackle surreal subject matter in a very friendly way. He works from his home in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Lucy and their best friend, Walker The Epileptic Dog.

Beyond Wonderland

Beyond wonderland is Carolina Harris, fabric addict and sewing enthusiast.
She specializes in making unique Bags and accessories using quirky cotton and linen Japanese Fabrics.

Binary Winter Press

Binary Winter Press (artist Cody Vrosh and writer Sheatiel Sarao) creates original art, books and silkscreened apparel inspired by the things they love best, from Art Nouveau to robots, steampunk to satellites. Everything is handmade in an eco-friendly and vegan workshop.

bird mafia

Inspired by her cut paper art pieces, Bird Mafia artist, Emily Brown, screenprints everything from organic clothing to handmade eco-friendly home items to handmade friends like cubed animals, all constructed with organic, found and recycled materials.

Blockhead Press

While I love many types of media, I specialize in linocuts – prints made from carved linoleum. I have been carving and hand printing for 20 years – skills taught to me by my father – and this continues to be my favorite creative process. The images I select are often inspired by nature, sugared treats (particularly baked items), and my sense of humor.
All my images begin on linoleum. I work on an image, then transfer it to the linoleum block and start carving – I enjoy drawing and shading with the cutters, so it’s a bit of a surprise what results. From these come the cards, prints and images for the belt buckles. Many of the images also lend themselves to textiles, and for these, I create screens for printing. I also enjoy using various images for large graphic, acrylic paintings.

Bossa Nova Baby

Cathy Pitters runs Bossa Nova Baby out of her flamingo pink craft bunker located in Portland, Oregon. Inspired by the cool old stuff she surrounds herself with, Cathy creates vintage inspired clothing + accessories for young and old.

Bug Under Glass

Bug Under Glass is a green business run by Kevin Clarke, an insect researcher and artisan, who has worked in the entomology departments of the California Academy of Sciences and IZIKO South African Museums. He uses his professional museum display experience to build world-class insect displays that are stylish, built to museum standards, and educate others about often ignored beauty that lives among us. BUG specializes in a select group of species that come from biodiversity programs that employ butterfly farming as a conservation tool. These very programs are used and endorsed by the WWF, Nature Conservancy, and Conservation International.

Bumperboy

Debbie Huey is the artist and writer of the all-ages comic book series, Bumperboy. Her graphic novels and minicomics have captured the hearts of both kids and adults with their whimsical characters and clever plot lines. But her creativity doesn’t stop there. When she’s not writing, Debbie is creating new Bumperboy merchandise inspired by the stories, as well as handcrafting unique goods, such as needlefelted characters and collapsible purse hooks.

Bunny Butt Apothecary

Purveyors of fine hand-crafted soap, balms, butters, perfumes, and other lovely smelly things. Everything that goes on your body, goes in your body — our philosophy: if it’s going in there, it better be good! We place a principal focus on natural ingredients, blended with the funnest, most delicious smells we can get our hands on. Because bunny butts smell like a spring meadow, didn’t you know?

Cara Lyndon Vintage Re-Crafted Jewelry

My name is Cara Lyndon and I am a jewelry designer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I produce vintage, re-crafted jewelry working specifically with vintage plastics set onto sterling silver and gold fill findings. I search through old warehouses, estate sales and passed-on family collections to find vintage Bakelite, Cellulite and Lucite.

These unique, handcrafted pieces reflect my attraction to vivid colors and floral patterns.
My personal commitment to an eco-friendly lifestyle inspires me to seek out those remnants that already exist on the planet from the 1940’s and 1950’s, re-working them into exquisite, original pieces.

Casa Murriguez

Casa Murriguez, Casa M for short, makes environmentally and socially sustainable handmade housewares and home decor featuring hand drawn illustrations by Sharon Murriguez. Products include throw pillows of all sizes, tea towels, wall art, stationery and other such items that will turn the style knob of any room in your home up a notch.

Ceramics by Marcelle

Ceramics by Marcelle is a one woman business run by Marcelle Walliser. She has been making functional pottery for many years, and turned her hobby into a business in 2007. Her pieces are made on the potter’s wheel or from hand rolled slabs. You will find unusual and classic pieces in an array of vibrant colors.

Chicks & Frogs

Chicks and Frogs creates a whimsical line of clothes for Haute Chicks and Future Princes who are tech savvy, multicultural, and urban.

We celebrates the joy and humor of raising kids. At the height of chaos, we could all use a good laugh.

Chocolate and Steel

Chocolate and Steel is a handcrafted reclaimed silver jewelry collection created by Los Angeles artist Christine Street. The collection features her original cheerful illustrations stamped into reclaimed fine silver. Many pieces are accentuated with colorful stones as well.

Classic Harlequin

Classic-Harlequin.com is the brainchild of Amberry Jam, a costume designer based out of Austin and Houston Texas. Bringing theatrical elements into every day accessories and outfits is what Classic Harlequin is all about.

Cookie & the Dude

From the time I was a little girl all things vibrant, fresh and whimsical have captivated me. I studied fine art from early childhood on thru college. However, when I entered my twenties I left fine art behind and entered the world of ‘crafters’ and, by my mid twenties, textiles became my main obsession. From vintage to reproduction fabrics, I found myself most inspired by the rich colors and varying textures this medium seemed to offer. From headbands to tissue holders, earrings and belts I have dedicated the last 10 years or so to bringing fun, useful and affordable accessories to the general public.

Cynically Delicious

no offense to your mom, but we probably don’t bake like her.
cynically delicious is a boutique cupcakery that combines the joys of food with the fun of art. we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we do use serious ingredients.
from ghirardelli cocoa to nielsen massey vanilla, we’re devoted to experimenting with exotic flavors and concepts while staying committed to local bay area produce and cream.

Decades of Style Pattern Company

Decades of Style Pattern Company provides high quality vintage sewing pattern reproductions for clothing from the 1920s through the 1950s. Updated sewing patterns are available in a wide range of sizes. Make your own vintage fashions with Decades of Style sewing patterns!

Dee&Lala

Dee&Lala is a modern stationery line that offers luxe letterpress cards and other wares.

Doubleparlour

Founded in November 2007, Doubleparlour is a husband and wife team living in San Francisco, CA. Work includes solo and collaborative pieces in a variety of mediums including sculptures, illustrations, paintings and prints. We strive to produce well-crafted artwork with an emphasis on peculiar, humorous, melancholy and delightful characters.

Eristotle

Eristotle is about fun and funky ways to decorate your pad and your life with reduce-reuse-recycle front and center to every design. Find fun home decor and funky fashion accessories, all handmade using vintage, upcycled, reclaimed, thrifted and eco-friendly materials to suit all tastes!

Erma

Erma jewelry is made from new materials, new (laser) technology and old memories. Each piece represents a treasure from the past transformed into a wearable keepsake.

Etch Your Heart Out

Ever since learning to etch glass a little over a year ago I have been absolutely in love with it. I create all the designs myself from drawings and doodles and etch them on to glasses of all shapes and sizes. My favorite glasses to etch are the random, funky, colorful ones I find in thrift stores. My hope is that I create beautiful and functional items that people will enjoy owning as much as I have enjoyed making them.

Etta + Billie

Etta + Billie creates eco-conscious handcrafted natural bath and body products. All products are made in small batches using the finest natural ingredients including oils, herbs, botanicals, clays and high quality essential oils. We use organic, sustainable, wild-harvested ingredients whenever possible. All packaging is reusable or recyclable. Etta + Billie = Sustainable Beauty

Fabric Horse

Fabric Horse products are incredibly functional and all handmade in Philadelphia for both men and women. We believe our work dares people to expand their imaginations socially, creatively and philosophically. Originally designed for urban cycling our products expand far and beyond. The utility belts are perhaps what we are best known for, especially our originally designed U-Lock Holster. Everything we make uses recycled, reused and new materials to make the most durable product possible.

Fat Rabbit Farm

For over three years, creator and designers Jason Ponggasam and Patty Variboa (Los Angeles)
have instilled the passion, creativity, and personality into what Fat Rabbit Farm is today.
Now inspired by two fat bunnies, Babee and Blanket, they continue to share the adventures
and stories of the kingdom of Fat Rabbit Farm through apparel, art, and accessories. Enjoy!

Feral Artery

Feral Artery is a venture of grown feral children, husband and wife team, who share a view of the world as an unusual place to be. They offer creations of the world as they see it, with visions of the future as seen from the past. They must be stopped!

field day

field day is an independent clothing label born out of Oakland

California. field day offers sustainable materials, organic cotton and

bamboo. All our wearable seeds are sewn in the field and made, printed

and dyed one at a time in Oakland California.

fiftyseven-thirtythree

fiftyseven-thirtythree apparel is proudly made in the City of Oakland using water based, solvent free inks. No sweatshops, art directors, consultants or teleconferencing are used in the production of our gear.

Flimflammery

Flimflammery produces high quality art prints, paintings, sketchbooks, cards and more! Featuring the artwork of illustrator and animator Bill Robinson, Flimflammery is the place for whimsical, funny, and odd art for everyone in your life.

flock home

About Flock Home Linens by Gina Pericini

Oakland, CA clothing designer Gina Pericini’s latest design venture is Flock Home Linens, her new line of home decor and linen tabletop accessories featuring hand-printed linen dinner napkin sets, cocktail napkins, coasters, pillow shams, pin cushions, and tea towels as well as numerous fabulous gifts. Larger pieces such as tablecloths, runners, slipcovers, and curtains will be available for custom orders.

Foxy Monster

Foxy Monster bear hoods are made by hand in the Bay Area and are the creation of Ashley Larson. These soft and colorful hats are fun for adults as well as children. Available in a variety of long fur colors and fleece patterns they are guaranteed to increase cuteness by 400% while bringing out the whimsical animal nature of anyone who wears them!

go robot!

Go Robot! is the creation of Stuart Breidenstein, an Oregon-based techno producer-turned jewelry designer. Stuart uses combinations of materials, from the precious to the discarded, to create one-off and low-production jewelry. With the help of his robot pals, he churns out funky stuff until the wee hours in his backyard laboratory/music studio.

Gravitea

Get Grounded with Gravitea
Ground your body and elevate your senses with Gravitea. Our unique and innovative line of teas provides a modern twist for your palate filled with a sense of discovery. Gravitea strikes the perfect balance between body and mind – giving you healthy nutrients and antioxidants keep your body grounded, while elevating your senses and clearing your mind. Each of our hand-made artisan blends of premium loose-leaf teas, fruits, and herbs opens a new door to the senses providing a modern twist on traditional teas -€“ with each and every infusion.
Gravitate toward a healthier, happier you…

Intwined

A company that seeks to combine two elements that fundamentally clash, but when paired together, are a match made in heaven. Intwined proves that opposites attract and can form a beautiful piece that strangely match. Our bow ties are as unique as the personalities that wear them. They are dressy accessories that can fit into a classy affair or add class to something as simple as a Sunday stroll in the park.
Intwined. A Playful Sophistication.

HellaTJ

Tj Morales is a graphic designer and illustrator local to the Bay Area specializing in print and vector illustration amongst other things. He also wears black socks and underwear so he doesn’t have to wash a white load of laundry.

Katy Kristin

Katy Kristin lives at the coast near San Francisco, and her hero is Pippi Longstocking. Even though she collects too much stuff for her own good, she is inspired to create more stuff: whimsical dolls and plushies, art, jewelry, clothes and more. Someday Katy hopes to live in a treehouse, a BIG treehouse.

Jim Dandy’s

jim dandy’s is a boutique of unique, tackily delicious, kitsch, feather fascinators , sexy aprons, and the likes, that are used to fascinate suitors, coworkers, objects of obsession, and your own fancy.
these feather fascinators are inspired by the daring and courageous, the young and not so young, peg bundy as well as clara bow, playas and the serene.
blossoming in the beginning of 2009, jim dandy’s has progressed into more than imagined; with no signs of stopping.
jim dandy’s is made up of founder Rebecca Gatanis, but would be nothing without the women who constantly inspire, dazzle, impress, motivate, and instill strength and outrageous laughs in everyone.

Kelso Doesnt Dance

Kelso Doesnt Dance is eco accessories, handmade for real life! Everything is made not only to look good but to be functional and practical for every day use. The current focus is on the wallets which are upcycled out of newspapers, road maps, atlases, dictionaries and other book pages but also includes golden book notebooks, flash card notebooks and other small upcycled goods. Kelso Doesnt Dance is also a proud memeber of the Long Beach Craft Mafia!

kiu Designs

kiu Designs is the brainchild of Ann Kiu, attorney turned fashion designer. She broke out of corporate America to pursue her passion for fashion design. In addition to producing couture women and men’s clothing, kiu Designs also released a line of unique and whimsical handbags and clutch purses. The tote bags are reversible, making them that much more versatile. All bags are handcrafted in San Francisco.

Knickerocker

Knickerocker is a store where you can find fabulous panties in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes. Each pair of Knickerocker panties are carefully handmade with great attention to detail, which can include hand sewn appliques and hand dyed lace trims. Fabric is bought in small quantities and can vary from luxurious silks to frivolous spandex and styles range from 50’s high waist glamour to boudoir frilly.

LOOMLAB

scarf design inspired by innovation and imagination.
pushing creative boundaries of scarf design with hand-selected yarns and trimmings.
technological fusion of art and fabric production.
capturing the pulse of the present.
experience – connect and participate – at www.LOOMLAB.com

Maureen Shields

Maureen Shields makes collages and painting from vintage magazines. Maureen’s vibrant collages make us smile and entice us to take a closer look. Her wonderfully layered works are like carefully handcrafted confections, sweet at first, but once you get through all the layers, are quite complex and thought provoking.

Maureen has a BFA from California State University Long Beach, and an MFA from New York University. She lives and works in San Francisco.

Martin Hsu

Martin Hsu carries around a small notebook filled with ideas and hopes to make silly t-shirts and paintings with them. He’s inspired by his family, Chinese folk art, and brown sugar caramel. When he’s not borrowing free wifi from cafes, he works as a character designer at Disney TV Animation and has worked on shows like Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and Kick Buttowski.

Mediums to Masses

For Mediums to Masses, each piece is designed and handcrafted at Sarah’s studio in Oakland. Sarah combines her love of glass with that of vintage textile patterns to create her unique line of jewelry and tablewares.

Mochi Studios

Mochi Studios creates cute plush creatures to love and share. Each creation is sewn and embroidered by hand and aimed at making people smile. Our style is vibrantly playful yet intricately detailed. All of our creations are handmade from original designs by the creator Rita Chu. From sewing, stitching, knitting, crocheting, to embroidering, her craft is the needle.

Motormouthpress, LLC

Motormouthpress, LLC has been specializing in food-themed stationery and cards that double as mementos since 2004. Our company was born from the oven over many thoughts of sweet treats and ways to share them with friends and family near and far.
Our products include both offset and letterpress greetingcards, stationery, and artist books.

Mr.Funky

Narumi Ogawa was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Her formative years were spent studying music, her greatest passions first awoke whilst playing jazz piano. In 1993, Narumi moved to the US where she began Mr. Funky. As the sole designer of all Mr. Funky products, Narumi first began selling her work in small neighborhood boutiques in Los Angeles and showing her work at trade shows. Her work has been exhibited on CBS Morning News, in magazines like Bust and Vice as well as on websites such as DailyCandyLA.

MsCraftypants

Allergic to pastels? MsCraftypants makes gear for your family that is modern and bright with nary a bunny or duckling in sight.

my imaginary boyfriend

My Imaginary Boyfriend is equal parts felt, cotton, and embroidery with a few dashes of silly, vintage, and sophistication thrown in for good measure. All items are made by Erika Kern with a focus on hand embroidery, painting, and applique.

Nous Savons

Nous Savons has been described alternately as the “opus of a 114-year-old grizzled sailor just back from the heart of darkness,” or “If Anthropologie had a flagship store in Grey Gardens.” Based in Oakland, California, Nous Savons specializes in reconstructed clothing and accessories, but will often deviate into other areas of interest. Current inspirations include medals of valor from long-forgotten island nations, fossilized white coral, and vintage sporting equipment.

oh, hello friend.

oh, hello friend offers jewelry, paper and home goods, and other lovely items. all made and designed by danni hong. visit the blog at: ohhellofriend.blogspot.com.

Patchwerk press

Patchwerk Press is a collective of stuff and thing makers that like to push the limits.

we make things together. we host fashion show, live printing events, teach classes, host Swap O Rama Rama and other DIY events.

PenguinBot

PenguinBot is the creator of fun and funky knit and sewn purses, tote bags, and housewares. Our unique designs are well-crafted, bright, bold, and 100% handmade. We love working with vinyl for its durability, wool yarn for its versatility, and printed fabric…just because it’s pretty.
Laurel, the owner and crafter behind PenguinBot, opened her online shop in 2008 after taking custom orders through her craft blog for over a year. She lives and works in San Diego with her husband and one-year-old son.

Polly Danger

Polly Danger creates crafts for crafty people, bringing you handmade bias tapes, buttons, patterns and other unique and inspired sewing notions to help you find your inner crafter. She also serves up utility aprons, mini-wallets, coin purses and more. Polly Danger uses only the loveliest in new and vintage fabrics, hand-picked just for you from all over the globe. Bringing Cuteness to the world of utility since 2006.

Pollyannacowgirl

Welcome to Pollyannacowgirl, home of wearable cuteness, handmade jewelry, and colorful accessories.

What makes a Pollyannacowgirl product? Everyday stuff with a bit of magic; bright colors, polka dots, ripe golden raspberries, perfectly decorated cakes, seriously hot coffee, old tin toys, pecking sparrows, California poppies, candy buttons, and all those little teensy kitschy treats that make life extra fun!

Pretty Fun / WELL

Pretty Fun & WELL are two jewelery lines that allow designer, Riquelle to echo the joy, natural design, beauty and creativity of life.

Prologue

Prologue, by Shawna Rose, is dedicated to preserving hardcover books through functional wearable art.

Prologue showcases unique handmade purses, wallets, phone/ipod covers, and lamps crafted from vintage books.

Use your iPad to read a book and your book to listen to music. Explore the comic disconnect between form and function.

Punky Bunny Designs

At Punky Bunny Designs we lovingly create handmade jewelry in sterling silver, vermeil and brass. We also have a fully customizable line of sterling silver necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings!

Recession Clothing

We started Recession Clothing in 2007, in the midst of the economic downturn, with the belief that it’s time to go small.
When you pick up a piece of Recession Clothing, you know where it came from: our small studio in West Oakland where we make our clothes from start to finish. First we meticulously design every garment. Then we collect the most comfortable, sustainable, and reliable fabrics we can find. We cut all the patterns, print the pieces, and carefully sew them up.
The end result is a collection of streetwear and undergarments for men and ladies that is responsibly produced, good humored, and will leave customers with their new favorite clothing.
Recession Clothing
Made by Us.
Avery & Leah and Friends

Recover Your Thoughts

Doug MacNeil is a humble small businessman, overwhelmed by his concern for the environment.  After discovering the huge quantity of discarded library books, and usable but unwanted, he created a popular and needed journal.  Amazing as it sounds, except for the sturdy wire binding, everything in his journals was rescued from trash dumpsters and recycling bins.   Mr MacNeil is a 21 century hero.  He is married, no children, happy and overweight.

Revival Ink

All Revival Ink creations are hand-drawn, and printed in Seattle with non-toxic, water-based inks. Our Eco-friendly apparel is made from the finest organic cotton and bamboo. Support local artists, love our earth, and look very stylish while doing it. Let the revival begin!

Sasha Bell Jewelry

Sasha Bell Jewelry is a Los Angeles based jewelry design studio that creates unique modern tribal works in precious metals and occasionally semi precious stones. With a strong focus on design, each item is truly a piece of artwork and will be treasured by women of all ages.

Seattle Show Posters

Seattle Show Posters has a motto: “Affordable, accessible art”. Or maybe it’s “Wake up, Rule, Repeat.”

We design and hand-screenprint posters, cards, shirts, bags and other awesome stuff. Everything is environment- and wallet-friendly and will look great on your wall, on your back, or under your birdcage.

Shu-hui “Hue” Yang

Oakland Ceramist Hue Yang creates unique functional pottery with simple forms and detailed surfaces. Her goal is to provide fun and interesting ceramic objects for people to enjoy in their homes. Hand drawn images of animals contrasted with patterns of color or texture cover the surface of her pottery.

Sora Designs

Wen of Sora Designs came to this country for her doctorate degree in early intervention. While in the graduate school, Wen started making jewelry as an innocent creative outlet for her mom, sisters and friends. Sora Designs was started on a whim in the fall of 2008, after months of lurking and browsing through the Etsy site. The whim became an obsession and the world is never the same again after the first item sold. Shortly after one year, Wen quit her day job as a researcher at a government agency to design/craft/operate Sora Designs full time.
“Sora” means “sky” in Japanese. “Possibilities are as open as the sky” is the motto for Wen’s new obsession. She strives to make jewelry that are functional and stunning as well as affordable. She uses many recycled or environmentally friendly materials. Her favorite materials are vintage buttons and artifacts; vintage Lucite beads and pendants; colorful semiprecious stones; and fabrics.
Please check out her blog at www.soradesigns.blogspot.com

Stuffed Misfit

The saddest part of the world is the discarded stuffed animal bin at Goodwill – Stuffed Misfit hates sadness. And we love recycling. Fueled by unconditional love and a Frankenstein-ish passion for making creatures, we take those animals and other odds and ends to create our charming, offbeat misfits.

Sweet Dreams Cooperative

The Sweet Dreams Cooperative is a moneymaking enterprise in which students gain real-world experience managing a small business. Sweet Dreams is part of the San Francisco nonprofit – Turning Heads Sewing & Fashion Design Program. In 2005 several young women graduates of the Sewing Program initiated the cooperative. Sweet Dreams has successfully launched its own line of hand crafted lavender eye pillows, yoga mat bags, aromatherapy dream pillows and sachets. Creating products, marketing and running a small business provide young women with ongoing, hands-on lessons in entrepreneurship.

Sweet Meats

Designer Lauren Fleischer comes from a long line of butchers on both sides of her family. In 2004, she constructed a small ham out of fleece as a personal art project. Everyone who saw the ham wanted to commission one, and Sweet Meats was born.

Taxi CDC

Reconstructed, Redesigned, Rebuilt Vintage Clothing.

Thank You For Not Being Perky

Laura Henry is an artist, crafter and web developer based in Oakland, CA. She specializes in sewing and watercolor painting and will try any craft once (or twice!). Laura has a BFA and worked in the tech industry for 10 years before taking some time off to stay home with her son.

Laura now spends her time sewing spats, is learning garment construction and how to play the ukulele.

The Bare Tree

The Bare Tree is an eco-friendly and socially responsible apparel company from Madison, Wisconsin. Unique clothing for guys and girls, screen printed by hand.

The Girl and Rhino

The Girl & Rhino is the friendship and thoughts shared between a girl and her imaginary friend, Rhino. It’s ideas that make them laugh and keep them sane; it’s graphic happiness designed in Oakland and silkscreened on sweatshop free American Apparel t-shirts and hoodies; and it looks forward to making your acquaintance.

The Particle Zoo

Hold the elusive Higgs boson in your hand with other subatomic particle plushies from The Particle Zoo. Plush quarks, nucleons, bosons and theoretical particles like tachyons come to life as colorful plushies weighted according to their subatomic mass. Perfect for physicists, astronomers, science geeks and educators, these handmade toys (9,000 and counting) have brought smiles to people around the world.

The Spun Monkey

The Spun Monkey is a love affair with process, with creative collaboration, with a patch of grass. Wool from small family farms is lovingly crafted into artful supplies for knitting, weaving and crochet or wet-felted into joyful adornments to keep you cozy.

The Weekend Store

The Weekend Store is an Oakland, CA – based business, specializing in jewelry and gifts for writers, travellers, and other interesting people.

Tinted Mint

Tinted Mint specializes in eco-friendly handmade, with a design philosophy of Thoughtful Beauty X Modern Craft. Products range from delicate wax paper envelopes to modern gift tags of upcycled materials. They also carry a variety of Japanese colored masking tapes.

Tinymeat

Snazzy wallets and other delightful accessories made by me since 2003. The tallest, craftiest boy in all of Portland!

Fete With Flair

Fete With Flair makes cute cards and DIY stationery sets for all occasions. They also specialize in custom made-to-order cards for baby and bridal showers and are well sought after for wedding invitations and wedding planning.

Tom Banwell Designs

Tom Banwell Designs makes handmade leather masks & head wreaths. Tom has been working in leather for over 30 years, but just started making masks two years ago. Selling primarily through their Etsy store, Tom and his wife Jill reside in the beautiful Sierra Nevada foothills.

Turk+Taylor

Turk+Taylor is dedicated to offering modern and sustainable apparel and tees for men & women. All pieces are hand-made in San Francisco.

Urban Fauna Studio

Urban Fauna Studio sells independently made and eco-friendly craft
supplies and tools for knitting, spinnin, felting and weaving. We
focus on ecologically and socially considerate manufacturing practices
(e.g. no-petrochemicals used, sustainable raw fibers and woods,
biodegradable products, and recycled materials) and handmade items.

Vinyl Frontier

Nicole Vasbinder and Vince Pacheco created Vinyl Frontier because of their love for vintage records. They’ve been collecting for years and the stacks were getting out of control. Each journal is made from records that they have saved from thrift stores and garage sales. The albums that they craft with are unplayable, scratched, or on their way to the land fill. Vinyl Frontier rescues those discarded albums and gives them new life!

Wondermark

Wondermark is a unique comic strip crafted entirely from 19th-Century woodcuts. By turns silly, sarcastic, trenchant, and profound, Wondermark comics (once a regular feature in the Onion’s print edition) can be found online and in beautiful hardbound collections from Dark Horse Books. The Wondermark line of prints, greeting cards, and gift items make any life slightly more absurd and delightful.

woolbuddy

Jackie is a 3D story artist working in the animation industry in the Bay Area.
In 2009 he start the WoolBuddy hand made project, unique needle felting wool characters .
They are so creative, cute, and hilarious all at the same time. Each one of them are unique and special .

Xylocopa Design, LLC

Xylocopa Design is a husband-wife design team dedicated to the creation of wondrously fun things from wood and other natural materials. Best known for their award-winning Mad Science Alphabet Blocks, Michele and Andrew of Xylocopa use everything from lasers to hand carving tools to build their unique collection of jewelry, toys, home decor, musical instruments, and much more. All these creations are designed, illustrated, and produced in their secret lair in Tucson, Arizona.

Yasmin Perez Jewelry design and Sculpture

Yasmin Perez is an independent jewelry designer and metal artist from Palo Alto, Ca. She fabricates everything by hand, and, because she is always working on something new, her list of materials is continuously changing. Most often she likes to use sterling silver, fine silver, various types of chain and semiprecious stones. Her jewelry, inspired by family and life experiences, takes on an organic look that also portrays her love for color and nature.

Jaime Zollars

Jaime Zollars creates whimsical images for galleries and books. Original screenprints, giclee prints, cards, and vintage soft T-shirts are some of the things you’ll find that make great and unique gifts for your friends or yourself!

See a change that needs to be made on this page? Email me: laura@bazaarbizarre.org

Videojug.com is looking for skilled and creative people to join the Art & Craft Channel‏

May 11th, 2010
Hello,I am the editor of videojug.com, the world’s leading ‘how to’ website. We’re about to get bigger and better… and I’d like you to be a part of it.We are launching a powerful new self-publishing / blogging service that helps those in the know (i.e. you) connect with our knowledge-hungry audience.

We are looking for a select group of skilled and creative people to become Founding members of the Art & Craft Channel on the new service which launches at the end of May.

As a Founding Member you will be able to help shape how our service develops and establish yourself as the font of knowledge on everything from needlework and dressmaking to pottery and woodworking.

There are some great benefits to being a founder member:

  • Create text & video pages to promote your skills, knowledge & even your business.  Even create a site if you’re feeling adventurous!
  • Be sure that your pages will get read. Our skilled search-engine-optimisation team will get maximum exposure in Google for your work;
  • Get back-links to your existing website or blog;
  • Connect with knowledge-hungry enthusiasts who share your interests;
  • Earn real rewards for sharing what you know: cash, kudos and more…
  • Become a pillar of a new online community of skilled craftsmen & eager hobbyists.

If you’re keen to find out more and be involved in this exciting project then please let me know. You can reply to this email (it’s come from a real person!) and I will send you more information and a start-up pack.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Harriet Hungerford
Editor
www.videojug.com 

e-mail at; Harriet@email.videojug.com

32nd Annual Celebration of Craftwomen

May 9th, 2010

The Womens Building 32nd annual Celebration of Craftswomen is held November 27-28 and December 4-5, 2010 at Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason Center, (Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard), in San Francisco. The show is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and features a changing roster of more than 150 different artists each weekend. The Celebration is San Francisco’s largest holiday fine crafts retail fair, and the largest event celebrating the craft of women. Adding to it social impact, the Celebration benefits the programs of The Women’s Building, a community center serving women and girls in San Francisco.
Apllications at www.celebrationofcraftswomen.org

We have provided this listing on our Blog as a service to our fellow indie crafters and designers. This show is not affiliated to San Francisco Bazaar. BBSF Blog makes no guarantees or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained on this post. Please direct all questions using the contact information as listed on this blog post. DO NOT leave questions here on our blog as they will not be answered by the show organizers. See our Terms of Use section for more information

Pescadero Arts and Fun Festival – Aug 21 & 22

May 9th, 2010

 Pescadero Arts and Fun Festival offers everything a summer festival should for young and old alike. The annual two-day event, held at the IDES Grounds in downtown Pescadero, includes live music, arts and crafts, country cooking and a Kids Korral.

Vendor applications at: http://www.pescaderoartsandfunfestival.com/

We have provided this listing on our Blog as a service to our fellow indie crafters and designers. This show is not affiliated to San Francisco Bazaar. BBSF Blog makes no guarantees or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained on this post. Please direct all questions using the contact information as listed on this blog post. DO NOT leave questions here on our blog as they will not be answered by the show organizers. See our Terms of Use section for more information

Vendors Needed – Oakland/Piemont

May 9th, 2010

Vendors needed with Gifts, Jewerly ,Clothing that would work for Travel.  If you have other thing that would work with this please let me Know. 
This event will be high end , with lots of foot traffic.  You will make lots of contacts and we will have these Events every 3or 4 months . 
The date is sunday,  July 11  3-7pm Space price is 75.00 
Please Email me at sugarbabiestravel@yahoo.com for vendors info .

www.sugarbabies1travel.com

Skip to content