Friday, January 16, 2015

Renegade Craft Fair // Winter Market 2014




So I know this post has been significantly delayed, but it is partially due to the fact that one of the items pictured was given as a Christmas gift, so I hope you'll bear with me.  Back in early December I attended the Chicago Renegade Craft Fair Winter Market at the Bridgeport Art Center.  The venue was an incredible loft space located in the top floor of the building with beautiful natural light coming through the rafters and crafters as far as the eye could see.  One of my favorite parts was the simple craft ornaments that decorated the event, hanging in the chandelier in the freight elevator, and from the rafters in the main rooms.   Many of the vendors were incredible, but I chose two of my favorites to highlight for you all in this post!

Fox and Hammer



Fox and Hammer is a shop owned by the delightful Karina Koch wherein she sells handmade merit badges and jewelry featuring watercolor illustrations of animals.  I've fallen in love with everything about this shop.  From the inventive display methods, to the one of a kind badges, to the giant painted sign greeting customers, I can't get enough.  Each badge features a different animal and fabric combination, and each badge has an animal illustration that Karina has drawn placed upon deadfall that she collects from forests.  Her products are so unique and different from the things I usually see, and the brooch pin thing has always been the way to my heart. You just don't see that many pins and brooches out there these days.  

Not only are her creations unique because of her illustrations — each merit badge is stitched by hand, and the fabric she uses is about 76% vintage fabric she spends time hunting for in antique stores (she says she's even offered someone $10 at her booth once for his plaid shirt!).

What's new in 2015 for Fox and Hammer, you ask?  Karina will be working on some special boutonnieres featuring some great vintage fabric she found last summer, as well as creating some limited edition runs of her work to support animal rehabilitation facilities to give back to the animals that inspire her.   She is also excited about having a new hiking backpack to explore further off the trails when she collects deadfall for her work ( she's used to hiking two miles into the forests collecting the branches in her arms!)   I can't wait to see all these new things in 2015!



Lonesome Traveler


Lonesome Traveler was another booth that was particularly intriguing to me, featuring many beautiful handcrafted ties, as well as other gentleman's accessories, including vintage tie clips like the one pictured above.  All of the ties seemed to be of a high-quality construction and fabrication, and the assortment of tie clips were beautiful!  I would certainly purchase from this shop again! 

Other awesome Crafters:

- The Lovely Red Fox


1 comment:

  1. This looks like so much fun. I wish I lived in a place like Chicago that actually had stuff like this to do. I love Chicago so much!
    xx
    Jenny // Mish Mosh Makeup

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