The Renegade Craft Fair

The weekend before last, I had a nice day out in East London... at the Renegade Craft Fair.

I really enjoyed visiting Renegade last year and was really looking forward to it, especially when I saw how many of my favourite designer/makers were going to be selling their wares.

So I caught the train into London and got the Tube to Liverpool Street...

 

... then walked through Spitalfields to Brick Lane, where the fair was being held.

Last year the fair was held earlier in the year (in September) and we were having a crazy Indian Summer and wandering round in t-shirts... and this year it was very cold and rather miserable - I took all those photos from under my umbrella!

Inside the venue, the fair was huge and super busy! There were so many talented makers and artists selling so many seriously awesome things, I felt slightly in awe of how much creative talent there is in the UK. I also feared for the state of my bank balance because oh my goodness there was so much great stuff.

I wandered round looking at all the stalls, picked up lots of business cards for future online shopping and then treated myself to a few cards - I am trying not to buy too much "stuff" at the moment as I'm trying to declutter, but you always need nice stationery, right? :)

I discovered a whole bunch of new-to-me sellers, including Scout Editions (I am kicking myself for not buying a set of these bird postcards or a box of these charming What To Pack cards)...

... Telegramme Studio (whose set of retro Christmas cards were too delicious to resist - those baubles! and that snowglobe! Swoon! I am not sure I am going to be able to part with all of these this Christmas) ...

... and Mister Peebles whose David Meowie print is just too adorable.

 

It was lovely to meet Jenny McCabe, who sells gorgeous hand printed textiles and whose book Handprint and Make Your Own Bags is in my "to review" pile at the moment.

 

It was also great to see stalls from makers I've bought from on Etsy in the past, including Mrs Eliot Books...

 

... and Paper Moon whose stall I totally missed on my way back round the fair to do some shopping (I am super annoyed at myself for this as her Christmas cards were so completely delighful!)

And I got to say hi to lots of lovely crafty ladies I know through blogging/ Twitter / Etsy / etc...

Genevieve from Floss & Mischief - who sells awesome cross stitch kits and patterns. I met up with Genevieve for a cuppa after last year's Renegade Fair so it was especially nice to see her back this year, but with a stall this time round!

Bex, who is one half of Stuffed Nonsense who kindly invited me to their craft night in Cheltenham years ago to which I never went because I am the worst (sorry guys!). Stuffed Nonsense currently make fab textile jewellery and recently opened a shop in Cheltenham called By The Yard where they sell work by lots of designers and makers and run crafty workshops. 
 

Claire from The Bellwether, who sells brilliant (and sometimes quite spicy) cross stitch samplers and kits as well as cool stitching supplies (one of these cross stitch pendant blanks has been on my wish list for aaages).

Marceline from Asking For Trouble, whose work is always completely adorable whether it's wrapping paper or badges or postcards or brooches....

Sarah from Magasin, who sells ace cross stitch jewellery and whose awesome cross stitch book X-Stitch is on my "to review" pile at the moment.

 

Kim from Finest Imaginary who sells awesome laser cut jewellery including this completely brilliant polar collection.

And Debbie from Ladysnail whose illustration-based work always makes me smile so much!

As well as stalls for shopping, there was also a photo booth and lots of crafty workshops... including a felt-y workshop to promote Jane Bull's book Crafty Creatures (another title in my "to review" pile - I have so many books I need to share with you guys!)...

 

... and workshops run by the team behind the Mollie Makes books. I have to admit that it was a little surreal rounding a corner and seeing the parrots I made for Mollie Makes: Feathered Friends hanging on the wall!

 

It was also nice to chat to Camilla from Folksy (I am pressing "pause" on my Folksy shop for a while as I'm taking a break from selling handmade things, but it's great to see this fab UK venue thriving - the new store fronts that are being rolled out at the moment look great!)...

... and to meet Perri who is yet another lovely lady whose great craft book (Material World) I need to review (note to self: get on and review a bunch of craft books!). Perri is currently working for The Amazings, who create online craft classes.

 

And as if that wasn't enough crafty goodness for the day, I bumped into super-crafter Momtaz and we had a lovely long chat about making, blogging, etc, over some very yummy cake in a local cafe.

Wanna see the cards I bought? Modernist Postcards from Mrs Eliot Books, sunshine & cat cards from Ladysnail, Where There's Tea There's Hope card from Lovely Sweet William, mittens card from Finest Imaginary and Christmas cards from Telegramme. So much loveliness!

If there's another Renegade Fair in London next year, I will be there with bells on. I really recommend it if you're in the area and if not, it'd make a great excuse to go to London for the day!  :)