Oh, man, I can hardly contain myself. In just 8 hours I am leaving Indianapolis for Chicago to enjoy the spectacle and wonderment that is the Renegade Craft Fair. This will be my fourth year attending (I even went last year when it poured down rain). I usually spend most of my time wandering from one amazingly unique booth to another, buying Christmas presents for all my loved ones (yes my husband really did need a magenta t-shirt with a dinosaur saying “make me a sandwich” on it) and trying desperately to buy a few things for myself from the vast quantity of items that I want.
I love this event because it reminds me that there is so much creativity out there. It also gives artists and craftspeople an opportunity to sell their wares in an environment where people are receptive and excited about what they do. It is so inspiring to me to see artists making a living doing what they love and seeing more and more people understanding how special buying handmade is.
I hope that if you are in the Chicago area you will check it out. You can get more information right here. If you are unable to go click here to see all the artists that will be there and visit their online shops. You will be happy you did I promise.
Clay and I were lucky enough to sponsor a contest for the vendors at the INDIEana Summer Handicraft Exchange. All the visitors to the event got to vote on their favorite vendor, and, as I posted yesterday, Allison Ford from studio AMF won a free custom Patron website! While I am very impressed with Allison’s work, I was also excited by the range of items for sale at the fair. I wanted to do a quick post of some of the other vendors participating in the contest. Click here to view the gallery with vendor names and links.
I am so happy that events like this are taking place in Indianapolis. Thank you to Amanda Mauer Taflinger and her team for putting together such a well organized and unique event!
Ladies and gentlemen, Patron is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s INDIEana Handicraft Exchange. There are going to be over 75 contemporary crafters together in one place this Saturday, 6-13 from 11am – 10pm selling their goods at the Harrison Center for the Arts in downtown Indianapolis. Clay and I will be there, too, talking to people about Patron and doing some shopping of our own. Hope to see you there!
Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that Renegade Craft Fair is now accepting applications for its Chicago fair in September. This is a great opportunity to get exposure for you work in a fun and different environment than traditional art fairs. Check out their website right here. Patron is going to hopefully have a table there. Hope to see you there, too!
This weekend is the 39th Broad Ripple Art Fair here in Indianapolis. There will be more than 225 artists selling their work along with a children’s creative area, gourmet food courts, a beer and wine garden and live entertainment. The fair takes place on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center from 10-6pm tomorrow and 10-5 Sunday. Click here for more information.
Yesterday I had just gotten back from a client meeting in Muncie when my friend Sarah emailed me withan offer I couldn’t refuse. She had two FREE tickets to the David Sedaris reading!!! Only thing – it was at Ball State University in Muncie an hour away. But I couldn’t say no to the opportunity to see David Sedaris read. He is one of my favorite authors. Travis and I hopped in the car and drove to Muncie, and I am so glad we did. David Sedaris was hilarious and gracious and wonderful. This was only the second stop on his tour with NPR and he read new material that he was trying out. He would make little marks everytime people laughed. At the end he took the time to answer student questions and sign books. It was so cool to be part of an artist’s process like that. He also recommended the audio version of Talking Heads by Alan Bennett because of the strength of the actors vocal performance. It was truly one of the best nights ever.
If you have never heard of the Renegade Craft Fair you must check it out. Now. I’ll wait…See, totally awesome, right? Well I have been to the fair in Chicago for the past 3 years, and the quality of vendors has never failed to impress. Having talked with a number of artists with booths there, I know that you can sell a decent amount of merchandise at this event. This year there will be fairs in 4 cities throughout the summer. Brooklyn is June 6-7, Los Angeles (new this year!) is July 11-12, San Francisco is July 18-19, and Chicago is September 12-13. Plus there is a holiday sale in Chicago December 5-6. Currently applications are being accepted for the Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and San Francisco fairs. I encourage everyone who creates art out there to apply and look forward to seeing your wares at the fair!
Since the Patron office is located in the fabulous city, Indianapolis, Clay and I are active members of Smaller Indiana, an online community for people who live or love Indiana. Tonight is the party celebrating reaching 5,000 members at the Rathskeller. If you are going to be there find us and say hi. Clay is the funny, lovable guy with emo glasses and I am the girl next to him trying to look professional, but really just people-watching. Hope to see you there!
Hi. We are Clay & Karli, the geniuses behind Patron. Karli is the designer who makes everything pretty and Clay turns her dreams into reality with his stellar programming. In addition to showing PHP, CSS, etc. who's boss Clay enjoys spending time with his smokin' hot wife, Katy, his beautiful baby girl, Libby, and three crazy cats. When Karli is not dreaming up new templates for you to enjoy she like making jewelry, baking, yoga and hanging out with her husband, Travis, and their band of zany animals - Wally, Lucy and Molly
