Amy the Intern at Chicago’s Renegade Craft Fair

By guest contributor Amy Anderson

Renegade Craft Fair hit Chicago’s Wicker Park this past weekend, and I hit the jackpot with great finds from hundreds of artists. The end of craft fair season may be drawing near, but Renegade has holiday fairs planned for when the winter months get dreary. Chicago’s Holiday Sale is December 5-6 and San Francisco’s is December 19-20.

Here are some of my favorite finds:

Dearest Inez was quite the hit at Renegade with necklaces, earrings, hair clips and more made from colorful felt leaves.

Garnet Baker and Katie Miller of the Scarlett Garnet jewelry line use bold colors and asymmetrical designs in their handmade pieces.

Michele Bosak’s paintings are old fashioned, classy and fun at her shop, Mimi.

Besides loving the name, I also love the fun hand sewn prints on wallets and coin purses by Milwaukee’s Rosybird.

Timber! caught my eye with its silkscreened wooden jewelry by Susie Daly.

 Scarlet Bloom makes greeting cards fun again–there’s even a classic image of Wrigley Field on a birthday card by this Chicago designer.

St. Louis artist Shelah uses acrylic to make playful jewelry and wall hangings at Destroyed by Design.

The Mincing Mockingbird came from California to show their lifelike paintings of my favorite subject: birds. So vibrant and beautiful!

I first found SODA by Amy Allison at Lavish in San Francisco, where I bought a pendant featuring two love birds. But everything from her necklaces to ceramic cups are, as her slogan says, “for the kid in all of us.”

I may be a bit biased, as this print is hanging in my room right now. But Ork Posters is on a roll with their sassy city prints and tees that put a new spin on your favorite town.

Renegade goers: did you have any other top spots to share?

About the contributor: Amy Anderson is one of  the Indie Fixx interns this summer and is also a student at Northwestern University. Amy has wanted to be a journalist since she was just 5 years old and she is also into the indie design and crafting scenes as well. In addition to writing the occasional post, she also helps me coordinate Feed Your Soul: the free art project.