Renegade Craft Fair in London Review

2012 RCF London (The Second Annual), a photo by renegadecraftfair on Flickr.

Renegade Craft Fair just completed their second show across the pond in London. Renegade selects their vendors from applicants who are indie artisans and crafters.   Renegade started in Chicago in 2003 with 75 vendors.  It is quite a popular market and one to visit when they come to Brooklyn.  Selling in markets myself it can be frustrating when you work at a market that also has knock offs and chotcke items you would find in a dollar store or on Canal Street.  If your market is filled with independent artists and crafters then the customers who will come are wanting to buy unique, quality items.  The customer appreciated a handmade apron or piece of pottery.  An item that someone spent serious time on because it is a labor of love.   If you have the opportunity to go to a Renegade Fair please do.  They are held in Chicago, Brooklyn, LA, San Francisco, Austin and London.

Here are some pics from their flickr page.

To see more pics of this great and inspiration market click here. 

Have you ever participated in Renegade? Or any other fairs?  If you haven't but have visited some fairs what do you look for?

Happy Tuesday!

Laptop case winner is....

Thru a random number generator from http://www.random.org/ the winner of the laptop case is #4, anonymous. Anonymous please let me know which case you want and where to send it.
Please email me tracey@traceytoole.com

Thanks everyone for commenting.

Have a great week!

Fall Staples at Madewell

Runway shows have come and gone here in the city and fall is here to stay. What to wear this fall...I have to stay check out Madewell. Madewell is a line by J.Crew.  I arrived home from vacation to find their new catalog in my mailbox. If you are looking for some inspiration and ideas for layering check these out.

Cute skirt and checkout the pocket square in the top pic.

animal prints still trending....

I knew there was a reason I couldn't donate my denim shirt from my work days at the GAP.

neon in the fall of course!

as a designer I love this shot. You don't have to match your colors and look how cute this looks!

If you live in NYC we have a Madewell in Soho on Broadway. Visit the store for inspiration or shopping. 

Revision to laptop case giveaway

There is an update/revision to the laptop case giveaway. Instead of one specific case, the bees, the winner can choose from 7 cases!
Just enter a comment in the notes, no need to reenter if you already have. Tell me what your favorite case is and are you a MAC or a PC person.

Paisley Green

Coneflower

Earth

Mosaic Tile 

Starburst

Silver Lady

Bee

These are padded cases, closed with vintage buttons, double stitched and handmade!

Back to school GIVE AWAY!

I know we are now mid September and school has been in session for about 2 weeks or so. But I just got back from vacation and it is feeling like I am back to school or work rather and it's feeling a bit like fall today in NYC.  What's a better give away than a lap top envelope! 

This is a cute bee print in pink and green, lined with matching green and padded.

It measures 15" x 10 1/4". I have a 13" imac and it has a few extra inches room in this case.

It is stitched with pink stitching and closes with 2 vintage buttons, one in bright pink and one larger in pearl finish.

These are great to use if you take your laptop to work. You can pop it into your purse or tote and not worry about it getting banged up.

Just leave a comment in the comments section. Do you use a case now for your laptop? Are you a PC or a MAC person? Do you like bees or are afraid of them like me?

Leave your comment by Saturday midnight  September 22.

Winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced Monday September 24th

  

back view

Floral Inspirations from Nantucket

 Bartlett's Farm (above and below)

When staying in Nantucket we ride our bikes everywhere. In the mornings I usually go for a walk or a run. It's quiet, peaceful and beautiful in the mornings here in September.  The locals are starting their day, very little tourists around and it's a great time to see all the beautiful gardens and flower boxes and take pictures!  Nantucketers take pride in their yards, each is well cared for, perfectly manicured and loved.  The most popular flower that does well on the island is the hydrangea. Also popular is the black eyed susan. I just finished reading a fantastic book called the Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. In the book she creates her own dictionary of flowers.  I find it somewhat funny that hydrangea means dispassion, you will see in the pics below there is anything but dispassion in these gardens. Black eyed susans mean justice. It's a fantastic read, I highly recommend it.

Back to the gardens, the colors and arrangements are great inspiration. Many gardens look right out of a magazine. I can't wait till next spring to start working on our back yard back in Brooklyn.

 Village of Sconset 

The Old Wharf

on Main St. love the green with a little bit of pops of yellow

beautiful array of purples in the Old Wharf

black eyed susans (the yellow flowers)

Brant Point

Do you have any flower boxes in your home? What are your favorites to plant? What florals work best in your garden and climate?

Vacation...

Summer has finally come to a close and Andy and I are on our annual vacation, to Nantucket Massachusetts.  Nantucket is a quaint, far away island in the Atlantic off of Cape Cod.  I worked here during college and would visit occasionally. Seven years ago I introduced Andy to Nantucket and we have been making a regular trip here every year.  It is the one place where I am completely happy and relaxed.  It is a beautiful, old whaling island. Simply lovely just to walk around.  I've been taking lots of photos so I thought I would share some of them since I find inspiration in them maybe you will too.

love this hippo!

 

love the paper dress

lots of vintage rustic decoration, naturally rusted

great selection of medium weight, hardy fabrics at Nantucket

Sew and Design

I am on holiday but have been busy knitting up a birthday hat for my niece and working on a new needlepoint project. Hope to post updates on that soon!