World Maker Faire : The Bust Craftacular

Last weekend, Colin and I hopped the train to New York City to spend the day at World Maker Faire.  Included in the show was the Bust Craftacular.

The Bust Craftacular is a small indie craft fair featuring an eclectic array of handmade and vintage wares.  This year it was located right inside the main gates so I wandered over to it immediately in search of fun and funky jewelry.

HAWKHOUSE

The first vendor to catch my eye was HAWKHOUSE by Jessica Kramer.  Jessica creates electroformed jewelry incorporating raw crystals, gems and fossils.  I loved her work so much that at the end of the day I returned to purchase a chunky Herkimer diamond ring.

Circuit Breaker Labs

Circuit Breaker Labs was my next stop.  Artist Amanda Preske, creates wearable pieces out of e-waste.  She uses discarded circuit boards, recycled solar cells and resin to make necklaces, bracelets, keychains etc...  She happened to have a small selection of expandable badge holders/lanyards for sale.  Colin thought they were perfect for his badge at work so he happily made a crafty purchase.

Zoa Chimerum

One of the most unusual finds at the show was Zoa Chimerum.  These funky pieces are created by Ian Henderson who uses materials repurposed from the electronics industry.  They are rubber over aluminum cores and you just want to reach out and touch them.  I did....a lot.

With Roots

The most whimsical find at the show was With Roots.  With Roots jewelry features tiny terrariums with real plants living inside.  These things were adorable!  With Roots is a Brooklyn-based business run by artist Sharon Goldberg. I am definitely putting one of these on my Christmas wish list!

Eisentraut Jewelry

Another Brooklyn-based business, Eisentraut Jewelry features an insignia line of pendants and rings. Included in your purchase are two sticks of sealing wax perfect for those that enjoy sending handwritten letters.  Eisentraut also has two other jewelry lines based on nature and pigeons.

Overall, it was a fun day out filled with crafty goodness and geeky fun!  Maker Faire hosts shows all over the world.  Check their website to see if there is one in your area.  You never know what kind of inspiration you will come home with!

Diana P.
Suburban Girl Studio LLC

Guest Blogger Lynnea Bennett: Beady Eyed in NYC

Guest blogger Lynnea describes her post-Bead Fest Philadelphia activities in NYC at wholesale shops. What better way to spend a few days since she was "in the neighborhood" anyway? -Jen

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So what’s a jewelry artist to do after spending three days at Bead Fest?  Go shopping for more beads in NYC! Every time I am in Philadelphia a few of my beady eyed friends and I plan a bead binge in New York.  This one included my friends Heather, Rose, Lee Anne and Bobbi. We grabbed an empty suitcase and jumped on the train.

We had our plan of attack and a map:

Our first stop is always CJS Sales.  Who can resist 5000 square feet of beads and metal and chain? It is like an archeological dig for treasures.  It is wholesale only so bring a copy of your license to get in. You’ll get to meet employee of the month David...and you’ll understand why this is funny when you get there.  Be prepared to get dirty and climb mountains of boxes.  

Next on our list was York Beads.  If you love Czech glass this is the place to go.  No single strands here, you buy by the hank.  We also stopped at Beads World on Broadway.  They have chain and seed beads, semi precious stones and glass beads by the strand.  I got lucky and bought some chain from the clearance section. If you use ribbon in your work expect to spend some time at  M&J Trimming.   

Toho Beads would make a seed beader think they died and went to heaven.  All those tiny treasures in one place almost made me pull my bead loom out of retirement.

No trip would be complete without a trip to Metalliferous .  Anthony was happy to see us and answered all our questions, searched for anything we might need and somehow took care of other customers since the place was packed on a Monday afternoon.  

I think Rose got the best thing in the store when she got a hug from Anthony on our way out.  He also gave us a lead on a place to stop the next day.

Woke up the next day and tied on our walking shoes.  We had a train to catch at 2:00 so we had to make the best of the time we had left.  We went to Taj Company another wholesale only place. We couldn’t have asked for a better visit. They even passed out water since we were parched from all the walking.  The selection was great and they pointed out the sale areas and helped us search for anything we still thought we needed.  I got some beautiful strands there and can’t wait to create with them

I couldn’t go to NYC without stopping into Mood Fabrics.  

No we didn’t see Tim Gunn but we got to meet Joe who helped me with my purchases.

I got to have my own Project Runway moment since the clock was ticking and we had to get back to the bus.  We made it just in time and settled in to rest our weary feet and start to plan what to make with our bountiful stash.  If you ever get the chance to go to NYC to bead shop as Tim Gunn would say “Make It Work”!

-Lynnea