Monday, May 24, 2010

Makers from the Maker Fair

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but my favorite part of the Maker Fair is the shopping. Every year there are exciting and unique vendors. Every Maker Fair, I find myself bouncing back and forth like a ping pong ball. "Oh! Look at that!", "Cool! I want one of those!". This year, there were a decent number of vendors I had seen before. There's a great selection of crafts, from felt animals to soap to huge robots. Here are a few of my favorites:

Sweet Meats: started by a San Francisco native, who has butchers on both sides of her family. These felt meats come in individual and family size. I've had my eye on these meats for 3 years now. I finally broken down and bought my very own family sized hambone. Very comfy and calorie free! http://sweet-meats.com/

Xlyocopa: a husband and wife from Tucson, Arizona make amazing wood crafts (jewelry to instruments). They use laser and hand carving to make these pieces. One of my favorites is a ukulele covered in different style moustaches. Doesn't everyone need of of those. http://www.xylocopa.com/node
Bumperboy: A librarian by day, this creative genius has her own comic and line of merchandise. The hero, Bumperboy, is an eager explorer and enjoying gummie worms and movies in his spare time. But what I loved most by this artist was her whimsical felt dolls. The cat in boots and cupcake bears were my favorites. http://bumperboy.net/index.html
Bill Robinson: This 26 year old Aries graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology. He currently works as an animator for online game site: wonderhill.com. I really loved his whimsical art. These characters look straight out of a storybook dream world. http://flimflammery.wordpress.com/
WoolBuddy: There are a ton of felt animals going around these days, but I thought these ones were especially cute. Lord knows I'm a sucker for beady eyes. A 3-D artist and art teacher, she started making these wool creatures as a hobby but soon had a legitimate following. Her crafts range from felt R2D2s to winged dragons and can be found in Crafts and Folk Art Museum. http://woolbuddy.com/blog/
My Imaginary Boyfriend: This was one of my favs from last year. This artist makes a different type of felt crafts. My personal favorite being the brown bag beer/bottle cozies. Her felt log pillows are pretty sweet too. Who said felt was for little kids?? I hope there will be more great items coming from this artist. http://www.myimaginaryboyfriend.com/index.html
Yazmin Perez: also currently residing in Palo Alto, this Bay Area native cites her family as inspiration for her work. After going to school to 3-D modeling she switched over to jewelry making, and found her true calling. Her sterling sliver pieces look part sea creature, part outer space. My favorites were her jelly fish necklaces and earrings. These pieces were quite expensive though. http://yasminperez.com/

I can't wait to see what next year brings....

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention Caitlin! Had a great time at Maker Faire, what a fun event.

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  2. Awe shucks, thank you so much for the mention!
    -Debbie Huey

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