Renegade Craft Fair London: Ye Olde D.I.Y. Craft Faire

This post is guest written by Alexa Alamano from Foamy Wader.

Chances are if you are reading this then you, being the savvy crafter that you are, know what the Renegade Craft Fair is. But to be on the safe side I'll tell you. The Renegade Craft Fair is a large-scale juried art and craft fair with two-day events occurring in hand-selected metropolises. From humble beginnings the Renegade Craft Fair has grown from a single event held in Chicago's Wicker Park to a renowned leader in the D.I.Y. craft world, orchestrating ten fairs in 2011.

If you have yet to attend a RCF, I highly recommend finding a way to get to one. With any luck the next city they add to their growing roster may well be right in your backyard.

My experience with Renegade began in December of 2009 at the San Francisco Holiday Fair. Since then I have had the privilege of vending in all six cities including the newest addition London, England. Their inaugural show in the UK was held October 8+9 at the Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch.

Having spent the week prior to the show checking out London-town I must say that they selected the best neighborhood to house the event. While Shoreditch is in the East-end of the city and is a little bit of a hike to get to it is the hub of emerging fashion, art and design. I liken it to the Brooklyn of London.

It was a fairly intimate affair by Renegade standards with 70+ vendors strategically placed in our second-floor converted warehouse space. The loft space was painted white with skylights and a bird's nest office where the fantastic DJ, Chicago-based Reckless Records, set-up camp. Of course the Renegade gang added cute bunting and decor to dress-up the space. A huge banner was hung outside the building which helped direct foot traffic upstairs.

As with any new event, the vendors and organizers alike hope for the best but plan for the worst. Having traveled thousands of miles across land and sea I couldn't help but feel anxious in the planning stages. I had to opportunity to chat with several of the Renegade staff who were equally excited yet nervous the morning of the first day. As groups of shoppers started queuing up before the doors opened everyone's nerved seemed to settle. Steady traffic flowed through the fair on both Saturday and Sunday.

Like myself, many of the vendors were American which garnered lots of surprise and enthusiasm from the crowds. I even met a few Seattle natives now living in London who were thrilled to chat with someone from home.

When preparing to travel to the United Kingdom, I was set with the unusual task of limiting my inventory due to British Customs tariffs. I travel quite a bit for craft fairs around the US so packing display was of no concern but I had to scale back by my initial inventory list approximately seventeen times before I had a final collection which was just barely under the Customs clearance limit.

The biggest issues I ran into both had to do with accepting payment. I process credit cards using Square and ran into a little trouble with that piece because Square uses geo-location and currently can only process within the US. I had to resort to accepting credit cards the old fashioned way using paper. How 1980s, right?

I made sure to get lots of Pounds Sterling (the currency of the UK) to use as change but I had a mess of trouble trying to get small notes and one and two-pound coins. I went to eight different banks and exchange bureaus before I found a banker willing to assist me despite the fact that I wasn't a customer.

As a vendor, my ritual is to arrive early on Sunday and do some shopping of my own. Typically I travel alone to events so I seldom get the chance to browse and mingle with my fellow vendors during show hours. I picked up a gorgeous ring that I'd been coveting for months from Esoterica Bazaar as well as a few holiday gifts.

From a financial standpoint, the show was a success. But more than that,I learned a great deal about my capabilities as a small business owner. When I first learned that Renegade would be hosting a fair in London I was excited but intimidated and initially decided against applying. As the application deadline approached I challenged myself to take a risk at a greater expense and travel abroad, even if only to see if I could.

This was the farthest I had traveled for my business as well as the farthest I had ever traveled by myself. While venturing to London was indeed an undertaking, it was well worth it in the end. I would follow Renegade anywhere they'd go as long as they'd have me. But not in a stalkerish way; you know what I mean.

Visit the Renegade Handmade Flickr set to see more photos from the show.  

Learn more about the Renegade Craft Fair. 

Have you traveled Internationally to participate in a craft show? Share your story - and your tips with the Unanimous Craft readers by adding it as a comment.