december

last weekend's handmade market it kyoto was the busiest i've been to yet.
so many shoppers!
a batik demonstration from my trip to indonesia last month.

august handmade market

it was so hot! just a reminder, you can click on the tags of this post to see photos from past markets.

are you near portland, oregon?

this weekend there are 2 swell looking craft fairs, both on sunday.
Handmade Bazaar; Sunday, July 29th; 12 noon - 5 PM
@ AudioCinema; 226 SE Madison Street, Portland, Oregon
www.handmadebazaar.org
Rebel Rabbit Craft Fair, Sunday, July 29, 11 AM - 4 PM
@Hipbone Studio, 1847 E. Burnside, Portland, Oregon
www.rebelrabbitcraft.com

yay for portland!

renegade in the nytimes

being in japan, i can't get to the renegrade craft fair in new york or chicago this year.

i had a great time in chicago last year, and in brooklyn the year before. renegade has had a huge impact on the d.i.y. craft movement, and keeps getting bigger. and today i saw an article in the nytimes about it!

sue from the cool store giant dwarf was the feature photo, and the nifty felter penfelt showed up too. etsy got a mention as well. yay for crafts!

june handmade market

since summer is here, the handmade market at chionji temple in kyoto (the 15th of every month) has been really busy. lots of cute new summer things for sale, of course...like the glass summer bells (above) or whimsical creatures (below).
lots of zakka

and awesome feltmakers whose work i hadn't seen before. these dolls are so lovely!
and crazy tissue holders in the shape of animal heads!
and wee walnut mice.

april tezukuri market

it was a lot busier than the winter markets! it was a beautiful day, and everyone seemed happy to be out in the sunshine buying handmade crafts.

1st thusday market, kyoto

this craft market is in umekoji park, on the 1st thursday of the month. i think its a little smaller than its sister market hyakumanben, at chionji temple on the 15th of the month.

a good day for crafts

the people who organize the handmade market at chion-ji temple that i've blogged about before, also are involved with another handmade market in kyoto, this one on the 1st thursday of every month, here. it's in a big park, which was nice and sunny today. by the time i found my way there, it was around 3:30 and everyone was packing up. but it looked great, very similar to the chion-ji market, with lots of traditional and contemporary crafts, from handmade lacquered bowls to linen slippers and everything in between. i will definitely check it out again, and if you do, i suggest you go in the morning!

it's walkable from the kyoto train station, 15 minutes due west.
when you get to this pedestrian overpass, you are half way there. take the stairs that veer to the right, and when you go down on the other side of the street, walk to right of the school and continue west.
here's a view from the inside of the kyoto train station, looking down on the mister donuts and cafe du monde open air food court. i was on my way up to the excellent tourist info center on the 9th floor. i was doing research about what kinds of traditional craft classes i can try out with my mom when she comes to visit in june. and there are tons! i'm very excited (and i hope mom is too) to try indigo dying, traditional weaving, and wax resist printing, just to name a few.
but...the best part of my day craftwise happened at the yarn shop, kin no hitsuji, which i've blogged about before too. since it takes over an hour for me to get to kyoto, it's kind of a far local yarn store, but they have great wool for felting and great books. after going there so many times i've lost count, they all know who i am, and i think i know all the people who work there too! i thought they might be a family (mom, dad, two grown daughters, and grandma) but i don't think that's actually the case. so today i finally bought a book for myself that i've been eyeing for months. it has some felt projects and some spinning and weaving. i can't read it (in japanese of course) but the most exciting part are the photos showing the natural dye process and the natural materials that the author goes out and gathers to dye wool. so when i was buying the book, i asked if they knew of any classes about natural dyes...and it turns out that they teach classes at the shop! so i signed up for a one day class in march that includes spinning, carding and dyeing (perhaps not in that order). oh boy. i was literally skipping down the street.
and then i discovered the muji in kyoto that has a muji restaurant, so i got to eat this lovely healthily meal.
then, i walked past this shop, sisam, which has fair trade products, including these cool felt cushions.

tezukuri (handmade) market

this was my second time to visit the handmade market in kyoto. held on the 15th of every month, it is on the grounds of chion-ji temple. called hyakumanben, its in the northeast of kyoto, near the university. an easy way to get there is to take the number 201 loop bus to the hyakumanben stop. and while you're there, i recommend the veggie/vegan restaurant peace.
i got to the market earlier than i had last month, and there were tons more people and vendors. i guess the time to be there is 9am-2pm. after that, vendors start packing up, although there's likely still plenty to see until 4ish. these first 2 photos are cute felt things: the top one is of key chain holders--popular in japan.


the second pair of photos is amazing felt jewelry by simsim, who uses various color palates to create exuberant pieces.

here are some more photos around the market:

hyakumanben tezukuri (handmade) market, kyoto

on the 15th of every month, there is a handmade market at chionji temple in kyoto, called hyakumanben tezukuri market. (te means hand, zukuri means to make, so it literally means handmade). their website is here, buts it's all in japanese.this banner says 'handmade market' in japanese.
vendors set up all around the temple grounds, maybe there about 200 vendors. i guess its busiest in the mornings, starting around 9am, and in the winter people started packing up around 4.


there was a very impressive range of different kind of items, and different ages of vendors and size of their operations. there were some crafts people selling similar 'traditional' crafts that you would see in the u.s., like woodworking and ceramics.

there were cute piggies (remember, 2007 is the year of the wild boar in japan)

miniature scenes
woodworking and gnomes
dyed and print work

accessories of all kinds and materials
farm products from homespun to food and bath products
bags and more bags...
and more bags, lots of traditional japanese fabrics being reused to make other functional items/accessories.
super cute stamp work
handspun and handknits

felt food along with wooden play kitchens (of course my eyes were especially peeled for felt!)
there was quite a lot of needled felted stuff, and one felter who does very beautiful wet felting.

these photos are a tiny sample, there were also food vendors, both homegrown and snacks, and lots of clothes, old kimono fabric, jewelry, leatherwork etc.

the coolest part was that it was a total mix of people, both selling and shopping, which i believe reflects the strength and continuity of the craft tradition within japanese society. there were some young crafters similar to people in the states who are part of our huge craft resurgence (and mind you they are making some awesome stuff!), but they were part of a much larger crowd than included older folks and locals of all ages.