Thanks so much for your interest in the Maven Craft Fair! We've moved over to Typepad, but there's still alot of good info on this site, so we'll leave it up for awhile. For the very latest Maven news and reviews, please visit us here.

Hey There!

Maven Urban Design + Craft Fair is on hiatus for a few months - the response to the show has been awesome, and I'm currently looking for a bigger space to host our next event! The tentative date for the next show is Saturday, May 12, 2007. If you're an artist and you're interested in applying, please send me an email at mavenfair@gmail.com. If you're a customer and you want to catch all of the latest Maven news and reviews, please sign up for our newsletter on the right.

Thanks and I'll see you all soon!
Adjowah

NAPINTAS

Napintas means beautiful in Ilocano, the language of designer Lisa Juachon's parents. Lisa makes wearable art, including rings, necklaces, & pendants - things that are small and cute, for beautiful people. The Berkeley based jeweler is working with three series in sterling silver this season: "I'm with the D.J.", "Leaf Me Alone" & "Roots".




RAVENSWOOD

Cindy Meyers likes to stay busy by being a writer, working in a French bistro, and designing her excellent line of screenprinted tshirts, Ravenswood. Cindy grew up in Chicago, and her designs are influenced by the gritty factories and rusted out buildings she saw in the Midwest. The water tower tshirt, pictured above, is based on a photo Cindy took in rural Michigan. She also loves 19th century advertisments, illustrations and strange machines.
EVARIZE FASHION CAFE

Voted Best Of The Bay this year, Evarize is the Bay Area's first cut and sew boutique! Owner Erica Varize creates dresses, scarves, and handbags with vintage fabrics in her San Pablo Ave. shop. Stop by Maven on Sunday the 3rd and let Erica help you design the perfect outfit!




RO-SHAM-BO

Allison Frank and Jessica Olip-Booth named their clothing company, Ro-Sham-Bo, after the children's game "rock-paper-scissors". The pair first came up with the idea for the business 7 years ago, after their first children were born. Now, their kids help them out by being their inspiration, models & muses. Check out Ro-Sham-Bo's super cute onesies & tshirts, as well as their cool raven notebooks.





MOTORMOUTH PRESS

Laurie Coughlin's San Francisco-based greeting card company, Motormouth Press, specializes in unique stationery structures that double as mementos. Her postercards unfold into posters, and her ornament cards (pictured above) become the perfect holiday decoration in a few easy steps. Motormouth is Laurie's childhood nickname (she can still say up to 25 sentences a minute) and her favorite winter fruit is the fuyu persimmon.
Motor on over to www.motormouthpress.com
Adjowah Brodie designs and creates her line of thoughtfully handmade jewelry, called The Weekend Store, in her Oakland studio. Her winter collection includes Peruvian blue opal earrings, tiger ebony pendants & gemstone bauble rings, among other delights. In addition to beautiful jewels, Adjowah likes 80s New Wave music, chicken salad, and East Coast summer thunderstorms.

Shop the line every day of the week at www.theweekendstore.com



Cassandra Falby was inspired to start her company, DatGurl, by the desire to promote the beauty of larger women. Her locally produced line of t-shirts caters to women sizes 12 and up, and features images of thick chicks of all ethnicities. "I've been living in the world as a fatgurl for over 20 years, so I feel deeply about DatGurl's mission." Cassandra explains. In addition to t-shirts, Cassandra also makes keepsake boxes ( like "A Woman's Place Is In The Movement", pictured above) and notecards. In her spare time, she is known to perform in drag (both king & queen)!


Rock your big gurl pride at www.datgurl.com




Rachel Hospodar built theater scenery until May of this year, when she decided to change the world "one woolly, happy, warm person at a time" with her line of merino wool hats and scarves called Medium Reality. "The wide variety of skills I learned in the theater is a great resource for a fledgling business," Rachel explains. In addition to producing her quirky line of accessories, Rachel is also the promoter of the SF based indie craft fair Pandora's Trunk.


Check out all of Rachel's projects at www.mediumreality.com
METTE VANGSO

Mette Vangso invites you to treat yourself to a luxurious spa experience, anywhere, anytime, with her Pleasure Pillows. Using only the finest silks and ultrasuede, these lavender-infused Pleasure Pillows can be heated or cooled to help you achieve deep relaxation. Each pillow is filled with organic buckwheat and flax seeds, as well as natural herbs & botanicals to achieve the maximum therapeutic benefit.

Find the pleasure principle at www.mettevangso.com




CAT'S ORIGINAL BOOKTALES

The idea for Booktales™ was developed from an old leather belt, with bones tied to the ends, that designer Cathi Bartice owned for over two decades. Attracted to natural things, Cat could not throw this belt away. So, she cut it in strips, tied bones to each end and decided to place it in a book she was reading. An idea was born!


Cat's goal is to encourage people, especially young people, to read. Each piece she creates is an expression of herself.

Check out Cat's expression at
www.catsoriginalbooktales.com




Grace Woo's whimsical line of notecards, called New Year Designs, are printed in San Francisco by a union-owned shop. Her professional training is as a graphic designer, but it's her degree in Anthropology that has led cultural symbols and motifs to find their way into her card designs. The Happy New Year pig jumping over the fence is my personal fave.

Find your fave at www.newyeardesigns.com



HLDWARE

Heather Henry's jewelry is inspired by her love of Art Deco design. Heather studied with a female silversmith to learn metalworking, and she taught basic jewelry making classes for five years before starting her own company. HLDWare is sold in gift and museum shops in the Bay Area and beyond, including the National Museum Of Women in The Arts.


Elaine Smith is the designer of Touch Point Jewels, specializing in handcrafted coin jewelry. She takes something as common as coins and turns it into a wearable treasure. Elaine began making coin jewelry as keepsakes for travelers when they returned from abroad - now, she has expanded her collection to include both domestic and foreign currency.


Find something priceless at www.touchpointjewels.com


PRETTY.FUN/RXDESIGNERS

Riquelle Small is the creative force behind Pretty.fun/ RXdesigners, her two distinctive sof jewelry. With Pretty.fun, Riquelle uses skills she learned in kindergarten - with RX, the stones' natural healing properties are called out to help the wearer look and feel good! "I love what I do," Riquelle explains. And it shows.

Check out more of Riquelle's work at www.riquelle.etsy.com