Handmade Detroit

Detroit Urban Craft Fair 2008 recap and thank you!

Thanks to so much to everyone who came out to shop, eat and support our event on Saturday. We all had a blast — can we say best DUCF yet?

Despite the horrible weather, lots (and lots) a whole lot of you came out to see the amazing artists, grab some yummy food and check out the dresses.

A few highlights for me:

• Lish on Fox 2. Did you catch it?
• Fox newscaster Charles Pugh showing up and actually paying for his Obama nightlite!
• The CRAFT Magazine make-and-take table — they were so busy they ran out of button ring supplies and, being crafty and clever, quickly switched to button pins! What a smash!
• Everything about A Bag: A Dress — every single dress was so inspiring and creative. We need to bring this back even bigger next year, don’t you think?
• The Detroit Evolution Laboratory brownies. Yums!
• Crafty Planet’s fabric tables. I cut myself off at 4 yards, not because I’ve got a problem, but because I’ve got to save for when I visit them in person in a few weeks.
• The DUCF skate decks - wha??! Yes, it’s true. Stay tuned for more on those.
• Never having a lull. This is a secret goal of mine, so I’m completely thrilled we were busy all day.
• Every person who said they wanted to make stuff, get involved with Handmade Detroit, or apply next year. Yes, please!

What were your highlights?
If there was a goodie you missed out on, or are still considering, you can check out all the artists on the DUCF vendor page. We are also happy to help you remember a particular vendor — just shoot us an e-mail.

If you’re interested in applying to vend at next year’s DUCF, our 2009 applications will go live on the DUCF site in mid-summer 2009. We expect the application process to be highly competitive next year, so get to work on those great product shots now — it’s closer than you think!

Two important notes:

• The skateboard raffle winner will be drawn this coming weekend during the HD meeting Sunday evening — I want to make there is a witness to the name draw. The winner will be notified next Monday, Nov. 24.
• We also have a cell phone without an owner in our possession. If you think it may be yours, please call the Fillmore at (313) 961-5451, or e-mail me — stephanie {AT!} handmadedetroit {dot} com — with some identifiers (like your cell number).

Thank you list, it goes to 11

Finally, and most importantly, we have a lot of people to thank. DUCF happens because a ton of people pull together to bring something great to our city, for our city — this homemade community is something that always leaves me buzzing for weeks post-DUCF. It also makes me forget things — and for those I will forget in this list, I’m truly sorry. Know that we appreciate your work, big and small.

In no particular order, many thanks go out to:

Angela, Gregg and the DEL crew, Adrienne and Katie, Jennifer and the Fillmore — congratulations on a successful event. {Please don’t loose our number!}

To our 2008 sponsors, many of whom are previous sponsors, we cannot thank you enough for continuing to support our work. Thanks so to: Bust, CRAFT (Ginny, you rock!), Chronicle Books, Crafty Planet, Detroit Comics, DIY Street Fair, Etsy, Kelly and NAKA, Venus Zine, and Chris and The WAB.

Dynamic design duo Josh and Dan for giving us the coolest craft fair web site ever — and posters and skateboards and videos and … {Sorry other fairs, we’re keeping ‘em!} Yes, Dan, now we can redesign the HD site.

To our awesome vendors — we hope you had as much fun as us!

To our cutie photographer Amy Palomar.

All of our volunteers new and old — you are a pleasure to work with! I’d like to especially thank Josh, Mike, Jeff and Andrew, who are always there when we call, and Aiden, Natalie and Rach, who literally kept my tables running all day.

Thanks to Handmade Detroit’s boyfriend, who volunteered at DUCF and hosted out-of-town friends — and cooked for us, too!

Finally, let’s hear it for Amy, Beth, Care and Lish — DUCF is our shared dream and the more it grows, the happier I am to be in business with these inspiring, hardworking, and visionary DIY ladies.

Stay tuned for our DUCF photos and an interview with the A Bag: A Dress winner!