patchwork show : June 2011

i have never been married and neither has delilah. we’ve watched several (or most) of our friends plan for months (sometimes years) every painstaking detail—obsessing over bridesmaids dresses, the perfect shade of ivory frosting or (god forbid) ice sculptures. but we haven’t been through it ourselves.

when i was twelve, my mom got married. after the wedding, the purple limo (it was the 80’s after all!) pulled up to our house dropping my grandmother and i off while my parents were whisked away to hawaii. as we walked up the sidewalk to the front door i thought “so, that’s it, huh?” and that was it, months of stress and tears and decisions were all for just a few hours of chaotic joy.

after every patchwork i get a similar feeling that i had after my mom’s wedding…as far as the planning and then having it all be over in the blink of an eye. but mixed with that i also feel an overwhelming sense of pride, amazement & gratitude. and, of course i always think of how lucky i am to have an auntie like delilah who’s so awesome, hardworking and inspiring!

so, in the spirit of patchwork & weddings…i’d like to introduce you to the people behind the website that i spent all morning in bed obsessing over. chris & jenn of {chris & jenn} photography. these two take wedding pictures that make me actually want to get married (perhaps several times) just so i can be the subject of their heartfelt, artistic, unique photos. they manned the patchwork santa ana spring 2011 photobooth.

this is one of chris & jenn's photos!

a few weeks ago and delilah and i swept through the finally empty parking lot where just a few hours before patchwork indie arts & crafts festival long beach had been, we were both sort of blown away. the event had been a huge success, great music, big crowds, sun making it’s way through the wind and morning rain, delicious food and the creations of the vendors were lovely, diverse and inspiring. with patchwork santa ana only 2 short weeks away, i started to wonder how it could top the amazing long beach show.

now, about a week after our santa ana show, i am proud and elated to say that santa ana rocked just as hard as long beach and in some ways even more. in between manning our respective booths, checking in with vendors, volunteers and lana our volunteer coordinator, delilah and i squeezed in a few moments to wax nostalgic on the humble beginnings of patchwork.

back then (november 2007) patchwork consisted of 25 vendors in a parking lot behind delilah’s store. we had nearly 150 vendors at each of our long beach and santa ana shows for spring 2011. the santa ana shows marks our 13^th patchwork! patchwork keeps getting bigger and brighter and delilah and i are looking forward to more shows in more cities, hopefully by this november. check out some photos below from santa ana last sunday for some highlights.

view of the crowd from buffalo street towards broadway

from buffalo street towards main street

and inside the harvey's lot

birds-eye peek at the show

sometimes there's a lady...sometimes there's a lady...

and her name is lana. without her, delilah & i would be stark raving mad lunatics running around the show trying to organize everything but we don't because lana, our volunteer coordinator extraordinaire takes care of day of snafus and making patchie run smoothly for us...thanks lana!

lovebird-style listening to the band

chris & jenn our photographers for the photobooth snap images of guests

pretty paris always has a great colorful display

ruby blaise sweetly gifted lovely handmade soaps to delilah and i...mmm...relaxing lavendar

our trusty patchie volunteers manned kelso doesn't dance's booth while kelsey...

led some diy crafting workshops upcycling old t-shirts

old vine cafe served up gourmet grilled cheese and fancy salads

harvey's girls hard at work making custom buttons for fans

loving the customized tents! thanks cynthia morehouse!

gina of gina will cut you gave free bang trims and installed her rock n roll extensions

strawberry shortcake in cup enjoyed by a guest sporting a mustache from glimmer face painting

the gypsy den: always a great place for fresh bakes goods and savory treats

the couple behind the obsession-dana and melanie harvey or harvey's seat belt bags

custom feather hair adornments

i doubt i was the only one going crazy for bottlehood's upcycled wine, beer and soda bottles turned into lamps, glasses and more

adorable applique tees for the little ones

edgy bright accessories

the bands totally rocked on the new stage sponsored by the oc weekly and vitamin water

dali tote---really does it get any better than this?

love nail tree-i bought one of their typewriter tees

taxi cdc gives old clothes new life

sweet perversion's printed cards and art--LOVE.

kait emerson's kid's clothes classic styles and modern retro prints

loving the creative professional jewelry displays

what patchie show could be complete without bike valet

or scott & lou live screenprinting

we partnered with the oc roller girls who hung out, looked tough and promoted upcoming bouts

cathy of california signed her new vintage craft book- i bought a signed copy and am loving it! even if you're not a crafter, the book is filled with lovely writing and photos