Bazaar Bizarre began in 2001 in the Boston-area as a hodge-podge of friends and acquaintances cobbling together their handcrafted DIY wares to sell and staging an offbeat entertainment extravaganza. In 2004 the Bazaar Bizarre spread to Los Angeles and Cleveland and in 2006 Make took us under their wing to include the Bazaar Bizarre as part of the Maker Faire in the San Francisco-area every spring. The Bazaars in Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles and San Francisco happen every year during peak holiday shopping season in December.
The Boston Bazaar Bizarre is a craft and art event run by the craft community, and for the craft community. It is currently run by a network of crafters who became friends, and friends who became crafters. With amazing volunteers who help run the event on the big day, the Boston Bazaar Bizarre is a completely non-profit event.
Avoiding corporate sponsorship helps keep the Boston Bazaar Bizarre for, and by us all, with no strings attached. All funds collected from vendors, shoppers, and merchandise are used for everything from rental of the event venue, to web hosting and promotion. Without the support of volunteers and shoppers who love crafts and want independent businesses and events to thrive, the Boston Bazaar Bizarre wouldn’t be able to function.
So thank you to anyone who has ever been a vendor, been a shopper, or helped out the BBB or a fellow crafter. You have all volunteered your time, money and effort to put on this amazing event. We are all grateful to have such a great community that continues to support the artists and crafters in their neighborhood. Making the small decision to buy hand made, and buy local, makes this community function, and makes events like the Boston Bazaar Bizarre possible.
Sarah found her niche in the crafting community as Egg-A-Go-Go, featuring her illustrations and text based designs on housewares, stationery and apparel. She first vended at the Bazaar Bizarre in 2005, and got involved with organizing in 2008. Plants and animals are incorporated into nearly all of her designs, showing her first true loves in her favorite bright but naturalistic color palettes. With a background in illustration, a degree from MassArt, and an appeal to the collector in all of us, Egg-A-Go-Go is currently vending silkscreened pillows with vintage buttons, hand painted ornaments, and wryly humorous cards and baby onesies. Sarah spends most of her moments thinking about how to draw secret spots in the deep woods, kittens, the wind in the trees, and things that go bump in the night.
website: www.eggagogo.com
shop: eggagogo.etsy.com
tweets: twitter.com/eggagogo
Megan has been involved with the Boston Bazaar Bizarre since 2005, first as a vendor, and currently as one of the organizers. She has spent her whole life wanting to know how everything works, and wanting to make it her own way; a pretty common story for many crafters. After getting a degree in industrial design from MassArt, she started crafting as a way to combine her interest in functional objects with the knowledge from her teen years of experimenting with fabric, fibers, and sewing. Add in an obsession with printmaking, and some new friends in the Boston crafting community, she began making products to sell at the BBB, and other events in 2005. Since 2008, Megan has moved away from production of multiples; instead spending dozens of hours crafting singular objects, and turning towards more two-dimensional fine art for the time being. She is currently crippling her fingers with scherenschnitte, block printing, and embroidery in the Washington Street Art Center, in Somerville.
website: meganmary.com
Marissa Falco’s association with the Boston Bazaar Bizarre began when she brought a troop of six sock monkeys to the very first fair in 2001. She has made an awful lot of crafts for Bazaar Bizarre since then, and joined as an organizer in 2008. Marissa has a long history of making things, the most enduring being the production of dozens of zines throughout high school, college, and into the present (the current one is Miss Sequential, the other one you may have heard of is Red-Hooded Sweatshirt). She also graduated from Mass Art somewhere in there. Marissa admits that her main reason for creating things is to entertain herself, and hopes that her creations will bring a little excitement to your day, too.
website: http://www.marissaland.com
shop: thimblewinder.etsy.com
Jen’s first BBB was in 2005, where her mastery of perfectly straight, color-matched zipper installation put her table neighbors into a shocked awe. For every smart phone, mp3 player, tablet, laptop, makeup assortment and toiletry package, Jen has made the perfectly sized, amazingly durable, protective pouch. By hand silkscreening fabric, designing and making zipper pulls, all the details of Jen’s products are tailored to a tee. She keeps her eye on fashion trends, and as a result her styles and themes tend to be ahead of the wave. Jen jumped in with the organizing crew of the BBB in 2008, and has put her skills to work on bringing the BBB website up to speed. When she isn’t paging through European fashion magazines, Jen has been baking the airiest creamiest macarons, working on her font collection, doting on Gracie, her Pekingese, and stirring up new ideas for her next line of hand sewn, haute couture accessories.
website: http://margravineboston.blogspot.com/
shop: MARGRAVINEboston.etsy.com
Alison first vended at the Boston Bazaar Bizarre in 2003 as wonderland q, and became an organizer in 2004. As a crafting true-fan, Alison has traveled all over the country selling her handmade items, assisting with and participating in craft shows, art events, and promoting the art and craft community. wonderland q was Alison’s first crafting business, and as her interests in materials and styles have changed, so have her products. Sew Mary Ann is currently preoccupied with hand sewing accessories and headbands out of felt, buttons and beads. Alison’s love of all things crafty keeps her full of ideas, constantly thinking of how to make new products, new events, and new FUN for everyone.
shop: sewmaryann.etsy.com
Amy has been a fan, shopper and occasional volunteer for the the Bazaar Bizarre since 2007. In 2009 she was a first time vendor selling scarves, cowls and other winter accessories. Though no longer a vendor she remains passionate about all things yarn and fiber. Amy is currently in school studying Art History and is thrilled to still be part of the artistic community through Bazaar Bizarre.
website: abq
A long time ago in a not so distant land there was a girl who loved making things. She loved home and loved making everything around her cozy and attractive. Then one day her good friend, who was a very talented illustrator and crafter, insisted she start creating salable products for the public to enjoy. Since then she has been creating handmade housewares under the name Maisonwares. As her love for the craft community grew, she found herself volunteering to help organize the Boston Bazaar Bizarre. This eventually turned into a more permanent position as a BBB/Small Craft Advisory member. She hopes that by being around so many creative, talented individuals she can help cultivate and inspire creativity not only within herself, but within others as well. When she’s not obsessing over arts and crafts, she’s cruising pages of interior design blogs, shopping for the cutest new dresses, catching up on her favorite television shows, and cuddling with her cat Little Bo Peep.
website: www.maisonwares.com
shop: maisonwares.etsy.com
Bio coming soon!
website: argylewhale.com