September is right about the time, if we are wise and on the ball and handling our lives with effortless efficiency, that we start to schedule the next few months. Because the holidays are always here before they are here, and we rarely have an extra iota of time to tinsel-it-up, merrily, or whatever one does to greet the season.
Enter the handcrafted, one-of-a-kind giftery, those local-loving, whimsy-supporting markets that love on craftspeople who call Southern California home and make the stuff that elicits genuinely warm responses when opened. (Or, of course, when one purchases for one's self, which is a-ok, too.)
And, so often these days, they land downtown, with its arts districts and its warehouse spaces and its historic buildings and skyscraper-y scene-setting.
Artists & Fleas, which kicked off the creative goodness in Brooklyn over a decade ago, alights in the Arts District at 647 Mateo on Saturday, Sept. 20 and Sunday, Sept. 21. It isn't all sweet earrings and purses with quirky decals; a Cutest Pup in the Pool contest shall adorably ensue, as will lawn games (yay, corn hole!) and a beer garden and a cameo by the so-much-loved Library Store.
Plus: Vendors shall sell goodies like "boho vintage" and fancy juices and interesting marquee signs. Nice. The market isn't every weekend, so catch now, lovers of interesting doodads, both big and small.
Not related, but not far, either in distance or spirit? The Odd Market, which launches on Sunday, Sept. 21. It's set to be a weekly thing at Casa Vertigo, "a marketplace for unique and handmade goods that come from the world of fashion, jewelry, and art." Some 88 crafters'll be in the house for this go-around, or, rather, the beautiful Odd Fellows Temple.
Bake Shop, Against the Grain Wood, and Two Hermanas will all say hello to the Odd Market.
The Scene
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Handmade wonders, where next shall you grow downtown? This is beyond a trend; rather, call it a way here to stay.
