go plaid this friday!

wear plaid while you shop on November 27th to show you support for local and independent businesses!!

About Plaid Friday

The name Plaid Friday celebrates the diversity and creativity of Bay Area independent businesses. Envisioned to be the independent business alternative to the big box store "Black Friday", Plaid Friday is designed to help raise awareness about shopping local and supporting the local economy.

Although the designation of this day is a new concept, the movement towards supporting the independent spirit and "Indie" Businesses of the Bay Area has been growing and expanding year by year. In early 2009, The East Bay Express launched a monthly guide to shopping local called the Indie Resolution, where patrons pledge to spend money at local establishments. Other local movements include Buy Local Berkeley, Oakland Grown and Oakland Unwrapped. Plaid Friday was created by two local independent businesses, Blankspace Gallery and the Compound Gallery, as a way to tie into this movement and elevate the awareness of the abundant and thriving independent businesses located in neighborhoods throughout the East Bay.

Help us celebrate by supporting participating shops on Friday, November 27th and throughout this Holiday season.  benny & I will be offering free shipping when you purchase more than one item on our etsy store through Cyber Monday (11.30.09)!!  Also keep a look out for new low cost shawls for holiday gifting we will be listing this weekend!

Also look for the special plaid placards at your local shops. Many of the participating businesses are offering specials for Plaid Friday. Check out all the participating businesses after the jump!

The Bazaar

Don't forget, saturday is the day Pretty Penny and the Parlour Gallery present the Craft Bazaar!!  We are soo excited to be participating and can't wait to see all your smiling faces tomorrow.  And to make things even more enticing we kindly donated one of our one-of-a-kind beer cozies to the bazaar's one dollar raffle!

So come to shop or come to win the raffle either way we would love you to be there!



When:  Saturday!!
Where: Pretty Penny  5488 college ave, oakland

Participating Artists:
Wonderwear , bennykelly , Crooked Sister , It's Scrap , Queen of Hearts Apparel , Volta Press , kittinhawk , Pollyannacowgirl , Salvaged Beauty , Abeo Bestia Design , BirdversusBird Design

one dollar RAFFLE!
we will be having a raffle where you can win all these awesome prizes...
$25 gift certificate from SLASH DENIM
$25 gift certificate from VOLTA PRESS
custom made beer cozy by BENNYKELLY
fabric flower hair piece by CROOKED SISTER
leather earrings by IT'S SCRAP
handmade coin purse by BIRDVERSUSBIRD
Handmade brooch by SALVAGED BEAUTY

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="298" caption="you could win this at the raffle!"][/caption]

Homegrown

We will be hocking our crafty goods at an awesome fundraiser tomorrow afternoon with ALICE (Arts and Literacy in Children's Education) to celebrate five years of teaching arts and culture to under-served Bay Area communities.

Homegrown: A Celebration of Local Arts, Food, and Culture takes place June 14, 2009 from 2 to 5 PM at the Oakland Museum Gardens. Sample exquisite food and wine, as well as performances by the Bay Areas very own Ensambles Ballet Folklorico de San Francisco, Les Aerielles trapeze arts troupe, and Latin-American singer Yolanda Aranda. Check out a fashion show by fashion maven Erica Varize, as well as an outdoor visual art exhibit.

When:  Sunday June 14th  2pm - 5pm
Where:  Oakland Museum Gardens  1000 oak st, oakland
Cost:  tickets are $15 in advance here / $20 at the door!!

Show and Tell: SF Indie Fashion

We are starting a new series "Show and Tell" where we will be highlighting blogs/websites that are just too good not to share!  And to jump right in and start off this series, we have the fantastic website SF Indie Fashion.

SF Indie Fashion is a site and online resource dedicated to the independent fashion scene in the Bay Area.  Edited and managed by Lorraine Sanders, this site is an invaluable source for up and coming designers.  Here in the Bay Area, we actually have VERY few trade resources for our local fashion industry.  Before trying to find information was a shot in the dark (and meant talking to everyone you know until someone had your answer), but now we have a place to go for information out about all the different craft shows, fashion shows, and other design events needing local artists.

Another reason we love SF Indie Fashion is that they have a strong belief in the importance of conscious consumerism and supporting your local independent fashion scene-locally-owned boutiques and businesses and creative endeavors of all kinds.  If all us little guys are to survive through this economic downturn we need all the local support we can get!  So spread around the community love and make SF Indie Fashion your go to source for store/designer reviews and the latest in local events!

If you have a site that you just cannot live without...share it with us!!

Trunkshow Sundays at Indie Industries

Looking for a great way to kill a few hours this sunday and every sunday?  Indie Industries (a longtime promoter of independent bay area style) has started a new weekly event, where a sweet local designer hosts a trunkshow!!  We love local fashion and what better way to get to know the artists in your area then to spend some face-time with them and their fabulous looks.

Next Up...Villain Accessories, March 1st

Villain Accessories is the creation of Brandi Collins, a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in the state of California. Inspired by love and loss, Brandi has been able to incorporate her vision and create a fantastic collection of vibrant, original, as much as it is stunning line of jewelry.

Want to participate....Indie Industries needs more local designers! details after the jump.