This weekend hundreds of artists, crafters and fans of all things quirky and handmade will brave the sun for the 4th Annual Renegade Craft Fair at McCarren Park Pool. The fair runs 11 am to 7 pm Saturday and Sunday, and will feature more than 200 crafters from all over, with Brooklyn, of course, well represented.

Leigh Batnick, the designer behind Jezebel, will sell her letterpress stationery, t-shirts, tote bags and new line of jewelry at Renegade. We headed to Carroll Gardens to interview Batnick at her apartment and studio, get the lowdown on the fair, and meet her cute-as-a-button Chihuahua, Teepee.

Brooklyn Based: From a shopper’s point of view, is there an optimal time to get to the fair?
Leigh Batnick: From a vendor’s perspective I like to see people there at the beginning of the day. But give it about a half an hour after the doors open for everyone to be fully set up. Toward the end of the day vendors are usually looking to make sales, because it’s closing time.

BB: Is it pretty grueling out there in the sun for two days?
LB: I find that it’s essential to play Led Zeppelin. It makes everything okay. That’s how you can find me — just listen for the Zep.

BB: How did you start making letterpress stationery?
LB: I was a stationery buyer at an independent bookstore in D.C. and wanted to do something on my own and I had been collecting all these silhouette images. I always wanted to open a store but it seemed like a potential albatross around my neck. Stationery worked because it wasn’t that, and because I wanted to do something that told a story.

BB: How do you come up with the text for the vintage 19th and early 20th century images you collect and collage?
LB: The text is the most important thing to me, I’m always thinking of it and saving phrases and ideas. It’s like a perfume ad; it doesn’t describe the image so much as help create a better understanding of it.

BB: You’re launching a new jewelry line this weekend. How did that come about?
LB: Working at Catbird I developed this hunger for gold jewelry and I wanted to be able to show people at the shop what I do. I also wanted to design something that was a balance between the junky, sixties and kooky grandma aesthetics that I love, but a little more refined. But my jeweler lost her power during the heat this week, so I think I’ll have samples and then take orders this weekend.

BB: Why ants?
LB: When I was young my family loved animals, but my mom and brothers has allergies to cats and dogs so we hatched ducks in our kitchens, had fish and lizards. We also had an ant farm.

[Recently] I was lying in the grass at my boyfriend’s parents’ house and Teepee pulled one of my earrings out. I was parting the grass to find it and all I could see were real ants. I swear, they pulled it away and are now praying to a rose gold ant god.

BB: What’s been your experience in the Brooklyn crafter community?
LB: Amazingly warm and welcoming, everyone’s been really open and supportive. I have no background in fabrication and am completely reliant on the generosity of others sharing information.

BB: Any recommendations for Father’s Day gifts?
LB: The fair is usually so lady oriented. But ex libris makes great journals. And I think dads would like a new Jezebel t-shirt. At least I know my dad would.

Renegade Craft Fair, June 14-15, McCarren Park Pool, Lorimer between Driggs & Bayard, renegadecraft.com. Jezebel stationery is online at ilovejezebel.com; totes, tees and jewelry are available at jezebelstationery.etsy.com. Batnick also sells her wares at local boutiques and the Brooklyn Flea.

Sent by Annaliese.