There’s a subculture for almost every interest. An underground music scene, an underground art scene, people dedicated to comic books, horror films and vinyl records. They often meet up at fairs and conventions to bond and buy over a shared obsession.
In 2005, Atlanta entrepreneurs Shannon Green and Christy Petterson took advantage of an emerging subculture happening around the country for handmade goods and launched their own crafty Atlanta underground: the Indie Craft Experience (ICE).
Taking craft out of the stodgy realm of country fairs and farmers markets with their hand-dipped candles and apple-shaped cutting boards, this new movement made crafting cool and tapped into a zeitgeist of supporting small businesses, buying and selling handmade goods and reacting to a culture of out of control consumption of mass-produced goods.
Indie Craft Experience coincided with the rise of other alternative craft markets around the country: Renegade Craft Fair held in a number of cities, Crafty Wonderland in Portland, Oregon, and the Detroit Urban Craft Fair.
Credit: Isadora Pennington
Credit: Isadora Pennington
Green and Petterson’s Indie Craft Experience became a way for makers from around the South to offer their wares and for attendees to shop outside the shopping mall and big box stores in an alternative economy. As a New York Times article noted in 2007, indie craft came with “a post-punk attitude that revolved partly around self-sufficiency.”
“I think people love buying something directly from the person that made it, and it’s always so fun to be able to hear the story and hear about the process,” said Petterson.
That same year Etsy came on the scene, and the craft underground became a way for creators to make a living in the gig economy even before that term became common parlance.
When ICE debuted as a yearly market at Eyedrum art space on MLK Jr. Drive, it drew a crowd of 800.
“I remember there was a vendor at our very first show that made purses out of bras,” laughed Green.
ICE now has five markets a year held at a variety of venues including the Yaarab Temple on Ponce, Georgia Freight Depot downtown and the World Congress Center. Contributing to the festival vibe is the addition of DJs, food vendors and giveaways helping to attract crowds of about 5,000.
Petterson and Green have seen trends come and go at ICE, with owls popping up on shirts and artwork one year, then mushrooms becoming the go-to visual trend another year. Their ICE market helped launch local businesses like salt and sugar company Beautiful Briny Sea and Little Barn Apothecary, a skin care and home fragrance company.
And now, after 18 years of selling succulents in hand-made ceramic pots, homemade soaps and ironic T-shirts, Indie Craft Experience founders Green and Petterson have decided it’s time to move on.
“I felt like, we had done all the things that we needed to do,” said Green.
Stepping away from running ICE will give the pair a chance to lean into their own interests. Petterson wants to pursue writing and grow her creativity consultant business. Green works at ArtsNow Learning helping integrate the visual arts into public and private school classrooms. She admits that “a big part of my motivation to pass the torch was to slow down and be more present in my life.
“I had been working a full-time job and managing ICE,” she said, and she was “approaching burnout.” Now she’s looking forward to getting back to making her own art and traveling.
And there’s a new stitcher in town.
Liz Roberts of Tucker purchased ICE from Petterson and Green this fall. She ran the previous two ICE events and is preparing to manage the biggest one of the year in terms of both attendees and the number of vendors — the Holiday Shopping Spectacular Dec. 2-3 at the Georgia Freight Depot downtown.
Credit: Isadora Pennington
Credit: Isadora Pennington
Among the 170 vendors will be Klapthor’s Universal Robots, which creates whimsical clay robots, and Xocolatl Chocolate, offering locally made chocolate bars, truffles and drinking chocolate. Little Bird Apothecary will sell bird-themed art, eco-conscious bath and body products, a new line of cross-stitch kits and cocktail syrups. Ansley Street Press will have hand-bound books and journals. Katie Troisi Pottery will sell handmade pottery and ceramics that are both functional and decorative.
In addition, Santa will make an appearance at 1 p.m. Sunday; free tote bags will be given to the first 250 guests both days; and food vendors King of Pops, Speakcheesy and Dips Kitchen will be on hand.
Roberts has worked for the past 20 years in the restaurant industry, most recently as director of operations at Rye Restaurants, which owns General Muir, West Egg Café, Fred’s Meat and Bread and others.
She left that industry in 2022, but even as she worked at Rye, she engaged in her own indie crafting, upcycling clothes, blankets and other materials into new designs. She also made alternative cross-stitching, creating designs based on memes and pop culture phenomena like Baby Yoda and Betty White.
Sustaining the spirit of ICE is key for Roberts, though she does have some new ideas she’d like to try in 2024.
“I’ve been floating around the idea of possibly doing a vintage focused market,” she said “and also one for our favorite four-legged family members. I have two dogs, and pets are just the best. I’d love to give them a fun afternoon.”
For now, she will balance her current 9-5 job as finance manager at Brand Vaughan Lumber Company with running the Indie Craft Experience. “I hope I can make it a full-time job one day,” she said.
“I think she’s going to do an amazing job of ushering ICE into its next era,” said Petterson.
“She really has the head and the heart and the vision to take ICE to the next phase,” said Green.
EVENT PREVIEW
Indie Craft Experience Holiday Shopping Spectacular. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Dec. 2-3. $5. Georgia Freight Depot, 65 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta. indiecraftexperience.com
