“I spent 19 years in retail fashion and always loved leather accessories. Once I met someone who taught me how to use the tools, it was just a matter of time before we started this,” said Anthony Valadez while working on a leather cuff bracelet at his booth at the Solstice Festival. Valadez is co-owner of T&A Leather, which has been up-cycling found and donated scraps of leather into trendy adornments for the past two years.
“These are a clown trick from the ’30s, and I’m the only person in the U.S. making them. It’s obnoxious, it’s annoying, and it’s awesome,” said David Loper about his Wacky Whistles. The whistles are the smallest registered instrument, consisting of a half-circle piece of plastic that you put in your mouth to make a plethora of really, really loud noises.