I had originally planned to do two markets this winter leading up to the holidays, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I will only be attending the one. But what a one! OddBird (and its predecessor Royal Bison) have long been my absolute favourite art & craft market leading up to the holidays, so I was very happy to be accepted in with the other 70+ artists, designers, and makers. I’ll be attending the first weekend, and it’s my first fair that I’ll be vending at that is longer than a day.
For this market I’m focusing on gifts; I like to think a lot of what I make works well for gifts, but for the holidays I’ve been creating quite a few stockings. I have my standard large stocking, which I’m doing in a few different styles. I wanted to create some fun stockings with atypical holiday colours using a gingham linen base. Because I absolutely love a gingham linen, you can see it come up again and again in my work – I love to pair gingham with natural dyes.
And of course I’m doing mini stockings. These sold very well for me last year, and they’re really diverse. They can either be ornaments for your tree, or they can be added as a little attchment to a wrapped gift where you can put in an extra little goodie for the recipient: candy canes, chocolates, sewing notions, etc. Anything small will fit neatly inside. They’re partially lined for a nice finish, and this year I’m making a batch out of some lovely raw linen I acquired.
I’m also bringing a selection of tool rolls, which went really quickly at Highlands Art Walk in August. I’m diversifying a bit with two different sizes. I briefly flirted with the idea of a third size, but that’ll have to be for experimentation down the road. We’re four weeks out and I’m honestly in full production mode right now, which means sticking to patterns I don’t need to test out first.
And of course I’ll be bringing a selection of my starburst bags and pocket pouches – brand new ones I’ve been working on. There’ll also be some brand new Quilted Things, two new baby/lap sized naturally dyed quilts, along with some other fun giftable items (for you or somebody you love).
Since this is my first OddBird I’m not quite sure how much to bring of what things; it’s always tough doing not only a new market, but one that is three days long. But I’m fairly confident I have a nice selection of things that will be sure to make people happy for the holidays.
After OddBird I will be taking a break from markets for a few months. I’ll likely look for one to do in late spring/early summer. I’ll be looking at doing another two and that’ll be it; three markets for me is plenty in a year. I love doing them, but the rate at which I can make things isn’t sustainable for any more than that.
The online shop I will open occasionally throughout the year as my making permits; the focus will remain on markets because with shipping and duty and taxes the online aspect doesn’t pay off as much as in person markets do. And frankly, I love meeting the people who will be taking these little things I make home with them.
I will reopen commissions in the new year and be taking them on in a very limited basis, so if you’re interested in either a commission or to learn when the shop opens, please join my newsletter below as that’s where I do all my major announcing.
