the holiday 2013 season was a busy one for exit343design! I was fortunate enough to be accepted to a few shows that I had never before vended at in towns I had never before visited. I kicked off my holiday season full of traveling in November at Craftopia in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. it was held in this cool refabbed artist space called the Hope Artist Village. the day was SO busy and I had no helper, so I really didn’t get to walk it and take any photographs. I did get to run around in a mad dash at the end – here’s some of the cool vendors I saw with photos lifted from their respective sites:
elizabeth benotti has awesome patterned ceramics.
i purchased some snow sports themed holiday ornaments from Michelle Phaneuf.
marc art focuses on adorable animal inspired prints and home goods.
i also came home with a bag full of goodies, including: the simple and graphic holiday cards on the left are from Weehah!, a fun stationery company from Massachusetts. the earrings in the middle are by my kind and friendly next-door booth neighbor, Kim Young. the sea glass necklace on the right is by Beach Girl Glassworks– i picked up one in silver AND in gold 🙂 in all, Providence was cool and Craftopia was a huge success! I hope to be back there in a future holiday season.
the following weekend, I trekked out to Columbus, Ohio to both attend a show and vend at another. that Saturday, I checked out Columbus staple Craftin’ Outlaws. I unfortunately didn’t get accepted to it, but after walking the show, I could see why- there were SO many talented printmakers there! some of my favorite vendors included:
LOVED these Ohio shaped soaps by Stinky Bomb Soap! check out their online shop for a whole array of brightly colored, uniquely shaped soaps.
these hand-painted ornaments by Yao Cheng really made me wish we had gotten a larger Christmas tree this past year.
true to personal form, I gravitated towards these fascinating ceramic shapes by Adam J Waddell. not only was his work unique, his booth presentation was great.
also true to personal form, I zeroed in on these beautiful and subversive prints by Mute and Gold.
these Ohio specific creations by Igloo Letterpress were great! the show had so many different items showing off Ohio pride.
remember those talents printmakers I was talking about? Jody of Flytrap Studios was definitely one of them. I’m smitten with her printed patterns on scarves, clothing, and this awesome 2014 tea towel!
I got a sweet deal on this simple bid vase from Cynthia Vardhan Ceramics.
Jasen and Katie of Fizz Creative were very friendly and super talented to boot! Their modern, designer-ly style is really eye catching. I enjoyed their colorful branding of their respective home locales. If you’re from Michigan, Ohio, or Erie, check out their Etsy storefront right here.
I was so excited to see some work from Heidi Kenney (aka my paper crane) at Rivet’s booth. Look at those rain drops! Eeee!
After a nice afternoon wandering the show, I made a quick pitstop at Wholly Craft, one of the stores that carries my work. It was so cool to see my work in the wild!
Look, look! Those are my buttons, prints, and cards!
I picked up some awesome greeting cards from Wholly Craft’s extensive stock. The wedding card on the left is by The Social Type and the baby card on right is by L2 Design Collective.
That night, I hung out with the Pittsburgh creatives gang (the talented folks behind Alternate Histories, Garbella, strawberryluna, and Everyday Balloons) and had a delicious dinner at Knead. I also popped in to a few awesome local stores- be sure to stop in an say hello to Gregory at Fringe and check out Tigertree, both on North High Street, the next time you’re in Columbus!
The next day, I squeezed in some breakfast at Skillet, a unbelievably delicious farm-t0-table restaurant. I was there 15 minutes before they opened and watched 6 other people dash in when the minute hand changed to open. Check out this house made cinnamon bun- it was so decadent:
If that doesn’t make you drool, I don’t know what would!
After breakfast, I set up shop at the Columbus Craftacular at Schiller Park Community Center. It was the debut of my full background display, courtesy of Bryan from Yardsale Press. I also made a new sign for the front of my booth and a new tee display:
What a great show! It was a great mix of vendors, many whose work I had never before seen. Despite some ugly weather outside, it was a pretty decent turnout. Here’s some photos of work by just some of my talented neighbors:
Deb from Artistic Flair was my next-door neighbor- she makes these fun glass ornaments and other glass goodies.
loved these bird ornaments by Potbellies!
rustic upcycled piggy pillows by Objet Adapte.
I stocked up on holiday greeting cards from Annette Lasker! How freaking cute are these woodland creatures? The perfect cards for any winter holiday! And those kitty coin purses! A maker after my own heart haha.
I also added to my holiday card collection with these by Hen Pen Designs.
This year, we trimmed the tree with these tiny ceramic stars by Tulane Road Pottery.
I met the super nice duo behind Debris Mercantile; they make wooden and up-cycled home goods like this beer carrier which I am now using to tote six packs to parties 🙂
Even though I wasn’t born in 1971, I fell in love with this OOAK tote by Jamie of HevVin Designs. It’s been getting quite a workout since I came home with it!
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