by Jessica Burko of Reclaimed To You
Boston Handmade produced our 4th annual Marketplace in Union Square Somerville this past Saturday and I am happy to report that a great time was had by all!
Saturday's Marketplace featured 21 independent artists and craftspeople, 6 local arts organizations and businesses who teach & promote the arts, and produce handmade items, and we enjoyed live music throughout the afternoon with 2 local bands The Weisstronauts and One Happy Island.
At the Marketplace we also debuted our brand new Boston Handmade t-shirts. I designed the image and the shirts were printed by Evan Webster Ink. All the proceeds from t-shirt sales go directly to support Boston Handmade programming so please consider purchasing a shirt at our upcoming events!
Another highlight from the day was the Boston Handmade Photo Booth set-up and run by Lucie Wicker Photography and fellow classmates from her Boston University Professional Photography Certificate Program. With costumes and props they photographed Marketplace visitors and exhibitors, and even snapped a few pics of me and the hubby.All of the photo booth pics have been posted online so click this image for all the fun moments:
There's no way I could spend the afternoon at the Boston Handmade Marketplace surrounded by so much talent and not buy anything, so very year I designate some savings to make a few purchases. Here's what I bought this year...
A new design from City By The Sea Ceramics - a yarn bowl! I've never heard of such a marvelous invention but for me it combines two of my favorite things, yarn and ceramics, so what could be better? It's a bowl to hold yarn while knitting (or crocheting) with special notches and holes to slip the yarn through and insure that the ball doesn't go rolling all over the room. Amazing!
Then I purchased a beautiful handblown glass vase from Tanner Glass. I've been drooling over Suzanne Tanner's work for years, and I couldn't wait to buy this lovely bud vase to add to my collection.
Last but definitely not least, I bought this adorable sock monkey named Pinky from Monkey Shine Studios. My husband and I chose this lovely lady as a gift for our new baby daughter that we are expecting in November. We just know that Pinky will be great friends with Eugene the Monkey that our son sleeps with every night.
Did you miss the Marketplace but would still like to support your local artists and craftspeople? Shop online! All of the 2011 Marketplace exhibitors are listed on our website and they all have online shops. Also, check out more photos from the Marketplace HERE.
Thank you to everyone who made Saturday such a great success:
ALL the exhibitors
Our wonderful volunteers Elaine and Lynne
The Somerville Arts Council
Etsy.com
GateHouse Media New England
and everyone who was there to enjoy the event!
I had a great time walking around and looking at everyone's booths. So much talent!
ReplyDeleteAre the Boston Handmade t-shirts available to purchase online?
ReplyDeleteI loved how Lucie and her group used the printed fabric for a photo backdrop. It reminded me of African photo portraits, and made the pictures quite lively!
ReplyDeleteFor now the t-shirts are only available for sale at our live events such as our Artisan Fair in Jamaica Plain on August 4th, and September 1st, at 633 Centre Street. We will be selling them online sometime soon and we will be sure to post about it to this blog. Thank you for your interest!
ReplyDelete