Market #2 for 2021: the Mistletoe Market!

Exciting news, everyone! I was accepted as a vendor for the Mistletoe Market, coming up on December 4! I went to the market as a shopper pre-pandemic, and it was a fun and lively event with lots of interesting goodies for sale, so I’m particularly pleased that they thought I would be a good fit. I have of course been making lists and plans for what I want to bring: stickers, note cards, journals, and of course paintings and prints, plus at least one or two completely new things.

One of the new things I’m eager to try are wood slice holiday ornaments painted with gouache. I traditionally haven’t done a lot of seasonal art; I usually don’t think about it until the relevant season is upon us, by which time it’s already too late, from a seller standpoint (planning further ahead for seasons and trends is something I need to work on, but more on that later, maybe). The wood slice ornaments are something I’ve been thinking about doing for a few years now, though, so I’m determined that this year will finally be the year! I have all the supplies; it’s just a matter of making the time.

I’m also using this as a push to make some more Moon Journals, since they had good reception at the Made Fest; they seemed to be a popular gift option (at least three people told me they were buying for a friend or relative whom they thought would love it). I still haven’t listed them on Etsy — especially since I only have three left at the moment, all of which are technically spoken for — but depending on how many I have time to make, they should be up in time for the giving holidays. My mom helped me get a bunch of paper signatures folded while she visited for Thanksgiving, which helped a lot — now I can get to making the covers and sewing them together sooner.

The nice thing about this particular market (especially given the time of year) is that it’s indoors, which means I don’t have to haul a tent OR worry about the weather. I mean, there are a lot of other good things about this market, too — it’s in an established location with a good amount of foot traffic, and it’s well advertised — but I am of course thinking about my work load here, haha. In my defense, Jake won’t be available to help me set up like he was for Made Fest, so I have to be mindful of what I can handle on my own. I’ve gotten to see previews of the other artists that will be attending through the Mistletoe Market Instagram feed and I’m really hoping I get a chance to step away from my own table to do some shopping.