Bright Glass, Saturated Inks, Heritage Patterns

Michelle from My Little Anchor at her post!

May I regail you with tales of organizing a craft fair?  I hope so.  The #2 biggest fears I had in the days leading up to the event were #1:  Are customers going to show up?  and #2:  Will all the vendors fit?  Because I spent the month leading up to The THAW in hyper-contact mode with friends, message boards, newspapers, Facebook and more #1 was all taken care of.  Signs up and down the street directed people towards our little shin dig and people just kept pourin’ in.  Good!  #2 was a little scarier – turns out my estimate of how much space everyone would get was a little, er, generous and we had to do some last minute rearranging as the vendors were setting up.  FORTUNATELY we hand-selected a group of very friendly, flexible and happy people to play at The THAW and everyone was psyched just to be there selling their goods.  So officially:  THANK YOU to all the vendors who didn’t get mad at me!  🙂

Madder Root products

Madder Root was located upstairs in front of one of the amazing, huge, gorgeous, pretty, awesome windows in the main room at Mayo St.  I’m so excited because their clean, white linen and saturated screen printed inks looked beautiful in the morning light.  You can also see from the photo that they thought ahead (along with other vendors) by bringing coupons for customers to use on their Etsy site in the future.  Good idea, ladies!

David Jacobson

Look at these gorgeous, spring-y colors from David Jacobson Glass.  Lots of vendors thought ahead and included items at their spaces that got people in the mood for the season.  Although it was about 40 degrees that day and more than a tad chilly (pro tip:  always bring a warm layer to a craft fair!) people were ready to forget about snow, especially the April Fool’s Day storm.  David’s pieces brightened up the back of ‘the island’ (a grouping of vendors in the center of the floor) and his “conversation pieces” (trademark by David Jacobson) are the most clever things you’ll ever leave a note on.  Click on the image to visit his website and learn more!

A New Heirloom

Ashley Tyler (A New Heirloom) is setting up her wares at her great display innovations in the corner next to Jen from Quercus Design. Her work is so beautiful, just take a peek at her Etsy shop and tell me you don’t want everything in it.  We’re excited for Ashley, as she’s moving in to a brand, new studio in Biddeford this month where she can spread out and get really creative.  Yay for real studios replacing corners in our apartments!

That’s all for now, everyone — I plan on posting daily until all the photos are gone!  Again, please email any snaps you might have taken of the day to:  thebigthawportland at gmail dot com.  Thanks!

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Vendor Spotlight: Merchants Row

 

16 Counties

Yesterday we featured the lady Marchesi (Michelle) from My Little Anchor.  We now introduce the equally nautically-named Merchants Row from Mark Marchesi, the Mr.!  On a personal note, I got to watch Michelle and Mark for two days last December during Picnic at the Irish Heritage center peddling their wares – the crowd could not get ENOUGH of the Maine counties puzzle!  While the challenge of remembering all 16 sometimes strangely named counties is enough for some, the retro-style text and the two-tone compass rose make this not just an interesting conversation piece but a little piece of art, as well.

 

By Merchants Row

We’re not going to pretend like we know what this is, but if you head over to the Merchants Row website I’m sure there will be lots of information for you.  OK – so on second thought we’re not that lazy.  As it turns out it’s a handplane meant for bodysurfing which ought to be an excellent summer pastime to try out!  There’s quite a bit of information about the piece over at the Merchants Row website.

 

Maritime Memory by Merchants Row

The design aesthetic and the types of games Merchants Row specializes in calls to simple pleasures and rainy afternoons spent in a summer cabin.

We could go on and on about Mark and Merchant’s Row – but luckily he has a blog here where he writes about inspirations, experiences and his products.  Hope you’ll give it a peek!  Meanwhile, pictures!  It’s what we do best:

 

Doryman Puzzle by Merchants Row

Wooden Letters Set

World Map Puzzle

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Vendor Spotlight: My Little Anchor

 

My Little Anchor: Perfect!

Goodness, gracious.  Life is full of little surprises and these fantastically tiny earrings from My Little Anchor are no exception.  The colors, shapes and patterns available speak to many different styles and there is bound to be something for everyone.  Let’s take another indulgent look:

My Little Anchor: Tiny Collection

Whoa!!  It’s like hearing color in stereo!!

Michelle Marchesi is the brains and the inspiration-gatherer behind My Little Anchor.  We are honored, tickled, and maybe even blushing a little that she and her husband, Mark, of Merchant’s Row will be joining us on April 16th.

In addition to these precious little earring duos, My Little Anchor offers a line of fresh, bold and colorful jewelry appropriate for ages 2 to 200.  Wouldn’t that be something?

 

My Little Anchor: Ages 2 to 200?

We think that there is no better time than April (and the coming summer) in Maine to brighten up the wardrobe with juicy reds, limpid turquoise and raging hot pink.  Let’s see a little more:

 

My Little Anchor: Raging Hot Pink and Feathery White

We’ll be featuring the woodworking stylings of Mark Marchesi (Merchants Row) coming up next.  The two will be sharing a table at The BIG THAW on Saturday, April 16th, 10am to 4pm at the Mayo Street Arts Center at 10 Mayo St.  We hope to see you there!  And now just one last bit of candy:

 

My Little Anchor: Candy for your ears

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