6th Annual Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto

minouette table at Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto (photo: Peter Power)

This Saturday we held our 6th annual Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto. A huge thank you to all the visitors who came out and stopped by the minouette table at the show! It's great to meet you all in person. As the captain of the Toronto Etsy Street Team, I spent months on this show with a team of organizers from TEST and 416Hustler and it's so gratifying to see thousands of people come out and support local artists and artisans and vintage sellers. Thanks especially to my fellow organizers! I love seeing all my fellow makers too... only being so busy stops me from spending all my earnings at the other tables!

Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto, September 28, 2019 (photo: Peter Power)

Checking out the Newfoundland and Labrador print at Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto (photo: Peter Power)

Minouette at the 5th Etsy: Made in Canada at MaRS Discovery District

Find me at Table 32 at Etsy: Made in Canada, September 29, 2018 (photo credit: Peter Power, 2016 show)

This Saturday, 10 to 6, find me selling at Table 32 for our 5th Annual Etsy: Made in Canada show! This year we have 130 fabulous handmade artists and artisans selling in the airy and history MaRS Discovery District Atrium. I will have a selection of my linocut prints and stuffed toys, with natural history, science prints, and hints of magic! This is always a great show and I hope you'll come join us. Stop by and say hello!

June Shows & Markets: Bees and Returning to Campbell House

Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, linocut, Ele Willoughby, 2017

This week sees a new show at the Toronto Etsy Street Team Gallery, the 3rd annual 'Bees (& the Birds)', which raises funds and awareness of our beleagered pollinators, hosted by my friend Christine Pensa of Art That Moves. Come by the gallery to see the show between June 7 to 20th or join us for the Opening party June 8! Along with 30 artists and craftspeople who've made art inspired by bees, you can see my latest linocut of the endangered rusty-patched bumble bee and a print I made for an entomologist earlier this year, Megachile brevis.

Megachile brevis, linocut by Ele Willoughbby 2017

I'm also taking part in the Toronto Etsy Street Team's Midsummer Market! This is a really fun indoor/outdoor summer show at the Campbell House museum, Queen St and University. Check out the fabulous lookbook and join us for the show June 17!

I've got a couple other exciting things coming up which I can't wait to share with you! I've been a busy week...

Minouette at Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto 2015

Me at the minouette table at Etsy: Made in Canada, September 26th at MaRS (photo credit: Peter Power)

Well, we pulled it off for a second year running! I'm really proud of the tremendous show we put on this Saturday. Totally exhausting, but it looked fabulous, there was a great crowd and a great feeling to the show. I love seeing that thousands of Torontonians come out to see our great local (and some farther afield Canadian) sellers and shop their handmade and vintage wares. I had several people stop and talk with me and when they realized I was an organizer of the show, volunteer that they felt it was the best craft show in the city.

Our enthusiastic fans began arriving at 5:30 am for a chance at getting a swag bag! This is the line outside MaRS at 7:30 am, when we already had 69 lucky people who would get one of the 100 swag bags. The swag bags were pretty awesome. I saw some of the incredibly generous donations from sellers before the bags were stuffed and was blown away... in fact, I started to worry that my swag offerings were inadequate. Some people really outdid themselves. (photo: Ele Willoughby)

photo credit: Peter Power

photo credit: Peter Power

photo credit: Peter Power

Throughout the day, there were eight workshops, free to the public - both DIY handmade items and how to assess and care for vintage items. I'm so impressed with what people will take on. One teacher volunteered despite also getting married and having her honeymoon this month. Another teacher sadly had a family emergency, but handled the situation with consideration and grace and quickly helped us find one of her friends and colleagues who could take her place. I'd like to thank all the workshop leaders and these three in particular (you know who you are!).

We had some minor snafus (last minute security requests for tables to be moved, brief electrical disruptions, missing chairs), but nothing we couldn't handle and we were able to get help from our hosts.

The crowd was as engaged as last year. I got questions like, "Is this woodcut? And this chine collé?" which pretty much tells me they are educated about printmaking. One shopper got excited and asked if a portrait was of Jane Austen. I had to tell her though it was the right era, the portrait was of astronomer Caroline Herschel, to which she replied, "Well, that explains the comets." There was a great mix of people of all ages. At one point, I ran into my son's pediatrician, who asked, "What are you doing here?" and I replied, "I'm running the show!"

photo credit: Peter Power

I think I should maybe sleep for a month now! But no rest for me. I had the Big Magic pop-up market already, on Monday (more on that soon), and I have my sights on the One of a Kind Show in November.

I've written a longer post about Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto on the team blog here. You should check out our #EtsyMICToronto hashtag on Instagram to see some of the amazing things which were there.

Thanks to everyone who came out, and made this possible! Especially my super fabulous collection of fellow organizers from TEST and 416Hustler, who are the best. Period. Thank you to all the talented vendors who made the show look and feel amazing and for all your kind words. I really appreciate it. Thank you to the volunteers (especially Becca, who helped me in particular), Pete for the great photos, and of course, Etsy Canada, MaRS, and our sponsors.

Etsy: Made in Canada wrap-up

I feel like I'm still recovering from Etsy: Made In Canada. Our show was a great success! We think we had 8000 visitors - Etsy fans all.

The Toronto Standard interviewed me about the show, the team, and life as a geophysicist/printmaker.

Preparations

Tomorrow, I'll be selling minouette prints at the Shop Cats Pop-Up store for the Scadding Court Harvest Festival! Along with the harvest festival, there will be a number of pop-ups in repurposed shipping containers at Bathurst & Dundas. Come check it out!

This evening the Toronto Etsy Street Team is having a social media summit & pot-luck, so today, I'm gathering supplies for the show and goodies for this evening. Thinking ahead a little, I thought people will want to be prepared for Ada Lovelace Day (ALD13) this October 15th. So, now you can get my Ada Lovelace linocut on tee shirts (or totes, cell phone and laptop skins as well as art prints)!

ALD13 is the 5th annual international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology, science and math. I'm sure you'll all recall, Ada, brilliant proto-software engineer, daughter of absentee father, the mad, bad, and dangerous to know, Lord Byron, she was able to describe and conceptualize software for Charles Babbage's computing engine, before the concepts of software, hardware, or even Babbage's own machine existed! She foresaw that computers would be useful for more than mere number-crunching. For this she is rightly recognized as visionary - at least by those of us who know who she was. She figured out how to compute Bernouilli numbers with a Babbage analytical engine. Tragically, she died at only 36. On October 15, in Ada's name, people around the world are blogging about women in science and technology, whose accomplishments have all too often gone unrecognized or unacknowledged.

Springtime Marketplace

The 4th Annual Toronto Etsy Street Team Springtime Marketplace is fast approaching! Join us on:
Date: June 1, 2013
Time: 11:00 am to 5:30 pm (followed by post-show cocktail party)
Where: 918 Bathurst Centre, in the heart of the Annex, on Bathurst north of Bloor
Admission: FREE

for our best show yet! Along with our handmade vendors, you can peruse great vintage finds, enjoy music from our live DJ (none other than synap!), and take part in one of a series of FREE craft workshops. The Marketplace will be followed by a cocktail reception offering refreshments, a cash bar, a charity raffle, a special tea-infused cocktail workshop and a chance to mingle and chat with the members of TEST. The show features 40+ TEST makers and vintage sellers and includes; one of a kind jewelry, art, fashions (both new and vintage), toys, handmade body care items and baked goods. See the show website or Facebook Event Page for more details.

Spend a fun spring afternoon checking out these talented handmakers’ wares, support local artists in your community, enjoy the hunt for the perfect vintage item.

Don't forget to check out the lovely Springtime Marketplace Look Book!

One of a Kind Display

I've been working on my display for the One of a Kind show today. RJH built me two wooden stands with two tilted steps and three risers each. We collaborated on the design. RJH went above and beyond, making all joints with dowels and avoiding wood screws, which he didn't think would look nice. He's going to sand and stain them later, but they're already lovely. I wanted to place increasingly large prints on each step so that the biggest ones could simply rise above the top. We also each, independantly picked up a pair of tiny easels at the dollar store, which was a cute coincidence (so, now I have four of them). I'm going to get some postcards printed with my artwork, booth number (L-04-29) and a discount code for future purchases from things from secret minouette places, online which I can disply on the easels. The steps are each deep enough that I can layer serveral prints, so buyers can come and see what else is available. I can layer sets of prints, like the zodiac set, Canada set, or terms of venery set.

I got a Square card reader. Now I just need to get a smartphone and I'll be able to accept credit cards as well as cash at the show.

I'm feeling nervous, but I think I'm actually pretty well prepared. I'm glad I know several other sellers who are also preparing. We've been sharing our strategies and have an informal support group going. ;)

10 days to go!

Spring One of A Kind Show: Get your cheap tickets!

Just for you, I have a special discount for tickets to the Spring One of a Kind show! If you follow the link you can get in for only $11 ($1 off the usual on-line price and $3 off the regular adult entry at the door).

Get your discounted tickets right here!

In other OOAK news, I have submitted my final payment and signed my contract. It's all official now. I've been working on my online profile too. I'll be sure to share it with you soon!

OOAK Prep

This week in OOAK prep:
We went to Home Depot and found a inormous lock box. Basically, it's a large, sturdy, plastic trunk with hinges, latches and a place for a padlock. I can place my packaged prints inside, and if I need to go somewhere, lock my valuables inside. The whole thing will fit under my table. It isn't large enough for my oversized prints, so we also got a transparent plastic box which is meant for under-bed storage. This box fits on top of the first box and can also fit under my table. Then, I spent the better part of two days packaging prints. I have a collection of cellophane envelops in various sizes, so it was a question of getting a large amount of foam board, cutting it to size, and stuffing the envelops with print, foam board, and business card. I've packaged dozens and dozens. This also involved trying to convince Minouette that there was no cats in packaging prints (like crying in baseball), but she really thought this activity would be improved by a cat's involvement in all aspects. Things I've learned: I have a large number of prints. I need more cellophane envelops and foam board and maybe another storage box. My cat does not understand the use of an xacto knife.

Next, I've been working on my profile for the OOAK site and answering questions for Etsy - writing things like artists statements and so forth.

Lastly, I've been scheming about displaying my prints and researching how other people display things. The photos are two shows I did in December - the Wandering Winter Craft Show at the Gladstone and the Movies and Makers show at the Fox Cinema. These were different shows with really different tables and issues. At OOAK, I'll have a large rectangular table, and I'll only be selling art (no pillows or textiles) but I don't want to go with my usual retort stand and ribbon with suspended prints trick. My bamboo stakes on top of retort stand trick probably wouldn't fly either. It's a more formal sort of show and I'm hoping RJH will build me a display. I've found some examples of the sort of thing I have in mind.

Things I still need to do: research smart phone plans so I can get a smart phone credit card reader. There are a number of different products available which are a great solution for small business people who couldn't invest in a regular credit card reader. You just stick them in your smart phone and then you can swipe credit cards and process payments.

Movies and Makers

One last chance to find things from secret minouette places at a sale before the holidays! This one promises to be a real event. I've never had the chance to do a Movies and Makers show previously, but they sound like a lot of fun. This Saturday, I'll be selling minouette items in a movie theatre! Come check out Movies and Makers at:

Fox Theatre
2236 Queen St. East
Toronto, ON
M4E 1G2