listersgirl | (no subject)

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our world:holidays:christmas

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I am encountering a weird craft fair phenomenon this year, whereby all the craft fairs are much smaller than they were last year. By which I mean that a craft fair that was in 2 rooms last year is in one this year. It's odd! Maybe after last year's giant craft explosion there are now more events than artisans? Or maybe the handmade holiday has gone out of vogue. I went to 5 different shows today, 4 of which I'd been to last year, and they were all awfully tiny. And only one was particularly interesting. If this trend continues I'm going to have to make other plans for my remaining gifts.

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It may be the recession. I remember a number of crafty people last year posting that they hadn't sold enough to cover their expenses at some of the craft fairs they usually do well at. So if sales have still been down generally, I'm thinking a lot of people have just decided it's not worth the gamble of renting a table and possibly losing money if people aren't spending much.

I don't know about shipping, but you can probably still find everything crafty you want on Etsy.

Oh, sure, Etsy is great, but I don't actually *know* what I want, and Etsy is waaaaaay too big. I'm a completist - I want to see everything before I make a decision! Plus I like to touch things. :) I did do some Etsy shopping this Christmas, though.

I hear you about Etsy. It's cool, but there's so much that you can get lost and never actually find anything you want to buy. Too much! Also, some things I prefer to see in person.

I'm thinking recession, too -- there may be artisans who didn't have time to MAKE crafts (in selling quantities) this year because they're working 16 part-time jobs to pay rent, or perhaps it's just not worth it to get a table at the big high-competition events, or or or. But they're definitely small and lacking in interest. Oo, which brings me to Recession Theory Subpart C: the materials to make interesting crafts are too expensive so some of the items have been dumbed down and marked up (this would explain the amount of random resale items and terribly uncreative crochet we saw, for instance).

I am absolutely going to have to come up with another solution for my last few purchases, because eek.

That's probably all very true. It's just so weird to see the difference in the shows!

Another one who thinks it's probably the recession. Sadly, the European market that used to be held here every winter has packed up. No buche de noel or smoky Swedish coffee this year.

Oh, sad! I just discovered a European market happening here this week, which I'm hoping will be fun.

Interesting. I was just telling a friend the other day about my friend in Toronto who goes to all these awesome craft fairs and gets awesome things, whereas I went to a few craft fairs in Ottawa and they were *lame*. I think Toronto must automatically have a coolness/funkiness factor that Ottawa can't compete with, but still...very disappointing. Basically, they were filled with things my mother would have made. There's an Artisan sale/show this weekend that I was thinking of going to, but I might pass because it's pretty far. I don't want to drive far to be disappointed.

I saw a post on a Toronto craft forum about an Ottawa show being cancelled - sounded like that was the funky show you are looking for. I don't know, this year the cool factor is pretty low, and the couple of shows that have had neat stuff are about 1/2 the size of last year.

Last week I was at the venue I think you went to and it was TINY. I went because a vendor from years past was in for two days from Alberta and I wanted some of her stuff, but otherwise, meh.

Did you end up going to the Giant Show? I did not.

I did go to the giant show. It wasn't as exhausting as it could have been because I skipped all the food stuff - it's always the same, so I knew I wasn't going to buy anything. Still overwhelming, though.

I went to a couple of one-offs, and they were weirdly small. The one at Wychwood Barns was tiny!

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