Mom and I went out this dreary day to check out the annual Made by Hand Show in Mississauga. For only $2 entry fee it’s one of the more reasonably-priced shows this time of year for crafty things.

I mostly wanted to go to see if I could find any new artists to bring on board for With Heart. My inventory is getting old, but I don’t have enough free cash to bring in much more right now. I need to find newer artists that are willing to do consignment deals with me for the first little while. This way I can sell the stuff and make money, but if I don’t, then I just return the items to the artist. It’s a pretty decent deal.

So it wasn’t too bad today. I’ve been to all sorts of shows in my day, ranging from tiny church and community centre shindigs to the juggernaut One of a Kind Show every year. I do wish it was in a better location, but I guess there aren’t that many large halls in the area.

In terms of selection it was ok. There was of course a million baby stuff, soap and jewellery makers. Not a whole lot of remarkable stuff there, either. I’m looking for the really stand-out items that are worth a second look. Most of the booths were not very professional and had many of the same items, over and over. But this is the trouble with crafting and shows; there are always going to be more than enough of those vendors to go around. That’s why I created my boutique anyway, so that you could shop simply online and get the creme de la creme of handmade goodies without all the hassle of these shows. (shameless plug)

Anyway, I feel like my adventure today was fairly successful. I found some vendors with interesting wares and grabbed some cards to research them further at home. I made some personal purchases, too!

I picked up a couple of pottery mugs (replacing all the ugly ones from the set with unique & interesting pieces) and I love these. I ran out of money or I would have bought so many more things from this woman. I can’t carry these items in With Heart and that’s a shame, but at least I can enjoy them myself!

I also picked up some adorable cloth button earrings:

What do you think? This size was about $10 each. They came in a ton of great fabrics and different sizes. I’m thinking of getting some for the store, what do my readers think? Would you buy something like this?

The gal Jenny was pretty rad too. A bit Rockabilly in her style, she really had a nice but simple booth and her packaging & presentation were excellent. She’s not online yet but I think she’ll do relatively well.

Now I’m going to sit down and go through all the other cards I collected during my visit and decide whether to contact the artists to work out a deal for the shop.