Meet the Crafters: Q & A

With the Halifax Crafters Winter Market only days away, we stopped to check in with a few vendors – to give them a little break away from crafting, and to get their insights on a few things.

What’s your favourite thing about a Halifax Crafters show?

• Seeing familiar faces and trading with other makers! – Thief & Bandit

• My favourite thing about a Halifax Crafters show is that I get all my Christmas shopping done too while I’m there. It’s like going to the best store where everything is curated just for me.
  – Deep Hollow Print

• My favourite thing about Halifax crafters is the community, from the vendors to the customers and the volunteers. It is such a warm and welcoming community that it makes everything worth it. – Slightly Irregular

• My favourite thing about crafters is the supportive community of crafters, artisans and makers. The shows take a lot of energy and having such great people around helping each other makes the event feel fun and energizing. – Barre Studio

• I love the hubbub of right before the show starts while everyone is getting ready then the doors open and there’s a calmness as the Olympic Centre fills up with people. And the craftspeople, so much talent under one roof. – Katiebette Embroidery

Where do you draw your inspiration from? 

• For me, inspiration is everywhere. Music, art history, vintage textiles, my kid’s unbridled imagination. – Thief & Bandit

• I draw my inspiration from music, the maritime landscape, and my antique wood type. The wood type I use to print my cards and posters is very old, each piece has its own special patina and character and they are all begging to be inked up and printed. – Deep Hollow Print

• My inspiration is home. My colours are very much influenced by the ocean and the flora I grew up looking at. My claybody is even NS clay, so my clay is even rooted in my memories of playing in mud puddles as a kid. – Slightly Irregular

• My inspiration for making perfume comes from all kinds of sources, usually colours, the way a season feels, or a mood I want to create through scent. Sometimes a certain experience with a scented material will spark my imagination, currently it’s be a love affair with wood and smoke. – Barre Studio

• My inspiration lately has been the idea of a love letter from home. Sending little sweet notes to those you have on your mind. – Katiebette Embroidery

Do you have a favourite craft of yours? 

• Wood carving, it’s been a minute but I’d love to get back at it. – Thief & Bandit

• My favourite of my prints right now is my new Wood Stove print! I made it using a single carved linoblock. I love wood stoves, there’s nothing like good old wood heat in the wintertime. – Deep Hollow Print

• Probably mugs. It’s very satisfying to see a full shelf of mugs. – Slightly Irregular

• My favourite perfume I’ve made to date is Creep. – Barre Studio

• My favourite piece of my own is my fall tree of life. – Katiebette Embroidery

If you were to try another craft besides your own, what would you like to try? 

• Pottery – Thief & Bandit

• – I would love to try my hand at embroidery if I were to try another craft! I used to dabble in embroidering things when I was younger. I love how it’s popular again, and love seeing all the new kitschy, playful embroidery creations. – Deep Hollow Print

• I would really like to work on my knitting skills. Both my mom and my sister are amazing knitters. – Slightly Irregular

• I’ve actually been trying another craft – I’ve been collaborating with Sarah Sears a jewelry project. It’s been so interesting learning how to work and design with a different material. I hope this collaboration will lead to some more experimentation in jewelry design in the future. – Barre Studio

• Ceramics for sure! – Katiebette Embroidery