Northside Makers Market : An illuminated page

f we can think of one person or group's craft experiences as a story, be it adventure, romance or comedy, then each project or event can be thought of as a chapter, and the end result as a single page in that story. A beautiful page with illuminated lettering and a gilt edge, written painstakingly in ink by near-blind monks.

The inaugural Northside Makers Market was such a page in the burgeoning story of the Northside Makers. A delight to read, to behold, to experience. The sun shone warmly and birds sang in the trees. The only smudge on the page was the very late cancellation of the sausage sizzle, but our other food suppliers Melbourne Epicure and Cafe Koula rose to the challenge and liquid papered over the mar. (Can I shelve this analogy now?)

We organisers were genuinely moved by the number of stallholders who arrived first thing in the morning to help us set up. After all the tables were set up we hurried off the set up our own tables. The first time we returned to the hall and saw the visual offering our stallholders had prepared, the sight was breathtaking.

With all the months of planning and organising we had put into this day, it would have been for naught without the talent and quality our stallholders brought to the event. You are what makes us great!

Of course our outdoors stallholders were equally a delight to behold.

One innovation of Northside Makers Market was to offer our members the opportunity to display their work even if they didn't have enough to fill a whole table themselves. The result was a diverse Collective Table with six makers contributing stationery, accessories, screenprinted bags and more.

We received a lot of comments about the family-friendly vibe of the day, which was one of our top goals. The face painter and kids craft table proved a valuable distraction while parents shopped or relaxed in the shady courtyard with a coffee!

We'd love to post every photo from our new Flickr Pool here, but they would cripple your bandwidth. Instead we invite you to click through and take a look for yourselves, and even join up to contribute your own market day photos. It would be satisfying to sign off this post with a photo of we exhausted yet happy organisers - anyone take one?!

See you again on November 28th.

Jennie, Jay & Margaret

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