February Fox Fair

This past Saturday I decided to have another "kate date" and wondered off to visit the February Fox Fair in Fernwood!  These craft shows combine pretty much all of my favourite Victoria artisans to one convenient and delightful shopping experience and this fair was no different. How lovely! 

This is the second craft show I've gone to solo and I must say it's growing on me. I love being able to wonder around at my own pace, take in all the booths, and then go back and make any purchases I've been eyeing!  My goal for this fair was to find something for my mom's birthday so I'm not going to spill the beans on what I ended up getting - but once you check out the pictures I took from the show I'm sure you can imagine how awesome it is! This time around I really took my time to meet and chat with some of the amazing artisans and since I've had craft displays on my mind these days, I took some pictures of my favourite tables to share with you! Hooray! Vicarious craft show attending! 

The first booth I fell for was the wonderful rustic and nature inspired goods of Barn Swallows (link).  I'm sure after seeing a glimpse of her table set up you'll know why I was swooning so hard:

Oh my! Doilies, pom poms, textures, a little plastic fox figurine, mason jars, and mushrooms (doily mushrooms even!)! Ah! All my favourites! How wonderful!  I really like the mash of materials and textures she combined in her display and the open crate and accessories really make her items pop.

Next up on the craft booth oogling is the lovely work of Hollyhawk designs (link). I was lucky enough to sell with Holly at the Bastion Square Market last summer and have always enjoyed how she takes advantage of vertical space. Her nice tall display shelf definitely is just perfect stacked full of her sweet leather goods and I love how she works the mirror in there too! What a smart lady!

Rebecca of Nook (link) drew me in with sweet knitted goods (do you see those amazing boot cuffs on that tray there!?) and I must say I am ultra jealous of her pennant flag stand!  I may need to take a lesson from her and try this out for my next indoor show and take my strung up shop name off the front of my table and up high! Once again I loved the wooden stands and use of vertical space and Rebecca even blogs! Oh my! And did you see her cute garland of crochet hearts? A girl after my own heart (check out my own version here)! 

I really loved all the details in the Wilde and Sparrow booth by Shirra and Alexis (link).  I'm not sure this set up would do very well at any outdoor shows (a sad but very real and windy challenge for anyone who sells lots of light tiny items) but the ultra feminine details, cases, stands, doilies, and ironing board really give the table a presence! I like how checking out their display felt like being in a little shop and quickly realized (once going to link to them in this post) that there's a reason for that - they have a shop in Parksville! Oh ladies! I may need to take a trip there one sunny weekend. 

The doily fun continued at Leah of Re-Find's booth (link) and just like her work, she is wonderful at combining different media and textures to create one cohesive table. I also really want to cover a mason jar in a doily and use it as a vase for pussy willows....

Last up on my fox fair virtual tour is Jennifer Riddel's table (link)! I'm sure by this point you can tell what I like from a table set up and Jennifer is great at combining textures, doilies, natural elements (owl vase with pussy willows!) and vertical elements to make one heck of a great booth. What a clever lady!

*Sigh* After looking back I sort of feel like these ladies make their display booth with me in mind as their ideal customer base - but maybe I am just being a little over enthusiastic.  I love going to shows where the artisans think of all the small details and I want to buy loads of things from every single vendor! Luckily I limited myself to a moderate cash budget for this one and focused on finding something for my mom this time around.  But, boy oh boy, was it ever one heck of a great craft fair. Now if only I could find more like this one when I move back to the interior. Heck - it even makes me want to coordinate one! What do you think? What sort of things do you look for in a good craft fair?