little winter has come & gone

Little Winter from anja verdugo on Vimeo.

This past weekend was a dream. Little Winter was more beautiful than I could have imagined, the people even lovelier, and Portland the ideal place for this magic to happen. I am so grateful to have been there and to have experienced it all myself. Thank you so much to Abby & Chelsea for coming up with it & creating it, to their incredible team, and to all the vendors. Thank you to everyone who came and who said hello. I love you all. I'm so glad that Geoff & I could be there together -- I would have been a wreck without him.

I woke up early on Saturday morning to find an ATM & to get some Stumptown coffee, and when I walked past The Cleaners at 7AM, I gasped (I had gasped on Wednesday night when we first saw the location, because it was such a pretty venue). The gingham curtains, the fir garland, the candles, the window display, the warmth. They had thought of everything, from the self-serve wrapping station to the programs to the personalized pencils to making sure that the vendors were eating, drinking water, and taking breaks. Even though the purpose of the event was basically to buy and to sell, it didn't feel that way at all. The spirit of it just felt completely different. When someone would hand me money, I was almost surprised. Oh yeah, money! Totally forgot.

I wish I could list everyone that I got to meet, but I don't want to risk forgetting anyone's name or making anyone feel left out. All the vendors were incredible, so kind & amazing. I have to mention a few, though. It was so special to meet Sue and Kristien in person, since they traveled so far just to attend the market. The lovely Jen came to the party the night before and brought me a cute book of cats, which was so thoughtful. I was happy that I got to spend a fair amount of time with Portland locals Megan and Anja, which was nice (Anja made the amazing video above, which you may have already seen -- watch out for my crazed grin and my yellow & grey F-Troupe shoes). They showed us around town on Monday & took us for a great lunch. I love those guys. I am also happy that Geoff & I got to spend a lot of time with Alice. We spent a day wandering around Portland together and she introduced us to some of her sweet friends. We had a few meals together & she helped me out quite a lot with the show. Meeting Alice & all these lovely girls was a highlight of what I can easily say was the best weekend of my year. So many babes!

Geoff & I finished 5 rolls of film on this trip, and on our last day, we had 2 rolls developed at a one-hour lab. I just couldn't wait to see. There are more on Flickr, and I'm picking up some more tonight.

Later I'll share the beautiful things I bought, and I'd like to tell you about Portland itself.

Alyson and Levi of Mossière printed these beautiful cards for us. Geoff drew the little ornament and they letterpressed the design onto thick cardstock. This was a time-for-time trade for the neckties that I made for their lovely wedding this summer. I wish we could have had more time to spend with them and with many of the other vendors. Oh, time.

The red fabric is an antique Canadian flag -- I thought it would be nice to represent, eh? On the second day I made sure that my model, Geoff, was wearing one of these ties. I think they confused some people when they saw them on the table. Luckily he worked it so hard that I sold them all that day! Thanks, baby!

Anja and I have a little cat-things trading club and she brought me this! So adorable! I had to leave it out. 

"Canadian Cheese," just FYI.

Setting up a display when you're traveling and trying not to check too many bags is a huge challenge. We did our best. I'm not thrilled with how our sign looks (I used iron-on transfer paper) -- if I had had more time I would have painted it. Oh well!

Forestbound. The greatest bags ever. Alice also wins for "prettiest hair all weekend."

Jordan & Paul Ferney -- what a great idea. I love that picture of Elly!

Shanna Murray. What a talent. Her logo design (printed onto decals and affixed to the windows all around The Cleaners) was such an integral part of making the event as beautiful as it was.

Hetterson -- so happy to meet darling Hannah in person!

Garment House. I totally wanted to bring Elly home in my pocket, and her sister was also lovely.

Juliana Swaney

Tokketok

Secret Pocket -- you know, I think Kenzie just might be the kindest, most radiant girl on the planet.

Kiki + Polly 

Paintings by Amanda Blake, our sweet neighbour.

Mossière

Abby Try Again

My House Party (we had some good cat chats)

Herriott Grace. It's a pity Nikole wasn't there, but she sent this table's worth of pretty.

Twigs & Honey

I've had some emails about totes & calendars -- we hope to put what we have left online soon! I will mention it here when we have that ready.




REPLIES

etre-soi: Thank you! I hope you can share them soon. I'm sure Brittany is so, so beautiful.

mara: Congratulations on winning!

Jenny: Thanks so much! I hope you're enjoying Toronto!

stephanie renee: I hope you are ready to see tons of them, ha!

chelsea: You're the best.

catherine: Oh, how wonderful! I'm so glad you like it! I'm also so glad that someone in the southern hemisphere got it and can enjoy it for summer adventures!

ka: Thank you!

Melissa: Ha! Thanks for thinking of me!

elissa @ faucethead: Thank you!

Shin Ae: You're welcome! I can't read baking blogs. They make me crazed with hunger for cake.

Kelli: Oh thank you! Yes, it was so crowded, I think maybe some people didn't even make it to the back. I hope you enjoyed your visit to the market!

Kate: Thank you for saying hello!

Anna: Thanks!

Andrea Frampton: Aw, thanks so much! You know, if you had said hello, I would have happily talked your ear off about cats for about an hour! Thank you for coming and thanks for the kind words. Give Eliot a wee pet for me.

Meow Meow: Thank you!

rachel: Thank you! Oh, no worries, I know it was kind of crazy in there. So glad you came all the way from Seattle!