Meet the Crafters: Alissa Kloet

Three more days! In case you were wondering, the Crafters are busy working overtime this week to get ready (many are even working other day jobs in addition to their crafting). Today we're going to meet Alissa Kloet. You've already seen her work - she's one of the artists behind this show's posters. But let's take a closer look at what she does. 

What do you make?
 I make textiles for the home and most recently started branching out into making wood trays.

What is your process? 
My process involves silk screening my own original designs onto fabric, and most recently wood. I also do work with stitch - like reverse applique and embroidery.

How long have you been a crafter? 
This will be my third year participating in the Christmas show here in Halifax. Before I moved to the east coast I was involved with the Maker's Market in Hamilton, Ontario.

What is your background/How did you get started?
I studied textiles for three years at Sheridan College. After receiving a diploma, I went on to complete a BFA in Interdisciplinery Studies at NSCAD. I've been selling my work since graduating from Sheridan in stores here in Halifax and some around the Toronto area.

Why do you do what you do?
I love seeing something that started out as an idea on paper become an actual thing. Being part of the process from start to finish is really important to me.

When you're not selling at Crafters markets, where can I find your work?
Currently in Halifax I sell through Seeds Gallery. Hopefully my products will pop up in some more stores around the city this coming spring.

What is your involvement in the show?
This is my first year being part of the team that gets the show up off it's feet. I also had the privilege of illustrating the poster this year.

Where do you do your work? 
I have a small space in my apartment where I do a lot of my sewing and designing. My boyfriend has also graciously given me studio space in his basement - that's where I do my printing.

What inspires you? 
I really like textiles from the mid-century and I can never get enough of Scandinavian design.

What kind of music do you listen to while you work? 
It changes depending on the pace I feel like I have to work at. My brother has been making me playlists on grooveshark.com and those have been keeping me going. I play his 90's hip hop playlist for when I really getting to work - it makes me feel tough...

Three things you need in order to create? 
I need my notebook - I like to start with small creative acts to give myself confidence, my Bernina sewing machine and some really great fabrics.

What's your favourite way to procrastinate? 

Right now, it's watching Arrest Development on Netflix...

Meet the Crafters: Hillary Webb

 Less than one week to go! Can you believe it? While the Crafters are busy working overtime to get ready for Saturday, here's another Crafter you'll find at the show this weekend. Today's Crafter is Hillary Webb, whose crafting story is full of love and adventure.

I’ve been making and selling hand embroidered art since completing my degree in textiles at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2004. The process I developed includes making natural dyes from scratch, staining my dyed cotton fabric with beeswax, and drawing on the fabric with pencil and thread. 

Recently I’ve begun using vintage pillowcases and table linens as the base fabric. My work is inspired by imagery found in nature like trees, birds, animals and patterns. My latest body of work has started to steer away from that and includes imagery of fire and buildings. I’ve also started stitching words and patterns into vintage postcards. Last spring I joined forces with my creative partner, David, and we started creating items like tiny ceramic necklaces and screen-printed pendant flags.

I can’t stop making things. When my hands aren’t busy I get restless. As far as I can tell, making things is in my blood.

 

When I’m not selling at the Halifax Crafters market you can find my work on my website and on the Gold Fools Etsy shop. I’ve also had the pleasure of showing my work at Love, me, and have a show planned at the Heartwood on Quinpool in January. On December 10 and 11,  I will be selling my work at the City of Craft show in Toronto.

I’ve had a booth at the Halifax Crafters Market for the past two years (this upcoming show will be my fifth!). When I moved to Halifax to complete a master’s degree in 2009, I was fortunate enough to stop by the autumn market at the North Street Church within my first month of being in the city. I knew right away that I wanted to be involved.

Halifax Crafters is one of the best shows that I’ve ever participated in. Since the first time I attended, I was blown away by the caliber of work presented there. I do all my Christmas shopping there and proudly bring the locally made goodies back to Ontario to share with my loved ones. There is so much care taken in decorating the hall and the food is always amazing.

At the first Halifax Crafters market I participated in, I was placed next to a very talented painter and crafter named David Figueroa. Two years later I am proud to call him my partner, both personally and creatively. 

This past summer David and I combined our creative power and toured the States for two months, selling our art under the name Gold Fools. We did three Renegade Craft Shows in Brooklyn, San Francisco and Los Angeles, immersing ourselves, and our work, into the craft scenes in those amazing cities. 

We created for ourselves the rare opportunity to show alongside those whose work we have long admired and followed. We met amazing likeminded people that invited us into their homes, studios, and introduced us to their cities. The support we found as travellers and creators was enormous. It was an adventure of a lifetime!

David and I are proud to announce that our trip will be featured in an upcoming issue of UPPERCASE magazine about creative adventures.

For those who don’t know, Renegade is the largest independent craft show in the States. They have annual shows in Chicago, Austin, Vegas, San Francisco, LA, and Brooklyn (and recently started a show in London, England). The people that sell work at these shows are the ones whose work is drool worthy, and featured all over the best crafty blogs.  We were honoured that they included us and have been trying to convince them to start a show in Canada!

Meet the Crafters: Alissa & Chantal

Meet Alissa: one half of the masterful team behind this year's winter market poster. She shares a little bit about collaborating and gives us all a sneak behind the scenes with some beautiful photos of the printing process.

Chantal and I have collaborated on a few projects now. It's always nice to have another person around to bounce ideas off of and another set of eyes. We were thinking of things we associated with winter while trying to stay away from any religious subject matter. There are so many great winter activites to do (many of them that I haven't tried yet but am very eager too) like dogsledding, skating and of course snow shoeing. We both had really liked the idea of snow shoes and we also were taken with the wonder posters made for the Renegade Craft fairs - I find they always do a good job of making the text interesting. I illustrated the various elements for the posters and than we both sat down and played around with it in photoshop until we got something we liked. Many of the posters you'll see around town were hand silk screened by Chantal and I in my studio here in Halifax. 

Thanks to all their hard work you can see the posters pop up all around town reminding us that the Yule Tide Cheer Winter Market is just around the corner!

Meet the Crafters: Gillian Hyde

We're back with another round of Meet the Crafters! This a chance for us to introduce you to the Crafters behind the tables. To get us started, meet Gillian Hyde of Pip Robins Accessories

Hi! I’m Gillian, owner and operator of Pip Robins Accessories, a tiny company with a big heart.  I create sewn cowls made primarily from reclaimed textiles, which means I shop for discarded yardage year-round from thrift stores, take them home, give them a good wash and then slowly piece them together.  Sourcing these fabrics lowers the environmental impact of having to create new textiles and creates wonderful, limited-edition and one-of-a-kind pieces for both men and women.  Cowls are the anti-scarf: a scarf that you easily slip over your head with no looping, tying or wrapping, but offers the same amount of warmth and style as a traditional scarf.


How long have you been a crafter?

Crafting didn’t really come naturally to me.  My sister, Ambera Wellmann was always the artist in the family and so it was never something that I focused on.  I’m completely self-taught and didn’t know any crafty people until my late twenties. Through the power of internet tutorials and a lot of perseverance I learned some basics and after running Pip Robins for nearly three years I have mastered the art of the cowl.

What is your background/How did you get started?

I’m a bit of a vagabond, a wanderer, and spent about ten years travelling and living around the world.  I’ve called the Caribbean, West Africa, Mexico and Europe my home, and have lived in a few provinces across Canada.  I am a trained Web Developer and that’s what my “career” was focused on for most of my twenties, but I am happy to be out of the IT industry now and focused on my own fashion accessories business. 

I started Pip Robins after seeing a guy with a bandana over his nose and mouth one bitterly cold day in the North End of Halifax. I loved the look of something pulled up over his face but knew that there had to be a better way to keep warm if you didn’t want to wear a scarf. I worked on a few prototypes and eventually settled on a design and started selling them on Etsy. They took off immediately, much to my delight, and it hasn’t slowed down.  I consistently see men’s bare necks in the winter and want to run up to them with my business card and tell them that there is another option! They don’t need to be cold! Let me save you! Women love them too of course, but they’re a lot easier to convince because women often like to wear accessories and they see how diverse cowls are. 


Why do you do what you do?

Pip Robins is my full time job right now. I left my job this summer in part so that I could focus on Pip.  I’ve always operated Pip because I love it: I love the treasure hunt and the thrill of finding a really great piece of fabric, I love how it allows me to tap into creativity I didn’t know I had. I love sending my product all over the world (fashion capitals Paris, France and New York, NY are the top international destinations). I love knowing that I’m operating my business ethically and as environmentally as I can.  I love working for myself and I love having full control over every aspect of my business and what I send out into the world. I also love the crafting community, the kinship that comes with selling your wares.  It makes up for spending so much time alone with a sewing machine and computer.

When you're not selling at Crafters markets, where can I find your work?

This year I started wholesaling my cowls, so I’m carried in about 20 stores across Canada. In Nova Scotia you can find them at Biscuit General Store, Love, Me Boutique, the lovely little new store Dots and Loops in Lunenburg and Flow Boutique in Amherst.  I also have a booth at the Halifax Seaport Market every Saturday where you can find the best selection of cowls in the city. I do most of my business on Etsy and through my own website.


How long have you been involved with Halifax Crafters?

This is only my second show; I was involved in last year’s winter show and had amazing feedback and fabulous customers.


What makes Halifax Crafters different from other shows?

Halifax Crafters is the only show I’ve ever done or attended! But, as a stickler for money, I LOVE that there is no admission fee. You can attract so many more people of varying backgrounds by not charging a dime to get in. Second, I love that it is volunteer based. I can’t even imagine all of the work that needs to go into organizing this event, so I really appreciate every single person that works their tail off to make it happen.  It’s all done for the love of craft, which is totally inspiring and admirable.

What inspires you?

My easiest source of inspiration is from the fabric itself. As soon as I see something while thrifting I envision it as a cowl and can hardly wait to get it home and start sewing.  Once I am finished, I quickly take a few shots of it on myself, put it online and wait for feedback.  Who isn’t a sucker for compliments?

My favorite website for inspiration is pinterest. So many good ideas, so many images and tutorials I never would have come across any other way.

Because Pip is my only job I’ve been able to put a lot more time, effort and creativity into each piece this year, so I’ve started incorporating embellishments like reclaimed leather, studs, wool braids, appliqués and more. This month I was featured in The Coast’s ShopTalk in an article that highlighted my mustache cowls, a fan favorite! I vow to donate 10% of November mustache cowl sales to prostate cancer research.

Three things you need in order to create?

My industrial Janome sewing machine, Padraig slippers and my chiropractor.

What's your favourite way to procrastinate?

Soy chai latte in the morning, a nap in the afternoon, sweet white wine in the evening, loud laughter as often as possible.

Coming to a phone pole near you!

Or a bulletin board near you. Or anywhere we can legally post a poster. It's yet another one of our amazing posters designed by our amazing crafters. This year, the design is by Alissa Kloet and Chantal Doak. They'll be screen printing a limited number of these by hand (please wait until after the show to steal one. We understand why you take them...but we also need them to tell folks about the show).

Stay tuned for some "meet the crafters" interviews we'll be posting in the next couple of weeks.