Garland Area MakerSpace Booth
I spent all day yesterday (Saturday September 15) amongst my favorite people—makers at the Garland MarketPlace, a bimonthly event organized by Kirk Lovett. It was a beautiful sunshine day and the Garland Area Makerspace had our second booth there.
If you make things that you also like to sell, be sure to contact Kirk to schedule a spot for the first and third Saturdays of October—a great month to sell things as people are already starting to think about purchasing gifts for the holidays. (Kirk.Eventive@Live.Com or 469-275-9616).
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We had a great space right on Main Street. People driving down Main could see our sign as they approached the square. If you squint, you can see some of the things we had for sale: to the left on the ground were those great shopping bags made from recycle feed sacks we obtain just down the street on Main from our local Roach Feed and Seed; a sign advertising our next event (Rock Painting) on October 13 at 7PM at 216 Each Kingsbridge; beautiful paper mache sculptures made by Carol Currie; dazzling ceiling fan pulls by Janell Jenkins: and to the far right you’ll see the GAM Maker Girl. On the other side that you can’t see we had a table where we showed kids and their parents how to make tea light lanterns from soda cans and another table where we showed them how to make plarn (plastic yarn) from recycled plastic grocery sacks. One of our missions is to make parents and grandparents into Maker heroes by showing them how to make things with the kids in their lives. Even though our main goal was to share knowledge with the community about makerspaces, we still made $65 at this event.
Some of the Vendor Scenes from the September Garland MarketPlace
Vendors at the Garland MarketPlace are great for business. They bring visitors to the downtown square who otherwise might not be down there on a particular day. For example, I'm fairly certain that none of the five makers who were in charge of our booth would have been downtown yesterday. Yet there we were, and as a group we spent over $100 downtown at local merchants and at the booths of the vendors. Remember, that's only five people and there were a lot more people than that mingling about the square yesterday. A lesson learned here perhaps is to be nice to makers because we are GREAT for the local economy.
That's another great thing about the Garland MarketPlace and the Garland Area Makerspace. They are both great opportunities to make connections that matter. Ms. Leeson represents artists and craft makers on a consignment basis. She was selling some of the works of her clients at the Garland MarketPlace. Note: Bellona was a Roman goddess of War and a consort of the war god Mars—a fact I did not know until I asked Brianne if the name of her company had a special significance.
Kella, a multitalented maker, had a booth right next to the Garland Area Makerspace. Kella writes children’s books under the pen name of Judy Shea; sells some of her great nature photographs; makes lovely teacup and saucer bird feeders.
An interesting point about DeWayne and Suzanne is they are both great teachers to children in their lives regarding the value of making your way by being creative and inventing your own enterprise. DeWayne's son is usually with him at his vegetable and fruit stand (This Saturday, however, he was playing in a Soccer game). Suzanne's granddaughter who obviously admires and loves her Granny is always by her side.
Jimmy and his family make lovely, original wall hangings and other decorative art for the home. As for Tamales over Texas. They can't be beat!
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More Scenes with People and Maker Things at the Garland MarketPlace
WHO CAME?
Well, we didn't have royalty and we didn't have any representatives from our local City Council that I saw, but we did have a former maker Mayor and even another who is hoping to be elected as Mayor in 2019--Daniel Carrillo. One thing you can say for the both of them: They each recognize and honor the importance of makers to their local community. Doug, a maker in his own right and also an talented photographer reminded us of the "Eyes of Garland" exhibit at our Local Granville Arts Center. Those who came to the MarketPlace also got to meet Daniel Carrillo an Hispanic who may be throwing his hat in the ring for Mayor in the 2019 race. Daniel was suggesting with some flyers he was handing out that he would like to help guide Garland in the right direction by being our Mayor in 2019.
Former Mayor Douglas Athas, a great supporter of makers, shown above looking rested, healthy and fit after a few months of early retirement from City government. To the left in the background is John Jones one of several technophile members of the Garland Area Makerspace. Jonsey, a talented graphic artist and website designer (a guy who knows so much about computers that he repairs them too) recently taught an Introduction to PhotoShop class at our local Garland downtown library for our September Garland Area MakerSpace Meeting--Speaking of which: Does anyone have a lot or building that you would like to donate to us for a makerspace?
AND WHAT IS THIS?
The photo below is of Daniel Carrillo who is at least thinking about the possibility of becoming Garland's next Mayor in 2019 as he was handing out flyers requesting support. I know nothing about Mr. Carrillo beyond the fact that he is Hispanic and he appears to understand the importance of makers to their local economy as he was in attendance at the Garland MarketPlace yesterday.
