Discovering the Clover Market

Last Sunday, in addition to finding a Paper Source within an easy drive from my home, I discovered a lovely place called the Clover Market.

The organizers describe the market as "an upscale vintage outdoor market...featuring original art, antiques, vintage jewelry & clothing, artisan crafts, and handmade items."  In other words, my ideal browsing destination!

The vendors all take real care when setting up their booths, in order to make their vignettes interesting and their merchandise accessible to their customers.

Half the fun was checking out how items, as well as prices and other information, were displayed.

One of my first stops was to visit my friend Jen, who in addition to being a full-time high school English teacher, mother of two boys under three, writer of two blogs, and owner of an Etsy store called Babee Crafts, finds time to represent her hand-crafted baby items at markets, shows, and bazaars!

(If I ever find out her secret for juggling all these roles--and doing them all so WELL--while maintaining an admirable level of good humor and a relaxed vibe, I will definitely share it with you!)

Some of the vendors included:

--antiques and vintage items for the home--

--architectural salvage--

--purses and other fabric items--

--jewelry--

--paper crafts--

My mother was here for the weekend when I visited the market.  That made my browsing even more fun, because we have always been VERY in-synch shoppers.  We may not love exactly the same things, but we appreciate what the other enjoys.  And we're ALWAYS ready for lunch at the very same time!

Here's my mom looking at some hand-sewn aprons for adults and children.  Whenever I see sewn items like this--aprons, table runners, tote bags, placemats, pillows, you  name it!--I think of how my mother could create an amazing inventory for a market like this.  If we lived closer to one another, I think there would definitely be some mother-daughter craft show appearances in our future!