When is a craft fair not a craft fair? When it’s called Make It! The Handmade Revolution.
Vancouver-based Jenna Herbut is the mastermind behind this $1 million enterprise that will host 140 exhibitors at the Enjoy Centre’s Moonflower Room from April 8 to 10.
“We don’t like to call ourselves a craft fair. We like to call it handmade revolution,” Herbut said.
This is not the old-fashioned country craft fair that grandma used to shop at. Make It targets well-informed, aware shoppers interested in purchasing ethically made goods by top artisans and designers from across Canada.
“It’s about creativity and giving shoppers an alternative to the mall,” said Herbut. “We also see it as an incubator for the exhibitors.”
To that effect, she’s programmed 140 vendors that present an eclectic range of items from clothes, handbags, kids stuff, body care and jewelry to the more offbeat ceramics, pottery, glassworks, and home dĂ©cor.
Also expect to see visual art, photography, food, plush articles, pet items, screen printing goods and woodworks.
Within these groupings there’s a huge variety of funky stuff from smoothly polished drinking horns, whimsical pottery, blown glass aromatherapy pendants, sculptured leather art and modish metal art doorbells and house numbers.
Herbut started her first company Booty Beltz in 2003 as a class project while attending the University of Alberta. After completing the business plan, she was so excited, she threw caution to the wind and gave the idea a go.
“In case you’re wondering, Booty Belt is a simple scarf belt that I sewed a buckle on so it was easy to get on and off. At the time it was a pretty trendy look.”
She was 24 years old and had massive dreams of building a Booty empire. With world domination in mind, Herbut signed up for the largest apparel show in the world – the Magic Show in Las Vegas. The entry fee was $10,000.
The first two days were grim. There was not a single bite. On the third day, a Japanese department store placed an order for 60 of their locations.
“Unfortunately trends changed and the Booty Beltz were no longer on trend, and orders came in at the pace of tumbleweeds.”
Out of the blue, a friend asked if she would be willing to split a booth at an Edmonton festival.
“What I experienced changed the course of my business and life. I thoroughly enjoyed selling directly to the person who would be wearing my belt instead of intermediaries who didn’t seem to care all that much. It was fun, exciting and I loved the feeling of leaving the festival with pockets full of cash.”
At the time craft fairs were considered dated. A born innovator, Herbut spotted a resurgence of interest and created Make It, a trendy craft fair with a makeover.
“Reflecting back, I would have never guessed in a million years that I would be running one of the largest craft fairs in the country. With entrepreneurship on the rise, especially for women, I think it’s important to remember that anything really is possible.”
