The
No-Coast Craft-O-Rama,
now in its second year, started as a way to keep one of the founders’ moms
busy in retirement. Tracy Parker
explains: “My mom retired last year and she was worried, ‘What am I going to
do with myself?’ I promised her I would organize a craft sale, and then she
could just knit her heart out for the year. I knew Trish Hoskins (owner of
Crafty Planet) through my husband, and of course the store
(Crafty
Planet) was the meeting ground.” Trish
pipes up, “This is something Tracy and I have been talking about doing since
the store opened (in 2003). It was just a matter of getting the timing right
for both of us.” As it happens, not all members of this organizing group even
knew each other before last year’s show. Most of them were just regulars at
Crafty Planet who volunteered to help get things ready. Chrissy Barr
 and Kristen Himsl-Hunter were a couple of those customers
who just dived right in and now are central members of the No Coast show’s
organizing group of around eight individuals, who now go by the name Crafters
Local 612.




They beat the pavement, put out fliers by the
thousands, posted info online, and sent out press releases last year—and their
efforts paid off hugely. The show’s crafters experienced great sales—many of
them sold every last item on their tables to avid shoppers by the end of the
one-day sale. In fact, the No Coast show was such a success, they haven’t had
to do much to get the word out this year. They found themselves swamped with
hundreds of vendor applicants from which to choose the show’s 80 or so
vendors.







No Coast’s charm is driven in part by the unusual,
well-made handcrafts to be sure—but also by the whimsy of the vendors’
offerings. Nothing about the show is stodgy or uptight—the vibe is accessible,
the price points are reasonable, and everyone is excited to be there. One of
the organizers, Willa Martinez, speaks for the group in describing the
mission, “We wanted to create a venue where local crafters can sell great
things to the people who want to buy them. There are so many fantastic things
that people are making—you don’t have to go to Target or Bibelot or Patina to
find great gifts for the holidays. They’re right here. That’s really what we
wanted to do—bring the audience to the crafters.”







Everywhere you look someone has taken a traditional
craft and turned it on its ear, offering a brand new (often fanciful) take on
it. Trish specializes in little stuffed toys made to look like meat,
“Steakie”
and
“Hammy.”
Crafty Planet regular and No-Coast vendor
Rebecca
Yaker creates
elaborate
sock-monkey dresses. There’s a DIY vibe
to this kind of crafting that separates its devotees from their fine crafts
kin. And that’s just fine with Crafters Local 612. “I don’t want to undervalue
our (No-Coast’s) vendors,” Trish Hoskins says. “Some of them may well be ‘fine
craftsmen.’ But I think regardless of how they categorize themselves, there’s
a definite edginess to the work in this show. You just wouldn’t see these
kinds of pieces in another arena. The audience for No-Coast is broad, but it
does seem to tend toward the younger folks (twenties to early forties). But
that said, there are grandmas who come to the show looking for gifts and
buying things, too, so it wouldn’t be right to generalize too much. We like to
think there’s something here for just about everyone.”







Where:
Midtown Global Market,
Minneapolis


When: December 2, 9 am-7
pm


Tickets: FREE and open to the
public

access + ENGAGE, Fine Craft , Folk Art, Regional