Busy Hands

Popular craft show takes place at the Wellington Community Centre

Thousands of visitors flocked to the annual Busy Hands craft show in the Wellington Community Centre over the weekend in what has become a Christmas season tradition. It is as much a social event as it is a shopping or selling experience. Vendors and shoppers greet each other like old friends, and there are plenty of conversations in the aisles as people reconnect, perhaps for the first time since the previous show. The craft show and sale had its beginnings just before Christmas 1999, when Vicki Emlaw shared a house on Morrison Point Road with Bay Woodyard and Gavin North. They and a few friends held a craft show and sale in the house as a way of earning a little income after the growing season was over. Over the years the show’s location changed to the Milford Bistro, the space now occupied by Books & Company, then in the floor above the bookstore, and in 2015 moved to the Wellington Community Centre to accommodate the growing number of vendors.

As in past years, there was an extensive selection of items, from chocolates to mushroom growing kits, dried flowers and colourful fused glass, jewellery and knitted items. There were gift boxes of sweets from The Pink Box created by Patti Hetherington, food from Idle Wild and Taste of Hamah, and samples of wine and cheese from Lighthall Vineyards. Jordan Wiltse had a selection of metal art décor for sale. He’s been working with metal since the age of 12 and after obtaining a degree in mechanical engineering he decided about four years ago to pursue a career in the arts side of metalworking. His pieces are in natural mild steel that will develop a patina of rust, or powder coated steel in vibrant colours. His work can be seen on Instagram at @jor-designs. One new vendor this year was Cup O Fudge (cupofudge.com). Julie Ellis and her husband operate a small boutique hotel near Wellington, and about six weeks ago Julie started to make fudge as something to do in the shoulder season. She has about 100 recipes for fudge, but only makes a few of them. “Peanut butter chocolate is popular, but maple is the standard and seems to be loved by everyone,” she said. It’s a family enterprise—she and her daughter make the fudge, while her husband does the packaging.

Hannah Melnyk has been coming to Busy Hands since she was a child. She turned from a buyer to a seller when she became apprenticed to pottery makers David Drown and Maggie Murdoch, from whom she learned her craft. She now has a pottery business of her own (hannamelnykmakes.com) and is grateful for all the community support she has received as her career is taking off. “Bay and Vicki have created such a lovely spot that is just oozing with joy and creativity,” she said. Ms. Melnyk will be opening her own studio in Hillier next spring, and said it was a huge leap of faith to take that step. “One of the things I learned over the past year was to take a chance and really put yourself out there. It’s really tough to be vulnerable, especially when you’re a small business. It’s hard to know where to go, what to do, what to invest your time in. I think you just have to take a chance. I have social anxiety, but when I can share with people my passion and feel that passion back from people, that’s what fills my cup.”