A Taste of Fieldstone Vintage Market
September 29, 2011
As you can imagine, we’re still glowing from our weekend at Fieldstone Vintage Market. Many of you wished you could have been there so we asked the very talented Sharalee Prang to document our day and, boy, did she ever! Sharalee captured so many poignant moments of our vendors and customers alike, not to mention each of the incredible displays that our vendors worked so hard to put together. It was extremely difficult to choose which ones to post today so be sure to check out our Flickr account for many more stunning photos of our day in the field. Also visit our Fieldstone blog for another batch of Sharalee’s pictures…they’ll make you feel like you were actually with us at the EcoDairy last Saturday! In case you missed it, be sure to also her slideshow on vimeo.
Our morning started out with the field (and all of our tents!) wrapped in a heavy fog, making things just a wee bit damp. But after a beautiful sunrise, the fog lifted leaving nothing but blue skies and sunshine behind! It wasn’t long before the parking lot was full and customers were eagerly lined up for our 9am opening…
Look at their smiles! We saw a lot of smiles all day and I know that my cheeks were hurting by the time we packed up. Customers began pouring in and the hunt for treasures was on! You could see the EcoDairy and all of our tents for miles, from the freeway and beyond and, despite several hardworking parking attendants, cars were soon lined up as far as the eye could see!
The best part of my day was having the chance to see peoples’ eyes light up and even hear them gasp when they walked through the gates into the field. Many had never been to the property before and it was truly magical, with the open fields, horses and mountain views beyond. Our vendors went above and beyond to create the most gorgeous displays for their goods…
Like I said, their were happy smiles everywhere, our EcoDairy partners Helinda and Tanya included! Our only regret of the day was that Rachel and I were too busy scurrying around the property and manning our own booth to take any time to shop. But it was so fun watching customers triumphantly carry their new finds around the pathways…
See what I mean about all of the smiles? The kids all had tonnes of fun too…from pony rides, to live music, to a fantastic art station hosted by The Reach gallery, there was more than enough to keep them entertained while mom and dad shopped…and shopped!
We had live music performances by Hanna Williamson on the violin, local band Old Mare, and singer/songwriter Anna Vandas. They’re all so talented and it was fun watching people dance while they shopped or take a break and have a picnic lunch while enjoying the music…
Be sure to check out our list of all of our Fieldstone Vendors…most have links to webpages or online shops so you can continue your market shopping from home. The networking opportunities on Saturday were amazing, with customers coming from Victoria, Vancouver and beyond and we’ve been so excited to watch our vendors grow and expand their small businesses. After all, they’re the reason we chose to host another vintage and handmade market!
All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography for Fieldstone Vintage Market.
Yes, that’s Rachel and I looking a little melted at the end of the day…but still smiling! We’d like to take a moment to say a HUGE thank you to the Bakerview EcoDairy and our lovely partners Helinda Vanderkooi and Tanya Curtis for hosting such an amazing market and working so incredibly hard to have everything ready for our big day! Another HUGE thank you for our husbands, families and friends for patiently helping out behind the scenes on the home front and the odd building project (or 2)! More thanks to Canuck Place for manning the front gate and raising funds for the much needed children’s hospice in Abbotsford. If you forgot to give on Saturday, please help support this wonderful organization and visit the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice here. The City of Abbotsford and Tourism Abbotsford also lent a hand, generously printing off hundreds of rack cards advertising Fieldstone and several other local business…thank you! And last but not least, another HUGE thank you to our amazingly talented vendors and thousands of happy customers…we could never have done this without you!
All photos by Sharalee Prang. See more at our Flickr page here and please always give credit where credit is due 🙂
