Christmas cheer got off to an early start at the TinkerMill Holiday Marketplace on Saturday.
About a dozen local vendors were on hand to exhibit their various crafts and sell unique, handmade items to the public. Makers offered tours of the TinkerMill space and public demonstrations of everything from woodworking to metal crafts and stained glass.
According to the website, Longmont’s TinkerMill is the region’s largest space for creatives to come together and work on projects, collaborate and explore new crafts. They offer several different shops, including blacksmithing, metalworking, flameworking, pottery, electronics and robotics. Individuals can purchase a membership or pay single-use shop fees, giving them access to the space and all 16 different shops.
The Holiday Marketplace was free and open to the public.
Crystal Hinds of DGF Studio 13 got a lot of business to her booth where she was selling handmade jewelry. Hinds is the metalsmith captain at the TinkerMill and teaches metalworking at Niwot High School.
“This is a great way to promote what we do as individual artists but also to help familiarize people with TinkerMill and what goes on here,” she said.
An hour into opening time, Hinds had already sold three pieces of jewelry.
“I’ve been getting lots of ‘Oh’s and Ah’s,’ and a few sales and people taking information for my Etsy shop, too,” she said.
Battie Nomie was working the event to help out a friend.
“My friend Ryan 3D prints everything you see here,” she explained while pointing to a table of intricate plastic dragons, snakes and mythical creatures. “It started out as a hobby and he really just dove in. He’s been at the TinkerMill for a while now and we also have three bamboo lab printers in our living room and six or seven other printers in the basement,” she laughed.
Many of the vendors were excited to have an opportunity to demonstrate their artistic processes. Emily Tepper is the owner of Happy Marbles Co., and does stained glass work at the TinkerMill. She was spoke about her products and showed passersby the phases of working with the glass.
“This is my first show,” Tepper said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but there have been a lot of people looking and asking questions.”
Tepper has been an artist her whole life, and took up stained glass on a whim.
“I was just sitting on my couch and I thought it would be a cool thing to try, so I did,” she explained. “The great thing about places like the TinkerMill is that you can just come in and try something new. I’m now here usually a few hours each week.”
Throughout the afternoon, about a hundred shoppers came and went, carrying snacks from some local vendors set up just outside the marketplace. Many shoppers purchased unique, handmade gifts from the market as well, and everyone who attended had the opportunity to explore TinkerMill’s space and see what it has to offer.
