Holiday shopping at Porter Flea in Nashville

The photo above captures the brief calm at my book booth at Porter Flea Handmade Holiday Market in East Nashville, just before a large and lively crowd made for a busy day. With rock 'n' roll DJs keeping the beat, I met at least as many book-minded shoppers as at any other show. Great event planning and promotion by the Porter Flea folks — see their amazing screen-printed posters — have quickly made their shows a success. The holiday market was their second effort. You can look back at my write-up of their first show, and find them on Twitter and Facebook to learn of future events.

One of the unique things about this show was the diversity of handmade items on display, including a strong showing from male artists who brought their woodworking, leather, letterpress prints, poster art and T-shirts. I'm sure most shoppers found something of interest, which created a great buzz inside the East Park Community Center. You can see a full list of Porter Flea vendors online, and some crisp photos of the show by Nashville fashion blogger Under the Guise and by Sabrosa Vintage.