Porter Flea returns with holiday market on Dec. 1

You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to be first in line at the Porter Flea Holiday Market.

That's right, this Nashville indie craft show is so popular that a line forms for the 11 a.m. opening. And once it starts, this show has a pulse like no other that I've done. Hosted in Marathon Music Works, a recently renovated concert venue, the show gets all of the little details just right: the music, the food trucks and coffee treats, and, of course, a great mix of artists.

This year's vendor list includes specialists in vintage glasses, handmade furniture, printmaking, awesome lighting design, and one of my husband's personal favorites — Thump Trunks, these great suitcases converted into boombox stereos. Oh! And I can't forget to mention that a great ceramics artist, Anderson Bailey, will be taking part for the first time.

It's the best show around and we love the venue. And, just two years in, Porter Flea has begun to get some good press. In the past month, the show and my work got mentions in a Nashville City Paper story, in Native Magazine and in Nashville Lifestyles. The Nashville Scene named it the city's "best artisan market." Not bad at all for a show that got its start in July 2011.

I'm working hard to prepare a great new line of leather journals and handbound book Christmas ornaments for what will be my third Porter Flea. To see more great photos and read about the previous shows, you can follow these links:

:: Facebook photo album

:: Summer 2011 show

:: Holiday 2011 show

I've included a few of my favorite photos below from the summer 2012 show. You can see Southern Lights Electric, West Vintage Trading Co., Monday Mint, and DCXV Clothing. I can't wait for next weekend, and I hope I'll meet new people and see your familiar faces.