From stationary to soap:

Shoppers crowded into St. Michel Church Hall in the Plateau this weekend to browse the large selection of handmade merchandise being sold at the Puces POP Marketplace.
A division of the POP Montreal Festival, the Marketplace gives up-and-coming artists such as fashion designers, jewellers, toy makers, knitters, bakers and countless others, the chance to sell their goodies. Everything from handcrafted bags and pine-cone earrings, to cupcakes and soaps could be found at the many booths set up along the walls and in the centre of the hall.
Lee Meszaros, 25 has been hand sewing and painting merit badges with slogans such as “dirt bag” and “sweet as pie” for over a year, and decided to participate in the Marketplace to broaden her clientele.
“Its great, it’s really busy and people are really nice,” said Meszaros. The artist is quick to point out that creating merit badges is her career, and not just a hobby, so an opportunity like this is fantastic. Her badges are in the $24-$40 price range.
Another first-time vendor was Nicole Armour, 36 who was looking to use the Marketplace to get the word out about her hand-bound books. Armour does all the binding and sewing by hand using standard book cloth and high quality paper. Her books cost between $25 to $35, and she makes notebooks, sketchbooks, songbooks, and books specifically for guitar melodies. Although she has been binding for a while, she just started selling her work, and said although “there is lots of interest, books are hard to sell.”
The event even drew people from outside the province. David Lacalamita, 22 and his friend Millie Roy, also 22, came from Toronto to check out the festival. Both said it’s genuine and grassroots, unlike similar festivals held in Toronto.
All in all, vendors seemed to be having a good time meeting fellow artists and presenting their work to interested shoppers.