We are approaching the season of Christmas Fairs, when hoards of people produce products for the hoards of people looking for locally made items they can give away for Christmas. I am among that first set of hoards. Every year I make a calendar featuring my cartoons and lots of trivia about things that happened on various days of the year.
I started out making these calendars for my family in about 1992. I put a photo of my relatives on their birthday dates. It later struck me that since I was making the calendars anyway, I should make a generic model and sell it to the public, and for several decades now, I have been selling them at the Valemount and McBride Christmas Fairs and at the Whistle Stop Gallery in McBride. I usually sell about 170 of them, which is pretty amazing considering just how small the two communities are.
I am often told, “The only reason I came to the Christmas Fair was to pick up one of your calendars.” That always makes me feel like the effort to make them was justified.
This year I had 190 of them printed up (I always give some away to friends for Christmas). Once printed, I bind them with my binding machine and punch a hole in the bottom for hanging. The Valemount Christmas Fair is this Saturday, and I am just about finished binding them (photo above).
I have learned that making a calendar is really a good scam--Every year people have to buy a new one.
Below is a photo of what some of the trivia in the calendar looks like.
You can see my paintings at: www.davidmarchant.ca
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