For one Travel and Tourism student, a passion for making homemade fandom crafts has turned into a hobby for organizing and hosting her own craft fairs.
Jen Desmarais is responsible for what was her second successful Creative Ottawa Nerds craft fair, which was held on Sept. 12, 2015.
“ I have no event management experience so I’m happy things have been going well,” said Desmarais.
A total of 125 customers walked through the fair searching for unique and creative fandom gear from movies and shows such as Pokemon and Doctor Who to name a few. Approximately 160 non-perishable food items were collected in support of the Ottawa Food Bank.
The idea to organize her own craft fair was developed because she wanted to showcase her fandom creations to others who shared the same interest.
“I always loved Disney and once I met my husband he got me in to Doctor Who,” said Desmarais. “It’s just taken off from there.”
One of her specialities is crocheting, which has led her to create her signature piece – a crocheted Tardis replica from the popular BBC show Doctor Who.
Desmarais made the Tardis herself because she wasn’t able to find a replica anywhere else.
“If you can’t find it, make it yourself – that’s usually how things are made anyways,” said Ania Kwak, a vendor representing The Gingy House at the fair.
Desmarais said people have been going bananas over the Tardis and that she often gets asked to make them for other people.
And Desmarais has done an exceptional job at finding the niche market for her speciality.
She’s been awesome at recruiting vendors for her fair according to Sheyna Evans, fair vendor and also a part-time student studying accounting at Algonquin.
“She’s done a good job gaining followers on facebook and at the end of the day, online presence is important – that’s where you need to be,” said Evans.
Desmarais’ work has become well-known in the geek community and she has truly tapped into a niche market while still enjoying her crafting hobby.
“It has literally taken over everything,” said Desmarais. “Every project I’ve done in school has had a fandom twist to it.”
Her and her husband have since created a blog titled The Traveling Tardis.