These are not normal cutting boards

Most of our markets happen close to home in Nelson. In December 2023 we took the boards down the highway to Trail, for Trail's Incredible Christmas Market at Waneta Plaza.

Getting there started months earlier, with a small mix-up. In April we filled in an application form that turned out to be left over from the year before. The organisers kindly wrote back to let us know the new applications weren't open yet, and that the Christmas market is juried.

Explaining what we make

A juried market wants to know what you do and how it's different, so Gregg wrote back with the short version:

"Our products are unique in that the maps we engrave are made using software we created so I am pretty certain there is no one doing exactly what we are. These are not normal cutting boards :)"

It's still the best summary we have. From the outside, a cutting board is a cutting board. What makes ours different happens before the wood ever reaches the laser. We built our own mapping software, and every board starts as a map we've drawn for that place: the contour lines, the trails, the ski runs, the streets. The engraving is the last step, not the first.

The organisers thanked us for "mentioning your uniqueness" and added us to their vendor list.

Sending photos instead of words

When applications opened in September, we sent ours in, and this time we let the work speak. We attached a few photos of recent pieces: a maple board, a map cribbage board in a walnut frame, and a wall piece of Ymir Mountain and Half Dome.

A few days later the market confirmed we'd been accepted.

Two days at Waneta Plaza

The market ran on Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10, from 11 to 4 each day, inside Waneta Plaza. It was our first market in Trail, and a chance to show the boards to a new crowd.

Afterwards the organisers sent a thank-you note to all the vendors, the volunteers and the Waneta Plaza staff. Over 7500 visitors had come through the doors that weekend.

What we took home

It's easy to describe what we sell as cutting boards, cribbage boards and wall art, and leave it there. But the reason people stop at our table is the map, and the map is the part we make from scratch. That April email is a good reminder to say so.

When someone asks what's different about our boards, Gregg's answer still holds: we make the maps ourselves.

If you'd like a board made from a map of your own place, start a design. If you're planning a market or event and think our work would fit, get in touch.