Mindy Thompson is the creative mind - and hands - of Mindy Makes. Her delightful line of hand-sewn items includes reversible capes for little girls and little boys, summer dresses for little girls (most are reversible and some even come with matching bloomers), baby bibs, burp cloths, nursing covers and purses.

Mindy partners with her mother in the making of the clothes - and who doesn't love a business owned and operated by family? 
Mindy wrote up a biography to share with her customers:
Mindys Makes began a year ago after many suggestions from friends who liked the items I was creating for my son, my daughter and myself.  After my son was born four years ago, I used my mom's sewing machine with my very basic knowledge of sewing (I could sew a mostly straight line) to make a baby blanket for my son.  It was fun so I made blankets for my friends' new children.  Then I made burp cloths, took some lessons and received a new machine for Christmas.  From there I explores and expanded.

Mindys Makes began with just me, Mindy.  But my mom, Debbie, could not stay away.  She loves to make this for her grandchildren and has been sewing for most of her life, so she gladly joined me and now we work together to make unique, fun and colorful itms for young children.  In addition to children's items, I love taking a couple of pieces of fabric, playing around with them to shape them into purses.

Aside from creating and designing items to sell, I spend most of my time playing with my two children.  I have a son who will be five in February and my daughter is two and a half.  Before children, I spent my days educating high school students about he mysteries of the world, using physics.

Everything I make is something that I want to put on my daughter or son, or use myself.  One of the hardest things about his business is not keeping the dresses, aprons and flannel pants for my own children.  Often times, they come to visit me at the market and see something that they claim is "mine!".

Mindys Makes started as an online business with little direction of where to sell, but as the year progresses and summer came along, I discovered the farmers market.  It is a venue that I really enjoy and where I have found a little niche.  I sell at other crafter's shows, bazaars and street festivals in the area as well, but I also enjoy the familiar clientele of the farmers market in Cameron Station

Renee Clement is famous at the West End Farmers Market for creating crystal clear, exquisitely colorful images and using them to embellish gift bags, cards, decorative objects and journals.  Renee has owned and operated her small business since 1995.  She includes her family members, friends and pets of family members and friends as her inspiration - and as her models.  Renee's note cards are perfect for birthdays, weddings, new babies, anniversaries, Halloween, Valentine’s Day and Easter.  Photos capture the four seasons, flowers, beach scenes, cats, dogs, travel scenes from around the United States, military themes and monuments from around Washington, D.C. 

Ernest Pazmany of Bella Tierra creates hand-crafted gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, rings and pendants from unique, one of a kind, minerals, stones, and semi-precious jewels. He chooses stones carefully when he travels, making available to customers beautifully crafted one of a kind pieces. 

One of our artists, Patrice Valle, is the creative force behind Paper Scissor Fabric and Clay. She loves color and texture in any shape or form so everything has the potential for transformation. Patrice tends to look at life sideways and you'll see from her designs that not everything conforms to generic expectations. She makes jewelry and bowls from fabric, paper and/or clay. There's a new line of fabric charm bracelets. Here's just one example of the kind of work she does:

All your favorite vendors will be at the market on May 1 - and hopefully a few more to add to the spice and pizazz of our market. We look forward to welcoming new vendors selling pickles and more prepared foods.

Our vendors as of today:

• Alma’s Berries: Berries, fruit, garden vegetables
• Billie’s Flowers: Cut flowers
• The Dressed Up Nut: Small batch, gourmet nuts
  
• Fresh Joseph: Fresh squeezed orange juice, scones,
• Great Harvest Bread: Breads, rolls, muffins
• Guata Java: Roasted coffees
• J&W Farms: Vegetables
• Lucia’s Farm: Vegetables and fruits
• Medina’s Farms: Vegetables
• On the GOurmet: VA grown and made gourmet condiments,foods, ice cream
• OPK Foods: Homemade organic sausages and meats
• Papa’s Orchard: Fruits
• Penn Farm: Vegetables
• Roberto’s Flowers: Plants, cut flower arrangements
• Sharon’s Breads: Breads, muffins, pastries
• The Flavor Station: Coffee, tea, water, sodas
• Tommy’s Cheese: Artisan Cheeses, yogurts, eggs, jams,jellies, condiments, sweet baked goods
• Vero’s Bakery: Sweet rolls, muffins, breads, cookies, pastries

Interested in event planning? Good at organizing? The West End Farmers Market is looking for one paid market manager and several volunteers to help on Sundays to manage the market and plan and implement special events. Please send an email to [email protected].