MARYSVILLE — Area crafters will have an outlet to express themselves and show off their wares at the first Marysville Summer Market, July 31 and Aug. 28.

Trusty Threads owner Patricia Schoonmaker worked as a crafter for a number of years, putting her handmade goods on display at venues including Seattle’s Bumbershoot music and arts festival, so she wanted to furnish a similar opportunity for other crafters in town.

“I wanted to do the last Saturday in June, as well as the ones in July and August, but the weather and the timing just didn’t work out,” Schoonmaker said. “I wanted to show my appreciation for my fellow crafters. We’re always looking for more craft vendors, but we’re leaning more toward urban, fashionable and up-and-coming crafts, and not so much traditional quilts or doilies. The younger and middle-aged crowds are our target.”

The Summer Market is starting out with 10 craft vendors on July 31, when it’ll run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the gravel parking lot just east of Trusty Threads, located at 1520 Fourth Street in Marysville. Schoonmaker touted the diversity of craft vendors so far, whose items are set to include hand-printed cards, kids’ clothing, hair accessories, jewelry, printed fabrics, floral arrangements and doggie accessories.

“You can come out, have a cup of coffee and a snack at the Carabinieri Bar, and support your local artists and crafters so that they don’t have to go elsewhere,” Schoonmaker said. “What they have to offer is one-of-a-kind and not mass-produced. Its creativity makes it more appealing than boring mass-market stuff. It’s so much cooler to buy from people you know created the materials themselves, because it gives it more meaning that they personally spent the time to do it.”

Schoonmaker encouraged visitors to go on to explore the surrounding ships on Third and Fourth streets, and welcomed them back for the music and barbecue taking place in the same parking lot every Friday night from 7-10 p.m. through the rest of the summer.

For more information on the Marysville Summer Market, you can call Schoonmaker at 360-474-4544 or stop by Trusty Threads during its regular business hours, Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can also e-mail her at info@marysvillesummermarket.com or log onto www.marysvillesummermarket.com.