Last Saturday was my first outdoor market of the summer and we sooooo lucked out! It was a beautiful sunny day at Trout Lake Farmers Market and the community came out in droves to do their grocery shopping, take home some art & see some adorable puppies. (Seriously…so many dogs! Trout Lake has a huge off-leash area, so lots of folks come out to run their dogs & do their own shopping at the same time.) I’m starting to get my balcony plants ready for summer, so it was lovely to pick up some new basil and other herbs. I bought a couple of other pretty shade plants too. I always find something at the market that needs to come home with me!

On Sunday, however, I was plenty happy to be at home with no market dates scheduled. It poured rain and pretty much didn’t stop for 2 days. Yikes! The outdoor markets are so much fun when the weather is good, but when it rains…ugh. I’d kind of forgotten about that potential pitfall! I need to rethink my table set up to make it more rain-proof!

Fortunately, I have 2 more weeks of planning to get prepared for the outdoor shows because I have one last indoor market coming up next weekend – Portobello West!

Portobello West

May 26th & 27th

11am to 5pm

1 Athlete’s Way

The Portobello Market is held in a lovely space right along the seawall in Athlete’s Village – Creekside Community Centre. So if you’re planning to take a bike ride or a stroll along the seawall this weekend, pop in & see me!

You can check out more artists on the official Facebook page here.

Trout Lake farmers market is hopping today!, a photo by acageybee on Flickr.

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> My first outdoor market of the season! I’ve already spent all my earnings on food stuffs & have my eye on a few new balcony plants too. Whoops!

I’m all packed up & heading off to Edmonton, Alberta for the spring Make It show! Woohoo!

Make It Edmonton
Alberta Aviation Museum ~ 11410 Kingsway Avenue

Friday, May 11
4pm to 9pm

Saturday, May 12
11am to 6pm

Sunday, May 13
11am to 5pm

I’ve officially recovered from Make It, recovered from the paperwork tornado that hit my office while getting my taxes finished (April 30th being the deadline for us Canadians) and am just about ready for Got Craft! In the nick of time too, since the awesome sauce that is Got Craft is only 3 sleeps away – Sunday, May 6th.

If you’ve never been before, my best recommendation is to come a bit later in the afternoon. The die hard Got Craft fans will line up starting around 7am to snag one of the coveted swag bags. The first 50 people through the door get one & every year that line up gets a wee bit longer. So if you’re not an early bird, I heartily recommend going for brunch first and swinging by the show once it’s not quite so crazy packed.

But if you’re tempted by the fabled swag bags? Here’s a sneak peek as to what’s inside this year:

See you on Sunday, Vancouver!

Sunday, May 6th, 2012
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Royal Canadian Legion
2205 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC  V5N 4B6

Next stop – Edmonton.

Squeeee! That was the sound I’m still trying to repress after spotting one of my wood panel prints on Breakfast Television this morning! There is a clip on the CTV website that you should be able to watch (without hearing me squealing & doing a happy dance in the background). Susie Wall was featuring some of her favorite pics from the upcoming Make It Vancouver show. Good thing I’m working on a bunch of new wood panels for the market!