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.

You know spring has sprung when all my favorite craft shows start kicking off! This weekend is the first big one of the year and one of my faves – Make It Vancouver. Over 100 super funky artists and crafters, live music, a bar – what more could you ask for?

April 20th, 21st and 22nd, 2012
Make It Vancouver
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Drive
Fri 4-9pm, Sat 11-6, Sun 11-5

I’ve been busy making new brooches for the show, including Captain Steve Zissou from my Bill Murray painting:

With Got Craft right around the corner (May 6th) and my first craft show outside of BC (Make It Edmonton) the week after, I’ve been trying to make big batches of cuteness so I don’t run out. Bookmarks? I got bookmarks:

I’ll also have some new wood block panels, a few original paintings, magnets and some lovely new lockets. Yay!

Now that I’ve fulled recovered from the Home Show (sleep plus major cleaning/decluttering binge followed by dragging out my sewing machine to work on new curtains and pillows!), let’s see what’s coming up for the rest of March!

The Square Community Market

Facebook event page

196 Kingsway ~ the popup shop & future RIZE building

Friday, March 23rd ~ 5pm – 9pm
Saturday, March 24th ~ 11am – 5pm

A fun, grassroots, community market in order to raise money for arts and cultural charities. It is an indoor community square atmosphere complete with:
- a diverse selection of artisans and vendors
- refreshments
- live entertainment
- kids arts and craft table
- silent auction

Also in March, the Portobello West season opener!

Portobello West

Creekside Community Centre (Olympic Village) ~ 1 Athlete’s Way

Saturday & Sunday, March 24th & 25th
11 to 5 pm

Portobello is making some changes this year and moving to a new 2 day, seasonal format. That means that you get to come by on either Saturday or Sunday (or both!), but unfortunately you won’t see us again for a few months. Instead of the last Sunday of every month, the market will only take place 4 times a year. Since Portobello began as a place for indie fashion designers to show their lines, I think this new format will be a great way to get back to their roots. Designers can use the market as a venue for debuting their new collections in spring, summer, fall & winter. As someone who does a lot of markets, I know how much of a pain in the butt in can be to set up your display and products. It’s so much nicer when all of that work can stay up for a couple of days!

And despite what the new poster may look like, the market is not filled with hookah pipes and the melodies of Deep Purple.

A few of the lovely vendors from Portobello West have banded together to create a little urban market at the BC Home + Garden Show taking place this week. This year the show moves back to BC Place Stadium, now that they have a new roof (that may or may not look like an upside down spider).

One of my favorite parts of the show is all of the presentations. There are separate stages for gardening, cooking and home design. I’m hoping to convince my mister to watch my booth while I take in the presentations on container gardening (Sunday at 4:30pm) & the one by Carolyn Herriot – “The Zero Mile Diet: A Year of Growing Organic Food” (Friday 6pm). You can check out all the schedules on the Home + Garden Show website.

Did I mention that the Wednesday night kick off party features a pulled pork cook off party? Yum!

Want Free Tickets?

I have a few tickets to give away, so if you’d like to check out the show, just leave me a note in the comments with your email address.