So much going on, my lovelies! I’ve been busy stocking up my retail shops with new goodies, mailing out orders, going to class at Emily Carr & getting ready for my last market of the season – a return to Portobello West. I haven’t been to Portobello for several months, so I’m really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. If you haven’t been before, this Vancouver market is right along the sea wall in Athlete’s Village. More details below:

Portobello West Market

Sunday, September 25th ~ 11 -5pm

Creekside Community Recreation Centre
1 Athletes Way
Google map link

I’ve been working on new lockets & bookmark clips, plus making progress on a couple of new paintings (though I’m not sure if I’ll have them ready for sale at Portobello). My next market isn’t until mid-October, so it will be nice to take a bit of a break while preparing for the holiday shows.

The class I’ve been taking at Emily Carr University is the last one I need to complete my certificate in Fine Art Techniques. It’s a business class, related to the arts, of course, & though we’re only two classes in I’m already very happy that it’s a required course. My homework assignments are things I know I *should* do (like work on my artist statement), but usually put off (until I’m staring at a show application that requires that stuff).

This week I need to do a worksheet on how much money it actually costs to run my business. How long does it really take me to make the products that I sell? To shop for supplies? To do all those super time-consuming administrative tasks that artists (& most self-employed folks!) forget to factor into the cost of operating their business? Should be enlightening, to put it mildly!

Hope you’re enjoying the change in seasons. I love fall & watching the leaves begin to change in Vancouver is a thing of beauty. Stop & enjoy it!

I haven’t even unpacked yet & I’m starting to prep for another road trip – this one to the shores of Harrison Lake to sell my wares as part of the Harrison Festival of the Arts. I’ve never been out to Harrison Hot Springs, so I’m looking forward to renting a hotel for a few days & have a little working holiday. Art, music, the beach – sounds good to me!

photo credit: Rosedale Annie

Harrison Art Market

July 9th & 10th

look for the tents on the grass, right in front of the beach!

Attention Vancouver shoppers: I will be at Portobello West market this Sunday, May 29th – the last indoor market on the horizon!

Portobello West Market

Sunday, May 29th ~ 11 -5pm

Creekside Community Recreation Centre
1 Athletes Way
Vancouver, BC

The farmers market season has already begun & I’ve been enjoying the fresh produce & yummy baked bread for a few weeks now. Starting in June, I’ll be selling my own wares at several locations throughout the city. I’ve updated my Events page with all of the dates.

I’m also taking 2 summer art classes at Emily Carr starting in June, so it will be a super busy (& super fun!) month. Now I just need that sunshine to come join me!

I’ve been helping the organizers of Got Craft with the upcoming spring market (mark your calendars for May 8th!) & one of my favorite tasks has been collecting all of the swag donated by our talented vendors. Every show people will line up bright & early in the morning, hours before even the first vendor arrives, in hopes of getting their hands on one of the famous Got Craft swag bags. Here’s a sneak peek at what the first lucky 45 people through the door will be taking home:

If you’re not the early morning sort, there is still hope! A few fabulous blogs are doing contest giveaways. Find out more on the official Got Craft blog here.

See you in a few weeks, Vancouver!

I’m slowly recovering from a fabulous weekend at Make It! Vancouver & by “recovering” I mean coming down from one of those exhaustedly happy highs whilst playing with the new treasures I scored at the show. I had very little time to get out of my booth & actually shop & *still* managed to buy stuff from 6 different vendors! Yay!

I launched a couple of new products at this show including the bookmark clips I mentioned last week & a new line of greeting cards featuring my little critter paintings. I made a pile more brooches too, but still managed to sell out of Stanley the Robot (my personal favorite).

Keeping me company this weekend were the fabulous Brandi & Brent from Kukubee, who will also be joining me in 3 weeks at Got Craft:

I finally snagged one of the ridiculously cute notebooks made by the Tiny Fig:

The lovely Christi from Bueno Style (who may have been drinking wine, but certainly not “cougar juice”) scours antique shops all over the world to create her stunning re-imagined vintage pieces:

Bueno Style is also one of the vendors that will be at Got Craft on May 8th. Click here for a full vendor list.

Now for some yummy treats! Hands down the best macarons I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting were made by French Made Baking, a new vendor on the Vancouver scene. David and Catherine hail from France, which might be why their baked treats are so amazing. At any rate, I’m sure I’ll be stalking their booth at the farmer’s markets all summer!

I also scored 2 big delicious jars of mustard beans & pickled veggies, just like my mister’s grandma used to make. He’s in heaven.

As a thank you to my mister, I picked up these dashing Lego cufflinks from Nostalgic Links:

There were so many other talented folks at this show that I’m missing here, but as much as I hate to leave anybody out, this post is getting way too long & my dog is getting way too barky to continue to ignore. So. Thanks for a wonderful weekend to everybody who came out! See you at the next show!