Happy holidays everyone! My markets are all wrapped up for the year and I am off to visit family in Alberta. I don’t like to officially close my Etsy shop when I’m away because I think people should still be able to see what I do, add things to their favorites & so on. But I have updated my shop announcement to let everyone know that any new orders will be mailed out once I return, after Christmas.

For Vancouver shoppers, last minute gifts can still be snapped up at my fabulous retail partners!

Bird on a Wire

2535 Main Street @ Broadway (beside Kafka’s coffee shop)

website: http://www.birdonawirecreations.com

contact: (604)874-7415

I popped into Bird on a Wire yesterday and made sure they were stocked up on lockets, brooches, bookmarks and prints.

Chic Winds

375 Water Street (same block as the steam clock)

website: http://www.chicwinds.com/

contact: (604)683-8292

At Chic Winds you’ll find lockets, a small selection of bookmarks, 5×7 matted prints (not for sale anywhere else), wood block panels & a few original paintings too.

Plush

4296 Main Street (just south of King Edward)

website: http://www.plushonmain.com

contact: (604)708-5199

Plush manages to cram so much local Vancouver fabulousness into such a small space, it’s kind of amazing. Here you’ll find a Cagey Bee mini wood block panels covered in shiny resin, lockets and a selection of brooches.

I only have 2 more market dates this holiday season and then it’s time for me to catch up on my own Christmas preparations! I love supporting handmade, so I try to do most of my holiday shopping at the tables of my fellow vendors, however there are a few boys on my list that have made it pretty clear that any shopping for them must be done at Best Buy. Oh well!

Coming up this weekend:

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

Holiday Farmers Market

Croatian Cultural Centre ~ 3250 Commercial Drive

10am-5pm

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

Women’s Winter Faire

Heritage Hall ~ 3102 Main Street

11am – 6pm

If the weekend shopping won’t work for you, check out one of the lovely retail shops that carry my work:

A Cagey Bee retail shops

Happy shopping!

My all time favorite art & craft market takes place tomorrow, so I’ll be chugging the coffee until the wee hours tonight trying to make sure I’ll have enough lockets, magnets & other goodies for the fabulous shoppers who line up bright & early just to get inside. It’s time for Got Craft!

Some of the things I’m excited to bring to this show are my bookmark clips:

Custom framed prints with rounded mats and UV-filtering acrylic instead of glass will also be for sale:

Most importantly, I can’t wait to do some of my own shopping! There are so many fantastic vendors that Got Craft is usually where I do the bulk of my Christmas shopping. See you tomorrow!

Got Craft Holiday Edition
Sunday, December 4th, 2011
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Admission: $3.00 (kids under 10 are free)

Royal Canadian Legion
2205 Commercial Drive (@ E.6th Ave)
Vancouver, BC

Got Craft is right around the corner & the swag has started to roll in for the legendary Got Craft swag bags! The first 45 people through the door get a free bag of goodies graciously donated by the rocking indie craft vendors. Check out the bags from the spring show to get an idea of the kind of awesomeness I’m talking about.

In my mailbox this morning were these fabulous bracelet cuffs by Urchin Bags:

They’re made by upcycling old bicycle inner tubes & aside from looking totally rad, they’re a pretty clever way to go green. Love!

Here’s a small sampling of some of the other swag bag goodies:

vintage stationary from dani press

lavender sachets from twig prints

handmade bracelets with vintage beads from Bueno Style

postcards packs from me!

There is so much more to come (once I finish photographing it all), but it’s safe to say that the swag bags are going to make some lucky people very  happy this year. If you’re not an early riser, there will also be swag bag giveaways. Stay tuned to the Got Craft blog for more info.

See you on December 4th!

The Eastside Culture Crawl is taking place this weekend & I was lucky enough to nab a sneak preview at my friend Liane Varnam’s studio space in 1000 Parker Street. Vancouver has a pretty vibrant art scene & I really love events like the Crawl where artists open up their studio spaces to the public for a few days. Since I don’t have particularly visitor-friendly studio space, I’ve been happy to participate in The Drift, which pairs artists with shop spaces all along Main Street. At one of the Drift events last year I entered a raffle to win $500 worth of art from any fellow Drift artist. And I won!!! As someone who very rarely can afford to buy anything more than prints, I was beyond thrilled. So thrilled, in fact, that it took me this long to decide what to buy! I narrowed it down to Liane’s work very quickly, but which piece? Or maybe TWO pieces? My indecisiveness took over in one of the loveliest versions of a “problem” I’ve ever had.

Once I walked into the studio, however, there was no choosing. As soon as I laid eyes on this one, I knew she was coming home with me:

Some of my favorite works by Liane are pastel and charcoal drawings on old window panes. They serve as perfect frames & are terribly under priced, in my opinion. If you want to snag one for yourself, her studio is #350 in the Parker Street Studios.