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.

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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!

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!

Another cute kitty portrait is also in the works. This one would look adorable paired with either Theo, the Siamese or my little white Chihuahua, Elroy:

Even in their not quite finished states, the pictures don’t do these paintings justice. I tend to finish painting late at night, so of course that is when I snap a picture with my phone. I really need to take more pictures with my actual camera & decent lighting. Oh, the convenience of apps like Instagram and instant emails to Flickr! They’ve made me quite lazy.

I had such a fab time at the spring markets last weekend! The weather was beautiful, the music at Square Community Market was fantastic and the company was even better. I got to catch up with some familiar faces, as well as met some awesome new folks. A big thank you to everyone who dropped by to visit!

Back to work filling out more show applications and ordering supplies for my next market – Make It Vancouver (April 20 to 22nd).

I started a second Etsy shop to house all of my silly critter prints, paintings and silver pendants – Cagey Critters. Huzzah!

My main shop was starting to feel a bit convoluted with so many items (5 pages worth!). Because the style of the silly critter animal paintings is so different from my wide-eyed girls, it felt like they needed their own home. Seeing them all on a page with the silver pendants mixed in looks so much more cohesive and much easier to browse if that’s the style you’re looking for. I can just imagine someone stumbling onto my bright teal rabbit print & then poking around the shop looking for another print to pair it with for decorating a kid’s room. And then finding…Richie Tenenbaum? Or my Day of the Dead print? Not helpful!

So what started out as a little housecleaning project ended up bogging me down for weeks as I figured out a name, fiddled with a banner, photographed all of the silver pendants & then edited those photos (which reminds me…I’m missing the monkey silver pendant. Whoops!). I think it helps to have a few shots of a model wearing jewelry too so that you can accurately gauge the size of a pendant. Shooting self-portraits where you’re trying to have a tiny piece of jewelry in focus? And not look like a dork? And you’re on your balcony where the light is better & it’s really cold out still & your nose is starting to run? Yeah. That’s the glamorous world of Etsy!

Minor whinging aside, I am quite pleased with the way the new shop turned out. It will be interesting to see how running 2 separate shops goes. People say that it’s twice as much work since you have to double your marketing efforts, but at least the marketing can be more targeted. For kids’ rooms and nursery decor, I can direct people to the Cagey Critters shop. A lot of my other work does end up in kids’ rooms too (like the robot print or the Where the Wild Things Are print), but it’s usually a bit older & definitely appeals to a different decorating style.

Let me know what you think! Any glaring errors or major mistakes? Do the images look weird on your monitor?

(sidenote: I edited all the pictures on my laptop & then sat at my main computer to start adding them into the Etsy listings. I ended up having to re-edit every single one of them because they were way too dark. Apparently the glossy screen of my laptop tilted at the angle that allows for comfortable viewing of the television whilst editing photos is NOT accurate at any other angle. Doh!)

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.