Got Craft this Sunday!

It's been q-u-i-e-t on the blog as I'm busy prepping, and restocking, for the craft fair season. It's a sweat shop made of love over here. Next up, Got Craft! See you Sunday, December 5th at the Royal Canadian Legion at 2205 Commercial Drive from 10-5pm.

We've been busy bees over at the Got Craft blog, so hop on over for crafty events, handmade news and local artists.

pastries ... life ... things to come

I know it's been a week since I last posted. It's been a bit crazy with contract work, weddings and the upcoming Got Craft holiday show. Not to mention that I have 12 days of craft fair shows to prepare for this year. Yeah, what was I thinking? Gah!

Yesterday was the first day off that we had for a long time. I'm proud to say that the only thing we had listed in the calendar was dinner at Vij's with friends moving to Vernon next week, but my goodness, we fail at doing nothing! With lotus events, there seems to always be something that can be worked on and I'm so used to doing multiple things at a time, that I just don't know what to do with myself when asked to relax. Well, besides napping. I'm a champion napper.

Hoping to post some past weddings, tons of wedding inspiration, our plans to move to London and life soon. There is plenty to share, but if you do encounter a long period of silence from this blog, check over at Got Craft and if you still don't see any new posts, then I'm most likely buried under a pile of fabric and paperwork.

Psst... New Town Bakery in Chinatown has the best butterfly pastries in Vancouver. I've been eating these since I was a little girl when my family would go shopping in Chinatown each Saturday. So flaky, buttery and the edges are dipped in sugar giving it an extra crisp! For 85 cents plus tax, you can't go wrong.

inside vancouver feature

photo credit: Tracey L. Heppner

Hey! We have been featured on Inside Vancouver. As part of the Tourism Vancouver website, the Inside Vancouver blog is an insider's view of Vancouver that provides information, stories and opinions from the local's perspective. You can read the full article here. Thanks to Tracey for the photo and Ehren for the great feature!

crafty goodness

photo credit: Studio Jeanie

Last Sunday was Got Craft and it was filled with plenty of crafty goodness! Thank you to everybody that came by and to all of our vendors and sponsors for making this event such a success!

More images will be posted on the flickr account soon. In the meantime, check out this post by Andrea from An Examined Life... of her pursuit for a coveted Got Craft swag bag.

Also check out some crafty round up posts including:
Vancouver is Awesome
Kove Handmade

Did you make a lovely pinwheel pin at the Spool of Thread DIY table? If so, show them your pins and enter to win a free hour in their sewing lounge!

Mark your calendars! The next event is on Sunday, December 5th. For more information, visit our website.

things to do :: Got Craft?

illustration and design by The Beautiful Project

Got Craft? is this SUNDAY
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
10:00am to 5:00pm
Royal Canadian Legion – 2205 Commercial Drive (at E. 6th Ave)
Admission $2.00 (kids 10 and under are free)

Vancouver’s largest indie craft fair is kicking off the 4th annual Spring show with 55 local, handmade vendors and a DIY table hosted by Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge to make your own crafts.

Did I mention there will be swag bags? The first 30 people through the door will receive a handmade tote bag filled with goodies from all of our vendors! Here is a sneak peek!

Please stop by and say hello! I will be the event selling my Roxypop goods!

speaking panel @ MOV

Yay! Our first speaking panel!

The Museum of Vancouver hosted a screening of Handmade Nation last Friday to a diverse crowd consisting of DIY crafters and members of the Museum.

Following the screening, the MOV held a guest panel to speak about the DIY movement in Vancouver and answer questions raised by the audience. The panel consisted of Robert from Got Craft? and lotus events inc., Kim Werker from CrochetMe.com and Erin Bonniferro from Collage Collage and facilitated by Amanda Gibbs from the MOV. Topics covered included the growth of DIY and craft fairs in Vancouver through the last couple of years and how they have changed, the difference (if any) between the DIY movement in the US vs. Canada, the difference in crafting for a hobby and crafting for a living, DIY vs. fine art, gender in the craft movement, to name a few.

Read more over on the Got Craft blog

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Vancouver

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Vancouver is looking for a new organizer!

Swap-O-Rama-Rama (SORR) is a clothing swap and wearable art creation event. The swap begins with a giant collective pile of clothing, the unwanted costumes of all who attend. For a minimal fee and a bag of clothing, everyone is welcome to dive in and find their next new / used items from the pile. Take as little or as much clothing from this pile as you like!

After you have chosen your new clothes, move on over to a crafting station, where you can cut, sew, glue, paint, silk screen and otherwise renew someone else's rags into your riches. Materials are available through a crafty supply swap that was added to the event and sewing machines were available to help you unleash your well-dressed muse. Or, attend a workshop where you can learn how to modify your re-fashioned finds in unexpected ways.

Any useable remainders go to local charities.

SORR was born in New York, when artist Wendy Tremayne saw the power of small-scale clothing swaps among friends, and decided to extend it to the community level. These community-based, environmentally-friendly, and fun events were instant hits, and have since been embraced throughout the US. Vancouver textile artist Heather Cameron and the Work Less Party collaborated in September 2006 to first bring this event to Vancouver. In 2009, the event was then passed to the Vancouver Craft Mafia and Got Craft as a joint production.

We are currently seeking an organizer or a group to take over this Vancouver event. Organizers will be responsible for producing the entire event including volunteers, workshops, marketing, etc. Any information gathered from past events will be passed on. Interested applicants can leave a comment with your contact information or send an email to info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Got Craft? Holiday Edition

Some of you may know that I sew and crochet which is why lotus events is involved in so many handmade events. Got Craft is our baby and we are pleased to announce the holiday edition will be taking place this Sunday!

Got Craft?
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
11:00am to 5:00pm
2205 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Admission: $2.00 (kids 10 and under are free)

Featuring 50 local and handmade artists, Got Craft? is a modern twist on the conventional craft fair. From t-shirts with a locomotive on them to chocolate mustaches, you will find something for everybody on your list!

For a complete list of vendors and for more information, please visit our website at http://www.gotcraft.com.

.... and have you heard about our swag bags? First 30 guests through the door receive a FREE swag bag filled with goodies from all of our vendors. Click here for a sneak peek!

Things on my shopping list...


Bliss in a teacup


Cutesypoo Toys for my friends' kids.


Soap from Olive.


T-shirts by Locomotive Clothing


Belt buckles for the men in your life by Billy Would Designs

Hope to see all of you there!

lotus events in Momentum Magazine

(click on images to enlarge)

It has been a little quiet on this side, but there are lots of things being posted over at the Got Craft blog. Feel free to hop on over there and see what we are up to!



In the meantime, check out this super fab article that Tiffany and Julie from Love Bobbie, Robert and I did for Momentum Magazine's July / August issue.

My favourite quote is on the first page ... "Andrea, who, with her black hair pulled back, looks younger than her 29 years". Nice! haha



Article also features Got Craft vendors including Maked and Fibre Manipulator.


(photo credit: Momentum Magazine or as specified on photo)

got craft pictures!

A sneak peak of the holiday Got Craft, seen from the view of Blue Olive Photography, is now up on the Got Craft blog. I will be updating the Got Craft flickr account soon with all of the new images. Trust me, there are tons. Over 200!

In other news...

I stumbled across this while reading a new blog which led me to another new blog and so on and wanted to share with you the work of Ana Serrano. Check out her website here. Her work is absolutely amazing. Of course, while reading blog after blog, I somehow came across this image and immediately thought of Teenie from Blue Skies and Daisies :D I like to play Nintendo DS and I especially like games with cute characters. For those that do not recognize the bunnies, they are from the game - Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Thanks for coming over tonight!!

Got Craft!

Got Craft was sheer insanity! Shoppers were lined up at 9:00am for a 11:00am start time. Good thing they were early though, by 11:00am there was a good line up from the second floor to the street and around the corner. By 11:15am, 100 people had already come through the doors. That wasn't even the end of it. There was a line up to the street for the first two hours of the show. It was crazy. We had to close the doors, because there was so many people inside!

Our final attendee count came in at a whopping 1175 at 5:30pm (6pm closing). We had a very very busy few weeks distributing cards / posters, attending 12 different craft shows and just spreading the word and it looks like it paid off.

Here is a fabulous blog post from Michelle at Scout including some wonderful shots that she took of the event.



line up to get in!



busy shoppers!



The picture of my wool felt hearts was taken by the lovely Kimli. You can check out her blog here.

what are you doing tomorrow!?

Going to GOT CRAFT of course!

Sunday, December 7th (tomorrow)
11:00am to 6:00pm
Royal Canadian Legion
2205 Commercial Drive (at E. 6th Avenue - across from JJ Bean)

$2.00 admission (kids 10 and under are free)

First 30 people through the doors receive a FREE handmade swag bag.

Featuring over 50 local artists, Got Craft is a modern twist on the conventional craft fair.

more craft fair news

May 2007: 500 over two days
July 2007: 250 over one day
May 2008: 524 over one day! Woo hoo!

Thank you too all of our vendors and to everybody that came out to support us! We hoped that you enjoyed yourselves and walked away with some goodies! The fair opened at 11:00 am and people started lining up for swag bags at 9:30 am! I walked away from the fair with a bag of granola and a t-shirt from the lovely Granola Girl, an awesome pouch and necklace from Its Your Life and a cute pin from Smeeta.

The next event is on Sunday, December 7th at the Legion on Commercial. For more information and / or an application, please visit the website. We can't wait!

on our plate

First of all... I can't stop singing the ramen song! Good grief its catchy!

Everything seems to be moving in warp speed lately and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Got Craft is coming along nicely. We have now maxed out our venue at 40 vendors! I am still amazed at the quality of work and the amazing artists that are coming out to our "little" event. Wow! All the images and links are now up, so go check it out here.

Still plugging away at the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival. I believe I am now down to 60 or so spots to fill out of 224. We have two more weeks to go, so if you are interested in coming out to volunteer.. please let me know as we have morning / afternoon and evening shifts available!

This is the fourth year that we have been involved with the Friends for Life Volunteer Recognition event. This years' theme is Viva Las Vegas and we have plenty of wacky things planned for the event! Check out the invites that were generously donated to us by Blue Skies and Daisies (Design) and Clubcard (Printing).