Portobello West Vancouver

Today, i visited a local art and design fair. this is my first visit to one of these in Vancouver, so im only used to nottingham (great) and felixstowe (awful) craft events. I didnt know what to expect, but the fact that the first 50 people get a goody bag was enough to get me there at 8am. 

First of all - its a snow day. Awesome! My first experience of snow in vancouver. And its not slush. COOL.

This lovely stand belongs to my friend Rachel. Her business is branded as Rachel Rainbow, and its handmade goodies for little people, but i totally love them. Her newest products here are her shrink plastic earrings and brooches, which i cant belive she had never really experimented with before i showed her how fun they are! ..And also the dreamcatchers. Im quite sure, she did sell out of dreamcatchers. They are completely lovely.

Another little closeup of her necklaces. They have magnetic closures, handpainted beads and handmade tassels too!

You can find more about Rachel Rainbow by..

Visiting her Website - RachelRainbow.com

This is the stand of C Yarn Hut. I have been following Clara and her lovely little makes on instagram since may, when i knew i was coming out to vancouver. im shocked yet flattered to say she actually recognised me from my instagram and came up to say hello before i had even seen her! then of course we had to get a photograph :D

Its so nice to meet other makers. I met so many lovely people today!

You can find out more about CYarnHut by clicking here!

Sewing a New Lunch Bag!

Ok - new project - operation lunch bag.

Because im out and about, i need a lunch bag! 

And i might aswel teach myself how to make one.

Remeber that lovely leaf print i created onto Linen? No? Okay - click here to jog your memory on that one, see you in two minutes.

Okay here we have it. Ive sourced some of this cool thermal fleece stuff which basically looks like tin foil on fleece. I quilted it to the linen, to create an interesting puffy effect, and also i didnt want it to get bunched up inside somewhere, so this is my easy way out of that situation!

All the Layers

My lunch bag before i sew up the sides!

Da-da! Finished. In the background you can see the calico mockup version i made. I made the finished one wider and taller too, and changed the position of the handles. the quilted lines are super wonky. but i kinda like that!

Museum Of Anthropology

This week we visited the Museum of Anthropology, which is situation in UBC Campus zone.

Its reallly awesome, although there is so much stuff you almost dont know where to start...

I particularly liked the knitwear they had featured, so i attempted to copy up some of the designs on Illustrator when i got home. Here are some of my initial drawings!

Granville Island Tea Company

I am still in love with Granville Island! And the one place that caught my eye especially is the Granville Island Tea Company. What an awesome little establishment.

Anyway, i really wanted to be able to print the logo onto some fabric, but i wanted to print the tin too so the logo has to be kinda small. This is alot of detail for this carving block, as i cant find any of the pink ones still!

The drawing..

Halfway through carving..

The Result! Okay - not enough detail. back to the drawing board!

Halloween - The Tsawwassen Pumpkin Competition!

So this week, its halloween - YAY! Something ive heard canadians go kinda crazy about, so im excited to expereince that.

Tsawwassen Mall held their annual pumpkin decorating competiton. the rules quite clearly said you could decorate your pumkin in any way! So here is a little insight into my 'design'

First, 'carve' your pumkin. dont cut round the top like a traditonal pumpkin, cut it like this!

You'll then need to scrape out all the insides and make the edge there a bit thinner too so the frame is less chunky. I would recommend choosing a pumpkin which isnt too small, and also if it has a sprout thing out the top which you can pick it up with, that would help too!

Next, you print your gravestones. I just found this image on pinterest, whacked it into microsoft word, and used the text tool to make the names. Simple! I also made a mini version for the dog, and found some bat shapes to print too. They are all stuck to cocktail sticks!

For the inside, its hard to see, but i cut a black fence just from card and a craft knife, and there were cocktail sticks on each end of that too.

The 'grass' is spinach leaves. Yup! or any foiliage you can find. Branches might have looked quite awesome in there too.

 Okay, you can see it a little clearer here, the inside. See how i shaved the framing edge down? it doesnt catch your eye so much now. I also pierced two holes in the roof to string my skeleten man. i found him in the dollar store, he actually had a glowstick inside him too!  I bought cheap glowsticks and placed them behind the fence, which gave this creepy glow as you can see!
I then painted the outside black with poster paint. I was recommended poster paint by the local art stop, but as you can see, it completely peeled. i have no idea why! But anyway - i guess it kinda added to the effect. It was just annoying to transport as i didnt want more flaking off really!

The design was finished off with some sequins pinned on and a 'The Haunted Graveyard' banner to name to piece. 

here was my competition! I am happy to announce that i did win the price for this and got $120 to spend in the local art store! Well - that was worth the effort! Although you can see it peeled so much more here.