school's in session!

Having attended a similar session, I am so happy to announce that registration for Schoolhouse Craft has opened! In 2010, the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs was hosted in Seattle, WA and the Seattle based organizers decided to continue hosting a conference for small business owners and creatives. They branched off and started Schoolhouse Craft to help small business owners and those in the crafty realm to express their creativity, take product photos, sell at brick and mortar shops, legalities of business, the world of craft fairs and more. 

Early bird registration runs until August 31st, so make sure to book your tickets here! 

event: Schoolhouse Craft

date: September 23rd to 25th, 2011

time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

location: Phinney Neighborhood Center - 6532 Phinney Avenue N, Seattle

For those closer to San Francisco, make sure to check out the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs West and if you are near Baltimore in October, check out the Summit of Awesome for extreme awesomeness!

things to do :: midori holiday heaven

I first spotted Midori at Urban Craft Uprising last July in Seattle. Jars of buttons, spools of ribbons, stacks of pretty paper... crafters with arms full of supplies headed towards the cash desk... I asked myself, who was this vendor? Started 21 years ago, Midori is a wholesaler of fine ribbon and decorative packaging. Located in Seattle, Midori will be hosting their 12th annual Holiday Heaven event on Saturday, November 20th and Sunday, November 21st, 2010 in Seattle.

Holiday Heaven is the one weekend where Midori opens their doors to the general public where they can directly purchase products such as discontinued, second, sample and overstock items at discounted prices. Fabric ribbon, decorative packaging, craft items, oh my! Perfect for the upcoming holiday season!

Here are the details:

When:
Saturday, November 20th, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 21st, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon

Where:
Midori warehouse - 708 6th Avenue North, Seattle, WA

inspire :: paint pens

image by Justine Ashbee

Meet Justine Ashbee. She is a Seattle based artist that creates drawings by hand using simple paint and sharpie pens. Her work is a great example that you don't require fancy and expensive tools to create an amazing work of art.

Here's what Justine had to say about her work...

"These drawings are executed purely by hand, using paint pens. I begin with a curve, from which lines and forms begin to emerge, evolve, morph, and grow organically, in an intuitive flow, while maintaining delicate, elegant precision."

We think your drawings are amazing and a great inspiration. You can view her portfolio here. Enjoy.

things to do :: The Seattle Square

A cute postcard design caught my eye at the Urban Craft Uprising last weekened promoting the new outdoor market in Pioneer Square called Seattle Square.

Held every Saturday for the rest of the summer at Occidental Park from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Seattle Square hopes to invigorate the neighbourhood with local Seattle designers, food, public art, music and vintage treasures. They have everybody covered with a wide range of vintage and craft vendors; selling everything from locally designed clothing, to handmade housewares and accessories, to mid-century modern furniture. To top it off, local and national DJ's will be providing a soulful, upbeat soundtrack each afternoon in the park.

Seattle's newest food carts like Street Treats as well as some classics like Skillet and Parfait Organic Ice Cream will also be on-site, so make sure you go hungry!

Seattle Square also plans to have a rotating cast of local and national DJ talent along with a series of public art installations - think Brooklyn Flea (plan your next trip around this folks!) meets MoMA's PS1 and Seattle's Mobile Chowdown (another must visit!).

For more information, visit their wesite here. Vancouver's only 2.5-3 hours away from Seattle depending on border line ups and traffic, so no more excuses! Summer's not complete with at least one road trip!

seattle love :: urban craft uprising

Urban Craft Uprising began as a holiday show and their show dates were always the same as Got Craft which meant that I always missed it. Last year, they annouced that they were going to hold the event bi-annually, one in the summer and one in the Winter, but of course, we were already booked and missed the Summer show. So, when they announced their 2010 Summer dates, I entered them into the calendar and refused to take any bookings, because it was UCU time!


(birthday celebrations at Wann)

Through the magic of Twitter, we realized that one of our friends was also thinking of heading down and we started laying out some road trip plans. On a side note, I just want to mention that making plans 140 characters at a time is no easy feat!



(PVC pipe display - genius!)
Robert and I first met Kristen from Schmancy a few years ago on one of our visits to Seattle. Kristen, is one of the organizers of Urban Craft Uprising and let me tell you, if you can make it down there, this is a must stop! 100 swag bags are given out to the first 100 people in line. I'm pretty sure we got there 10 minutes after the doors opened and there wasn't even a bag in sight. They were all spoken for!


We made a run to Target... we drank icees... we had birthday donuts and sushi... we vintage shopped (pyrex love above)... we went over budget at Urban Craft Uprising... We met new friends... a whirlwind of good times!

conference of creative entrepreneurs

The Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs is a three day conference taking place this Summer in Seattle, WA where creative professionals will gather to be educated by the leaders of the creative professional community including Faythe Levine, Garth Johnson, Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood and Jenny Hart. It is a great opportunity to network with like minded professionals, share goals and find collaborators in the creative community.

Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs
Friday, August 13th, 2010 to Sunday, August 15th, 2010
Century Ballroom and Richard Hugo House in Seattle, WA
early bird tickets are now on sale here

Who can attend the CCE?
Anyone who considers themselves a creative professional! We define creative professionals as people who generate all or part of their income through creative commerce. They own their own business or work for a small business or are looking to start a creative/small business. This can include, but is not restricted to craftspeople, fine artists, designers, writers and service agents who work in the creative industries.

Why should I attend the CCE?
CCE attendees will hear speakers and see demonstrations from educators who are renowned within the creative small business community. CCE is also an amazing opportunity to network and build friendships with other small business creative professionals. We hope CCE will be a fun event too, as we have several social events planned throughout the weekend!

Any Vancouverites up for a road trip!?

(some wording taken from the CCE website)

day one

Day one was technically on Friday, but since my internet connection was finicky for the entire trip, I didn't get a chance to post until now.

Despite the rain and cold weather, we, along with Gnorman the gnome (get it? so bad, but so good), made a visit to Pike Place Market and then grabbed a coffee and some sandwiches for lunch at Le Panier.



Just before we left for Portland, we popped into Schmancy and met Kristen from Urban Craft Uprising. UCU is held every December over two days and it is the ultimate indie craft fair in Seattle with 7800 attendees this year. Keep an eye on their website for some new events!