Make It Giveaway

Make It returns to Vancouver this weekend featuring close to 100 designers from across Canada including Vintage Love from Toronto, Belua from Edmonton and Vancouver's own Hank & Cheef. Make it promises to be "a super awesome shopping experience that combines a craft show with a party!" With tons of handmade goodies to choose from including clothing, accessories, art, jewelry, baby items; expect to find something for everyone on your list this holiday season.

Event:
Make it!

Date:
Friday, November 19th, 2010 - 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 20th, 2010 - 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 21st, 2010 - 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Location:
Croatian Cultural Center - 3250 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Cost:
$5.00 at the door, or click here for a $2.00 off.

For more information, please visit makeitvancouver.com.

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We are excited to have the opportunity to host a giveaway for 10 pairs of tickets to Make it! Leave a comment or email to info at gotcraft com telling us what your favourite craft is. Please make sure to leave your name and contact number or email address. Contest closes on Thursday, November 18th, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. (PST). Winners will be chosen randomly.

Divesin - feature #36

Name: Divesin by Jackie Dives
Website links: Etsy, Blog, Myspace

contest alert at the end of the blog post!

What do you make?
I mostly make collages and take photographs. I have been collaging and taking photographs since I was in elementary school. Right now my collages are taking a couple different personalities.



There is an ongoing series that I work on for craft fairs and for sale on my Etsy site. These are made on wood panels that are hollow in the back so they can be hung easily. I use images from books that would otherwise be sent to the dump. I rescue them and make something new from them.

I am also working on a series of 20 collages that each have a Chinese proverb in them. These are fun and made from all kinds of different papers.

Lastly, I have a show at Libby's Kitchen in September, and for that I am making a series of collages that involve animals.

I take photographs every day of the things I see around town. My favourite thing to photograph is people.

I also make love. I make nutritious meals from scratch, my blog, and a garden.

What or who inspires you?
Like most creative people I get inspiration from things I see when I am out and about. People, places, nature, conversations overheard on the bus. I get very inspired to create when I am grocery shopping at a market, thrifting, and drinking tea with friends. I am currently greatly inspired by these specific artists: Andy Dixon, Ronan Boyle, Jesse Reno, Chanda Stallman, Randy Laybourne.

How did you get started?
Slowly. A few years ago I pulled my hardly ever used sewing machine out of the closet in my bedroom and began making bags. My grandfather died around the same time and I was given a box of family photographs, which I used to make a series of greeting cards. I made magnets, notebooks, brooches, and other cute things. I held a craft show in my little apartment, which turned into a full time store on Main Street. Now, I'm happy to be working from home, taking my time to explore the different forms of creativity that interest me.



What are your favourite materials to work with?
I keep a glue stick and my camera with me wherever I go. I also love very old things from wood to ceramics to books to fabrics, to jars and more.

List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them
Art house Coop: This is a wonderful website that invites people to take part in their art project ideas. The keep new ideas posted on their website all the time and people can participate in any that they choose.

Society 6: I have a studio on this website where I sell prints (http://www.society6.com/studio/divesin). Anyone can join for free and sign up to sell their prints. There is no cost to the artist, all the printing is done by Society 6, and they give you your desired commission. It is also a great place to discover artists.

Craigs List: An incredible resource for finding things for cheap or free.

West Coast Seeds: Where I get lots of my gardening info.

Amazon: I read a lot. I like that I can keep a wish list on Amazon so that I don't lose track of all the books I want.



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
Don't give up. Being an artist is hard. Keep at it.

Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
This is a hard question for me to answer. At a different point in time it might have been easier to define and separate the two words, but presently, I think they overlap and are merging into one meaning. At times I might be an artist, other times a crafter. But ultimately I am a creator. I passionately and consistently create things.

WIN an original collage (pictured above) by Jackie Dives by leaving a comment below and telling us where you would display this wooden panel.

Each collage is coated with a non toxic sealer and is light weight and durable, making it perfect for hanging anywhere! Contest closes Friday, May 14th, 2010, so get your comments in!

(photo images courtesy of Jackie Dives)

If you are interested in being featured, please send us an email at info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Check out our past features...
Flight Path Designs - feature #35
Plantscapes - feature #34
Olive - feature #33
Uncle Phil / Flipside - feature #32
Kim Werker - feature #31
Haiiku - feature #30
Smidgebox Designs - feature #29
heyday design - feature #28
Smeeta - feature #27
ACageyBee - feature #26
Maked - feature #25
Firefly Notes - feature #24
Florence Ann - feature #23
Him Creations - feature #22
Jenny Hart - feature #21
district thirty - feature #20
tinywarbler designs - feature #19
telly designs - feature #18
Cabin + Cub - feature #17
Rachel Hobson - feature #16
Green Couch Designs - feature #15
Tanis Alexis - feature #14
Sweetie Pie Press - feature #13
Fibre Manipulator - feature #12
Sam Made - feature #11
All Things Paper - feature #10
Owl + Pussycat - feature #9
Bliss in a teacup - feature #8
It's Your Life - feature #7
Faythe Levine - feature #6
Coco Cake Cupcakes - feature #5
pomomama design - feature #4
GroovyGlassGirl - feature #3
Bueno Style - feature #2
The Beautiful Project - feature #1

hints :: win a YUDU

We announced last week that Got Craft will be giving away a YUDU to one lucky winner at our Spring show on Sunday, May 2nd. You can read the full announcement and contest details here. Remember, contest closes on April 30th, so start uploading!

A few of you have been asking me for hints and we have been staying pretty tight lipped, but thought we would share a few tips...

1) Check out the photos in our flickr group. Just because somebody has uploaded an image, doesn't mean that you can't go to the same street corner and take another photo.

2) Check poster poles in these neighbourhoods - Kitsilano, Commercial Drive, Main Street

3) Does Your Mother Know?, Capers on 4th, Barefoot Contessa on Main St, Bean Around the World on Main St, Plush on Main, Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, Gene, Solly's on 7th Avenue, IGA on 4th Avenue, Black Dog Video, Jitters Caffe, Arbutus Coffee, Our Town, Britannia High School, JJ Bean on Commercial, Commercial Drive Organics.... some places to check ... you know.. just saying

xx double points xx
If you see our poster covered by somebody elses, please remove it and reposition theirs elsewhere. Take a picture before and after.

contest :: win a YUDU

Enter the Got Craft Spring 2010 Contest!

The next Got Craft is coming up on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010. Mark your calendars! Posters are starting to pop up all over the City, so we thought we would celebrate by holding a contest.

To enter, take a picture of a Got Craft Spring 2010 poster that you find at local shops, coffee houses or poster drums in Vancouver. Once you have your images, upload them to the Got Craft Spring 2010 contest flickr group and win yourself a brand new YUDU screen printer by Provocraft worth over $300.00. The more you upload, the more chances you have to win!

Flickr Group: Got Craft Spring 2010 Contest

please make sure to read all the rules before entering ...

one
Contest open to Got Craft Spring 2010 posters only and to residents of the Lower Mainland. (Must be available to pick up the prize at the Spring Got Craft show on May 2nd, 2010)

two
Pictures must include the entire poster and if possible, the poster drum pole / board / wall that the poster is attached to and some background that shows where it was located. No close ups on just the poster. See example.

three
When uploading, include where the poster was found - i.e. store name, intersection, etc. Entries not properly named will not count. See example.

four
Each qualified image uploaded to the flickr group = one entry to win

five
Contest closes April 30th, 2010. A winner will be announced on May 1st, 2010. The winner of the contest must be available to pick up their prize at Got Craft on May 2nd, 2010.

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If you have any questions, please contact us by email at info (at) gotcraft (dot) com or leave a comment below. Good luck!

contest :: Crafty Superstar

Approximately 3 years ago, Grace Dobush, the author of Crafty Superstar, contacted me to talk about Got Craft and our experiences with both craft vendors and running a craft show. Fast forward to late last year when I started seeing tweets pop up about Crafty Superstar, I knew I had to track down my very own copy. I happened to be at a Borders in San Francisco when I came across a copy and when I saw Got Craft listed in the appendix as a major North American indie craft show along with only two other Canadian craft shows, I was almost squealing down the aisles.

Crafty Superstar is a fun read and great resource for any craft looking to take their crafts to the next level. It includes lots of handy notes including how to approaching media, participating in craft shows, maintaining a personal life, setting up shop and a slew of helpful worksheet templates at the back. Grace also includes her interviews with Faythe Levine from Handmade Nation, Cinnamon Cooper of Poise CC and Vancouver’s own, Lauren Bacon of The Boss of You, who share their advice and experiences.

As a crafter myself, one of the hardest things that I do is pricing my items. Crafty Superstar covers many points on this topic that you need to consider including:
• Customer perspectives
• Expenses
• Time
• Wholesale price (usually 50% of your retail price, so you need to consider this when pricing or you will be in the red)

As a craft show producer, I found myself agreeing along with statements made in this book by Kristen Rask, PR and Marketing Coordinator for Urban Craft Uprising, and her experiences with running their show. The chapter titled “Get Noticed”, gave some insight as to how other shows in the crafting community market themselves as well as tips on ways to successfully contact media outlets and bloggers.

For those new in the crafting community and for those that have a few sales under their belt, I suggest you pick up a copy of Crafty Superstar and share your experiences with others from around the world.

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So you want to be a craft superstar? (sung to the tune of Rock Superstar by Cypress Hill)

Enter to win your own copy of Crafty Superstar by Grace Dobush by leaving a comment below telling us what you make and a crafty business tip! A winner will be chosen by random on April 15th. Please make sure to leave an email address that we can contact you at.

contest :: Yarn Bombing

Hey! Have you made your way over to Granville Online to enter the Yarn Bombing giveaway? That's right. You can enter to win a copy of your very own Yarn Bombing - The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Vancouver locals Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore. All you need to do is follow this link and post a comment about the DIY project you're currently working on (or want to start). A lucky winner will be chosen on March 31st, 2010.

Yay! Free stuff!