got craft :: spring 2011 vendors!

photo credit: coco cake cupcake

It's that time of year again! The Got Craft Spring show is coming up on Sunday, May 8th, 2011 at the Royal Canadian Legion on Commercial Drive from 10:00am to 5:00pm. We'll be celebrating our 5th birthday, so make sure to join the festivities with our amazing vendors listed below. Lots of newbies to the show, so there will be tons to check out!

Too hungry to shop? Bake Sale Baking Co. and The Gluten Free Epicurean will be serving up baked treats while Varinicey will be outside cooking up some veggie pakoras! Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge will show you how to make a take away craft project and stop by the Maker Faire booth for details on their upcoming event in June! Of course, for those early birds, the first 45 people through the door will receive a coveted Got Craft swag bag. Have you seen the goodies inside? Check out some past samples here, here and here.

A Cagey Bee, Sassy Contessa, Smuttons by Kimli, The Beautiful Project, Abeego Designs, Barefoot Contessa, Bake Sale Baking Co., Banoo, Billy Would Designs, Frankenstrap, cabin + cub, Cynthia F., district Thirty designs, Divesin, Sam Made, eikcam, GLOBE Foundation, gypsee designs, heyday design, hudsonny, Laura Bucci Handmade, Mena Dragonfly, Olive Bath and Body, smidgebox designs, Stitchella, Twig Prints, The Gluten Free Epicurean, The Rice Babies, Little Bird Designs, BuenoStyle, Inspryed Creations, irit sorokin designs, Faire by KeikoCreative, Its Your Life Handmade, LynnDee Designs, AstridLily Designs, kukubee, pomo mama design, GroovyGlassGirl, Superfly Lullabies, Bubbly Shnooks, Comiditas, kove handmade, Earthgirl Aromatherapy, Firefly Notes, honey canada, Raven's Rest Studio, Hello Bobbie, Roxypop, Telly Designs and Robbie Vergara Screenprinting.

got craft :: swag!

Yes, swag bags are a dime a dozen, but not these bags. No, siree. As Kove Handmade mentioned, swag is a BIG deal at Got Craft. Like be at the venue at 6:00am before the tables and vendors arrive to set up kind of big deal. So, when the doors open 4 hours later and you are one of the lucky first 45 through the door, you understand why these are so coveted. I mean, just take a look at some of the goodies that are in each bag and, I use the word 'some' as swag items are still coming in! See here and here for past Got Craft swag bags.

Starting in December, we've bumped up the number of bags from 30 to 45. That's 15 additional bags! Thanks to efreeme.com for providing us with the reusable totes. For those that miss out on the swag bags, not to fret, we have 50 additional totes (sans swag) to give away at the door. Not an early bird? We have you covered as well. Five local blogs including Vancouver is Awesome, Got Craft (below), Vancity Buzz and Granville Online (<- enter here / contest ends Dec 1) are giving out free passes to Got Craft as well as swag bags, so keep your eyes open for the announcements!

Get a good nights sleep and a bag full of swag by leaving a comment below telling us which vendor you are most excited to check out at the show. One lucky winner will be chosen randomly. Contest ends Thursday, December 2nd at noon (PST). Winner will receive two free passes plus one Got Craft swag bag to be picked up at the event. Please leave your contact information in your comment.

Did I mention we have swag bags ?

Oh yes! Oh yes! The first 30 people through the door at Got Craft will receive a lovely Craft Stylish re-usable tote filled with goodies from all of our vendors including the Museum of Vancouver, Sublime Stitching, Portobello West, Funky Finds and Button Button.



(these 3 swag bag pictures show an assortment of what could be in your bag)

To say that these go quickly is an understatement. We had girls line up at 7:30am for an 11:00am opening last May and I hear that there's some competition this year. So get there bright and early!!


Umm... and yeah... We also had our first fight last year for one of these bags. So for the holiday show, we will be initiating a new system where the first 30 will receive a ticket which they would need to turn in to claim a bag. Please note that you must stay in line until opening (bathroom breaks / coffee runs are ok).

Austin, TX

Sublime Stitching has been huge supporters of Got Craft? and the Vancouver premiere of Handmade Nation, so when they approached us to help out with the Austin premiere of Handmade Nation, of course we said yes!

Swag bag goodies with a touch of kawaii getting ready to head to Austin, TX:

Bevy of Japanese candies - check!

Got Craft?, Handmade Nation and Indie I Do pin backs - check!

Vintage sewing buttons - check!

Cute paper bags to hold all the goodies - check!

The Austin premiere of Handmade Nation takes place on September 5th and 6th. Of course, I have wanted to visit Austin for quite awhile now and what a better time to go then this!

Labour day long weekend isn't exactly the best time to travel, but we found a decent flight and booked a studio condo for 5 days.

My #1 to do is to visit Uncommon Objects! Thrifting, relaxing and mexican food.. here i come! Not exactly looking forward to the 105F weather though!

Thanks to Jessica at Sublime for all of your wise expertise! Can't wait to finally meet you in person.

PS. Any "must visit" or "must eat" places in Austin that we should add to our list? Leave us a comment or send us an email!

thanks Sublime Stitching!

Look at what arrived today for the Handmade Nation swag bags!! Thanks to Sublime Stitching for their amazing support to Handmade Nation and Got Craft.



There are about 5 more bags left, so if you don't have your ticket yet, you can purchase them online.

saturday

Look at what I picked up at the post office today! Sweeetttt!!!

Thanks to Mary and her team at Sublime Stitching for their swag bag contributions!

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.

swag bag update

This is Cleo cat surveying the swag chaos that has currently taken over the living room.

swag bags

30 swag bags are almost complete. I have 15 more handles to sew on and then a gocco they will go! For our first two events, we used recycled paper bags and then we moved to handmade, reusable fabric bags. I have to admit, these bags are the best. Being a self taught, beginner sewer, the December bags look fantastic. Plus these bags have a bonus.. a handy front pocket!

If you are participating in this years' fair and you have some questions about the swag, information can be found on the second page of your application. Also, there is a picture of a previous swag bag in one of the earlier posts from May. Need some ideas? Feel free to contact me.