New Blim Facility

Blim, located just off Main on 17th Avenue, is a community based art resource center which facilitates screen-printing, button making, drawing, knitting, local underground audio, film screenings, animation, video, dance, spoken word, visual art, creative workshops, and crafts in the independent field. As of May 2010, they will be moving to Chinatown and into some shiny new digs!


A limited number of artist studios are available to rent ranging in size from 8.5x8.5' to 8.5x19.5' with 9' ceilings. Six month leases include WIFI and utilities. Month to month leases are available upon request.


For more information visit Blim or email them at studiorental(at)blim(dot)ca.

Got Craft on the Express

This arrived in the mail today thanks to Melanie from the Express on Shaw TV!



The next Got Craft? is on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at the Royal Canadian Legion. Mark your calendars!

Renegade San Francisco

The Renegade Craft Fair is basically the mother that started indie craft fairs. At least, that is what I have heard. So, when I found out that it was being held in San Francisco for the first time, I was looking for cheap airfares online before you could say c-r-a-f-t-y--h-o-l-i-d-a-y! I found some cheap flights out of Seattle, so we spent the last 5 days in one of my favourite cities! Pictures are slowly being posted over on our lotus events blog.


Held at the Fort Mason Herbst Pavilion, the venue was absolutely beautiful. There were 150 vendors including my favourites - Sweet Meats, Paper Pastries and Nora Aoyagi Art and Craft. Nora has amazing prints! Such as this one!



Plus a free photobooth with tickle trunk by Magnolia Photo Booth. Tee Hee!



Two thumbs full of crafty goodness way up!

Maked - feature #25

Name: Maked - a collaborative group of 3 (sometimes 4) girls
Website links: Maked



What do you make?
A bit of everything!   We've done adorable little zipper pouches, cheeky notebooks from repurposed old novels, melt and pour soap with a sassy side, jewelry from vintage buttons, silkscreening.... I could go on - there are so many crafts to dabble in!



What or who inspires you?
The whole craft community (online and in person).  Seeing all the fantastic stuff that all these creative people come up with inspires us to put our heads together to see what happens. The internet (craftster.org) brought us together originally and gets us all excited to try new crafts; the internet is a powerful thing.
 


How did you get started?
Our group formed because we each wanted to learn the crafts that the others knew.    That desire to learn and willingness to teach turned into Maked!   Also, our passion for making stuff far outstripped our ability to find uses for the stuff we made, so we started selling our products and discovered the fabulous Vancouver craft scene in the process.



What are your favourite materials to work with?
We love repurposing stuff that would otherwise go to waste.  Our novel notebooks, for example, take old cheesy novels and give them a new life.   We also love beautiful yarns, cute fabrics, and vintage buttons.   One of us is nuts for tiny delica beads.



What is the hardest and most favourite part of crafting?
The hardest part is probably finding the time to do all the crafty things we want to do (both Maked stuff and personal crafting), or finding space for all the craft supplies.  ;)   Favourite part is the inexplicable satisfaction/pleasure that comes from using your hands to make a thing - something that at one point was just an idea in your head and turns into something that makes someone else smile or laugh.



List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them

Colour Lovers: So fun to play around with colour schemes and get inspiration for the ones other people make.
 
Burda Style: Another great one for inspiration, but also a wonderful source for modern, fun patterns.

Flickr: I'm very visual. As much as I like reading blogs I feel like Flickr gets down to the good stuff. The groups and tags make it such a great place to go for specific inspiration. Speaking of which, if you want some ideas for what to do with your charm packs and jelly rolls, I manage a group on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/charmandjelly/

Wists: I'm trying to get all my friends to start a wist. It's basically an online wishlist. The great thing about it is you can pull items from any place on the internet which makes it so easy to collect all your etsy wants. I also like to search through other peoples items because it tends to be a much craftier, eclectic group than just googling.
 
Craftster: The crafty gathering site that brought us together - the forums are filled with inspiration and amazingly crafty people!



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
Produce a quality product and do whatever it takes to make your customers happy.  And have fun!



Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
We've never had this debate among ourselves.   We view ourselves as crafters/makers.    I think there is a difference between art and craft - not that one is better, they just aspire to different purposes.   And there comes a point where the two get blurred and people start to debate it.   We'd rather use our energy to make things than debate.  ;)

(photo images courtesy of Maked)

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

Check out our past features...

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

Crafty Happenings Round 3

This is the last weekend to do some handmade shopping for the holidays, so make sure to head out to these events...


Last Stop to Shop Holiday Sale
Friday, December 18, 2009 - 7:00pm to Midnight
Saturday, December 19 and Sunday, December 20, 2009 - 11:00am to 7:00pm
Beaumont Studios - 316 W. 5th Avenue, Vancouver


Blim
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
11:00am to 5:00pm
Cambrian Hall - 215 E. 17th Avenue, Vancouver


So, Rob and I figured that being home for two days was plenty and headed down to San Francisco for this weekend's Renegade Craft Fair. Renegade is basically the mother of all craft fairs. Started in Chicago in 2003, Renegade now takes place in San Francisco, Chicago, Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Ever since I started Got Craft, I have always wanted to visit Renegade, so this was perfect timing, plus San Francisco is one of my favourite cities. For those lucky enough to be in the area, here are the event details:

Renegade Craft Fair
Saturday, December 19th and Sunday, December 20th, 2009
11:00am to 7:00pm
Fort Mason Center Herbst Pavilion, San Francisco
Free to attend

cheese please!

Next time you are shopping in South Cambie, make sure to stop by Mount Pleasant Cheese at 3432 Cambie Street and check out the window display by one of our vendors - Shima from Him Creations. We did a feature on her back in November. You can read all about her work here.

Our Christmas Tree

Want to see our yummy handmade and vintage Christmas tree decorations? Check out my post over at my other blog - lotus events.

Crafty Wonderland

(I have been looking for bottle brush vintage Christmas trees everywhere and was lucky enough to pick some up for a really good price from Magpie Ethel at the fair.)

If there was a race between two of my favourite US cities, it would have to be San Francisco, CA and Portland, OR. It would probably be a tie. I just can't get enough of either one of them! A few days after Got Craft wrapped up, we took a road trip to Portland to help out with Crafty Wonderland and drop off some handmade goodies at TinyMeat. We have attended their holiday show for the past three years and have braved cold weather and snow blizzards for one of their 200 swag bags!


(line to get in)


In fact, this is where Got Craft's swag bag idea came from! 2100 people came through in the first hour and by the end of the day (11 to 7pm), 7500 people had stopped in. With 220 amazing vendors including Buy Olympia, Little Otsu, My Imaginary Boyfriend, Jill Bliss, Obsessive Consumption, Crafty Wonderland is the place to be. Mark your calendars for their Spring show on May 1st & 2nd, 2010!



We returned to Vancouver Sunday evening. Back at home for two days and then off to San Francisco for Renegade tomorrow morning! Will post photos soon.

Firefly Notes - feature #24

Name: Sandy Bahrich from Firefly Notes
Website links: Etsy Shop

What do you make?
Papercrafts, accessories and lots of wedding favors!!

What or who inspires you?
I am inspired by arts and artistic people, culture, vintage and history



How did you get started?
I have always been a crafty person who is drawn to the obscure but it really became a part of my daily being as I transitioned into motherhood and I needed a regular outlet for my own energy. Once the wee men are asleep, mama gets down to business.

What are your favourite materials to work with?
This can change with the weather but for now I seem to like resin and varnish. Anything you can coat on and have harden up is the bees knees for me... at the moment.



What is the hardest and most favourite part of crafting?
The most difficult thing for me is finding the time to do all of the things I want to do. Striking a balance between home life and crafting as a business is tough. My most favorite thing is the instant gratification that comes with selling something I made. I thought what I made was kinda cool, but it is really cool if you think so too!



List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them

Etsy: really needs no explination!! So much fun to shop and sell!

Stamp Diva: ahhhh!! Best stamps ever, reasonable prices , A+ shipping charges (actaully what it costs), great customer service.

Papier Valise: ohhh! Gems in a treasure chest. Based in Canada too!!

New York Public Library: Crazy database of images and text. Recomended by one of my customers on etsy!

Mother of a Deal: for the mom in me looking for a bargain. oh yea! I have scored some good deals from this site!



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
Don't underestimate yourself and what you have to offer!



Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
I do think that they are way different. I am a crafter for sure. I often use others art (with permission of course) to craft my designs. It's like rap vs. rock and roll really. ha!

(photo images courtesy of Firefly Notes)

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

Check out our past features...

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

Buy handmade in Portland

Hey! You can now find my handmade goods for sale at TinyMeat in Portland at 3808 N. Williams #132 behind Ristretto Roasters. If you live in Portland, stop by and cross some names off your holiday list!

For those in Vancouver, you can find me at Barefoot Contessa on Main Street, Kiddo, Collage Collage and Lucky Rooster on Commercial Drive.


(image courtesy of TinyMeat)