{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.' - words and inspiration from SouleMama  

If you have a moment you'd like to share, please leave a link in the comments. Wishing you and yours a lovely weekend!

I survived my first market!

On a gorgeous and thankfully sunny and summery evening last Saturday night, I hauled my two suitcases full of stitched up goodies and set up a mini-shop on 3 feet of table space at the Blim Night Market in one of Vancouver's alleyways. The market was part of an event put on by Livable Laneways which in their own words is a "non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the overlooked laneways and alleys of Vancouver into pedestrn-friendly zones."

I shared a table with my friend Joanne who bakes amazing nostalgia-inspired goodies such as ding-dongs and old-fashioned cinnamon-sugar doughnuts! Yum!

When we first entered the lane (alley) to set up, there was a pretty bad stench of pee. Yup. Gross. But of course somewhat expected in big city alleyways such as this. Luckily, our table neighbour was a lovely woman who makes the most amazing smelling natural soaps so the whole night I was breathing in nothing but lavender, rosemary and peppermint. Heavenly!

Here are a few other random pictures of the market.

cool hoops 

 set-up

 lovely fashion

 crows overhead

laser lights at the end of the night

 Here is the new owner of Clarence the Bear! He was one of the newest additions to the Oh Hello Rabbit shop, along with Ned the Bear and Lucinda the Rabbit. I'll be adding more of these critters to the shop soon.

And here's Stanley the Worm. I had him at the market for a giveaway as he's quite the attention grabber (very debonair with his bow-tie!) So he's off to his new owner soon but I think I'll be doing another giveaway on my blog soon so stay tuned...

So overall, I felt pretty good about my first market. I have to admit that it probably wasn't totally my target audience (note to self: back alley night markets don't yield high family foot traffic), but it was fun to get to hang out with other 'makers' and 'crafters' and it was really great to see how people reacted to my creations (another note to self: people love little skirts and well-dressed animals). So overall, I'll mark this down as a success! 

getting ready

All week I've been sewing like a mad-woman. Why? To stock up for my very first craft market! Yay! Hooray! (followed by a little shiver..) I'm completely excited but also very nervous about this since I don't really know what to expect as a seller. I love love LOVE going to craft markets and overall, it's generally a good vibe, you know, like friendly, laid-back.. everyone is just doing their thing... So instead of worrying myself into a frenzy, I'm going to:

1) not think about being judged as a crafter/maker

2) not think about all the stuff I SHOULD have made but didn't have time to
3) not think about the possibility that it might rain downpour (which is very likely considering the 'summer' we've had so far)
4) ask all you lovely folks if  you have any advice for a newbie market seller

Are any of you market veterans? Any tips? Advice? Words of wisdom? I'd love to hear it!

And of course, if any of you are in the GVRD, I'll be setting up my little table of goodies at the Blim Community Night Market on Saturday, July 23 from 5-9pm. Please come say hello!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.' - words and inspiration from SouleMama  

If you have a moment you'd like to share, please leave a link in the comments. Wishing you and yours a lovely weekend!

colourful carrots and some new skirts

We made it out to the Thornton Park farmer's market today BEFORE the rain hit this time (ahhh, gotta love these West coast summers...) Lil' C and I stocked up on beautiful cabbage, beets, yellow beans, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, apple chips, and these awesome colourful carrots! (please ignore the pile of dishes in the sink. I tidied those up right after I took this photo. Honest!) Then I proceeded to cook a lovely supper of farm fresh veggies and organic chicken which, by the way, MY KIDS ACTUALLY ATE (after slathering it in ketchup..)! Yay! We are making some progress on the food front. By the way, after writing that post, I read this book to my kiddos and it made me smile! Feeling pretty lucky that I only have two silly eaters and not seven :)

Also, I am slowly but surely adding some new things to the shop! 

A girl can never have too many skirts!

(FYI, some 'ready to ship' items are now on sale in the shop. Go on and check them out!)

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.' - words and inspiration from SouleMama  

If you have a moment you'd like to share, please leave a link in the comments. Wishing you and yours a lovely weekend!

a couple things for the boys

Today is my sweet boy's 4th birthday and out of everything I could have made him (as I like to have at least one handmade item as a gift), he chose this little worm from the Wee Wonderfuls book by Hillary Lang. I'm not normally a 'worm' person, but look at it's friendly little smile. C named it Lowly. He's actually a bookworm so he likes to hang out inside, but today we popped outside just before the rainstorm hit to get some fresh air and nibble on a juicy green leaf. C made me take off the head scarf so he looks like a little old bald worm now (not that worms are supposed to have hair..) I think I'll make him a bow tie as he seems a little naked without the scarf..

I had also just finished a very belated birthday gift for my 6 year old nephew. A while back I had made a super hero cape for C. He loved it and I was pretty pleased with it too except for the neck band. I used a satin crepe fabric and wanted it to be double sided so he could pretend to be either Superman or Batman, but the cape ended up being a bit too heavy and since I changed the pattern slightly (it was originally supposed to attach at the shoulders of a full super hero suit), the velcro neckband was kind of 'chokey' and uncomfortable. C still wears it but not for a very long time.

Sooo, I was supposed to make a cape for my nephew but couldn't figure out how to do the neck. My mom had suggested making a real collar for the cape instead of just a strap (she got this idea from seeing one in a movie). I got thinking...

Since I had a few shirt collars kicking around from my UPcycled dresses, I decided to use one of those instead of making a whole new one.

I thought it looked a little 'off' at first, but now I really like it! It's kind of like Bruce Wayne on one side, and Batman on the other. (or Clark Kent and Superman - you get the picture..) Well, it was way more comfortable and C didn't seem to find it uncomfortable at all when he modeled it for me. The only tricky thing is that it's a button closure, so definitely for the older kids only. So, there you go B. I hope you like it!