What a busy weekend! I am posting this from Toronto where I am working at my real job for the week -- I did manage to get to 2 craft shows this weekend before jumping on the plane though!

Circle Craft
I got a chance to go to Circle Craft on Friday eve and was really wowed by some of the talent there! I was surprised that we had to wait in line to get in -- but I guess that means good things for the exhibitors. It was really busy and talking to some of the people at the show they said that the turn out was really good this year. This year's fair was full of beautiful scarves and wraps and there was a whole range of items for pet owners that I haven't seen in past years. I did notice that there were not as many fashion booths as there were at the One of a Kind and think that that is one of the major differences between the two shows. As always there was a good range of jewelry form fashion to precious and the food section was sinful and the samples so yummy!

I ended up with a new dog coat for Aja (the chihuahua) and was able to test it out the next morning at my son's soccer game. It is so cute and really well crafted (I will post a link to the website and a pic of Aja in her new coat when I get back to Coquitlam this weekend).

Arch Bishop Carney's annual craft fair
Saturday I made it to this fair for the second year in a row. This is a big event with crafters set up in both the school's gyms. I have to admit that the second larger gym is by far the more preferable of the two as far as being an exhibitor goes but was impressed by the traffic that this fair gets. I had been seeing signs advertising the event for the past month and they were well placed and prolific. I spoke to many of the exhibitors and will be posting links to some really cool websites and crafts in the next couple of weeks. In particular there is one vendor who makes picture frames out of hockey sticks and offers framed prints of hockey players and sport celebrities. I remembered him from last year and had a great chat with him this year -- keep your eyes peeled for some pics of his work in a few weeks.
I couldn't resist the magnetic bracelets and am now wearing a beautiful one with amethyst stones. I have already noticed an improvement in circulation!

Well that's it for now,

T

So I have been diligently working on a totally new look for the website and thought that it would be great to feature local artists and crafters' work on it. So I started contacting some of the people who make amazing things and the response has been so positive! Not to mention how inspired I get when I see all the fabulous stuff they are making -- so back to the designing I go -- stay tuned for the new and improved version of the site!

I just don't know where the time has gone! I did get to the One of a Kind show this year and as always was inspired by all the fabulous things that people have created! I just got an e-mail that they have set next year's dates and that they will be in the new convention center -- and in Dec. I am really psyched that it'll be closer to Christmas next year as I thought Oct was too early this year.

I finally got around to updating the calendar on the website and now I have decided the whole website needs a new look. The design I have in mind needs some pics of some craft/ arts so I am looking for some fun crafty pics. I will be snapping lots of pics of my crafts but would love input from anyone else. So if you have a great pic of your creations let me know!

It took me several hours to add all the upcoming events to the calendar -- I can't believe how many fairs there are in the next few weeks -- now I have to decide which ones to go to! I will be going to the Circle Craft on Thurs evening and am really looking forward to it.

Any suggestions to other must-go-to's?

I have been getting twitter e-mails saying that people are following me so I had better pay some attention to Twitter. I do the Facebook thing and am trying to do the Blogger thing -- so Twitter here I come! Is there a trick to Twitter?

I will keep you posted on my craft fair visits and hope to hear about yours,

T.

First of all -- thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! I feel truly blessed to have heard from so many of you!

OK -- so I think I've narrowed the field down to what I'm going to sell but now I have to decide which and how many fairs to do this year. Any of you have any suggestions as to which ones were good -- which ones were not so good?

I have to make a guilty confession -- I have had several e-mails in the last little while asking me for pointers in getting set up for craft fairs, where to start, which ones are good and I haven't responded to those e-mails -- i just don't want to steer people wrong . . . I'd love to hear any of your experiences in the various events throughout BC -- both as vendors and attendees. Were there any that stood out for some reason? Any that were especially good? I for one will definitely be going back to One of a Kind. I will also be visiting the Etsy sale on March 21st and will report back. . .

I found a supplier for the light strands!

I am so excited that I will be able to go ahead and make these for all of those who have asked about special orders. So if you asked (or were going to) send me another e-mail and tell me what you had in mind and I'll set about custom designing one for you. Cost will be $40 + shipping.