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I’ve just confirmed my participation at the Mini-Crafternoon Tea event on Saturday, July 4. The event is organized and curated by nathalie-roze & co., so you know some pretty awesome vendors will be involved! Check out the Events and Workshops page for all the details. Be sure to check out my upcoming workshops while you’re there!
Been spending a fair amount of time online these days – creating a Facebook Page for myself (become a fan!) and learning the intricacies of Twitter. Enjoying it immensely, perhaps even a bit too much…
Although I have been producing a fair amount of handmade books, I haven’t managed to take any good photos to show them off. Soon, I promise!
Hope you’re all having a wonderful [and crafty] day!
Looks like today is going to be a great day for staying in and making books. We got what looks like a foot of snow overnight, and today it will turn to freezing rain and ice pellets… As I said, a great day for sipping hot lemon & ginger tea and playing with paper. I have several commissions to finish before Christmas, so the timing is fantastic.
It’s been a busy weekend, so I haven’t had much time to work on my projects. Friday night, B and his friend John and I attended the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. One of B’s nephew’s was nominated for an award, so it was all very exciting. Unfortunately, there were so many technical glitches throughout the show that it was difficult to thoroughly enjoy the evening. First, they started 20 minutes late. Then, the teleprompter was showing the text backwards, and when they finally got it right, the text would disappear. I felt terrible for the poor awards presenters, left standing on a stage with no text to read; most of them were sponsors who had no experience or ability to improvise during awkward moments… Several times, when they listed the nominees in a certain category, as they called one artist’s name, another artist’s music would begin playing. Argh!
The event planner in me found it very painful to sit back and watch all of this. So many times, I wanted to run to the stage, push the production people aside and take over the damn show!
Despite the numerous glitches, there were a few highlights during the evening:
- Derek Miller’s performance – I saw him a few years ago in Inuvik, Northwest Territories and this guy can really rock!
- Lorne Cardinal, aka “Davis” on Corner Gas – he presented one of the awards. When there were technical glitches during his part, he was the only presenter who was able to ad lib through it – this guy is so frickin’ hilarious!
In the end, B’s nephew didn’t win, but they did perform during the show – a great honour in itself. Unfortunately, it looks like the list of winners hasn’t even been posted to the CAMA website yet…
Yesterday my friend C and I checked out the first ever City of Craft event – I wanted to apply to this craft fair, but unfortunately missed the deadline. So I thought I’d check it out to see if it would be worthwhile to attend next year’s event.
What a disappointment. From a logistical standpoint, traffic flow was a nightmare. There was barely enough room for one person to walk in the aisles between tables. Because of this, you couldn’t really stop and look at anything properly, because people were shoving their way around you. The quality and variety of products was also disappointing. Am I the only person who doesn’t “get” crocheted penises and boobs??? Everything looked the same – it seemed to all be about buttons, yarn, and softies. Nothing really new or innovative. Nothing especially eye-catching. I left without buying anything – an extremely rare occurance for me.
My friend C was just as disappointed as I was with the event. She’s an event planner too (we worked together on Canada Day and Winterlude celebrations in Ottawa), and we started talking about all the things we would do differently to improve the event. Suddenly, it dawned on us – why not organize our own craft fair! We certainly have skills and experience on our side, as well as a few good contacts in the industry.
The idea of planning our own high-quality, curated arts & crafts fair was very appealing to us and we have already come up with a number of exciting ideas. I’ll keep you posted as we move forward with this project…
One thing most good instruction books tell you is when you’re making a new type of book for the first time, always make a maquette from scrap papers first; that way if you make mistakes or need to make adjustments, you’re not wasting your good papers.
Do I ever follow these instructions? Noooooo……
And so I’ve spent approximately $20 on paper to make a star book that doesn’t quite form into a star shape…
Here’s what it looks like closed:
Don’t get me wrong – I love how it looks, the colour combinations, the way it fans out, etc. It’s just that it’s supposed to completely fan out so that the covers touch each other. You see, I couldn’t find instructions for this book, so I carefully studied several photos until I had it figured out… I got it right for the most part, and it would take only a bit of tweaking for it to be perfect, but in the meantime I’ve spent a good chunk of money on a book that won’t open properly. And I can’t take it apart to redo it.
Lesson (grudgingly) learned.
However, I do believe I’ll send out this book for a swap I’m participating in on Swap-Bot. The challenge is to make a book that is MORE than a book, something that is interesting and interactive. I think this will fit the bill perfectly if I add a few pockets and some tags…
On Saturday I took part in my very first Crafternoon Tea at nathalie-roze & co. Although I didn’t sell tons, it was a worthwhile experience nonetheless – I got to promote my books to a very interesting and interested crowd, and I was able to meet and mingle with some pretty cool crafters, namely le petit pig and soap scum. I never cease to be amazed by the sheer amount of talent and creativity out there – it’s very inspiring and makes me want to try so many new projects…except the pesky new day job keeps getting in the way…and yet it’s the pesky new day job that allows me to finance the new projects. It’s a sad, sad situation, I know.
Be sure to stop by nathalie-roze’s Crafternoon Tea where I’ll be one of the vendors…
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MINI Crafternoon Tea
WHEN: Saturday June 23rd from 11am to 5pm
WHERE: Nathalie-Roze & Co. – on the side patio and back garden
WHAT: A hip outdoor crafty fashion market and charity tea-party
Expect over 20 local craftista-designers selling their fab limited edition merch at wallet-friendly prices (lots under $30) – many items are eco-chic, creatively incorporating vintage and/or recycled materials. Peruse wearables and gift items including unusual handcrafted jewellery & accessories, quirky-cool clothing, unconventional paper goods, dreamy organic soaps & lotions, plus lots more handmade crafty goodness.
Highlights include: onesies made from vintage t-shirts, reusable shopping/tote bags made from recycled sheets and drapes (no more plastic!), knitted purses made out of t-shirt scraps and gorgeous summer tops and brooches made with vintage silk scarves, sock toys, vinyl LPs morphed into journals, clay jewellery and other inspired wearables.
ALSO: a stellar raffle (over $400 worth of prizes), a discount craft supply & fabric table as well as lots of sweet eats – scones & cream, cupcakes, gourmet tea (iced or hot) and lemonade served in the back garden.
Proceeds benefit the Woodgreen Community Centre.
Vendors include local faves and newbie talents:
Kari Lynn Bianchi, Sweetie Press, Kim Kutner, B. Skin, TLC/Echoes in the Attic, Naynu, Kate Johnson, Le Petit Pig, House of Hsueh, SLO, Jules & Annie, Little Brown Wren, Sally Girl, Peach Berserk, Sally Girl, Rat Girl, L’Ammie, Melissa Clemente, Soap Scum, simply. by amanda, Paper Muse, Toronto Craft Alert, Church of Craft and Rat Girl (& other guests).
For more info and vendors pix, visit: www.nathalie-roze.com OR call 416-792-1699
No, I haven’t gone AWOL – I’ve been working on a few different projects, the first of which was a commission from my new boss. She asked me to design a memory book for her parents’ 50th anniversary. Here’s what I came up with:
I’m not really partial to green, but this Japanese chiyogami paper is so amazingly beautiful – and the inside pages are just as wonderful, although it’s hard to see their fabulous colour. I kept the stitching on the spine simple so as not to distract from the cover paper – I’m so thrilled I got all the holes straight!
I also created a number of pockets so they could include letters, photos, CDs, and other mementos in the book. I’m extremely pleased with it – I had a vision in my head of what I wanted it to look like, and it came out pretty darned close to the vision… By the way, do any of you know of a tool that can create round corners on chipboard? The scrapbooking corner rounder I own could never cut through chipboard, but I’m hoping there is something out there that can create beautiful corners…
Another reason I’ve been so busy – next weekend I’m taking part in a craft fair at nathalie-roze & co, and I barely have any inventory at all! Almost everything I have made recently is in stores, hence the need to start producing new stock. And produce, I did! Here are the results of this weekend’s bookmaking blitz:
I must say I am impressed with myself, although I’m in much pain (my shoulders get very sore and stiff when I craft all day). I’ll make a few more books throughout the week, but this should be the bulk of it. I’m really looking forward to this craft fair; I just hope the weather holds up (the tables are outside)…
