poop.

But at least I can use this time at home to blog! Lol. My dad went out to dimsum and I turned down going with him because I didn’t think I would have fun swallowing my food. :( Wah. They’re bringing back some congee for me though… hurrah I guess!

Anyhoo, a bunch of us from the Vancouver Indie Crafters group met up on the weekend for coffee and cake, a post-Christmas gift exchange and lots of chatter. It was a great turn out and I’m so glad to have met up with all the new faces and the already familiar ones.

Here’s a quick lil peek at the craftiness of everyone who attended (sorry if I missed anyone!)

Amanda from ebb and flo. I was the lucky recipient of Amanda’s gift in the exchange (second year in a row now! ;) ) and I received a beaatifully made silver crochet bracelet with pearls and sky blue accents! Lovely! :)

.

Kris from A Cagey Bee.

Sandy of Firefly Notes

Angie of Jewelled Peach Designs

Leanne of t0fugurl

Jennifer of Jennifer Conway

Alexis of Phiber Smith Designs

Heather of Left Winged Mama (Jen, I borrowed the pic from your blog -  I hope you don’t mind!)

Lynn of By Lynn Krestel

Jayme of Trashbaggs (this is Lynns’ daughter – I love to see that creativity runs in the family!)

Marlene of Quotes and Notes

Melanie of A Farmers Daughter

And I *think* that’s it… I’m so sorry if I missed someone!
It was a nice time to just chat and share our crafty resources and just to get out with a lovely bunch of ladies and relax. If you’re in the Vancouver area and want to join us next time just give me a shout and I’ll let you know when it’s happening.

Cheerio!
Rita

Congratulations to Kelly and Ryan who’ve won a Mr. Jerry brooch!

Kelly loves the holidays because: I love presents, both giving and receiving! Holidays always cheer me up, love the festive decorations!!

Ryan loves the holidays because: I love sucking on candy canes until they are dangerously sharp. Oh, and family. Not to mention meditating on the best Gift of all… the reason for Easter.

And I love the holidays because: There are so many reasons! I love that we get to celebrate the faith, hope, and joy symbolized by the birth of Christ. I love the effort that people make to reunite with family and loved ones to enjoy the holidays together. I love the excitement in the air as people bustle around the city shopping and spending time with friends sipping on warm drinks between toasty mittened hands. And of course, the FOOD. mmm…. fooooooooooodddd….So, in short, everything you all like too. :)

Thanks again for participating! I will be contacting the winners via email to send them their prizes.

Keep in touch to hear about other random things and giveaways. ;)

xoxo,

Ritasmeeta

psst. here’s a random and completely silly video from last Christmas…

It’s a giveaway!

I love the holidays and I’d like to share some holiday-cheer with you.  I will draw TWO names on Thursday, December 3rd  at 9pm PST for Mr. Jerry brooches. International participants welcome!

Leave a comment with the following for a chance to win (each is worth one entry and you can do all of them if you want)
1: Tell me why or what you love about the holidays
2: Blog about the upcoming Got Craft Fair or Lilli’Q fair (see below) and include the link to your blog in your comment
3: Link your favourite handmade holiday item  (e.g. stockings, ornaments, cards etc)

If you’re in the Vancouver area, don’t forget to come out to the Got Craft show on December 6th! I’ll be there with bells on. Well, maybe not bells, but I’ll be all cheery and stuff.

Also, I’ll be participating in Lilli’Q Cafe’s first Christmas event! Lilli’Q is a family friendly space that features a children’s play area, lots of comfy couches, a stroller parking area inside, as well as a space on the 2nd floor for activities such as mom and tot classes. Come on down! :)

Cheers and good luck!

A quick peek at my swag offerings for this years Holiday Got Craft? event!

I don’t usually make items like this for the swag bags. I’ve done postcards, buttons, very simple brooches and ornaments…  but this time, I decided to go a bit bigger and better. I recently came back from a 6 week stint in Japan and holy moly, do the Japanese know how to craft! They have the *cutest* fabrics and I was able to score a tonne of it at really great prices. Are you jealous yet? ;)

Anyhoo, I decided to be nice and share some of it in the form of these cute little zipper pouches. The first 30 people through the door at Got Craft will receive the highly coveted bag o shwag and one of these puppies might just be in it!

See you later, it’s time for a midnight snack and then to bed. How horrible! I know!

Update: Guess what? Since only 5 eligible people entered the draw, you all won! lol ;) I guess our moms were right… we’re all winners! I’ll be emailing everyone now for instructions on how to claim your free passes. Thanks for playing along!

WHAT: make it! craft fair
WHEN: Nov 20-22 (Fri 4-9 / Sat 11-6 / Sun 11-5)
WHERE: Croatian Cultural Centre 3250 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC
HOW MUCH: $5 (go to the website to get a $2 off coupon)

If you’re looking for something to do next weekend in Vancouver, you’ve gotta check out the Make It! fair taking place at the Croatian Cultural Centre. The event will have over 90 vendors selling pretty much any hand-made item you can think of (and probably some that you didn’t!). And no offense to your grandmother, but this aint no granny’s craft fair!

To help you get there, Noticle is hosting a give-away for 5 pairs of free tickets! That’s right, you and friend could be enjoying a day full of fantastasmic shopping while dancing around the aisles to some sweet beats spun by Vancouver’s own up and coming DJ’s!

HOW TO ENTER: Easy- just leave a comment with a link to your favourite blog and why you like it (craft related or not, it’s all good!) Don’t forget to include a valid email in the comment form so that I can reach you if you win.

DEADLINE: The draw will be done for 5 names (2 tickets per winner) on Wednesday November 18th at 6pm so just get your comment in by then.

Thanks to Jenna of Make It! for providing the free passes!

Go to the Make It! website by clicking here.

***

And… while I have your attention I’d just like to give a shout out to my friend Dr. Choy who will be at November and December’s Portobello West show! Check out this post here for some pics of his recent work. Dr.Choy will be selling his wares and wears along with Maggie of MaggiePieCreations who makes the *cutest* knit hats.

Thanks and stay tuned for more crafty news and also a giveaway!

Every year around July, I inevitably utter this phrase that gets me death stares from my friends… “It’s almost Christmas!” But I can’t help it! :D I love the season… it’s all hustly bustly and full of warm treats, cozy sweaters, presents, and eating, and eating, and oh, did I mention eating?

And of course, with the busiest shopping season of the year comes a whole assortment of shopping opportunities. The best kind in my opinion start with the word “craft” and end with “fair”. Teehee.

Here’s a few to get you started:

WHAT: Circle Craft
WHEN: NOW! until Nov 15th
               Wednesday thru Friday 10am – 9pm
               Saturday 10am – 7pm
               Sunday 10am – 5pm
WHERE: Vancouver Convention Centre [East Facility] 999 Canada Place Way
HOW MUCH: $12 (go to their website to get a $2 discount)

WHAT:  Portobello West
WHEN: November 28th & 29th /December 12th and 13th 12pm-6pm 
WHERE: Rocky Mountaineer Station – 1755 Cotrell Street
HOW MUCH: $2  

WHAT: Under the Big Top – Etsy Sale
WHEN: November 21st 11am – 5pm
WHERE: Cambrian Welsh Hall – 215 East 17th Avenue Vancouver
HOW MUCH: $2 admission

Arrive early to receive one of 30 goodie bags!

WHAT: Got Craft?
WHEN: December 6th 11am- 5pm
WHERE: Legion Hall at Commerical Drive and 6th Ave Vancouver
HOW MUCH:  $2 admission

Arrive early to receive one of 30 swag bags! Let me tell you, people start lining up before 9am to get one of these. This time around I will be contributing a very cute (if I do say so myself) zippered pouch made with fabric I purchased on my recent trip to Japan. Will post pics soon!

Also, please check out the link above to read about the awesome giveaway/contests that will be hosted at Got Craft including a button press and a silk screening kit by Yudu! *droooools*

Also, check out this great craft fair calendar of events in BC by Tamsin of Kokopelli!

click here