Vancouver BC handcraft scene is heading for spring

The Got Craft? spring craft fair is taking place on Sunday, May 3rd at the Legion Hall on Commercial Drive at East 6th Avenue.
Doors open at 11am and the first 30 visitors will receive a glorious swag bag stuffed full of goodies from the vendors. Admission is $2 (children, free) and doors close at 5pm.
As you can see from the ByHand spotlight above, this will be an excellent time to stock up on gifts for Mother's Day and earn extra brownie points. The sellers above are only eight out of the 50 who will be selling on the day so please, come on down and shop local!

wordless wednesday

attend
this sunday

ebb and flo in person

handmade wire beads in tinned copper

There's nothing like an imminent craft fair to focus the mind and the crafting. Add in an imminent birthday, a newsletter deadline and a few other imminent items on the 'to do' list and life gets a little crowded! Excuse me please if I seem a little scatty of late but I'm trying to fit everything in before this weekend ..... and I seem to be running out of time!
So on Sunday I will be selling at my first craft fair of the year (yes, I'm a slow starter!). I will be at the spring Got Craft? fair in the Legion Hall on Commercial Drive (@ E6th Avenue) in Vancouver this Sunday (11am to 5pm, $2 admission - the first 30 thru the door will receive a goodie bag stuffed with samples from all the vendors!). It will be a great chance to buy some adorable Mother's Day gifts as well as to stock up on all the handmade goodness that Vancouver has to offer.
But meantime, I have to get my stock and packaging in order, finish two assignments for my proofreading and copy editing classes at SFU on Saturday, prepare a birthday (almost done - phew!) and keep on top of the usual boring household drudgery.

One of the first things I will do when pomo mama design turns in a regular is income is hire a cleaner!

Sunny outside, finished morning coffee, must start the day for more crafting http://ping.fm/CiAgN

everfailin'

everfailin', originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

I forgot - it's Etsy Day today, when celebs are doomed to be spammed by hordes of over-eager etsy newbs who checked their critical thinking about the site in at the registration page.

Please don't litter the world with Etsy spam in coffee shops, under windscreen wipers and in bookshops, please market your own shop, and, to the general public, please don't think that the majority of Etsy sellers are so naive.

kthnxbai

vegetarian pilaff

Another nice and quick, out of the store cupboard type meal (and it smells gorgeous as it simmers away!)

...... and as you can see, it was a great hit at dinner this evening!


8oz brown rice
1 tablespoon veg oil
2oz butter
half an onion, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
1 pint hot water or stock
2oz sultanas
4oz mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon marmite if not using stock
4oz salted peanuts or cashews
seasoning, pinch ginger and/or nutmeg

Fry the rice in the oil and butter until pale brown (low heat). Add onion and celery, cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add stock/water, sultanas, peanuts and mushrooms. Stir in marmite if required. Cover and simmer until rice tender and liquid absorbed, adding more water if needed.
Stir seasonings and spices to taste.
Serve garnished with chopped parsley and lemon slices. Grated cheese is also a good addition!

Bon appetit!

Time to 'fess up! I had no celery so yellow peppers were substituted. I'd run out of sultanas but currants were just as good. No garnish either but gruyere was a great addition. Ran out of mushrooms so threw in some freeze dried shitakes.

comments from this evening's diners;
"If I eat this it will kill me."
"No, no, no, no, no .... no!"
"This is disgusting."

should i blog the pilaff recipe? hmmm - it is a good quick meal

earth day - ebbandflo is doing her crafty bit part 2

...... cos part one can be found on my other blog here

earth- friendly crafting stuff i have fun with = paper making with my son, felting using handspun sweepings and fibre remnants, seaglass in jewelry, art clay silver (which is made from silver salvaged from medical photography, read here for more information), machine knit swatches felted into bags and purses, DIY from my stash ......... and stored mostly in upcycled salad boxes or in thrifted containers ......... but i still don't think i'm an eco-warrior!

ebbandflo

Buy Handmade

 

Got Craft? for Mother's Day

Yay! It's time for pomo mama design to strut her funky stuff at the first craft fair of the year (for her anyways).
This year's season opener is the awesome and delightful Got Craft? spring fair being held at the Legion Hall on Commercial on Sunday, May 3rd. Click here for all details.
So, mark your diaries, plan your route and come join some of The most talented artisans in Lower Mainland who will be thrilling your eyes and senses with their handmade creations. It's a good time to shop for mum and be in her good books for another year.

pssssssssst! first 30 buyers into the hall get a lush swag bag with gifts from the vendors

tweet tweet

front of birdies bag, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

A reminder to catch up with the Blogfire guild of Artfire bloggers tomorrow in their broadcast with Blockhead Radio Live (see the guild blog for more details.

The broadcast takes place at 8pm EST and you will need to log in on the site to take part. Now 8pm EST is 5pm PST so it might be a bit tricky for me to take part but my curiosity has been peaked/tweaked so ........

still waiting for the off

still waiting for the off, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

we finished - approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes of running, walking, dodging and weaving.

and it took an hour and a half to reach the start line!
phew

organisers - we need an elite stroller section for people who want to run with their buggies!

Sun Run Sunday

running man, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

See you all in the Sun Run today, when the whole of Vancouver (not kidding) turns out to run/walk/stagger 10k round the central core of the city.
Unless you're right at the front with the elite athletes it's virtually impossible to get a good time. The reason we're doing the race today is that it's the last time the wee guy will be small enough to push round the course in his stroller so we can take part as a family. Our next outing for the Sun Run will be when he can manage a 10k under his own steam. Not sure when that will happen but kilometre club at school is great training!

the mild panic of not enough personal time

I've got a house guest right now (it's the delightful honeybeedz from etsy, aka my lil' sis) which means life is chock full of being a hostess. As many of you will know, having a guest in the house means extra work and less time to spend on personal time but in this case I've been more than adequately compensated! On Tuesday we spent an excellent afternoon snowshoeing in brilliant sunshine round Hollyburn, and then had a whole day (blimey) downhilling together (her on skis, me on my Burton Factory Prime) on Wednesday. Wheee! (thanks Aunty B!).

.... and I haven't been missing out on crafting either since she's been crocheting like mad following a yarn re-fuelling trip to Black Sheep Yarns!

I've put together a package for jurying at a local arts   boutique, I've been invited to consider teaching another wire crochet class and I finished off a load of wire and fibre promos for the Got Craft? fair taking place on Sunday, May 3rd (soon, yikes!)

 

 

 

 

I've also been packing in some wee crafting projects. Yes, there are some new fuzzy balls on the go. The latest is a much simpler version of the choker necklaces I made in March - just a few wire beads on a steel cable choker. ...... and I've had the time to play with a new design - a brass and glass fidget ring with a copper rivet. Still needs some polishing but I'm quietly pleased with the result so far!