Sadie at BLIM

Despite the perfect storm of a playoff hockey game, the long weekend, and a downpour conspiring to keep people away, BLIM was fun and not totally slow today. Thanks so much to all who stopped by, took a card or hung out with me for a little bit. It was great to meet so many talented Vancouverites. I am definitely coveting a few items that I saw at some other tables today and can't wait for the next BLIM market that I can be part of. I'm looking forward to working on some custom pieces for people that I met today and restocking the Sadie shop with some pieces that I made for this event. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend, Canada! There will be an amazing Day in the Life post here on the Sadie blog tomorrow featuring Hwasoon Kim of Morning Calm. 

BLIM in Vancouver is tomorrow!

Hi everyone! My first week of work went really well (they kept me busy!) and now my first real long weekend in quite a while is getting started. I'm going to be spending much of today doing things to get ready for the BLIM market here in Vancouver. I'm going to bring as many new pieces as I can and the Sadie shop will be closed tomorrow. If you're in Vancouver please stop by and say hi. Thanks so much to all of you for your comments on my island adventure photos. I'm glad you're all interested in this part of the world now. It really is worth visiting, it's so beautiful. See some of you tomorrow!

Since the BLIM poster is impossible to read, here's the info: 

Sunday May 22 | 12 – 5 PM | By donation

@ Heritage Hall (Main St. and 15th Ave.)

Featuring:

4-elements / Army of Rokosz / Bianca Barr / Boat / BollyWool / Brian Robinson Fine Foods / Cardero /Collective / Delainy Gluten Free Baked Goods / Dream On! / EWMA / Firefly Notes / Irit Sorokin / Jem Gallery / Kristy Biggs / Marnie Jantzen / Parish / Rho your / Ripe / Robbie Vergara / Roy / Sandra Saunders / Sari Fujikawa / Sassy Vintage / Sadie Designs / Farmers Daughter / It’s Your Life / Open Sesame / Sedated /Selfish Birds / Shanti Uganda / Soaps / Squid Kid / Super Craft Star / Sweet Valentines High Tea / Tiny Fig / Trudy Ann’s Chai / Vancouver is Awesome / Zula Designs

and many more…

Blim will be presenting a monthly Community Market this month to take place back in good old Heritage Hall.

This Month’s market will include 48 vendors, music, hot food, beverages, and entertainment. Vendors will include food, fashion, accessories, supplies, fine art, vintage items and records, and not be limited to crafts. And there will be a focus on nurturing and promoting creative production in our community. We want to appeal to young, old, hip, plain, babies, animals, men, women, everyone.

We are very excited about this event and what it can contribute to Mount Pleasant’s artistic vitality, and how it can help support and encourage the local creative community.

Call 604 872 8180 or info@blim.ca for more information.

five friday favourites

rainbow garden duvet cover by diane von furstenberg

the moon - black gold paper bowl by etco

simple geometry triangle earrings by kathiroussel

amulet no. 20 by fort

leather storage tote by gildem

Five things, almost all of Etsy origins, definitely 100% awesome. First of all, I'm looking for a bold floral print bedding set, inspired by this image I pinned a few days ago. I found this amazing Diane von Furstenberg set and would love to have this duvet cover in our bedroom. Our apartment is south facing, but we look into our building courtyard and don't get a whole lot of direct sunlight. A rainbow garden would really brighten things up this summer.

Next a beautiful gold lined paper bowl by Etco. I'm not sure what I would do with something this delicate, but I know that it would look good in my house. I just really love the texture and matte tone of the exterior of this bowl. The whole Etco shop is worth checking out, really.

I know I really don't need any more accessories, at all, but I wanted to share these two pieces. The first, triangle earrings by kathiroussel are made with textured stainless steel. The second piece is by one of my favourite Etsy sellers: fort. I already have a fort necklace made from crocheted brass chain and I can't speak highly enough of this awesome shop. The packaging my necklace arrived in was really beautiful and each piece is truly one of a kind. I love fort's new amulet series. Check fort out regularly, you'll often find one of a kind jewelry pieces, ceramics, and even handmade leather-bound journals. It's always worth a look.

Finally, who does't need a leather basket? Perhaps you'd never considered your need for such a thing. Well, you are about to be obsessed with the idea. These leather storage totes are sooooo nice and so not grandma-style at all; I just had to share. I think I'd fill mine with library books.

There you have it, a few of my favourite things from the internet this week. Please don't forget to come and see me in the real world at Blim this Sunday here in Vancouver. I'll be at Heritage Hall with some great Sadie stuff from 12 - 5. And have a great long weekend, Canadians!

BLIM Market, Vancouver

This weekend Jeff and I had a table at our first market and it was a great success. We had lots of fun talking to all of the people who stopped by our table, made some new craft fair buddies, and sent some of our handcrafted goods off to wonderful new homes. Our table set up went pretty well. There are a few things that I'm planning to change for next weekend at Portobello West, but all-in-all, I think we achieved a pretty, cohesive look with a colour scheme of white, gold, and red and kraft paper covering our table and some of our props. I also got a lot of compliments on my vintage Hudson's Bay wool jacket. I had to wear it, it matched our table so perfectly!

Jeff's dioramas went over very well! This one was particularly loved. We'll have a couple more available at Portobello West. I think it's great that this diorama is being given as a gift. Imagine getting this for Christmas! You'd never see it coming. This particular creation was called "Around the Bend." Also new at the markets (and now in the Sadie shop) are these glass bead and gold bar necklaces. Inspired by the colours of the Northern Lights, these little necklaces add a bit of delicate colour to any outfit.

Northern Lights in the Sadie shop now

Here's a glimpse of our table. I assure you it was much more lovely in person. It's tough to take good pictures in a poorly lit gym. The venue had a nice vibe, though. Lots of people milling about and great vendors down every aisle. I like that BLIM hosts vintage sellers and handmade crafty things.

Our table neighbours were Sara and Will from Little Finch Handmade. We really scored on who we were seated next to, the tables on either side of us were beautifully put together and both had items I would love to have in my home. In fact, one of those Little Finch gingham pins is in my house right now! I couldn't resist buying one for myself at the end of the day. We had a good time talking about being Etsy sellers, The Wire, and other things we had in common. I definitely want to sit next to Little Finch peeps at a craft fair in the future!

So, thank you to all of our friends who stopped by. It was really awesome of you to come out and support us, give us feedback on the set up, and chat for a bit. It was fun getting to meet my customers face to face for the first time and now I'm really looking forward to Portobello West next weekend. I'll have some more new stuff there, as will Jeff! Hope to see you there! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the first ever Sadie table this weekend! You made our day!

crystal diorama sneak peak

Well, as I've mentioned before, I'm doing a couple of Christmas markets here in Vancouver this weekend and next and I want to have a few things with me that I don't usually sell. So, there will be some new jewelry, but also a little something that Jeff has been working on. Here is a sneak peak photo of the awesome crystal dioramas that will be available at BLIM and Portobello West. These little sculptures were really the inspiration for the crystal cave explorer necklaces. I'm really looking forward to seeing one that has yet to be made, that will feature a grizzly bear and a camper. Looking forward to the weekend and getting out of the house. I've been a prisoner of school work and weather and can't wait to be out enjoying Vancouver. Have a great weekend!

snow is falling and I'm sitting with a pile of sterling silver chain in front of me

What a day! I'm putting together a presentation, doing homework for another class and making a big stack of earrings for the BLIM Market on Sunday. It looks like it's freezing outside, but I can't be sure, because I'm still inside, in my cozy apartment, in my living room/jewelry-making studio listening to episode after episode of This American Life. Here's a little sneak peak of what the Sadie table is going to look like at BLIM this weekend: 

Of course, there's a lot more to it, but I don't want to give it all away before the market happens. I'm also really looking forward to embarking on the Eastside Culture Crawl this weekend. I love the Mergatroid Building on Venebles the most, I think. So many different studios all in one place, and my favourite, Heyday Design is there, too! I think the ceramics are my favourite things to check out. I've tried making ceramics, but I always end up with a ten pound bowl with one side caved in or a hand-built cup that would draw blood if you actually tried to use it. It's not good! I don't know what it is about the pottery wheel, but I just don't get it, so I love looking at things made by local artist who do, totally, get it.

If you are coming to the BLIM Market this weekend, make sure you check out the baking that some of the vendors do. It is so delicious and really beautifully presented, too. I'm going to have some new pieces there, as well as lots of stuff that is in my Etsy shop, like this rutilated quartz crystal necklace, which my friend Carrah calls her "magical pan flute necklace"...we could all use a little more magical pan flute, I think.

I'm especially happy with some of the vintage pieces that I've been able to incorporate in my table set up, and with these embossed paper golden antlers, which I'm going to use as little extras in my packaging. I must get back to all of my work that needs to be done today, including preparing everything for the upcoming Sadie feature on Lune. Regardless of whether you think the holiday season has arrived a little too early, try listening to this classic (1996!) episode of This American Life: Christmas and Commerce. David Sedaris's Santaland Diaries gets me every time. If you haven't heard it, make today the day!

sadie photo shoot

I'm not even sure how this is even possible, considering a 75% complete draft of my thesis paper was due this afternoon, but yesterday Jacqui and Blair and I had a little photo shoot for the upcoming feature about Sadie on Lune Vintage. The sun was moving quickly on us, so we didn't have a lot of time to plan everything out, but I'm really happy with the results. I can't wait to share more with you in the Lune feature and put some of our shots up on Etsy eventually, too.

Photo: Blair Cheredaryk

I just had a crazy weekend writing, researching, making jewelry for my first ever craft fair (coming up this Sunday -- BLIM in Chinatown, come check it out!) and writing and researching some more. Thankfully, Jeff took some time out of his insanely busy day to bake some cupcakes and clean the apartment (our landlord is selling the place). I'm looking forward to getting this week behind me: setting up that first Sadie table, having all of my jewelry made, and presenting my thesis project thus far to my mentor. Are you getting a picture of how frantic I'm feeling right now? I might be able to take a deep breath on Sunday. Until then, here's an outtake of our photo shoot. Look how relaxed Jacqui and I managed to look in this photo, despite the fact that we were freezing!