recently

Jeff's graduation from UBC with a BSc in Nursing. So exciting that we're both all finished school! Hikes with friends. And our garden is looking better than it ever has thanks to some recent renovations and some plant-friendly spring weather (fingers crossed). 

monday

I rode my bike the 30km or so return trip to work today. Stopped to take this picture from the Burrard Bridge on the way home. It was finally summer here (at least for today) and tonight I got caught up on online orders. Camp + Quarry packages are headed off to places like Poland, Finland, and New York, New York. I always love tallying up the destinations. Tomorrow I have metalsmithing class and plan to buy a nice ball-peen hammer. That's my life right now: jewelry. What's new with you?

P.S. Jeff invented a union for the dog tonight, it's called C.A.T.S. (Canine Association of Trades and Services) Local 604. Your dogs can join, too. Power in numbers, my friends.

Got Craft? Spring 2012

I unveiled a lot of new pieces at Got Craft? today and sold out of many of my favourites. Dipped crystals, rutilated quartz, and fluorite pieces were among the most popular, but scarves, cave explorers, and more are off to good homes, too. Thanks to all who came out and supported local makers! I had a great day and was happy to meet so many new people and see some familiar faces, too. If you were there, I hope you had fun day, too. Now to watch many episodes of Downton Abbey (so good!!!) and eat ice cream.

Hey, it's after 8PM and it's still light out. Best day ever! Thanks to Laura and Jeff for all their help today. And to Andrea and Rob for another great show!

Got Craft? Vancouver - Sunday, May 6, 2012

 Okay, okay, it is almost that time. After endless hours of making new jewelry, designing packaging, printing labels, ordering supplies (I love ordering supplies), and bribing friends to help me, I am just about ready for Got Craft? this Sunday. It would be great to see lots and lots of you Vancouverites there! I realize that I have a few new scarves, a ton of new jewelry (earrings and necklaces galore) and even four new cave explorers that are exclusive to Got Craft.

Got Craft? is at the Royal Canadian Legion on Commercial Drive on Sunday, May 6th from 10AM - 5PM. I'll be hanging out with my good friend Laura and am really looking forward to browsing the other vendor's booths, too. Hands down my favourite craft fair in Vancouver. You should really come out if you can!

And now, back to coffee and jewelry. Thanks to Jeff, Laura, Emily and Lara for all their help this time around! Time to re-thank Jacqui and Sam for their help last time! I won't forget to bring a light and an extension cord this weekend!

See you Sunday!

sunday walk

We spent Sunday afternoon at Pitt Lake (about an hour east of Vancouver). It was such a beautiful weekend and Jeff and I talked about hiking and camping every weekend this summer...starting now. It's good to be reminded that there is a whole big, supernatural world outside of our little city sometimes. More of this kinda thing soon. Where did you spend your weekend? (Last photo of me by Jeff, of course.)

friday

My weekend will consist of conference attending, jewelry making for Got Craft? and new shops, and getting out in the sun as much as possible while it's shining. You?

mainlanded

chicago/vancouver exchange

Back in January the weather and lack of daylight was feeling pretty lame, so I decided to set up a small package exchange between some blogger pals. The idea was pretty simple. You collect $20 of goods that represent your local area and send them off to your exchange partner. In return you get $20 worth of goods that originate from their part of the world. With participants from Western Canada, across the US, and a couple from the UK I hope that everyone ended up with a package as amazing and thoughtful as the one I received from Caiti of Life is a Canvas. Despite the fact that she's moving to Ireland (!) in short order, Caiti managed to put together a beautiful package with lots of Chicago amazingness. I had no idea that this particular chocolate company was from Chicago and feel pretty fortunate that she sent me some flavours that I've never seen before. She also sent along some tea, stationary, and more. Seriously, an incredible package! 

Below are a few pics of some of the bits I sent her from Vancouver in return. Soap from my favourite Vancouver shop, Old Faithful. A Canadian Easter classic (I have to wonder if Caiti enjoyed this thing...I personally think they are delicious, but many people hate them passionately). And, finally, a few paper goods from The Regional Assembly of Text. 

I'm going to be organizing a second round of this exchange in the spring, so if you'd like to participate shoot me an e-mail. I hope that everyone who was part of the first round had a lot of fun putting their packages together. 

Thank you, Caiti!

PS - I totally forgot to mention that Caiti even included some locally-made treats for Lola. Those are long gone, so alas, no pictures! But if you check out my Instagram feed (campandquarry) you can see a bit of her excitement there.

february photo a day challenge

I'm participating in the February photo a day challenge on Instagram and wanted to share my first photo with you here (I'll post the rest, too, in batches...it'll keep me honest and help me stick with this). I took this photo this morning on my way to work with my iPhone 4S. Gone are the sunrises. I'm generally leaving the house in daylight now, which is a positive sign that spring is on its way. This picture is of Canada Place as seen from the Seabus. We live in a beautiful city. Too bad I spend most days at work rather than exploring this amazing place. Looking forward to an impromptu long weekend...today is my Thursday. Yesssssssssssssssssssss...

sticker collection

These beauties arrived yesterday and I can't wait to put them to work on new Camp + Quarry orders! Along with changing my shop name and the name of this blog, I've been working away at updating my packaging. These are just one part of the new C + Q packaging that is coming together slowly but surely. The one starring Hazel being swung in my arms just might be my favourite of the batch. I'm already looking forward to a sunny weekend day when I can get outside and take some new photos for the next batch of cards and stickers. I ordered these from Moo and am happy with the colours and quality. I've also been busy making lots of new pieces for the shop which I hope to have the time to photograph soon.

In the meantime, if you live in Vancouver you can look for new Camp + Quarry pieces at Dream Apparel in Gastown and on Granville Island soon and if you're lucky enough to live in Copenhagen C + Q pieces will be popping up there, too! Now I must drink more tea and hurry to work. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

a giveaway: lax to yvr

Today I'm excited to introduce you to LAX to YVR, Alice's fantastic shop and blog. Alice makes beautifully crafted, hand-painted wall decor. A local Vancouver designer, Alice's shop features fun typography pieces and brightly coloured felt garlands. LAX to YVR (the blog) is full of home decorating tips and crafty goodness. If you aren't already a regular reader I'm sure you'll love it. Alice's bright photography and thoughtful posts always pique my interest and it's because of LAX to YVR that I have such beautifully painted walls (Benjamin Moore "Simply White").

Not only do I get to share links to this great shop and blog with you, Alice has also been kind enough to share this brand new design with readers of Camp and Quarry, too. I think it's kind of perfect for the New Year. This giveaway is open until Friday, January 20, 2012 at midnight PST.


To Enter the Giveaway


You must subscribe to the LAX to YVR blog and do any of the following for up to 3 entries (leave one comment per entry):


1. Visit the LAX to YVR shop and leave a comment below mentioning your favourite item(s).
2. Tweet: "I entered a giveaway on the @CAMPandQUARRY blog to win a prize from the @laxtoyvr shop! http://www.campandquarry.com/2012/01/giveaway-yvr-to-lax.html"
3. Subscribe to the Camp + Quarry blog.


The winner will be contacted via e-mail, so be sure to leave your e-mail address along with your comments. This giveaway is open to international entries, too!

the weekend that was

I've developed this obnoxious tendency to feel really sorry for myself at the end of the weekend (more like the middle of the weekend, if I'm being totally honest) because these precious days off fly by. I get to Sunday night and though I know I've done lots over the weekend, it can feel like my To-Do list has just gotten longer. That's partly because my mind never stops. I'm always dreaming up new projects, being given a piece of amazing fabric or a ball of incredible yarn (thank you! don't stop!), or reading a promising weather forecast that makes me wish I had a weekday morning for a bike ride or coffee with friends. It also feels like my To-Do list just gets longer because I take on a lot. Thus, my resolution to simplify things this year.

This post is about reflection: realizing that I did lots this weekend, that I am rested and as ready as I ever will be for a fresh, full week of full-time work. After nine months at this job I'm starting to get better at enjoying my time off. And after a fun weekend with some weird Pacific Northwest weather, I was inspired to share some photos from the weekend that was...

A walk in the university endowment lands with Lola and Jeff early Saturday morning, snow (that never happens here), Lola looking sharp in her Vermont Flannel Company dog jacket, a grocery shopping trip to Bellingham, Washington (with a stop at Avenue Bread), and lush rainforest greenery still shining through the snow.

What did you get up to this weekend? Be sure to stop by tomorrow to check out a super fun New Year giveaway! (P.S. Lots more pics on Twitter and Instagram.)

on the mountain

Yesterday looking over Burrard Inlet and towards the Coast Mountains. Couldn't have asked for a nicer New Year's Day. Tomorrow it's back to the grind. Why do vacations always fly by?

the cave explorers of 2011

Here they are! The final cave explorer necklaces of 2011. These guys are all listed in the shop as of today. Figures range from little children playing in the snow to a old gentleman making his way through a crystal cave with his walking stick in hand. Each stone has been chosen for its amazing shape and crystal features. Take a look at them all in the Sadie shop. 

In other fun news, last week I hit 400 sales in the Sadie shop. My 400th customer just happens to be a local blogger who I connected with thanks to Got Craft? here in Vancouver. Heather has a great blog called Tea with Me. She even wrote about her Sadie necklaces after the craft fair. In addition to her order, Heather is going to be getting a pretty special surprise in celebration of this exciting milestone. 

I know I've been saying this a lot lately, but thank you all for your support! This has been a fun year (crazy at times with getting married, graduating, and all of that) and you guys have all made it even better and gotten me through the nutso times with flying colours, too. And now we have just five more work days until Christmas vacation!

ocean

Although I often talk about home being Calgary, I'm actually from the far east coast of Canada (not the farthest, mind you). My hometown is Halifax, Nova Scotia, and recently I've been able to make it back more often than in the past. It helps that my sister lives there now, as does my dad, and my 92 year old grandmother that I've written about before also lives in there on a farm she's been at since she was about two years old. So the draw of close family is strong.

Halifax is also an amazing little city. It has a whole bunch of universities and with thousands of students living there it's got a pretty great arts and culture scene, some decent restaurants, and perhaps best of all, practically nowhere to buy expensive things. I love that!

So, though I grew up in Calgary during junior high and high school, Halifax, slumping down to the Atlantic Ocean, is still home. And while I lived in Calgary, my dad lived in Mississippi or England, so I've had bedrooms next to both sides of the Atlantic and along the Gulf of Mexico.

I would love to go back to Mississippi, as my sister has been lucky enough to do a few times, but I know that everything has changed since I was last there. We lived right on the coast in a little place called Pass Christian, and nothing was left in the wake of Katrina. Well, some cement ("see-ment"?) pads and pool copings, but that's about it. My dad had already moved to England years before, so the foundations that are left were no longer ours when Katrina hit, outside of the memories that all of the images of the devastated coast brought back.

And now I live by the Pacific, which is not at all like the Atlantic. In Vancouver we're protected by Vancouver Island, which means we rarely see waves. The ocean laps the beaches here, at best, but I still appreciate the way it changes every day. You'd never know that the two images of the ocean from this post and one a couple of days ago were taken at almost the same spot. Today was warm-ish and bright and sunny and I discovered a beach by my office that I never knew about before. It's for dogs, but I still like it.

I think it might be hard to ever go back to living land-locked...but then again, the Rockies are pretty spectacular. What kind of natural places do you visit in your part of the world?

vancouver in december

Vancouver turns into a magical city this time of year. All of the major downtown streets are strung with twinkle lights and there are even more people bustling around downtown than usual. We have a very vibrant, busy downtown here, owing to the fact that many thousands of people live on the downtown peninsula, a condition not very common in North American cities. All of those downtown residents mean busy streets 24/7. It makes our little city feel like a much bigger one, if you ask me.

I'm looking forward to doing some holiday shopping in Gastown (seen above in the drizzle last night) and having dinner in a couple of my favourite restaurants this month. Jeff will be finished his exams this week and I'll have all of my craft fairs behind me and online orders shipped in time for Christmas. There are a few exciting pop up shops that I want to check out, and some places that I always stop by this time of the year, like Old Faithful.

I'm excited to bake some cookies, finish unpacking, and head away on Christmas vacation to see most of my family. What's on your holiday to do list? Do you have any travel plans?

new camera...sort of

You guys might remember my little autumn to do list. Well, I didn't get to everything on the list, but I got to a lot of it, and had a fun fall travelling, making new things, and generally enjoying an autumn without school for the first time in three years.

One thing on my to do list was to take a photo with a new camera. I still haven't invested in the camera that I have my eye on, but in the meantime, I was way overdue for a new phone and I got the new iPhone 4S. I think this counts as getting a new camera, too, and I thought I'd share a picture that I took of Burrard Inlet and downtown Vancouver this afternoon. Yes, it is a grossly grey day here in Vancouver. (And, Danielle, I will try to refrain from sharing crappy Instagram photos here but I can't promise I won't try to get one past you every now and then...)

I'm not kidding when I say that I was overdue for a new phone. BABIES have much better phones than I did before last week. And with my new phone I was already able to contact a locksmith to get Jeff and I back into our apartment when our lock broke last weekend, take credit card payments at Got Craft? that were instantly authorized through PayPal's virtual terminal (so awesome and convenient), and share this photo with you. I don't want to talk about my new phone too much, so let's just say: I'm convinced.

And on that note, please tell me about your favourite apps...

got craft?

I'll be at Got Craft? on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It's at the Royal Canadian Legion on Commercial Drive (just a couple of blocks north of Broadway). Remember! The first forty people to show up get a swag bag with goodies from the vendors inside. I've heard that people line up to get into this show and am looking forward to being a vendor at Got Craft? for the first time.

A couple of other things to note: I'll be able to take cash, credit cards (using my phone) and PayPal/Interac money transfers (using your phone). That should have most people covered, I hope. I'm also going to have some friends helping me out, so thanks in advance to Sam and Jacqui for hanging with me on Sunday.

Here's a little time lapse video of a previous Got Craft? event:

Got Craft from blueolive on Vimeo.

business time

It's been a bit all business, all the time around here (and in my life in general as both my day job and Sadie have ramped up a few notches in the past few weeks). There are still packed boxes in our new apartment and my to-do list just keeps getting longer, no matter how much I accomplish in a given day. I'm sure you know the feeling. It's just a busy time of year.

So today I just wanted to share one small thing. This is the view I have from my lunchtime walk Monday - Friday. From my office on the North Shore we have an amazing view of Burrard Inlet, the Port of Vancouver, downtown Vancouver, and more. Turn around and there are the North Shore Mountains. It's a beautiful place and on days like these, when I'm insanely busy and a bit stressed and the sun is shining (in November in Vancouver?) I have to take a walk to soak some of this in. I thought you might want to take a look, too. That right there is the Pacific Ocean, friends. What did you get up to this weekend?

portobello west all weekend long!

I'll be at Portobello West all weekend long, so be sure to stop by and say hi. There are coupons for free admission in The Georgia Straight this week. You can find me and my friend Sam at Table 19 down the centre row. We're going to have tons of new necklaces, earrings, and a few special, limited edition hand dyed scarves to share with you. Some items will be deactivated in the shop starting later tonight as they're coming with me tomorrow! Have a great weekend everyone! See you at the market!

Portobello West runs from 11AM - 5PM both Saturday and Sunday at the Creekside Community Recreation Centre in Southeast False Creek (Athlete's Village). Come get some holiday shopping done!