The Shuswap Artisan Market is Now Open!

I am so excited to be a part of the Shuswap Artisan Market again this year.  It is actually a Cooperative with 26 artisans sharing the space and working together to create an awesome shopping experience.  It is in Sorrento but in a new location -- still on the Trans Canada Hwy but on the opposite side of the Petro-Can station and right next to Steamers Coffee.  The other exciting news is that this market will be open year round!

That is Debbie and Rose in the above photo.  They are two of the artists in the market that made it all happen.  They both have worked very hard behind the scenes in organizing and decorating the place.  They have done an awesome job and each one of us are so proud and appreciative!

The market opened on the 1st but our Grand Opening is tomorrow (Saturday May 5th).  I will be doing a demo out front and will be there at 1pm for an hour or so.  If you are in the area, stop by and say hi and check it all out!

For more info on the market, you can visit the facebook page.  There is even a video for a sneak peek of the inside.

Our First Day at the Shuswap Artisan Market

The grand opening of the Shuswap Artisan Market in Sorrento was last weekend.  Dave and I had our first shift at the store on Sunday and was a very enjoyable day.

Rebecca of Uberustic Natural Skin Care was there as well that day and set up her soap making demo and fun selfie photo booth outside.

And this is a display of her handmade natural skin care products that are for sale in the store.

We had a demo set-up that day as well to show how we make a cane and sculpt our signature lady bugs like the ones on these dishes which are now available in the new store.  

We also added a selection of our flip flop necklaces and earrings which are quite popular during the summer season.

With 21 local artists in the shop, there is a wide variety of handcrafted items and fresh new items arriving on a regular basis.  We will be sharing a little bit about the other artists over time but in the meantime, here is a sneak peek of a few of the various items that are for sale there.

Our New Shuswap Artisan Market Opening this Weekend

We have some exciting news to share.  We, along with 20 other local artists, will be in a new Artisan Collective Market in Sorrento.  It is located in the building right next to the Lighthouse Market and will be opening this Saturday, May 13 with the grand opening the following May long weekend.

This is Debbie and Rose, the two artists that are responsible for bringing all of us together and making it happen.  They have both been working hard and everything is looking really awesome so far!

We have been busy preparing some new scarf jewelry designs along with other special items to sell there.  All of the artists take turns managing and running the shop and our first shift will be on the Sunday, May 21, of the grand opening.

The Shuswap Lake Culture Crawl is on the same weekend so stop in and see our new shop if you are in the area.

Snap Decisions Collection at the Silhouette Fashion Boutique

Our trunk show at the Silhouette Fashion Boutique last Monday afternoon went really well.  It was a great opportunity to share a little bit about the polymer clay and how our pieces are created with some of the staff and their customers.  We have a nice portable set up for smaller pop-up shows like these and can surprisingly still show off most of the pieces from our Snap Decisions Collection.

The Silhouette Fashion Boutique is one of the nicest shops I've been to.  The clothing selection is really fabulous including all the top Canadian designs plus more!  There is something there for almost every body shape as well as a great selection in style and color.  If you aren't sure what you would look good in, the staff there are very helpful.

Owner, TJ (left) and worker, Hazel (right)

Silhouette Fashion Boutique, Salmon Arm

Window display at Silhouette Fashion Boutique

Silhouette Fashion Boutique, Salmon Arm

You can now find a selection of our Snap Decisions Collection at this wonderful store.  These make a great accessory to go with that new outfit or an excellent gift.  Here are a few samples of what you will find there:

Chain belts with 3 interchangeable snap bases in 2 different styles: 

Crystal accent belt with interchangeable snap bases

'Lace' interchangeable snap belt

Zipper Necklace:  This longer necklace has a pretty rhinestone framed snap base on an elegant stainless steel snake chain.  This necklace is easy wear as there is no clasp to fiddle with.  The snap base slides up and down the chain like a zipper and can be worn at any length. 

Zipper Lariat Necklace

New Buttons for a Sweet Sweater at Intwined Fibre Arts Store

We sell our handcrafted buttons, shawl pins and other accessories through several yarn and quilt shops in BC and what we enjoy the most is dealing directly with the owners.  Each one has a unique style to their shop and are looking for different items to fit in with it. 

We like to customize some items for each of the stores as much as possible or fill a need if they are looking for something in particular.  In this case, Althea at Intwined Fibre Arts in Salmon Arm had knit a girls' sweater from this gorgeous yarn.  It needed 3 larger size buttons on each side in colors to match. 

We designed some concave buttons with a texture and fun colors to coordinate with the colors in the sweater.

We made extras for her store and with our color samples, she can order in her custom colors to go with other yarns she might have.

Visit Intwined Fibre Art's Facebook page for more knitting and crochet inspiration.

Get on Board and and Vote for our Village of Chase

Everyone in our town of Chase is extremely excited!  They have been trying to raise funds for a skate park and entered the Kraft Heinz Project Play Contest.  Our community is one of 4 finalists and the only one from Western Canada with the chance to win $250,000 for this project.  Now it is up to the Canadian people to vote and we need your help!!!

Voting begins on Monday, July 25 at 9:00 am PST and goes until the next day (Tuesday) 9 am.  Open to vote for 24 hours only and you can vote as many times as you want!  There is no limit.

  

Heart N'Sole Quilts and Cherry Tree Quilts

We are excited to announce two new stores here in B.C. that are now selling our work.  We met them both at the Salmon Arm Quilt Show last month and I was kicking myself for not taking more photos but we were too busy to think of it!

Catherine & Rod of Heart N'Sole Quilts

One of the stores is Heart N'Sole Quilts in Grand Forks.  They now have a nice selection of our handcrafted buttons as well as our scarf jewelry which will be featured in their upcoming "Quilts in the Garden" show this Friday and Saturday (July 8 & 9).

Flower Scarf Necklace

 

Grand Forks is a quaint little city right at the Washington, U.S. border.  We are hoping we will make it there sometime this year since it is one of our favorite places to visit and we now have two reasons to go!

The other store is Cherry Tree Quilts in Summerland.  They have recently expanded into more space and have added a wide range of giftware.  Along with our handcrafted buttons, they are also now selling jewelry from our Snap Decisions Collection.

We are looking forward to a possible visit in the fall and teaching some classes there.

New Yarn Shop in Kamloops - Knit 2 Yarns

It is always exciting when we get to announce a new shop that is selling our work.  Knit 2 Yarns is a brand new shop that just opened up last week in the Valley View district on the Trans Canada Hwy in Kamloops, BC.

While the store may be new, we are familiar with the owner, Carla, as she use to work at Katja's Quilt Shoppe, in the same shopping center, for quite a few years.  As an avid knitter, as well as quilter, she decided to follow her passion and fill a void for a much needed yarn shop on that side of town.

Carla, owner of Knit 2 Yarns

Carla's shop has a lovely set-up with plenty of country charm.  Her baskets and vintage suitcase displays add a nice touch and I love the barn doors in the back separating her classroom area for future knitting classes.  We are already discussing the possibility of doing a Button Make & Take class in the fall.

If you live in the area and love to knit or crochet, you will want to stop in and check this lovely store out.  Knit 2 Yarns also has a facebook page you can follow and Carla has a blog if you want to see some of the projects she is always working on and loves to share.

Button Make & Take Classes

We just finished our Button "Make & Take" class at Lynden Tree Yarns in Grande Forks, BC.  The ladies made some really beautiful buttons for their knitting or quilting projects.  Some even made a pendant or two as well.  It was nice to be able to visit Lynn's lovely store again before the snow flies as the roads through the mountains in the winter time are not the best for travelling on.  We plan to go back again in the spring and will hold another class or two then.

We are holding another Button making class this Saturday, November 14, but this time at A Twist of Yarn in Vernon.  The class is from 10:00 to 1:30 and you can contact them direct if you are interested and to see if there is still a space available.

Team Chase Fall Tea & Fashion Show

Yesterday (last Sunday) we were involved with the Team Chase Fall Tea & Fashion Show.  It was an event in our town of Chase to raise money for Breast Cancer Research.  We had the opportunity to show off our latest jewelry pieces from our "Snap Decisions" Collection which was very well received.

We also donated some jewelry pieces for the main raffle draw at the show.  The pieces included a "snap" bracelet, "snap" necklace with a selection of our interchangeable Posie "snap" art beads.

Play Day with our Okanagan Polymer Clay Guild

We had an enjoyable day claying with our  Okanagan Polymer Clay Group last Saturday.  We are so busy working on orders and meeting deadlines it was nice to take a day out just for fun.  Our members wanted to work more on Julie Picarello's mokume technique and each one purchased their own copy of Julie's book, Patterns in Polymer Clay.

After making a few "lizard tails", we made Natasha beads from our left-over clay.  The building we met at in Westwold was nice and cool for working with the clay so we decided we would continue with meeting still in the summer.

Afterwards, we tried out a new restaurant nearby in Falkland called The Country Kitchen that had delicious Ukranian food.  These are the owners.  Next time you are through this way, give it a try!

Lynden Tree Yarns - A new yarn shop in BC

Lynden Tree Yarns is a new yarn shop that just opened up in Grand Forks, BC, which is right next to the Canadian - Washington State, U.S. border.  With the winter road conditions, we haven't been able to see the shop in person yet so Lynn, the owner and operator has sent us some photos to share with you.  Her shop looks so spacious and is filling up nicely with lots of colorful yarn.

We find each store that sells our work has their own way of displaying our buttons and shawl pins.  Here Lynn has found another unique way of displaying them.

We are looking forward to visiting this new shop as soon as winter is over and the roads conditions have improved.  Lynn has been very busy with setting up and operating her new store.  She now has a facebook page which you can see and follow here.