Holiday craft season is in full swing and Got Craft? is a must-see event if you love to shop handmade and shop local. Bringing together a community that fosters handmade and DIY culture, Got Craft? was founded in 2007 and is held twice a year in May and December, becoming Vancouver’s largest indie craft fair.
Got Craft? Vancouver
Where: Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph Street in Vancouver
When: Saturday, December 13th and Sunday, December 14th, 2014 10:00am to 5:00pm
Admission: Admission is $3 at the door
New for the sweet 16th year of Got Craft? there are 25% new vendors, new DIY workshops by Delish General Store, Small Wonder, and Spool of Thread. There will also be local food carts on site. Check out returning favourites like Mellifera Bees and Love My Local. In addition, vendors like The Beautiful Project greeting cards and Cabin + Cub jewelry are exclusive to the market this year and Got Craft? has partnered with West Elm and West Elm Market, which will hold samplings of five Got Craft? vendors at their stores on December 6th, 2014.
The first 50 people through the door each day will receive a gift bag full of goodies from vendors and sponsors.
Got Craft? Vancouver Gift Bag Giveaway
Got Craft? showcases independent, local vendors with a wide variety of curated handmade goods ranging from jewelry, clothing, ceramics, stationary, housewares, plush toys, local artists, and more. The market has generously offered up a SUPER packed gift bag for one lucky Miss604 reader valued at $560! Here’s what is included for the lucky winner:
- Livia Sweet’s salted caramel hazelnut brownies
- Men’s t-shirt and unisex hoodie from Locomotive Clothing Co.
- Juicy Jewel Tone Teardrop earrings from BuenoStyle
- Colouring postcard booklet from Draw Me A Lion
- Snug Sleeve from Onana Knitted Accessories
- The Flora Knit Cowl from Make More Happy
- Love My Local’s cheese board and tin of Balmbu, a handmade wood and bamboo salve
- Stud leather earrings from Scandinazn Handmade Goods
- Assortment of greeting cards from The Beautiful Project
- Up and Down Aromatherapy Wand Set from Element Botanicals
- Paperbacknote notebook
- Paperwhite from Strathcona 1890 Urban Seed Collections
- Vancouver print from Jon Shaw
- Baby Boho Dress from Carmen West Creative
- Pair of earrings from Black Drop Designs
- Scarf from Veespoke
- Planter from Rogue Florist
- And 4 tickets to Got Craft?
Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. The winner will be able to pick their prizes up at Got Craft?. Follow the event on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information and inspiration.
Prize bag is as-is and cannot be exchanged for value or for other items.
Update The winner is Erin W!
Over the last three years I have volunteered on the phones during CKNW Orphans’ Fund Pledge Day where radio listeners call in to make donations that support thousands of kids in BC each year. This one day “radio-thon” broadcast will take place on Thursday, December 4th live from the Terminal City Club in Downtown Vancouver and since I cannot be there this year to answer phones this year, the CKNW Orphans’ Fund has given me all of the information I need so that I can spread the word about this wonderful cause:
CKNW Orphans’ Fund Pledge Day 2014
The CKNW Orphans’ Fund is one of the largest sources of individual grant funding in the province of BC and help thousands of children annually. Their mandate is broad and grants include everything from speech therapy, to updated medical equipment, summer camps, tutoring, educational bursaries and more – all for some of the most vulnerable children in the province.
A child recently helped by the CKNW Orphans’ Fund is Samson, a 5 year old diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Visual-Perceptual Learning Disability, ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Despite being on an individual education plan, he is struggling at school and falling behind in all areas. He was referred to the Accomplished Learning Centre for its intensive FastForWord program.
Samson is one of two children living with his paternal grandparents, who are currently seeking full custody. Samson’s mother has had no contact with her children for the past 3 years and his father offers no support and has recently left the province. The CKNW Orphans’ Fund paid for Samson to participate in the FastForWord program.
2013 Pledge Day photos by Mark Whitehead, Get the Shot Studios.
On December 4th, over 150 guests, including philanthropists, business leaders, media personalities and most importantly children who have been helped by the Fund will be interviewed on CKNW News Talk AM980 so be sure to tune in. Donations of $98 or more will be eligible to receive a free Michael Buble Christmas CD.
3 Ways to Get Involved
1. Donate online at or by calling (604) 222-9898 on December 4th
2. Stop by the Terminal City Club (837 W Hastings St) on December 4th
3. Help support the Fund by tweeting: “On Dec 4th support @cknworphansfund & help special needs children in BC. http://ow.ly/ECclS #pledgeCKNW”
Last year, Pledge Day was able to raise $1.9 million for special needs children in BC! For more information, follow the CKNW Orphans’ Fund on Facebook and Twitter.
The Grey Cup Festival brings fans together fans from across the country each year who make the pilgrimage, in their jerseys, toques, beads and team colours, to enjoy the host city while celebrating football in Canada. This year’s festival in Vancouver, which took place throughout the three days leading up to the big game on Sunday, had free family fun all around Downtown Vancouver including a parade, cheerleader extravaganza, fan pavilions, activations at Jack Poole Plaza, and free concerts outside Canada place.
Grey Cup Festival Concert Photos
Escaping the cold, we settled into the Red Truck Tailgate Concert Series at the Vancouver Convention Centre. John had his camera out and captured some of the fun on stage.
Family of the Year
Hey Ocean!
54-40
View more photos on Flickr and follow John on Twitter and Instagram.
Provide food, warmth, and comfort for your fellow Canadians in need this holiday season through the Canadian Red Cross Gift Guide. The Red Cross helps people affected by disasters in communities across Canada and you can really make a difference in someone’s life when you select items that ensure families and individuals receive support offered by trained, compassionate Red Cross volunteers and staff.
Canadian Red Cross Gift Guide
Support as an individual, a group of friends, family or co-workers, and give back this Christmas:
- A gift of $15 will provide a day of hot meal delivery to someone in need through the Canadian Red Cross Meals on Wheels program.
- A gift of $30 is enough to provide family groceries for one day to help speed up the recovery of a family suffering through tragedy.
- A gift of $50 is enough to provide a set of replacement clothes for an individual who may have lost everything in a house fire.
- A gift of $60 will provide one week of transport services to someone in your community which enables access to health and social services.
- A gift of $90 will provide an infant care kit to keep a child safe and warm throughout the winter.
Visit the Canadian Red Cross Holiday Giving website for more information and follow along on Twitter and Facebook. Miss604 is a proud member of the Canadian Red Cross Social Media Team.
TELUS and Optik TV’s STORYHIVE is funding content creators in our community through two campaigns in 2014. The first in the spring awarded $200,000 in production funding and another ends on December 1st, awarding 15 $10,000 grants in BC and 15 $10,000 grants in Alberta, plus two $50,000 grants to produce and distribute a full web series.
STORYHIVE Web Series Competition
STORYHIVE is a community-powered funding program where content creators can get the funding and distribution they need to bring their projects to the screen. Local creators from British Columbia and Alberta apply for grants to produce a pilot and the community votes to decide which projects get funding and distribution on Optik Local via TELUS Optik™ TV On Demand.
As the winter deadline draws near, I’ve had a few participants send me their campaign information:
- Eastside Stories: The residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are among the most impoverished, desperate, and resilient people in North America. In a city celebrated for its natural beauty and liberal ideals, their reality is one of stark contrast. Last season, portrait artist, Lauren Brem, and a group of local film makers set out to capture the stories behind the faces on her sketch pad. What they learned has inspired the continuation of a project aimed at shaking the stigma surrounding our neighbours in “Canada’s poorest postal code.” Now, EASTSIDE STORIES looks to dig deeper, and to connect with and chronicle more of our unlikely muses, their unique spirit, and their struggle to find a balance in the socio-economic divide.
- Kingdom99: Kingdom 99 is a Sketch Comedy Show set in the world of Fantasy. The story goes that a down-on-his-luck wizard accidentally opens a portal between our world and 98 other “kingdoms,” inciting chaos and a dangerous struggle for power. This allows us to play with already established characters from popular fiction and likewise create our own, with an epic storyline that turns the stories fantasy fans already know and love, on it’s head.
- My Grade 8 Diary: Greer Willcox is a happy, healthy 28 year old woman…Until the day she is hit by a bagel truck and loses all of her memory of her formative high school years. Greer sets out on a journey of RE-self discovery as she connects with the people and memories she wrote about in her teenage diary. Throughout the series we are transported back to the hallways of her school and we are witness to moments of rediscovery and the recollection of memories.
- And dozens more…»
Alannah Turner is one of the participants (My Grade 8 Diary) who was first drawn to the initiative because of its crowd-powered foundation.
“You have to plan, pitch, get your information out, connect with your audience and ramp up support by yourself; it is challenging but it lays the ground work for a successful show. I have made a web series before and used crowd funding to produce it. I appreciate the process.”
Turner’s background is in theatre but fell in love with storytelling and wanted to start writing her own tales.
“Vancouver is truly a ‘make your own work’ friendly city. However, funding is more often than not the downfall of many brilliant projects. The passion projects move down on the list to make time to do the work that pays the bills. The project is like that for me. I have been waiting for the right time to make it. When I heard about STORYHIVE it was like a big green light blinking at me saying ‘you can make this show! and PAY everyone!'”
The STORYHIVE model relies on fan votes and so far Turner is finding the most traction through Facebook promotion, however Twitter is also driving clicks and views from around the world. Back at home, Turner is probably not alone in expressing appreciation for the local funding initiative.
“There are thousands of web series out there. It is hard to know which ones to pay attention to. Look at Orange is the New Black, or House of Cards. Both are web series. Why do we know they are worthy of our time? The have the seal of approval from a major distributor. STORYHIVE is giving local filmmakers the chance to have their work elevated to a higher level.”
Another bonus of potentially being awarded a STORYHIVE grant is that you don’t just get funding, creators get partnered with mentors who will guide them through the ins and outs of the web series industry. Turner says that STORYHIVE is setting participants up with the tools they will need to succeed.
The deadline to help out your favourite project is fast-approaching so take a look at STORYHIVE and cast your vote for your favourite web series pitch until December 1 at 11:59pm. Anyone with Internet access can vote, regardless of their physical/IP location. Winners of Stage 1 — the top 15 projects as voted by the community in BC and Alberta — will be announced on December 8th. Follow STORYHIVE on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
Update December 8, 2014: Congratulations to My Grade 8 Diary on their STORYHIVE funding! See all of this season’s winners here.
