Friday, May 16th was a very big night for Tara from Suburble and I. It marked our very first West Coast Creative Company event. 3 months ago, Tara and I discovered that we both lived in the Vancouver area. We chatted back and forth for awhile and then decided to meet for tea. As I was leaving the house to meet up with Tara for the first time, The Hubs asked how long I would be gone. “I’m just getting together with another local blogger for tea. I’ll probably be there for an hour and a half.” I guessed.
My guesstimate was pretty off. Tara and I chatted over cups of chai for 4 hours! At the end of our tea date West Coast Creative Company was born. Our plan was to get local DIY and Craft bloggers together for a girls’ night out of sorts, where we would network, craft and be introduced to fabulous venues and companies. Just one and a half months later, Tara and I toasted with a 2011 Haywire Rose to the success of our very first West Coast Creative Company event at Collage Collage.
When Tara and I started chatting about West Coast Creative Company I knew that I wanted to launch our very first event at Collage Collage. Located at Kingsway and Fraser in Vancouver, Collage Collage is set in a little neighborhood that is a hub of creativity. It’s surrounded by a sewing shop, studio spaces, vintage stores and incredible restaurants.
“Collage Collage is a place that strives to uphold the tremendous creative abilities that children have, in surroundings that adults find equally stimulating, provoking and above all, inspiring.” AKA it’s a place where I wish I could spend all day, every day. Storybooks, art supplies, interesting objects and fabulous art– Collage Collage is a space that breeds creativity. With art classes for children as young as 2 all the way up to adults, Collage Collage helps to release the creative spirit of everyone who walks through their door.
The owner Erin is so inspiring. She’s the type of person that makes you want to make a total life change, follow your dreams and conquer the things that scare you. She makes me want to live every day by the motto “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.”
In her Emily Carr Alumni video (above) Erin says that the shop is “an invitation to get creative.” And that is exactly how Tara and I wanted to kick of West Coast Creative Company!
On the night of the event, 10 Vancouver area, DIY and Craft bloggers arrived at Collage Collage, ready to get their craft on. They were greeted by myself, Tara and Lindsay Faber of Lindsay Faber Photography— Our amazing photographer who took all of the photos that you see in this post.
The event started with 30 minutes of mix and mingle, where everyone could get to know each other, tweet and instagram about the event and sponsors, and nibble on appies and drink delicious Haywire Rose supplied by Okanagan Crush Pad.
What am I doing to Tara in this photo? Great question. I think Lindsay told us to act casual… so I pretended to feed her. Very casual right?
Next Tara and I welcomed everyone to the event and gave them all a very special surprise. To celebrate our very first West Coast Creative Company event, Eleanor from Moo and the Bear created a personalized, handstamped necklace for each attendee.
Next the crafting began. Erin and Russell from Collage Collage taught us all how to make tissue paper flowers.
As we crafted Eleanor from Moo and the Bear chatted with us about creating personalized jewelry and shared with us moving stories about some of her most memorable clients. Eleanor and I first met when we were in prenatal classes when we were pregnant with our daughters. I’ve been a fan of Eleanor’s jewelry for years (my Moo and the Bear collection is below), but it was so interesting to see Eleanor in the role of a maker and blogger on the evening of the event. She inspires me.
Next Lindsay chatted with us about Lindsay Faber Photography and online classes that she is rolling out soon teaching bloggers to use digital SLR cameras to take food and craft photos and to edit the photos for professional results on our blogs. You can sign up to be notified about Lindsay’s Blogger Photography E-Course here.
We had all been sipping on and enjoying our Haywire Rose from Okanagan Crush Pad all evening, but before the evening was over Tara and I wanted to give the ladies some tasting notes about the delicious wine we had all been savouring. My favorite quote from the tasting was “Great wine articulates, great wine evokes, and of course, great wine tastes great.” That quote truly summed up how I felt about the Haywire Rose. It will definitely be a wine that I keep on hand and enjoy on a regular basis. We ended the wine tasting with a surprise for the bloggers. Each attendee would be going home with a bottle of Haywire Rose in their gift bags!
Speaking of gift bags… They were fabulous! They included:
- A fabric bag and tea towel from Williams Sonoma
- Haywire Gamay Noir Rose 2011 from Okanagan Crush Pad
- Fabric from JoAnns Fabric and Craft Store
- Decorative Duck Tape and Washi Tape from Duck Tape
- Covet Garden Home and Family Cooks from Raincoast Books
- Calm Line of products from Arbonne
- And of course our beautiful necklaces from Moo and the Bear
The event was fabulous… but the very best part of it was the inspiring new friends that I made. Thank you so much to all of the fabulous bloggers who attended our very first West Coast Creative Company Event!
- Tamara of Discovering Parenthood
- Allison of Seaside Home Accents
- Roya of Betsy Ideas
- Whitney of Macarons and Mischief
- Ronda of A Girl with a Pen
- Shelley of Sow and Dipity
- Jamie from So Much Better With Age
- Eleanor (not only does she make jewelry but check out her Moo and the Bear blog!)
- Tara from Suburble
The event was incredible… and I already can’t wait for the next one! I highly encourage you to make friends with creative living bloggers… they are a whole lot of fun.
One last special thanks to Lindsay Faber Photography for the beautiful photos found in this blog post.
Eleanor Deacon says
Thank you for an amazing evening Crystal! You and Tara crafted a beautiful event together. I can’t wait to see what’s next for West Coast Creative Company.
Tara says
I feel the same way about Collage Collage, Crystal – it was such an inspiring and beautiful venue! Loved our evening, and I’m so thrilled to be working on this with you! It’s one of those surreal things, where I have to ask myself, Did we really pull that off? And all of these incredible people and brands joined us?!?
I also love that “is she feeding me?” picture.
We’re dorks. 😉
Nat says
Ooo this looks like so much fun!
Shauna says
Looks like fun was had by all. So cool that you were able to bring creative minds together in such a short period of time. Such a great idea!
Jenn says
Looks like you put together an amazing event! I’ll definitely be watching out for your next one.
Lindsay Faber says
This event was such a blast! Thank you for including me. You girls are going places, I tell ya! From now until forever when clients need an example of how to act casual I will whip out the image of you feeding Tara. Nothing says casual like stuffing food in your friend’s face. That’s what I always say 😉
Heather says
Wow, what a lovely and thoughtfully planned event. For a moment, I wished I was a DIY blogger, hehe.
Grace Miles says
Hey this looks like a lot of fun! I’m not a craft blogger explicitly, but I blog about DIY– a journey in living a smarter, happier life using psychology techniques. 🙂
Jamie says
I had an amazing night with you lovely ladies! Thanks so much for all your hard work. Can’t wait for the next one!
Hugs,
Jamie