West Coast Creative Blogger Craft Night

Last month I got to take part in something fun, something new, and something creative. Two lovely ladies, Crystal of Sew Creative and Tara of Suburble had a brilliant idea over what was supposed to be a quick little tea get-together that turned into a several hour long start to a new friendship and adventure. By the end of what was probably several cups of tea they came up with West Coast Creative Company.

West Coast Creative Co. is basically a girls night out to be creative, crafty, and a chance to check out different venues and get to know different companies in the Vancouver area. I got to join in on the first event that was hosted at Collage Collage.

Tara and Crystal are in the top right photo, having a little moment to toast the start of a fun adventure. In their hands is a glass of 2011 Haywire Rose.

Walking into Collage Collage instantly made me wish I had known of this place when we lived in Burnaby and were closer to it. It’s tucked into a little store, and it full of lots of fun things to discover. The wall of books instantly had my attention, and then I turned to the right and saw all of the arts and craft items. If I was rich I would have bought a lot of stuff that evening as this place truly has everything you need for fun creative time with your little kiddos. If you are looking for something to do over the summer check out their website and look into the different workshops they have, you could even host a birthday party there! Any kid who likes all things glitter, glue, and paint will love a birthday party here.

The owner Erin was a great host, and got all 10 of us trying out hand at making paper flowers of all varieties after we all introduced ourselves. This was my first time meeting many of the other ladies, and I was thrilled to see many of them again another event recently (I’m slowly getting to know other bloggers out there), and I am already looking forward to the next West Coast Creative event next month!

The flowers were a little more difficult to figure out than I expected, but with a little bit of a patience and was whole lot of floral tape we were all able to get some made. You can see two of the ones I made in the photos above. I will definitely be making more of these, especially with students in the future. Maybe I will even make Evie a floral crown to wear. You can find examples for how to make these here and here, if you have Pinterest just search crepe paper flowers you will be inspired in no time.

Near the start of the evening we were also introduced to Eleanor of Moo and the Bear. She told us all about how she got into creating personalized jewelry pieces, and you could tell that she loves what she does. Since I was also sitting by Eleanor through the evening, I have also learned that she has a little home on one of the islands on the coast that she dreams of turning into a vacation rental some day – Eleanor let me know when you do, we’d love to come and rent it! We were all surprised with a beautiful gift of a necklace custom made for each of us with our initial on it.

Throughout the evening we were encouraged to share on social media about what we were up to. Those who follow me on Instagram will remember seeing different photos I shared throughout the evening. Towards the end of the night Tara and Crystal did a draw and two of us won swag bags. One was from Raincoast Books full of all sorts of books that included slower cooker recipes and felt crafting, the other from CIL with everything you needed to paint a room. I was excited to come home with a whole collection of new books as I won the Raincoast Books gift bag. I will definitely be sharing fun things from the books in the future.

All of us were treated to fabulous gift bags when we left that were filled with goodies. There was decorative duck-tape from Duck Brand. Everyone who knows me, knows that I use a lot of duck-tape so to get these fun decorative ones I am already thinking of ways to use it. Some of it will be put to use this summer to mark our luggage when we head off to camp for a week.  JoAnns Fabric and Craft Store gave us a beautiful piece of the softest fabric that I am still debating what I would like to make with it. I am thinking maybe a simple skirt for Evie or a blanket. There was a fabric bag and tea towel from Williams-Sonoma. The Family Cooks and Covet Garden Home from Raincoast Books, Calm Line of Products from Arbonne, and a bottle of Haywire Gamar Noir Rose 2011 from Okanagan Crush Pad. Alas we do not drink, so that will be waiting til we have family visit who do enjoy the odd glass of wine. I have already put so many of these items to use, and I left feeling absolutely spoiled.

I had so much fun with all of these ladies. As I mentioned already, I am really looking forward to the next event that is coming up in a month. I can’t wait to see what we will be getting up to. Rumor has it involves paint! Count me in. Thank you Crystal and Tara, I am so glad you two had this brilliant idea, I am looking forward to all of the up and coming events.

A huge thank you to Lindsay Faber Photography for all of the beautiful photos I have shared in this post. Lindsay is a wonderful photographer, go check out her work, especially if you are considering head shots or wanting to get some family photos done.