craft cafe!

We’ve been away for a while, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been working

In this last year we’ve been busy building a permanent space that shares the same vision as SoAreWe Creative – to connect the community with their creative side, and to each other, through events and projects focused on arts and culture. Welcome Craft Cafe!

Our brick and mortar location is in the River Market at Westminster Quay in New West. It’s a small space with lots of heart, and a variety of elements to appeal to a diverse audience. We have all kinds of fun stationery (notebooks, writing instruments, sketchbooks, patterned papers), fountain pens, art supplies, and craft packages for kids (including kites!!). In addition to this we have coffee beans from around the world, roasted by some of the top Canadian companies in the biz, and a selection of sandwiches and salads. What more could one ask for?!

In the same vein as our Crafts for Kids at Heart (a series of adult craft nights), we have a new series called “Ink & Drink” which we hold in collaboration with Wild Rice Bistro (our neighbours in the market). At these events, participants receive a glass of wine (or equivalent beverage), light appetizers, instructions, and all materials to complete a project. Some of the activities have included, monoprinting, DIY stamp cards and wrap, and even paper marbling! If you’d like to be added to the mailing list for events, drop us a line hello[at]craftcafe.ca

Want to learn more?? Come visit us at shop 105 in the River Market (810 Quayside Drive, New Westminster) or visit online at craftcafe.ca

Thanks for checking in, and hopefully we’ll see you soon!

ONE prize, two ideas

it’s the time of year where the River Market and Donald’s Market put out a call for submissions for ONE prize. this initiative funds about 3 project ideas per year by collecting 1% of sales from our local grocer. The criteria is open ended with the premise being to make New Westminster a better place to live, work and/or play. applications are open to everyone as long as the focus is inclusive and in based in building/strengthening community. from all the submissions (this year 35) the ideas are shortlisted to 10 with the final decision put to vote by ONE members to determine the top 3.

being sisters, and competitive by nature, we submitted 2 project ideas which look to provide more opportunity for play in our city. we received the very exciting news friday, that both our ideas made the list!!

Tegan’s proposal plans to breathe life back into the long running and successful falls fairs once held in Queensborough with some new participants and acitivities. potential components would included baking/cooking competitions, carnival games, produce growing awards, music, entertainment and more. #FallsFinestNW

the proposal I submitted plans to make use of the downtown New Westminster parkade to host a series (2-4) night market evenings similar to those in Richmond and Surrey. the hope would be to work with the downtown BIA to involve businesses and vendors which highlight the unique elements of New Westminster with the various sights, sounds and tastes our city has to offer. in addition, these events would provide more inclusive nightlight options for all ages. #NightBrightNW

the goal of both project ideas would be for either (or both!) to become annual events to blossom and grow into new traditions. born and raised in this city, we are always brainstorming inventive ways to make New Westminster stand out from the crowd and other cities by continuing our tradition of doing things differently.

if you are a ONE member we would love your support and your vote! ballots will be sent via email starting April 15, with voting ending April 30.

it’s beginning to look a lot like….

We won’t speak the word, as Halloween has just past, but we’re moving into the season of craft fairs and art markets, etc! A fabulous time of year for inspiration.

We have a few appearances lined up so we hope to see you at some events around town. We’ll post more information as we have it but mark your calendars for the following dates: November 27, November 29/30, and December 13. (Pssst. We’re pretty excited as we’re launching something new!!)

We would love to help spread the word on upcoming events or maybe even participate, so if you know of anything upcoming feel free to contact us.

crafts & casks

we’ve already made the announcement on Facebook and Twitter, but were a little behind updating the blog…so! officially to the WordPress world, we will be hosting an event series entitled crafts & casks. once a month, patrons of The Terminal Pub (with a ticket) will be able to sample a fine new brew from Steel & Oak, while hanging out with everything they need to make a fine work of craft. we even made a new page just for the series right here!

tickets are available through eventbrite by following this link: http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/crafts-casks-tickets-11718782193

i choo choo choose you!

since our last post we’ve had a number of #craftsforkidsatheart events where we created masquerade masks, holiday wreaths and ugly christmas sweaters. we’ve seen familiar faces, reunited with old friends and met some new and really great people in the process (not to mention having a great time while doing it!).

for february, love is in the air! and we will be crafting cards to share with whomever makes your heart flutter. for details or to RSVP (always appreciated so we can ensure we have enough supplies), visit our facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/382698781875101/

the event is free to participants, though this time around crafters need to be 19+ as The Terminal Pub is our host for the evening. hope to see you there!!

 

 

pecha-wha??

this saturday, we will be presenting at the 3rd volume of Pecha Kucha New West.

for those of you who’ve never heard of Pecha Kucha, it is a presentation style developed in Japan where the format is restricted to 20 slides for 20 seconds each, aiding the presenters in having a concise message and the audience in having exposure to multiple messages in a series of presentations.

this format has been adapted by cities all over the world as a way bring people together and share ideas. vancouver has been hosting pecha kucha nights since 2008 and has produced 28 events to date, with huge popularity. thanks to the event organizers, some local business and grant funding, new westminster now has a series all its own, with this weekend’s promising to be the largest yet.

seeing the rising popularity of this event gives us hope that we will see growing support for a widening variety of creative and inspired happenings for adults in our city. and although we don’t want to give away all the details of our presentation…we can say we hope to spark conversations which continue to encourage an engaged and vivacious community.

find more information about Pecha Kucha here:
http://www.pechakucha.org/faq

show me your love

in the first few weeks of October, SoAreWe Creative will be hosting The Night is Young: Second Edition

the mission: as with last year, is to showcase artists (both established and emerging) who live, work and/or play in new westminster. in addition, our aim is to bring together a diverse range of artists to contribute to the community dialogue surrounding the arts in the city.

the theme: for this year’s exhibition is “show me your love”.

the date: the show will run anywhere from 3-14 days (yet to be determined)

the details: we encourage all media types to submit up to 15 images of their work for consideration in this juried show. please ensure the images you submit are of the work you intend to show. images/slides must be accompanied by a slide list that includes the title, date, size and materials of the work. sculpture and 3D pieces must be free standing (a limited number of plinths will be available). please provide scale reference for 3D work in your images/slides. links to websites will only be considered as a complete application if all information for the pieces are easily accessible. submissions must include a one-paragraph artist statement explaining how the work submitted addresses the theme, and their connection to New West (max 250 words).

the location: new westminster! (exact site specifics yet to be determined)

the cutoff: please submit your applications no later than august 3, 2013

PLEASE NOTE: only original artworks are eligible. artists are strongly encouraged to be present the evening of the show (opening date to be announced)

some day my prints will come

determining each craft for #craftsforkidsatheart is going to become decidedly more difficult! but for July we have a bright idea (wink!).

if the forecast is in our favour, we’ll be convening in friendship gardens (tipperary park) for some crafting in the sun! if it looks as though we might be rained out, we’ll announce a new locale closer to the day. so mark your calendar for July 13th and check out the link for details:

https://www.facebook.com/events/406612302789937/

the night is young, again!

because there’s always something you would do differently, and because great ideas come without warning, we’re determined to do The Night is Young all over again. the premise will be the same in that we want to showcase the work of those who live, work and play in new west, but the theme for the work this year will be different. the city has a lot of passionate people and that energy is something we’d like to share!

and while we don’t know the location yet (beyond the city limits), we do know it will be happening in the early half of october. the show will also run for a longer, over multiple days, so more people have a chance to see what it’s all about and so we can have some time to enjoy the fruits of our labour!!

we will be drafting our call for artists in the next few weeks and will post it here when it’s ready. if you’re an artist and would like to collaborate in a bigger way than just exhibiting, let us know! if you’re not an artist or a creative type but would still like to participate, email us with some details about yourself and how you think you could contribute (extra hands are always welcome) – andsoarewe@live.com

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

it never ceases to amaze us how with the same materials, you can end up with such varying results! the first installment of #craftsforkidsatheart was further proof, both of how unique our imaginations are, and how much people love to be creative!! we were very excited by the turnout for our first event (it’s always great to see new faces) and hope the momentum will continue to grow.

here’s a peek from tuesday night’s event (more images will be posted to the gallery page). the next craft night will be in the first half of july, and we will provide all the details as soon as we have them.