Portobello West Holiday Market

Just a quick reminder that Modus Paperie & Press will be participating in the Portobello West Holiday Market this weekend. We'll be sharing booth 38 with Lovably mobiles located in the center aisle to the left of the front entrance.

If you've never been to this event before, it's held at the Rocky Mountaineer Train Station located on Cottrell Street just off Terminal Avenue near The Home Depot. It's a really great venue that has loads of natural light, tall ceilings and ample FREE parking.

LOCATION: Rocky Mountaineer Train Station
ADDRESS: 1755 Cottrell Street, Vancouver, BC
DATE: December 12 & 13
TIME: Noon to 6PM (both days)
WEBSITE: click here

Last Stop to Shop

It's hard to believe it's been two years since my first post announcing the Beaumont Studios' holiday craft event, "Last Stop to Shop." This year the event is stronger than ever with a juried selection of vendors including both Beaumont tenants and local artists.

Join us for the opening night festivities with bevys, appies and music. All of the studios will be open (including ours!), making this a perfect opportunity to check out one of the coolest artists' buildings in Vancouver.

Hope to see you there!

WHERE: The Beaumont Studios
ADDRESS: 316 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
DATE: December 18-20
TIME: Friday 7PM - Midnight, Saturday & Sunday 11AM - 7PM

Last Class of 2009

Once again, Modus Paperie & Press will be included in the curriculum for The Beaumont Studio's "School of Thought." Come on out this Thursday, December 10th for one last opportunity to pass your electives.

The final night of classes will include:

WOOD SHOP 101: Tyler Harris will guide you through a entertaining class of woodworking.

LIFE 101: Dennis Currie will inspire your spirit to live life to it's fullest.

ARTS & CRAFTS: Amber Butler will show you how to get creative and think outside the box.

LETTERPRESS PRINTING: Back by popular demand and the Dean's favourite class of the semester, come experience a little taste of what a printer's life was like back in the Industrial Revolution! The 25 minute class will cover a brief history of our letterpress, the process of relief printing, a printing demonstration and a Q&A period. AND...also by popular demand, Modus Paperie & Press will have their latest product line available for purchase during break time!

WHERE: The Beaumont Studios
ADDRESS: 316 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
DATE: Thursday, December 10th
TIME: 8PM - Midnight
COST: $5 per class (you must register for a minimum of 1 class)
CONTACT: Dean Harris

Bizzy Bee

Well, as always, my more than month-long absence is a definite sign of me being a very bizzy little bee. November was filled with a flurry of visualizing, strategizing, debating and compromising all in anticipation of our marathon of holiday shows that began on November 28th. After display planning, all remaining hours were spent at the Modus Paperie & Press studio, printing, printing, printing, and doing fussy little tasks like folding cards and packaging gift tags.

Our very first market, the Portobello West holiday season opener, happened over the last weekend of November. It was heaps of work and an enormous learning experience. Some silly decisions and omission were made – like to use bricks as display props (duh!) and to not bring a chair – but all in all, it was a valuable first-time experience that established a great foundation for our next show.

A week later, our second show – Got Craft? – was indeed, an entirely different experience. The display had been streamlined (bricks returned!) and everything was organized to fit neatly into two large totes. The show itself was spectacular. The lineup for swag bags started at 7:30 am, doors opened at 11:00 and the hall was packed until closing at 5:00. Randomly assigned, Modus Paperie & Press was one of 4 vendors located on the stage and by what I could see from up there (and from patrons' rave reviews), the Got Craft? organizers, Andrea and Robert, did a fantastic job at vendor selection. Congratulations to them both for yet another extraordinarily successful event!

Kool Kidz

Last night's inaugural School of Thought event at The Beaumont was heaps of fun! It was a great turn-out with about 80 of the coolest cool kids showing up to join in the fun.

There were 3 blocks of 4 regular curriculum classes throughout the night including: graffiti stenciling, photography lighting, enlightened finance and old skool letterpress printing. And the fun even continued at recess with a couple quick wine purchasing and sorbet making demos in the breezway.

Kind of like shop and art combined into one, letterpress was definitely popular with the crowd. Only scheduled for 3 blocks, I ended up doing a 4th late-night class by popular demand, squeezing in as many people as we could into the little Modus Paperie & Press studio. I'm a little hoarse today but it was great fun being on the faculty and having the opportunity to introduce so many enthusiastic people to the art of letterpress. If you were there, it was great meeting you – and gold stars all around!

This event will be held every Thursday for the next 7 weeks. Next week all the classes will be different so if it's letterpress you're interested in, it'll likely be included again in the November 5th curriculum. Stay tuned for more details!