here's the vacation part, Vancouver as seen from Cypress Bowl. 12 days of spectacular weather. staring at mountains, walking in stanley park, sushi, afternoons in coffee shops, art galleries, sushi, more staring at mountains, drives up mountains, sushi, coffee shops....
the teardrop, a new sculpture outside the vancouver convention center, doesn't it look like a drop of glass from the sky?
and here's the work part:
Vancouver One of a Kind. this was the first time that i've shipped a show out, normally i throw the booth in the back of my station wagon and just drive. well that was certainly educational. seems like everything i do is educational, i'm always learning. you'd think that at some point you'd know most of the stuff, however nobody ever said that having a small business was easy. the first challenge was the booth size. my regular booth is a 10X 10 corner. for the Vancouver OOAK i was assigned a 5X 10 corner. since this was my first time shipping, and my first time in Vancouver i thought, good, less to deal with. only i have a lot of work. a LOT of it, and half the space. second challenge was the actual booth construction. i have decided to get a spiffy new fantabulous indoor booth. it must be modular and lightweight. i found a company that makes a pole system that is exactly what i want. after spending a lot of time with the sales guy i had my booth shopping list. that's the night that the booth company had a huge fire and lost their factory. no booth for me. that meant that i have 3 major indoor shows and no spiffy new booth. so with one week before shipping to vancouver i pulled a booth together from ikea bits in my basement. add some stain, new acrylic shelving, and voila, a booth. it made it out there in one piece and now my fingers are crossed that it makes it back here before i leave for ottawa in 4 days. do your delivery happy dance for me!!!
the show itself was great. a definite highlight was being featured in their media campaign! my bracelet was on the poster and the front ticket counter! and on the posters outside! and in the newspaper! and on the front cover of the show guide! and the wierdest moment? when a couple of toronto regulars showed up!
overall i would have to say that i like the working vacation thing. a week off and all costs covered. maybe there's a show in paris that i could do?
when was the last time you saw a phone booth? and one with pigs heading towards it? keep your eyes open and your camera handy you never know when you'll find something that makes you stop and say, "wow, that's cool". driving through the middle of suburban plaza hell i stumbled on this gem. pigs ... yummy ... bacon....
i'm feeling flowers and leaves. random doodling from one of my notebooks, the actual "sketchbook". different from my design notebook, my to do notebook, my writing notebook and my travel notebook. boy do i love notebooks. it's a bit of a problem, i think i need a 12 step program, "hi my name is catherine and i am a notebook addict". i've been very good all summer, i bought myself a small bag that only fit my wallet, keys, phone, camera and one notebook. now that it's fall i'm back to my jumbo knapsack and the notebooks seem to have multiplied all by themselves. it's not my fault, they breed like rabbits. i have 6 with me today. however i can't doodle in the to-do book, it just wouldn't mix with the lists of administrivia. and if i put an important note about finances in between the flowers i'll lose it. besides, notebooks are so pretty. 
