It’s not so easy taking a leap into your own creator business. Will people value what I’m doing? Will they be willing to pay me? Clearly there are no sure bets, but it helps to learn what you can about the market: potential buyers, competitors, pricing. Creators can save a lot

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We hope that you are enjoying the season with your friends and family. Here’s to more eating, laughing and post-turkey walks and fewer extended family squabbles. Which movies will you be watching this week? Does your family have any holiday movie musts? It’s always interesting to

Montreal is a great city to bundle yourself up, set off walking and admire the art on the streets. Some of it is official, such as the pieces in front of the Musée Des Beaux-Arts. But, fear not as you wander down Crescent Street and away from the Musée… The city is full

There can be no doubt. November and December are officially high season for pop-ups. Local artisans are hunting down empty retail spaces and short-term tricking them out with their wares. Duelling Brits offer official definitions: Google reflects the November/December spike: The Centre For Economics and Business Research recently polled 2,000 consumers in the UK.

If you want to see creative citizenry, go to a parade. Whether gawping from the sidelines, formally marching or spontaneously jumping in, Vancouverites love sprucing things up for a parade day. 1. Check out the amazing spectator hats and the toys come to life in the 1920’s Toy Parade. The Spencer’s Toy Store turkeys, Jacks in

If you are looking for some beautiful choral music to set off the holiday season, you might consider heading down to the Orpheum Friday, December 4th for Christmas in the Orpheum. The Vancouver Chamber Choir, directed by Jon Washburn, will be singing Renaissance and Baroque works. The Pacifica Singers will be performing, along

Tis the season to meet local artists and snoop around their studios. This weekend, the Eastside Culture Crawl is happening from Odlam to Frances Street. You’ll find the largest concentration of artists at The Mergatroid Building on Vernon Drive, William Clark Studios on William, Acme Studios on 112 E Hastings Street

Hycroft Mansion is one of my favourite stops in Vancouver. As a newish city – much of which was destroyed in the Great Vancouver Fire of 1886 – we don’t have that many early buildings of any sort, let alone buildings so close to their original condition. Hycroft, built from 1909

It’s not easy to be a mannequin. Their lives start out promising enough, if you can see past the crowded nurseries, the presumptuous sanding and the plastic holding cells. Once released into the world, these sinless mannequins suddenly find themselves set alight in safety videos: .   Tricked out with fancy electronics

“We are trying to raise the bar, to create work that is as good as what they create in New York, Paris, England.” So says Suzane Lee, owner and creative mastermind behind Granville Island Flowers. Lee’s high bar is on clear display as you enter the Crème de la Crème