January - Stay Warm with WEST

Happy New Year!

January is such a wonderful month, full of relaxation and time for new projects.

Winter is the time to stay cozy inside with a new knitting or crafting project.
PrairieThreads has great fabric coiled baskets that are perfect for those projects.

And it's never too early to start knitting for spring. Vintage pattern available at BitchinKitschKitchen

SoxnSuch has wool socks to help chase away those winter chills. Snuggle up by the fire, or head out for a walk...These socks will help warm your toes.

January brings us colder weather with more reasons to stay put in our warm homes. Have you thought about vintage fur to help you brave the Manitoba elements instead? Visit Wildwoodrose Vintage and have a peek at their Winter Sale!

Days are short? Soy wax melts and candles in winter scents or even scents such as apples n' cinnamon, eggnog, cranberry and fig at MellowCrafts

Stay warm and cozy wrapped in super soft flannel on every cold weather day from CountryStitched

Staying warm is easy. Shop online with the help of the wonderful shops of WEST!

WEST Handmade & Vintage Sale VIII - photo round up!

  With a titch over 2,000 fine folks through the door, the WEST Handmade & Vintage Sale VIII was a huge success! Vintage curators, makers and foodies united once more to bring the very best of your favourites, just in time for the holiday season.

A huge THANKS!, goes out to those who stopped in to the lovely venue to shop, and those stepped up to volunteer. Thanks so much to sale lead Nancy and co-chair Amanda for helping organize this banger!

Awesome eats from Shut Ur Pie Hole! and Jonnie's Sticky Buns!

Once again, a huge "THANK-YOU!",

from WEST!

All photos by Caitlin of Real Swanky.

Etsy Canada Captains Summit

On February 2 and 3, Etsy Canada hosted over 40 Canadian Captains from across Canada!

From coast to coast: Tofino to Charlottetown and as far north as Whitehorse and Fort McMurray, team captains traveled through the snow to attend this conference of networking and knowledge sharing.

Did the little bit of snow in Toronto stop us? hardly!

From Winnipeg, myself and Ryan Poworoznik, of Compendium Artist Market, were fortunate to return to the summit for a second year. Last year it was all new and led to 23 markets this past September with over 45,000 attendees!

This year we anticipate close to 50 markets and at least double the attendees! It's a lot of pressure to have such high expectations after last year's amazing day, but luckily the 2015 Manitoba edition of Etsy Made in Canada committee also has Jennifer Cloutier of WEST and Blue Camel Baby joining the organizing team!

The summit was amazing beyond belief; the highlight for me personally was winning the summit's only Achievement Award--I was for once speechless. I wasn't speechless when I shared with the group a few tips on encouraging your team and fostering volunteerism. I was a small part of an amazing program of dedicated and commited creative community organizers.

I have made so many friends from my experiences in Toronto at the Captain's summit. I was so sad to see this event end but I'm excited about all the things we have planned for September 26, 2015 for the Manitoba market. We plan to bring you, our loyal local Etsy fans, an even bigger and better market so mark your calenders!

Ruth
WEST Captain
Etsy Made in Canada co-chair for Manitoba 2015
PeriwinkleDzyns