Message from the President I think I just spotted a few bulbs poking their heads up in our garden outside the front door of the guild. We finally could safely walk on the front lawn to pry the cords from the Christmas lights out of the ice and put away the last of the Christmas decorations. (Better late than never!) Rosemary Oliver wowed us all with her fibre arts at our March General Meeting. If you missed it, please check out her website but the work truly only shows itself off in person. We have invited Rosemary to come and teach at least a one day workshop at the guild in the fall. I sincerely hope that she takes us up on our invitation as her work is truly inspiring. Rosemary’s website is http://oli9603.wix.com/rosemary-web-site Our April featured speaker is Lucy Garvin who currently does the most amazing projects using Wonderfil Threads. If you have never seen her work, just Google her name and add fibre artist at the end, and watch some of the YouTube videos that are available. Lucy is a quilter and embroidery artist. I cannot call her anything else. She takes a simple piece of thread or fibre and using a machine finds ways to make it stand out and shout its presence. If you think this session is only for quilters, you would be mistaken. She is currently making jewelry with threads. Thread is certainly not what it used to be! I urge you to make sure that you do not miss this event on Tuesday April 8th. Our May meeting will feature Nicole from Log Cabin Yardage. While it is quilt month the fabrics and yarns that she has in her store will make any crafter take out their credit card. You might even find some fabrics that you could use to inspire you for our upcoming annual competition based on the theme of Vintage, as many of her fabrics have that type of print. I have asked her to show off both the fabrics and the yarns that have made her website and store so popular in the last year. Don’t forget to get working on your entry into the Annual Competition. The theme of Vintage can be interpreted in almost any way. You can use an old pattern, an old fabric print, a reproduction of an old print, you can use old photographs, old jewelry, old china, almost anything you can think of to make your creation. Just bring it to the June meeting and share with all of us. We will have prizes and a good time at our annual dessert pot luck and hopefully some hands on crafting to round out our year. Speaking of the end of the year, we need volunteers to join our board. Some of our members have been doing a great job for us for a very long time and would now like to take a break. It is only fair that we share the work as we are all volunteers! The guild is only as good and active as we make it. It is time that some of you Page 1 stepped up to the plate. We have lots of jobs that need to get done and we can teach you any skills that you may need to get the job done. We have re-instated many things, at the request of the members that we used to do in the past, but with only a few shoulders to carry the burden, the burden has become quite heavy and time consuming for many of us. Many hands would make the load lighter and more enjoyable. Please consider joining the board for the upcoming 2014-15 season. For more information or to volunteer your time, please contact Carol or Louise. Colourstruck, our new attempt at a spring craft sale in conjunction with an art show by our Thursday art group the Pallets, is approaching quickly. This is a juried show but this time without the hastle of selling booth space and setting up your own booth. Take advantage of this opportunity to sell your creative endeavours to the public on Mother’s Day weekend. We will display the items, and offer (hopefully) a wide variety of possible gifts for Mom, spring garden wares, birthday gifts, summer attire and anything else that will wow the attendees. We have arranged to be able to take credit cards and are hoping that all of you that have been missing the craft shop that we used to operate from the guild will participate. Happy Spring and Happy Easter! Keep Crafting! Louise CREATIV FESTIVAL 2014 The first Creativ Festival of 2014 will be held April 25 and 26 at the International Centre with Free Parking. If you can volunteer to help man our booth, please speak to Peggy Kwan. Peggy has worked tirelessly for the past several years co-ordinating with the Festival and organizing teachers for them so that the Guild can have a free booth. We express our appreciation to Peggy but she would like some help and to train someone to carry some of the load with 2 shows per year. I ask you to think hard about volunteering your time and skills to a very rewarding cause. The second Creativ Festival will be in October at the Metro Convention Centre and Peggy is already looking for people to teach. If you would not mind sharing your skills with the rest of the world let Peggy know. You can reach Peggy at 416-497-7340 or by email at peggykwan@sympatico.ca. COLOURSTRUCK - MAY 10 & 11, 2014 The Thursday art group, otherwise known as the Village Pallettes, has organized a show and sale at the guild on Mother’s Day weekend, May 10 and 11. We have decided that it would be a good idea to work together and have a spring craft show and sale at the same time. We are planning on running this sale as a single cash juried show. This means that anybody that would like to sell their wares would be able to send us a note and some photos of the work that they would like to sell and upon acceptance we would arrange for delivery of the goods to the guild on the Friday before the sale, display the items and hopefully sell them. The guild would retain 15% of the sales (or 10% if the vendor works a shift during set-up or during the sale) and the remainder would revert to the vendor. This way we do not need to sell booth space and it will keep the costs down for the vendors. I hope that you will all consider putting in your hand crafted items so that we have a glorious spring display filled with colour and beautiful items. You can start applying now by emailing a letter of intent and photos of your work to the guild at Markhamguild@rogers.com or drop your note and photos in the mailbox so they can be forwarded to the jury as soon as possible. We have had many inquiries in the last few years about selling via the guild now that we no longer run the guild shop and this would certainly be a place to start. Please join us in this venture as it has been a while since we Page 2 ran our former spring sale known as Another Bloomin Craft Sale. If every member of the guild puts at least one or two items in the sale then we would have a most spectacular display. I do not think that this is too much to ask. The guild is what you make it and we have some of the most talented crafters in North America among our members. Don’t be shy, and take a quick photo of the item and send it to the jury. Your participation can make or break this effort by the guild to keep us in the spotlight in Markham! BITS AND PIECES - SATURDAY MAY 24TH 2014 We have received many donations to the guild over the last several months but we would still like to have a lot more product to sell. Keep us in mind as you do your spring cleaning. Diane has been diligently working away measuring and packaging fabric, kits and notions over the last several months. We lost nothing during the flood. We were able to salvage, wash and re-package any of the materials that got wet. Diane has been given a trip (of a lifetime) as a gift and will be away at the time of the sale. She would like to encourage donations to be brought to the guild as soon as possible so that she is not trying to deal with an overwhelming amount just before she leaves. All items should be clean and in good shape and of course craft related. Please no Christmas lights, stuffed animals or household items. Items that can be recycled into crafts are welcome. If you want parking lot space for your own garage sale items please email or call Diane immediately. Drop a note and a cheque in the mailbox to pay for your spot. Only those who have paid in advance will be allowed a spot this year. Diane can be reached at 905-470-0973 or dirand@rogers.com. If you have items to be picked up and delivered to the guild please call Louise or Andrew at 416-283-1938 and we will make arrangements to move large amounts or heavy loads. See you at the sale! SUMMER COURSES AND CAMPS We have just sent off a pretty decent list of classes for the May through August period to Markham Life. We will have ongoing Quilting, Crochet, some Sewing and other classes. Please check the website over the next little while and come out and support your guild. If you have children or grandchildren we are again running summer sewing and craft camps. These are half day ventures with the ability to take craft camp in the morning, have a supervised lunch and then take sewing camp in the afternoon. The kids that have attended in the past have come back for more and new projects are planned each year. Please contact Darlene at 905-852-4114 (after April 1) or Louise 416-283-1938 or email the guild at markhamguild@rogers.com for more information. Guild Challenge 2014 - “Vintage” For 2014, your challenge is to create something using an element of “vintage” in your work. You could… ● Use a vintage pattern: Aunt Martha’s embroidery, Vogue ● Do a vintage craft: Tatting, Black silhouette, Macramé ● Use vintage materials: Milk crates, Blue jeans ● Create a vintage image: The Night Watch, Sepia tone photography ● Use a vintage colour scheme: purple & orange, olive, orange & lemon, dusty blue & dusty rose ● Use a vintage motif: Mushrooms, Centennial logo Page 3 Your entries can be drawn, painted, quilted, hooked, sewn, printed, woven, sculpted, calligraphy, potted, knitted, or any other way you can express your talent. We want to see your creative, colourful, clever and beautiful creations! Bring your work to the last meeting of the year - June 10th 2014 Rules and Regulations: 1. All entries must be the work of the entrant. 2. All entrants must be members. 3. Only one entry per member. Two Prizes of $25 each 1. Betty Rigsby Award – Members’ choice for the Best in Show 2. Most Creative Award – Members’ choice for the Most Creative and Clever entry overall Challenge Chairperson: Kathy Nelles CRAFT OF THE MONTH – ATTACHED UPCOMING CRAFT EVEMTS - ATTACHED 2013-2014 MGVC Executive and Board of Directors President: Vice President (Acting) Secretary Treasurer Course Director Equipment Director Newsletter Membership Building Director Webmaster Louise Bonnycastle - 416-283-1938 - president@markhamguild.com Diane Randall - 905-470-0973 - vp@markhamguild.com Carol Thomas – 905-471-7801 - secretary@markhamguild.com Rebecca Sham – 905-737-5248 – treasurer@markhamguild.com Emma Woolfenden – 905 294-4027 – courses@markhamguild.com Diane Randall – 905 470-0973 – equipment@markhamguild.com Emma Woolfenden – 905 294-4027 – newsletter@markhamguild.com Betty-Anne Lynch – 905 294-8995 – membership@markhamguild.com Diane Randall – 905 470-973 – building@markhamguild.com Elaine Merrett – 416-577-2984 – webmaster@markhamguild.com Office Hours and Information The office is open from mid-September to mid-June. Mondays from 9 am to 12 noon Thursdays from 10 am to 12 noon Markham Guild of Village Crafts 11 Church Street, Markham ON L3P 3V5 Phone 905-294-7421 Email: markhamguild@rogers.com Page 4