Shopping online is convenient and going to brick and mortar stores is a great way to buy different items all at once, but nothing beats meeting the people who create whatever it is you are buying.  There’s a story behind every product, and it feels better knowing that a person created the items you’re bringing into your home and life than a machine on a factory floor.  In our inpersonal world, it’s refreshing to get personal.

Farmer’s Markets and Craft Shows are a great way for us too.  We get feedback on new straws, educate some people who haven't seen glass straws before (where have they been???), meet visitors from all over the world and of course, barter with the farmers for some great produce.  I've traded straws for strawberries, blueberries, and of course, Okanagan cherries.  

This summer we decided to work on our website and the torch instead of spending our Thursdays on Granville Island, and we missed it!

We love meeting our customers face to face.  We get all kinds of ideas for critters that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of (such as our unicorns and sloths).

So we are feeling VERY deprived and even more excited than usual for Craft Show season to start.

This year, we will be at Circle Craft in Vancouver from November 7th to 12th.  Although we live and work in Vancouver, it’s our only opportunity to meet our local customers and fans, some of whom have been buying our straws since we started in 2014.

Soon after, we travel across the country to Toronto for the One of a Kind Show. We spend 11 long but oh so incredible days there at one of the best craft shows in the world!

It’s such a privilege for us to spend those 16 days (the total time of both shows) with the public.  And such a production! We spend most of the year making straws to sell at these shows, plus time designing our booths, hiring staff, thinking of new ways of displaying and the list goes on.  

This year, we have a few new critters.  They are ideas suggested by customers including giraffe, butterflies and even dinosaurs.

We can’t wait to see you at the shows!

Aimee and Fred