Yesterday my girlfriend Tracy and I headed down to Vancouver’s Portobello West Market to check out the latest baubles and threads designed by some of Vancouver’s most talented artisans . It was a muggy, lazy afternoon, and a long walk from Main Street in high heels (very SATC), but well worth the journey. There wasn’t a table we stopped at where we didn’t gasp over the beauty and inventiveness of the wares on display. Everything from beautifully decorated cupcakes to a plethora of jewelry designs, funky T-shirts and delicious tasting fudge.

Inky and Boots
Our top priority was heading over to my good friend designer Roberta Cottam’s Inky and Boots stall.  It was fabulously chic and decked out in Parisien inspired decor, including flags, French door changing room, vintage display stands, and plenty of sequins! Roberta makes the most beautiful T-shirt designs, taking inspiration from illustrators such as William Morris, Georges Barbier and Alberto Vargas.

Tracy fell in love with this black and white number. The tee is called The Wicked Switch–Dorothy embraces her inner witch and jumps on a broomstick! ( Love the ruby heels with sequins)

Roberta also designs sexy one-off stretchy headbands with lots of sparkles, flowers, and vintage looking buttons. And for the trendy mamas and babies out there, she also makes an adorable line of baby bibs from her Baby Sophistique line. Very divine! She will be at the next couple of markets, so definitely swing by her stall if you’re craving a Paris experience.

A Cagey Bee
We had a hard time dragging ourselves away from one jewelry designer, Kris G Brownlee of A Cagey Bee, whose illustrations of wide-eyed little girls holding different animals takes you into another world. Part Tim Burton, part Alice in Wonderland.

Tracy said it reminded her of the illustrations in the children’s book series The Sisters 8 a delightful children’s book about eight sisters, octuplets, whose mom and dad go missing, after which they find a note telling them they have to discover what their special gift is so they can discover what happened to their parents.

Pink Penguin Cakes
We drooled over these cupcakes from Pink Penguin Cakes:

mmm…

As a highly creative person myself, these discoveries were a delight and filled my brain with all kinds of intriguing ideas. Maybe I’ll have my own stall at Portobello West one day!

Check out the next market on June 26. Portabello West runs the last Sunday of every month.

Are you a fashion designer, jewelry designer, ceramic artist or any other kind of creative person?  I love writing about artists of any kind, so if you need my help, contact me at http://www.jennybrown.ca/

Want to take it a step further and promote yourself with a professionally produced online video? I can help you with that too!  Check out my video production services at http://www.dreamnestproductions.com/