Summer Recap

This past summer I had the great pleasure of participating in three outdoor markets with my business Claire’s Notebook Illustration. In June, I was a first time vendor at 613Flea. It was such a beautiful day and thankfully the forest fire smoke cleared in time for it to be a stunning day with blue skies and the perfect weather. I met a lot of lovely people and had so much energy still by the end of day.

My booth at 613Flea in June 2023.

My husband and I took our children on a big adventure to the UK and then Colorado at the beginning of July. It was such a good experience taking them overseas for the first time. We rambled in the countryside, toured London, took many train rides, tried new foods. Both kids loved the plane rides the best and hiking in Boulder, Colorado. It was wild to travel to one side of the globe one week and then swing so far the other side basically a week later. We learned a lot about ourselves as humans, travellers, adventurers, and as a family. I got so much inspiration for new collections that I can’t wait to reveal in 2024.

A few days after we got back from our travels, I was honoured to be invited to be a vendor at Equator Coffee Roasters Westboro Market in honour of their 25th Anniversary celebrations that occurred at each of their locations this summer. It was a wonderful day with the best people, delicious coffee and beautiful music.

I gave one of my signed giclée Latte prints to Equator Coffee for their Latte Art Competition event to be awarded as one of the prizes. The kids and I had such a fun time at the Kanata shop eating donuts and nachos and watching all the baristas face off with their incredible latte making skills.

Equator Coffee Roasters Kanata

Thrilled to be included with Henrietta and Breville to sponsor Equator Coffee's 25th Anniversary celebration Latte Art Competition

Latte Art Competition in progress at Equator Coffee Kanata 2023.

My biggest show to date was the Kingston Women’s Art Festival in August where I was a first time vendor. It was a two day event and I learned that my tent is waterproof which was a bonus. I was surrounded by such nice vendors and we all had a good weekend.

Claire’s Notebook Illustration Booth

at the 40th Women’s Art Festival in Kingston Ontario.

Summer is always such a juggling act of creating, working, spending all the good quality time with my children and husband, gardening and soaking up the sunshine. I was very grateful to be a part of the markets that I was accepted to, gained a lot of experience and figured a lot of things out for future shows.

~Claire