This June we had the pleasure of being part of the Mini-Maker fair being held at the PNE Forum on Saturday June 1st and Sunday June 2nd. It is the biggest DIY event in Vancouver, and there are many more Maker Faires held in cities and countries all over the world. It brings together people and creators from all walks of life. Techies, engineers, crafters, builders and tinkerers join together as “the aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.”

It was amazing to meet so many local makers and creators including Living Lotus Food & Nutrition, Self Design, Heike Kapp Glass, and Window Arcades Terrarium Design among many others. We recommend checking out all of their pages and seeing the great products they have to offer. I wish I had had the time to visit every stall and browse over everything each maker had to offer.You can see the full list of 2013 Makers here.

In preparation for Maker Faire we worked hard creating new inventory, many of which sold at the Faire. We were also making custom pieces throughout the weekend. We made both pendants and earrings as well as a custom hair piece. Over the weekend we spoke to many attendees and other makers about our products and parrots. For the children there that we knew would want to touch all the pretty feathered pieces (which we didn’t stop, but encouraged the gentleness you would apply to a live bird) we put out a few of Larry’s wing and tail feathers to be flapped, rubbed, pulled and twisted. We showed how each strand on the feather or barb rather, had tiny hooks on them which allowed them to be preened back into place. We also surprised many visitors at our booth with the long life cycle of parrots.

One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting so many attendees that had feathered companions or had met local rescues and sanctuaries such as O.W.L. Orphaned Wildlife and Greyhaven Exotic Bird Sanctuary.

We were also part of a Silent Auction and held a draw for people to enter to win a pair of earrings or a pendant. We had over 150 entries! Larry picked the winners and we mailed their prizes off right away! Watch the video here.

We are cannot wait to go back next year and are looking forward to meeting all the new makers and returning ones.