Van Dusen Cherry Blossom Festival and Other Attractions

Today was the last day of the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens. There were Japanese stalls for food like mochi and takoyaki and dancing and music. I found some turtles in a pond as well. You can see them in the second picture. :)

The cherry blossoms this year was a bit lacking though.

Please press the pictures for a bigger size and there are links throughout this post so take advantage of them!

Afterwards we went to the Capilano River Hatchery and the Cleveland Dam. There were only baby salmon, it's not the season for the adult salmon to jump up river yet.

I know I've been lacking on the crafting part of my blog so here is a little something. At the Cherry Blossom Festival, there were Japanese stalls selling arts and crafts. I have a couple of souvenirs and name cards from some local artists.

First off is a flyer for "Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation". At the stall they had beautiful needlecrafts of sakura trees. Just the detail put into the works was amazing. I really hope to go and take a look at the rest of the works.

(On the Back) "dyeing, beading, painting, photo-transfer, embroidery, sculpture, crochet, basketry, doll-making, embossing, stamping, origami, applique, printing, quilting, weaving, collage, felting"

Next is Minori Takagi's Lampwork. She creates very intricate glass beadwork. It's simply breathtaking. I really recommend browsing through her gallery.

 Another stall that caught my eye is Noei. The link is to her etsy store where she sells cute little pouches with Japanese fabrics. Her little sewing kits are adorable!

I got myself a little souvenir too. Japanese chocolates from La Chocolaterie. I got this sampler and it has lemon basil, raspberry cacao, strawberry, dark, coconut, and Japanese citron (yuzu). My SO has taking a liking to yuzu so I though he would like this too!

And we got a little surprise at the door, pocky!