Oh, Anthro!

Now that we have our very own (2!) Anthropologie stores in Toronto, i am a very excited girl. My wallet and maternity leave EI cheques are another matter though. Luckily, i can't get there very much and since we have our very own stores here, i think the novelty and allure of them has worn off a bit. A bit.

For instance, i dragged J and our wee one to Anthro during Boxing Week sale-city, along with my gift card from J (he knows me so well) but got me even better presents he made for me!), and some birthday money. It was a bit chaotic there but we did not leave empty handed. Again, i never leave there disappointed aka empty-handed.
On top of some lovely things for me to wear, we bought this fantastic bathroom rug because it was on a great sale price. And since Li'l C is a Anthro baby, we bought him this cute fair traded felted birdhouse. Goes with the theme for his room, right? And, it's a great way to store his blocks. I love the wooden blocks just as much! J played with the exact set when he was a wee one too. We purposefully put them nice and low on a hook so C can get to them when he wants to.

Oh, Anthro!

A Quickie Antique-y Trip

On our way to family Thanksgiving dinner recently, we took the opportunity of having a borrowed car - thanks again Mom and Dad - and went to my beloved Aberfoyle Antique Market. It truly never disappoints. We haven't been able to go yet this season (hmmmm...i wonder why!) and had just over an hour to speed-walk through the vendors.I always go with a list so that i don't forget all the things i'm looking for, and of course i don't just stay on the list, but i am very happy with our latest finds. We all walked away with something, cute 'butter' flower dishes for me, a rocking horse for Clem, and records for J. Oh, and some cool

Most exciting are the two new ceiling light fixtures we got to replace the old cheesy and broken ones. Makes me feel like our house is truly coming along. Though, the list of fix-it and reno work i do have is still rather lengthy.

From this: to this :
and from this broken fixture that broke during some especially brutal pile-driving for the new Go Train work (don't ask!):
to this lovely piece, circa before IKEA:

a crafty vegan's 12 Days of Christmas - Day 2

Buy Handmade or Local

Unfortunately, i will not have a lot of time to make gifts this year - don't ask! - but i have been able to keep my promise to buy local and/or handmade. It is easy for some of my gift recipients like my sister, who is just as crafty as me, but others prove a bit more of challenge. Like some kitchen supply wants for someone, books for others, etc. But only a small challenge, as living in a big city allows me to go to independent stores for such things - the goods may not be local necessarily, but we fill good buying in smaller stores and not the (ahem) big box ones!

There's nothing i love more than shopping for a few hours for loved ones and then carrying all the goods home, only to reopen the presents and wrap them up. Such a warm feeling!

Another holiday season love of mine are the various craft fairs in the city. Most are done now, but one or two more can still spring up. This year, i did the One of a Kind Show, The Workroom's Trunk Sale, and City of Craft. At each event, i was able to stock up on some gifts. One of me as well!

If you are interested in buying handmade, here are some great sources on-line, if you don't already know of them:
- GoodEGG Industries
- Etsy
- Buy Handmade
- Buy Olympia
- Bust Boobtique

Day 7 - Make and Buy Handmade

I have always grown up making gifts for friends and family, even when being crafty wasn't so 'in.' These days, we can read articles even in the New York Times about making handmade gifts, to mark how far we've come, i guess. A couple of years ago, there was even a discussion on CBC radio about the idea of making gifts vs buying, though times were a bit different then - someone had the audacity to say that making gifts is cheap and insensitive to those that can't return them to a store to get something 'better.' Grrrr to that. I'm much happier living in a world that's crafter-friendly.

I love making gifts and spending time to think of exactly what the recipient might want, and how to make it. I go through my supply of craft books and blogs to look up ideas as early as September. I have a notebook filled with craft ideas that i regularly check over. My dining room table turns into crafter central until oh about Christmas Eve. Good fun, i promise!

This year, i vowed to Buy Handmade and it's been a great challenge. I've also vowed to make gifts for everyone, but also to cut down on gifts - my little change purse is stretched thin these days! It may be too close to buy things on-line now due to mail travel (especially from the States) , but sources like Etsy or Poppytalk Handmade, let alone some great blogger stores, and the onslaught of crafter fairs are great places to go. Other great stores in Toronto include MADE, Fresh Collective, Nathelie-Roze, and my favourite hat maker Wildhagen, whose bird hat i wear is a great conversation starter!

Go Red Sox!

I am by no means a baseball fan, but it was hard not to be this past weekend when i went to see my sister in Boston. I have such a soft spot for that city, and going this time of year was lovely. The 9-hour car ride home through the lush and colourful landscape was a perfect way to end it too!
Since it was about my fourth visit, i felt like i was getting a good idea of the city, but there were so many events that sis planned for us to do, that it almost felt like a typical weekend at home as well. Besides watching 2 baseball games at a local hotspot, we also went to some wonderful stores and events. We started off the weekend with a trip to the local Cupcake store, where there was a vegan cake for me - not chocolate, but still nice and moist and autumn-y!
For instance, one of my favourite places is right in Davis Square where my sis lives - a cool little indie store that supports local artists called Magpie. I left with a few items, including a lovely chain necklace by Nice Lena. Very cute. I also had a great time at the weekly SOWA Open Market, where i got some lovely notebooks (sorry, can't remember the artist's name right now) as well as cute vintage wallet with a deer print on it by Shara Porter. She also had really cute restructured tops made from old dresses. Similar to a shrug, i guess - shrug meets tummy top! I got one with buttons on the back; not easy access for sure, but i love getting J help me dress (and undress....).Another fun part of the weekend was the annual Regatta extravaganza - again, not into rowing (i am definitely not a sporty girl) but it was fun to see all the sporty types rowing along the Charles at 9am on Sunday. I enjoyed it even more with my daily dose of Diesel soy mochaccino.

And a weekend away isn't complete without a trip to see their vegetarian community. Of all the weekends to go, we happened to be there for the annual Boston Vegetarian Fair. Since i didn't make it to Toronto's this year, i made a point to go. More similar to ours that i would have liked - like of free stuff, promotions of consumer things, but for the most part it was exciting to see the diversity of folks who came. Like this guy:Nothing says vegetarian like a statue of Gandhi, i guess!

And of course, a trip to the States these days isn't complete without buying some books. I got to store them in this cute Trader's Joe bag that i'll use for groceries.
1) Girls of Riyadh
2) Make + Craft magazine special for Halloween
3) Super Natural Cooking
4) The Time Traveller's Wife ($1 at a yard sale!)

As i said, driving home was lovely. I knit for most of it, listened to NPR, ate great hummos and healthy chips (another TJ purchase), and played karoake with J to our favouite albums. Here's a glimpse of what we saw as we passed:

Weekend Road Trip Finds

a basket full of aprons!

We went home to visit family yesterday, and were grateful to rent a car that had air-conditioning! While the rain teased us a bit, we did make it to Guelph in time for our annual antique extravaganza called Aberfoyle Antique Fair. So good.

It's such a wonderful way to enjoy an afternoon, and you don't really 'need' to buy anything at all. Just looking at things and appreciating them for their story is so much fun.

As always, we left with a bit of things, but i did So Good to not buy more of what i wanted. Now that we're saving for our house, it's all relative i guess! We did want to find a new coffee table, and that's the only thing we didn't! But, my piece de resistence is this amazing apron set with matching bunny oven mitts! For $8!! I didn't even hesitate to get them. The woman selling believes a grandmother made them for her grand-daughter as a wedding present. They still had the original box, too. For picture of the oven mitts and the lovely robin embroidered linen, feel free to check some of my photos over at flickr. i want to use as little of plastics with food as possible, so these pyrex bowls with lids will be great for leftovers!

First Summer Photo Spread

Here are some recent photos from our past weekend. We had a great 'first weekend of summer' - a garden party where we had to wear white, shopping that included finding this lovely vintage apron, and watching these cute birds play in their new 'house' - hollowed out bread! Genius. If you want to see the photos better, check them out here.

Clothing Show Finds

We went to the annual Clothing Show this weekend and even though i am supposed to be on a strict budget, i of course walked away with a few new treasures like this adorable apron for $3 (and it's reversible!) and these cute deer earrings (see them below?) by local artist Paper Snake - the head goes on one ear and the bum goes on the other. I'm not sure what the rest of you think of it, but i thought it was an adorable idea, but i can understand if you think it's morbib!
I was also really excited about the barkcloth piece i got and this red plastic wallet. I sure don't need any more wallets but what drew me to this one is the 2 little change purses inside - one i can use for tokens - and the plastic window part for my metrocard and/or I.D.

The best part of going to such a big shopping extravaganza is being able to see other people's creations and supporting them as well as seeing something and going 'hmmmmm...i can make X with that.' I love being inspired at places and times i least expect it.

And, now that i have made some changes in my work life (cut down on my work schedule a bit) i am able to give back to me again, (it's been months since i had energy to be really crafty) and my endless pile of craft projects may be yet again worked through and conquered!

A City of Neighbourhoods - Shopping

I think sometimes i should change the title of my blog to 'a vegan shopper' or something like that, because as much i am crafty, i sure know how to shop! Case in point, my trip to San Fran was so successful, i had to buy another carry-on bag just to help me bring it all back!

So, for this post, i wanted to highlight some lovely local stores, mainly the ones that support local artists as well as those that offer a great outlet for crafters!

1) Doe - a wonderful treasure in Lower Haight - i went there a couple of times and left with purchases. They sell whimsical things like pillows and pottery, fun stationary and magazines, lovely clothing and accessories predominantly made by local, independent designers, and at reasonable prices. I got my much coveted (by me) Blissen wallet there.

2) Candy Store - this store is located in the Mission and it too supports local and independent artists. One other fun feature (besides the cute decor of the store itself) is that they sell vintage things from shoes and purses to old Star Wars playing cards.

3) Polka Dot Variety Store - what a great find for me. I happened to be walking past this store in Polk St. and saw that they sold pens, and i hoped they had some staplers (J needed one). Well, i still don't know if they did because i was too busy looking in all the cute little drawers - inside with old toys, cake toppers, dice, playing cards, and more and more. I just loved it! Here are some of the things i left with:

4) Needles and Pens - another great store in the Mission and this one definitely had the vibe of supporting local DIY and craft culture. They had a great selection of zines and how-to books, plus a vast array of accessories and posters highlighting upcoming events.

5) Stitch Lounge - this store was in Hayes Valley and it was J who made the connection that they are the ones that published Sew Subversive, a great book he had bought me. They house sewing studio space and sell what they make - a very cool concept!

6) RAG - the owner of this store is an environmentalist who wanted to offer an alternative to SF - one that really supports indy artists and designers at an affordable place. They had been closed for a couple of months so i'm so glad they re-opened the week i was there!

7) The Other Side - located just steps from our hotel in Lower Haight, this second-hand/thrift/vintage shop was fantastic. I spent quite a bit time looking at the vintage bet sheets and old sewing patterns, and i walked away with a lovely sheet.
8) Bell'Occhia - what a lovely lovely store, and so odd at that. The friendly women at Miette Candy Store recommended i find this little treasure. Just a short walk from Hayes Valley, located off Market St, this curio shop offered the strangest and darlingist things like vintage trim, lifesize plastic fish and strawberries, Marie Antoinette dolls whose heads fly off, and oodles of yummy chocolate. Unfortunately, they don't allow photos because the best part was the decor of the room itself - a small shop that looks like it stepped out of Alice in Wonderland's world.

9) Urban Knitting Studio - located in Hayes Valley, this store was wonderful. It was housed in a large room that had a modern vibe (lots of concrete walls) but the abundance of colourful yarn and books made the space so warm. The owner/staff person made me feel even more welcome and we had a great chat comparing our knitting stores.

10) Oh, it's hard to choose just ten! Some other lovely spots are Mingle (on Union St) that sells both local things and other small name designers. I loved this area of SF as it was closer to the water and to the Golden Gate. The owner also was a sweetheart. Another similar store (of sorts) was Cat Seto on Polk that was a sweet boutique that sold both lovely clothing and gifts. Cotton Sweep and Lavish (both in Hayes Valley) are also sweet little boutiques. The first one offers clothing right out of our favourite Japanese craft books, and the second is a great spot for new moms and friends of new babies.
11) Just cuz there's so much to share: the Mission seems to be where it's at - it is home to 2 amazing thrift stores. We scored quite a bit at Mission Thrift Store and it's worth mentioning. Another great vintage/second hand store is The Painted Bird on Guerrero. We literally stumbled upon it and i was so happy to find it. A very cool and happening store (as the other clientale seemed to be saying), i bought the cutest poncho there. American Rag (on Van Ness) is also a great big second-hand shop that also sells new things - i couldn't believe how big it was!

12) Also, for anyone who lives to write - Little Otsu is a store run by vegans that sells the best array of stationary and near it is the Pirate shop founded by Dave Eggers - a great store and studio dedicated to helping children become interested in storytelling (in the Mission).

Whew, seems like i could go on but i think those are my favourite shopping highlights!