Glitter Pie

I swear I am my own best customer. I love, make that LOVE, getting a visit from UPS. So happy when I have new stuff to play with. Believe me when I tell you that I agonize over each and every inventory purchase, because not only do I have to pay for it all up front, I also have to warehouse it - here in my commodious 1100 square foot Toronto home. So yeah, it's sort of a big deal when something new comes in. It means I've kind of fallen in love.

My latest infatuation is Glitter Pie Art Studio In A Box. I've been eyeballing it for a while now. I love my arts 'n crafts, I love made in Canada and I love a good buy for under 30 bucks. But I didn't totally get the concept, and then I thought that maybe you wouldn't either. It is, essentially, a box of craft supplies. Groovy and awesome one-of-a-kind craft supplies (feathers, sequins, trims, fabrics, papers, glue...) picked and packed by hand by one Toronto designer/artist, but still a box of craft supplies, right? What ultimately sold me on the fabulousness of Glitter Pie were the crazy good projects demo'd by the company owner, Tiffany Pratt. I honestly can't tell if I'm buying Glitter Pie or if I'm buying Tiffany. I think both. She's so good. And how can you not love a beautiful woman who sports orange hair so convincingly? My kids went berserk for her GoGos Christmas ball decoration idea (Do you too have a carpet full of GoGos? Here's what to do with them!) and I am all over this floral wrist corsage:

Fantastic, right? Tiffany/Glitter Pie has several video tutorials, all of them great, on You Tube in addition to clips from her appearances on the Steven & Chris show. I bet she's their favourite guest. I want to invite her for my next birthday party. If you'd like a box of Glitter Pie for yourself or a crafty little person, you will find it right over here.

Thank You. Thank you very much.

I came up with the idea for children's personalized notecards while pondering the holiday thank-you notes my kids need to write this week. In the past they've made their own cards from paper and sticker supplies around the house, but rather than add a project on top of a project, I figured something personalized but relatively pre-made was the way to go. Now I'm obviously biased, but I love these! Hand-drawn hearts and a crisp and cool colour palette. I'm still working on uploading the ordering page for the boy's version, but here's a sneak peek. It makes me smile:

Personalized Stationery For Girls is now in the shop. Mini moustaches to follow. nb: And here is the link to the little guy cards: Personalized Notecards for Boys.

January's Fresh Start

We spent the first day of January ceremonially un-decorating the tree and packing away the baubles and tinsel for another year. While it does feel odd to see tulip pots at Loblaws when last week I was buying cedar branches and stems of bittersweet, I too like a fresh start.

My first post of the new year is a bit of trip down memory lane, all the way back to 2007 in fact, which is when artist Sarah Jane began illustrating and printing her delightful calendar series. I have spent so much attention the last two years on personalized art work that I'd almost forgotten how exceptionally lovely these prints are. I rediscovered them today during a pre-inventory exercise, which lead me to overhaul all of the product images to properly give these prints their due.

Such a fine way to honour a child's birthday.

Happy Fresh New Year.

still loving the tin pails

A special order for a cherished customer, pails of cute loot for a little party.

manly gift triumph

Portland General Store

There are certain people that drive me crazy when it comes to gift giving. Like Mr. H. Are dudes just generally more difficult to buy for than women? I certainly think so. Throw blankets, pottery, intriguingly scented soy candles, Etsy jewellery...entire categories are not even on the list of possibilities. Mr H. is a Major Clotheshorse. He is Felix Unger fussy when it comes to labels, fit and provenance. He has a tailor named Luigi to whom he brings a bottle of Grappa at Christmas. Mr. H has never willingly wielded a tool. Or a chef's knife. Or a camera. The lady categories are out. The usual manly gift categories are out. He doesn't really want anything. So it is up to me at every gift giving occasion to Surprise Him. It drives me crazy. Every year.

I am feeling, understandably, a little chuffed to have sorted out his gift before December 24th. No flop sweat. Here's what I came up with: a gorgeous loden green alpaca tie from Alicia Adams:

Alicia Adams Ties

And a sampler of bespoke colognes made with recipes from the 1920s. I chose Professor, for this irresistible description: "– Reminding of tweed jackets, leather, and cherry pipe tobacco. Starts off rich and dark, and eventually melds with your skin and wears like vintage wool. A perfect fall scent." I know I can't wait to smell it.

Vintage Cigar Box of Goodies by Portland General Store.

I am bookmarking this site, Schoolhouse Electric, for future gifts. Love this desk lamp:

White Christmas

Source: brunchwithdarling.com via Amanda on Pinterest

I don't have a mantle, but if I did I'd like it to look like this. If you have a minute to take an inspiration break, Dottie Angel's well organized photo stream is worth a peek.

the cure for fall is winter

Despite the calendar and the best efforts of the retail-industrial complex I have not felt the slightest interest in things Christmas - until today. There is nothing like a good old Canadian north wind gusting 50 kilometres an hour to shake the last of the leaves from the trees and give me a reason to wear my new fur-trimmed mittens (rabbit fur. is that awful?). Thanks to the wind making the now-naked branches of the trees shiver and my cozy if impolitic handwarmers, it is on. A little Liberace Christmas music on the iPod, a cup of London Fog at my side and I am (mostly) ready to say toodle-loo to autumn.

And so I spent the afternoon working on this festive red graphic for the shop's main page and putting together a holiday-themed newsletter, which will go out tonight. Do you subscribe to the newsletter? If not, you are missing out on a tricky 15% off code. Tricky because in the newsletter it says it's only on personalized stationery, but in fact it is on everything in the shop. The database I use is kind of a blunt instrument when it comes to promotional codes and it's either discount each product individually (in which case my hands would need supportive braces and not fur-trimmed mittens) or discount the whole shebang. I'm going for the whole shebang. So if everything sells out and my shelves are empty by November 22nd you will find me in the Cayman Islands. Because one day of winter is about all I can stand.