Etsy Holiday Pop-up: Charlottetown

Etsy Pop-up at the Kirk of St. James

The Felted Fawn by Lara Dewolfe

Radiate Happiness by Kristy Stanley  

My pick? The "Meet Me at the Stars" Necklace. 

Dwn.Twn.Fox by Laura Morneau

In which I am unknowingly strangled by my Kate Spade bag.

One thing I love about PEI is the incredible community of artists, makers, crafters, jewelers, designers and general creatives. There are so many with so much to offer on this fair isle (even after the summer and accompanying tourists have gone!), and I am delighted to be back on the Island to participate in and enjoy that community once again.   As soon as I heard about the Etsy Holiday Pop-up craft fair happening in Charlottetown, I marked it in my calendar. I knew there were sure to be some old favourites and new discoveries to be found,  and I definitely wasn't disappointed. We made a family day out of it, and my mom, sister, niece and I headed in to the Kirk of St. James today to check out the fair, luckily meeting up to some dear friends along the way. It was SO BUSY! There was a literal throng of people milling amongst the wares, upstairs and downstairs and all around, but the energy was lively, there was laughter and talking and enjoyment and delight, and it was a fun, if wildly busy atmosphere. I personally was delighted to see so much interest in the aforementioned local talent, and the success of the event.

I initially beelined for the Dwn.Twn.Fox booth - designer Laura Morneau's pieces are favourites of mine (recall this post), and I eagerly picked out a pair of perfectly pretty earrings made from shards of a broken teacup and a hand-cut and stamped necklace (keep an eye out, I'll be posting it soon!).  I loved hearing directly from the lovely artist herself about the process behind the piece - it's just the kind of moment that you can only get when you're shopping locally and interacting directly with local designers and crafters - the greatest!  It was honestly hard to keep myself to only two things!   I also had a lot of love for the delicately pretty jewelry from Kristy Stanley's Radiate Happiness line. I very much gravitate to simple, dainty pieces and her range definitely fits that bill. I'd pretty much blown my budget at Laura's booth, but I will hopefully add some "radiantly happy" baubles to my collection before long.

The new discovery and surprise favourite for me was The Felted Fawn, by Lara Dewolfe. Her hand-felted pieces (made with locally sourced wool!!!) are simply so whimsical, adorable, and fun, not to mention beautifully made. I immediately connected to the style of her pieces and have already bookmarked her etsy shop, because I know I will want to decorate a future apartment with her work at some stage. My personal favourites? The Moon Fox and the Valley Cows.   These were simply a few of my picks from a truly amazing array of talented artisans represented at the fair. I was so proud of Suzanne (of Village Pottery and the The Potter's Daughter jewelry line) and the rest of the organizing team for a fantastic, fun and absolutely worthwhile event. Supporting local talent is always something I can get behind, and the hard work behind this fair made for a fantastic day (my enjoyment is clearly visible in that snap, no?).

Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of spending the morning with my friend and fellow librarian Catherine at the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show. It was a treasure trove of gorgeous dresses, tiny shoes (for my sasquatch feet at least), silk scarves, fancy hats, and bits and baubles of all kinds. We spent a happy couple of hours perusing the wares of the various sellers in attendance (some much more well curated than others, finding all sorts of beauties. I think one of my favourite parts of the show was simply people watching - checking out the stylish ensembles of fellow showgoers (Victory rolls and 50's dresses abounded) and hearing the gasps of delight as pre-loved pieces were matched with their new owners. I wished I had brought my proper camera instead of merely my phone (please forgive the poorer photo quality) for the purposes of capturing some of the stylish showgoers, but I think even then I probably would've been too shy to approach any of them.

The green sparkly dress, above, was one of my favourite pieces overall. It wasn't my size, of course, so I did the next best thing and snapped a photo of it. I turned to look at some other garments on display from the same vendor, and turned back around to see that it had been eagerly snapped up, hopefully on its way to a happy new home. There was yet another dress that stole my heart, but I didn't include a picture of it here, because it was so glorious as to merit its own post (coming soon). There were many other beauties, including one beautiful but sad blue dress that had been tried on by too keen an attendee only to get rather severely damaged. A cautionary tale.

I didn't end up purchasing anything, but it was a fantastic event filled with innumerable unique items, and all in all, a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.

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Heart of the City

My friend Catherine and I spent Friday evening wandering through the shops of downtown Ottawa, and of course one of our stops was local favourite, Magpie Jewellery. Catherine told me about an "Ottawa Necklace", made by local jeweller Lissa Bowie, which has a pendant in the shape of the city's outline. But it also looks a little bit like a heart, am I right? In any case, my love for the city that has become my second home, in combination with the fantastic sale going on at Magpie convinced me to snap one up on the spot. 

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