Happy Holidays!

We wanted to take a second to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season! 2011 has been so good to us, and we are so grateful to live in Ottawa and be surrounded by such talented and lovely people. Thank you to each and every one of you that has come to Urban Craft, to all of you that have participated as vendors and thanks to all our incredible volunteers. It literally wouldn't have been possible without each and every one of you, and for that we're so thankful.

Wishing you the happiest of holidays full of eggnog, cookies, roast beast & love! We'll be back in January, with the next edition of Urban Craft happening on the 7th! Get ready!

Holiday Goodies at Urban Craft December!

It seems as though December really snuck up on us here at Urban Craft Headquarters. Even though we've been working on putting together our December show for over a month, I can hardly believe it's already December 1st. I am a huge huge fan of the holidays and am seriously excited for Urban Craft's December edition. We have assembled a team of vendors that will have something for everyone on your Christmas list--from foodies to kids to vegans to glam girls--we've got you covered. Observe:

Hillery from Clever Plumage will be joining us all the way from Kingston! She creates gorgeous fascinators from feathers that she hand gathers from aviaries. She then hand washes the feathers and hand sews them into these stunning creations. They're seriously so perfect for the holiday parties you'll undoubtedly be attending this December.

Couture Kids makes some of the loveliest kids clothes I've seen in a while. Adorable yet sophisticated, I sort of wish she made some of these pieces in adult sizes so I could buy them for myself! We can't wait for you to see her lovely stuff in person!

Chef Richard's Kitchen Flavors will be bringing some seriously sophisticated flavors to Urban Craft this month. He'll be bringing preserves perfect for the foodie on your list -or- for that special party you're hosting this season. With preserves like Mostarda di Cremona and pickled crabapples, I'm definitely intrigued and can't wait to try some myself!

Indie*Go Designs will join us for the first time with her lovely jewelry. Designer Eliza creates really funky, unique pendants and earrings from vintage books, magazines and other ephemera and even creates map pendants (above), which are hugely popular gift items.

Auntie Loo's will be back this month with their ridiculously good vegan baked goods. I tried one of their brand-spankin'-new whoopie pies last weekend, and they're seriously delish. Major Craig's Chutney will also be joining us this month. Their infamously good chutneys, including flavors like Butternut Beer and A Date with Cranberry, will be on hand. My stomach is grumbling just thinking about it!

Urban Craft - December Edition!
Saturday, December 3rd
10am-2pm
The GCTC, Holland & Wellington

Glisten! A Handmade Holiday Event. This Saturday!

Friends! Exciting news! This weekend we're hosting an event at the GCTC (home of Urban Craft) called Glisten! Glisten is a handmade holiday event featuring crafters from across Ottawa. Attendees will be able to shop from some incredibly lovely vendors, including some previously undiscovered talent! This show is presented by the GCTC and we've selected a slew of new vendors--different than those you will see at Urban Craft--for you to peruse!

A preview:

Mynta, whose work I have admired forever, will be on hand with some seriously stunning and unique sterling silver jewelry. It's probably going to take all my control to keep myself from buying all her stock. Someone on my Christmas list is surely getting a piece of her jewelry!

Kokobaru will be in attendance with these adorable animal caps and really precious, hand-sewn stuffed animals (above). Her stuff is perfect for the little ones you have on your Christmas list!

urbanfête will be showcasing their gorgeous, modern holiday cards and will have designs for not only Christmas, but for Hanukkah and other occasions too!

Patricia at PR Design makes gorgeously unique stained glass goodies including night lights, wall art and really neat jewelry.

Epidemic 613 will bringing ties for the guys and other awesome home decor and assorted goodies. Stuff for dudes! Yay!

Thistle & Maple makes some of the coolest, most unique rings I've seen in a while (and believe you me--I see a lot of jewelry)! Her unique creations are made from clay and are seriously gorgeous!

And Poppy Studios will also be in attendance with lovely bunting for Christmas and all other seasons! Perfect for dressing up your mantle for the holidays, or just decking the halls in general!

Show Details:
Glisten! A Handmade Holiday Event
Saturday, November 19
10am-4:30pm
The GCTC (Holland & Wellington)

Full List Of Vendors:
Blush Beads
Thistle & Maple
Face To Grace
Eufemia Bella
Sarah's Card Company
Clean Hands Warm Hands
Mynta
PR Design
Urbanite Jewelry
My Stow N Tow
Epidemic 613
Kokobaru
Oh My Ampersand
Bytown Beanery
Bez Gluten Free
Poppy Studios
Pink Wagon
urbanfete
Operation Come Home
iDi Designs

For more info & updates, join us over on Facebook!

More Photos from Urban Craft's November Edition!

Some more lovely photos from Urban Craft's November edition, courtesy of our good friends at foodiePrints (who write one of our very favorite Ottawa food blogs)!

Photos 1: Macarons from Urban Baking Co., 2, 3 & 4: Laser cut toys from 3 Princesses Engraving, 5, 6 & 7: Sterling silver jewelry from Jasmine Virani, 8, 9, 10: The koko chocolate crew with their special Movember 'staches & boxes, 11 & 12: Flights of Fancy's lovely accessories--featuring ML from 20 York Street! All photos courtesy of foodiePrints.

Handmade Awesomeness at Urban Craft November

We had a record turnout for the November edition of Urban Craft, and the vendors we had on hand were ridiculously good (as always). Some images from the day:

{goodies from purple urchin}

{gorgeous green macarons from urban baking co.}

{the koko chocolates crew sporting 'staches to promote their movember boxes!}

{Cheryl of oh my ampersand with her lovely & unique wood jewelry)

{makerjane's lovely linoblock print cards}

{adorable stuffed goods from liv well toys}

{dempsey press' lovely letterpress goods}

More lovely pictures of our lovely vendors + details about all the lovely food packs we were able to assemble for The Ottawa Food Bank on the way very soon!

Our Feature in The Ottawa Citizen

At the beginning of last week, I got a call from an editor at The Ottawa Citizen whom we've worked with before. She mentioned she'd been wanting to do a piece on Urban Craft since we launched, and thought now would be the perfect time to do so. We were more than happy to oblige, obviously, and found out our piece was to run on Friday or Saturday--right before the November edition of the show!

On Friday, the piece ran and in the midst of our day-before-the-show prep, we found the article online and I was pretty over the moon excited. I didn't think it could get any better until we picked up a copy on Saturday and saw that the article was a full half-page big and included images from Anne-Marie Bouchard of AMBPhoto, one of our very favorite photographers to work with in Ottawa. We were thrilled and so thankful for the article. You can read it here: Shop Local At Ottawa's Urban Craft.

Urban Craft November: A Sneak Peek

Ladies and gents, we've got some fan-freakin'-tastic things in store for you during this month's edition of Urban Craft! I'm going to cut right to the chase:

This month the really awesome folks at The Lost City Of will be joining us with their fantastic threads. Danica makes handmade clothing--which is drafted, designed and sewn by her own two hands--as well as printed shirts that run in small editions. Her stuff is really fantastically unique and she also happens to have one of the coolest websites I've seen, which you should go check out.

Cheryl of Oh My Ampersand makes some really darn cool jewelry. Cheryl cuts salvaged wood into slices and sands each them smooth. Each piece looks different, each has its own story to unfold. She then sketches a design for the jewelry and then does wood burning. Cheryl's graphic design background is very evident when you see her pieces. They're so well executed and unique.

makerjane makes gorgeous linoblock print cards. Some are simple and incredibly beautiful in their simplicity, some are detailed and filled multiple colors and details. So gorgeous. I can't wait to pick up some of her cards to give out during the holiday season.

Stirling of Winged Beast Outfitters is bringing some more awesome threads in the form of really cool t-shirts. He totally has awesome stuff for dudes. Did you hear that? For DUDES! We love it when we come upon vendors who make stuff for guys, because they are often few and far between. We're 123% sure you'll love Winged Beast's stuff.

And last but certainly not least, 3 Princesses Engraving will be on hand with THE most ridiculously cute and modern wood toys for kids. I am in love with Rachael and Tyson's stuff so much that I'm scrambling to find kids to buy their stuff for these holidays. Sort of makes you wish you were at 5 year old again so you could get in on their awesome princess wands!

The First Ever Ottawa Craft Crawl!

Guys & gals, we've got an incredibly exciting announcement today: we're launching Ottawa's first ever Craft Crawl!

We're launching Ottawa's first ever craft crawl, taking place in November/December 2011! What's a craft crawl, you say!? We've smashed together two fantastic events: a pub crawl--where participants travel from pub to pub partaking in adult beverages--and craft shows, where you can get the coolest gifts during the holiday season. While there won't be any drinking involved, there will definitely be a ton of crawling. So much, in fact, that it'll be happening throughout the month of November and December and there's some sweet prizes to be had!

How it works: Participants can pick up a 'craft passport' at Urban Craft in Hintonburg of November 5, 2011. This craft passport will be both your guide to Ottawa's awesomest indie craft shows this November + your ticket to winning a giant prize package. Keep that passport and take it to any of the craft shows listed on the back. Get your passport stamped at the front door. Collect 4 stamps or more and you're eligible to win a giant prize package filled with tons of handmade goodness from every single show in the crawl PLUS a season ticket pass from the Great Canadian Theatre Company! Submit your passport to win the giant prize package at Craftalicious on December 10, 2011 in The Glebe!

Just the Facts:
1. Pick up your passport at Urban Craft on November 5
2. Get your passport stamped at each of the shows listed on the passport
3. Collect 4 stamps or more to be eligible to win the giant prize package
4. Turn in your passport at Craftalicious on December 10 to be entered in the prize package draw!

Participating Shows:
Urban Craft
November 5, 10am-2pm
1233 Wellington St. W

Handmade Harvest
November 4 & 5, 4-9pm (Fri) 10am-4pm (Sat)
Almonte Old Town Hall, 14 Bridge Street

Glisten!
November 19, 10am-4:30pm
1233 Wellington St. W

Sandy Hill One & Only
November 20, 10am-4pm
Sandy Hill Community Center, 250 Somerset St. E

Idle Hands
November 26, 10am-5pm
St. Luke's Anglican Church, 760 Somerset St. W

Hintonburg Artisan Craft Fair
November 26, 10am-5pm
1064 Wellington St. W

Urban Craft
December 3, 10am-2pm
1233 Wellington St. W

Craftalicious
December 10, 10am-5pm
St. Matthew's Anglican Church, 217 First Ave.

This event is part of Apt. 613's Support Local Month and sponsored by all of the incredible craft shows above! More details and exciting updates at our Facebook Page!

It's A Hit & A Winner

Helllllooooo everybody! Well...we are happy as clams over here this Monday morning. The October edition of Urban Craft was incredible and we're so thankful to each and every one of you that came out to see us! It was a chilly day but we had a really fantastic turnout and we're pleased as punch! We're already looking forward to November!

Last month we had a little contest going where if you checked into Urban Craft on Facebook, you could win a gift certificate from our lovely sponsor, Victoire! It turns out that technology was conspiring against us because as it turns out, we weren't able to access the names of the folks who checked in. We were super bummed. Cue sad faces. So we set out with another plan to get some Victoire goodness into your hands.

So we did a little drawing for the gift certificate at the show this weekend and had a whole slew of entries! Yay! And now...for the winner. Drumroll, please!

Yay! Our winner, Stacey, is getting hooked up with some Victoire goodies! Time to shop, Stacey!

Foodie Finds at Urban Craft

One of the things that gets me super duper about Ottawa is all of the fantastic small-batch food producers that we have in town. From ice cream to jams to bread to...you name it...someone is probably making it in small, artisanal batches in Ottawa. So when we went about setting up Urban Craft, we knew we wanted a strong food component included in the show. Luckily for us we had some incredible food makers apply!

Urban Baking Co. injects a bit of French whimsy into the Urban Craft scene with her incredible macarons. Having bought a pack of her macarons at last month's Urban Craft, I can attest that her macarons are darn good.

Koko Chocolates will be on hand with their amazingly gorgeous and innovative truffles, barks and more. You guys seriously have to try their chocolately goodness--I seriously love every flavor I've ever had from Koko and I'm sure you will too! The owner, Jen, is really fantastic as well. A sweet lady creating sweet chocolates? Almost sounds too good to be true--but it's true!

As we mentioned in our October sneak peek, the lovely Claire of Strawberry Blond Cafe will be bringing the vegan baked goods this month. If you are looking for a treat to satisfy your sweet tooth this Saturday, see if you can get your hands on one of her 'cheesecake' pops! They are pretty delish!

Last but not least Rochef Chocolatier will be joining us with his incredible single origin chocolates, truffles and other gourmet goodies. Having had a chance to try Roch's chocolate last month, I can attest that you are going to enjoy the flavors and purity of his chocolate. The man obviously knows what he is doing, and my tummy thanks him for that!

So needless to say--it's great to come to Urban Craft hungry! Not only will we have all these fantastic vendors at the show to tame your sweet tooth, but the cafe at The GCTC, Viva Loca will also have some savory delights and coffee for you to much on as well. I personally plan to do a tour-de-food at the show and pick up goodies from each vendor! Yum! Is it Saturday yet!?