Local Love: 'Tis the Season!

The thing I love the most about this time of year is all the festive events that roll around, enticing all of us to leave our cozy homes, brave the cold for a second or two, and spend time with the people with love at the places we love. My schedule this week is filled to the brim with fantastic events and I wanted to share a few of them with you!

Flowers Talk Open House
Join the folks at Flowers Talk for an evening of special discounts, festive treats, and holiday styling tips for your home. Flowers Talk & Splendid Events are hooking you up with the most adorable cake pops you've ever seen, thanks to our talented friends at Bake Mob. We'll also have a gourmet hot cocoa station where you can create the perfect cup of hot cocoa, whether your favourite flavour is peppermint chocolate, rich milk chocolate, or even cinnamon. And of course we'll have plenty of marshmallows for the perfect garnish. Browse Flowers Talk's cozy and inviting boutique, mug in hand, and enjoy 15% off all purchases and special orders made during the event.

Cake pops by Bake Mob!

 

 

[the deets]

Cost: Free to all!
What: Flowers Talk Holiday Open House
Where: Flowers Talk, 1305 Wellington West
When: Wednesday December 5, 6pm-8pm
Why: To bring holiday cheer to your home and to give warmth to neighbours in need.




Here We Go Again: Renée Yoxon & Mark Ferguson's CD Release

Talented local jazz singer Renée Yoxon & Mark Ferguson are excited to release their first collaboration together! Join Mark, Renée, Joel Kerr, Jeff Asselin, Craig Pedersen, and Frank Lozano for an unforgettable evening of original music at the NAC's Fourth Stage this Friday!

[the deets]

When: Friday, December 7, 2012, 7:30pm
Where: NAC Fourth Stage, 53 Elgin Street
Tickets: $25. Click here to find out how to get tickets: http://www.reneeyoxon.com/how-to-get-tickets-to-the-here-we-go-again-ottawa-cd-release-december-7/

For more info about the event: http://nac-cna.ca/en/community/event/4538

 

 

Craftalicious Craft Fair!

If you're looking to finish off your holiday shopping, we've got an awesome craft show coming up in the Glebe on Saturday. Craftalicious has been running for four years now, and is a fantastic local show that you must check out! What do they have planned for you?

Gourmet Goodies & Treats + Prints & Cards + Glass Works + Ceramics + Knits + Jewellery
Photography & Art + Baby & Children’s Items + Hockey Art + Magnets & Pins + Ornaments + Bath  & Body Products + Fabric Masterpieces + Tarot Reader & Live Piano Music!

[the deets]
Saturday, December 8th, 2012
10am-4:30pm
St. Matthew’s Church Hall
217 First Avenue
Admission is free!

Locavore Artisan Food Fair
The folks over at Auntie Loo's made a spot on comment this morning. They mentioned that the chilly weather seems to bring out their appetites. I couldn't agree more! If your tummy seems to be rumbling a little extra this time of year, you *must* check out LAFF! This show, which has become a standard on Ottawa's food scene, is full of talented gourmet food makers who will have gifts for your tummy and those on your your Christmas list, too!

[the deets]

Cost: Free!
What: Locavore Artisan Food Fair
Where: Memorial Hall of Crichton Cultural Community Centre, 39 Dufferin Road (at Avon Lane) in New Edinburgh
When: Sunday December 9, 10am-3pm
Why: Yummy yummy food! Need I say more!?
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/159391614207466

Urban Craft: The Thanksgiving Edition!

Happy fall, folks! We love this time of year at Urban Craft headquarters. A slight chill in the air, pumpkin-flavored everything, warm scarves and gloves & the changing of the leaves in Gatineau Park. What's not to love!? The turn in the weather also signals that one of our favorite holidays is near: Thanksgiving!

If you've got friends and family coming to town this holiday weekend, bring them down to Urban Craft this Saturday! In addition to our awesome usual lineup of vendors, we have 5 new vendors who will be at Urban Craft for the first time! Plus DAVIDsTEA will be on hand with free tastings of their awesome tea -and- we'll have gifts for the first 25 people through the door! What's not to love?

Now: a sneak peek of those brand new vendors. We think you're going to love them!

Kiersten Eagans illustrations are just so charming & intriguing. I love her illustration style & can't wait to see her work in person!

 

Ellie and Len create darling vintage-inspired jewelry with a modern twist. 

 

N-Product makes this awesome ring, which is made from cardboard! Can you believe that? I can't wait to check their work out in person!

West End Chiles creates unique jellies, spice mixes & other tasty treats. With flavors like Mango Habanero and Port Wine Serrano, I can't wait to pick up a jar to pair with some cheese for Thanksgiving on Monday!

If you're looking for some treats to take to your Thanksgiving celebrations, Morsel Desserts will be at Urban Craft for the first time with awesome cupcakes, bars & delectable loaves to take to your Turkey Day dinner! Yum!

The Full Lineup:

Purple Urchin

Strut Jewelry

Urbanite Jewelry

VersaTile

Kokobaru

Bake Mob

Jasmine Virani

Heart Meets Paper

Flo Glassblowing

Koko Chocolates

Salvage Jewelry

Magneties

Morsel Desserts

Red Door Provisions

Kiersten Eagan Illustration

N-Product

My Stow N Tow

West End Chiles

Ellie & Len

We can't wait to see you all there!

Urban Craft's October Edition
Saturday, October 6, 2012
10am-2pm
The GCTC (1233 Wellington Street West - At Holland)

Urban Craft's Birthday Recap!

One year. One whole year of shows! Guys--we are so proud of Ottawa and so happy to be a part of this community (as always). You showed up in droves to support us and made our birthday show a smashing success! If we could give you all kisses and hugs, we would. A recap of the festivities in pictures:

Our outdoor signs, all dressed up for our birthday!

Our crazy long lineup out the door! You guys are fantastic!

Our ever-awesome producer and front door gal, Amy of Splendid Events!

The wonderful Andrea of Yelp! hands out free bags to attendees

Salvage Jewelry's awesome vintage jewelry & table display

Red Door Provision's gourmet preseves

heart meets paper's lovely paper goods

Vibrant cake pops from Bake Mob

Purple Urchin's line of handmade bath & body goodies

The lovely Kate of Flights of Fancy

Monsters never looked so adorable (from Kokobaru)

Sapling // Seedling's adorably awesome mini book pendants!

Funky screen-printed ties from Magneties!

Eufemia Bella's vintage-inspired home goods

Flo Glass Blowing's gorgeous hand-blown garden stix!

Tribal inspired jewelry from Jasmine Virani

A huge huge thanks to all the vendors, volunteers and especially to all of you from the public who came out to support the show! We love you to pieces!

Urban Craft's 1st Birthday: Presents for You!

Guys & gals: we are SO excited for the show tomorrow. I can hardly stand it! We've had such a blast putting together this show for you and cannot wait to welcome you all through the doors at 10am tomorrow! 

We've been sharing sneak peeks of all the goodies that we'll have at the show, and we decided to save the best for last. A bunch of our vendors stepped up this month to donate prizes that you can get your hands on for free! So many people offered to give you awesome gifts for free that we were able to put together not one, not two, not three, but four gift baskets for you to win! Aren't our vendors flipping fabulous? We think so!

So while the exact prizes that you can win are heavily guarded secrets until tomorrow morning, we wanted to give you a little preview of the prize packs that you can win!

Prize Pack No. 1
Alyssa Spaxman Design & Strut Gemstone Jewelry have teamed up to give you an awesome prize package that will help you adorn yourself -and- your walls (hint, hint)! 

Prize Pack No.2
VersaTile Design & Heart Meets Paper have teamed up to give you a prize pack with goodies to give and goodies to keep!

Prize Pack No.3
Eufemia Bella & Sweet Secrets have teamed up to give you something that'll give your house a perk and something that'll give you a perk!
Prize Pack No.4
And finally, Totally Squared has given us a generous gift that'll satisfy your sweet tooth for sure!

To enter to win these prizes, all you'll need to do is fill out a survey at the front door when you arrive at the show. You'll automatically be entered to win all four of the gift baskets. Totally sweet deal, don't you think!? 

And while we're at it, I'll give you another rundown of all the awesome vendors we'll have at the show tomorrow. You're already putting together your plan of attack, right!?

Koko Chocolates
Heart Meets Paper
Red Door Provisions
Eufemia Bella
Purple Urchin
VersaTile Design
Kokobaru Creations
Jasmine Virani Jewelry
Strut Gemstone Jewelry
Magneties
Urbanite Jewelry
Salvage Jewelry Co.
Flights of Fancy
Sapling//Seedling
Sweet Secrets
Flo Glass Blowing
Clever Plumage
Winged Beast Outfitters
Bake Mob
Totally Squared
Hummingbird Chocolate
Indie*Go Designs
Yakety Yak Designs

We'll see you tomorrow morning, guys & gals! Remember: get there early and line up to snag some swag ! 

Urban Craft's First Birthday Bash!
Saturday, September 1st
10am-2pm
The GCTC (1233 Wellington Street W, at Holland) 

Urban Craft's 1st Birthday: The Swag!

Earrings up for grabs from urbanite jewelry!

Things are really gearing up here at Urban Craft headquarters! We just finished packing up the mini swag bags and they are almost ready to go! If you're lucky enough to be one of the first 25 people through the door at our birthday bash on Saturday, you'll snag a free pair of urbanite jewelry earrings! Up for grabs are their Los Angeles, Cordova & Portland earrings. You'll also receive a coupon & pack of earring backs (those little plastic guys that go on the back of your earrings that we're all always losing!). You'll also receive goodies from the awesome folks at VersaTile Design and Morsel Desserts!

Mini swag, all packed up!

I'd sort of really like to keep one of these for myself! Be sure you're there bright and early on Saturday to line up and snag a bag!

Urban Craft's First Birthday Bash!
Saturday, September 1st
10am-2pm
The GCTC (1233 Wellington Street W, at Holland)

Urban Craft's First Birthday!

Guess what, guys & gals!? Urban Craft is turning one in September! We are absolutely thrilled to be celebrating our first birthday, and incredibly grateful for how Ottawa has come out and supported our show over the past year.

As we sat down to plan our September 1st show, we decided that we better celebrate in an awesome way. What better excuse to throw a party than a birthday, right!? So we're throwing a big birthday bash in conjunction with Urban Craft on September 1st! Throughout the week we'll be showcasing all the awesome activities we'll have at the show in addition to an extended lineup of vendors for you to shop from this month! Here's just a teeny taste of all the awesomeness we'll have at the show:

• Free gifts for the first 25 attendees through the front door! 
• Free gourmet popcorn bar with tons of delectable toppings and goodies
• Free kids crafts and activities for your little ones
• Multiple door prizes to be won! I'm putting the finishing touches on the gift baskets and they're pretty sweet, folks!
• 25 Vendors to shop from! We've usually got around 20 at the show; this month we've brought in some extra vendors so you'll have a bigger selection!
• Admission is, as always, free!

When & where does it all go down?

Saturday, September 1st
10am-2pm
The GCTC (1233 Wellington Street W, at Holland)

Stay tuned this week for more sneak peeks of all the goodies and activities we have planned! It's going to be grand!

Beat the July Heat at Urban Craft this Saturday!

Urban Craft's July edition is this Saturday! We've got a snazzy group of vendors lined up for you, including a few friends joining us from out of town! What's new this month, you ask? Observe:

 

The folks from Salvage Jewelry will join us all the way from Montreal! I was blown away by the uniqueness of their jewelry the instant that I saw it and knew we had to have them in Urban Craft. The necklace above is made from vintage sequins. Awesome, right?

 Creations Corteza will also join us from Montreal, bringing their fantastic preserved leaf and flower jewelry along with them. We're sure you've seen these beauties over at Flock and Workshop; each piece of jewelry is a true little gem and distinct from the next. Love them!

 

The lovely Meeka of Meeka's Creations will join us with her ever-popular fun & funky stuffed creatures! Aren't they just dripping with adorableness?

The ladies of Flo Glassblowing will also be on hand with their gorgeous works of glass. As the owners of Ottawa's very own glassblowing studio, you know these gals know their stuff. I can't wait to see their creations in person!

And this is just a fraction of the talent that will be on hand. Cake pops, boutique vanilla extracts, handmade tiles, a whole range of awesome jewelry, vegan baked goods, gorgeous home goods. Check out the full list of vendors:

Auntie Loo's
Urbanite Jewelry
Purple Urchin
VersaTile Design
Kokobaru Creations
Liv Well Toys
Strut
Silver Hand Studios
Salvage Jewelry
Really Horrible Enterprises
Sarah's Card Company
Jasmine Virani
Meeka's Creations
Creations Corteza
Flo Glassblowing
Eufemia Bella
Om Nom Cupcake
Petits Plaisirs Chocolata Treats
Bake Mob
Chic Bean

It's going to be good, folks! Don't forget; we're indoors--so come inside for a break from the heat, shop from some awesome vendors and enjoy the weekend!

Saturday, July 7th, 2012
10am-2pm
The GCTC, Holland & Wellington

June 2nd Sneak Peek!

A quick peek at all the fantastic vendors we’ll have for you will have for you at Urban Craft’s June 2nd edition!

Foodie Finds:
Auntie Loo’s Treats
Bake Mob
Carabara
Lillipad

Bath & Body:
Purple Urchin
Mains de Mariposa

Jewelry & Accesssories:
urbanite jewelry
Strut Jewelry
Blush Beads
Magneties

Paper Goods:
Sapling//Seedling
Heart Meets Paper

Home Décor:
VersaTile Design
Emma Dilemma Designs

Kids Goodies:
Kokobaru
Couture Kids
Barnyard Bummz
Liv Well Toys
Buttons n’ Pins

A Sneak Peek At Urban Craft's May Lineup!

Fused Glass Jewelry from Water Willow

We're excited to announce a stunning lineup of fantastic crafters & gourmet food makers for the month of May! We'll have tons of your favorite people on hand and a slew of brand new crafters that we're excited to welcome to the show for the first time! A little birdie tells me that several of the vendors below are working on special gift packs just in time for Mother's Day! The lineup:

Indie Clothing:
Winged Beast
Caroline Villamarin
Apt. 613

Gourmet Food:
Koko Chocolates
Auntie Loo's Treats
Life of Pie
Urban Baking Co.
Bake Mob
The Organic Heretic
Really Horrible Enterprises

Bath & Body Goodies:
Purple Urchin

Gorgeous Jewelry:
Flights of Fancy
Chelsy Anne
Strut Jewelry
Urbanite Jewelry
Jasmine Virani
Emily's Trees
Water Willow

Kid's Goodies:
Rainbow Nest
Baby's Breath

Beautiful Art:
Jennifer Lytle

Home Decor:
Eufemia Bella

Urban Craft: The Easter Edition!

We're celebrating Easter Weekend with an all new Urban Craft, packed full of handmade goodness for each and every one of you! We're incredibly excited to have a new round of awesome vendors on hand in addition to your favorites. And--we've got a ton of goodies for the little tykes in your life! A preview:

Adorable animal caps from Kokobaru

Colorful diaper covers from Barnyard Bummz

Gorgeous kiddie clothes from Couture Kids

Fun diapers & diaper covers from Bumblebaby

And for the adults in your life...

Adorable handmade coasters from VersaTile

Lovely clothes from Paisley

Adorable handmade cards from heart meets paper

Plus 15 more fantastic vendors for you to shop from! If you've got company in town for the long weekend, bring them down to see us! Can't wait to see you there:

Urban Craft - April Edition
Saturday, April 7, 2012
10am-2pm
The GCTC (Holland & Wellington)

Urban Craft: The Windy Edition!

Gorgeous coasters from VersaTile Designs

Every month, as we get closer and closer to Urban Craft, we begin to watch the weather closely to see if Mother Nature is going to give us some awesome weather for the day of the show. We are always so excited to see temperatures in the plus side of things, and are even more excited when there's a chance of sunshine on the day. This has especially been the case since we launched our monthly market in the fall, and temperatures have only gotten colder and colder as the months have progressed (boy are we looking forward to Spring)! As we watched the weather in advance of the March show this past weekend, we became pretty excited as the 90% chance of rain we were supposed to get turned into a 20% chance and the projected temperatures began to rise. Total score!

Golden Triangle T-Shirt From Apt. 613

It seems as though Mother Nature had something completely different in mind for us on Saturday. As we began to set up the event on the day of the show, blustery winds blew in and began gusting up to 90 kilometers per hour! Balloons were ripped off strings; we lost a few sandwich boards to damage, and every vendor who entered looked a little more than windblown.

But should you ever question whether or not Ottawans are a tough and resilient folk, we have an easy answer for that: hundreds of people came out to the show. They were certainly windblown but happy to be inside and shop! And we were more than happy to see them, too!

Gorgeous glass pendants from Water Willow Designs

We expanded the number of crafters selling at Urban Craft for the first time this Saturday. Because of overwhelming demand from vendors and requests from the public for more vendors to shop from, we introduced half tables in order to add some new vendors to the mix. It was an experiment of sorts and seemed to work very well; we are still working on tweaking the setup and figuring things out as we go! We are so excited about how this show continues to grow in vendors and people. We are a lucky bunch!

Sewn goodies from Winged Beast Outfitters

Colorful cases from My Stow -n- Tow

Gorgeous modern pouches from Prairie Girl Creations

Our next show is coming up on April 7th! Here's hoping Mother Nature will bestow a gorgeous, sunny spring day on us then!

Foodie Finds for your Valentine!

It just so happened that for the sweet month of February, we had a ton of awesome local food producers apply to be a part of Urban Craft. Local favorites Pascale's All Natural Ice Cream, Michael's Dolce as well as some new-to-us companies like Hello, There and Kinburn Coffee all put their hats in the ring, and we were more than happy to oblige. What does this mean? We have got some seriously good gifts for your foodie Valentine this February. Observe:

Ottawa's reigning queen of ice cream, Pascale, will be on hand for this month's show with her half pints of ice cream, t-shirts and--most importantly--ice cream sandwiches. Why is that the most important? We took a poll and decided that Pascale's ice cream, sandwiched between two thin layers of brownie (!) are the most delicious anyone has ever tasted. You can decide whether or not we're right by coming down and snatching up one before they sell out on Saturday!

Love jam? Love deliciously unique flavors? If so, then you're probably familiar with Michael's Dolce. And if not--well, we'll be happy to introduce you to him this weekend. Michael makes seriously delicious jams with mouth watering flavors like Peach & Cardamom, Kiwi & Lime, Blueberry & Lavender and more. These aren't your typical jams, and they're seriously crave-worthy!

We're also super excited to be welcoming an out-of-town coffee roastery, Kinburn Coffee, this month! The folks at Kinburn own a farm in a small town, which has left a soft spot in their heart for small farms that grow coffee elsewhere. So they purposely source their coffee from small farms where they can ensure the quality of their coffee and also ensure that the that the men and women who produce your coffee were paid the Fair Trade price (which doesn't always happen when coffee is purchased from large Fair Trade cooperatives). We're incredibly excited to welcome them to Ottawa and to see and smell their coffee in person!

Hello, There is a new baked goods company that we're also excited to welcome to the show this month. Owner Kaitlin has been baking and blogging for a long time, but has decided to take the leap and offer her yummy goods out to the public. With goodies like homemade oreos, and earl grey sandwich cookies--you really can't go wrong!

What can we say about koko chocolates that hasn't already been said? Their flavors are delicious and inventive, the quality of their product is top notch and owner Jenn is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. If you want to buy your Valentine a box of chocolate this February, why not treat them to some of koko's chocolates and really knock their socks off? You're going to get chocolate that's 100 times better than what you'll find in the typical heart-shaped box, and you'll also be supporting a wonderful local business. Win win!

Photo from foodiePrints!

Auntie Loo's will also be on hand this month with their ridiculously good vegan baked goods. If you've got a sweetie who is holdin' it down vegan style, you will definitely want to pick up some of their cupcakes, bars or whoopie pies for Valentine's Day. I promise that if you hand over a big box of these goodies, your Valetine's will be as sweet as theirs, if yaknowhatimean!

We really love Urban Baking Co., with all their cookie and macaron goodness! Their lovely goodies make me sigh just thinking about them. Urban Baking Co. recently started making cake pops and I can't wait to sink my teeth into the delicious new flavors they've told me they'll have at the show: raspberry white chocolate and salted caramel!

We'll also have handmade cards to go with all these sweet treats, gorgeous sewn goodies for your little one, lovely jewels for the gal to wear on your Valentine's Day Out

Urban Craft February
February 4
10am-2pm
The Great Canadian Theatre Company (Holland & Wellington)
20+ independent, modern vendors!