Scotch/Rye gets Etsy-tastic!

I finally started an Etsy page! It's only a fifth of the way there, but it's a start! At this point, I have only added the greeting cards that are all hand illustrated by the very talented Emma Gordon.
Head on over to Etsy to see these super little cards and check back in a week or so, I'll  hopefully have more items listed then!

A Great Review of Scotch/Rye

Scotch/Rye got another super mention from a brand new, awesome blog - Chromati Contrapposto. It's a very flattering article! Check it out, here!

Mehreen (the author behind Chromati Contrappost) will be detailing other Canadian artists in future blog posts, you should 'follow' her blog to keep up-to-date on new art in Canada!

Handcrafted Promises blog mention!

Scotch/Rye received its first blog mention the other day! Yay! It was from the exceptionally lovely folks at HandCrafted Promises. They did a great article on Canadian Celebratory jewelry over the long weekend, and were kind enough to list the Arts Market as being a real hub of Canadian creativity and uniqueness. You can read the full thing right here!

I received an exciting shipment the other day. Up until now I have been painstakingly making each and every price tag for my creations. Which is no mean feat seen as I have made over 600 things to date! With the opening of another store, I decided to invest and purchase some pre-printed tags online. A little bit of a cop out, but I figure it means I can spend more time making things and less time cutting out teeny-tiny price tags for rings! I think they turned out pretty swell!

The new Arts Market location at 846 College Street

We're very happy ... Scotch/Rye is now being sold in a second location in Toronto! Our product selection is now available at the newly opened Arts Market located at 846 College St. We've had great success at the east end store so far and look forward to many more months in this great artistic community in the west!

We recently did the Wychwood Barns weekend art-show (pictured). Scotch/Rye teamed up with the talented illustrator, Emma Gordon (who is soon to be selling her handmade gift cards on the the Scotch/Rye stall in both of the Arts Market locations!). We had a really great day meeting lots of lovely people as well as experiencing the great Wychwood Farmers Market (which I'm going to be frequenting a lot!).

With all the crafting madness going on (with a new store and an art show), I still found time to come up with some new products! Phew! Some hand-painted galaxy shorts (priced at $30) are now available at both Arts Market locations and some marble rings (which are only available in Leslieville at the moment), I've also been making a few tie-dye items alongside some dyed shorts; which I think are pretty swell! Also, I received some feedback on the floral headbands that I've been making, people want smaller flowers (who knew!), so I've sewn a few of those..I'll keep you posted on their success.

After all the preparing for the second Arts Market and the Wychwood Barns show, I'm going to be taking a little break from creating (only for a week or so!). I'll be back with some more creations soon, including some super household items I've thought up!

Barns Art Market: June

I'm excited to announce that Scotch/Rye will be participating in the Wychwood Barns monthly Arts Market on June 29th from 9am to 2pm.

There are 25+ exhibitors, open studios, building tours and free admission.

There's jewellery vendors, painters, ceramics crafters, clothing and more!

Adding to the madness, The Barns Art Market runs concurrently with the The Stop's award-winning Farmers' Market (8 am to 12 pm). Exciting!

To see more, have a look at the Barns Art Market Facebook page - HERE!

More Mason Jars!

Gah! What a lovely, lovely day! I've been painting and glueing s'more mason jars on our balcony (in the sunshine). I think they're super cute. We have a few sat out on our kitchen counter, they really brighten up the place.

A fellow Arts Market vendor has suggested I make some of these for cereal, which I think is an awesome idea! So I guess, there's more to come ...

Cufflinks

I have been asked a few times since I started working with typewriter keys if I could maybe make cufflinks? Well, yes! Yes I can!

I ordered some bases online the other day. When they arrived, they were a little bigger than I expected (hence only using larger keys at the moment). Hopefully (if these are a hit), I'll be ordering some smaller bases soon. That way I can put together a bigger selection of typewriter cufflinks!

I'll be taking these to the Barns Arts Market in June.

New Teacup and Cake Rings!

I made some more teacup rings last night. I'm in love with the cup-of-tea with a lemon slice in the middle (far left). I'm taking these to the Arts Market TODAY! Prices start at $11.

House-y Pieces!

Whilst I love making clothes and accessories (the thought of people wandering around Toronto wearing my creations is really thrilling!), I thought making home wares in a similar style or feel to my worn items would be fun and a wee bit more challenging!

Here's where I'm at so far. I've been working on Scrabble Tile fridge magnets with day-to-day words spelled out, 'Shopping List,' 'Dinner,' and 'To Do,' to name a few! I thought these would be great for holding up notes or photos.

I'm also dabbling with door signs. I've only made 'Bathroom' so far. I think these would be nice with hooks below and 'Keys' lettered on top, too. I'm also thinking on making a hotel-style 'Do Not Disturb' hanger.

And, with some of the ceramic doll-house tea-set items I had left over, I decided make my own 'Coffee,' 'Tea,' and 'Sugar,' jars by customizing some Mason jars I had sitting about the place. They're a total hit, I've had a few requests already!

There will be panda-monium when I take these to the Arts Market!

So, I totally knew those black n' white bear men were going to be arriving at The Toronto Zoo. So I ordered these in advance ... s'more tea set jewelry coming soon!

S'been a busy weekend ... More Collar Tips!

Collar Tips

I was home in the UK a few weeks ago, and saw that collar tips are really 'in.' With that, I decided to try and make my own. These guys only took a short while to make, yet they look really great. I need to polish the overall 'look' a wee bit, but for the most part ... they look pretty swell! I'll keep these for myself and work on some other styles tomorrow. Pics coming soon!

Flower Power!

So, I've seen these flowery headbands EVERYWHERE as a 'summer essential'. Whilst I really liked the style, for the most part, I didn't think they were worth the price(s) they were listed at on various websites. SO, I decided to try and make my own. They worked out awesome and look really great on. They go with summer dresses, plaid shirts, shorts and tee's. I've priced them at $10 and up (max $15), and I'm hoping they're going to be a hit because I think they're really cute!

Blog neglect (sad face)

I know I've been neglecting my blog over the last few weeks. I think I'm kind of up-to-date now though. The reason for the neglect: I co-organized a fundraiser for the animal welfare shelter PAWS (Peoples Animal Welfare Society). Which was a huge hit! Over 70 people turned out and we raised $2100 for the charity...a success I would say!

We had an evening of food, drinks (the event was sponsored by Mill Street and Creekside Winery), a lot of the Arts Market vendors and Leslieville stores donated some of their products, which resulted in around 13 silent auction baskets, Trivia, there were readings from +Spencer Gordon , Mat Laporte and Jim Smith and live music from Robin Byrd.
It was a total success and I'm really proud of all that Annie (my co-organizer) and I managed to achieve.
I'd do a fundraiser again in a heartbeat...maybe in a few months though!

New Keys!

I got a hold of a new typewriter the other day. I've been so busy working on more rings this weekend; my fingers are numb from all the filing.

I reduced the random '#' and '%' keys to $5 at the Arts Market last week. Apparently, they have really shifted since the price reduction. Which is great! It makes room for the others I've been working on, too as the 'letter' keys are always a hit!

Collar Tips!

I got this awesome haul of old jewelry when I was home in the UK. I've already made myself a ring out of one of the huge white flower earrings. I like them as earrings, however I have a small face = small ears and they drown me.

I'm going to be working on some collar tips with the rest of them this week. Great for jazzing up a spring outfit!

Headbands

My good pal +Ela Monteith-Hodge modeled a few of my new headbands the other night in exchange for dinner!

The bottom left photo is made of a shiny green and pink fabric I found whilst rummaging in my mum's fabric box, on my latest trip home to Scotland. The headband has wire through it so you can bend it into all shapes and bows. It's very 80's and Cyndi Lauper-esque!

The top right photo is the latest addition to my headband selection and I LOVE it! It's so summery and colourful. I've only made these in pink and white so far, but will be working on some other colours this week. They're a cinch at $12, too!

Arts Market Newsletter

***Good News!***
The Arts Market will be releasing a newsletter with exciting updates on new vendors, events and classes. If you would like to receive copies of our newsletter on a monthly basis: please email daniel@artsmarket.ca with the word 'Newsletter' in the subject line.

Vinyl!

I've been playing about with vinyl over the last few weeks. It's very, VERY hard to mold into the shape I want it to be! and...it needs to be really hot which makes things even harder.

Anyway, theses earrings are a practice run which I'm going to keep for myself and keep working on the vinyl jewelry!

Scrabble Tiles Revamped!

The regular Scrabble tile rings sell really well. It can get kind of repetitive making them though! I decided to make some studded Scrabble rings for a wee bit or variation. They were kind of fiddly, but turned out pretty well. They're at the Arts Market for $12 now!