The Best Show Ever

Spring is {finally} getting going here in Toronto. Spring is my favourite season, it is just sooo beautiful. I love the magnolia's and the cherry blossoms the best. A few snapshots of the gorgeousness of it all...

Day to Day: Leather Town

A visit to one of my supplier's here in Toronto, a leather warehouse. It's a crazy place, interesting and also a bit difficult to visit. I find myself here about once a week and that's Salim, my guy who gives me the best deals. If you're ever in Toronto I recommend a visit.

Weekend Recap

I was at City of Craft on the weekend and it was a great weekend. Well, let's be honest. It snowed here on Saturday morning. It was a really cold few days and we are all sick and tired of this nonsense. But, inside it was positively Springlike with Sakura blossoms dotting the ceiling and the sun poured in magnificently through the lovely stained glass of this beautiful church hall.

Overall I was really really happy with the show. It was fun to hang out with friends and chat with customers - new and old. I really appreciate all the lovely and encouraging feedback so if you are reading - thank you! I only got word that I was doing the show last Friday so I had exactly one week to prepare. I realized something though. I kind of laid off the shows in the past year because they can be pretty miserable, truth be told. Often there is a lot of schlepping and if you are not selling anything then it is the worst. Thus, I spend the majority of my time in production mode, filling orders for stores. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for this priviledge. But, I remembered how much joy and excitement preparing for shows brings me - it gives me a chance to try out a small run of a new product or idea and take it straight to market without worrying about photo shoots and such. It allows me to be creative in that way along with the fun of planning a display and packaging ideas. So if anything, it was a reminder to me to make sure I nurture that aspect of running my business, always trying out new product ideas and yes, maybe even incorporating a few more shows here and there.

In any case, hope you had a great weekend and start to your week. I will be posting a slew of new pouch's in the shop in the next day or so so stay tuned!

City of Craft

It's happening! Tomorrow! And it's gonna be sooooo good:

City of Craft
Saturday, April 22, 2013
11am-6pm
Trinity St. Paul's United Church
427 Bloor Street West
(one block West of Spadina)

Check out the sweet lookbook for the show here. 

See you at the show!

xo
Alison 

Show Prep!

Spring in Toronto is finally unfolding and with it comes all the gorgeous Spring craft shows!  City of Craft is one of the best, happening this Saturday and it is going to be beautiful. There is a stellar lineup of artists as always and the very talented Kalpna has outdone herself once again with decor.

Here at the Grace headquarters production is in full swing. I am focusing on having an array of small and affordably priced items. I made what felt like a million pouch's yesterday - and used up some old favourites; fabrics that you won't find anywhere in the Etsy shop. I will have also a huge stack of kimono scrap packs - they always go fast. And a few other items, some of the bigger bags and clutch's you might have seen in the shop.   

Oh and that damn cat. Just kidding, I love him. Look at him, cramming his 15 pound body into a small wooden box atop a pile of rare and precious exotic textiles, despite having a plethora of lounging options at his disposal.

Hope to see you at the show this Saturday!

Press: Financial Post

A few weeks back I was contacted by Canada's Financial Post magazine to talk about some micro financing I received back in August. I was excited to see that article came out this week. You can read the full article here.

p.s. The article actually appeared only in print - this website was the only place I could find it online. Unfortunately this article runs into another article right after so when you're reading and things stop making sense then it is time to stop..haha.

Get in my Closet: The Lace Edition

It's about that time of year when lace and light white cotton dresses start to seem like a viable fashion option again. They never really look that good on me but I like the idea of incorporating more lace here and there.

Uncovet

I was excited to see a little feature about GD on The Uncovet blog a few days ago. It's a fun article and talks about some of the experiences I had while traveling through India many years ago. You can check it out here.