Sponsor Profile: Coriander Girl

Photo by Becky Johnson

Who are you? Hey, I'm Alison Westlake and I own a little flower/antique shop called Coriander Girl. I sell fresh flowers as well as antiques, gifts and locally made crafts.

Where are you located? 1537 Queen St. W Toronto ON M6R 1A7, two blocks East of Roncesvalles on the South side.

What do you/your business/your product do? I offer an array of seasonal, fresh and dried, hand tied bouquets for events, weddings and passers by.

What does your sponsorship for the show entail? A live flower arrangement and two gift cards for the raffle, and $2 gift tags with handmade lavender sachets for the swag bags.

Why handmade? Okay, my flowers aren't handmade but, I do believe there is something rather crafty about floral arranging. Whether it's a "you were right" bouquet or something for yourself, flowers are for spreadin' the love. From the minute they are cut flowers begin to die and so I think of myself as intensive care for botanicals. This urgency creates a certain amount of tension in the work and this makes the entire process for me incredibly romantic. My flower shop is unique in that I make all of the paper goods for the business by hand with the help of my logo artist Maybelle Imasa Stukuls. Hang tags, business cards and other promo goods are each hand done in the back of my little shop. Coriander Girl was greatly inspired by Karyn Valino and The Workroom. I wanted a workspace for floral arranging and all things craft. Basically, I've always wanted a grand craft studio, so I opened my own store! Now, I have an excuse to play all day long!

Anything else we should know? Right now I'm loving that the main part of my job is shopping for crafts! I am constantly sourcing new products for the shop and on the look out for new artisans who want to sell their stuff on a smaller scale. In the New year I'll be carrying jewelry by the lovely Kalpna Patel and other great local artisans. I just starting carrying Ella's Botanicals which I think are perfect for Coriander Girl.

I've also joined the blog world, you can check out coriandergirl.blogspot.com for news about the shop with the occasional personal bit.

I'm so looking forward to the craft fair this year. If you had told me a year ago, when I was just a spectator at the show, that this is where I would be now, I'd have fallen over. I am honoured to be involved this year along side so many incredible artisans! Thanks to City of Craft for all your hard work!