City of Craft sponsor love!

Did you know that City of Craft enjoys the assistance and support of very special sponsors for each and every one of its shows? We're very lucky and thankful that several local businesses and organizations are helping us for City of Craft Spring 2015 and we'd love for you to meet and get to know them!
 
First up is our amazing venue - The Theatre Centre - a nationally-recognized arts incubator, which serves as a research and development hub for the cultural sector.  The Theatre Centre's new space is a gem and we love being able to use it.

 City of Craft,  December 2014 ~ photo by Becca Gilgan

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For this show, our wonderful venue and amazing vendors will be captured by Laurie, the talented photographer behind Effie Watt.

Effie Watt Photography ~ Fieldguided tote

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Coriander Girl is pretty much the perfect floral sponsor for a spring show. Their Parkdale shop has beautiful flowers, perfect plants and sweet gifts.

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Each City of Craft show has its own poster, expertly silk screened by the talents at Kid Icarus - the wonderful print and gift shop, located both in Kensington and Parkdale.

City of Craft Spring 2015 poster ~ designed by Paul Dotey (see below) & printed by  Kid Icarus

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A long-time sponsor and friend of City of Craft, the workroom is Toronto's go-to place for fun sewing lessons, gorgeous fabric and friendly advice.

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Paul Dotey is our designer for this show and we love, love, love his minimalist forsythia! Look out for him at the show along with some amazing new printed textiles he's designed.

Fountain Drinks screen print by Paul Dotey

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Last by not least, you might not recognize the name Old Weston, but you definitely know GhostfaceKnitta (aka Kalpna), expert crafter, window designer/decorator and jewellery maker. Her sponsorship for this show includes basically organizing the whole thing. Thanks Kalpna, very nice of you!

You can come meet many of our sponsors at City of Craft Spring on April 18. Plus about two dozen vendors of handmade and vintage goodies. Yay!

Thanks again to our amazing sponsers...we love you so much!!

City of Craft Spring :: April 18!!

Citizens!

The rumours are true! Our 4th City of Craft Spring is happening at the Theatre Centre on Saturday, April 18!

Amazing poster by Paul Dotey

Over 20 vendors...many of them new to City of Craft! Handmade goodness, rummage and supplies...it's going to be terrific!

More details here. See you there!

February 8, 2015: Love & Rummage at the workroom

Citizens!

We`re so thrilled to once again be co-hosting our little February trunk show at the workroom this Sunday!

 

Fourteen amazing vendors will be selling wonderful items - it`s the perfect place to pick up something for your Valentine or yourself (...especially yourself)!

Check out this sweet handmade goodness:

 

Upcycled coffee cozies by Heart`s Haven

 Hand painted card by dreamsouth

Hexagon stud earrings by Moonlight for Violet

 Hug print by Dot Handmade

 

Zebra valentine by Krista Lalonde

Also up for grabs will be some great rummage...household goodies as well as art and craft supplies at excellent prices!

You can also bring your no longer worn sweaters to donate to The Lennie Project so they can be upcycled into hats and cowls and given to local shelters and homeless programs.

As always, Love & Rummage is FREE and there will be SNACKS! Need we say more? Come spend the afternoon in Parkdale...see you there!!

Sweater Drive at City of Craft: donate a sweater, help the homeless!

Today's the day citizens! City of Craft opens this evening at 6:00 pm!  

Whether you come Friday (6:00 - 10:00 pm) or Saturday (11:00 am - 6:00 pm) or Sunday (11:00 am to 5:00 pm), please plan to bring an old sweater (or 3) to donate to a great cause!

Local eco-accessories designer Nathalie-Roze Fischer is running a Sweater-Drive during City of Craft.

Please bring in your cozy old sweaters, and she'll morph them into Toques, Neck-warmers & Mitts to be donated to local shelters & homeless programs. And, if you like, you can help cut & sew these items during the show. Nathalie-Roze will be doing some production on-site, and you can get hands-on (if you like) or maybe sign up to volunteer at upcoming sewing parties.

 

NOTE: Warm winter-weight sweaters (ideally, wool) are best, please. Also, since most donations are given to men, partnering agencies have requested mainly low-key colours/patterns.

This Make & Donate Upcycling initiative is part of The Lennie Project, a series of deliberate acts of kindness aimed at helping Toronto's most vulnerable ~ inspired by the big-heartedness of Nathalie-Roze's uncle (Lennie) who died of cancer last year.

Please give to this amazing project!

Questions? Contact N-R at: info@nathalie-roze.com

Twitter: @NRandCo  Facebook: http://on.fb.me/oJ7VEg

See you at City of Craft!

Workshops at City of Craft!

Citizens! City of Craft is mere days away and along with the dozens of wonderful vendors with handmade goodies you'll love, we will once again be hosting some great workshops in the Craft Lab. 

This year, the workshops will be 'pay what you can' to help cover the cost of supplies, but for a few dollars and a bit of time, you'll learn a new craft and be able to take home what you make. Amazing!

Be sure to leave time during your City of Craft experience for one of these fantastic workshops.

Here is this year's line up:

Paper Marbling – Saturday 12:00 pm to 1:00pm

Participants of this workshop will be able to experience the joy of paper marbling in all it’s swirly glory.

Instructors: The OCAD U Student Press exists to foster critical engagement through publishing in the OCAD U community. It has grown into a body that publishes stellar work across all disciplines, organizes talks and events, facilitates workshops, and continues to evolve. 

 
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Collage Pinback Button Making - Saturday 1:30 pm to 2:00 pm

Make a pinback button using various collage material such as magazines, vintage textbooks and postcards from City of Craft's past.

Instructor: Marta Ryczko is the Craft Lab Coordinator at City of Craft. She is also also a designer, illustrator and zine maker.  She recently completed a creative challenge where she designed something every day for 1000 days!

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Book Binding – Saturday 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

In this workshop participants will learn how to bind a button hole book using up-cycled City of Craft postcards from previous years.

Instructor: Shannon Gerard writes and draws books, crochets (a lot), make prints, and produces large-scale installations incorporating stop-motion animation and wheat paste.

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Brush Lettering Workshop – Sunday 12:00 pm to 1:00pm

This City of Craft workshop will focus on brush calligraphy. We'll cover how to control the brush, and learn all the basic strokes of the alphabet. If time permits we will play some word games with your new found skill.

Instructor: KyleGallant is a letterer, designer, and co-founder of Ligatures, a typographic interest group in Toronto. From lettering workshops to movie screenings, Ligatures was built on creating a sense of community amongst YYZ creatives through sharing of information and resources. 

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Handmade Paper Button Making Sunday 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Participants will be able to press 1 inch pinback buttons using a wide variety of handmade papers created by Paperhouse Studio.

Intructors: With some cast iron and a whole lot of love, Emily Cook and Flora Shum opened Paperhouse Studio in 2013. Paperhouse is a hand papermaking facility in Toronto with dreams to share and explore this versatile medium with innovative research and teaching.

See you there citizens!

Volunteers needed for City of Craft!

Photo by Becca Gilgan

It's that time of year! City of Craft is coming up and we're looking for volunteers to help make our favourite Toronto craft show a reality.


Volunteers are extremely important to making City of Craft happen. Helping out at  the show is a fun way to support Toronto's awesome craft community.
Some of the tasks volunteers take on include:
- setting up and taking down tables/chairs
- handing out swag bags at the door
- taking admission
- selling official CoC merchandise
- helping out vendors by watching over their tables when they need a washroom/food break
- being generally helpful, friendly and welcoming to City of Craft
 
So easy! In exchange, volunteers get the chance to be part of a fun creative event and meet great people in Toronto's craft community (and beyond).

To be a volunteer, you must:
- be able to commit to a minimum 3 hour shift during the event (though you are welcome to sign up for more!)
- be a human being :)

Interested? Of course you are! So send a quick e-mail to cocvolunteer[AT]gmail[DOT]com and be sure to mark CoC down in your calendar - December 12, 13 & 14, 2014 at The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen Street West).

Thanks and see you at City of Craft!

Stay crafty,
Michelle
CoC Volunteer Coordinator 

Hex Appeal.

A big thank you to everyone who came out to our decor party last night. Want to see what all these hexagons and trianges turn into? you will just have to come out to the big show Saturday.