Pom Pom Party (November 25, 7pm-10pm).

Greetings, Citizens.

Say, are you feeling the itch to make pom poms? Want to help your favourite craft fair create some overwhelmingly marvellous decorations for our upcoming show? The you are in luck! We are bringing back our annual decoration-making party and this year's theme is the mighty pom pom.

Oh, that image up there? That's just an optional outfit suggestion from the depths of the internet. What we will actually be doing is making ten trillion (give or take) li'l fluff balls made from templates lovingly laser cut at the workroom (pictured at bottom).

The decor party was always a great place for vendors, volunteers, staff and friends to mingle away from the mad rush of the big weekend and we are tickled pink that it is making a return!

The skinny:

City of Craft Pom Pom Party

Friday, November 25, 2011

7:00pm-10:00pm

the workroom

1340 Queen Street West

Toronto
(facebook event)

Free! Fun! Everyone is welcome.

Supplies:

Although we do have a bunch of supplies, we would be deeply grateful if you happen to have yarn lying around that you would like to contribute (it can that stuff you never found a way to love). If you have any of your own tools to use, that's wonderful, too.

Things you can bring:
Yourself
Friend(s)
Scissors (sharp and pointy)
Yarn - all varieties
Yarn needles (you know, the kind for weaving in ends)
Pom pom makers or templates

If you would like to contribute yarn but can not come to the party, pack it up in a box or bag labelled 'City of Craft' and drop it off at the workroom in the next week. We would be deeply grateful and it will make the big event all the more amazing!

A huge thank you also goes to out to Karyn for being so great in helping us laser all those circles!

Guest Blogger Picks: Anabela Carneiro.

1. Smooth Ride by Selena Wong. I love Selena's art and hope to pick up a print or two.

2. I am a huge fan of Good Night, Day's knits, and have accumulated quite a few pieces. They're so easy to justify since they're so cozy. I love all things dip-dyed, so this Meaford Cowl is perfect for winter 2011.

3. Marshmallows from I Love Puffy Love. The coconut-topped ones look especially delicious.

4. There are always a few kids on my holiday shopping list and stuffed toys from Fidoodle could be just the thing.

Anabela maintains the blog Fieldguided from her home in Toronto, which she shares with her partner Geoff and their two cats. Together, Geoff and Anabela run the Fieldguided shop.

Poppy Time.

Citizens,

It's November. You know what that means? Poppy time. It's also as good a time as any to mention these poppy pins made by 2011 City of Craft vendor, Julie Moon. Of course, we want you to buy things at the show but just in case you wanted a poppy pin in time for Remembrance Day (hurry), I believe these are also available at Kid Icarus, Magic Pony and probably other places.

As an added bonus, this photo is also taken by City of Craft 2011 photographer extraordinaire, Celine Kim!

Canzine City.

Just popping in to share a few pictures from our table-top paper city at Canzine this year. I forgot my camera so I am extra thankful to Danielle for taking these lovely shots. You can see the whole collection here. Pictured (from top) are houses by Tara Bursey & Michelle Renaud; Kid Icarus & Ian Phillips.

Guest Blogger Picks: Tara Bursey.

When City of Craft happens next month, Toronto will either be a winter wonderland, or-- more likely-- just relentlessly cold. I can't help but associate the last few City of Crafts with trudging through ice, snow and sleet carrying everything from bookshelves to a life-sized knitted skeleton to wine boxes and milk crates overflowing with zines. As nice as the winter months can sometimes be, my choices below evoke more carefree, temperate seasons filled with sunshine, snacks, see-saws and sea breezes.

1. The Maple Ridge: Wacky Illustrated Signs
I fell in love with these signs when I first learned about The Maple Ridge before last year's City of Craft. I adore the hand-lettered fonts, colours and sign shapes. Can you imagine an entire house labelled with these signs? Rich eccentrics: why don't you do this so Andrew can make a small fortune for himself?!

2. Sweetie Pie Press & Deadweight: Charm Pins
One of Sweetie Pie Press' latest pin sets is also one of my all-time favourites of the series. I especially love the eye, which reminds me of the pretty-yet-slightly-eerie painted eyes of an Egyptian sarcophagus.

3. Scouts Handmade: Pennants Bunting
Ahhh...being away from home, this bunting made of scavanged pennants reminds me of my own collection of souvenir pennants back in T.O, especially my Canadian National Exhibition one. I miss them!

4. rc boisjoli: Porcelain Peanuts
What a genius idea! Beautiful packaging, too. I wouldn't want to bite down on one, though.

5. Wolfe Island Woolworks: Tasty Looking Yarn
When I look at this luxurious yarn, I think of the best parts of both the summer and the winter: being warm and cozy when it's cold out, and wandering around a street fair or midway in the summer with a huge, fluffy cone of cotton candy.

Tara is an artistic jack(queline)-of-all-trades who does everything from sculpture and installation to zines to crafts to performance art to writing to curating and organizing. She is a regular contributor to Toronto Craft Alert, and is currently living and studying Art History in Baltimore, Maryland. She curated installation and exhibition programming for City of Craft in 2009 and 2010. Though she is sad to miss this year's fair on account of being out of town, she is already looking forward to next year's model.

Guest Blogger Picks: Michelle Renaud.

I generally enjoy picking out (or making) gifts for loved ones during the holiday season, but one gift purchase tends to stump me. The 'gift exchange' gift. Also known as Secret Santa, White Elephant or (and this term is new to me) 'Christmas Swamp Thing'. You know, the unique, yet mass appeal gift you bring to a holiday party that will be (hopefully) fought over by participants in what is usually a pretty fun game. This year, I'll be participating in three gift exchanges so I really need to come up with some fun gifts that my friends and colleagues will enjoy fighting over and be happy to bring home. Luckily, the vendors at City of Craft have got me covered.

1. A plant you can't kill by Shannon Gerard. Cute, unique and can be enjoyed by green and non-green thumbs alike. I have one of these already and can vouch that it really is impossible to kill them!

2. Edible gifts are always a hit at the Secret Santas that I've attended. I'm thinking that some handcrafted gourmet marshmallows would be a most welcome treat, especially the Orange Burst flavour. Yum!

3. And for the ever popular silly or gag gift, how about some ceramic jumbo peanuts? Amaze your friends, confound your enemies! Great work by the very creative rcboisjoli.

4. Finally, to wrap up these excellent choices, I'm going with kid icarus' fantastic 3D wrapping paper. I'm sure you'll agree it's pretty much a gift in itself.

Thanks to City of Craft, I'm all set for my gift exchanges. Now I just need to hone my no holds barred, take no prisoners, gift stealing strategy. I will be victorious!

See you at City of Craft!

Michelle is the City of Craft Volunteer Coordinator. She likes crafts and coordinating, so it's win-win. Get in touch if you want to volunteer (cityofcraft@gmail.com)!

Unspent Love Book Launch.

Citizens,

City of Craft staffer, past designer and forever-vendor, Shannon Gerard is launching a book. Launching it right out into the world! And you can catch one - at the launch.

Here are the deets from Shan:

UNSPENT LOVE, or, Things I Wish I Told You

Shannon Gerard

Conundrum Press is bustin out a paperback version of UNSPENT LOVE! YYZ is holding a launch to celebrate it on NOV 11 (11 11 11— make a wish!)

FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER, 2011

7-10 PM

@ YYZ ARTIST’S OUTLET

401 Richmond Street West, Suite 140

Toronto

Originally drawn and written as a series of online poetic vignettes, UNSPENT LOVE addresses themes such as hope, fear, and human frailty. Evolving through numerous iterations, including a gallery installation supported by the Nick Novak Fellowship at Open Studio, UNSPENT LOVE most recently appeared as an experimental wall installation at YYZ Artist’s Outlet. One chapter of this work won first place in the graphic narrative category of This Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt in 2010.

Conundrum Press is thrilled to announce the book version of the project, complete with a letterpressed wraparound jacket printed at Gaspereau Press. Embracing a variety of genres, from poetry to relational art to graphic novel, UNSPENT LOVE is as varied as the characters who populate its quintessentially human stories.

Animations from this series will be playing on the walls for one night only. Live music! And it’s a sushi party!

Read! See an animated wall! Use chopsticks! Laugh your head off! Find true love! (And spend it all. Just go for it. Don’t hold anything in reserve for your recovery. Love like crazy.)

Graphic Novel

Conundrum Press

ISBN 978-1-894994-58-3

8.5×5.5 inches / 176 pages

PS - You may see some (ahem) familiar crafty faces in those Unspent pages. Just sayin'.