Results tagged “crafts”

       

Our favourite pop-up mall, aka the One of a Kind Show, is back in action this week, offering seasonal goods to go with the seasonal change. Despite the recessionary pall, organizers' spirits were high, and though preliminary attendance figures were not available they were optimistic about the show's prospects. Craft sales (both the raw materials and the finished products) tend to swell in tough economic times, so the odds seem happily in OOAK's favour.

Outside: driving wind, plummeting temperatures, mermaid-chasing sea monsters on stilts. Inside: googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and that heady mix of scissors, glue, and lip-biting concentration known to craft-making kindergarteners the world over.

Today’s opening of the One of a Kind Show and Sale marks the unofficial kick-off of the holiday shopping season. We are officially in binge territory here: the exhibition hall takes ten minutes to walk from end to end and is stuffed to the rafters with every imaginable kind of artisan. It’s the ultimate in one-stop shopping for the indie set. As you’d expect, a wander through the stalls yields a mix of the fantastic and the just plain weird. The show is juried, which keeps the overall quality of the work pleasingly high, and we found lots of eminently covet-worthy things.

In the age of virtual everything, Don Taylor uses his hands to keep books alive that were written hundreds of years ago. Torontoist visited Taylor's studio on John Street, where he reinvigorates aging texts and creates stunning new bindings that are works of art in their own right.

Any sweetheart worth his or her weight in Godiva's will tell you that all they really want for Valentine's Day is something from the heart, made by hand. Lovely and true. But did said sweetie specify whose heart? Whose hands?

If you are saddened by your procrastination that cost you Richard Hawley and Jose Gonzalez tickets this week, you can direct your attention to the eclectic choice of shows as a mild substitute. It does, however, appear as if local label Arts and Crafts have successfully cornered the market on this week's moderately sized shows (read: tickets that cost no more than $35). Tuesday you can catch Jason Collett with a surprise guest at the...

Indie popsters Stars will be shooting a new video in Toronto tomorrow and Thursday and they want you to be in it. If you missed the Joel Plaskett shoot we told you about earlier this year, you've got another shot at your 15 minutes of fame (or at least becoming known among your acquaintances as "the one who was in a music video"). Aspiring extras should send photos and contact info to extras@blinkpictures.com for their chance to hobnob with Stars.

Last night, one of Torontoist’s adolescent fantasies came true … no, not that one…we finally saw synth pop group The Spoons in concert!

Queen West West hosts the Parkdale Arts and Crafts Festival this weekend, July 14 and 15 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Organized by the Parkdale/Liberty Economic Development Corporation (PLEDC), the festival is intended to "promote and celebrate the diversity of arts and culture in Parkdale." We're mostly going for the beer garden and knitted finger puppets.

"Do you trust your friends? Would you let them redecorate your apartment, or do your homework for you? Would you let them buy your groceries? Would you leave them in charge of your kids? And if you did, what would they change?"

The West End has its share of arts events in the upcoming months but what’s happening in the East?

Most people are probably jealous of Feist. As a globe-trotting artist she's had the chance to play shows around the world, both as a solo-artist and with Broken Social Scene, not to mention the time she has spent living and recording in France. But as her third album highlights, now out on Arts & Crafts, all of this travel has come at a high price. The Reminder shows the lonely life of the internationally popular musician who tries, unsuccessfully, to juggle their love life and career.

Often considered one of Toronto's best sex stores, Come As You Are (701 Queen St. W) is throwing a 10th Anniversary Party on Thursday night. The worker owned and operated store will celebrate ten glorious years with prizes, "thank you gifts," a toonie bin, prizes and erotic pastries (we're hoping for breast cookies and penis eclairs).

It's no wonder why Broken Social Scene are taking a "significant break" right now, aside from appearing at various festivals. It seems that all of the 1233 band members are busy working on their own projects at the moment, including lead guitarist Andrew Whiteman. On February 6th, Whiteman and bandmates are set to release Apostle of Hustle's sophomore album National Anthem of Nowhere on the Arts & Crafts label. To celebrate, the band will be doing a residency, called "Ouija," at the Rivoli one night a week over the next month, bringing along some special guests.

Cute sign on The Ghost is Dancing's merch table. Not pictured: delicious cupcakes.

This Torontoist was pouting last week when she couldn't find out how to get tickets to the Phoenix show Friday night at Mod Club. After futile searches and thankless queries to Ticketmaster all hope was gone. But at the eleventh hour everything changed: an email-invite from Arts & Crafts suddenly arose from the ashes.