Whiteout Workshop Whiteout Workshop

Market Collective Recap

This past weekend I was down in Calgary one last time for the summer and it seems I saved the best for last. It was Market Collective’s 6 anniversary birthday celebration and well I don’t think it could have been any better than it was. The venue was absolutely perfect, the weather was amazing, tons of talented artisans, the best local live music and all the YYC food trucks. Seriously what else did you need. Oh and it was right next to the river.

I started doing Market Collective back at the beginning of 2010 and have tried to do everyone I could since. I think I only missed 1 or 2 since I began. Market Collective as many of you know has helped to shape many of my friends businesses with myself included in this bunch. Shows like this helped me to grow Whiteout W. into what it is today and I could never say thank you enough for having a show that support so much talent.

I truly hope if you live in Calgary and have never been you can make it out to the next one. It’s worth a road trip for a great day of fun as well.

Like normal I can barely contain my spending habits and this weekend I got to pick up some pretty amazing find as well. This is some of the great handmade goodies you can find and are the new additions to my home.

MC

Art IllustrationsGloria Ho
I don’t know what it is about these little hipster bears, but I ended up buying all 6 of them who had little hats on. These will all be framed above my bed. I fell in love with each and every one of them and can’t wait to get these framed and hung up!

Wood Block Printed CardsHop & Flop
Who doesn’t need to have a drawer of cards for the unknown event that might just call on it. Butter Up & Chill seemed perfect along with a rain cloud spitting a little waterfall. So much fun.

Ceramic PinS’more Society
I know it is hard to see, but I picked up a little mountain pin that is going to be placed on my winter coat for the season. Each one of my winter coats has a small pin or broach and this one is going to be well loved.

Local Calgary Lifestyle MagDote Magazine
You had to know with my absolute love for print media I’d be all over this magazine and reading it line for line. After leading up design for 5 years on magazines it was so cool to see a brand new publication hit the scene I am so familiar with. It seems everyone else fell in love as well since they ran out. Watch their media outlets … I’m sure they’ll have more for you soon enough

Ceramic MugSalty Sea Dog Designs
With winter coming I figured it was time to add another tea drinking and relaxing mug to the collection. I managed to snag their last ship one and couldn’t be happier. They do some pretty fun ceramics with great designs. Already have it filled with tea in front of me while I write this post.

Enjoy all your amazing new finds from this past weekend and hope to see you at the Christmas market coming up soon enough.
Natasha

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Thank You One of a Kind Show!!!

Well I’m home, grabbed some zzzz’s and think I am finally catching up after a crazy crazy show! I can’t thank you enough Toronto for always showing me such love. For those of you who have no clue about the One of a Kind Show in Toronto let me fill you in because it is pretty fun and amazing.

One of a Kind Setup

At this show I am super lucky that I can pay a little extra and have hardwalls (drywall) setup and waiting for me. Having large artwork and being there by myself makes it nearly impossible if I were to set it up by myself. When I arrive it is one big blank slate and boy do I love making it my own shop for the weekend. In total the booth will take me about 18 hours of work, painting, adding shelves, a small storage room and getting all the artwork hung straight. Turned out okay though I think?! This time I went for it and snatched up a 5 x 20 foot space, so I got to display basically everything.

Booth Setup

The show runs from a Wednesday – Sunday and includes one of the days working from 10 am – 11 pm. I know crazy right?! It is a packed house that night! With over 400 artists from all over Canada you need that much time to take it all in. Plus they have a live DJ and serve wine, so how can you go wrong?! From that Thursday night and on I had one packed house in the little booth. I was so lucky to have Jen (she is in the left corner smiling) there to help me out. Thx Jen!!! She was my lab manager over 12 years ago when I managed a little camera shop. Yes I am that old now! I was super thankful and happy to be working together with Jen again. We fell back into our groove pretty quick.

Booth

It was my 4th year doing the spring show and it keeps on getting better. Many of you were first time customers (hello!) and many are my loyal friends who come back every time with some of you even flying in from the US for an amazing handmade shopping experience. The One of a Kind is worth checking out if you’ve never been. Email me before Christmas as I always have free tickets to give away if you want to go. The Christmas show runs from Nov. 25th – Dec 7th … so 11 days to get your shop on! ….

My Finds

…. and do I ever love shopping all the handmade artisans here!! Luckily this year it was a bit busy or I would have spent more money than I could have afforded to spend. I did manage to get away from the booth for a little bit and picked up these amazing finds from Jenna Rose (shoulder bag and pouch), The Candi Factory (top/tunic and scarf) and a great selection of tea from Tealish. They have a little shop on Queen, so if you are in TO it is 100% worth a check out.

My next stop is here in my home town and I will be setup next to Twin Cabin Co (you know that other little side project of mine) at Make It Edmonton (actually in St. Albert). This show happens April 11th – 13th.

See you out there!
Natasha
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Thank You Toronto!!!

Well as I am getting ready for my next spring shows I wanted to just give a HUGE shout out and thank you to Toronto and the One of a Kind Show. It was the best show I’ve done there yet and can’t get enough of the love and support I feel when I hit TO.

In return I thought it would be fun to show you how the setup all goes. Many of you just show up to shop, but don’t know the hours and sometimes days that go into building the “little store” for the weekend. This time around I was so happy to have flown my mom (she’s the one in the photos) out with me, because by myself it does take days to build normally. This time around my mom and I did it in about 12 hours. I know crazy huh?!

Here are photos of the beginning stages and then how you all saw it by the time we opened … even though we did do an adjustment on Friday morning to show off more artwork. Even though it takes a lot of time I absolutely love doing it! Maybe I am the one who is crazy?!

Hope you enjoyed seeing these photos and us at the show!
I will hopefully be back at Christmas time and if not for sure next Spring for 2014!
See you soon Toronto!
n.

That’s a wrap!!!

Farmers’ Markets 2012

Well another season of farmers’ markets comes to an end!!! Such an amazing summer and can’t thank you enough for coming out each and every week to say hi (even when it was a bit cold) at both City Market DT and also out in St. Albert. It was our first year in St. Albert and you definitely gave us a warm welcome!

We all got extremely lucky with wonderful weather and not a single day that we were totally rained out. There were a few chilly days and thx for not laughing at me with my mittens, toque and 18 layers of clothes. I hate feeling cold. You know we’ll be back in full force next summer with even bigger and better things!!! They are already in the works.

But until then be sure to stay connected to the blog for where you can find us while waiting!!!
natasha

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