Featured Shop : BRIKA on Queen Street West

I have a lovely shop to share with you today, called BRIKA. It's located in Toronto, on Queen Street West (right beside La Hacienda, near Trinity Bellwoods Park), however, if you're not in the city, don't click away -- They have a complete online store, as well! In fact, this unique shop started out on the web -- the founders decided to open a brick and mortar location only after their concept did so well online.

As for their concept, in their words ;

"At BRIKA, we connect highly talented artisans with creative and conscientious consumers through the best in modern craft. We make it easy for you by scouring the market for high-quality, beautiful pieces (including many that you won’t find anywhere else!), all available in our one-stop shop.

Our products are of heirloom quality, making them a joy to give (and receive!). In addition to beautiful, well-crafted goods, you’ll find inspiration within our creative community—a place for every person who inspires, or is inspired by, the power of following your passions.

OUR VALUES

BRIKA believes in fostering the following values in ourselves and others:

Everyone has a creative spark
A world of beauty lives in every small thing
Today’s craft becomes tomorrow’s heirloom
Some of life’s greatest lessons are learned from one another
We all have the tools to create a beautiful life."



Everything they offer is handmade by someone living in North America. Currently, there are over 400 different makers on their roster. Artisans can apply for the opportunity to sell their creations in the shop or on-line.

Meghan and I happened upon it one evening, after having dinner down the street. While most shops along Queen Street W were dark at that hour, the lights were on at Brika, and they appeared to be having a party! So, in we went.

How to Make a Halloween Bead Garland

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/easy-beading-project-make-a-halloween-garland-with-jackolantern-pumpkin-beads-from-bead-gallery-michaels.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37364 blk-brdr">Here's an idea for the beaders out there, or for anyone interested in learning a basic beading technique. It's a Halloween decoration, using a string of Jack-o-lantern beads from Michaels Craft Supply store, and some ribbon.These pumpkins caught my eye way back in March, as, although they're definitely seasonal they hang on the bead racks all year long. So, I kept seeing them and kept liking them, however wasn't sure what I'd do with 8 large (as far as beads go) bright orange pumpkins. Sure, I could envision one used as a pendant to wear during the last week of October, however, I could not see myself needing and using all 8 of them, and it seemed wasteful buying them all if I only needed one.Then, recently during one of Michaels relatively frequent "all beads on for 60% off sales" and the pumpkins ended up in my basket. I go to the store at Richmond and John in Toronto, but I imagine they have these at all their locations. Here's what you're looking for on Michaels' website : Pumpkin Beads. Each bead is 1 inch across and is made of reconstituted stone.The added feature of this garland is that each pumpkin bead is a fully functional pendant, made with the addition of small black beads, gold coloured headpins (50mm), and jump-rings (6mm), all also available at Michaels, however I'd gotten mine from one of the bead stores on Queen Street West (written about in this post.)

Late Summer Wrap Up

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/queen-street-west-toronto-black-bull-tavern.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37323 blk-brdr">I can't pretend that it's summertime anymore, and these shots of sunshine and light clothing will look very dated in a week or two. So, in an effort to keep up, here is a "catch-up" post including several fun outings and great places I had the opportunity to get to in the past few weeks.1) Nick's brother came for a visit from the west coast. I was able to be the tour-guide, a role I enjoy very much. Without question, one of the places that I feel all visitors to Toronto should see is Kensington Market, so we headed there early on the Sunday of his stay.The "early" part was due to the fact that our company was leaving later that day, but came with the added bonus of going out for breakfast.We went to KOS Restaurant, getting a seat out on their awesome patio. It's located just beyond what would be considered the central part of the market, so is a bit of a hidden gem, making it a good choice in a neighbourhood that tends to get very busy on the weekends. KOS has been running since 1975 and receives an excellent result on its Google Review Page, so you don't need me to tell you it's good, but I will anyway!

Our Middle of the Night Adventure : Nuit Blanche 2017

As I say every year when I write about this all-night art show, Nuit Blanche is one of my favourite times of the year. I'll never tire of getting up in the middle of the night and heading out to see what amazing experiences hundreds of artists, from Toronto and around the world, have set up for our pleasure.My only complaint is that it's impossible to see it all. This year there were 90 exhibits scattered around downtown. It's a really popular event and some areas get very crowded between 10 and 1, so we like to go to sleep early and set the alarm for 2am. Doing so, allows us to avoid any line-ups, however, we have found that some things are all wrapped up by the time we arrive. It's a trade-off, but being one who avoids crowded situations if I can, early morning works.Here's what we saw : (We rode our bikes which is how we covered as much ground as we did.)Looking north from the corner of Richmond and Bay, a series of images were were being projected onto the clock tower at Old City Hall -- "The Many Large Houses of the Ghosts" by Marianne Nicolson.

No Cars Equals a Good Look at the Buildings : Toronto Open Streets

The idea for an event where city streets are closed to cars and trucks, thus opening them up to people walking, biking and skating, was first born in Medellin, Colombia. Since then, Open Streets has been adopted in many cities around the world, Toronto being one of them.

Every city does their own version, but the goal is the same everywhere : to give residents in busy crowded environments the rare opportunity to walk or ride in the middle of streets which are normally clogged with traffic. Rather than the usual array of vendors and food trucks found at most festivals, during OpenStreets, the route is filled with Activity Hubs, where participants can opt to do things like dance, exercise, play a game, or listen to music.

In Toronto, participation involved the closing of Yonge Street, from Queen Street up to Bloor, and Bloor Street from Sherbourne to Christie, to traffic for four hours on two Sunday -- this year they were August 20th and September 17th. Nick and I went both times, with our bikes. For the first one, I brought my camera and took these pictures, but for the second one, I left it at home, because, understandably, having to stop riding every block or so to take pictures, made the experience less fun for the person without the camera!

I fully intended to get this post up last week, but then got caught down a rabbit hole, poring over historic photographs at the City of Toronto Archives, finding old images of the places we'd passed on one of the city's first streets, Yonge Street. In hindsight, I wish I'd looked at the historic pictures first and then gone and tried to take shots from the exact same vantage points, however, even though I did it the other way around, I got some good comparisons, now versus then.

No question, many of the old buildings along Yonge have been torn down and replaced during the past hundred years, but a good number of beautiful original structures still stand, some refurbished to their former glory and some looking worn and a little worse for wear. Regardless of the peeling paint, they're still there though, which, in my opinion, is invaluable given a city that is changing dramatically by the second these days.

Beginning at the corner of Yonge and Queen ...