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Slashpile Designs Virtual Shopping Tour - Made You Look
Made You Look is the final stop in our Virtual Shopping Tour (for this year, anyway!)
Located at 1338 Queen Street West, just west of Dufferin, the famous Queen West Store, established in 2001, represents over 100 local Toronto jewellery designers and has become a real hub for the jewellery community in Toronto. Attached to the shop is a large studio where 20, self employed, in-house designers make their jewellery under their own brand names. This means Made You Look Customers can browse a diverse collection of beautiful handmade work and interact with jewellers to consult about custom design and other services.
Take a stroll down Queen Street West, and visit the store in Parkdale, one of Toronto’s most unique, diverse and dynamic neighbourhoods and see for yourself the wonderful array of all kinds of jewellery. They offer everything from high end jewellery in precious metals (including wedding and engagement rings) to eclectic fashion, costume and art jewellery. All jewellery in Made You Look is designed and made by local Toronto designers.
Here’s a video from which you can learn more about Made You Look from owner, Sarah Dougall herself!
We absolutely love the store and are so proud to sell our jewellery in Made You Look. Most of our work can be found in a case on the left wall when you walk in. We used to be displayed in the South store, but both stores have been recently combined so all Made You Look jewellery can be found in one convenient location on the North side of Queen St.
- The wonderful, friendly Jenny, working on a custom piece at the counter
- So many beautiful, shiny objects!
- recognize anything? :)
- The case that holds Slashpile Designs pieces along with other fantastic jewellery
- comfy couch and lovely things
- Our diamond molecule studs and rings displayed along with other wedding-relatied jewellery!
Slashpile Designs Virtual Shopping Tour - Gallery Catalyst
Gallery Catalyst is very different from the other stores we sell our work in. The concept is affordable art: every piece is one of a kind, and comes in one of 3 sizes. All pieces of the same size are the same price, whether they were created by an established artist or someone fresh out of school. The idea is to make art collecting affordable and accessible to everyone. Artists featured include Dr. Seuss, Billy dee Williams and Rachel Isadora and up-and-coming artists like Johnathan Ball, Joann Côté and Adrienne Dagg.
The gallery opened in May 2013, and is a great addition to the Queen West strip. The idea was inspired by a gallery the owner visited in Paris, showcasing new and established artist equally. Each artist has their own podium display, with the 3 size options, and prices displayed on the wall. Customers can flip through the variety of paintings, prints, photos, etc, and even get them framed onsite. Slashpile Designs jewellery is displayed inside the gallery, in the cases near the counter, where there is a selection of jewellery for sale by local Toronto artists. Behind the cases are some larger pieces of art, also for sale. Gallery Catalyst also holds art openings and events, and the manager, Kelsey, was telling me about one opening where the artist actually was spontaneously struck by inspiration and actually started unwrapping her paintings and painting over them on the spot!
Gallery Catalyst is an exciting new space to check out, great for unique holiday gift ideas. Why not give someone the gift of original art?! Visit their website at https://gallerycatalyst.ca/
Slashpile Designs Virtual Shopping Tour - Flock Boutique
Uncommon goods for birds of a different feather.
Read through to the bottom of the post to learn how you can win $25 to spend at Flock!
We’re going to go a little further for this week’s stop in our virtual tour-we’re heading to Ottawa!
Located in the former House of Staples at 1275 Wellington St. West, Flock Boutique is the big sister to Workshop Boutique, a fashion staple in Ottawa’s Byward Market. You can check out their website at https://flockboutique.ca.
Flock Boutique loves Canadian handmade - which is why they carry the work of over 160 of Canada’s loveliest and most unique designers! They carry dresses & accessories, jewellery (of course!) scarves, mitts, finger puppets & the cutest little alternative baby section you have ever seen. The shop is fresh and fun and the vibe is grown up, work wearable, and ethically made
The ladies of Flock also offer classes in sewing, knitting, jewellery-making, and various other crafty pastimes.
Christina & Bridget, the duo behind Flock, met 9 years ago around 3am outside in the Byward Market building while they were waiting in a line up to sell their goodies on Canada Day. When the skies darkened and the winds started to pick up, they tied their tents together, thinking the weight would help them out. Instead, they had created a giant sail that had the pair gripping on for dear life while being pelted with hail and watching their handmade goodies slowly making their way into the storm drain! Christina and Bridget decided to open Workshop Boutique (their first store) 6 months later and Flock Boutique 5 years after that. They must be crazy, but they’ve done a wonderful job on both stores! Always a pleasure to stop by and spend some time looking around whenever we are in Ottawa!!
Both Flock and Workshop Boutiques carry a wide selection of Slashpile Designs jewellery, so make sure you check them out when you’re in town!
Slashpile Designs Virtual Shopping Tour – Freedom Clothing Collective
The next stop in our virtual shopping tour takes us to Bloor and Ossington, to Freedom Clothing Collective. Freedom is a not for profit organization promoting fashion, art, design and craft. They are located conveniently close to Ossington subway station, at 939 Bloor St West.
Freedom sells items by all local Canadian designers, and 75% of their items are made in the GTA. The store has such a cozy, welcoming feel to it and everything inside is beautiful to behold. They sell everything including clothing, jewellery, accessories, soaps and housewares. Even the display units in the store are wonderfully designed refurbished pieces of furniture by Poppyseed Living and are for sale (https://poppyseedliving.blogspot.ca).
Together, Jelena from Poppyseed Living and Karen from KooCoo Carillo (https://www.koocoo.ca) run the shop, along with some other collaborators. We have been selling our work in Freedom Clothing for years and love working with them. They currently carry a great selection of our jewellery, including our molecule line, 1 Carrot Diamond Rings, Dino Series and are currently the only retailer of our mismatched shark friend stud earrings.
Freedom Clothing Collective is a awesome store to get special, local gifts. There is something unique for everyone (men and women!) and to suit any budget. Happy shopping!
Slashpile Designs Virtual Shopping Tour - Corktown Designs
Corktown Designs is a fantastic place to find unique and interesting contemporary jewellery. The venue itself is beautiful, with brick walls and glass cases showcasing a huge variety of handcrafted jewellery and accessories, as well as some mass-produced pieces. It is located in Toronto’s historic Distillery District, which is a part of the city that is definitely worth visiting! The pedestrian-only village was formerly operating as the Gooderham and Worts Distillery from 1832-1990, which at one point was the largest whiskey and spirits distillery in the world. More recently, the 40 buildings of the old distillery were restored and opened in 2003 as a major tourist attraction, with lots of shops, restaurants, cafes, galleries and artist studios. There are often craft and farmer’s markets, festivals as well as music, fashion and art events.
Corktown Designs is right in the middle of the distillery district, at 55 Mill Street. The staff are very nice and helpful, and it’s a great place to shop for unique and special pieces or even just to browse and look at all the jewellery. The jewellery is separated in the case by designer, and they also carry some accessories, such as unique bags and scarves. Here’s a photo of our display, which is located towards the back of the store on the wall to the left of the entrance.
This is definitely a great place to check out for holiday shopping, or for something special to wear to all those fancy parties coming up! I hope you enjoy your visits as much as we do!
Slashpile Virtual Shopping Tour -Wise Daughters Craft Market
Welcome to Wise Daughters Craft Market, the first stop in our virtual shopping tour! This lovely boutique is located in the Junction area of Toronto, named because it’s near the intersection of 4 railway lines. The shop is just slightly off the beaten path, 1 door south of Dundas on Quebec Avenue (3079B Dundas St W).
Wise Daughters Craft Market in the Junction opened almost five years ago, just as the area’s rejuvenation was starting. Owner Mary Breen carries quality work by 75 southern Ontario handmakers (including jewellery by Slashpile Designs!) Wise Daughters offers an old-fashioned shopping experience, where Mary can not only help you find the perfect gift, but also tell you exactly who made it, how, and where. The merchandise is refreshed often, as new artists and designers showcase their work. You’ll find unique home décor items, clothing, accessories, toys, cards, pottery… it’s like One-of-a-Kind, but all year round!
Wise Daughters also offers workshops in all things crafty. Upcoming workshops include European Chainmail on Saturday, October 12th (that’s tomorrow!), Linoblock Printing on Wednesday, October 16th, Cable Knitting Simplified on Thursday, October 17th and Upcycled Map Notebook making on Saturday, October 19th. There are many more exciting worskhops, so check www.wisedaughters.com/workshops for the full schedule.
Whenever we stop by Wise Daughters, we also make sure to pop into Crema Coffee Co. which is right next door- we highly recommend the Chocolate Sea Salt Brownie
There are some more photos to complete our virtual tour, below! Happy Shopping!
Slashpile Virtual Shopping Tour
With the holiday season soon approaching, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for us to introduce you to some of the stores that carry our work-there are some really great shops (both local and abroad!) that you might like to visit!
Over the next few weeks, we will be creating a series of posts on our blog. Each post will give you a ‘virtual tour’ of a specific retail store, where you can find Slashpile Designs jewellery, along with many other wonderful things.
We’ll show you some photos of the shop, introduce you to the staff and let you know about any upcoming sales or events in that location.
So stay tuned…and enjoy!
Happy shopping!
Diamond (molecules) are a girl’s best friend!
We have re-designed our diamond rings to be more suitable for everyday wear!
Diamonds, at their basic level, are made up of a crystalline structure of carbon atoms. These diamond rings and earrings represent this basic crystalline structure. They are created in sterling silver and painted with enamel (black represents carbon in chemistry). A fun, clever gift for any chemist or scientist! or, if you are looking for affordable diamond jewellery!
Email us at [email protected] to pre-order!
Gore-Gore Rollergirls’ 22-way best friend necklace!
On 26, Jul 2013 | In All Posts, Custom Work, In The Making | By Tara
I Just finished another project that I’m really excited about!
As most people know, I have played roller derby for the past 3 years. This year was my first year playing on an official home team for Toronto Roller Derby, the Gore-Gore Rollergirls (the leopard print team). It’s an awesome sport, and an amazingly supportive team to be a part of. This year, after the season was over, I was commissioned by our team captains (Kandy Barr and Santa Muerte) to make a best friends necklace for each of our team members and bench managers. It started off as one giant leopard print heart, (with all the leopard spots hand-pierced by me-it took at least 8 hours just to make the pattern!), which I then cut into 22 pieces. I think this is the cutest, nicest gift a teammate could ask for, and as a jewellery maker, I’m so glad I could be the one to create it!!
- Team photo by Ashlea Wessel (www.ashleaw.com)
- cutting the heart out of copper
- drilling holes so I can get my saw blade in
- half leopard!
- 22 puzzle pieces!
- 22 necklaces
New dinosaurs joined our herd!
Now introducing new dinosaurs to the herd! Stegosaurus and Brontosaurus (or Apatosaurus) will soon be joining T-Rex on our website and in our Etsy shop!
These necklaces are a fun way to show your love of dinosaurs. Pick your favourite prehistoric beast and wear it proudly! Even more dino necklaces are in the works…
Pre-order a Stegosaurus or Brontosaurus necklace by e-mailing us at [email protected], or order a T-Rex necklace in our Etsy shop here.
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