Happy Holidays!

Christmas day is closing in, and many last minute missions have been accomplished at Winkel. As we head into the holidays, I want to wish all of you the best of the season and thank you for supporting small and local in 2008!

Window Wonder

After a busy afternoon of Christmas shoppers, snow was falling outside, so I decided to get some more shots of the holiday window display. I'm quite pleased with it and couldn't have finished it without the help of my friends Theresa and Deb, who came out in separate shifts to bring some beauty out of the chaos.



Snowflakes, silver, and Sassy Santa hangin' out with his pinups. Vintage barware scattered about to add a little cocktail bling.


These little birds were handmade in the sixties. A few of them will be flying home with me this year.

Naughty & Nice

The highlight of having a little shop is creating a Christmas window every year. I start hatching a plan in October and try to incorporate something appropriate from my ever changing stock. These vintage calendar pinups are from the wintery months of the forties and fifties. I've hung them with silver tinsel garland and they surround my 5ft. waving Santa that I acquired last year.



I was inspired by the new Inked Holiday Cards that are new to Winkel. Saucy tattooed pinups give a sexy spin to Christmas greetings, and I love that they're made right here in Toronto, too!



The Inked collection includes greeting cards, mini card and gift tag sets. One of my favourite things for the holidays.

Holiday Wanderlust 2008

Christmas shopping at the mall can be a hectic and stressful experience, so why not stroll the neighbourhood for an evening of holiday warmth and cheer? Leslieville will be hosting the third annual Holiday Wanderlust on the evening of Thursday November 27th. Many of the local shops and galleries will be open from 6 to 10pm offering special deals and treats to ring in the shopping season.

Winkel will be screening a collection of vintage holiday specials including "Christmas with Frank and Bing" and "Johnny Cash Christmas 1976". Sweet treats and eggnog on ice to re-energize your shopping spirit, and catch a sneak peak of the new line of Winkel Kards that I've been creating exclusively for Winkel.


Naughty Santy is actually a print block from 1932. Printed with my Line-O-Scribe showcard press.

The ever popular Bald Guy Greetings are back with hysterical holiday cards, too:



I hope many of you can join us Thursday night!

Coming Soon.......

Before & After

Sad sandwich board. It has served it's purpose for just over four years at Winkel, but with the new purple and orange colour scheme it was time to freshen up. Rather than ordering up a new sign, I wanted to find a creative way to bring new life to this one--a much greener solution.



I usually have a good selection of vintage magazines at the shop, so I went through a few that were a little ragged and clipped a variety of iconic product and shopping images to create a collage border around the chalkboard painted surface.
It reflects the eclectic nature of Winkel and I get to change the message on a regular basis.

The Winkel Shrine

Since the opening of Winkel, I've accumulated many small items that make me smile and they live in the Winkel Shrine. It started with the lovely Ganesh that came from a television series I worked on before opening the shop. It's plastic rather than plaster, and many have wanted to purchase my beloved protector, but to no avail. Then the little things started being added...some are gifts from friends of Winkel, others just silly little novelties that give me a chuckle when I see them.



The Dutch girl is so wrong she's right on. Did fluorescent pink and orange replace the classic Delft blue and white?



Hey Pug! What have you done to Mr. Bill?????



The playdough representation of Hubble, the official dog of Winkel, saved from the Winkelbread house. It gets a little greasy in the summer, but I can't part with it. Buddha boy keeps an eye on things in the back.



An insipid cupid tchotchke rocks it out Gene Simmons style with a KISS makeover. The love child of the KISS Army!





Always the heartbreak in any vintage shop, the items that are NOT for sale. Why are they always the most appealing? When I eventually finish enjoying these treasures I'll send them on to a good home, but the gifts from friends will stay with the shop forever.

Valentine's Chocolate Sale

Letterpress Obsessed

First I loved paper. Then I fell for vintage cards and postcards. Fortunately, with the rediscovering of traditional arts and crafts, many people are creating lovely letterpress cards and stationery, which I frequently add to the selection of cards I sell at Winkel. One of the recent arrivals I'm very excited about is Night Owl Paper Goods.



These cards are printed on slips of sustainably harvested wood. I just want to frame and display every single one! No worries about postage handling 'cause these babies are wafer-thin enough to mail.



Another fave letterpress company is ThatSkyBlue from Montreal. Clean and colourful graphics printed on cotton paper stock that feels embossed. Fine quality cards, indeed.

I was lucky to take a letterpress workshop last fall at Kozo Studio Gallery in Toronto. We learned the basics of letterpress printing and cranked out a few of our own creations. I was hooked! A couple of weeks later I bought a vintage tabletop proof press called the "Line-O-Scribe". It's pale green punched metal and small enough to set up on my kitchen table. I've also been collecting printing blocks to start creating my own line of Winkel Kards later this year.

Bad Blogger!

Okay, it's been a few months, but I promise to be a better blogger in 2008!