The Dog is in a Blog

A few weeks ago, Christopher Jones from StyleNorth stopped by for a visit to Winkel. I was excited because I've been following his design blog for some time and was flattered that he had found my shop. He was working on a piece about retail mascots and had heard about my black pug, Hubble. Who would guess that a shopdog would be the lure to get me a spot on a great local design website? He snapped the perfect photo of Hub in his usual state, fast asleep.

Fortunately, Christopher also appreciated the oilcloth that is one of our bestsellers at Winkel, and featured it in a separate post that went up earlier today. Props also went out to Erin Leah Pryde who is the superstar-oilcloth-craftster-extraordinaire. It's amazing to see what she's created with it! Check it out here.

For whatever reason, I'm always grateful for any store publicity. Thanks, Christopher!

Leslieville Stomp

Fabulous chalkboard sign by Marla.

Yard sale season hit Leslieville in a big way yesterday with the first annual Leslieville Stomp. Thanks to the quick work of folks from The Leslieviller lots of people came out for street sales and sidewalk sales from Broadview Avenue to Leslie Street. For a last minute idea, the response was quite incredible, showing once again that part of what makes Leslieville such a great neighbourhood is the community. Many thanks to The Leslieviller and everyone for coming out to support a great event. (photos by Marla Good)

Oilcloth covered goodie table.

Blossoms

Winter is just not ready to let us go. The temperature has dipped below zero (AGAIN) and I'm desperate for some sign of spring around the corner. One of our local shops was selling apple blossom branches the other weekend--when it actually felt like spring--so I asked Marla to pick one up for the window. Pink blossoms have bloomed since then and it's a little taste of warmer weather while I'm still trudging around in hat, scarf and boots.

The branch inspired a little DIY project for Marla and her daughter Josephine who've been minding the shop during weekdays. They gathered a few fallen branches and hot glued pink, white and green tissue paper "blossoms" to the end of each branch. Delicate and rather lifelike, spring had sprung in the front window!






Once the orchard of blossoms had been created, Marla scoured the shop for all things Asian-inspired. Pottery, menus, figurines, art, and a lovely pair of lamps with a chinoiserie touch. These may have to come home with me one day.

"My little China girl says, 'Oh baby, just you shut your mouth.'"

-David Bowie

Gimme Some Lovin'

February 1st.

According to a recent survey, 75-80 percent of all Valentines are purchased by women.

Here's your two weeks notice, fellas.

Bald Guy Greetings has added two new Valentines (including the one pictured above) to his collection this year, both of which are available at Winkel. You can also order your very own Bald Guy t-shirt at www.baldguygreetings.com if you're one of his many avid fans.

Hello Lucky Valentine Coaster Cards




The weightiness of these adorable cards will let your sweetie know just how much you care. And if things don't work out, you can always use them as coasters for the many glasses of wine after the break-up.

Get Your Act Together

Santa has made his way to Florida just in time to skip all the shovelling that's happening at Winkel these days and the Christmas decor is put away for another year. Spring cleaning seems to be the order of the day and with that the urge to organize our lives.
Art School Girl, a recent addition to the independent card artistes we like to support at the shop, has this oh-so practical perpetual calendar for those of us with good intentions but not so good follow-through with calendars and day planners. You know when you buy that sassy planner to keep track of important dates, notes and numbers, but by April it's settled into some deep dark corner of your home or office, neglected until year's end when you can no longer use it. This is why I like non-committal calendars that let me fill in the days (when I'm really on top of things) and not worry about an "expiry" date at the end of the year.

The clever folks at Re-Cover Journals have added a Re-mind Planner to their recycled book cover journal selection, with fill-in-the-blank months/days as well as handy paper pouches and an address book in the back. Very together on the inside, but unique one of a kind covers taken from retired old books make sure that no two are alike. I love these!

So it's January 11th, 2009. Have you got it together?????

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!

Summer Reading

Under a shady tree or cottage bound, here's a retro spin on picking up a good book this summer. Most of us remember some series of books that obsessed us through childhood. My mom was a Trixie Belden girl back in the day, and I read a few of the books that were still around when I was growing up. I loved the colour illustrations that wrapped around the whole cover.


I grew up in the seventies, and Shaun Cassidy made me a devoted Hardy Boy reader. My grandmother would treat me to a new mystery when we went to Coles bookstore at the Midtown Plaza in Saskatoon. I collected every single one. When I was a little bit older, I discovered the earlier editions of Hardy Boy books with the "burlap/tweed" covers. Very vintage cool...



Not too long ago, a woman came into the shop with her two young sons. In their best "Duuude" voices they exclaimed, "She's got Hardy Boy books!" She quickly told the boys to pick out the ones that they hadn't read and they both flopped to the floor and picked out six or so books. It was great to see kids get excited about BOOKS.



Who are the Power Boys? No idea.

A closer peek at "Halifax Adventure" revealed a Canuck connection in the world of teen mystery novels. The Brad Forrest Adventure Series (this Halifax volume was a gift to David MacDonald from his dad in 1968) follows a young U of T student who works at his father's newspaper business. Brad travels the globe covering stories for the paper, solving many mysteries along the way. He's Canada's answer to the Hardy Boys. Who knew? I've got to find me some more of these books!

Leslieville Barbie

Wondermom @ Winkel!

Mother's Day weekend brings Wondermom events to the Leslieville neighbourhood. Winkel will be offering special discounts, a free draw for a Thai herbal massage and Spaah! treats, free roses for Mom and a "Mean Mommie" movie marathon.

Check out East End Noise for details.

Winkel Goes Global!

When I came across a collection of 170 snow globes I simply couldn't resist. I loved the idea of spreading them out in the front window and watching people smile and explore all the destinations encapsulated in plastic.
My favourite story so far is a woman who bought a New York City globe. On a childhood trip to the Big Apple she wanted to buy a souvenir at the top of the Empire State Building, but when she got up to the cashier she found out that with the additional taxes she couldn't afford the snow globe. Heartbroken, she left empty handed.
Many, many years later she spotted an almost identical globe in my window and fulfilled her childhood wish. She bought the NYC globe for five dollars, no tax.



Snow globes first appeared during the early 1800's in France following the popularity of paperweights. In 1889 the first Eiffel Tower globe was produced to commemorate the International Expo in Paris.

Snow globes crossed the Atlantic in the 1920's and were marketed in America as collector's items. Many of the globes available at the time were made by Atlas Crystal Works, which had factories in Germany and the States. Perhaps the most cinematically famous snow globe appeared in opening of "Citizen Kane" in 1941.



I have a few snow globes that I like to keep around to remind me of special places. On a shelf or a desktop, they can whisk you away for a moment and make you smile.

Think Warm Thoughts....

As the temperature is supposed to creep up to 6 degrees this weekend, I'm thinking warm thoughts in hopes of SPRING. I've never been a snow bunny, even growing up with minus kajillion winters in Saskatchewan. I feel like I've done my time with cold weather, so by the end of February, I'm done! This is why I get a little wistful when I see things that remind me of warmer temperatures.....

Pour me a cold glass of sangria while I soak up the sun..............