Handmade Edition

We have a great admiration for independent designers and artisans. And we always encourage you to shop local, wherever local may be for you. When you purchase a handcrafted item you know you are getting a quality piece made with love and care. For this edition of Things We Love, we found beautiful items right here in Hamilton, in our neighbouring city Toronto, and as far as Richmond and Portland.

1. Nicole Tarasick screenprints these Canadiana themed pillow covers out of her Toronto based studio. We first discovered her designs at the Interior Design Show last year and have adored them since. Among the cheeky prints you'll find grizzly bears, a map of Canada, the Great Lakes, and the YOW airport code. Visit her Etsy shop to purchase online -- you can also add a feather fill.

2. Annie Cunningham of thief & BANDIT, is an artist and designer originally from Canada, and now working out of Richmond, Virginia. She handprints turbans (!!, you know how we feel about them), tanks, scarves, braided bracelets and even leggings. We love the colour combinations and playful patterns of all her designs.

3. Corrine Anestopoulos, the designer behind Biko, handcrafts whimsical jewellery out of her attic-turned-studio in Toronto. She combines vintage elements with modern styles using metals, natural stones and even quirky brass pendants like telescopes, acorns, wishbones and fortune cookies.

4. Hetterson designer, Hannah Peterson, began by designing dresses, and has since expanded into clothing, knitwear and leathergoods. We love to follow the Hetterson Journal, for a behind the scenes look at what Hannah is working on. One of her recent creations is the satchlet (satchel + wallet combo). Cute or what? And how gorgeous is the toffee colour of the vegetable tanned leather she uses for these satchlets? She handpaints the stripes in different colours like rose gold, tangerine and lemon yellow.

5. Our friend and knitwear designer Tara-Lynn Morrison, handknits beautiful pieces right here in Hamilton under the label Good Night Day. We adored her recent collaboration with Audrey Cantwell of Ovate on slouchy knit touques with vintage fur pom poms, and loved the twist to her classic merino wool sweater by adding leather tassels. Now Good Night Day is has created one-of-a-kind scarves (31 in fact) for Of a Kind. They are handknit with fair trade, thick and thin wool that is naturally spun and dyed by a women's collective in Argentina.

Comments

[Faith]

I love the compass necklace! Love. It.

~F

[chantelle]

Yesss! On my next trip to Toronto I'll be on the look out for these cute pieces. I have zero shopping done at school, and I rarely get down to Chicago because of all the studying. Thanks for sharing this! I love my Canadians <3

[Rebecca]

So many great picks here! I love how much you girls focus on Canadian-made items too