glamjulz Mother's Day Bracelet - Helping Dress for Success Toronto

The good people at glamjulz are hoping to help some women with their Mother's Day bracelet. You know how I love my glamjulz and rave about them every chance I get. If you have never bought anything from glamjulz, this is a great opportunity to do so and help others. Below is info on the Mother's Day bracelet from glamjulz creator, Monica Graves.

Bracelet, $40

 

There are many reasons that I started glamjulz... but I get the most satisfaction from helping women express themselves and feel beautiful in their own way.

As you many of you know, from other charities and organizations that I work with, I love being able to give back and share my success with the people that really need it. 

Being inspired by Mother's Day and positive female role models, I came up with the idea to not only celebrate women, but also to help them... this is why I have decided to help an organization called, Dress for Success.

The mission of Dress For Success is "to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life."

and here's how you can help... 

For every one of our 2014 Limited Edition glamjulz Mother's Day Bracelets that you purchase, I will donate a piece of glamjulz to Dress for Success Toronto.

Each donation will vary from pieces such as Necklaces, Bracelets, Earrings and Rings in many different colours and styles, in hopes that each woman in the Dress for Success program will have plenty of glamjulz to chose from, and that every outfit will have the perfect piece of coordinating jewelry. 

Looking beautiful, feeling strong, and believing in yourself can open many doors... and THANK YOU for your help in opening the door to success for these deserving women.

Monica Graves
Designer

Monica will be at Joelles in Burlington on Sunday May 4th from noon-4pm. The glamjulz studio will be open to the public for purchases on Thursday May 8th - 5100 South Service Road, Unit 23. The bracelet can also be purchased online by clicking here.

Monica will also be live on air with Annette Hamm on CHCH Morning Live Thursday May 8th at 7:20am to talk about the bracelet.

Other personal appearances for Monica include:

Saturday May 3rd
The Dressing Room
15 County Road 3, Belleville ON
10am - 3pm

Sunday May 4th
Joelles
457 Brant Street, Burlington ON
12pm - 4pm

Saturday May 10th
Little Black Bow
28 Manitoba Street, Bracebridge ON
11am - 3pm

Wednesday May 14th
Marianne's Boutique Fashion Show
Travelodge 1376 Carling Ave, Ottawa ON
12:30pm - 2pm

Wednesday May 14
Just Curious
57 Hazeldean Road, Kanata ON
6pm - 8pm

Sample Sale - Toronto

Posting for your info, a sample sale of a few brands all under one roof. Definitely worth going just to check out Foxy Originals and This is J. I love them both!

Olena Zylak Knits Up a Storm

I have always been in love with hand knit and crocheted items so its no wonder I fell in love with Olena Zylak's collection through my many visits to the One Of A Kind show. Last year I finally bought my first accessory, a twisted loop scarf, and wear it all the time. Needless to say I am ready to add to my collection and there are no shortage of pieces to choose from.

My own loop scarf purchased last year. I wear it everywhere.

 

Zylak has been designing collections since 1997 and uses yarns of luxury fibres to create a highly textured line. She designs the collection herself with all the knitting completed at her studio in Collingwood, Ontario. Original pieces of knitted fabric are handcrafted with a sewing machine and hand sewn when required. Finishing touches are completed by Zylak herself or a contractor. Each item is made with the utmost care and I would say this is obvious when looking at and trying on her pieces.

Some of my favourite pieces from the Fall/Winter collection are:

Spider Web Loop $35

25% kid mohair/45% acrylic/30% nylon

 

 

Spider Web Shawl $80

25% kid mohair/45% acrylic/30% nylon

also shown double stripe pleated toque $70

 

Lace Velour Wedge Capelet $115

60% merino wool/10% kid mohair/15% acrylic/15% nylon

 

The entire collection can be viewed on her website and items can be purchased online. Check the shows tab to see her schedule for appearances at different shows, including One Of A Kind, throughout the season. Items can also be purchases at certain boutique retailers across the country.

 

You can find Olena Zylak at the One of a Kind show in Toronto November 28th - December 8th at booth C12. I know I will be stopping by!

 

Photo credit, Geoff George - Toronto: spider web loop, spider web shawl, lace velour wedge capelet

One Of A Kind Show - Toronto

The One Of A Kind Show is gearing up to begin it's Christmas show on November 24th at The Direct Energy Centre. One of the best places to find unique gifts for others and yourself, the Christmas show tends to be larger than the show held in the Spring. This show also has a longer run time giving avid shoppers like me ample time to get ourselves organized to make it down there. With the crowds that tend to turn out for this show, you might want to break your visit up into 2 or 3 trips. Get a re-admit pass when you leave and you can return on another day without having to pay admission again. New this year is a late shopping night on December 1st. The show will be open until 11pm. Might be a good time to attend since prime hours seem to be the weekends.

I have only attended the Christmas show once before. Plans to attend last year were sidetracked with my unemployment status in December. This year I am making a point to go as I also missed the Spring show. I have some standard favourites I want to check out and also see what new and exciting vendors have taken up attendance at One Of A Kind.  If it is your first time attending, it can be overwhelming as it is a large show. What works for me is to walk the entire show, make notes on the booths I want to buy from, then go back to them after I've seen everything. I find this method also keeps my spending in check. I do try to be a responsible Not A Shopaholic.

For more info visit the One Of A Kind website:  http://www.oneofakindshow.com/toronto/index.php

Some of my can't miss booths at One Of A Kind include:

Coach House Shortbread Company - I have a complete weakness for shortbread cookies and the ones from Coach House are the best I have ever tasted. The best part of visiting this booth is taste testing before you buy. No matter what I sample I always end up buying the same flavour. I don't even remember what kind I buy I just know I like the one in the orange packaging. If they ever change the colour I will be lost. I'm sure whatever you buy you will love. I cannot leave One Of A Kind without Coach House shortbread cookies.
http://www.shortbread.ca/homepage.html

glamjulz - The very first time I went to One Of A Kind I bought the most beautiful necklace from glamjulz. I remember the woman behind the counter saying it was one of her favourites and I assured her I would give it a good home. To this day I still get compliments on that necklace whenever I wear it. That necklace also started my obession/fascination with glamjulz. I have bought several pieces from them since, including some custom made pieces, and have attended a few of their end of season sales at their showroom in Burlington. I will definitely be stopping by their booth this show although I don't know what is left for me to buy from them. Knowing me I will think of something.
http://glamjulz.com/

My first necklace from glamjulz. The photo doesn't do it justice.

At The Wroot Of It - The coolest dishes and serving platters you will ever see courtesy of Carrie Wroot. Before you buy you will probably kill yourself laughing over Carrie's fun quirky characters, one blond and one brunette, and their appropriate kitchen and non cooking phrases. This booth is so much fun. I have come home with a triangle shaped serving platter and and oblong tray both of which I don't use nearly enough. I'm looking to expand my collection this year. Last time I was at the show Carrie was telling me she doesn't sell at retail and only sells her wares at 2 shows: One Of a Kind and CNE. These really are unique pieces you won't find anywhere else. Great gifts and great additions to your personal tabletop collection. Reading the Facebook page, it looks like there are paintings available too. Hope to check those out at the show.
No web page for this one but you can join the Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/At-The-Wroot-Of-It/106083591058

From my personal collection, serving platters from At The Wroot Of It by designer Carrie Wroot

Luxe Design (Booth W38) - What could possibly be better than jewellery as a gift? How about jewellery you can personalize? That is the concept at Luxe Design, a Vancouver based company. I have never bought anything from Luxe at the show, mostly because their booth is so busy I can't get near the merchandise. I have ordered online from them a few years ago and bought necklaces for myself and two best friends. Search my blog and you will find a post with the details.  Choose your chain, choose your pendant, choose what you want it to say and Luxe takes it from there, stamping out your request with their unique letters and numbers. Then accessorize with charms and beads to create the perfect piece of jewellery. I don't know how often my friends wear their necklaces but I wear mine all the time. On each of ours I put our names and then personalized the other side of the pendant to something special for each of my friends.
http://www.luxe-design.com/default.asp

Taken from Luxe Design website. Pendant is the same shape as the one I have.

Monster Factory (Booth E6) - Some recent readers may recall seeing my blog post from a few months ago about the Monster Factory. I first fell in love with these lovable critters at One Of A Kind and their booth is always super busy. I will definitely stop by this one and check out all the monsters. You will see people of all ages here. I bought Colin, my long time favourite from One Of A Kind show 2 years ago. More recently I bought 2 full size and many smaller size monsters for my friends twin boys. These monsters make great gifts for people of any age. My previous blog post about Monster Factory prompted some of my Twitter followers to buy some monsters of their own, as gifts and for themselves. Glad to help spread the word about this great Toronto based company. I just love them.
http://monsterfactory.net/

Top Photo: Colin, my first monster purchase. Bottom photo: Monster gifts for the twins.

*For a full list of artisans at the show, click here. 

One Of A Kind Show Toronto runs November 24th to December 4th. Shows also take place in Vancouver and Chicago. Check website for details.

http://www.oneofakindshow.com/

Glam Julz Accessory Sale

When you receive a request to do a blog post, how can you say no? I had mentioned on Twitter a few times I was going to head to Burlington, ON to check out the latest open house sale at Glam Julz and asked if anyone wanted to come with me. I thought I was going to have company until something came up and they couldn't make it. They did ask if I was going to blog about my "haul" as she called it, and I thought why not? Usually I blog about things I want, not things that I have purchased!

Last Thursday, May 5th I headed out to Burlington after work. I don't usually make an attempt to go to these sales. If you live anywhere in Toronto, you know how bad the highway can be heading west bound in rush hour afternoon traffic. Not sure if it was my lucky day but I practically flew there, barely stopping. Am I ever glad I did. I was expecting good prices but I had no idea! Earrings were $5, Bracelets $7 and necklaces ranged from $10-$20. Well worth the time to get myself there.

I have been a fan of Glam Julz for a long time and own many of their pieces. Every time I wear something from them I get asked about it. I swear I'm not exaggerating. It's like people can tell when something is handmade and better quality than the import stuff. I didn't buy a ton, I was trying very hard to be good. A recently employed person again, I didn't want to spend my first paycheck before I had even received it. But let me tell you when you see prices like this for Glam Julz product, it is tempting to go a little crazy. I ended up with 2 each of earrings, bracelets and necklaces. I love the bracelets because they are the kind you wrap around your wrist. Usually I never wear bracelets because I can't do the clasps by myself.

I highly recommend you check out Glam Julz and get on their email list. That way you'll know as soon as I do when they are having their next open house.

I have included some photos of what I bought. In doing this I realized how hard it is to take good photos of jewellery. If you don't think it looks great it's because of my sad photographic abilities. Glam Julz product is beautiful! I know I'll probably be buying more at some point.

glamjulz

4305 Fairview Street, Suite 137
Burlington, Ontario
L7L 6E8, CANADA

http://glamjulz.com/shop/

Studio visits by appointment only. (unless they are having open house)

We All Heart Accessories

It was a warm sunny October day in Toronto and I decided a trip up to Yonge and Eglinton to visit I Heart Accessories was needed. We had been corresponding on Twitter, I had read their blog and I was drooling over all the photos of product on their Facebook page. Obviously I didn’t really need any accessories and I was on a self imposed shopping abstinence, but I had to go, plus I had my current issue of Lou Lou and it had a 20% off coupon for I Heart Accessories. Trust me, smaller things have made me visit. It’s like the store was calling me, or maybe I really wanted to meet Natalie, owner of the store. I would love to be in her position one day: have my very own store to buy for and merchandise. I also think she is doing a great job at promoting the store through social media and I wanted to go see it in person. Point: Social media does work folks!

Yonge and Eglinton is one of my favourite areas of the city. Tons of restaurants, I didn’t think there was much in the way of shopping, at least from what I could remember. Turns out, if walk up Yonge a bit, north of Eglinton, there is great shopping! Good thing I wasn’t spending any money or I could have done some serious damage. I found Natalie’s store no problem and apparently I’m not the only one. It was crowded which was great to see. I looked around as I waited for her to finish up with several customers. The best thing about the store is the accessories are affordable!!! I love that word. It took me awhile to decide on what to buy. I finally settled on a necklace from brand iwear and a pair of leather gloves with ruching.

When Natalie was finally able to chat I didn’t even have to introduce myself, she knew who I was. It’s kind of funny when someone can recognize you from your twitter photo. We chatted for awhile about the store, brands, customer traffic, our blogs and twitter. She was so nice. I probably would have talked her ear off (which I think I actually did) but other customers needed her. It’s a great store and I plan to be back one day. Next spring I see a pair of Lindsay Philips flats in my closet and I know just where to get them. Thanks Natalie!

Follow on Twitter @iheartaccessories
Join the I Heart Accessories Facebook page for a 15% discount every time you shop.
Website: http://www.iheartaccessories.ca/index.html