New Stockist Alert!

I'm so excited to announce Leikey Designs products are now available at 

Red Pegasus 

628 College St, Toronto

We're thrilled to have our brooches and needle felt pieces available at this

 Little Italy landmark shop. 

Just in time for the holidays. 

Stock up on these small gifts for their stockings before the big day! 

Thank you Red Pegasus!

New Stockists

Did you know Leikey Design products are now available in stores?

Not just online, Leikey Designs Toys can be found in these fine Brick & Mortar shops in
Toronto, Hamilton & Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Canoe Paper & Gift Co.

233 Locke St. S, Hamilton, ON

canoeonlocke.com

Dots & Loops

183 Lincoln Street, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

dotsandloops.ca

Scout 

405 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, ON

iheartscout.com

I'm grateful to these stockists for their support and hope you will check them out to see all the wonderful goodies & gifts they have in store!

Craft Show season is upon us!

Oh hi there,

A long awaited update for you...
Working on a bunch of little projects right now and as we dive into the holiday season....Yep That's Right... Craft Show season...

So this year,  I switched gears and did a lot more workshops than craft shows, and am happy to report I'll be participating in a couple shows just in time for the holidays.

First up...

Dec 7th 

Needlework

Hamilton

Back by popular demand...

Needlework's, Holiday needle felting workshop, where we are making ornaments. 

A one stop shop to make some handmade holiday gifts and decor. 

Second up...

Dec 7th & 8th 
Maker's Cartel
@The Foundery, Toronto
The 2nd annual Maker's Cartel show! A great event showcasing locally grown makers.
Happening
Dec 7th 11am - 8pm
Dec 8th 11am - 6pm


And third...

Dec 12 - 15
401 Artisans Marketplace 
@ 401 Richmond st W, Toronto
This is the 21st annual holiday market at the historical artist hub.
I'm happy to say this is my 3rd year participating in this show and looking forward to seeing some familiar faces this year like...
the creative sisters behind Very Big Cat studio.

Admission is FREE
Show dates and hours are....

December 12 - 15, 2013

Thursday 11:00 am - 9:00 pm Friday 11:00 am - 8:00 pm Saturday 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Sunday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Hope to see you at one or all of these events!

Kid Culture Creates - Workshops

We're now in our second month of our Kid Culture Creates workshop series
and I'm happy to share our August schedule as well as some photos of from our workshops so far!

To sign your kid up for classes, please contact Kid Culture @ 416 859 9006
or email kidcultureboutique@gmail.com

         

  

photos from kidculture.facebook

Photos from Kid Culture Facebook + Leikey Instagram

Kid Culture Creates Workshops!

If you haven't heard already, Kid Culture has moved!

 to a beautiful new, spacious location at 

3124 Dundas St. W. 

Toronto, ON

Not just a store, Kid Culture now offers daily song and storytime. 

As well as weekly craft workshops for ages 3yrs old + 

I've stocked up on materials and prepared a fantastic list of simple projects for young ones who want to make and create. 

Each workshop is about 45mins - 1hr (about enough time to peruse the goodies in the shop) 

In every workshop, kids will create and complete their very own personalized project they can take home, use and be proud of. 

It's amazing what kids can make with a few materials and instruction - about the same amount of time to sit down and relax with a cup of coffee at the local shops in The Junction!

What workshops are coming up next?

For the Grand Opening of Kid Culture's new location 

on June 1st, 

we're having a 

Tote Bag making workshop. 

In this workshop, each student is provided with a handmade natural cotton tote bag to personalize and decorate using a heat transfer technique, transferring student’s colourful images from paper to the tote.

Space is limited for this workshop so don't forget to register.

To register for this or other workshops at Kid Culture 

call: 416-859-9006 

email: kidcultureboutique@gmail.com 

or pop into the shop 3124 Dundas St. W

email kidcultureboutique@gmail.com 

or call 416 859 9006 for questions and details

Read all about this Junction gem in this article from Karen Kirk of Canadian Living Magazine! 

News & Events!

Hey have you check out the News & Events page lately?
I have a few things happening this month just in time for the holidays like...

Artisans Marketplace @ 401 Richmond, Toronto
On this weekend
Saturday 11am - 6pm
Sunday 11am - 4pm
Free Admission!

Hard Twist 7: Touch Me, Feel Me

On now until January 27th @ Gladstone Hotel, Toronto

Opening daily 12pm - 5pm

Free Admission

Intro to Needle-felting: Holiday Ornaments 

Dec 15th 1-4pm @ Needlework  in Hamilton

Catch me at one or all of these events this month! 

And don't forget to stop by the shop for the cutest holiday gifts or our 

new print shop for our Animal Collective prints!! 

5-10-15-20

The 5-10-15-20 pop up shop is happening 

July 12th - July 27th

With an opening reception + art installations

 + workshops + more....

July 12th 5pm - 9pm

(just like it says on the poster ;)

You can expect to find a cornucopia of affordable design and crafts for yourself, your friends, your home and maybe even your friend's home - if you're feeling generous; priced between $5 - $20. With goods ranging from wallets and accessories to prints and small housewares. There is even a workshop to construct your own light fixture! This concept shop is spearheaded by the lovely, talented and kind Ananda Gabo - artist and events co-ordinator. 

It should also be mentioned there will be a door crashing raffle, a magnificent assortment of tropical fruits and must have kimbap, made special for opening night (Sat. July 12th) 

Shop hours:

July 12th - 27th

Tuesday-Saturday: 12pm - 6pm

Sunday: 1pm - 5pm

For vendors, info and general ogling visit 

5-10-15-20.com

And to preview some of the stuff I'll be selling
click here + exclusive *new* stock you can only get at this event!

Workshop @ Needlework!

I'm very excited to be teaching a new and super fun workshop at Needlework in Hamilton next Saturday afternoon!

If you'd like to learn how or wonder how I make all those weirdo felted things I do, stop by the shop or register online here.

Saturday June 23rd 2pm - 5pm we'll be learning the basic of dry felting or Needle Felting!
Using just a couple of simple tools you'll learn how to transform raw wool into actual shapes! The workshop is a creatively open class, which means you can make anything your imagination can think of. I'm partial to felted animals myself. So bring your imagination and we'll have all you need at Needlework next weekend! Hope to see you there :D

**Update - Still some spaces available for the class, if you would like to join us for the class - get in touch!

New year, new happenings

Happy Newest Year to you!

With last year being such an eventful year, I'm looking forward to seeing what this year has in store.

Some highlights of the past year include...

- Interning for admired artist Suzanne Carlsen

- Finishing four month long graduate project

- Graduating
- Winning 'Best in Show' award for my work in our graduation exhibition

Joe Lewis, writer/editor for fibreQUARTERLY wearing Lion's Head @ OCC Gallery, Toronto

- Exhibiting at OCC Gallery in Toronto

- Participating in group exhibition Surfacing in Hamilton

Lion's Head on display @ The Knit Cafe, Toronto

- Exhibiting the Lion's Head at Knit Cafe in Toronto

Felted Slippers workshop @ The Knit Cafe, Toronto

- Started teaching felting workshops
- Leikey Designs now a full-time company

- Went to Montreal - First trip within Canada, outside of Ontario

Amanda McCavour's installation @ The Beehive Craft Fair, Hamilton

- Participated in several craft fairs including the very successful Beehive Craft Fair, pieceWORK and 401 Richmond

Felted Bear Feet slippers - available online

- Opened up online shop
- Featured in the Finishing School edition of fiberQUARTERLY

- Work on display at the Gladstone Hotel (exhibition extended to Feb 26th)

- Started renovations on the new place
And those are just the highlights.

We rang in the new year with a mid-reno party; a great excuse to have people over to the house. We passed around the camera all night and there were some great shots. Take a look at the rest of the photos here. 

photo from Owen Deveney on Flickr

So far 2012 has been kind, starting with a feature on the lovely Polish blog Pick Me Up , selling my first pieces of work in gallery from the Hard Twist exhibition, and just this morning - a featured seller on 100 Mile Finds blog.
In addition, the Gladstone has announced they've extended Hard Twist until February 26th. So all you lazy bones who haven't had a chance to go see it, you'll have extra time to make it down there to see an incredible collection of Canadian Textiles Art at it's finest.

The exhibition will run during the Hotel's popular annual event, Come Up to My Room and Toronto's IDS event, happening January 26th - 29th! Opening reception for CUTMR is Saturday 28th 7pm - 10pm. So go see both shows while you're there.

For now, I'm off to the post office to mail out some orders! Followed by a copious amount of painting, de-carpeting, de-wallpapering, and trips Home Depot and the reuse centre. I have a feeling we'll spend the majority of 2012 in a Home Depot.

New Workshop!

Call to register 416 533 5648

Check out The Knit Cafe Newsletter here for more great ideas.