It's back! The 2025 edition is here! I have curated a list of 5 small businesses to shop from this year. All of these businesses handcraft their products. From festive tea towels, quirky purses, botanical paintings, natural skin care and eco friendly jewellery, please take a moment to check out these wonderful shops.

Creativity has always been a part of Ursula's life. From an early age, Ursula loved exploring all kinds of crafts—crocheting, knitting, basic sewing, pottery, and even woodworking.

During the pandemic, Ursula sewed her first bag and was instantly hooked. What began as a pastime quickly became a passion for creating high-quality, one-of-a-kind bags, pouches, and wallets.

Ursula takes pride in supporting other Canadian small businesses by sourcing her materials locally and she is a proud vendor at Maker Market Collective, a local gift store in Port Credit.

Originally from Switzerland, Ursula has called Mississauga home since 1998, where she raised two wonderful adult children and ran a home daycare for 13 years. Alongside with her current work in the not-for-profit sector, she is excited to continue growing her small business—with plans to expand beyond local markets and stores in 2026.

Catherine is a member mixed media artist who enjoys taking inspiration from nature, specifically the trails and conservation areas where she lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

Catherine has always had a creative soul and really started coming back into it in 2018 . Starting out as a strictly alcohol ink artist, she pivoted last year to include paintings of moody skies and flowers found during her nature walks. She also has an affinity for painting the night sky.

Quite often Catherine looks for ways to up cycle and reuse her supplies in an effort to reduce waste. One of her favourite things is to paint on is rough and raw wood slices, which have been taken from branches and trees that have fallen during wind storms.

She also reuses paint from larger pieces and supplies to make her ornament collection during the holiday season.  Nothing makes Catherine smile more than when somebody connects with a piece of her artwork. 

Cheryl designs casual, earthy jewellery made of eco-friendly recycled silver. Using the medium silver metal clay, she creates jewellery that is meant to be worn and enjoyed every day. 

Her jewellery making began as a hobby when her youngest child started school full-time and turned into a small business in 2015.

Her designs are inspired by nature and created from natural elements and textures.  Her work features unique and individually crafted fine silver pendant necklaces, botanical earrings, gemstone bracelets and rings. ​

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Thank you to each of these small businesses for sharing their wonderful stories and products. 

When you are thinking of shopping this holiday season, think of supporting local!

Enjoy the Beauty of Nature!🌷
​Cheryl

Take a moment and look at what jewellery you are wearing. I bet you could tell me a story about one of your pieces. Who gave it to you? Was it for a special occasion? What memories does it invoke?

This month's blog is a compilation of stories of  jewellery I have made. Let's begin.

To celebrate 10 years in business, I created a special collection with bronze metal clay. This was my first time working with this medium. Keep reading to learn more about bronze jewellery and how to care for it.

I thought London, England was my favourite city to visit.  But you know what, I fell in love with Rome! I had spent a couple of days in Rome a few years back. I travelled there while I was recovering from food poisoning that I got at a Blue Jays game. I wasn't off to a great start.

But this time around! My family and I visited Rome after Christmas and spent our time in the city with a couple of day trips. One was to Florence and one to Orvieto.

Last year I was a vendor at 15 craft shows ranging from smaller indoor ones to larger outdoor ones.  
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Overtime I have learned a few things to improve my applications to craft shows. Today I wanted to share a few of them with you.

It's back! The 2024 edition is here. I have curated a list of 5 small businesses to shop from this year. All of these small shops handcraft their products. From one of a kind dog accessories and market bags, to cute crochet animals. Plus, beautifully scented soy wax candles, whimsical needle felt and more, please check out the following businesses.

Broken chains can happen! Perhaps you tug on the chain or clasp a little too hard and it breaks. You have a pet who jumps up on you and their paw catches the chain. Maybe you have a pendant that's way too heavy for the chain. Today I want to share with you ways to help so your chains last longer.

When you think of England, what comes to mind?  Royal palaces, museums, shopping, theatre and of course rain! But if you go in the summer months when it's warmer and less rainfall, you won't be disappointed.

In July, my family travelled to England to spend 10 days between London and the countryside of Somerset. Upon arrival, we picked up our car rental as we wanted to have the flexibility to discover quaint small towns and beautiful cliffs along the sea. Driving on the left side along narrow country roads  is not for the faint of heart. If you can easily drive in downtown Toronto then be confident you can do it there.

We began with 4 nights in the Somerset area and then 6 nights in downtown London (with a few side trips along the way). 

During March Break this year, my family and I visited Baja California, Mexico, where we discovered an old, quaint Pacific Coast town for the first time called Todos Santos. Known for its artistic charm, it is filled with galleries and unique  handmade jewellery stores.  

While in our tour group, we stopped in at a local jewellery shop call The Velvet Box Todos Santos. Here we had the opportunity to learn about the formation of pearls . To our delight, the session ended with a GIVEAWAY coincidentally on National Jewel Day. Much to our excitement, my son drew the lucky number and won a  12mm authentic pearl - which he gifted to me . 

Intrigued by how pearls are formed, I wanted to share this process with you. Keep reading to learn what unique piece of jewellery I crafted.

Do you find yourself left with one earring and the other one lost? I am guilty of this. I have lost one of the earrings above multiple times and have luckily found it each time. If I have done the following, I would probably never have had to go looking for it!