Sponsor Love: aTana Designs

We love leaves! And so does Toronto jewellery designer Wendy Gardham of aTana Designs. Much of her jewellery is inspired by nature, art and her travels. Which means that she offers many fall-themed pendants based on maple keys, gingko leaves and even hardy succulent plants.

Gardham works with Precious Metal Clay to sculpt incredibly life-like pieces that, when fired, are 99.9% pure silver. These pendant are then hung from earrings or necklaces.

Not only does Garham favour organic shapes, her process is eco-conscious. And each piece is handmade — you can literally see the fingerprint of the artist on some pieces!

Check out the full range of Gardham's designs at aTana's Etsy shop or see the latest shop news by liking aTana Designs on Facebook.

After Hours With Naomi: Applicious

[1. Fine Little Day Apple Papple Poster, 2. Orla Kiely Apples and Pears Mug, 3. Ingela P. Arrhenius Apple Melamine Plate, 4. Lotta Kulhorn Margareta Tray, 5. Fluf Red Apple Organic Lunch Bag.]

Fall is undoubtedly here and with it one of my favourite fruits: apples. The original fast food, apples are such a versatile fruit; you can bake them, candy them, fry them, juice them, dry them, make jelly, and (my personal favourite), ferment them.

I’ve always liked cider, but until recently, Strongbow or Magners (from the UK and Ireland respectively) were really the only readily available options. So I was pleasantly surprised when I recently discovered that two great artisnal ciders are made right here in Ontario—Waupoos and Thornbury.

Waupoos Cider is hand made in Prince Edward County from late harvest apples by the County Cider Co. It has a rich apple flavour, good acidity and is nice and dry; a great pairing with pork, bacon and roast apples.

Thornbury Cider is hand crafted in small batches from freshly pressed local apples, in the village of Thornbury (not far from Collingwood, on the shores of Georgian Bay). While still dry, it is a touch more sweet than Waupoos and has a cleaner, crisper taste, which makes it great on its own or with roast chicken or turkey.  

Like the fruit from which it comes, cider is a pretty versatile beverage; it’s great on its own served chilled (or over ice) and it’s also an excellent accompaniment for all sorts of foods—from spicy Thai, to cheese and charcuterie and roast chicken and pork. We’d love to hear your favourite pairings! 

We Covet: Enid Collins

[image via: painfully hip]

I discovered Enid Collins bedazzled handbags back in high school. I found a somewhat distressed wooden purse at a yard sale when I was in high school. I still have it, hoping to restore it one day.

In the years since, I've often wondered why Collins' designs haven't had a resurgence like Vera scarves, Charley Harper illustrations and Alexander Girard prints. It turns out that Stephanie, from our October issue, is a huge fan. She turned us on to a whole online world of Collins sellers on Etsy, and Enid boards on Pinterest. And while Todd Oldham has yet to publish a coffee table about the Texas designer, we suspect it's only a matter of time.

[Image from Peter Schlesinger's Chequered Past]

Born Enid Roessler in San Antonio, Collins was a milliner by trade. She and her husband moved to Medina, Texas to become ranchers but turned to making leather bags when that business proved shakey. She started making her bejewelled box bags and whimsical woven bags in 1959. The bags were a cult hit, favoured by such elegant ladies as Maureen, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, pictured above with her Collins Bucket Bag.

The Collinses sold the company and Enid's designs to Tandy Leathergoods in 1970. They kept producing the bags into the ’80s. Like we said, a resurgence is inevitable. Interest (and pricers) in Collins has increased so much in the last two years, again, largely thanks to Pinterest. Still you do hear stories of folks coming across them the old fashioned-way at yard sales and such.

Sponsor Love: EweKnit

The Annex is home to EweKnit, Toronto's newest yarn shop. Located in Mirvish Village, the store seeks to capture a SoHo in the 1960s vibe by providing a social space to shop, have a coffee and converse around a communal knitting table.

[image via the blue brick]

EweKnit is also a member of the fair trade community. Claudia, the creative force behind the shop, learned the joy of fabric arts and the importance of communal activities when a nun at her school asked taught her to knit. Seven years ago, Claudia helped found and continues to work with a single mother’s Co-operative in El Salvador that has grown from two to more than 20 members and that produces about 100,000 fairly traded t-shirts every year for sale in Canada.

EweKnit is dedicated to promoting and selling many fairly traded products including yarns from Italy that are produced by small family businesses, from co-operatives in South America and Canadian dyers such as Indigo Dragonfly, Koigu and Zen Yarn Garden. EweKnit stocks other hard-to-find yarns such as Classic Elite, Filatura di Crosa and  Sweet Georgia. So drop by 585 Markham Street for some hot coffee, tasty sweets and delicious camaraderie.

Catching Up With Cybèle Young

While out and about last week, Lynda and Jessica ran into Cybèle Young, who's home we featured in Covet Garden's December 2011 issue. We caught her setting up an installation in the window of Type on Queen West. The multi-talented lady had been a busy bee in the last ten months, so we thought we'd bring you an update.

First of all, she's got a new book coming out. Called A Few Bites, it's a companion to her last childrens' book, A Few Blocks. Once again, Young has turned a quotidien task and turned it into a grand adventure.

Here's Cybèle installing a sculptural surround featuring some of those adventures in Type's front window. It's quite a thing to behold because it show's Cybèle's original artwork and process. The wonderful illustrations also pull you into to your own imaginary adventure. She also recently created original art for a performance at last weekend's Nuit Blanche and led kids in a literary mapping event at the Toronto Public Library's Culture Days.