Whew, that was quite the break!

Velvet bustier dress with gems and passementerie trim!

Sorry for the extended period of no blogging friends, I really needed a break after all the holidays craziness around here. Between the One of a Kind Show disaster trip to TO, the wonderful Souk@ SAT, the last minute Rusty Plum, tons of Etsy orders, and all the usual Christmas stuff at the store (nevermind actual FUN holidays type Christmas stuff!) it's been a crazy couple of months. I needed a bit of time to get away from the blogging and freshen up my mind a bit ;)

AMAZING 80's Bod Con dress (that's short for body conscious folks)

So here we go, back into the fray.

I know it's a bit early to start with the new years resolutions, and I guess my plans aren't REALLY resolutions, more like long term ideas. One of the things on my list is to really get our vintage Etsy shop (www.vintageheadquarters.etsy.com) rolling, so I'm going to be putting more energy into that, and giving you guys regular updates here on the HQ blog. As I mentioned before, we don't want to get into selling vintage clothing in HQ, we want the indie designers to be the shining stars. But there's no way I can stop buying and finding fab vintage pieces, so once again the internet will be my saviour.

Fuschia lace and crepe dress, a 60's gem!

I mentioned this before as well, but for the sake of people who don't obsessively read blogs, if you're in Montreal we can totally pull stuff out of the vintage shop for you so you don't have to pay shipping (pick it up at HQ), although you will still need to purchase the item through our Etsy shop. Pulling items off Etsy and selling them just through our store would be fee avoidance, and we like Etsy so we want to give them the big money when they help us so much ;)

Links to the Sequin Top and ColourBlock Blazer

Anyhoo, long post over, enjoy the pics, more blogging to come I promise!

xo
Angie

Holiday Hours

Christmas print artwork by SeaSprayBlue

OK all you last minute Christmas shoppers, we're here to help! Here are our hours for tomorrow and the next few days:

Christmas Eve: 9am-6pm
Christmas Day: Closed
Boxing Day: Closed (seriously, there's no way independent designers can compete with the discount power of larger stores, so we're taking the day off.)
Dec. 27: noon-6pm
Dec. 28: closed (back to the normal Closed on Sundays thing)
Dec. 29/30/31: noon-6pm
Jan. 1/2: closed, it's the law!

Jan 3: back to normal store hours

xo
Angie & Tyson

I'm open today!

Seeing as it's the last Sunday before Christmas, I'll be here at HQ today from 11 am until 6 pm. So, all you last minute shoppers can come by, have a glass of wine and finish up your list.

See you later,

t

Last Minute Christmas Panic Craft Fair Solutions!

I wanted to make a really long obnoxious post title...I like to think I succeeded fairly well.

So.

Panicked yet? Or are you one of those good folks who've finished all their shopping already? I'm done except for one last thing for Tyson. It involves Future Shop, and I'm not looking forward to attempting to brave the Fortress of Nerditude that is Future Shop at Christmas time. Ugh.

Anyhoo, for those who are interested in doing some QUALITY last minute shopping, I have two great options for you this weekend, both of which are craft fairs featuring handmade goods from your friendly neighbourhood crafters. And if you're not in the mood to deal with the crowds of a craft sale, Tyson will be down at HQ serving all of your Christmasy needs!


First up, Mimi Traillette of plush octupus fame (can we start calling them Octoplushes already!?) is throwing a fun craft fair at the new Usine 106 space, so go check it out and pick up some awesome Christmas presents!

When: Sat/Sun - Dec. 20/21, 12pm-7pm
Where: 160 Roy East, metro Sherbrooke
Who: All sorts of awesome artists, a few of which are:
Broundoor
Mimi Traillette
La Puces L'Agonie

Secondly, after a short hiatus, the Rusty Plum Craft Fair is back! The Rusty Plum/Carnivale Artisinale de Madame Plume has been around for the last 13 years and has grown into a great Mile-End community holiday show that a lot of people have looked forward to. Tyson and I have decided at the last minute to do this show, so I'll be down there bright and early Saturday morning, while Tyson mans the store (after all, he's supa dupa manly).

When: Sat, Dec. 20 10am-7pm
Sun, Dec. 21 10am-5pm
Where: The Ukranian Federation
405 Fairmount West (corner of Hutchinson)
Who: We have absolutely no idea who else is doing this show, although we've been told there will be over 65 vendors! (EDIT: we just found out the PinPals are doing it, so that's one more great seller you won't want to miss!)

I'm sewing leggings as I type this (ha) as well as making feathered hairbands and clips, some cute skirts, logs, logs and more logs, and of course I'll be bringing down some of Tysons awesome mini watercolours and 5x7 glossy paintings, which are soooo good for presents!

So keep supporting handmade this Christmas, they really are the best gifts to give, they say:

"hey, I really thought about you a lot this year, and although I didn't have
the skills/time/ideas to make you something myself, so I took the time to find
someone else who could, and I bought it from them!"

xo
Angie

Montreal Shop Local on Etsy!

"Shop Local" is a feature on Etsy that allows you to search for sellers in any area in the world. Shopping local is a good way to reduce pollution by cutting down on emissions created by the vehicles that ship packages to and fro, and is also a nice way to support local artists! Sometimes you can even contact the artist and arrange for pickup (which saves you some money too) and if you ride a bike or take the bus/metro you're REALLY stepping it up.

In addition to this awesome search function Etsy also asks members from around the world to curate small "Shop Local" articles for their blog (the Storque). The newest addition to this list of articles is the Montreal version, curated by none other than the amazing Yana of Supayana! A big thanks to Yana for putting together a stupendous "Shop Local" article for Etsy including Tyson and myself, yay! Check it out HERE

It's Probably Worth More Than part III

Tonight is the night! Come by HQ for our third annual group exhibit of artworks priced at $100 and under! Some work is already gone, so don't miss out. And like every year, we're letting you take the work home the night you buy it, so you can stick it under the tree for your loved ones to unwrap on Christmas day. (... so much better than that "Biodome DVD)

Silkscreen print on plexiglass
Cecilia Granata
$100.

"Growing"
Aya Kakeda
$50

Various prints
Evan Melnyk
$20 each

"Molar Teeth"
Ceramic
Elaine Ho
$26. each

Various watercolours
Garrett van Winkle
$50 each

If you can't make it out tonight, the show is open as we speak and it will run for the entire month of December AND January. So, you can still swing by and pick up some amazing work.

See you soon,

t.

We're Back!

Well, we survived the One of a Kind Show in Toronto (more on that later) and we're already knee deep in preparations for two more upcoming events:

Firstly:
Souk@SAT - The 6th edition of the amazing modern indie design show we've taken part in for the last 2 years. We love this show! The media preview is tonight and the show "officially" starts on Friday, so come down and say hi, have a drink and do some Christmas shopping. We've got a giant pile of log pillows, a whole bunch of wintry stuffed owls, brand new elastic harnesses, leggings in all sorts of sizes, ruffle skirts, glossy canvas paintings and framed watercolour paintings, with more new stuff to come on Saturday and Sunday, woo hoo!

Where: SAT building, 1195 St. Laurent (just below St. Catherines)
When: Friday-Sat. DEC 12 & 13 \ 12 PM à 9 PM
Sunday DEC 14 \ 12 PM à 5 PM

Secondly:
Our 3rd annual "It's Probably Worth More Than That" Christmas art show at Headquarters opens tomorrow, Friday Dec. 12th. Every single piece of art in this show is $100 or less, and piece have already started to sell, so if you have your eye on a certain artists work be sure to come down to the vernissage this Friday to scoop up your favorite before someone else does!

ALSO


For those of you asking at the store RE log pillows and owls, we have 2 owls down at the store right now (the rest will be at the Souk@SAT) and a pile of log pillows, just waiting for you to take them home ;)

xo
Angie