filling up for departure.

in the midst of all of our packing and sorting and scrubbing and short-napping, i found time today (and yesterday evening) to fill up some local toronto shop with sweetie pie goods. first of all, i finally made it by art history, katharine mulherin's new art and vintage retail space at queen and dovercourt. i have been meaning to go by there for a while now and am so glad i managed to squish in a visit before shoving off. it's kind of like a collection of everything in my home - i mean, not exactly, but in broad strokes. there's friendly matter on every shelf, too - sarah mcneil, tara bursey...

i was a little too harried and insane to take in the exceptional collection in all its detail. even from a cursive glance, though, it is clear that katharine's specific curatorial perspective on art, craft, objects and space comes through. her artistic visions tend towards the scrappy in a way that makes seemingly ephemeral pieces seem sacred and sophisticated. i will have to consider the shop more profoundly upon my return home. in the meantime, i suggest you do the same.

there are also freshly restocked buttons sets and loose buttons at the good catch general store, mores buttons at type and commissioned artist sets at the paper place. hopefully that will keep you locals sated during my trip. if not, just let me know. i'll miss you, toronto!

ps - i also just threw together a flickr set of indie boutiques i have visited. holy cow, it's a lot! i bet there is more lurking in my account but it's a start...if you're into that sort of thing. further pictures of many of these boutiques can be found there.