Restocked at JTrove

I stopped by JTrove today, in the beautiful Port Credit area of Mississauga, and restocked my pillows in anticipation of the holiday season. That's right, holiday season! It's almost November people!

Since opening earlier this year, the store has grown leaps and bounds, selling a beautiful and unique assortment of handcrafted goods by local artisans. You really won't find another store like it, and it's the perfect place to find that perfect gift for that special someone. And to boot, the surrounding area is stunning. It's located right on Lakeshore Blvd. just a stone's throw from the Lake. The street is lined with boutique shops and cafes, and I almost always have to stop for an ice cream cone because it's just the kind of place where holding an ice cream cone is a must... I suppose until winter -- eek!

The World is not your LItterbox

I think Felix the cat says it best here, "The world is not your litterbox". And so to do our part for a cleaner, greener future, Pabrika Handmade has launched its newest series of "Upcycled" pillows.

We have rescued old T-shirts and transformed them into beautiful pillows. I got the idea a couple years ago when my American Eagle "Just Bee Yourself" shirt, with a screen-printed cartoon bee on it, became too small on me. Thinking that the cartoon bee would make a great pillow design I stuffed that T-shirt with a pillow and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Unfortunately at the time I was too pre-occupied with other things to develop the idea further... (During that time I was just starting up Pabrika Handmade and the original line of hand-painted pillows). And so the T-shirt-turned-pillow idea died.

The idea was revived when I was asked if I had any pillows of eco-friendly materials (organically grown cotton, hemp, natural water-based dyes, etc.) And I thought it was a great idea to extend my line and offer products that were environmentally friendly. I did my research and looked for suppliers of organic fabric, but did not end up going through with it because the cost of this fabric was astronomical! And then I thought back to that "Just Bee Yourself" t-shirt that sat in my living room stuffed with a pillow, and decided that there should be no reason to go out and purchase new materials when there is already a myriad of materials out there (i.e. t-shirts) just waiting to be discarded.

And here are the results of my little craft project. There are still many more to come! Click here to shop :)

The Care Bears are my favourite :)