FYI

Well… that’s all folks. We celebrated the final day of Love, Me last Saturday. Once again, thank you to everyone who has loved Love, Me and been a part of its lifespan. We remain in the space packing, shipping, cleaning, painting until Thursday, June 28th. I will then be out of town with family to return mid/late July. I wanted to ensure that anyone who needs to get ahold of me can do so via the following email: lovemeboutique@gmail.com

Thanks again Halifax! Peace out.

 

The World is a Giant Teacup

So…this just might be the hardest blog post I have ever had to write.

After almost five years of following through on a dream, I have decided to close Love, Me. This past Spring I made the decision to not resign this lease and to move locations. But…as other that search began to prove unfruitful, and an offer to sublet my current lease came up, I jumped on it. It was/is a crazy fast decision that felt really quite perfect.

Love, Me Boutique will be closed to the public at 5pm on Saturday, June 23.

I want to take a brief moment and thank each and every one of you who has made an impact on the store and my experience as a shop owner. Every chat, every smile, every “ooh” and “ahh”, every “this store is the best!”, every “I brought you a coffee/cupcake/cookie/muffin to keep you going” – it has made this part of my life memorable. I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your days, your self-treats, your special gifting strategies for loved ones. The part I will miss the most is chatting with you all – hearing about your kids antics, your plans for the holidays, or what you are working on next. I loved sharing stories with you. Thank you.

So what of Love, Me now? My plan is to take the summer to hang out with my kids. Having two young children and running a business solo is…busy. (HA! Busyness.)  I am going to enjoy my kids and the summer and then re-evaluate in the fall. For now I am moving items back to their artist owners and selling off props and some stock,  and looking forward to a new adventure – the World is my Tea Cup Adventure.

So come by (until the 23rd), say “see you later” (not goodbye), and stock up on some gift items for the gift closet. (You DO have a gift closet, don’t you?) Stay tuned on Facebook or Twitter for any other additional news.

 

 

 

New in the shop: Stay Gold Pony Boy

New in the shop – purty things. Yup. Thatsa right. Purty. See for yourself.

And after some great discussions in the shop, I now know where Marigold Santos’s jewellery business name came from – The Outsiders. Just icing on her jewellery awesomeness.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnZbKOc7EXA]

 

When you are on a sidestreet

When you are on a sidestreet and on a budget, youz gots to be creative in your marketing.

Oh My Mob!

I have been delaying writing this post. I wrote about my initial reactions immediately following the event, but then have let the day sit and nestle into my heart since then.

photographic source: Michelle Doucette

On Saturday, March 10th, Yelp Halifax organized its first ever Cash Mob. The idea is similar to that of a flash mob – people meet up to complete a task and create an event. But in the cash of a Cash Mob, the idea is to meet up and shower a local business with patronage. Participants are not told the location until minutes before they set out to ‘mob’ and the participating retailer is told with just enough time to call in some friends to help and ensure they have change in their cash drawers.

To say the experience was overwhelming is too simple and not heartfelt enough. To have over 100 (joyful) people stand in line for over an hour (on the first gorgeous Saturday since I don’t know how long), has a profound effect on this shopkeeper whose business is so deeply personal.

I think I will just litter this post with links (here) and photos because I have gotten to the point that I have talked about it so much I don’t want it to become over simplified. I think I will just end with a reminder: where you choose to spend your money has an effect. (And if you shop here and read my blog, well I am preaching to the choir, I know… but I feel it can never be said too much, right?) When you shop local, your dollars count. When you get to know the retailers and they get to know you, that is a relationship and that makes a community. It mattered to me that 100 people chose to support me – before they knew they were told that it was Love, Me being mobbed AND after they were told. It mattered to me that people were happy in my shop where I try really hard to create a little piece of happy. It mattered to me that people were thanking me even though I was almost in tears attempting to thank them. It mattered to me that Yelp and others wanted to help me because they see that my wee shop has something to offer. This does not happen in a box/chain stores. Big chains don’t make an effort to remember your name. They don’t care about what you spend your money on. They don’t thank you for realsies when you shop in their store. You are not going to be able to Cash Mob everyone you would like to. You are not going to be able to shop local and independent all the time. But your choices matter. Where ever and whenever you can make them. OK?

photographic source: Michelle Doucette

What I can’t show you is the amount of Twitter traffic #yelpcashmob generated that day. It was the highest trending topic in NS and fourth for Canada. Shut the front door!!

Thank you to all who participated.

Blessings and love to all ya’all.

A little Crystale anyone?

When you were growing up, whose style did you admire? One of my style icons was my Grandmother. She was a modern Granny of vibrant colour and fabulous accessories. She could pull together an outfit like nobody’s business.

An artist we have carried for awhile but whom I have yet to feature reminds me of my Grandmother. H.Crystal creates porcelain earrings from forms made of vintage buttons. Her work is feminine and classic. They are Lauren Bacall (thought I am not entirely sure her ears were pierced). They are Olivia de Havilland. They are my gran. And her newest colour of the softest pink (shown directly below) is perfectly pretty for the spring. Hey fellas – put a pair of these in your ladies Easter Basket. You won’t regret it.

H.Crystal (her jewellery name) is a Master Fine Arts Ceramics student at NSCAD. Her thesis show exhibit takes place from April 17 – April 28th btw.

Key To Her Heart?

Anyone who has been in this shop knows I am a bit nutty for old keys. I have some of my collection nailed to the entry wall.  So when an artist brings me work with keys featured, I am all over it. While I am an all key, all the time kind of girl, I love the subtle, romantic, suggestive nature of an old key for Valentine’s Day. It could be the key to your heart, your room, or door #3. For this weeks Friday Feature, we have 3 key embroidered artworks. (Pssst… the artist, local Hello Pineapples, actually made exact replicas of the old keys in the Love, Me entry way!) (Double Psssst…if you are local, there are more key embroidery work on the walls to choose from.)

 

Oh Sweet! Valentine’s Day is almost here.

Valentine’s Day is one week away. I hope you have a few sweet ideas to sweep your sweetie off his/her feet. If you don’t, we have a couple of lovely ideas up our sleeve. (I am a big fan of playing up light puns and romantic goofiness during Valentines Day so bear with me.)

YOU WARM MY HEART – a Bread & Butter pottery heart mug says this perfectly. Extra special bonus? Add some hot chocolate & a small bottle of Kahlua with a gift certificate for breakfast in bed and your got yourself a winning gift.

I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND – Oh those Beatles made romance sound so simple. You want to hold her hand, but dude, at least let her wear some super warm and extra cute mittens because we are in Canada after all. Fiona Alice mittens are hand knit, lined for double warmth, and then gussied up with upcycled fox fur, wool herringbone, and wooden buttons. Extra special bonus? Slip an invitation for a skate date inside.

YOU GOT THE WRITE STUFF – Ah the power of the written word. A handbound leather journal is a thoughtful romantic gift for your writing/recording/journalling sweetheart. Extra special bonus? Inscribe the first page with a quote or personal note.

Jewellery is always a winner. We have lots of unique pieces to meet all kinds of jewellery styles. Come in and let us help you choose the perfect piece.

On top of all the fabulous gifts, every Valentine’s purchase will receive (while supplies last) these adorable handmade kraft paper stitched hearts filled with cinnamon hearts made by me!

Trying Something New

New year. New ideas. This one is for our visitors from away, many of whom ask if we have an on-line store. I took this desire from our far-away friends and have started a Friday Featured page which will be introduce a limited on-line specialty item each Friday for one week only. We uploaded said page this morning with a beauty of a necklace perfect for the romantic at heart.To ensure you don’t miss any featured item cover all your basis by bookmarking the page, subscribing to the blog, liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter which ever makes most sense to you. See you Fridays!

(Oh. You can stop by in person Tuesday through Saturday to see all the other lovely offerings too!)

Valentines With Heart

Some people feel that Valentine’s Day is really a cheap marketing ploy to get consumers to spend money during an otherwise quiet lull in consumerism. I happen to like Valentine’s Day. It highlights my favorite colours (red and fuschia), it gives a little silly mock-holiday to an otherwise chilly nothing-else-going-on month, and it is about luv. But for all those skeptics out there, we have a special Valentines card that is full of heart. Love, Me Boutique is happy that we are able to help local youngster Jakob Conrad and his Valentines fundraiser by selling his Twoonies for Toubabs postcard Valentines.

Jakob is ten years old. Last year he joined his Mom on a work trip to Gambia, in West Africa. Wanting to do something for the people of Gambia, Jakob created a Valentines Day themed postcard to sell whose profits could be delivered by Jakob himself on his trip to the Nova Scotia Gambia Association in Gambia. His organization Twoonies for Toubabs raised $3,000 in cards last year. On a mission again this year to raise money for this organization, Jakob has been hard at work packaging up valentines and promoting his cause.

Love, Me Boutique is a proud to help out Jakob and Twoonies for Toubabs by selling his Valentine postcards from now until Valentine’s Day.

$2 for a single card or a pack of six for $10.

Need a bit more heart warmth? Check out this slideshow of Jakob’s trip to the Gambia set to an interview of Jakob and CBC’s Shelagh Rogers.