Studies show that 68% of Canadians believe in the importance of shopping local. Which is a powerful economic force, since 66¢ of every dollar spent locally STAYS local. This superpower creates what is called the boomerang effect: Money spent locally means a reinvestment in the community through spending or donations. At Avant-Garden, here’s how we … Read more
Solmate Socks are always super popular in the shop, especially at this time of year! Aside from fun patterns and bright colours, they’re mismatched with love. The company uses sustainably sourced, eco-friendly fibers. This means that textile waste that would have gone to landfill is upcycled into quality yarns without adding any additional dyes to … Read more
Many people come to the Avant-Garden Shop repeatedly for our great selection of greeting cards! We carry over fifty different lines of cards that cover many occasions. We recently did a count of all the lines that are Canadian and local artists, and that number is over thirty! These cards are beautiful pieces of art, … Read more
We have a new artist in the shop! Megan Archer (they/them) is an autistic nonbinary artist based in rural Nova Scotia. They founded Aflame Creations in 2011, and have been single-handedly crafting this unique and vibrant enameled copper jewelry ever since. Every piece is a small story in colour and texture. Each piece begins with … Read more
This time of year, as the weather starts to cool, we start to get our fall items in. We received some new really fun tea towels and napkins with art from Vicki Sawyer. We have carried her cards, mugs, and tea towels for many years and will soon be ordering her new calendars for 2026! … Read more
This week we are featuring one of our newest artists, the Downtown Sketcher! Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Wynand van Niekerk is the sketch artist that created the brand Downtown Sketcher. Ever since he was a child, he has had a unique vision and passion for urban landscapes. We met Wynand in January and commissioned … Read more
(Find @newartybeavis on Instagram.) On any First Friday Art Crawl in downtown Peterborough, Ontario, fellow crawlers are always open to surprises. So I was not the only one pleasantly surprised to find an unusual studio that needed a smart device to “see” the artwork by @newartybeavis. Not a whiff of linseed oil in this … Read more
If you’re looking for gift ideas for the year ahead and want to choose Canadian, here are a few examples of items by Canadian artisans and entrepreneurs. We have plenty of new stock on order due to arrive in coming weeks and months ~ keep watching our social feeds and newsletters for updates. We appreciate … Read more
Just recently we were at the gift show in Toronto, and were able to find some new artists to feature in the shop! Here are some of the new and wonderful finds we’ve ordered. They’re not in the shop yet, so consider this a tease! Amanda Brown of Scarlett Dahlia Artistry in Saskatoon, hand dyes, … Read more
We’ve been shopping!! It’s that time of year to see what our artists are adding to their repetoire and we’re pretty excited to have our orders in! At Avant-Garden Shop, we’ve spent the last 22 years stocking our shelves to reflect our landscape. Anytime we can replace an internationally-made item with a Canadian-made one, we … Read more