Super Duper New Things

This week we got brand new things from a brand new artist in the shop! A nice shipment of Super Duper Things came to us all the way from Norwich yesterday, and everything is so so lovely. We should send a little shout out to A Girl and Her Blog for alerting us to these lovely pieces when she featured them on her blog a while back.

But that's not all! No sir! No it is not. We also just got a huge supply of everyone's favorite Tryst by Kerry lockets and other jewelry into the shop and they are beautiful as always. I think this will be the time that I finally keep one for myself. Mom, are you reading this? I mean it this time when I say I would really like the locket below:

Hollie, be a dear and put it aside for my mom, will ya?

We'll be getting all of these goodies out on display in the shop today, and we're still expecting lots more things to arrive in the coming weeks. Do you have anything specific you would love us to carry? Let us know and we'll see what we can do!

Oh Mon Dieu!

Last Supercrawl post! I promise! As you may have heard, our beloved White Elephant sign was stolen about a month ago. We put out a "new sign fund" donation jar at Supercrawl, and the outpouring of support was amazing. Hamilton, we love you.

We're still a long way from purchasing a new sign, but it was a huge huge help. Thank you guys.

(Photo by Gabriel)

Too Super

So, Supercrawl. Where do we begin?

First off, if you missed it, you missed probably the funnest event in Hamilton's recent history. No joke. This was a big deal. The streets were packed and buzzing with activity, as an estimated 20,000 people showed up. Downtown was alive again! With art and music and families and fun! I can't rave enough about this day.

Of course, I did a horrible job in capturing everything, because there was just too much going on for me to get more than a couple snaps in a minute's span, while my sister Nikki watched over the shop.



Jane and I put a couple of buckets of chalk outside of the shop for people to draw on the streets with, and man, did it ever surprise us just how much people got into this. The streets were absolutely covered with artwork. It was awesome. The local newspaper even stopped me and asked "so, what's the idea behind the chalk?" I think I responded with something along the lines of "ART!"



And the market stand was amazing, as always. Jane and I were too busy with other preparations to make it up to the farm this time to pick, but our other team of farmers got the job done and brought back a huge bounty! There were so many more things that I didn't get a photo of. Like Brandi's preserves! And the caramel apples that they spent hours making the night before. So cute. I love the market stand. I love the farm. I love Supercrawl!


The after parties were heaps of fun too. Mike, Andrew and I ended up staying out until 3:30am going back and forth between venues and shaking our tail feathers. It was ridiculous, actually. The above photo was taken during the Allosaurus set at the Friendship Shop. The highlight for me was Cadence Weapon's DJ set at The Brain with some serious, like, retro Italian disco beats.

So, White Elephant wants to thank all the organizers and volunteers who made this day possible. You've been working so hard for so long, and your efforts did not go unnoticed. And thank you to everyone who came out and who were enthusiastic about change in the downtown core. Way to make Hamilton a happening place this weekend, and for the foreseeable future.

Super Tired

Supercrawl was, for the record, awesome. James Street North has never looked so good. I want to write more, and show more pictures, but Hollie and I are pooped. White Elephant is closed today for some much needed rest. We were at the shop from 11am Saturday morning, until around 12:30 at night, and it never stopped being busy. Thank you all for coming.

Also, White Elephant now has an adorable polaroid of PONY.

(photo by Kenneth Moyle)

Crawl of Super Proportions

We're busy with preparations for Supercrawl (supercrawl supercrawl supercrawl - are you coming!?!? You should!!!) today, but please, check out some of the lovely listings we've been adding to the shop this week. Putting those boots up for sale hurts my heart a little bit. They are so rad.

SEE YOU TOMORROW, GUYS!

Picture Day!

On Saturday, most of our friends attended a Back to School Party, thrown by the lovely Rachael Henderson & Gary Buttrum at The Ship. The party had adorable decorations, amazing music provided by Rachael & Gary, and even asked for an old school photo at the door to get a deal on cover. All in all, a super fun night.

But the best part? Our friend Ken set up shop upstairs and took everyone's school photo. He was very serious about his role as the school photographer, and made sure everyone looked hopeful towards the future (the future was just behind him, to your right) in each picture. He also let us take some group shots when all the individuals were done. I love this one of Hollie and I so much.

Apparently Ryan isn't too happy with his school photo (but he was EXTREMELY happy with all the dancing). Luckily for Ryan, Gary & Rachael are planning a photo re-shoot day for all those kids who were sick or had boogers hanging out of their nose.

Don't these lovely ladies look like the popular girls?

The rest of the pictures are being kept secret for now, until the school yearbook is released. Yes, they are making an actual yearbook. I can't wait.

Bows Bows Bows

Speaking of that shopping trip we took yesterday, here's a sneak peek at some of the pieces we picked up and that will be going into both the James Street shop and the online shop later this week. Here's a hint: lots of fur, bows, leather. Drool.

Knit Bridge!

Yesterday Jane and I took a spur of the moment shopping trip to one of our favourite spots, Cambridge. We work opposite schedules, so it's hard trying to co-ordinate joint shopping trips. But everything just fell together yesterday and it was so lovely to spend the day together picking out new vintage pieces for the shop.

Even nicer was the fact that the Knit camBridge project was up. Both Jane and I had heard about this, but were blown away by it upon seeing it in person. It was incredible.



There's almost 830 metres of knitting pieces covering the entire Main Street Bridge. The installation will be up until September 27th, and you should totally go check it out. You can't help but smile as soon as you see it.

Hamilton, can we please do something like this?

Stockin' Up

I love fall. Not only do I finally get to stop dressing like a summer schlub, but we get lots and lots of new things into the shop. It's so fun when packages start coming in the mail everyday.

Here are some of the new things that have either arrived at the shop this week, or are currently heading towards us in the mail. How exciting!

I can't wait for knits from YesJess. They're in the mail right now and I WANT one of those big bows. Hollie, I'm calling it. Also, maybe I could request a custom one for Pepper?

A re-stock of HOMAKO items are also currently en route. I always love all of her pieces. Each one is so delicate and fun and yes yes yes.


We also just got a new supply of gorgeous hair accessories from Sugar Lotus. I love these lace rose hair pins.

These berets just arrived from Pandora Spocks and I guarantee you they are the softest hats you have ever warn. They come in a rainbow of colors too. You better hurry up and get one of these before my mom buys them all up... she has her eye on them.


So does Hollie! Fashion show at lunch!

Laced Up

James Rowland Shop is like a beautiful vintage fall shoe dream come to life. Waaaaannnnnttttt.

Super Duper Art Crawl

Oh hey guys, nothing like waiting for art crawl to begin. Am I right ladies, AM I RIGHT? That was Hollie and I at approximately 7:30pm on Friday night. Art crawls always start off a little slowly, and pick up steam somewhere around 9, and then get CRAZY somewhere around 10. Last week was no exception. I'm sorry that we don't look super thrilled in the above picture, but we were antsy for everything to begin, and tired from a busy day washing turnips.

Sad you missed it this month? Don't worry, you didn't. Not really anyway... because Supercrawl is in a week and a half!

Supercrawl is going to be great this year, I promise. Some of the bands that are lined up to play (FOR FREE) include Elliott Brood, Cadence Weapon, Bruce Peninsula, Lost in the Trees, Lee Reed, Wax Mannequin, and a bunch of other bands that I don't really know because I generally fail at knowing newer music. Supercrawl is happening on Saturday, September 25th, and this year it's an all day event from 1pm - 11pm. If you haven't made it to an art crawl yet, this is the perfect day to finally come out.

Last year Supercrawl was amazing, but also one of the most stressful days ever. Last year Supercrawl fell on our shop's One Year Anniversary, so we threw ourselves a huge birthday party on Supercrawl with over 600 homemade cupcakes. Do you know how hard it is to ice 600 cupcakes? Really really hard. Especially when you are also trying to blow up 300 balloons.

This year Supercrawl is a month earlier, so lucky for us we can relax a little bit and just enjoy the event. We'll be open all day, and we promise to have some yummy treats for you to enjoy.

Apples For Art Crawl

Friday night was September's Art Crawl and we went with a back to school theme. We had a school-desk and vintage flash cards from last year, and then Gary found the amazing pencil shaped sign in the basement of one of his buildings. We had no idea at that point that it was even a pencil, because it was so covered in mud and grime. All it took was a spraying of the hose in my backyard and a little scrubbing and voila! One beautiful vintage hand-painted sign. Please and thank you.

And when September rolls around, we can't justify filling the store with candy for some reason.


Maybe it's because September means the beginning of the apple harvest! So instead the shop gets filled with bushels of apples! And I honestly think that they go over better than candy. For the past two years, we've gotten our apples from Myers Apple Farm. These ones in particular were Mcintosh. MMMM. I forgot how nice fresh apples tasted.



Plus, the market stall was set up outside with goodies, and Nikki was nice enough to tend to it all night once again. Broccoli, pumpkins and bell peppers, oh my!

And I can't not mention the arrival of our dear friend Gabby! That's her in the middle. She just moved from Vancouver from Hamilton. For FOREVER. There really could not be a more exciting development in our lives right now. Expect to start seeing a lot more of her around these parts. Oh, and if you are a Hamilton (or Toronto) based company looking to hire someone in PR, Gabby is your lady.

So, thank you to all those who came out and shared in another wonderful night with us. You make Art Crawl so fun for us. Can't wait to see you all in two weeks for Supercrawl!

Farm Fresh Art Crawl

Oh boy, it's art crawl tonight, and it looks like it's going to be a good one. The weather is perfect... not too hot, and not too cold, and we have a big delivery of apples fresh from Myers Apple Farm coming this afternoon. It's September, and September means back to school and apple season, and what better way to celebrate that than to switch up apples for candy. Yup, no candy tonight. Apples are sweet enough. You've been warned ok? Tonight we're taking care of your teeth.

Also, the market stall will be out in full force again tonight. We were up at the farm until dark last night, and we picked fresh swiss chard, rutabagas, turnip, green onion, chili peppers, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, beets and pumpkins. Come and say Hi to Nikki, our favorite vegetable stand girl, and stop by the shop while you're at it!

See you tonight!

(photo from hot lava)

New in the Shop

We've been busy getting ready for art crawl, and lucky for us we just got a huge shipment of Ben & Oliver earrings and hairpins. These are really the cutest earrings in the world, and everytime we get a new order I can't decide which ones I want to keep for myself. This time I think I'm leaning towards the blue grey ones above.