Canadian Hand Made Gifts & Souvenirs From Coast to Coast

Greetings! : I love June. What's not to love? Summer officially arrives June 21 and it herald's in a cornucopia of events. Father's day BBQ's, Weddings, Indigenous Day, #DKShopFest, Kingston Pride, as well as convocation at Queen's University & the end of the school year. Whew! That's a lot of happenings in one month! June is also the beginning of ... Cottage time :) This is a personal (Mixed Media piece by Jessica Lin) way of spending free time for me! It's a place to kick back, do some reading and create new ideas for the store and our customers. It's also a way for me to "find my own art & craftiness!" Lots of art & craft continues to flow into Cornerstone in anticipation of all these wonderful celebrations. Let us be your gift giving "go to" place for Canadian made pieces that will inspire and be memorable for years, if not a lifetime. That's what I love about Cornerstone. The pieces we choose from the artists we work with, are creating memories in the lives of the people who receive them. And it doesn't get any more special or rewarding than that. Firstly, I want to thank everyone who came out to "Art After Dark" on Friday May 26. We saw lots of familiar faces and were happy to see many new ones! I personally love the Art After Dark events and was happy that Mother Nature blessed us with another great evening weather-wise with no rain! A big thanks to artist Sue Steffes of Peocile Design for being our featured artist. It was a fabulous felting show! Once again, Cornerstone is up for an Ontario Choice Award in the "Top Small Museum/Art Gallery/Historic Sites" category. The voting is done daily but you can only vote ONCE in a 24 HOUR PERIOD . We've provided the link below, so please, put it on your "daily to do list"! It would be such an honour to win! This month our featured artist is Lee-Ann Taras. If Lee-Ann looks familiar it's because she worked at cornerstone for my years before pursuing her career that took her on a different path. Lee-Ann has continued with her contemporary creative works and has produced a show called "Cohesion". June 15 is #DKShopFest & Pride Day! We will be featuring Sean Kerrigan's beautiful Glass work of rainbow colours on our sidewalk table for #DKShopfest. Sean has even allowed us to donate a piece to Kingston Pride! Yeahhh Sean! Father's Day is Sunday June 16. While people don't generally think of us a store to buy men's gifts, we have great pieces to show your Dad that you appreciate all he's done for you. I was the baby of three girls and was born the day before my Dad's birthday. He always said I was the best present he could have! And while I am sure I tried his patience greatly at times, he was always patient, loving and looking out for my best interests. He could convince me that instead of being all trendy with "higher heel boots", I should opt for the sensible soles that would keep me from falling on the ice as I trekked back & forth to school. If you know me at all, you know how hard it is to talk me out of something once I've made my mind up! From the day I was born, to the birthday before he passed on June 5, 1997, we never celebrated a birthday apart. If you have a great Dad or some other person in your life that fills those tall shoes, take the time now while you can, to spend time and show them how much they mean to you. Life is way too short to do otherwise. Indigenous Day Is June 21. I can't say enough about this day. One of our goals at Cornerstone, is to expand upon the number of Indigenous artists we carry. We are thrilled to already have some very important artists sharing their work & their messages and stories here. We will be featuring a different artist each day that week so please make sure that you tune in to FB & Instagram the week beginning Monday June 17. No Hot Pets!!! Please take care of those with no voice. Animals (& children) cannot tell you how hot they are. Take the pledge and keep them all safe. Pets also get scared when fireworks are lit - keep them indoors where it's nice & quiet. From our heart to yours, Penny & the wonderful staff at Cornerstone P.S. I have made a monumental decision to write a book! I love words and writing and HAVE always wanted to do this! I'll keep you posted on when it's going to be published and available for purchase, but I am going to ask a favour..... If you are an artist/craftperson/musician/writer and have a story you'd like to share of your journey I am interested! I am especially interested if you put your creative endeavours aside because someone told you that you needed a "real job" or if you made that decision yourself, or maybe you thought or someone told you that you weren't creative at all or "enough". Tell me how you came back to your passion. Part of my story is to share some examples of others who had a roundabout journey back to their creative side. If you are interested (and I hope you are!) email me your story at info@cornerstonecanadianart.com If you want more information send me a note and I will fill you in! Thank you for your help! Penny

Miss you Dad.....Happy Father's Day and thank you for always looking out for me....even in the afterlife. 

Featured Artist - Lee-Ann Taras

Zentangle Class

Fun times at the Zentangle Class. Call us at 613-546-7967 to make a date! We will keep you posted of the details of our new Zentangle Club and keep an eye out on FB for Tangle Tuesdays!We invite you to join our FB group, Kingston City Zentanglers. We have just started the group so that we can get together, people who like Zentangle here in Kingston. Join, Post & Share. We are working with coming up with a schedule where we can meet monthly at a the store to tangle and share ideas. Starting in June I'll post a "Tangle of the Week" and we can use that as a jumping off point for our pieces. We are open to ideas and just looking for a fun, relaxing way to hang out and do some Zentangle!

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Attractions Ontario

We are very proud to again be up for an Attractions Ontario Choice Award in this category. You can vote for us daily but only 1 time in a 24-hour period. (So it's best to do around the same time each day!) Just click on the picture below and off you go! 

#No Hot Pets

As you know, pets (preferably on leashes, in carriers or in pet strollers... my personal favourite) are allowed in Cornerstone. We are all animal lovers here and take this seriously. We will even fill your pet water bowl (ok & your water bottle too as we are a part of the water bottle program too!) to keep your pet hydrated during the hot summer. We also recommend that if any of your celebrations include fireworks to please keep pets inside and windows closed as fireworks and pets generally do not mix. These sounds are VERY SCARY to animals and they will often bolt to get away from them with disastrous results. I know the you may think, "What does this have to do with Canadian Made art at Cornerstone?". You're right it doesn't.... it's just about taking care of those with no voices (so that means never leaving children in a car unattended in the heat too!) If you see a distressed pet in the car call 310-7722 or 310-SPCA Thanks for listening to me on this topic... as you can see I am very passionate about it! Fast Facts  If heat stroke is suspected (excessive panting and drooling, listlessness or unconsciousness) prompt veterinary medical attention is vital. In the meantime, wet the fur immediately with lukewarm to cool water, not cold water. Bring the pet into the shade and offer drinking water. Dogs have a limited ability to sweat; even a short time in a hot environment can be life-threatening. A dog’s normal body temperature is about 39°C, a temperature of 41°C can be withstood only for a very short time before irreparable brain damage or even death can occur. If you can’t take your pet with you when you leave your car, leave them at home where they are safe. Owners who choose to leave pets unattended in vehicles, may face charges under the Ontario SPCA Act or the Criminal Code of Canada. Parked cars can quickly reach deadly temperatures, even on relatively mild days with the car parked in the shade and the windows slightly open. SPCAs across Canada receive hundreds of reports of pets being left in cars every year. It’s imperative that each of us as animal owners is responsible in providing the proper care for our pets. As such, leaving a pet unattended in a vehicle is one of the most irresponsible things a pet owner can do.

Art After Dark Friday May 24 7-10 PM

Fun Times were had! Special thanks to the Kingston Olive oil Co. for supplying us with their great flavours for our customer snacks! Thanks again to Sue for her beautiful felting! In addition to having been our featured artist for May, Sue exhibits her work all year round here at Cornerstone!

Showing Our pride & #DKShopFest

Look for our table during #DKShopFest with a small sampling of what you can expect in-store. With so many one of a kind items, it's always challenging to choose from the great artists here at Cornerstone to feature on our table so after you are finished looking outside, we invite you to come into the store to REALLY see what we are all about! One of the artists whose work you will see is Sean Kerrigan, a talented glass artist and genuinely nice person! Sean has generously agreed to donate one of his colourful blown glass pieces to Kingston Pride. THANK YOU SEAN!!!!

Glass Artist Sean Kerrigan hard at work!

Great Father's Day Picks!

For Dads, Grampas or anyone who plays that role, here are some great gift ideas for the Gents in your life!

Indigenous Day June 21

Starting Monday June 17, we will be featuring a different Indigenous artist each day at Cornerstone. They will include Mark Nadjiiwan, Jay Bell Redbird, Loretta Gould, Monague Native Crafts, Mary Verrigan and various sculpture artists from Cape Dorset.

To stay up to date check out our website for more details about Cornerstone Canadian Art & Craft and follow us on FB, Twitter Instagram and Pinterest!

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