WC Holiday Shopping Guide debut

(The West Carleton Online Holiday Shopping Guide, presented by reporter Nonie Smart, will be a regular series between now and Christmas featuring some of the most interesting and unique gift ideas created and made right here in West Carleton. For information on how to get involved, read to the bottom)

WEST CARLETON – The weather might be cooling off, but the Christmas shopping season in West Carleton is definitely heating up.

This year, West Carleton makers have got you covered. West Carleton Online is thrilled to kick off its West Carleton Holiday Shopping series with four up and coming local makers who recently told us they have some great gifts ideas for under the tree.

One of West Carleton’s newest entrepreneurs opened her Carp village shop at 416 Donald B. Munro Dr. just four months ago. Elena Love of Terra Flora Gifts says things are coming together nicely for her new retail venture which features flowers, creative planters and hand crafted gifts. Love says she relies on her background in holistic healing and herbalism to guide her choice of makes.

“The inspiration for of my products, one way or another, is what they bring for healing and uplifting mood,” she said.

For Christmas, she says her own Queen of Flowers jewelry brand is a perfect one-of-a- kind gift especially for nature lovers. Pressed under domed glass, the hand crafted flower petal earrings and pendants come in a wide variety of flower choices such as cloverleaf and baby’s breath.

Love also suggests her hand made organic soy and beeswax candles are a great choice.  

“Bees wax is the only substance that burns with full spectrum light,” Love said. “When it gets dark, even gazing at the beeswax candle light for 15 minutes restores. It is very uplifting and healing.”

Love says she is also planning to offer workshops for creatives of all ages as well as classes on herbal remedies and natural healing.

Perhaps it was fate that compelled her to change her usual route one day last summer and drive through Carp on her way to Kanata.  That is when she noticed the For Rent sign on a vacant building to the right. On a whim, she pulled over to take a closer look.

“When I entered this room and saw the light and windows, I said to myself, I am doing this,” Love said.

Kinburn resident Justin Richardson also felt the pull to run his own shop a few years ago when he turned his sideline business Black Willow Woodworking into a full time venture. With 20 years of experience in wood working he is now based out of his home studio here he builds custom kitchen cabinets and cabinetry, as well as smaller pieces he calls, “the fun stuff.”

 For Christmas, Richardson says his wooden bow ties as well as his cutting and serving boards are easy and popular gift ideas.  

“The wooden bow ties all started when my wife was wearing a purple dress to a wedding and she wanted me to make a purple bow tie to match,” Richardson said. “So I made one out of wood. I got so many compliments at the wedding, I started making more. Soon my friends were wearing them; it was a random thing that took off.”

Richardson says his patterned wooden cutting boards are created using a unique process of sending 2,000 volts of electricity through each end of a three-foot (one metre) board.  

 “It is a super dangerous process but amazing to watch the detailed lightning-like design that results,” Richardson said. “It takes about two to three minutes to complete.”

Richardson also accepts commissions throughout the year, for furniture and other builds. He uses a variety of woods, especially Ontario sourced, if possible, such as maple, cherry and walnut.  

Over in Dunrobin, Brooke Norman is a local flower farmer and florist and has continued to grow her business Willow and Blume since it started just a few years ago.

“About three years ago I began selling my homegrown flowers to my husband’s coworkers and at a few local markets,” Norman said. “Now, I also supply flowers locally at March Meadows Farm store and am a vendor at the Carp Farmers’ Market.”

During the summer months Norman is busy creating and arranging her own blooms. Once the growing season ends, she pivots to hand crafting holiday wreaths, door swags, garland and also works with a florist to offer seasonal bouquets and advent table arrangements.  

“I did my first wedding this past summer and last fall,” Norman said. “I also started doing wreath workshops. I did one at March Meadow Farm and a few in town. This fall I will do in-home workshops. It’s a lot of fun to get a group together and make a gathering of it. That will be my target audience this year,” she said.

Norman says she had no idea when the family moved to the country roughly eight years ago, that gardening was her hidden passion.

“When we moved here, there was already a little garden from the previous owner,” she said. “I started with vegetables and the gardening really piqued my interest.  So, every year I doubled the size of my plot. About four years in, I thought I want to try flowers, with no intention of selling. As soon as I did it, I knew I had to sell flowers. I love it. I do it now, because, I can’t not do it.”  

Sheila Rondeau also knows how a hobby can soon blossom into a labour of love.

“It all started a few years ago when I wanted a welcome sign for our new home,” the Kinburn resident told West Carleton Online.

But the retired horse trainer and coach couldn’t find anything she liked so she decided to make her own.

“It’s just cannonballed from there,” she said of her new business Door Decor.

With the help of spouse Stan and a few friends, Rondeau hand-crafts a wide variety of wreaths, etched decorative bottles and other seasonal décor most often with an animal or country theme. She says the biggest seller at recent local craft fairs has been ‘anything-dog’.

“Those items have just flown out the door,” she said. “Also the Grinch is really hot this year. I’ve sold out of all my Grinch décor too, but I’ll make more soon.”

During the year Rondeau also sells her creations at horseshows, craft fairs and a few stores. She also takes commissions which are often on the theme of a treasured pet or horse and can be reached at sheila.rondeau@yahoo.com.

West Carleton Online’s Holiday Shopping Guide series will continue towards Christmas. The guide is free access meaning the stories published will be accessible to everyone on the Internet (not just our subscribers). If you are a business owner within West Carleton (Ward 5) and would like your business to be considered for our ongoing holiday series, please contact us at westcarletononline@gmail.com. There is no cost or expectations to participate, we just ask you respond quickly to our reporter’s requests if contacted for inclusion, so we can include as many local businesses as possible.