Greetings!
:
Hello friends & family of Cornerstone! It's July, it's HOT and we are open (& have air conditioning!) We have graduated form our limited opening to a more regular experience. Because of physical distancing, there are a limited number of people in the store at a time, however, we have LOADS of new product coming in to make the trip worthwhile! We want to let you know that we have taken every precaution right from the beginning to have a safe environment for our staff & customers. It was ALWAYS mandatory that you wear a mask or face covering upon entering our store. We ask you to sanitize your hands and refrain from touching your mask and items that you are really not interested in purchasing. We will gladly help with your gift search whether or not the gift is for someone else or for you! (The best kind of gifts I think... personally speaking of course!)
Please also note that from 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM, Thursday - Saturday, our store will be closed for our staff to have a dedicated lunch break.
Closing a little earlier than normal will allow for a deeper cleaning at the end of each day in our continued efforts to shake the Covid! We are asking that if you can possibly pay for your items with either debit or credit that would be awesome! We have even added "TAP" to help keep touching to a minimum. If you must pay with cash we understand and will not make a fuss.
Can you even remotely believe that it's JULY????? OMG! We hope that everyone had a safe & happy Canada Day! As you know, we love everything Canadian here. We also understand that while some of us celebrate the birth of Canada in 1867, our Indigenous peoples do not and Canada Day does not have the same meaning at all for them. At all. I am about moving forward with life but their are times we need to look back to see the damage that was done so we can move forward together, make amends and understand the rich culture and meaning that our Indigenous people bring to our lives. If you disagree I am sorry, but we are not Canadian without our Indigenous people.
Our featured artist for July is a personal favourite of mine. When I think Canada, my thoughts often drift to cottages & campsites, fire pits and roasted marshmallows, and canoeing or kayaking...you can do neither of the latter two without a paddle or you'd know where you would be... We hare absolutely OVER THE MOON, that our featured artist for July is none other than Veronica Lloyd from Sable Dog Paddles! Her gorgeous paddles are functional & decorative. My cottage is still under renovation yet I purchased one of her paddles a couple of years ago because I envision it (ok and maybe I need one more...) hanging over the fireplace... sigh. I cannot wait!
When we started placing summer orders in January and February, we had no -idea that Covid - 19 was going to have the impact that it has had. Who knew that all travel would pretty much cease, or that we would not be able to visit with family and friends? We began ordering like summer would be normal! So I am happy to say that we have loads of new product starting to show up on our doorstep! Susan Robertson has sent sent her lovely pottery that has Canadian imagery and comes in mugs, small platters and little serving dishes. Kiln art has sent lovely fused glass pieces and some of their amazing cats! (You know how much I love cats... says the crazy cat lady...)
Our new hats from Mod Atout Express have arrived and we love ALL of them! We have works coming from Indigenous artist, Mark Nadjiwaan and Three Trees Art. He has a new piece called, "Emmisary" that I LOVE! (Turtles have a special place in my heart... I know not why...)We are waiting to receive our order from My Wristy Business! They even have one called , "Penny"!! (You know I ordered that one in RED! Euroaccents and their Canadian inspired etched glasses and rumour has it we have leather bags from Matteo Mio on thier way!
And.........
I am proud to announce we have a new cutting board/serving board artist. Although no one could replace Gary Kennell (he will always be in our thoughts & in our heart), we have Muskoka Woodworking who has agreed to play with us! They have lovely cutting & serving boards that I firmly believe that you will LOVE!
Other favourites soon to be coming are Perth Soap Company lotions & soaps, dreamcatchers, incense and other goodies from our Indigenous friends at Monague, silver jewellery from GAM, our beautiful coasters & cards form OLA Designs and our amazing card & calendar selections from CAP... Whew! So excited to bring all of these new things into the store. Being in lockdown has not been fun and we deserve beautiful, Canadian things!
Marissa Sweet has generously re-scheduled her 1-day class for Sunday October 4, 2020. Call the store at 613-546-7967 to reserve your spot. When we know for sure that the class will run (that we are allowed to be open from the Covid-lockdown), we will then process payment. I would ask that you are committed to coming when you reserve your spot as there are only 8 openings and 2 have already been spoken for.
Our window change happened in time for PRIDE. At Cornerstone we "PRIDE" our selves as being an all inclusive store! We love everyone. So we don't care what your race is, what your sexual preference is, what colour hair you have. As long as you are a "Be Kind" person you are welcome here! PS... Our window has changed again but you’ll have to drop around to see it!!!!
Please continue to follow us on Instagram, FB & Pinterest to keep up on the latest news from us. Share our newsletters so others can sign up,and share our social media posts too. Hang in there with us and let's be there for each other.
From our heart to yours,
Penny & the staff at Cornerstone
