Canadian Design Blogger Meetup

CDB2012 :: Video Recap

2012-02-07T09:00:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone, hope you are all having a fabulous February! It's been really great catching up on all your tweets and blog posts. It looks like we can all agree, that all the events around IDS this year, left us inspired and energized! Even better to see is all the new connections and friendships that have been made because of our meetup. Again, THANK YOU so much for all your enthusiasm and support.

Here is the final video of the event. It's a great clip of all that inspired us, and a great way to recapture the energy of the evening. Some great moments captured from Cassandra, Lisa, Cameron and Brian. Thanks again to Len, who filmed the event and produced this upbeat piece.

CDB2012 :: Oh What a Night!

2012-01-30T15:20:00.000-05:00

It's Monday, and I hope you all have recovered from an amazing week! Thank you again to everyone who came out to the Meetup on Saturday night. Oh what a night it was! It's so great to connect with you again, and meet so many new faces that attended this time around. We think we even had some party crashers

We want to take a moment to say Thank you to our great line up of sponsors. House and Home Magazine, Delta, Ikea, Cottonelle, CIL, Gluckstein Home and Aya Kitchens. Thanks to our inspiring presenters, Cameron MacNeil, Lisa Murphy and Cassandra LaValle. And of course, thank you Brian Gluckstein for surprising everyone with a visit, and taking time to chat with us! That was one hard secret to keep.

Alessia was taking pictures all night, and you can find more photos of the night on her Flickr page, Alessia Lamonaca. Thanks for taking all the great pictures of the evening!

You may have noticed Len of Otima, walking around with his video camera. He's is just putting finishing touches on a video for all of us to enjoy, but here is a little teaser.. Thanks Len for putting this together for so quickly!

Stay Tuned as we'll be updating the site with a few more images of the night. If anyone has some great pictures to share please send them over, and we would also love to hear your feedback below.

special thanks to...

2012-01-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

We are absolutely thrilled with the overwhelming response to our 3rd meetup, and would like to thank a few sponsors for donating some great gifts to our prize table!

If you aren't familiar with the fabulous shop Green Light District, located on Roncesvalles, you are about to pleasantly surprised. They have a great collection of uniquely modern furnishings, sourced from around the world. Deborah and Dave are giving away this beautiful Wonki Tableware 24-piece set for 6 – valued at $600.00!

We'd also like to Rowenta for providing a Pro Compact Garment Steamer for one lucky blogger, as well as CB2 and Kravet for a few other wonderful prizes.

We can't wait to see who wins!

Cottonelle Clean Care :: a colour story...

2012-01-24T11:15:00.001-05:00

Who doesn't love a generous dose of colour to liven up a space? When Cottonelle partnered with Jonathan Adler to design its new roll covers, they knew he would deliver colours and patterns that were both bold and lively! Adler has long been admired for his fearless use of colour, designing ordinary objects and interiors that are playful and energetic. And it's about time that toilet paper has its own little happy place in the world. Roll covers are a great way to bring some of that Adler energy into your home!

The new collection features three exclusive ‘groovy' designs sketched by Jonathan Adler. Let them inspire a redesign of your entire bathroom, or give your current design a little pop of colour!

You can get all the details at Respecttheroll.com

Photos: Cottonelle

Delta Faucets :: inspiration for your kitchen...

2012-01-23T09:00:00.008-05:00

Can a faucet inspire an entire kitchen? You bet it can! Especially when that faucet is at the center of a busy family. Delta’s Pilar and Trinsic faucet with Touch2O™ Technology allows you to turn water on and off with a simple tap on the spout or handle.

Kitchens do a whole lot more than prepare food these days. The heart of the home is known to serve as a study, craft room and a home office, on top of its traditional purpose; cooking. It’s no surprise that kitchen trends incorporate traditional style with updated functions, like a large counter space, traditional light fixture, casual seating, and modern appliances, to name a few.

Delivering exceptionally well-made stylish faucets, Delta believes that there are better ways to experience water, going beyond excellent design to incorporate smart thinking that anticipates people's needs. They're the creators of kitchen faucets with Touch2O™ Technology, like Pilar™ and Trinsic. And now, there’s Touch2O.xt™ Technology for the bathroom!

Check out the video below to see the added convenience of a hands-free function with Touch2O.xt. Be sure to pop by their blog for more inspiration, and follow them on Twitter @BeigeIsDead!

Photos: Delta, House & Home

IKEA Canada :: getting organized...

2012-01-20T12:25:00.003-05:00

It's no secret that January is the month to get organized! It's all part of the process of starting the year out fresh, with new beginnings. As always, a favourite stop for inspiration and fabulous ideas is IKEA.

Right now, the IKEA Bedroom Event is on, where you can get 15% back in gift cards on the Pax wardrobe system and Komplement interiors. The Pax wardrobe is a great way to get a custom look at a fraction of the price. Just browsing the inspirational gallery will have you excited about all the possibilities!

The Bedroom Event ends February 5th, so be sure to check out more details here...

Photos: IKEA

house & home's exciting apps...

2012-01-18T09:51:00.007-05:00

If you haven't already heard, House & Home now has some pretty exciting apps available to access all the content from houseandhome.com, wherever and whenever you need it! The free app is currently available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, with more devices on the way. You can view photo galleries, blogs, online episodes, recipes, and all the latest content straight from your device!

For those with iPads, the magazine is also available in a fun, interactive format. Three free sample issues are currently available inside the app, including the 25th anniversary issue, the holiday issue and the trends issue. Each has at least a recipe or two, articles and endless photos!

Download the app today!

Photos: houseandhome.com

welcome our 3rd bronze sponsor :: AyA Kitchens...

2012-01-17T17:20:00.000-05:00

Today we're also announcing another new sponsor to the Design Blogger Meetup... AyA Kitchens.

AyA Kitchens and Baths has become Canada’s foremost manufacturer of high quality, frameless cabinetry. By combining old world craftsmanship and attention to detail with high tech manufacturing processes, AyA offers innovative, quality cabinetry at competitive, manufacturer direct prices to clients across North America. AyA (i'ya) means design and good design starts from the ground up. AyA has designed and continues to refine one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly cabinet manufacturing facilities in North America.

We're happy to have them join us! You can follow AyA on Twitter @ayakitchens

Photos: AyA Kitchens

announcing our 3rd guest speaker :: Cassandra LaValle!

2012-01-17T09:00:00.003-05:00

You read that right! We're very happy to share that Cassandra LaValle of coco+kelley will be making a special trip to Toronto to meet and speak with Canadian design bloggers at our upcoming event! Cassandra has had an amazing journey as a blogger over the last few years and she'll be here to share some of her secrets to success. We can't wait!

Please join us in welcoming Cassandra to Toronto, and you can follow her on Twitter at @casslavalle

announcing our special guests!

2012-01-16T09:02:00.001-05:00

Today we're delighted to introduce you to two of our guest speakers! Joining us from House and Home is Cameron MacNeil, Senior Design Editor, and Lisa Murphy, Online Director. Our goal is to inspire and inform you on some of the exciting things happening in the design world, with a twist that caters to design bloggers, so we hope you will join us in welcoming them to our meetup! You can follow Cameron @cameronmacneil and Lisa @LisaMurphyTO on Twitter.

Again, thank you all so much for your amazing response to our meetup this month! Although the event is now sold out, we're trying to make room for everyone, so please add your name to the waiting list if you didn't register on time.

just a reminder...

2012-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you all very much for registering, the response has been amazing. We just want to send out a quick reminder that registration is one ticket per blog. Your ticket gets you a fabulous swag bag and entry into some amazing giveaways!

Now is the time to book your babysitter, pick out your favorite outfit, and get ready to meet new friends! Can't wait to see you there...

welcome our 3rd silver sponsor :: IKEA Canada...

2012-01-13T10:43:00.007-05:00

We are very excited to announce today that IKEA Canada is back again as a sponsor for our upcoming meetup! This is IKEA's second event with Canadian Design Bloggers, and we're delighted for their continued support of the blogging community.

From dream kitchens to fabulous PAX wardrobes, luxurious mattresses, and totally customizable media storage, IKEA has always been a favourite for beautiful decor inspiration, clever ideas, and great pieces to help make a house feel like a home.

Thanks again IKEA, we're looking forward to a fabulous event!

Potos & Logo: IKEA

welcome another silver sponsor :: Cottonelle...

2012-01-12T09:51:00.001-05:00

Today we're happy to announce that Cottonelle Brand has signed on as a silver sponsor for our upcoming meet up! You might wonder though why Cottonelle wants to partner with Canadian Design Bloggers... well, we did too!

It turns out that Cottonelle has collaborated with Jonathan Adler to design the brand’s new colourful collection of toilet paper roll covers. His fresh and modern take on everyday objects adds a little extraordinary to the ordinary!

The fun “Respect the Roll” campaign from the Cottonelle Brand is designed to give the everyday necessity its own pretty place in the bathroom. From soaps to linens to cotton balls, we all take great care in making sure our bathroom essentials are neatly tucked away, and now there's a place to store those extra rolls with a little more personality!

Photos: Logo & rolls - Cottonelle, Bathroom - House & Home

welcome our bronze sponsor :: CIL...

2012-01-05T13:46:00.005-05:00

Today we're excited to announce that CIL is a bronze sponsor for the second time!

CIL is Canada’s favourite brand of decorative paints, and has been sold by leading Canadian retailers and dealers for over 75 years. With four mood-inspired collections called deep & luxurious, clean & playful, mellow & comforting, and soft & elegant, they are designed to help you use colour to create the look and feel that’s totally you. And with the CIL Symbol System, you can easily coordinate colours too.

We are so happy that CIL is on board with us again. You can locate a CIL retailer here, and be sure to pop by their blog too – talk CIL.

Photos: CIL

registration is now open!

2012-01-04T12:50:00.007-05:00

Registration is officially open! You can sign up for the next Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup here, over on Eventbrite. Be sure to list your blog and email address too. It's going to be another great event, with a few surprises as well!

Also, a reminder, if you'd like to exchange contact cards with your fellow bloggers, now's the time to have the printed/made!

Hope to see you there...

welcome our bronze sponsor :: GlucksteinHome...

2011-12-29T09:52:00.011-05:00

New to the Canadian Design Blogger Meetup this year, we're excited to share that GlucksteinHome has signed on as a bronze sponsor!

GlucksteinHome is an affordable line of designer-driven home furnishings created by renowned interior designer Brian Gluckstein. Launched in 1999, GlucksteinHome offers a complete assortment of home furnishings including bedding, bath, dinnerware, furniture, decor, patio and holiday. Designed with a collections approach, GlucksteinHome reflects the luxurious yet functional appeal of Brian Gluckstein’s signature interiors with a variety of choices for home decorators.

We're happy to have GlucksteinHome join us this year!

Photos: GlucksteinHome

welcome our silver sponsor :: Delta...

2011-12-15T15:14:00.015-05:00

Today we're very happy to announce that Delta will continue to sponsor our event for the third time! Delta has been incredibly supportive of the design blog community and we are excited to partner with them again.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Delta, they deliver exceptionally well-made, stylish faucets and related kitchen and bath accessories. Delta believes that there are better ways to experience water, going beyond excellent design to incorporate smart thinking that anticipates people's needs, with products such as Touch20® Technology faucets that turn on with just a touch, and In2ition® Showers with integrated showerheads and handshowers.

Looking forward to another event together!

Photos: Delta

meet our premiere sponsor :: House & Home...

2011-12-06T09:00:00.002-05:00

Today we are very excited to announce one of our gold sponsors... House & Home magazine!

As Canada's #1 design and decorating magazine, we are thrilled to have House & Home on board! You'll find plenty of inspiration in print and online, including dramatic makeovers, the latest furniture, fabrics and accessories, expert renovation tips, and tricks for organizing and entertaining with style. We're so happy to have House & Home share their experience and design savvy with us, so stay tuned for more details, including a special guest speaker and info on their latest mobile app!

save the date for a new meetup!

2011-11-30T11:29:00.018-05:00

A new year, a new event! It’s been a few months since our last event, but we've been quietly working away our next official meetup.

Like past events, it promises to be the place to meet up with the bloggers you know and love, and connect with new friends too. This year we decided to host the event around the Interior Design Show, so for those of you coming a little farther, it’s just another reason to spend the weekend in Toronto. The more, the merrier!

Stay tuned, as in the coming days we’ll be announcing our sponsors, as well as all the exciting details, including registration. We can't wait!

Hope you're all having a lovely time gearing up for the holidays...

feedback from our sponsors...

2011-08-23T11:17:00.011-04:00

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a great Summer. Below we thought we'd share some of the feedback from our sponsors, and thank them again for helping put on a great event earlier this year!

"IKEA was thrilled to sponsor the Canadian Design Bloggers Meet Up. At IKEA, we believe strongly that this community represents an increasingly influential group and it was great to participate in strengthening the connection between its members. We personally found the attendees to be an inspiring group of passionate and interesting women (and one guy!). It was a pleasure to connect directly and to put a face to the blog."

– Madeleine Löwenborg-Frick, IKEA

"It’s always so inspiring to see the power of networking in action at Canadian Design Bloggers events, and the strong partnerships and friendships that they foster. The calibre of the blogs produced by this network of savvy design enthusiasts is incredibly high. It’s a pleasure to be associated with the Canadian Design Bloggers - we look forward to continuing our work together! Congratulations to Vitania and Daniella for a stellar evening."

– Anita Griffin, Delta Faucet

"It was an absolute thrill to be in a room brimming with such talented and passionate bloggers! We’re so grateful for the opportunity to engage with the Canadian Design Bloggers, and thankful to Vie and Daniella for establishing and continuing the conversations and events. This group of designing women and men continually opens our eyes to the newest trends in design and décor, and insights into the world of social media."

– Dita Kuhtey, Cohn & Wolfe

“On behalf of Rowenta, thank you for hosting such a stylish and fun event with such

an amazing group of bloggers. We were thrilled to give away the Rowenta Pro Compact Steamer (congratulations to @whitewashco Jo Alcorn) and look forward to your

next event so we can do it all again!”

– Laurie Hall, Rowenta

CDB2011 :: a fabulous event!

2011-06-27T09:35:00.033-04:00

Monday morning is here again, but this past weekend we had a fabulous time at the Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup! Thank you to everyone who came, we hope you all had a wonderful time! It was so great to see some people from the last event and meet a bunch of new bloggers too. With everyone exchanging blog cards, we sure have a lot of great new ones to check out.

A big thank you again to all of our sponsors - IKEA, Delta, CIL, along with House & Home, Crate & Barrel, Sytle at Home, Kravet, and Rowenta. We we're able to put on a great event with all their help, and same to Brassaii, for the wonderful service. Congratulations to all our winners too! We hope you enjoy your new prizes, and hope everyone picked up a goodie bag on their way out too.

As you can see our photographer Leah from Forever Moments did a fabulous job taking shots throughout the night! We are so thankful for her help on Saturday. It great to have all these wonderful photos. If you'd like to use them on your own blog, be sure to link back and link to Leah's website!

All in all, we had a great night and are thankful it turned out so well. Hope you all have a great Summer, and we're looking forward to visiting all these new blogs!

PS. Anyone else still dreaming about those delicious mini grilled cheese and fish n' chips? lol....

Photos: By Leah Kirin from Forever Moments

it's party time!

2011-06-24T00:14:00.007-04:00

We can hardly believe it, but the Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup has officially arrived!

We are now at capacity and can't wait to see you all there. A reminder, that this is not a drop-in event, so thank you for taking the time to register! The party starts at 4 pm, with a presentation by Tommy Smythe just before 5 pm. Please take note that video of Tommy's presentation is unfortunately not permitted. Thank you in advance!

We'd also like to take this time to say thank you to all our sponsors... IKEA is our Gold Sponsor this year and has been fabulous to work with. We are looking forward to chatting with the IKEA team! Thank you to Delta Faucet, our Silver Sponsor, who we're thrilled to have onboard again! CIL is our new Bronze sponsor, who will be providing a super exciting giveaway, along with other gifts from House & Home Magazine, Kravet Canada, Style at Home Magazine, Crate & Barrel, and Rowenta. We are so thankful for everyone who joined us this year, and are happy to see such a great event come together.

See you on Saturday at 4 pm, and remember your blog "business" cards!

Photo: Aimee Claire on Flickr

meet our bronze sponsor :: CIL...

2011-06-20T08:00:00.007-04:00

Hello, and welcome to a brand new week! With the meetup quickly arriving, we are very excited to announce today that CIL is our brand new bronze sponsor!

CIL is Canada’s favourite brand of decorative paints, and has been sold by leading Canadian retailers and dealers for over 75 years. With four mood-inspired collections called deep & luxurious, clean & playful, mellow & comforting, and soft & elegant, they are designed to help you use colour to create the look and feel that’s totally you. And with the CIL Symbol System, you can easily coordinate colours too.

Spring is the perfect time to add a little colour to your home by putting on a new coat of paint, and this season's palette is all about appreciating the influence of colour in every aspect of our lives, from a spectacular sunset, to blossoming flower gardens, or the latest trend in fashion. Popular colour choices this season include jewel-toned blues and greens, playful limes, pinks and apricots, and calming lavenders and greys. You can check out the latest CIL colour trends for 2011 here!

We are so happy that CIL is on board with us this year, and can't wait to check out all those colour possibilities when deciding to paint our own homes! You can locate a CIL retailer here, and be sure to pop by their blog too – talk CIL.

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to register for the meetup, as you must be signed up to attend :) See you all soon!

Photos: CIL

blog business card reminder!

2011-06-15T09:48:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone... This year's event is sneaking up fast, so now is the time to get those blog "business cards" printed if you haven't already! Not a necessity of course, but it was so great to collect cards from everyone last year to discover new blogs once at home. They don't have to be professionally printed of course, whether handmade and quickly printed at home, anything goes!

Photos: Oh So Beautiful Paper

meet our key speaker!

2011-06-09T15:13:00.006-04:00

After arranging a fabulous key speaker quite some time ago, we are excited to finally announce that the very talented Tommy Smythe will be chatting with all of us, at the Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup this year!

Tommy Smythe has worked alongside Sarah Richardson as an integral member of her design team for over nine years, through several award-winning HGTV series including design inc, Sarah’s House and Cottage and Sarah 101. He has proven himself to be Sarah’s indispensable confidant, friend and design partner in crime and returns to HGTV Canada this fall with Sarah’s House 4.

Tommy’s passion for design extends to pulling back the curtain and letting the viewer get an inside peek at how it all comes together, from the early stages of planning through to executing and staging every room in the house. Born and raised in Toronto, has spent the past 12 years honing his appreciation of fine art and antiques, and managing numerous entire home renovations. With Sarah’s influence, he has come to appreciate the more contemporary approach to design and has even begun to embrace the notion of hunting for a bargain now and then! In addition to his off-camera decorating work in Canada, the US and the UK, Tommy is a regular contributor to both Canadian House and Home and Style At Home magazines and has been featured on numerous design blogs.

We are thrilled to have Tommy speak at our event, and can't wait for inspiration and lots of laughs to follow. See you all there! And thanks to IKEA for putting us in touch with Tommy!

*Spots are filling up fast, so if you haven't already registered, please do so soon! (Link is on the sidebar.)

Photo: Provided by Tommy Smythe

registration is now open...

2011-05-30T12:18:00.003-04:00

Good morning everyone! It's officially time to register for our Canadian Design Blogger Meetup, so be sure to head on over to the registration site here to sign up!

Make sure to include your email address and blog. Also, we've designated a hashtag if you're tweeting about the event in the future - #CDB2011

Can't wait to see everyone! Stay tuned for more details...

mark your calendars... our meetup is June 25th!

2011-05-26T23:14:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone! Today we are very excited to announce that we officially have a time and place for our 2nd Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup! This year's event will be held at the ultra chic Brassaii Restaurant and Lounge in Toronto, on June 25th, from 4 - 8pm.

"Brassaii Restaurant and Lounge is Toronto’s sophisticated nouveau riche cosmopolitan and culture destination. Nestled amidst a romantic cobblestone palazzo courtyard and charming outdoor patio, Brassaii embraces its architectural heritage, elevating your fine dining experience to an expedition in urban archeology and design."

We are so happy to share this news, and can't wait to see you all there. It's going to be fun to catch up with everyone again, and also meet new bloggers who couldn't make it last time. Registration will be open in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Photos: Brassaii

just a note...

2011-05-19T15:34:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! We've had a few people ask about the event lately, so just wanted to let you all know that we're working on it! We're close to booking a space and pulling the rest of the event together, so stay tuned! Eventually we will have everyone officially register online and start sharing more details...

Looking forward to meeting up with you all again, and for now, hope you are enjoying Spring (as rainy as it has been, lol)...

Photo: by Elena of Pretty Light

IKEA Canada :: outdoor inspiration...

2011-04-26T15:13:00.013-04:00

While we Canadians patiently wait for Spring to arrive in full force, now is the time to start planning those backyard patios and beautiful balconies!

Each year IKEA is guaranteed to have some great new Spring and Summer products to liven up your outdoor space, from bold and modern to oh-so-french. I always look forward to seeing what they come up with – things like bistro sets and patio furniture, outdoor cushions and lounging chairs, summer decor and all kinds of great textiles. I know I can't wait to dress up my little balcony oasis! What about you?

For more Spring and Summer inspiration from IKEA check out their Outdoor section here... (better start making a list!)

Photos: IKEA Canada

crate & barrel tweet-up...

2011-04-25T12:26:00.004-04:00

Looking for some fun and fabulous inspiration this week? Join us for the Crate & Barrel Tweet-up this Thursday in Mississauga with your fellow bloggers and a few special guests!

For more info and registration click here.

welcome our silver level sponsor :: Delta Canada...

2011-04-18T09:00:00.001-04:00

We are very excited to announce today that Delta Canada is officially our Silver Sponsor! It was great having Delta as a sponsor last year and we are thrilled that they are joining us again.

Delivering exceptionally well-made, stylish faucets and related kitchen and bath accessories, Delta believes that there are better ways to experience water, going beyond excellent design to incorporate smart thinking that anticipates people's needs. They are the creators of the In2ition® Showerhead and faucets with Touch2O™ Technology, like Pilar™. Check out one of their great commercials below and be sure to pop by their blog Beige is Dead for more inspiration!

Photos & Video: Delta Canada

share the news...

2011-03-22T20:02:00.006-04:00

If you haven't noticed already we have a brand new Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup badge available on the side bar to post on your blog and link back, if you'd like to share the news of this year's meet up. We'd really appreciate it!

Also, we received an overwhelming response that the weekend is best for most people and will be picking a date with that in mind. Thanks so much for your replies. They are very helpful!

Hope you're all having a great start to week...

welcome our gold level sponsor :: IKEA Canada...

2011-03-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

We are very excited to announce today that IKEA Canada is officially our Gold Level Sponsor for this year's Canadian Design Blogger Meetup! From dream kitchens, fabulous PAX wardrobes, luxurious mattresses to totally customizable media storage, IKEA has always been a favourite for gorgeous decor inspiration, clever ideas, and amazing pieces to help make a house feel like a home. We are more than delighted to have IKEA sponsoring this year and can't wait to work together to create a wonderful event!

Stay tuned for more from IKEA, and details about the event as plans unfold!

Photos: IKEA

making plans...

2011-03-14T07:12:00.016-04:00

Hello again everyone! Since our last update we've been working away to secure sponsors and make plans for a bigger and better event. We're currently dotting the I's and crossing the t's with a couple of sponsors, which we'll be sharing with you soon. We're excited to start bringing everything together.

We'd love to know an important detail from each of you though! With the option of participating in a few more activities, would you rather have a weekday event... OR... keep the event to a weekend afternoon/evening? We are thinking that not everyone would be able to take the day off work, so we'd love to hear your opinion! Please leave a comment below, as to what works best for you. We'd really appreciate the feedback.

Also, you can look out for a new Canadian Design Blogger badge on the sidebar in the next few days to use as a linkback on your blog if you'd like to help share the news!

And... if you haven't already, please sign up on our ongoing list if your interested in attending, as it gives us a better idea for possible numbers... thanks!

Photos: Candice Lesage

new year, new meetup!

2011-02-05T00:33:00.009-05:00

Hello everyone... The new year is officially well underway and we hope it's been going great for everyone so far! It feels like our meetup last year was ages ago, but it's only been a few months since all the fun and excitement... can you believe it? It's been wonderful to see all the Canadian blogger events that have followed since... tea with Sarah Richardson & Tommy Smythe, chats with Genevieve, IDS extravaganza, tweetups and more. The Canadian blogger community is getting stronger each day and we're loving it!

As you've probably guessed, we're planning away for another Canadian Design Blogger Meetup this year! Many of you expressed that you'd love to have another event, so we're hoping to create something bigger and better for us all. It'll be great to see everyone together again! We're in the early stages and would love to hear if you have any ideas for the event or thoughts on possible sponsors. If there's another element you'd like to see this time around, let us know! We're really looking forward to focusing on an event that's all about the bloggers.

So, until then, you'll see some on-going changes here on the site, along with updates and details as they come. We're thinking late-Spring, date to be determined. So stay tuned, and happy blogging!

Photo: By La Tartine Gourmande

meet & greet with Sarah & Tommy!

2010-12-17T14:21:00.011-05:00

This past Wednesday, Canadian Design Bloggers helped to bring a bunch of lucky bloggers together to meet the fabulous Sarah Richardson and her design sidekick Tommy Smythe. Everyone got a chance to chat with Sarah and Tommy over tea, explore her gorgeous office, and of course, talk about Sarah's new show Sarah 101 - basically, design school "Sarah-style"! Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? Stay tuned for her new show to launch Tuesday, January 4th at 12 pm, 9pm and 1am ET on HGTV Canada. We can't wait to see what it'll be like!

Check out some of the fab pics below, courtesy Staci Edwards (thanks!), and stay tuned here on the blog for news on possible future events!

Photos: by Staci Edwards

chat with genevieve...

2010-12-09T09:30:00.006-05:00

Would you like to chat with HGTV star Genevieve Gorder? Well it’s your lucky day, because HGTV Canada is inviting a few of us to speak with the star of Dear Genevieve this Tuesday, December 14. Canadian Design Bloggers have been invited to chat with the star about her fabulous style, her passion for design, trends for 2011 and anything else you’d like to ask!

If you are interested in joining us on a live call with Genevieve, please send us an email to cdndesignbloggers@gmail.com

Space is limited, so let us know by end of day today if you're in!

Photos: HGTV

a GKhair giveaway on Simply Seductive...

2010-12-06T12:59:00.005-05:00

For those of you who are loving the GKhair products, or would like to win some for family & friends this holiday season, hop on over to Linda's blog Simply Seductive, where she's hosting a GKhair giveaway of her own! Plus, her blog is super gorgeous to peruse through for the rest of today too, lol... good luck!

Photo: via Simply Seductive

fabulous feedback...

2010-11-26T12:03:00.030-05:00

This week we got so much amazing feedback about the meetup last weekend and are so happy to hear everyone had a great time! Doesn't it seem like ages ago already? So we decided we should share some of that feedback here on the blog!

We were also thrilled to see that House & Home magazine did a little write-up of the evening on their blog! Thanks to Linda of Simply Seductive who was clever enough to grab a screencap of the homepage that day too...

We also appreciate everyone's posts about all the fun of course! Here's just few, but be sure to visit everyone's blog on the blogroll if you get a chance...

"Exciting News!" - Simply Seductive

"Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup" - What's Up Whimsy!
"Recap" - My Daily Randomness

"A Special Thanks" - A Dose of Delight

"Recap" - Heart Heather

Thanks again everyone! We've already been approached with lots of ideas for next year... so stay in touch here on the blog and we'll see what happens come Spring!

smile for the camera!

2010-11-22T22:32:00.017-05:00

Alas, we have some fabulous first few shots to share! Hope everyone is excited to see some photos of the night, and thanks again to Natalie! (Please make sure to credit and link back!) Such a fun night girls!

Photos: Natalie from A Bit of Blue (design.natalie@gmail.com)

what a night!

2010-11-22T13:49:00.012-05:00

What a night! We are all smiles at how well everything went on Saturday! We couldn't have asked for a better group of bloggers or a better night. It was so wonderful to meet everyone and match the faces to the blogs. We hope everyone had a fabulous time! It was great to to watch it all finally come together, so thank you all for coming. A lot of us didn't know anyone at the beginning of the night, but we sure did by the end!

We hope the lucky ladies who had a GKhair treatment earlier in the day enjoyed themselves, your hair all looked great. And we hope everyone enjoys the samples in the gift bag. A huge thank you to Celeste and Sasha from GKhair for not only helping us out with the event, but treating us all to such wonderful gifts.

It was so much fun raffling off the giveaways as well, hope those who won the Delta Faucet giveaways put them to good use! So lucky. The Touch2O faucet is really one of the coolest pieces i've seen in a while and we thank them very much for bringing so many awesome giveaways. Congrats to the lucky ladies! And don't forget to check out their brand new blog, Beige Is Dead.

Plus, thank you to both of our sponsors for such great speeches. See bloggers, we can ask for more! lol...

And of course thank you to everyone who helped us out that night, Connie form Sogni e Sorrisi, Natalie from A Bit of Blue, Alison from Coriander Girl, and the great staff at Hotel le Germain. And to those who added to the fabulous swag bag - thank you!

We are hoping to get pics up of the night very soon, so keep an eye out for them this week. Can't wait to relive the night through some fab photos, as we're feeling like it totally flew by...

Our blog and email will remain active and in place so we can get in touch regarding any future events. We hope to arrange another gathering in the new year, perhaps in the Summer, but we'd LOVE to hear your feedback of the night and if you'd like to do something like this again.

Also, we'd love to post a contact list here on the blog with everyone's name, blog, twitter, and email... so if you don't want your contact info up on the blog or want to leave your email address off the list, let us know! We just wanted to check with everyone before posting it.

It was so nice to meet everyone! Pics to come soon! And thank you to Vie who started it all with just a little idea! So awesome, right?

Photo: J.Crew

thank you, thank you!

2010-11-19T22:05:00.004-05:00

At last, the weekend is finally here... we hope you have your outfits picked and business cards ready to go!

We couldn’t let the week go by until we said a few very special thank you’s to all the wonderful people who helped bring this event together. You already know about our two amazing sponsors GKHair and Delta... they've made this event possible for all of us and we can't thank them enough. They also have some great surprises in store too!

A big thanks to Natalie who will be taking pictures throughout the night. Her photography business is call A Bit of Blue, so be on the lookout for her nametag and pose for some pics! They'll be posted up here on the blog within the next few days.

Thanks Alison of Coriander Girl, for adding a little life to the room with some beautiful floral arrangements! Her work is amazing and so unique. If you get the chance you must check out her shop in T.O.!

Thanks to Jennifer of Rambling Renovators, for all your amazing work spreading the word about the event, and getting some great giveaways! We can't wait to draw the lucky winners.

And also thank you to all the wonderful people who sent us even more surprises... Omiyage, the One of a Kind Show, Kravet Canada, Canadian House & Home, Style at Home, Penny People, and the Interior Design Show. We truly appreciate your generosity!

It's going to be a great night! See you all soon...

and the winner is...

2010-11-18T22:13:00.003-05:00

We've drawn our lucky winner for the GKhair treatment! Congrats to Dharma! We'll be in touch soon to book your appointment for Saturday. Thanks to everyone who entered, and can't wait to see you there that night!

Photos: Cherry Blossom Girl

GKhair giveaway!

2010-11-17T12:15:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Today we have a really fun pre-Saturday night giveaway from GKhair. Three lucky bloggers have been selected, and we have one more spot to giveaway for an appointment at one of GKhair's salons for the GKhair Hair Taming System™ with Juvexin™ treatment!

The appointment will be held this upcoming Saturday, in Toronto during the day, so you'll have the perfect tresses for our blogger meetup that very night! Perfect right?

Just leave a comment below if you are interested in winning and you'll be entered for the draw! Better enter soon though, as we'll be picking our winner in exactly 24 hours! Good luck...

Check out the video above that describes the whole process...

Video: GKhair

what's everyone wearing?

2010-11-16T00:40:00.004-05:00

We've gotten a few inquiries lately as to what everyone is wearing for the big night, and while there's no set dress code in mind, we don't think a little glitz and glam would hurt! Of course, we don't need to be super dolled up like above, lol, but getting a little dressed up would be fun, don't you think? (Only if you want to of course).

I'll be on the lookout for something sparkly... while Vie is going for a pretty skirt and heels... feel free to chat about what you're thinking of wearing in the comments for this post!

Photo: Chris Nicholls

meet our second level sponsor :: Delta Faucet Canada

2010-11-15T16:00:00.002-05:00

Today we're also very excited to announce that our second level sponsor is Delta® Faucet Canada. We are very happy to be working with a company who believes in design, just as much as function!

Delta delivers exceptionally well-made, stylish faucets and related kitchen and bath accessories that are beautiful both inside and out. They are the creators of the In2ition® Showerhead and faucets with Touch2O™ Technology, like Pilar™.

The Delta® In2ition® Shower allows you to have two streams of water at once, so there's no need to choose between one option or the other. You can choose between Classic or Traditional styles, where the Traditional model features a five-setting handshower, and the Classic offers four settings, letting the users choose from relaxing massage or invigorating spray. Both handshowers offer a pause setting that reduces the water to a trickle, helping to conserve water when a full stream is not needed. How great is that option?

With Delta's intuitive Touch2O™ Technology, the homeowner can start and stop the flow of water with just a simple tap anywhere on the spout or handle. It makes it easier to turn off the water flow when hands are messy or when water flow is not needed between tasks, saving water and energy. Not to mention, helping to prevent the spread of bacteria!

A few lovely guests from Delta will be joining us at our event... Anita Griffin, Marketing Brand Manager, Maeve Grady, Marketing Communications Specialist, as well as Dita Kuhtey, Counsellor, from Cohn & Wolfe! Can't wait to chat all things design and social media...

Thank you so much to Delta for the sponsorship to help us with our event, we are looking forward to quite the night!

Be sure to check them out online for more info and products at Delta Faucet, and over at their You Tube Channel.

Photos: Delta Faucet

meet our feature sponsor... GKhair

2010-11-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

We are very happen to announce today our main sponsor GKhair™ (formerly known as Global Keratin). They have been more than gracious to help us out with our event and we are so excited to be collaborating!

GKhair is an innovative international developer and manufacturer of advanced hair products scientifically proven to deliver healthy beautiful hair! They are the first and only company to harness the beauty benefits of Juvexin, a proprietary blend of proteins which repairs hair from the outside in and protects it from damaging environmental effects. Pretty great, right?

Their new hair care line includes all-new products that work together to nourish even the most damaged hair, revealing smooth, sleek results immediately...

GKhair Hair Taming System™ with Juvexin Balancing Shampoo: Designed to gently cleanse the hair while balancing the PH levels. Free of Sodium Chloride and harsh sulfates, the Juvexin penetrates each strand of hair, providing hydration and nourishing benefits to maintain shine and softness after every wash

  GKhair Hair Taming System with Juvexin Balancing Conditioner: This nourishing conditioner coats each strand, creating a protective shield to nourish and provide softness.

  GKhair Hair Taming System with Juvexin Moisturizing Shampoo: Designed to restore hair from the inside out. Protects against future damage and environmental affects and helps to strengthen hair.  

GKhair Hair Taming System with Juvexin Moisturizing Conditioner: This exclusive blend restores hair and returns it to its youthful state. Contains canola oil which is 100% absorbed by hair.  

GKhair Hair Taming System with Juvexin Leave-in Conditioner Spray: Applied to damp hair before styling, this spray detangles and adds moisture, protecting hair from heat styling and environmental effects, for healthy-looking, beautiful hair.

 GKhair Hair Taming System with Juvexin Leave-in Cream: Applied to damp hair, this cream replenishes moisture and protects from damaging environmental effects, for shiny hair that is easy to manage.  

GKhair Hair Taming System with Juvexin Serum: This nourishing serum delivers an instant dose of frizz fighters for silky, shiny hair that is resistant to humidity.

We can't wait for our fabulous meetup and are so happy that GKhair could help make it happen, plus, you can look forward to a little goodie or two from GKhair themselves. Some product samples worth blogging about! We could all use fabulous hair right? Thank you so much to Sasha and Celeste at GKhair, and we hope they can make it to our meetup so we can thank them in person :)

You can check out the GKhair website or YouTube channel for more info, and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

Photos: GKhair

and we have a location!

2010-11-11T12:13:00.011-05:00

It's official! We finally have our location booked and we're ready to go! If you've been wondering what we've been doing this whole time, well the answer is a lot of organizing, negotiating, and working hard on making this the best it can be...

As our list of attendees grew, we knew this was going to have to be way bigger than getting together at a restaurant. So we started looking around for venues, as well as getting some wonderful sponsors, and at last we've found it...

Hotel le Germain Toronto, in the Hatley Room, at 30 Mercer St. in the heart of the entertainment district. (Full address on the sidebar.)

The night begins at 7PM, with food, drinks, door prizes, giveaways, a few intriguing speeches, and some possible special guests!

Again, we hate to stress this, but it's important to note that we are filled to capacity (yay!), so we can't allow anyone to "bring a friend" lol... those on the blogroll are those who are on the guest list. Thanks so much for understanding :)

Photos: Hotel le Germain website & Vie of Verdigris Vie

any photographers out there?

2010-11-10T21:09:00.006-05:00

As we near the date, we're working on getting all the little details together and would like to reach out to see if anyone with a background in photography would like to volunteer by taking some great pics of the night! We want to capture all the fun moments so we can post here after the event, and a designated photographer would be great. Let us know if that's you... and thanks in advance!

Update: We've found our photographer!

Photo: Susannah Conway

rsvp reminder + important info!

2010-11-09T11:52:00.011-05:00

Hi everyone! We are thrilled to see that so many people are interested in attending our blogger meet up. As we finalize the details for our venue, we are working hard with some lovely sponsors to try and make this a fabulous night, so please note that this is not an open type of event. If you're thinking of coming and haven't let us know yet, please do so we can put you on our final guest list :)

Hoping to announce our location in Toronto very soon, but we need that final count! We're excited to see this all come together. We have such a wonderful design community and can't wait to all meet up!

Today is the last day! And thank you to those who have already RSVP'd!

Photo: Karen Mordechai via Sunday Suppers

reminder :: business cards...

2010-11-04T13:12:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone! As we're busy making plans, it dawned on us that we should remind everyone about blogger business cards! After the wonderful experience at the Steven & Chris show, a few of us realized it would have been nice to have business cards on hand to pass out to new friends. So now's your chance! We still have a few weeks till the event, so just enough time to get something together if you haven't already...

Also, we promise to reveal our location soon, we're just crossing the t's and dotting the i's!

Photo: SIMPLESONG Fine Letterpress Goods

an update!

2010-10-29T15:10:00.008-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a fabulous Friday so far. Just thought we'd post a little update for you all, as we're asking everyone who wants to come to RSVP and make sure we have added your blog address to the blogroll by Wednesday, November 10th. We've gotten a great response so far, and as the number grew, our possible venues changed. As of right now we are doing a little researching and emailing, not to mention persuading to find a great location for such a large group! So stay tuned... and most importantly make sure you've RSVP'd. It's much easier for us once to organize once we have a final number of those attending... thank you!

We can't wait to meet everyone!

Photo: Karen Mordechai for Martha Stewart via Sunday Suppers

save the date...

2010-10-18T23:48:00.007-04:00

Hi everyone! So as many of you already know, the date we've decided on will be November 20th. The event will be held in Toronto, during the evening. We would love, love, love if everyone could get back to us on whether or not they can make it... booking a location depends on the number of people attending, so once everyone has had a chance to RSVP, we'll have more details to share.

So... if you're attending and you're not already on the blogroll to the right, please let us know!

welcome!

2010-10-15T23:39:00.014-04:00

Welcome to the new blog for our Canadian Design Blogger Meetup! Here is where you'll find information and updates regarding the event, as well as an updated list of those attending so you can check out everyone's blogs before our get together... talk soon!

Photo: via Fashion Gone Rogue by Norman Jean Roy