'Emily: The Musical' - Poster designed by Take Root Creative

I am so excited to show you a new poster designed by Take Root Creative for the show 'Emily' playing at the Historic Leaskdale Church from August 11th to 20th!

Canada Day Style

This Canada Day, be patriotic without dressing in red from head to toe. Whether it be pillows from up-and-coming Toronto designer Nicole Tarasick or a Roots t-shirt to wear to the fireworks, we've got you covered when it comes to showing off your Canadiana style!

[Roots Tee, Old Navy Tank, Nicole Tarasick Pillow, The Bay - Olympic Tank, Province Buttons]

Uxbridge Farmer's Market

One of the amazing things about living in a rural community is the accessibility of locally grown food. The Uxbridge Farmer's Market delivers just about everything you could want including fresh produce, baked goods, handmade soaps and jewellery and there is even a booth selling kettle corn! See the shots taken below this weekend at the market which runs every Sunday from 9AM until 1PM (until Thanksgiving).

[All photos taken by Take Root Creative]

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

When I was in the third grade, my teacher, Mrs. McAllister, showed us a book called The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. If you are not familiar with the book, I will give a brief explanation, but it is better to read the whole store here. In 1954, Harris Burdick entered the office of Peter Wender (a children's book publisher) with fourteen pictures and a caption for each picture. The images went with fourteen different stories. Wenders was drawn into the images immediately and asked Mr. Burdick to come back with the full stories.

Here is where the mystery begins. Mr. Burdick never returned and when Wenders attempted to track him down, he had no luck. All that remains are the fourteen drawings and their captions published in a book by Chris Van Allsburg who was also fascinated by the story. So back to third grade where my teacher showed us this book and explained that she wanted us to write our own story for one of the illustrations.

I was so enthralled by the whole story and the interesting (and kind of creepy!) images that I took the book out of our school library several more times until I received my own copy (the portfolio edition where each image is a poster) for Christmas. Recently Van Allsburg created a website where stories inspired by the illustrations can be submitted and read by others. Check out a few of the images below and visit the Uxbridge Library to see the whole book.

[The House on Maple Street - It was a perfect lift-off.]

[Mr. Linden's Library - He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late]

[Missing In Venice - Even with her mighty engines in reverse, the ocean liner was pulled further and further into the canal]

[The Third-Floor Bedroom - It all began when someone left the window open]

[All image credits: Harris Burdick and Chris Van Allsburg, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston]

Local Biz Feature - Twinkleberry Farms

I have a fairly vivid memory of picking strawberries at Twinkleberry Farms as a child. My mom would take my sister and I, and we would spend the afternoon crouched down in the field looking for the juiciest berries we could find - which sometimes ended up in my mouth before reaching the basket!

There is nothing as yummy as fresh strawberries that are still warm from the summer sun and luckily we have that luxury with locals farms such as Twinkleberry. They also sell the strawberries pre-picked along with a selection of fresh vegetables, pickles and fudge among other things. If it isn't grown on the farm, it comes from another local farm nearby.

So make a family outing and head on over to Twinkleberry Farms - 8900 Main St. N. at the corner of Sandford Rd. in Uxbridge.

[Twinkleberry Farms - 905 852 9498. Image Credits: Take Root Creative]

Type Experiment - Elastics and Thumb tacks

I'm trying to do these quick "creative exercises" to keep working my brain in different ways. This task involved creating a font by using something in my house. I chose elastics and thumb tacks. I didn't exactly adhere to the rules of typography while creating this but it turned out pretty good. I almost found it to be a calming activity as well. See the process and final product below.

[The materials I used - clear thumb tacks and a super big bag of elastics]

[I didn't have enough tacks to create the whole alphabet at the same time so I divided it in half]

[The final product after putting it together in Photoshop]

Local Biz Blogs

Did you know that many of your local shops have their own blogs? Add these urls to your favourite feed reader to stay up to date with new products, class information and upcoming trends! Do you have a favourite local blog that we didn't include? Let us know in the comments!

[The Passionate Cook's Essentials - Lisa Says, La Petite Fleur Blog, Blue Heron Books Blog, Strawberry Threads Blog, On the Lamb Blog]

Father's Day Gifts - From the Shops of Uxbridge

This weekend is all about Dad so make sure to treat him right with a great gift or a fun day out! Our post today is jam packed with ideas from golf at Foxbridge to a guitar-shaped spatula from Presents, Presents, Presents. If your dad is the cooking type, sign him up for the Experience Steak evening hosted by Blue Heron Books and the Passionate Cook's Essentials!

[Presents, Presents, Presents, Blue Heron Books, Bell World, Passionate Cook, Foxbridge, The Tin Mill]

Cottage Weekend - From the Shops of Uxbridge

Sunny and 25 degrees. Sounds like perfect cottage weather! If you're heading north this weekend (or any other weekend this summer) make sure to stock up on cottage essentials - a great book, bug repellant, and a stylish bathing suit cover-up. Also make sure to have a BBQ and a comfortable chair at your disposal! Did you know that all of these things can be purchased locally? Check it out below!

[Canadian Tire, Blue Heron Books, Elemi Organic, Presents, Presents, Presents, Sears Uxbridge]

Local Biz Feature - Elevate Therapeutic Services

Starting your own business is extremely challenging - especially when you are young and just starting your career - which is why I am always impressed when I meet someone who accepts the challenge.

I have known Jasmine Mathews since we were both kids, and I was so excited to find out that she was opening her own practice in Uxbridge because it was at the same time that I was getting my business going. Elevate Therapeutic Services, based out of the Uxbridge Natural Healing Centre, offers a variety of treatments and the best part is that since Jasmine is a Registered Massage Therapist, they are often covered under your health benefits plan!

Between Twitter, Facebook and her ads in Uxbridge Town Talk, Jasmine is an extremely business-savy young lady who is getting her name out in the world of massage. Now with a #1 Registered Massage Therapist Reader's Choice Award under her belt, there is no telling how far she'll go!

Wedding Gifts - from the Shops of Uxbridge

It is that time of year again! With wedding season upon us, there are two big challenges every wedding guest faces - what will I wear and what will I give?? Check out our Summer Style post for gorgeous summer dresses that can be worn both for summer weddings or a casual lunch with friends, and see our selection of wedding gifts from your local Uxbridge shops below!

[Presents, Presents, Presents, Low's Furniture - 76 Brock St. W., La Petite Fleur]

Trends Taking Root - Stylish Lamps

Ever since I went to the Interior Design Show in Toronto back in January, the trends I saw there have been floating around in my head until I see a piece in a store that brings it back to the forefront. While shooting photos for another blog post, I came across these great lamps at Low's Furniture that are the same style as many of the ones seen at the show (and trending big for 2011). Here are a couple photos taken of displays I saw in January, as well as a round up of my favourites. - PS. I realize that the pendant fixtures are not lamps, but they were too cute to leave out!

[Low's Furniture - 76 Brock St. W, Uxbridge, Graham & Green, IKEA]

Summer Style - From the Shops of Uxbridge

Summer is all about easy, comfortable clothes and what could be easier than wearing a dress? A whole outfit rolled into one piece of clothing that not only feels great to wear in hot weather, but is a versatile look that can usually transition from day to night just by changing up the accessories. Check out some of my favourite dresses below, as well as this super-soft blue sweater from Presents, Presents, Presents - perfect for wearing over a light dress on a cool summer's evening.

Client Appreciation Packages

For about a month now, I have been delivering these little flower pots to my current clients as well as people/businesses who I would love to work with in the future. They encompass the whole premise of my name - Take Root Creative which is all about helping businesses "take root" in their community through design.

Each kit contains a bag of soil, Cosmo seeds, a plant identifier, the clay pot with tray and a double-sided post card with information about what Take Root Creative is all about. As the last packages get delivered this week, I thought that it would be fun to show you how it came together!

If you are interested in creating a client appreciation campaign for your business, email me at caitlin[at]takerootcreative[dot]com.

Logo Re-design - Dr. Ron McMullen | Optometrist

The task was to design a new logo for Dr. Ron McMullen that would still utilize some aspects of the previous branding but bring a fresh look to the business. The element we decided to keep the same was colour. The soft shades of blue found in the previous logo were also incorporated into the interior design of the office and have become a recognizable trade mark of the business.

[Previous Logo - Dr. Ron McMullen]

[Interior Office Photo - taken by Take Root Creative]

The changes made to the previous design include updating the fonts, streamlining the background box, and most importantly creating a logo that encompasses all aspects of eye health. The idea is that just because you don't need glasses, does not mean that you don't need your eyes checked regularly. By using a graphic of an eye versus a pair of glasses, we're changing that 'focus'. (I couldn't think of any other word that would not bring to mind a pun of some sort - my apologies!)

[Dr. Ron McMullen - new logo, long version]

[Dr. Ron McMullen - new logo, square version]

In the end, we decided on two versions of the logo for ease of use in various advertisements and other applications and voila - you have a fresh look that grows with the business and it's community, while staying true to the roots it started with.

1st Annual Youth Film Festival

The Uxbridge Youth Centre is hosting the 1st Annual Youth Film Festival sponsored by the Roxy Theatres of Uxbridge. I am so excited to not only be designing the promotional material for this event, but also to be helping out the great group of people who have put this together. If you know a young person (or are a young person yourself) and want to participate, see the poster and info sheet below for all the details.

Super 8 + Cameras

Even in this digital age where anything is possible, we are still attracted to photography techniques of the past ...we just might use a digital means to get there. Super 8, set in the summer of 1979 follows a group of kids who witness a train crash while filming a Super 8 movie. Not only is the footage shot by the kids reminiscent of 1970s/80s home movies, but Super 8 has a vintage look itself with the way light beams are distorted when they enter the camera. You get a sense you are watching a film versus being in the film as is customary.

Whether you are snapping photos or shooting footage, there are several options out there for achieving the techniques from an older camera without having to revive a relic. Super 8 has released a video iPhone App in time for the movie and still photo programs like the popular Instagram are both free to download.

Here are some options of both cameras and apps to check out:

[Image Credits: Super 8, Super 8 App, Instagram, Photojojo, Polaroid, Urban Outfitters]