AvantiShops is my e-commerce site, launched in late April 2007 after many, many months of research and work! There are some very exciting features on this site, things that no other Canadian e-store has...... yet.
Ulrieke has a wonderful studio here on Salt Spring. She designs and makes fabulous hand-felted accessories, and I am very happy that her work is being sold on Avanti Shops! Her work is known worldwide at shows, and now it's available online.
Mark Lauckner's glass will also be found on Avanti Shops. He is the originator of cast glass starfish, and you will be able to purchase them along with the rest of the starfish series, online. Check the website for his latest, cast glass abalone shells that make great paperweights, and they are so pretty!
Beautiful custom greeting cards featuring photography and poetry by my friend Laura Bentley on Vancouver Island. There is a fascinating story on how this all came about, and part of the proceeds benefit children and others with MS. Unique treasures, soulful and uplifting, for you to share.
Theme birdhouses complete with decor, handcrafted of local west coast woods by my friends Laura and Bruce on Vancouver Island. These are incredible! You'll be tempted to keep them for yourself, but really, the birds love them!
A comprehensive online guide to all of the Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands arts venues, festivals, tours, events, galleries, art supplies, training and classes. Everything Art!
Hastings House Country House Hotel—a small luxury country resort, spa and restaurant - sits on 22 acres on the waterfront of Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Enjoy luxury lodging, fine dining, wellness and relaxation in a casually-elegant atmosphere. Explore British Columbia’s natural beauty, Salt Spring’s mild climate and the warmth and creativity of its people.
My friend Sandra creates stunningly incredible, unusual and technically perfect mosaic installations. She combines traditional tesserae with glass castings that she makes herself. Sandra has an incredible talent and is a great designer. For the record, her website may be offline soon. Contact me if you wish to contact her.
My favorite streaming radio station, that I prefer to listen to over anything else. It was my constant companion while I was working on those two large stained glass windows for a local church, last year. If I can't have quiet, I want AFR. I still listen to it, all the time. It keeps me centred and grounded. And inspired me to add to my early music collection, which now includes Byzantine, Russian and Serbian chant.
Cindy Jacobsen is an amazing filmmaker, web programmer, all-around-jill-of-all-things webby, and a cherished friend. She did all the php coding and mysql database work on the AvantiShops site. Cindy teaches filmmaking to kids, and somehow manages to keep her left and right brains perfectly balanced!
I built this site, too, in memory of my Father who passed away in November 2000. He was a pipe organ builder. I thought I knew him pretty well, because we were great friends, but reading his letters after he died, made me appreciate him even more. The letters span sixty years, and the website includes other interesting things collected by this very eccentric man. Two of his correspondents donated the letters they had kept over the years, so I have some long-running epics that are quite fascinating to read.
This site was built with EZGenerator, which I highly recommend! They are a European company, so some of their instructions are a bit of a challenge, but after you get used to their logic, it all makes perfect sense.
Based in Victoria, BC, my sister Solveig McLaren is a principal in this company. It's a full-service publicity company serving private and corporate clients. Their specialty is authors, but I'm on their client list, too!
