HollyTea2022

12/03/2022

Here at St. John's Anglican Church, West Toronto, we've had an amazing week with our hybrid Holly Tea, selling craft items and baked goods, which you can pick up today

Today is the big in-person event at the church - 288 Humberside Ave. from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm - complete with a real Tea, with teapots and teacups, baked delights, and delicious hot soups and chili to warm you all up on a cold December day. The perfect accompaniment to picking up some treasures for your Christmas gift-giving!

Some of the Artisans Featured at today's Holly Tea & Craft Sale:

Henna Vähä - New this year! Henna will have a selection of photographs, some printed in the darkroom and some digital prints. All of Henna's photos are nature related and all of the photos she's selling at our sale have been photographed in High Park!

Krystal Zorzi Illustration - Welcome back Krystal! Krystal will again be bringing her wonderful greeting cards, art prints, and postcards to St. John's. Make sure to say "Hi!" to Krystal and join us in wishing Krystal all the best with her new little one.

Purple Dragonfly Boutique - Kimi and Quita return again to our in person event bringing their wonderful yarn works. If you need something to help you or your loved ones get through the winter months, Kimi and Quita likely have it.

Alie Rutty and Graham Venney - St. John's Alie Rutty bring their wonderful analog prints to our sale. Great for interior decor and for presents!

Lilian O'Meara - back with us again with her unique Southwest style decor including magnets, mini-paintings, and Happiness Charm Dolls.

Elizabeth Turnbull - also new this year, Elizabeth and her daughter bring us handmade knitwear. Lots of wonderful ways to be warm and comfy!

St. John's West Toronto, Holly Tea & Craft Sale

Live and In Person. Dec. 3, 10 am to 2 pm

288 Humberside Ave (between High Park Ave. & Quebec Ave.)

http://sjwt.ca

12/01/2022

Virtual SJWT Holly Tea & Craft Sale 2022 Now Closed but More to Come!

After three wonderful days, our online Holly Tea & Craft Sale 2022 is now finished and sale of items through this page is now closed. If you are interested in a particular artist or artisan, please let us know.

Happily, there is still more to come!!! Come visit us at Part 2, our live "in person" Holly Tea & Craft Sale.

Where? St. John's West Toronto Anglican Church, 288 Humberside Ave. (at Quebec Ave.), just E. of High Park Ave.

When? Saturday, December 3, 2022, from 10 am to 2 pm.

What? Live performances, tea and lunch, more local artisans

We thank everyone who has helped us celebrate the season with this online Holly Tea & Craft Sale event and we look forward to seeing you in person this Saturday and at our Holly Tea event next year!

12/01/2022

"It seems like everything sleeps in winter, but it's really a time of renewal and reflection." ―Elizabeth Camden

(Image by Kati from Pixabay)

12/01/2022

Presenting a hybrid St. John's Holly Tea & Craft Sale, including this online event, has presented its challenges but it has also brought forward a rush of creativity and new experiences for everyone involved.

We are very thankful for everyone involved and are so pleased that our collection of readings, music and inspirational messages could bring happiness to so many. The organizing team would like to thank our wonderful technology wizard, Michael Taylor, who once again took charge of our Holly Tea event page and managed the uploading of all of the vendor’s tables, addressed various tech issues, and handled everything thrown at him with grace and patience. Michael did all of this while still managing our church's electronic communications, including our weekly newsletter.

We also want to thank the amazingly talented Susan Rynasko for her beautiful graphics which set the magical tone for our Holly Tea every year.

Although we cannot name all of our behind the scenes helpers here, we want them to know that every bit of help they gave is deeply appreciated. We also want to thank all of our craftspeople, artisans, musicians, readers, and greeters for volunteering their time and sharing their creative spirit with us.

Next up is our first live "in person" Holly Tea & Craft Sale since Covid. Come join us this Saturday, December 3 at St. John's West Toronto Anglican Church, 288 Humberside Ave. (at Quebec Ave.) for more crafters and more goodies. We'll be having tea, soup, chili, and sandwiches, and live performances.

It is amazing how this hybrid event has come together given our Covid challenges. We look forward to seeing everyone at Part 2, the "in person" event of our Holly Tea & Craft Sale, on Saturday and to our Holly Tea & Craft Sale, in whatever form it takes next, next year!

Wishing you a joyous and wonderful Advent and Christmas season!

Your Holly Tea Organizing Team,

Andrea Rutty, Mike Taylor, Bryn Snow, Chris Rutty

(Image by Gerhard from Pixabay)

12/01/2022

Be kind to yourself and to others. A little chari-tea will go a long way to filling you with a boun-tea of joy.

Many thanks to our readers, performers, and supporters! Many have contributed to this week's event. It is so great to share in communi-tea!

Please visit the wonderful goods of our crafters and artisans, as well as St. John’s bakers. See the photo albums section under “Photos” for our virtual vendor’s tables (albums). Please don’t forget to click on “See All” to scroll through all of them.

(Photo by Evelin Horvath on Unsplash)

12/01/2022

"What are you doing New Year's Eve," performed by long-time St. John's Anglican Church, West Toronto member, Alie Rutty, with Dan Gooch on piano.
Alie also has several of her photographs for sale in the HollyTea2022 & Craft Sale. Browse in the Photos / Albums section.

12/01/2022

Be sure to check out the one-of-a-kind items from one of our veteran vendors of the virtual HollyTea, Red Hot Pen Designs.

Browse the "Red Hot Pen Designs" collection via the Photos / Albums section of the HollyTea2022 site.

11/30/2022

Welcome to our last evening of Part 1 of our annual Holly Tea & Craft Sale 2022, the online part! The Community of St. John’s Anglican Church, West Toronto welcomes you in joining us in the delightful preparation for Christmas. Together we can create an atmosphere of hospitality, generosity, and sharing.

Friends are sharing their culinary skills with us; this is so welcome for us who may not have time or skills to produce the special foods of the season. Others are making available items for gift giving (our vendors). Musicians are sharing lovely sounds to delight our ears and calm our souls.

The Season of Advent is a cherished time in which we reconnect with loved ones; rekindle our love for God and the things of God ; and celebrate “our better selves”.

How happy we are at St. John’s West Toronto to contribute to this Season of Light and Goodwill.

11/30/2022

A short poem by W.B Yeates, "The Second Coming", read by Jim Crummey.
"The Second Coming" is a poem written by Irish poet W. B. Yeats in 1919, first printed in The Dial in November 1920. The poem uses Christian imagery regarding the Apocalypse and Second Coming to allegorically describe the atmosphere of post-war Europe. It is considered a major work of modernist poetry.
The poem was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War and the beginning of the Irish War of Independence in January 1919, The poem is also connected to the 1918–1919 flu pandemic: In the weeks preceding Yeats's writing of the poem, his pregnant wife Georgie Hyde-Lees caught the virus and was very close to death. The highest death rates of the pandemic were among pregnant women—in some areas, they had up to a 70 percent death rate. While his wife was convalescing, he wrote "The Second Coming".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(poem)

11/30/2022

Good Afternoon!

It's a busy time at our Holly Tea & Craft Sale, so it may take some time for us to catch up with updating item listings. We are so happy you are shopping but please watch where someone might have already purchased single items ahead of you. You can find purchases by other shoppers in the comments section for each item photo. We will get to these updates as soon as possible and follow up with payments.

In the meanwhile, if you missed any of the performances and posts, we encourage you to scroll back and enjoy! The whole thing starts with greetings from Mother Alexandra.

We also encourage everyone to "follow" our Holly Tea page and "share" it with all your friends and family.

(Photo by Jill Wellington: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-ceramic-mug-near-brown-pinecones-3334509/)

Download this photo by Jill Wellington for free on Pexels

11/30/2022

During the season of giving, it's a good time to appreciate the beauty of the season and all that we have to be thankful for. If you would like to help support St. John's Anglican Church, West Toronto, please purchase goods from any of our craftspeople and cooks.

To view items for sale at HollyTea2022, view the “Photos” section and select “Albums”. Be sure to click on “See All” to see all the vendors' virtual “tables” and click to open them up.

Please also consider making a donation via Canada Helps or sending an e-transfer to [email protected].

Canada helps page: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/47172

11/30/2022

"Where there’s tea, there’s hope.” – Arthur Wing Pinero

If you want to know more about the community of St. John's Anglican Church, West Toronto, please visit our website www.sjwt.ca or contact [email protected].

Everyone is welcome at St. John’s. We respect wherever you are on your journey of spirituali-tea. Join us at 10:00 a.m. for Sunday worship in person and online. The Zoom link and additional services can be found at our website.