Finally an update!

For weeks now I have been wanting to give you an update on the store. Thank you to everyone who has been following along on Facebook and Instagram - your enthusiasm has been so inspiring for us! 

It has been an amazing experience. When we came up with this crazy idea to buy a heritage building, move Cartolina into it, and open a retail store all at the same time - we had no idea how much work and how much fun we would have doing it. The support from locals and tourists has been overwhelming to say the least. Here are a few pictures - and I promise, now that we have the daily routine and the work schedule figured out, I'll add updates here on a regular basis.

More soon!

Fiona xo

This is a glimpse of our shiny new wholesale department.

Cartolina Retail - salvage day!

Years ago I posted here about an abandoned store in Greenwood - a town near here. I have been coveting the vintage store counters in that shop for so long! I contacted the lovely owner and, over the course of a few weeks, managed to convince her to part with them. So, off we went to Greenwood yesterday afternoon to pick up them up. It was so exciting to load the front counter on to the trailer and bring it back to the building. It took some wrestling to push it, on the dolly, down the sidewalk to the store, but we eventually got it there It's about 10ft long and has lots of cubbies on the reverse side. It's, well . . . . perfect for the store! 

Cartolina Retail - Demolition Day no.1 - a surprise!

Update: So today was day no.1 at the new building. We bought the building 2 months ago and have been waiting patiently(not) for the tenants to move out.  

There is a lot of work to do before we can move in - but it's mostly what Doug refers to as a 'dumpster gut'. We have to remove 100 years of bad renovations and take it back to the original floors and brick walls. 

Yesterday Doug and the contractor went through the building to assess the situation. They peeked behind the dropped ceiling and low and behold - there's the original pressed tin ceiling. In all it's glory - stretching from the front of the building to the back, complete with cornices and rosettes. It's in perfect condition. We had absolutely no idea it was there and we were literally lost for words when we saw it. I'm looking forward to posting lots of pictures here over the next few weeks. Stay tuned! Also follow us on Facebook for more frequent updates :-)

This is the tin ceiling as it looked in the Tremont Hotel back in 1897 (our building is the only remaining part of the old hotel)

Nice goat!

Photo shoot props.

Vintage paint by number painting are so fun for photo shoots. They're getting harder and harder to find in junk stores these days - we have a few but I'm always looking for them!

All of these Cartolina iPhone cases are available at http://cartolina.com/collections/iphone-cases

Spring Fling at Cartolina!

Let's celebrate the first weekend of spring with a Spring Fling at Cartolina! This weekend, if you order any iPhone case from www.cartolina.com we'll include a lovely selection of floral cards from our newest Curious Collection. That's a great deal for you, and a very pretty way to say hello to spring :)

Cartolina - Movin' on up!

A new year and a new location for Cartolina!

We are so excited to announce that we are moving Cartolina wholesale operations into a new location - AND opening our very first retail store this spring in Nelson BC!

Cartolina wholesale has outgrown its current location and so, last year, we set to work trying to find the perfect space to move the entire operation into. A couple of months ago we noticed a great old heritage building for sale on Nelson's main street and after a lot of thought we decided to bite the bullet, buy the building and start planning for our new downtown Nelson HQ! The building was built in 1880, it used to be part of the Tremont Hotel. It's a lovely old brick building with lots of character - high ceilings, brick interior walls and wood floors. The front of the building has a fabulous vintage storefront - so, along with a great big, new wholesale department, we are delighted to be planning our first ever foray into the world of brick and mortar retail!

I can't wait to start documenting the transformation - the building has been home to a restaurant for many years and it will be fun to reveal and restore the old character. I will try to post regular updates on the progress. But, in the mean time, I need to start planning the store, oh yay! So, if you are familiar with the Cartolina style, and you think you might have a product that would compliment our vintage inspired designs, send me your wholesale information. Can't wait to hear from you! (email at info@cartolina.com)

New from Cartolina!

We have absolutely loads of new product debuting this month at the shows in Atlanta, London and New York. And we are really excited to start selling all our pretty things in South America starting in March. So all those Brazilian fans we have will be able to buy Cartolina in their local stores - I'm so excited about that  :-)   Let me know if you'd like more info, wholesale catalogs etc.