Back in the Swing of Things!

The warm weather is here, and Sweet Ice is back at the Art Crawl! We weren't sure if we were going to make it back, as our regular spot at the Tivoli is no longer an option, but we found a cute little home on the Mulberry patio! We'll be there during July and August Art Crawl as well, so make sure you stop by. :)

We made sure to savor the Art Crawl over the Fall and Winter, because now that it's snow cone season, we don't get to see too much! I think this month's crawl was one of the busiest and most jam-packed that I've ever seen it. On every corner and in every store front, there was something magical happening! Very cool, Hamilton.

Our bud CJ was SO ready for a snow cone.

Emma had never had a Sweet Ice snow cone and was very excited.

Our new home!

We did make sure to get away from our booth to stop by and see our friends, Joel and the Jukes, playing at the Lister Block. If you're ever looking for an amazing wedding/party band, these guys are so good.

We also popped out to make some special deliveries to some of our friends along the street. Hey Hollie and Jane, HERE ARE SOME SNOW CONES FOR YOU.

All in all, it was a delightful night! Thanks for being so great, Hamilton.

So much on the go!

There is so much happening with Sweet Ice these days - we're going to try and lay it all out for you. Here goes!

First off, do you want a snow cone? You're probably wondering where to find us!

This Friday we'll be at the James Street North Art Crawl, set up on the Tivoli Theatre lot (next to the CBC building). We were there last summer, and it was so fun to be on a little grassy knoll, right in the heart of the crawl.

We'll be serving snow cones there from 7-10, and we've got 5 amazing flavors that we're sure you'll love, including a new flavor - our Raspberry Green Tea snow cone made with an amazing loose leaf Pear Green Tea from Detour Cafe! AND because this is our first Art Crawl of the year, and because we love the ladies over at While Elephant, we've got a super special promotion happening:

So make sure you stop by their shop at 133 James St N - we're pretty confident you'll see something that you love, and then get a free snow cone out of the deal at the same time!

Then, after the Art Crawl, starting at about 10:30, we'll be set up at the Baltimore House serving SPIKED snow cones! Our after-parties have been quite the hit this year, so make sure you get there early as the place usually fills up pretty quickly. Fun, fun, fun! And yes, Ke$ha is a musical genre now.

Just two more things: last week we announced that we're filming a commercial! In order to do so, we need a bunch of props: fruit heads, pinwheels, banners, you know - really happy things! So...we're going to bake some cookies, pull out our safety scissors and meet up to fashion some adorable fruity crafts. We know there are lots of you crafty types out there in Hamilton, so we thought we'd open up the invitation and see who wants to come. We now present:

It's on Monday (a week from today, on June 11th), starting at 7pm. Hope you can come! It should be fun and cozy - because Needlework is always fun and cozy.

OKAY, last thing: just a few photos from our super fun weekend at the Dundas Buskerfest. We were rained out on Friday night, but we had a great time on Saturday and Sunday, and served snow cones to lots of beautiful, friendly people! Also, Dundas is officially the place to go to see THE CUTEST children and dogs - they were anywhere and everywhere you looked!

(Photo Cred: #2 (@katgracepi), #9 (@ashlyn0), #11 (@mikaelson86), all others from Sweet Ice Snow Cones)

(And thanks to Mike Jerome for that adorable elephant + snow cone graphic. That guy is pure talent!)

Those are all of our updates for now! We hope to see you at the Art Crawl this Friday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

If you saw last week's post, you'll know that we silk-screened some t-shirts at The Print Studio. We made these as gifts for some of our favorite business partners in Hamilton - here are a few more photos from our time at the studio, since we didn't do the big reveal last week.

Again, we had such a great time at The Print Studio, and highly recommend taking a workshop there. It was so fun and a really wonderful learning experience and now that we have memberships, we can go back and screen-print any time we want to!

Okay, so here we go with our Valentine's deliveries! Gahh, so much fun!

Stop #1: Cake + Loaf! (The best bakery in town...in our opinion). They are so sweet - they knew we were coming and had amazing Valentine's cookies waiting for us. YUM! Cake & Loaf is such a nice place to stop in - you're always greeted with a big smile and an amazing selection of goodies to choose from.

Stop #2: Needlework! This stop was so fun and giddy. Kate and Liz squealed and immediately tried on their shirts. We had a hilarious argument: "You're the cutest business partners" "No, you're the cutest business partners!". It was also the day of their grand opening (which happened during the Art Crawl and was a huge success), so there was so much excitement in the air! Congrats on such an amazing endeavor, Kate and Liz!

Stop #3: The Cannon! This is our favorite coffee shop in the city, but I suppose we're a bit biased. But REALLY - it's so great. Anne and Cindy are dear friends of ours, and have recently opened Cannon Coffee Co., where they serve amazing coffee and bake up absolutely delicious treats. There's a great fresh-but-cozy atmosphere and you'll always be swept off your feet with Anne and Cindy's pleasant smiles and conversation. Go there, k? 

Stop #4: Kitestring! Well, this was fun! There was just so much screaming and laughing and of course we got to partake in the Kitestring-stash-o-candy. You can tell that Chris and Jenn have a lot of fun together but there's also a really deep friendship and mutual respect that is really evident, and that's so great to see. What nice business partners!

Stop #5: White Elephant! If you know Hollie and Jane, or if you've ever been to White Elephant, you'll know that these girls are a power couple (in the business sense of the word)...there's nothing they can't tackle! Their store is gorgeous, their banter is hilarious and they're just delightful people in general! We stopped in here during art crawl, and as usual, the shop was just packed (with people and amazing merchandise!) Yay!

Stop #6: Detour! Unfortunately we couldn't catch Kaelin, but we did stop in and see Crystal. This husband-wife duo and their wonderful coffee shop is a reason to visit Dundas in itself...what began as an amazing direct-trade roastery has turned into an incredible cafe, and it's been amazing to see these two work together towards their dreams. Also, they are our source for the beans we use for our Sweet Espresso syrup!

Stop #7: Our final stop! We met with Chris and Amy - future owners of what will surely be an amazing coffee shop in the core (#cafeoranje). While their doors aren't open for business yet, you can already see that these two are an amazing match when it comes to working out your dreams and running a business together. It was such a joy to sit down for coffee with them and hear about their process so far, and we can't wait to support them on this amazing whirlwind adventure!

We had an amazing time delivering our Valentine's Day gifts! It's such a honor to know all of these people and to gain from their knowledge and experience. During this process we've realized that this is only be 'Round One' of handing out these shirts, because there are just so many other talented and inspiring (and cute!) business partners in Hamilton. It's just thrilling to be part of a city with so much talent and with such excitement in the air! It was also nice to catch up and share a bit about what we have in store for Sweet Ice - which you'll be hearing about soon! Lots on the horizon for these business partners!

(See 'Part 1' of our silk-screening adventure here and little video from our workshop here!)

Whoa, It's Us!

We were featured on TWO AWESOME BLOGS last week! First, Happening Hamilton - thanks so much to dear Katie Shoreman for the post; your words were WAY too sweet! Favorite quote: 'How can you choose just one? Well, that's why I ended up having four!' And it's true, she was double-fisting snow cones all evening. Thanks again, Katie! Can't wait to see you tear it up on the dance floor!

*Update: She really did dance up a storm. Proof here.

Second, the Love It A Lot blog, brought to you by the amazing ladies at White Elephant! Jane just wrote the sweetest things - we were blushing when we read it! It's actually such an honor to be loved by people who are doing such amazing things in this city. Thanks guys!