Toronto Queer Zine Fair Pop Up

This past Sunday I attended a fundraising pop-up shop that Toronto Queer Zine Fair was holding in order to fundraising for their zine fair in October. If you haven’t heard about TQZF, you’re missing out! TQZF is a local fair that lends their platform to give marginalized LGBTQ people a voice through zines. Artists can express themselves limitlessly through poetry, short stories, paintings, comics, and more in handmade zines.

I met some new artists and saw many wonderful familiar faces. Shout out to all queer artists expressing their stories and art to the world.

Note: Some material below are slightly NSFW for the nature of art explores all topics of life

5 Common Misconceptions About Thrift Stores

We’ve all been there before. Stuck with a heaping pile of last season’s trends after a closet cleaning, trapped with trash bags full of used clothing from reorganizing our attic, and a few leftover boxes from a less than successful yard sale.

The easiest way to get rid of this mess is give it to a thrift store right? You help out a charity, others can benefit from your donation, and you can finally see your bedroom floor.

You have good intentions. But before you start driving to your nearest thrift store, rethink what assumptions you have about what runs a secondhand clothing shop.

Life/ Toronto Art Book Fair

Last weekend I had the good fortune of attending the very first Toronto Art Book Fair! The four day fair was held at the Artscape Youngplace from June 16th – June 19th 2016, and entry is free!

It was 3 floors of the most variety any art appreciator would enjoy. The hallways and rooms were filled with comic books, zines, apparel, small books. Art styles ranged from

Note: Some links below are slightly NSFW for the nature of art explores all topics of life

LIFE/ TCAF 2016

The best use of #TBT if you ask me, but hey let’s turn back the clock a couple weeks to one of the funnest times of the year…TCAF! There’s so much to see at TCAF, there’s 3 floors of amazing artists in every genre of art and graphic novels you can possibly imagine.

My favorite part of TCAF is seeing what each individual artists brings to the table (pun intended), and meeting the brilliant minds that inspire their worlds. Pluuuuus you can support them by buying their books and wares, you can’t go wrong.
I highly recommend going to TCAF if you care about anything of the following:

• Art
• Comics
• Having fun
• Supporting local/indie artists

Note: Some links below are slightly NSFW for the nature of art explores all topics of life
Left to right (top to bottom):
Swampson, (wooden pin)Laura Heikala, Michael DeForge, Kelly Kwang, Hellen Jo
Megumi Igarashi, Jane Mai, Massive Goods
James Chapman, (colorful pin) Ginette Lapalme, Joshua Barkman

Mother’s Day Gifts to Make Mom Shine

Mama, mom, mother, there’s dozens of names for this caring parental unit. No matter what you call them, you want to say thank you for all their care and sacrifice. Show them some love with beautifully made jewelry by designers who care about their craft, as if they were their own kin.

Now Trending… 6 Must-Have Tops for Spring

There’s thousands of indie designers and brands tearing up the fashion world with their distinctive detailing and innovative methods of creating ethical clothing. If you need help wading through the internets, I did all the dirty work for you and I’m reporting for duty.

Reporting the latest mens’/womens’ runway trends for spring, here are the must-have tops you need to blossom into spring (minus the florals).

 

Update

Hello everyone!
As you may have noticed, I have posted every Tuesday since the conception of HJJ…except last week.
Change is coming, but don’t fret, change is good! It’s growth, and I wanted to share with you why.

I have so much planned for HJJ, that I want to focus on quality blogging rather than quantity. I’ve always tried to juggle both, but this is the next step of evolution. I’ll still see you every month, but just not as frequently as before.
But when you do come back, the new content you see will be better than ever.

Until then, if you need to get your fix, follow me on the following:

Pinterest: Experience inspirational pins with lots of outfits, garment detailing, and portraits of interesting faces.
BTW there’s a lot of black and white everything!

Facebook: On Weekends I post cool links about ethical fashion, fashion tech innovations, and interesting articles from badass bloggers.

Instagram: Drawings, food, and more life stuff. Probably selfies….ok, most def selfies.

Tumblr: Yup, HJJ is finally on tumblr! I want to get to know you as well as vice versa.
Drawing is a strong passion of mine, so it’s impossible for me not to share it with you. It’s a more personal look at what inspires me, I’ll be posting more of my illustration and doodles there.

Thank you so much for supporting HJJ, I’m excited to see you on my social media and ofc back here again.

Gourdeous, the drawn Collection

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about urban gardening, as a relatively new interest. It doesn’t stray far from the green thumb I grew up with though. In my childhood, I helped my mother garden in our background. She grew tomatoes, walls of flowers, and I stumbled around carrying a watering can too big for my little hands. I saved the seeds from watermelons and mangoes to plant them later, unaware that the climate we lived in would not sustain my fruitless efforts.

My mother always talked about plants and flowers with great kindness, as if they too were creatures. “Don’t water indoor plants with water that is too cold,” she would remind me, “they get cold just like you.”

7 Everyday Changes to Save Water

 

This is the first part of the ongoing series: Ecofriendly for Every Element

Not every action needs to be big in order to be meaningful. Every step you take to help the Earth spin a little more peacefully is a meaningful step. I’ve given you some tips before about alternative places to donate your clothing and the beginner’s guide to ethical fashion. If you’ve read those handy posts before, you’re ready for more steps.

When you save water, you help save the world, and a pretty penny in your pocket. For my first part of my new series, here are 10 easy ecofriendly changes to conserve water everyday. Earth, our oceans, and all of it’s inhabitants thank you for the effort.

Are there any useful tips I missed? I wanna hear from you, comment below.

Boi, Oh Boi! Gift Guide For Andro Underthings

If you’re shopping for your alluring lover who feels strong and sexy wearing lace and mesh, I got a gift guide for that. But what if your beau feels sexy in other ways? In the bedroom, gym, and beyond, they prefer their bootys with a bit more coverage (there’s no doubt they pull it off flawlessly). And when they strut their stuff in a sports bra (and looks damn good in it too!)

Lovingly made by indie designers that understand how to make your bae comfy, here are heyjustjei’s top Valentine’s Day picks for every andro’s underthings.