Buy Canadian First - Your destination for good shopping

It is Day 15 of our Cross Canada Countdown and we are visiting designer Dylan Ribkoff, of  Montreal, Quebec. But first, are you wondering if it is going to be a green Christmas this year? It's grey and rainy here in Central Ontario, but I'm warmed by all the 'sweet comments' that you are leaving on yesterday's post about your Canadian  Christmas memories of Ganong Candy. If you haven't tried Ganong Chocolates and Candies yet, leave a comment  about why you would like to, just like SaraD did! You could win some Chicken Bones! Good luck! We'll pick a winner next Wednesday.

On a gloomy day like today, the bright colours of Dylan Ribkoff's creations are very hot cheerful, aren't they? Darling Husband gets underwear in his stocking every year, but nothing like these .. . yet! These undies are made of a higher quality cotton yarn that results in a softer, more durable fabric than open-end yarn. They are ring-spun, which takes about five times longer and requires extra steps but results in unparalled softness and super comfiness! It looks good, too! Very good.

He's worth it , though. Every little last bit of him! 

Did you catch Dylan on CBC's Dragons' Den? It was a great segment ! This guy really gets what made-in-Canada is all about and the Dragons loved him! 

"Keeping our production local means that we can do our part in helping the environment. Cotton is a renewable resource; it's so beautiful in raw form. Why ruin something so clean and environmentally friendly by putting it on any more trucks and boats than it needs to be on?" - Dylan Ribkoff 

So tell me, Canada, boxers or briefs? 

: images courtesy of Buy Canadian First Member Dylan Ribkoff

 

 

You can also find them in your mailbox by doing the following: 

1. Share a holiday memory below in the Comments section about Ganong candy.

2. Like Ganong on Facebook.

3. Tweet "@buycndianfirst <3 @ganongbros #win". 

The giveaway starts today and the winner will be announced here next Wednesday! Good luck and Good Shopping!

:: images courtesy of Buy Canadian First member, Ganong. 

Day 13 of our Cross Canadian Countdown finds us at the studios of a Canadian treasure.  

"On November 2, 1936, the Canadian Broadcasting Act replaced the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission with a Crown corporation known as CBC/Radio-Canada."

That was seventy-five years ago, Canada, and "Yours to Celebrate" is the slogan CBC came up with to set the tone for their 75th anniversary celebrations. When you visit their site , you will find all sorts of made-in-Canada  archives. You will be walking down Memory Lane in no time!

 CBC/RADIO Canada 

 If you are like me, you grew up listening to the CBC on the radio and watching on TV. Many of us, I am sure, remember loving Mr.Dressup, Casey and Finnigan. Who hasn't looked up, waaaaaaaaaay up, to see the Friendly Giant, Jerome and Rusty or pulled up a chair to sit awhile in front of the fire? 

You'll find all your CBC favourites  in their site and you can watch or listen to them. Check out the interactive timeline ! What a great opportunity to share your memories with your children or grandchildren! 

What was your favourite CBC programme when you were growing up?

:: images courtesy of CBC. 

Day 10 of the Cross Canada Countdown is here and we are zipping over to Ontario, to visit our blogger, "Super" Stacey Kazmer! Stacey is a developer/computer programmer, the mom of twin four year old boys and the wife of Dan. She also runs the show at her made-in-Canada  blog, "Did You Know Canada?" and is a weekly blogger here at the Good Shopper blog! She's one multi-tasking mama!

Stacey has been participating as a blogger/tester in a Canadian prime-time show called Recipe to Riches . It plays Wednesday nights on the Food Network and Saturday, on Global TV. The idea is that, each week three everyday Canadians are given the opportunity to submit their recipes in one of seven food categories, The winner gets $25,000.00 and has their dish sold by President's Choice in stores across Canada!  

It's a really fun concept and the food has been amazing! I've tried three of the products and loved them! The best part is that Galen Weston, the Executive Chairman of Loblaws, joins the celebrity judging panel for the final selection!

The show is drawing to a close, but you can still watch it tonight and catch-up with Stacey's hands-on experiences  making some of the recipes and reviewing them for the show.

Have you seen Recipe to Riches yet?

:: images courtesy of Stacey Kazmer 

It's Day 8 of our Cross Canadian Giveaway and it is time to announce our Chillbed Laptop Cooling Stand Winners! YAAAAAY! But first, is it snowing where you are? It's snowing and sunny here, a perfectly, wintery, made-in-Canada  day! I know that Stacey is probably jumping up and down for joy! She's building an ice rink  in her back yard, if you remember!

And now for the big news! As you know, Adam Berson of Chillbed Industries Ltd. had two laptop cooling stands to give to two of our readers. And the lucky Chillbed Industries Ltd. Laptop Cooling Stands  Giveaway Winners are ......

Jacquelyn Pereuza

and

Mark Valentino

Congratulations, Jacquelyn and Mark! What a great prize! Please email Adam  to let him know your details!

Many thanks to everyone who participated! We will be having more Giveaways, so keep in touch! As a matter of fact, you can subscibe to our blog feed, so that you never have to worry about missing a great Canadian giveaway! 

You still have time to win our luxury Winter Survival Basket from Buy Canadian First member,  Natural Plantation!  Just share a Winter photo on our Facebook page! 

Have you shared any photos on our Facebook  page yet?

:: images courtesy of Chillbed Industries Ltd. and Natural Plantatation. 

Day 7 in our Cross Canada Countdown and today we are everywhere that there is an Chapters-Indigo store. First though, we remind you that there is one more day left for our made-in-Canada  Chillbed Industries Ltd. laptop cooling giveaway! It's super easy to enter:  just follow them on Facebook and Twitter ! We will announce the winner here tomorrow. Don't forget that you can also win a lovely gift basket from Natural Plantation for submitting your Winter photos to our Facebook page.

Chapters-Indigo has a a really well organized Canadian gift guide and strives to highlight Canadians on their website, which really impressed me. I went there looking for some Canadian Crooners to listen to as Christmas approaches and maybe even to stuff in a few stockings. (The CDs, not the crooners!). I found a section called Canada First, in the Music department!

Here are some suggestions for your list of Canadian Christmas Crooners:

Michael Buble, Christmas

Justin Beiber, Under the Mistletoe

Diana Krall, Christmas Songs 

  David Foster, The Christmas Album

Rankin Sisters, Do You Hear? 

Anne Murray, Christmas Album 

What's your favourite Christmas album?

 :: images courtesy of Buy Canadian First member, Chapter-Indigo.. 

It's Day 6, (already) and I have a special treat for our Cross Canada Countdown! It's a video by Manitoba sixteen year old, Sean Quigley. Sean plays all the instruments and sings too! Plus, he directed his sister on how to shoot the video! This is definitely made-in-Canada and it is currently travelling around the world at the speed of light! (That's still fast, isn't it?) 

The Canadian Drummer Boy!   

I hope you enjoy this great Canadian video! See you tomorrow when we'll visit yet another talented Canadian.

If you would like us to visit you for tips on enjoying December, please leave a comment below. We are having a lot of fun getting to know you all!

:: video courtesy of Sean Quigley YouTube + image courtesy of Google Maps.

It's Day 2 of our Cross Canada Countdown! Yay! We are "travelling" all across the country to find out more about what you are doing to get into the holiday spirit! We'll be posting a quick blurb every day until December 25, to help you with your made-in-Canada  Christmas. We hope that you will contribute by sharing your Canadian Christmas activities, tips and tricks, in the comment section.

We're still in B.C. after visiting ChillBed Industries Ltd . in Vancouver yesterday. (You have a week to enter to win a laptop cooling stand!). I found out about the B.C. entrepreneur that I want to introduce you to through a Canadian blog that I subscribe to called Funky Junk Interiors. It's a great blog about decorating, staging, massive impact on a thrifty scale and other things like blogging tips. Do have a look at Donna's blog  ... it's fascinating and inspiring and it really has heart!

Anywho, Donna is decorating (as usual) and nothing says Christmas to her like a poinsettia. Through her post, I found out about Tamara Jansen, of Darvonda Nurseries. What really struck me about the post was what Tamara had to say about the poinsettia industry, from the perspective of a family-owned business. I thought you good shoppers would be interested too!

"I had been noticing a decline in the use of the traditional poinsettia plant for decorating at Christmas both in prin and television. I have been concerned that our industry hasn't been actively encouraging designers/bloggers/magazine editors to include our FABULOUS products as part of their decorating palette. I would like to see the flowers that we market become a larger part of every home's entertainment budget, bringing colour and life into homes across North America." says Tamara .

"Huh", I thought when I read that. Now, I have never bought poinsettias before, because I always thought that they were poisonous and harmful to my lovey pets. It turns out that this is simply not true! (I double-checked !). Then I went to No Frills and bought a gorgeous poinsettia for $2.99, grown in Canada, maybe even at Tamara's place! Yay!

So, visit Tamara and Donna  for a fascinating tour of Darvonda Nurseries, then go out and get a poinsettia! You'll be supporting Canadian business and your house will look very festive indeed! Feel free to share your poinsettia displays on our Facebook page!

See you tomorrow and good shopping, Canada!

Are you a fan of poinsettias? 

 :: images courtesy of my iphone, Colin. 

Happy December!  It's Day 1 of our Cross Canada Countdown and I am excited to tell you about our big giveaway and share a Behind the Brand interview with you! I'm excited because the giveaway is something that almost everyone would use and welcome. It's perfect for the person who is hard to shop for or who "has everything". It solves a problem that every laptop owner has experienced. It even improves the performance of your laptop computer! Best of all, it is made right here in Canada!

"Keeping you and your hard drive running cooler, for better performance and longer life." 

I'm talking about the ChillTab Laptop Cooling Stand . I had the pleasure of talking to its inventor recently, nine-time Canadian National Ultimate (Frisbee) Champion, Adam Berson. Adam has toured the world as an Ultimate Frisbee competitor and even made it to the Vancouver Ultimate Hall of Fame!

Adam is the owner/operator of ChillBed Industries Ltd., which has been in busness since 2000 and is located in Vancouver, B.C. .  The company makes the ChillBed Laptop Cooling Stand and the newly released ChillTab Universal Tablet Stand. I was impressed by Adam's conviction about his company and by how beautiful the stands are! I'll let him tell you in his own words.

"As company CEO, I strive to keep ahead of the game and provide quality aluminum Laptop and Tablet Stands that are both elegant and well designed.  I started ChillBed Industries Ltd. after purchasing my first laptop with the need in mind to keep it running cooler, for better performance and longer life."

"Since that time, I have seen laptops come and go, and the influx of tablets taking over the market. My desire is to continue to supply consumers with a top quality stand, made here in Canada, while still keeping quality and cost in mind. I take  pride in the fact that my company has maintained its Canadian roots and not bowed down to the desire to manufacture overseas. I am proud of the fact that we utilize Canadian products and services and that we recycle almost everything generated from the process of building our stands." 

Check out Adam as he auditions for the Dragon's Den  with Brett Wilson!

Okay Canada, Adam is giving away, not one, but two Laptop Cooling Stands!

You can win a 1 x 13" black Laptop Cooling Stand or a 1 x 15" black Laptop Cooling Stand.

How:

1. Like the ChillBed Industries Ltd. Facebook page .
2. Follow Chillbeds  on Twitter and tweet @BuyCndianFirst <3 #madeincanada @chillbeds 

Good luck and good shopping!  

How would you like to travel across Canada with us, starting on the first of December? We are going to start off in Vancouver, B.C., with a Behind the Brand interview and a really awesome, made in Canada  giveaway tomorrow, one that will make a great Christmas gift for almost anyone on your list! I know that I want one and my husband does, too!  I"ll tell you a bit more about it in a minute! Bwahahahahaha!

Every day, for the next twenty five days, we hope that you make the Good Shopper blog your destination for some helpful decorating, gift and DIY tips from bloggers all across Canada. If you are a Canadian blogger and would like to take part, just comment below with the link to your blog. We want to see what Canadians are doing to decorate, entertain and enjoy Winter over the holidays, so don't hesitate to let us know below!

Natural Plantation  

Our big giveaway starts Thursday, but we have quite a few treats, made in Canada, to share with you over the next twenty-five days! We'll let you know how to qualify as we go along. We want to get your creative juices flowing, too, so let's have a photo contest! We are looking for photos of your wintery Canada, your backyard after the first snowfall, the kids in their snowsuits, hockey on the rink at the park, the new puppy discovering snow, holiday decorations .... you get the idea! Just like us on Facebook  and post your photo there, starting Thursday. You will then be eligible to win a wonderful Winter Survival gift basket from Buy Canadian First member, Natural Plantation! Very luscious stuff!

Chillbeds 

We're also going to help you shop for the hard to buy for, with several different Canadian treasuries for seniors, husbands and pet owners, among others.  If you have a great gift idea for the hard to buy for, made in Canada, tell us about it! There may be something in it for you! (Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more).

Okay, all I'm going to say about the big giveaway is that it starts tomorrow, the winner will be announced December 8th and we have two prizes to give away! Join us Thursday as we meet and talk to nine time Canadian National Ultimate Frisbee Champion, Adam Berson, for our Behind the Brand interview and giveaway! We'll tell you then how to enter to win!

When do you put up your decorations?

 :: images courtesy of Buy Canadian First members and ImageChef.