Dee and La La

I was so grateful to Erin from the Handmade Ho Down crew for solving the mystery of the letterpress company I'd spaced on identifying at the event. They're called Dee and Lala, and if I thought their HHD booth was great, their website is even better.




"Let it Glow" Chanukah card




"Naughty/Nice Fireplace" holiday card




Peaclock



whale cutting board that I SO wish weren't out of stock!



Fondue pot card ('cause why not??)

If you're down in LA, you might have seen them this past weekend at Unique LA. If you're up here by the bay, fear not- you haven't missed them! They'll be at the Bazaar Bizarre this weekend (so many amazing crafts, so little time!). I'm hoping to be there.....

...Furthermore, LOVING Erin's etsy shop,Eristotle. She uses vintage, upcycled, thrifted and eco-friendly materials whenever possible. These pillows especially are so great.




The Last Leaf pillow



Rustic Modern pillow

Great job to everyone on the HHD staff; that event was seriously amazing. Can't wait for round two!

--Dara

Galaxy print

These galaxy-print pieces by Risto Bimbiloski are ridiculous. Clearly nothing is less than $300, but I suppose we can all cross our collective fingers they go on super sale in the new year.

Risto Bimbiloski via unruly things, though I originally saw them on even cleveland a while back...

The Handmade Ho-Down

Last night, my friend Kate and I braved some sketchiness in SOMA to attend the first-ever Etsy craft fair in San Francisco: The Handmade Ho-down. It was equal parts amazing and completely overwhelming; there were 3 floors filled to the brim with vendors, all of whom have Etsy stores. There were SO MANY PEOPLE there that it was kind of difficult to concentrate on how awesome everything was; hopefully the event was a financial success for all these intrepid Etsy-ers.
I did have a few favorites. I don't know if I'm developing a specific affinity towards it or if maybe some of the rest of the stuff just happened to fall on the Regretsy side of the spectrum and so I had no choice to be drawn to it, but the majority of business cards/photos I took were for letterpress companies.




Design des Troy was so lovely, and they are my newest bookmarked blog (love!). I love the font on this holiday card; it's used a lot in the latest issue of Uppercase, and I can't seem to find it. Kate and I also loved these skull and crossbones holiday cards; she pointed out that they would be perfect for Robin and Jessi (mom of Lily, thrower of the infamous Pirate's Tea Party 3rd birthday last month).




Loved these two companies, but I FORGOT TO GET A CARD from the one in the top photo, and the girls from the bottom photo forgot to bring cards. Anyone know who these are?



All the photos I took in the Noteify booth came out blurry, but check them out for yourselves; really cute.



Jon Carling had me at the giant whale illustration, but the rest of his prints are pretty great, too.



I LITERALLY could not stop smiling when I was over at the Sweet Meats booth. I mean, some things are just here on this earth for the express purpose of making your mouth hurt from smiling so hard.

Needless to say...fun time had by all. I am poor (yes Dara, we get it), and so I could not support them monetarily...but that's your job! Go support Etsy and the economy!

--D

SUPERMARKET! Stop it.

Ace necklace by Stone and Honey

For the baby in your life this Christmas

I'm THIS close to buying this (with Monopoly money) and storing it in the back of my closet until I one day (years from now) have a baby. I've emailed the link to three people who know a baby in the last few minutes, but I stopped myself there, because this is a far more efficient way to share information. Do the right thing. Babies need this.

by Decoylab

--Dara

In which we post belated Thanksgiving-y photos

I can't believe it's already been a week since Thanksgiving. Finals time will do that to you, I suppose. We had a lovely day, particularly because of our far more manageable guest list- 26ish to last year's 40- and our al fresco dining experience, compliments of our new hosts (we had held our east-cost-expatriot Thanksgivings at my old apartment in LA for the past 5 years).





(Above photos by Haley- yes, that is a deep fried turkey in addition to a traditional turkey. Below photos by me)






Hope you all had a great Holiday too!

Jewelry Crush: Lora Mallory

If you're searching for the perfect holiday gift for that keeps on giving back, look no further! My dearest friend from home, Lora Mallory, is the talented designer behind my current jewelry obsession, beng her fantastic line by the same name. I own two of her pieces thus far (the Yellow Gold Plated Spiral Ring and the Deer Tooth Necklace) and am obsessed with so many more! With pieces in many prices ranges and styles, Lora's work is truly something special. You can see some of my favorites below, and check out her online store HERE. You can also find more images of Lora's work HERE!

{Deer Tooth Necklace}

{Double Orbit Earrings}

{Spiral Rings}

{Triple Orbit Necklace}

{Binocular Ring}

{Single Silver Pod Form Necklace}

{Gold Pod Formed Ring}