local gift guide

this past week has been great. we've met and got reacquainted with so many wonderful and creative people. check out their work...

beautifully designed cards and prints from LIEFdesigns.

beautifully designed cards and prints from LIEFdesigns.

these super fun dot earrings from AmberElle

these super fun dot earrings from AmberElle

Runaway Press makes playful and awesome letterpress cards and prints.

Runaway Press makes playful and awesome letterpress cards and prints.

Woosah is everywhere. And should be in your home too.

Woosah is everywhere. And should be in your home too.

the hand died and woven scarves and cowls from Adventure Textiles are stunning!

the hand died and woven scarves and cowls from Adventure Textiles are stunning!

Hazelmade kitchen towels are gorgeous!

Hazelmade kitchen towels are gorgeous!

this awesome handbag from little wings designs

this awesome handbag from little wings designs

all of these artists are awesome! they are some of the nicest people you could meet too! much of their work is also available at Parliament in downtown Grand Rapids. 

UICA Holiday Artists' Market

We had a great time at the Uptown Holiday Shop Hop. Kava House was a gracious host and we loved sharing the room with Woosah, Little Wings Designs, Bellini, and Adventure Textiles. 
We'll be at the UICA Holiday Artists' Market this weekend (Dec 6th and 7th). This year it's being held at the Steelcase Town Hall on 44th Street in Grand Rapids. We're looking forward to seeing all of the other artists and makers and being able to show how easy it is to wrap presents with reusable gift wrap. 

 

gift embellishments

there are many eco friendly ways to dress up a gift. pinterest is full of ideas. and so are sites like better homes and gardens and martha stewart. here are some of our favorites:

  • from www.alittlecraftinyourday.com -  paint sample card trees. these fun little trees are easy to make and add a bit of cleverness to your gift. 
  • chalk tags - available here. chalk boards are all the rage, and these tags are reusable!
  • ornaments - add your own ornament to help match your gift to holiday.
  • cookie cutters - add a little shine, a fun shape, and potentially something yummy to someone's life.

what do you like to use? are there sites that you've found that have great ideas? we've started a gift tags board on Pinterest. There are more great ideas there!

pure michigan

As The World Falls Away - David Helpling The official music video for David Helpling's "As The World Falls Away" created by Shawn Malone of Lake Superior Photo. Featuring Shawn's latest cinematic Time-lapse work filmed entirely in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with sequences from NASA's ISS, here the images and music merge as one in this stunning visual journey. Created with Canon 5d Mark II/III and various astrophoto lenses, a Dynamic Perception Stage One/MX3 system and premiere pro for motion, this project took many weeks of shooting and editing to complete. Most of the scenes were shot in 2014, including scenes from the record breaking cold winter on icy Lake Superior, to a late September 2014 auroral substorm from Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. NASA images courtesy the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center. David Helpling: David is a North American Ambient Electronic recording artist on the Spotted Peccary Label. After a Trilogy of epic collaborative releases with Jon Jenkins, David is back in the studio working on his first solo release in over a decade. As The World Falls Away is a taste of things to come and is available as a free download at http://www.deepexile.com. Shawn Malone: Shawn Malone is a photographer out of Marquette Michigan and runs LakeSuperiorPhoto, an art gallery/studio of Malone's photography in downtown Marquette. Malone's award winning time lapse video work has been recognized by The Smithsonian and seen on network news and television programs. Malone runs night sky photography workshops out of the studio during the summer and fall months. Visit the website for the latest photography workshop dates and times. http://www.davidhelpling.com http://www.ambientelectronic.com http://www.deepexile.com https://www.facebook.com/dhelpling http://www.LakeSuperiorPhoto.com https://www.facebook.com/LakeSuperiorPhoto