after thanksgiving sale

typically black friday is all about scoring deals on holiday gifts for your loved ones. however, if you prefer to avoid the crowds at the mall, make a detour to pacific home and check out their after thanksgiving sale this weekend.

yep, everything is 20% off so it's a great time to pick up a few well designed accessories for the home. and if you venture back to the warehouse you can save up to 70% off!

details:

• sale dates: fri, nov 24th to sun, nov 26th
• map it

kenui quilts

it's hard not to be impressed when you stand in front of a hawaiian quilt. master quilters earn their sewing stripes only after devoting years to their craft of transforming simple pieces of fabric into those familiar hawaiian designs.

kenui quilts has elevated the design of hawaiian quilting with their luxurious satin silk 'ulu quilt, a definite departure from the more colorful quilts we all grew up with (can't you imagine lying on your bed and tracing the wave-like pattern with your fingertip?).

contemporary quilts have really taken off over the past few years so this is a cool way to include the traditional hawaiian style in a home with more modern sensibilites. this is a hand crafted piece so if you love it start saving your pennies, however, since it is made to order, you can select the color (or send in your own fabric) so the quilt matches your bedroom decor.

notes from paradise

coming home

have you ever flipped through what seems like every single greeting card at hallmark searching in vain for the one that expresses just the right thing for the occasion? more often than not i leave the shop empty handed so these striking screen printed note cards from binth are just the thing to keep in the stationary stash.

the artists behind binth may call chicago home but they have definitely captured the feel of a day spent at the beach. if you can't bear to part with the coming home set, keep a few of the cards for yourself and frame them to add a graphic punch of modern surf style to your home.

{update | jan 2010: alas, the coming home note card set featured above seems to have been retired, however two of the designs are now available as 5x5 prints}

global warming

aloha clock

tropical style typically leans towards palm trees and a gratuitous use of raffia that i venture to guess is used more to recreate the islands in other parts of the world more than i have ever seen used in hawaii (outside of waikiki).

so i was delighted to find that europe is doing modern tropical style right from the pop worthy aloha clock designed in the netherlands to jenny wilkinson's cheeky wall decor straight from the uk.

pineapple wallpaper-by-numbers

octopus hide & seek paint-by-numbers

yep, paint-by-number is making a comeback in a big way and now you can tap into your inner artiste with retrolicious wallpaper-by-numbers in the oh so tropical pineapple design. yes, it's a wee ironic to surround yourself in a virtual pineapple field especially if you have a parent who worked at the cannery during their summer breaks (aka the ultimate guilt trip for 80's era island teens).

it's your choice whether to paint it to match your decor or leave it be in all its paint-by-number wonder. and, for those of you who love to dive into the great unknown, you also have the option of wrapping a room in a sea worthy border depicting life underwater in all its glory.

art school confidential

the conversation + twinkie

the longer i stare at nicole holi's the conversation print the more questions pop into my mind. who are they? why have animal heads been superimposed on their bodies? where would they shop if they stepped off the canvas? and the eternal art question . . . what does it mean? yep, this is definitely not your parents art but yet another exciting etsy find.

nicole (aka nikoart at her etsy shop) is a true emerging artist from the big island and a recent
uh manoa art grad who, in the process of getting her degree, received many accolades for her unique p.o.v. in addition to working in mixed media, she is also crafting plush toys like twinkie who i wouldn't be surprised to find in the pages of where the wild things are.

there are not that many venues in the islands for emerging artists like nicole to show their goods so i encourage you to stop by her etsy shop which gives artists & crafters an alternative way to make a living while following their dreams.