super tuesday spectacular

while the hawaii democratic caucus is still a few weeks away, here are a few online finds if punahou grad barack obama is your presidential pick.

1 - love and politics are usually a no-no unless your sweetie would swoon for a i want to barack your world valentine.

2 - obama mamas seem to be the new soccer mom this election season. show your support with style via this charming sterling silver pendant.

3 - lekker politics adds a much needed modern touch on a range of obama goods for tots and the grownups who love them.

4 - playtime gets political with a crafty obama finger puppet.

and, with the age of instant screenprinting, there is certainly no lack of tees emblazoned with obama's mug to be found. if you have something even more clever than combining barack with rock and obama with mama, or just want to declare the candidate's hawaii connection, neighborhoodies lets you create your very own custom obama tee

p.s. every vote really does count so click here to register (not in hawaii? find your state's voter info right here).

days of our lives

missed out on joie studio's lovely letterpress desk calendar? here are a few vintage finds so that you are not resigned to pass the days staring at yet another cheesy tropical calendar compliments of your favorite financial institution.

1 - i spotted found image's vintage hawaii desk calendar during my road trip, alas, i have been unable to track down an online stockist. click over to the shop list for brick & mortar options in your part of the world.

2 - pacifica island art publishes a nice selection of wall calendars using soy based inks. go vintage with their island art calendar or daydream about a bygone era via hawaii bound.

3 - there are two reasons to love the hawaiian time calendar - the rarely seen illustrations from the 1950's and the fact that it is now 50% off!

sumo sized fun

if you grew up in hawaii, chances are you caught one of the many sumo tournaments broadcast from the blaisdell to televisions across the islands. i thought of my fella when i first spotted the sumo match salt & pepper set which has a belly magnet that keeps the shakers attached when not in use. the design just makes me giggle.

and, if that's a bit too kitsch, you can still add a little sumo love to your holiday with pop ink papers' chop sumo gift wrap (individual sheets can be found here).

joie to the world

it's always a happy day around h|h when a new discovery of paper goodness is uncovered. it's no secret i heart the old world artform of letterpress, and, after finding this mahalo letterpress note card on etsy, i knew i had to find out just how the designer was connected to the islands.

it turns out, tina pham, the creative mind behind joie studio, did indeed grow up on oahu and followed the path many of us know so well of going to the mainland for college and setting down roots far from hawaii after graduation. a web designer by trade, tina started designing invites as an extension of her work creating wedding websites, and eventually caught the letterpress bug after taking a few classes.

tina now spends countless hours by the side of her early 20th century golding letterpress churning out charming paper ephemera featuring a mix of antique and modern illustrations. the mahalo card is the first in joie studio's old hawaii series (a new design will be released every few months), and tina is now collaborating with the toast team to give their playful graphics a letterpress touch.

peacock

naughty & nice

2008 blooming desk calendar

click over to the joie studio etsy shop to take a peek at the lovely holiday designs, and be sure to scoop up one of the remaining limited edition 2008 blooming desk calendars which has received a lot of online buzz since its debut last month. custom work is available and the joie studio design house also offers web design and event planning services.

go behind the scenes via the joie studio blog.

modern wedding papers

hibiscus

brides on a budget coveting stylish invites typically have two options:

1. diy (and hope for the best)
2. beg a friend with graphic design chops to take pity on you and work their magic pro bono

a brilliant alternative is a site i stumbled upon the other day which boasts exclusive designs by some of the most sought after invitation designers, including hawaii's own kinohi designs (shown above), but with budget friendly prices.

all the paper elements necessary to throwing a memorable bash are available and most, if not all, designs come in a limited palette to help you coordinate invite colors to your event. designs tend to lean modern (with a nice selection to celebrate an island wedding) and there are a number of handy tools to streamline the ordering process.

canna

modern initials

since you can personalize text however you please, cards can easily double as party invites for those times when an evite just won't do. thank you cards can also pull double duty making either a lovely gift for the newlyweds or a sophisticated addition to your social stationary (the last issue of domino declared custom stationary is simply a must for grownups. i wonder if personalized post-it notes count?).

take a peek at wedding paper divas for more.