paper palace

poppy

today's etsy find is ohmymia's little design shop stocked with the prettiest paper goods. ohmymia made its debut last year when merriam, the honolulu freelance graphic designer behind the line, decided to leave the frenzy of the ad world behind to spend more time with her growing family. lucky for us, she decided to stick with her craft and start her own design house close to home (the company is named after one of her children).

custom wedding invites are the specialty of the house and merriam expertly styles a contemporary look while still retaining the feel of a good old fashioned romance.

love birds

fish note card

haute mama

for those of us not in the wedding market, a small selection of everyday note cards assembled into sweet shapes from a mosaic of papers and embellished with a single swarovski crystal are also available. oh, and if you are smitted with the hand screened haute mama tees, just know that they are limited in number since merriam plans to focus on the stationery side of her business.

click over to ohmymia's etsy shop for a peek at the entire collection!

kaypee soh lifestyle

a modern take on tropical design made in the very islands that has influenced designers from all around the world has been my sasquatch since starting h|h two years ago. always hopeful for its existence which remained ever elusive until i walked into pacific home over the holidays and stumbled upon a small display featuring linens with a happy hibiscus motif. it was like hitting the design jackpot and i immediately started to make a mental note of everyone on my gift list who would swoon for the pretty cloth confections.

alas, it turned out the display was simply a teaser for honolulu designer kaypee soh's home goods line which i learned would not make its official retail debut until the following spring.

sigh.

now that spring has sprung you can finally take a peek at kaypee's creative lifestyle collection which features hand printed pillows and accessories made in hawaii (yay!). the new line packs a tropical punch via bold graphics and understated repeat patterns inspired by hawaii and kaypee's homeland of malaysia. kaypee's artwork, which mingles layers of photography with his own illustrations, also seems to inform a few of the designs for a decorative déjà-vu (shown below: kaypee's ginger print as art and textile).

branching out to a home collection has always been on the to do list of the award-winning designer who, upon arriving in the islands from nyc with partner edward macey a few years ago, started a boutique design firm which injected their own brand of modern island style by way of print and web projects for local businesses.

online shopping is not yet available however phone & email orders are welcome, and you can get your design fix in person at so'mace's newly opened gallery space:

• where: 1115 young street
• hours: mon - sat, 10a to 5p

hele over to the star-bulletin for a look behind the scenes.

toast giveaway

since the internet is still working its magic, i wanted to give you a peek at the latest giveaway compliments of toast, hawaii's very crafty design house. it's toast's super limited edition mother's day love fruits! basket filled with handmade red apples with a sweet menehune mac surprise inside.

only 25 baskets have been made and they have just landed in toast's online shop as well as the wedding café and menehune mac factory store. i suspect these will sell out quickly so if you simply must have one hele over and reserve your basket asap.

or try your luck and email aloha [at] hapahale [dot] com with your name and current hometown by 11:59pm hst on tue, may 6th for a chance to win! please put toast giveaway in the subject. the winner will be announced on wednesday.

{mahalo jeremy & michelle!}

{update: winner list posted}

fishcake sale

betty from fishcake recently sent along news of a weekend sale to make way for more design goodness in their recently expanded showroom. h|h readers are also invited to the pre-sale tomorrow giving you a jump start on the 20-50% off deals on select furniture, accessories and dishware.

• when: thu, may 1st - sun, may 4th
• where: 307c kamani street

p.s. if, like me, your heart flips for ceramics, get ready to do the happy dance since fishcake is the one & only island stockist for mud australia!

fresh flavors of surf show

fresh

yoo hoo! chinatown boardroom is kicking off a solo show filled with new work by north shore artist heather brown (she of those captivating glassy waves featured last month) with an opening reception this evening. and, no worries if something more pressing has dibs on your twilight hours since the fresh flavors of surf exhibit will be up for a little art appreciation all may long.

• when: tonight, 6p to 8p
• where: 1160 nu'uanu avenue
• show dates: today to sat, may 31st