instant illumination

bath plantation, the online apothecary of big island girl chere deshayes (now based in texas), recently launched a service that lets you play candlemaker for a day. simple choose the appropriate vessel for your custom soy candle, select your favorite island inspired scent, and top it off with a personalized label.

a few clicks and voilà, a tailor made gift without all the fuss.

{update | jan 2010: please note bath plantation changed ownership after this was posted}

paddle on

1 - wrap the wave warriors in your life with the latest designs from 'oiwi ocean gear. the retro crazy waves jersey is sure to turn heads while the ladies score a playful update in 'oiwi's hihimanu jersey.

2 - hable construction's canoeing snowmen stocking is a definite splurge but a hard to resist gift for your favorite paddler.

3 - then again, you can always upgrade your giftee's paddle for slightly more than a fancy new xmas stocking. kialoa's limited edition signature outrigger paddle is hand shaped and signed by designer (and kailua native) dave chun.

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.

kokua auction - final round!

lot 3

alrighty, so there have been some serious steals during the kokua auction so far. since the all knowing magic 8 ball says there may be travel in my future, i have decided to accelerate the pace a bit and have just posted the final three auctions on ebay. yep, you read that correctly . . . thanks to the generosity of stancher at etiquette, an extra auction has been added just for the fellas!

remember, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to aloha harvest which does good work helping feed hawaii's hungry.

kokua lot no. 3 (est. retail value: $40):

• 1 state of mine t-shirt from etiquette (m's size large)
• 1 letterpress note card set (3 cards) from miemiko atelier
• 1 note card set (6 cards) from big island artist caren loebel-fried
• 1 package of pat's pineapple salsa
• 1 mango papaya soap bar from north shore soap factory
• 2 handmade gift tags (dog & tiger) from downtown general store

lot 4, part one

lot 4, part two

kokua lot no. 4 (est. retail value: $175):

• 1 sterling silver charm bracelet by he'e nalu (6" to 8" diameter)
• 1 ola hawaii coconut cane sugar scrub by hawaiian body products
• 1 letterpress note card set (3 cards) from miemiko atelier
• 1 note card set (6 cards) from big island artist caren loebel-fried
• 1 lather soap bar from bubble shack hawaii
• 2 handmade gift tags (cat & lamb) from downtown general store

lot 5

kokua lot no. 5 (est. retail value: $250):

• 1 dress love (size xs) by fighting eel
• ola hawaii lemongrass sugar scrub (1) & vanilla ginger creme lotion (1) by hawaiian body products
• 1 letterpress note card set (3 cards) & 1 note card from miemiko atelier
• 1 vanilla mint lip balm from mama coco's
• 2 handmade gift tags (bear & monkey) from downtown general store

i suspect everyone has been waiting for the final lot so bid away to your heart's content! the opening bids are a fraction of the estimated value so there are quite a few deals to be had in this final round of the kokua auction.

remember shipping is on me if you live in the states (international bidders pay a flat shipping rate of $5
usd). all auctions end on monday night so happy bidding and mahalo for your kokua!