Sunday, November 20, 2011

holidays! presents!

I am always looking for independent artists to support over the holidays. My not-only-biased favorite is my brother's Etsy store, Trippi Thoughts Design,  which he started just this year and is already full of 47 beautiful items. My current favorites are these rose silverware earrings:
these dice earrings:
and these skeleton key earrings:
I... I like earrings.

Christian also had my engagement ring custom made through an artist with an Etsy store, MnM Woodworks. We are both super happy with it (it has been a little hard to finish this sentence, as I have to keep looking at the ring and it is around my neck on the chain that Christian's mother gave me so that involves looking very much away from the keyboard). He chose this artist from similar ones because of their straightforwardness, and had a very good experience. There are a lot of lovely wooden rings, and they have figured out lighting much better than I!

Last winter birthday season (my birthday is December 23rd and Christian's is December 25th) I bought things from the BoingBoing Maker's Market (and somehow didn't realize that it was being shutdown at pretty much exactly that time-- sad story!), and Topatoco, which has been my favorite source of nerdy gifts for years.

Living in Korea, I buy most of my books through What The Book, an English bookstore in Itaewon, Seoul's foreigner-central. In Iowa City, I did most of my book-business at the ICPL and The Haunted Bookshop, which has since moved and become even more excellent! In Ames I both worked and shopped at Firehouse Books, which has changed hands since I moved away but is still a lovely place.

I would love suggestions for more cool places to support and find meaningful gifts for the people I love! Where are you shopping for the holidays?

No comments:

Post a Comment