bits and bobbins

i’m back from hawaii! it was so amazing! i’m in such a fog today…i think my brain is still on vacation!

you can find a few choice shots from our travels in my hawaii 2008 flickr set (should you be interested in that sort of thing. i know other people’s travel pics can be a major yawn!)

i allowed myself one official souvenir from hawaii: this handmade hawaiian quilted tote with a pineapple motif. in orange, NATCH. *grin* i bought it at the hawaiian quilt collection, an adorable little shop in downtown waikiki (on kalakaua avenue). the cute little old ladies who ran the shop told me the pineapple pattern represents “friendship or welcome”. a cheery meaning for my happy new bag.

the shop was filled with lots of supremely lovely bags of various and sundry shapes and sizes, as well as gorgeous pillow covers, kitchen accessories, and full-sized quilts, all in beautiful vivid color pairings. i was in heaven, i wanted to buy absolutely everything i saw!…and i also believe i was also the youngest gal in the shop! guess these sorts of things aren’t appealing to the youth of today! har har. anyway, i do believe that i am now obsessed with hawaiian quilting…it’s something i am raring to try sooner rather than later, giving it my own spin somehow…

i managed to do a little thrifting whilst on vacation, too!

here be the motherload of 80s enamel earrings! thrifted in kailua, oahu, hawaii:

only 50 cents per pair. whatta steal!

glitter dot blouse, thrifted in kailua, oahu, hawaii:

silky vintage floral blouse, made in hawaii! thrifted @ the savers in kahului, maui:

vintage japanese-made mugs:

an adorable local that was standing nearby when i was checking out told peter and i that these japanese made mugs were a give-away gift at a local hawaiian savings bank.

some recent thrift finds (if recent means within the past month or so):

i’m obsessed with these funny handmade earrings. they’re made of polymer clay, i believe, and are iridescent teal. i found them just after the holidays in san jose, california at a goodwill while visiting a friend/co-worker who lives in that area.

they were the kind of thing i liked enough to buy, but later i found myself wearing all the time…like had turned to deep, deep love. i’m wearing them in this recent wardrobe_remix photo.

some handmade symmography (string art) in a lovely spattering of purples. handmade in the 1970s (according to the hand-scrawled script on the back).

i have a soft spot in my heart for handmade things that get donated to the thrifts. i feel a compulsion to buy them and love them, knowing how much effort went into making them.

i spotted this whilst at the lovely lisa congdon’s b-day party over at her and rena’s shop here in san francisco, rare device. came into my sights and my clutches just as i was looking for a new bag. after some careful pondering, i went for it.

by rabeanco, a kind of under-the-radar bag brand from hong kong.

i love it because it’s beautifully made and designed, just large enough for me and my needs (big enough for a book, maybe my camera) and it’s decidedly lacking in all that gross metal and hardware so many bags are laden down with these days. understated=cool. also, it’s so far from the “it” bag in any way, that it’s just perfect for me. and…the price was right. end sum: the stars were perfectly aligned.