handmade holiday gift guide // leather, canvas, and stone

here are so many amazing makers out there killing it in their small, handmade businesses, so I wanted to feature a few of my favorite things from some of those makers.  I've been really loving the natural textures of leather, stone, and canvas lately and I'm constantly impressed with how many incredible products are being made by independent artisans.   I've got quite a few small business owners and makers in my instagram feed and it's been fun to see how busy they are this time of year.  I know that this season can really be make or break for small businesses so giving them my business is important to me.  Quite a few of the artists featured in this gift guide are also local to Tacoma or the PNW, which is another thing I love.  Putting my money right back into my community is a great way to support my local art scene, small businesses, and economy.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 

Natural stone jewelry is fast becoming my favorite thing to adorn myself with.   I was never much of  a jewelry girl, but now that I've discovered what kind of jewelry I love, I'm definitely becoming more of a jewelry hoarder.  Growing up I was always fascinated with turquoise jewelry and I remember road trips through the southwest spent ogling all the amazing jewelry made by native artists at roadside markets.  

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 

Can we talk for a sec about how amazing that tablet sleeve is?  Holy cow. One photo can't really show how awesome it is, so make sure to click through on that one to get a better look.  In the past I used to get faux leather products because they were cheaper, but I always found that they fell apart pretty quickly.  I've made a shift to investing in higher quality leather goods because they're built to last and the craftsmanship is so much higher, especially when you're buying from makers who are devoted to crafting an incredible product.  

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
I've got tons of little canvas totes that I use for picking up our CSA from the farmer's market, but none of them are nice enough to carry around as a daily bag.  All of these bags meld form and function perfectly and I love how you can tell they were crafted by artists.  From the hand printed textiles, to the design, the attention to detail is apparent.  I've been coveting a Year Round Co. bag for probably two years now (2 + 3), and they just keep getting better!  They are located here in Tacoma and it feels like such a treat to have such an amazing company located right here in my town!

(top photo via black anchor workshop)

postcards from paradise pt 1.

t's drizzly and grey outside as I write this, so looking at these photos is like peering through a little window to a magical place.  Sometimes it's bizarre that such a place even exists!  I was excited to bring my camera to Hawai'i and photograph everything.  The colors and textures and light is all so different than the PNW, so it was fun to play around with my camera while we were there.  Everything is so beautiful so of course I took tons of photos.  And way too many sunset photos.  Sometimes I think a sunset is just meant to be experienced in real life, not through photos.  Dan and I got a kickstart of serious wanderlust while we were there.  It's easy to know that exploring new places is just a plane ride away (which still kind of blows my mind), but it doesn't really sink in until you step off a plane and you're in a whole new place, just like that.  
When I was a kid we had a huge family trip to Europe planned and the day before we were going to leave my grandma got in a car accent and was medivaced up to Anchorage to the ICU and we all canceled our trip because we were expecting her to die.  Of course now, like 15 years later she's going on 94, but I still haven't gone overseas and I know it's only a plane flight away.  Dan went on a trip in high school to the UK and a bit of France, but he's been wanting to go back and see more too, so now it's just a matter of making it happen.  We're calling Hawai'i our 3rd anniversary trip, so maybe it'll be Paris for our 4th.

 

 

 

 

kickstart your heart

o, when I was packing for Hawai'i almost all the dresses I brought were white.  Which sounds like a great idea until you have wet dyed hair that will dye anything it touches teal.  Thankfully we had teal beach towels which were perfect for drying my hair without ruining white towels and I was pretty careful so I didn't get green dye on any clothes.  Still, I think next time I go on vacation I'll have a hair color that doesn't want to dye everything in its path.    It was fun to feel like a mermaid on the beach with my colorful hair, though!
I've been to Hawai'i a few times before.  Growing up in Alaska it was where nearly everyone would escape to when they wanted to get away from the frigid winters since it was a short 5 hour flight away and anything else was about the same distance anyway (and not as warm).  This time felt different though.  It was the first time being there as a "real" adult and it was the first big vacation we've gone on since getting married.  We've been on some smaller local trips, or trips back home to Alaska for the holidays, but nothing like a whole week of purely relaxation in a hot, tropical location.  I think both of us were surprised how deeply refreshing and needed it was.  It was like my brain had so much extra space to work on reevaluating life, brainstorming goals, and just having space to feel inspired without needing to manage all the clutter of daily life.  I think as a creative business owner, you're never not working.  Your brain is always tuned into your creative life, but it was great to devote time to being introspective about goals and desires.  To write down ideas, sketch out mind maps, and read books that are motivating.  

 

dress/lulu's :: top/ruche :: necklaces/handmade + courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: photos of me by Dan
I also feel like it was super refreshing for our marriage, to just escape to somewhere totally different.  All of our trips in the past three years have been to northwest places or Alaska, nowhere that was totally new and different for us.  I hadn't been feeling super stale in our marriage or anything, but it was amazing how romantic it was to be together on a tropical island, feeling fun and sexy and carefree.  I'm the kind of person who feels guilty indulging in self-care, so I tend to put my head down and just keep swimming, but I'm realizing the importance of coming up for air now and then.  I think that keeping my head down, while it might make me feel like I'm working hard, can end up making me run myself into the ground.  I have to remember that pausing, taking a breath, and bringing my head up to look around lets me re-focus on where I want to go and see where the hell I've been going while my head was down.  
 

handmade holiday gift guide // moorea seal

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

ypical me, I'm behind on all things holiday related.  Honestly I don't even know if we'll get a Christmas tree this year.  I feel like we're too busy and it's just not worth it to put up a tree and rearrange my living room.  We're probably not going to do too much in the way of gift exchanging so it wouldn't have presents under it anyway.  Though, I will say that after a few years of jonesin' for a faux white tree I might finally go for it.  But anyway: Christmas!  While the whole crazed materialistic buy-buy-buy thing that happens this time of year kind of freaks me out more and more as I get older, I love that this time of year is a prime opportunity to really support local and handmade small businesses.  I'd much rather give my money to people who are living their dreams out and hustling to make their creative small businesses thrive.  One of my favorite lady-hustlers is Moorea Seal who is a fellow PNW creative gal and someone I'm honored to call a friend and mentor.  I met her years ago when we were both doing blog design for Freckled Nest and it's been such a pleasure to watch her creative aspirations flourish and business goals become realized over the years.

My favorite thing about Moorea is that not only is she a creator herself (as we speak I'm wearing one of her necklaces), but her shop is stocked full of handmade designs by other creators, so when I shop at her store not only am I supporting her, but also all the creatives whose products she sells too.  This little list is just a small sampling of a few of my absolute favorite items from her shop.  I actually have three of the things on this list already!

WED // jackson + jessica's portland leach botanical garden wedding

ack in September I had the honor of getting to photograph a lifelong family friend's wedding.  I've known the groom, Jackson, for two decades.  Our families became super close friends shortly after my family moved up to Anchorage when I was 6, and Jackson's dad was actually friends with my dad growing up in Juneau, so there's a lot of family history between our two clans.  Jackson started dating Jessica in high school, so they've been together for quite some time!  They both go to college in Seattle now, so when Jackson finally decided to propose he took Jessica to the swanky restaurant atop the Seattle Space Needle for a delicious date and then popped the question after dinner as they stood beneath the Space Needle.  After she said yes, they caught a bus to a secret surprise party he had planned where friends, family, and loved ones were waiting to congratulate them!
Jackson and Jessica didn't have a ton of money to splurge on a huge, opulent wedding, but you wouldn't have known it!  It was such an incredibly beautiful wedding, from the location, to the details.  Everything was so perfect.  When I walked into the venue for the rehearsal my jaw dropped and I did a little happy-photographer dance because I was SO excited to shoot photos in such a beautiful location.  Their venue was the Leach Botanical Garden just outside of Portland, which is a super affordable wedding venue.  Seriously, so many private wedding venues can charge enormous fees, but because Leach is run by the Portland Parks & Rec they have much more affordable rates.  So amazing.
They found their florist on Craigslist (amazing!), a gal named Sharon Harbeck, and she does flowers as a hobby so she doesn't have an actual shop name (but I did some googling and found her pinterest and linkedin pages).  The flowers were so stunning and Jessica says she did a phenomenal job staying within their small budget.  The center pieces were my favorite decorative pieces at the wedding.  Succulents, moss, and pretty flowers all tucked inside a log "vase".  I almost stole like ten of them to take home with me they were so understated, chic, and matched the location perfectly.  

 




 

Jackson's Dad spent some time growing up in Hawai'i, so Jackson has lots of memories eating Hawaiian food and I distinctly remember many times dancing the Hukilau along with my brothers and Jackson and his sister while their dad played his ukulele and sang.  They had Barbs Catering do a mini Hawaiian meal for their food because of it's sentimental value in Jackson's side of the family, but it was even more special for Jessica because it was the first meal he ever cooked her!  To save money they chose not to serve a full meal so having some rice, teriyaki chicken skewers and pineapple were good options for those not wanting pie, which is what they chose for dessert in lieu of cake. All of the pie was contributed by family members that were known for specific flavors, and it was so cool that loved ones got to share a little sweet treat. 

I asked Jessica to share her favorite moment from the day and she said, "This one is really hard to choose! Besides actually putting the rings on our fingers, my favorite moment of the day was waiting to walk down the isle. Jackson and I had chosen not to see each other before the ceremony, and I don't regret it one bit. The feeling of knowing I would see him soon, was one I will never forget. Pure joy mixed with immense nervousness (the good kind) is the only way I can describe it! I wish I could relive that moment again!" As their photographer I was with her in those moments and it was so special to share them with her. She was doing her best to breathe and calm the nerves and I started singing Miley Cyrus, "Party in the USA" to her because we'd listened to some Miley on the car ride over to the venue earlier that day.  "So I put my hands up, they're playing my song, the butterflies fly away..." seemed like the perfect little encouragement in the moment!

 

Jessica's wedding advice?  "The only thing I can really think of to say is, don't lose focus on what the day is really about. Some things aren't going to go your way, your Mom may put the favor table in the wrong corner, your florist may be late, and your lemonade might not have enough sugar. But at the end of the day you will be married to the love of your life, and everyone that is important to you will get to see you make that commitment. That's what weddings are about!"  I loved Jessica's laid back attitude, even when she was nervous or anxious.  Also, I dig a bride who, when asked if she'll take her shoes off and, in her wedding gown, hike barefoot out onto a tiny rock wall in the middle of a stream to get the shot, says, "heck yeah!"  So excited for Jackson and Jessica's new life together, and it's so great to have such a great gal as a part of our big framily!