[ad_1]
I did my first ever vacation present information for vacationers just a few years in the past, which was enjoyable to compile. Readers appeared to benefit from the varied gadgets, and I used to be joyful to share a number of the merchandise that accompanied me on the street. This yr, I needed to do one thing just a little totally different.
For starters, my life is a little totally different – one thing all of you already know. As a consequence, my very own items to household and pals aren’t souvenirs from far-away locations, however enjoyable issues I’ve found. I needed to share a few of them right here, particularly as many are small companies like myself.
This yr, I’d prefer to share two classes of items: artists and makers from my new house of Ottawa and a few from past, and books I like or discovered impactful in my very own life.
I deliberate to publish the e-book information and the artwork/items information in the identical publish, however there are too many options and it received fairly unruly. So I’ll publish the e-book information within the coming week, and under are my options for artwork, jewellery, and extra.
I hope you’ll discover one thing you want in them!
Art, magnificence, and jewellery items for 2022
Now that I stay in Ottawa, it was enjoyable to get to know a few of these nice individuals and I’m excited to share them with you, too. The gadgets under are from artists that I’ve both supported by buying merchandise myself, or native gadgets I beloved that didn’t work with my many immune/different restrictions.
Floral Polymer Clay Earrings
The expertise behind Island Meadow Clay is Rylan, who runs the store together with her husband Alex. She makes the jewellery, he packs the orders, they usually each present up at native flea markets with a sales space to point out off their stunning earrings and necklaces.
The enterprise started as a pandemic passion, however took off even because the nation reopened. I’ve bought these for myself (see under), as items, and had an earring pair commissioned particularly for a buddy primarily based on the colors she loves.
These are fabricated from light-weight polymer clay, so even the bigger earrings should not going to tug down in your earlobes. This is a crucial factor for me, since I have already got quite a lot of head ache. These will even make for a terrific present for individuals with migraine complications or different situations that have an effect on the cranial nerves. And, for individuals who merely love hand-crafted jewellery.
Because I’ve bought from them probably the most, they’re on the prime of the checklist—and rightfully so! I like their merchandise, and their heat as a pair too.
More info:
Where to purchase: the Island Meadow Clay web site
Shipping to: Canada and the United States
Follow them on: Instagram
Embroidered coronary heart maps
I met the beautiful couple behind Sadie and June when at a flea market in Ottawa, and appreciated their enjoyable choices as a traveler with quite a lot of locations I miss deeply. They promote hand-embroidered maps for 900 places (and counting), both as stand-alone “I love this place” model, or connecting hearts, the place there’s a thread connecting two locations. They additionally do customized maps, in case your favorite locations aren’t on provide presently.
The couple, whose names are literally Steve and Kendall, are a cross-border couple—one thing fairly widespread right here within the cities that border the US! She’s from New Jersey and he’s from Ottawa, however they met in Florida. Extremely standard any time I’ve seen their sales space round city, they seize the nostalgia of leaving items of ourselves in locations we beloved.
Says Kendall, “Our hand-embroidered heart maps were born out of this love and our belief that love knows no borders. The concept: I began embroidering through paper vintage map prints that meant something special to me and Steve.”
The couple have a publish about how they went from being ‘flat broke’ in 2014 to constructing a full-time enterprise round their stitching expertise. When I met Kendall on the market, she talked about that because the enterprise picked up she was struggling to get orders completed … till she taught Steve find out how to sew, and that helped get the maps accomplished a lot quicker. Now they’re each engaged on their standard maps, and including cities all the time.
More info:
Where to purchase: the Sadie and June web site
Shipping to: Canada and the United States, in addition to Europe
Follow them on: Instagram
Preserved resin flower jewellery
Another native vendor that I used to be taken by is Floral Sweeties. I ended up getting my mum’s birthday present from them, stunning earrings that I knew she’d get pleasure from.
Floral Sweeties is the brainchild of Hannah, a registered nurse who has expanded right into a botanical aspect hustle. The jewellery she sells is made with hand picked wild and backyard flowers from Ottawa which can be dried, preserved, after which embedded in resin to create every bit. (She additionally sells clay items the place contemporary flora is imprinted in clay to supply plaster aid artwork utilizing pure pigment, however these are fairly heavy to ship and I’m specializing in her jewellery).
Their earrings, like Island Meadow Clay, are principally very light-weight—good for anybody who has complications.
More info:
Where to purchase: the Floral Sweeties web site
Shipping to: Canada and International (together with USA)
Follow them on: Instagram
Hand-drawn maps of meals
Yes, sure—I’ve included my very own maps on this information as effectively. I, too, am an area Ottawa enterprise in spite of everything. And one with an thrilling growth: my meals map of Canada is lastly full!
As with the opposite maps on this sequence, the Canada map is designed by me and inked by Ella Frances Sanders, a bestselling creator whose new e-book can be within the books information that might be printed shortly.
More info:
Legal Nomads readers can take 10% off with the code HOLIDAY22 till December 24, 2022.
Where to purchase: the Legal Nomads artwork store web site
Shipping to: Worldwide
Follow me on: Instagram
Plantable playing cards that flip into wildflowers
Another enjoyable present that’s considerate, AND doesn’t create waste: quirky playing cards embedded with seeds, that you could then plant and nourish over time.
Seeded Memories was constructed by MaryAnn and Jose, a husband and spouse group who felt greeting playing cards have been each costly, and wasteful. So they determined to make paper and playing cards utilizing 100% recycled materials which can be embedded with quite a lot of wildflower seeds. So the cardboard you obtain will be planted, rising a backyard of recollections and one which creates no tangible waste.
Cards can be found in English, French, and Spanish.
More info:
Where to purchase: the Seeded Memories web site
Shipping to: Canada solely. For my many American readers, you will discover seeded playing cards at Cute Root as an alternative.
Follow them on: Instagram
Adorable fruit earrings
I fell in love with cute grapefruit earrings just a few years in the past, and have worn them so often that they fell aside.
In the hunt to search out new substitute earrings, I discovered just a few retailers on Etsy that provide them, in case you need a pair for yourselves—or another person!—too.
LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE:
They too are light-weight, and a really enjoyable addition to any outfit.
Where to purchase:
The Scrappy Cat (USA)
Ellie Bear (Canada)
Brlogarka (UK and EU)
Porcelain and ceramic jewellery
Larra & Dawn began Flourish Stoneware in October 2018, on what they name “nothing more than a dream to create.”
Each of their items takes a mean of 25 hours to create, because it includes sketching, imprinting the clay, drying it out, after which firing it within the kiln earlier than glazing thereafter.
The items are individually crafted with quite a lot of supplies like porcelain, speckled clay, black clay, quite a lot of glazes and overglazes (like gold lustre and Mother of Pearl overglaze).
The result’s a set of gorgeous, distinctive jewellery that caught my eye at an area market.
More info:
Where to purchase: the Flourish Stonewear web site
Shipping to: Canada, USA, and International. (Shipping exterior N. America is dear, although)
Follow them on: Instagram
DIY candle, deodorant, and clay masks kits
Jessye, the founder and maker behind Make This Universe, began her DIY store in 2018, whereas getting very annoyed attempting to make her personal deodorant at house. She looked for a store the place ought to get a equipment to take action as an alternative, and got here up empty. Like me beginning my meals maps as a result of I couldn’t discover the product I used to be on the lookout for, Jessye kicked off her store to fill a niche within the market.
Make the Universe provides DIY “modern craft kits” for candles, deodorant, masks, and necklaces, in modern packaging that may be recycled. They enable for customizable merchandise to account for private sensitivities, with out having to do every little thing from scratch.
More info:
Where to purchase: the Make the Universe web site
Shipping to: Canada and USA
Follow them on: Instagram
Caffeine necklace in silver
Do your family members get pleasure from espresso as a lot as I do? This stainless-steel and silver plated necklace of the molecule for caffeine could also be up their alley, or yours. Chain size: 50cm. Nickel and lead free
You can purchase it right here.
Whimsical hen artwork
I’ve had the pleasure of assembly the genius behind Birdstrips, Jess, in individual in Montreal twice earlier than we every moved elsewhere. Her illustrations have grown an enormous following on Instagram resulting from their whimsical, relatable messaging.
In Jess’ phrases, the store includes “the existential distress of the flightless through the eyes of the flighted.”
Below, two prints from her store: certainly one of an acrylic portray of a rooster named Cheddar Cheese, who’s “escaped into a field of dandelions and is having the time of her life”, and the second, remedy “before and after”—in traditional Birdstrips model
More info:
Where to purchase: the Birdstrips Print Shop (additionally mugs, tees, and extra!)
Shipping to: Worldwide
Follow them on: Instagram
Birds + curse phrases
These illustrations of birds that swear in artistic methods are standard all around the net, with good cause. As Twitter implodes and the world feels prefer it’s doing the identical, the hen outrage by Aaron Reynolds says all that we’re bottling up inside.
That doesn’t cease individuals from getting pissed off in regards to the cursing, however … did you count on the rest from an organization known as Effin Birds?!
More info:
Where to purchase: Clothing, mugs, pins, and extra right here, plus an Effin’ Birds e-book and a more moderen French Effin’ Birds e-book, in addition to a 2023 Calendar too.
Shipping to: Worldwide
Follow him on: Instagram
Pearl jewellery from Tahiti
My buddy Celeste isn’t solely a terrific journey author, but in addition runs an environmentally-friendly Tahitian pearl firm, Kamoka, that adheres to the strictest ranges of sustainable farming on this planet. Their pearls are from oysters grown within the nutrient-rich lagoon of Ahe Atoll, 300 miles northeast of Tahiti, with electrical energy equipped by photo voltaic and wind energy. And if you happen to wanted extra convincing about supporting their enterprise: a National Geographic research discovered that their farming strategies helped improve the world’s fish inhabitants in recent times.
One of their merchandise I put on typically: the Mana Bracelet. At $99, it’s an funding, however a sturdy and delightful one.
Celeste mentioned that this bracelet was initially crafted for surfers. Now, it’s certainly one of their greatest sellers for energetic individuals who need an attractive pearl bracelet with out worrying about fragility. The adjustable band is comprised of kangaroo leather-based (the strongest leather-based on this planet), and is a superb alternative for the trendy wanderer and the energetic fashionista alike.
They additionally now provide a brand new assortment, that includes Tahitian blacklip oyster shells and jewellery comprised of their very own sustainably produced mother-of-pearl. The earrings under are extra reasonably priced than the pearls alone, and are an attractive present for many who need one thing sustainable and totally different.
More info:
Where to purchase: The Mana Bracelet is accessible right here. The full mother-of-pearl assortment is right here, with the earrings above right here.
Shipping to: Worldwide
Follow them on: Instagram
Those are my 2022 present picks! I hope you get pleasure from at the least a few of them. I’ll be following up with the books I feel are price a learn, in only a few days. 💙
-Jodi
