AND THE WINNER IS . . . .

I am happy to report that the winner of the $125 Uncommon Goods gift certificate is Alaine! Alaine, I will be sending you an email shortly about how to collect your winnings. Thanks to all who entered! More fun posts, features and giveaways will be coming your way in the near future.

BACK IN ACTION! PLUS AN UNCOMMON GOODS GIVEAWAY!

So I am somewhat ashamed to see that it has been weeks since I promised to get back into regular posting, all without much word from me. Whoops! My apologies. Turns out that there was a bit of a dip in energy after finishing the dissertation (shocking, I know) and that combined with re-adjusting to  working full time again (when do 9 to 5 people do errands again?) has meant that I am a little behind on my O. I. plans.

But, but, but! I am making up for it today with a super awesome post. Not even just a post, a giveaway! From none other than the super impressive company Uncommon Goods. Have you heard of Uncommon Goods? I just got on their trail last year when my Dad hooked me up with some awesome gifts at Christmas (Thanks, Dad!). Uncommon Goods is an online shop, headquartered in Brooklyn, that focuses on connecting shoppers with new, exciting craftsman who create decorative, practical and personality-filled products. Given my personal mantra—why buy boring when you can buy beautiful?—I thought a little giveaway from them would be right up our alley.

So one lucky reader will be getting a generous $125 gift certificate from Uncommon Goods to buy what they like—holiday gifts, thanksgiving decor or just a little treat or two for yourself.

Since there are about a million things to catch your eye in their shop, I thought I would narrow down some of my favorites for you to get your gears turning, specifically pointing you to top picks in my major categories of expertise: art and home goods. Read on to find out how you can use that dinero towards one of these (or many other) sweet items.

Not surprisingly, the shop already carries many artists and objects already featured on the blog in the past (or works that resemble them). Here are just a couple of highlights:

ONE | "All the Surfboards in CA" by James Gulliver Hancock (reminds me of Jason Polan!)

TWO | "A Grand Treasury of Shakespearean Insults" by Tim and Aurelia Saunders

THREE | "State by State Seasonal Food Guide" by Jessica Haas (chart art, my favorite!)

FOUR | "City Prints" by Carolyn Gavin (maps and vintage illustration, what's not to love?!)

Of course you can never have too many fun-cum-functional decor items in your home either. Here are some surefire conversation starters that would look great in any house (or gift box):

ONE | eye clock (perfect for a Halloween display!)

TWO | custom state pillows

THREE | suspension bridge shelf (what a cool idea)

FOUR | cork globe (great idea for a minimal study)

FIVE | giraffe family bookends (would be super cute in a baby's room)

SIX | handmade herringbone knitting basket (so pretty!)

SEVEN | caterpillar bud vase 

EIGHT | hand-embroidered central park pillow (a new take on a classic style, #wishlisted)


So by now you are probably itching to get in on the giveaway action, right? You can do so through any of the following manners (each method will get you one entry; multiple your chances of winning by entering in various ways!):

ONE | Like Uncommon Goods on Facebook

TWO | Like the obsessive imagist on Facebook

THREE | Sign up for the Uncommon Goods mailing list

FOUR | Follow the obsessive imagist on instagram

FIVE | Follow the obsessive imagist on twitter


Enter in one (or all!) of these ways and leave a note about your entry method in the comments section below. One winner will be granted a $125 gift certificate next Monday morning (October 26th). Good luck!



(top photo of little miss sunshine from here)

MAKERS AND BROTHERS

There are some beautiful things in the Makers and Brothers shop. There are also some perfectly styled shots of those pretty things. Color me impressed.

Get the full effect on their website here.

RANDOM THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY, VOLUME TWO

As I near the home stretch with my dissertation, my brain increasingly feels like swiss cheese—completely full of holes. It is perhaps only fitting that I give you another 'Random Things' post, if only to accurately represent my chaotic state of mind. . . 

ONE > How fabulous are these colorful playing cards? Who knew poker could be so pretty . . . 

TWO > I rotate my desktop background regularly and am always looking for new (and free!) patterns to upload. DesignLoveFest's regular column is the best source for these and I totally fell in love with her recent post featuring this palm print by Kate Worsum.

THREE > Candy on a stick? Yes, please!

FOUR > I can't decide if one piece bathing suits are all purposefully designed to be unflattering or if they don't just work on me, but the raving reviews and pretty colors of this JCrew number have me tempted to try again . . . 

FIVE > These brightly colored beauties in Naples have me dreaming of revisiting my trip to Italy and heading down south instead. 

SIX > I collect typewriters. Have I told you that? Well I do. It's a hard hobby to keep up in my cramped NYC apartment, but oh baby this yellow number is calling my name!

AN IDEA FOR FATHER'S DAY: LEGACYBOX

For years my Mom and I have been racking our brains about what to get my Dad on holidays, birthdays and other gift giving occasions. Boys are so hard to shop for, we say to one another. A book, a shirt, a cd? Once you have covered the standards I find it hard to come up with something original, particularly at a time in my family's life when everyone is conscious of trying to live a more clutter-free life.So I was intrigued to stumble across LegacyBox recently. It's a full-service scanning business that takes all your family media—everything from 18mm films to slides—and digitally scans them, sending them back to you as DVDs. The prices look fairly reasonable (anywhere from $75 to $500, depending on the number of items scanned) and will definitely provide the closest thing out there to a trip back in time. I am putting this on the gift idea, for sure!Learn more about LegacyBox here.

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

If you woke up this morning and thought 'Eeek! Christmas is only days away and I still need gifts!' then never fear! Several years ago I did a round up of my favorite things on offer at Amazon that will ship for free in two days with a Prime membership (I have one; it's totally worth it!). Well, I thought that was a pretty fun exercise, so I am back again this year with an expanded list. Here are a bunch of things that will be sure to please all of the nearest and dearest folk in your life this holiday season and arrive on time!

GIFTS FOR BABIES

one | kid o color steps, $6.88

two | skip hop moby bath spout cover, $12.99

three | ulubulu silicon shark bib, $8.99

four | vulli sophie the giraffe teething toy, $17.99

five | sandra bouton's greatest hits, volume 1, $12.70

GIFTS FOR KIDDOS

six | the new way things work, $22.14

seven | schylling kids accordion, $18.67

eight | sakura set of 25 cray-pa oil pastels, $5.29

nine | pure fun kids jumper indoor trampoline, $64.62

ten | 884 piece lego set, $50

GIFTS FOR GUYS

eleven | clark's desert boots, $39.99 - $149

twelve | gopro hero 3+ black edition digital camera, $349.99

thirteen | alessi stainless steel watch with leather band, $185

fourteen | the essential bar book, $16.39

GIFTS FOR LADIES

fifteen | kate spade cedar street dot lacey wallet, $178

sixteen | fresh & easy: what to cook and how to cook it, $32.43

seventeen | kindle paperweight e-reader, $99

eighteen | razzle dazzle amaryllis plant, $23.99

I am signing off today and will be away from the blog until 2015 (feels weird to say that!). I hope you have a fabulous holiday and enjoy the remainder of 2014 to the absolute fullest. Happy Holidays! See you next year!

*This post is not sponsored by Amazon (or anyone)! I just happen to be a big fan!

FORMA

Stumped as to what to give the ladies in your life this holiday season? I think I may have found a fabulous solution for you. I just stumbled across the Etsy store 'FORMA' which sells gorgeous, unique geometric jewelry pieces that are as chic as they are timeless. Personally, I am majorly in love with the gold fan necklace and the gold minimalistic bangles. Which would you pick?

Check it all out for yourself here.

GUILFORD CRAFT FAIR 2014

This past weekend, amidst grey skies and perfectly cool nap weather, I went on my annual pilgrimage to the Guilford Craft Fair. As always, I managed to find a lot of fun things to buy and even more fun things to drool over. Without further ado, here are some talented craftspeople with work you should definitely check out . . .

above, Hoist Away Bags are made with recycled sails in bold, bright colors. Every detail has been taken into consideration for these totes, pouches and dop kits—from a detailed label that explains where your sails came from to zippered pockets and drawstring tops to keep everything in order. Each bag even comes with a bottle opener keychain! As a sailing nerd I couldn't live without one of these and I suggest you check out their Etsy shop to pick up your own.

I also discovered the beautiful ceramic work of Kiara Matos. I love the sophisticated colors, patterns and organic references in her work. Couldn't you just picture these on your dresser or side table?

As usual, however, the majority of my drool worthy moments were from jewelry vendors. Here are some pieces I had my eye on:

The setting on this ring is an innovative take on a solitaire setting, no? It's not quite my style but I still think its amazing! Made by Stephen Leblanc.

I have written about Dana and David's work before and their work continues to impress. How gorgeous is this pendant necklace?

Dahlia Kanner was another new-to-me jeweler with very cool things this year. I particularly love her collections focused on dots and scribbled lines. Pretty, right?

Rachel Atherley's jewelry deals with natural patterns like snakeskin and leopard spots to create a lovely interplay between light and shadow. How chic is that cuff bracelet?

I also fell in love with Naomi Grace McNeill's jewelry featuring hexagon and honeycomb patterns. Somehow she manages to make her work seem tough and delicate, abstract and scientifically exacting at the same time. A mean feat with spectacular, unique results.

Last but not least, I wanted to share the work of Martha Sullivan—another new discovery for me. I fell instantly in love with her simple rings and bought one in silver for myself. Now I have my eye on one of those diamond bands, but isn't that petal pattern pretty too? Decisions, decisions!

That's all folks! Back to regular posts tomorrow.

LOVE ON THE SILL

Before this morning I am not sure I thought it possible to fall in love with a plant store, let alone every plant it has on offer. But the beautiful online shop The Sill may just have made me a believer. I adore its colorful planters (shocking, I know!) and the exquisite variety of succulents they have for sale; I am particularly lusting after their fiddle leaf fig tree, the little yellow 'calvert' succulent, and the white 'jules' succulent. They would make very sweet gifts, don't you think?

Check out more here.

(thanks to swissmiss for the tip)

SOCIAL PRINT STUDIO AND PRINTSTAGRAM

Have you heard of the San Francisco-based organization Social Print Studio (their lovely logo is above)? I discovered them last fall when I was looking for cool stocking stuffers for my family for Christmas. I found myself immediately inspired by their impressive selection of products—sold under the moniker Prinstagram—which display your instagram photos in new and inventive ways. They have recently expanded this line of goodies and I thought it only proper to share some of my favorites (you know, in you case you have some birthdays or holidays coming up and need some gift ideas).

How about these cute calling cards? You can use them for business cards, gift tags, mini invites, or anything your creative mind can come up with. ($20 for 60 cards, $25 for 100)

Or maybe you prefer big, bright prints for your all star instagram shots. ($12 for a set of 24 4"x4" squares)

For Christmas I ended up sticking three of these fabulously tiny (magnetic!) photo albums in my hubby's stocking. They were a (disproportionately) huge hit! ($10 for 3)

A new product but an instant favorite of mine, how awesome of these photobooth-style image strips? Swoon! ($9 for 10 strips)

And, just in case your desk was looking a little bare, they also sell tiny page-a-day calendars in three different styles. Practical and beautiful. ($40 for 365 prints)

And there's a bonus: they now sell gorgeous concrete and wood display stands for your new goodies (the calendar display above sells for $29; here the photo display sells for $22).

Pretty cool right? Check out all the lovely things on offer at Social Print Studio's Prinstragram shop here and check out the studio's general website, where they talk about their goal of "designing apps, building new media art installations and creating joy" here.