catching fireflies blog

laini's ladies are so lovely

Meet Laini Taylor of Portland, Oregon.  She is the talented gal who breathes life into her oh-so-whimsical Laini's Ladies.

Laini majored in illustration at art school with the hope of working on children's books.  In her spare time, she began selling her paintings at the Portland Saturday Market.  In addition to painting, she really enjoyed playing around with collage and creating mixed media pieces.

One Christmas season, she put out some of her paper doll ornaments and ended up selling out in hours and that's when her ladies were born.

She first started calling these whimsical ornaments Lamp Ladies because she liked hanging them from her desk lamp for inspiration while she worked on her art and writing, but realized they can bring whimsy to any number of places, not just lamps!

Before long she was selling her lovely ladies to stores in 6 states and could hardly keep up with the demand.  Luckily she found a fantastic company to make her ladies for her and now they're available to specialty stores across the U.S.

We're proud to carry her cards at our Berkley & Rochester locations.  As well as offer a couple of her bookmark designs online.

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ann arbor art fair favorites

Some of my favorite picks at this year's art fair...

L. Balombini

Tony Savoie

Mud Spun Studio

Jill Mayberg

John Gutoskey

Gray Art Studio  (this artist lives in my very own neighborhood!  I know where I'm going when I need a couple new hanging kitchen lights)

James Michael Nemnich

Click HERE to see my favorites from the 2007 fair.

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a swingin' summer tune to dance to

I just stumbled upon this summer hip-hop hit and have decided that it's my windows-down summer-road-trip song.  Of course, Kanye West still thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread, but I can overlook his ego issues because this beat is so sweet.

A review reads, "West London’s Estelle manages to score a home run by getting Kanye West to collaborate and will.i.am to twiddle the knobs on this funky, funky track. American Boy is a delicious and near-perfect pop track. And it’s another one of those songs that reminds us that summer’s just around the corner. Bright, upbeat and funky." - Gerard McGarry

Like discovering new catchy tunes?  Simply subscribe to this blog and we'll email you our latest and greatest finds.

Fox 2 Detroit - green gifting segment 7.19.08

Some of the items from the segment include:

1. the green book $12.95 2. recycled hurricane metal sign $29.50 3. wine bottle plant nannies $16.50 4. sustainable shopping bag $9.00 5. recycled wine bottle glass $16.50 6. golfer dog sculpture $110.00 7. recycled scented pencils $12.50 8. wine bottle platter $18.50 9. 1001 ways to save the earth $9.95

Fox 2 Detroit eward segment - July 2008

Fox 2 Detroit presented catching fireflies with an eward for our Thinking Green Saves You Green program. 

Click HERE to watch the news segment.

2nd row center - how sweet it is

Steve & I headed down to the beautiful Blossom Amphitheater near Cleveland, Ohio to get our summer dose of Mr. John Mayer.

Being part of the fan club certainly has it perks.  We landed the most amazing tickets.  Seeing a large show this close and personal was such an incredible experience.

Some of my favorite moments of the evening included...

a wonderful acoustic cover of the Tom Petty classic, Free Falling

a swinging soul tune that morphs into Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer.  He gets a little goofy during this ditty.

and my favorite... In the middle of the song Gravity, he breaks out with a little preaching about love and then does some incredible guitar soloing and literally comes right in front of us.... still gives me goosebumps!

He ended the show by autographing a few tickets and even though we didn't get his Sharpie signature, it was a night we'll never forget.

gifting gumshoe feature

Jessica from the Gifting Gumshoe blog thinks our fortune cookie cards are quite captivating.

A box includes 16 cards with envelopes. Each card features two fortunes to slip into the fortune cookie before sending. Wouldn't these make a special gift? $12.00

Thanks Jessica for shining a light on our kitschy cards.

whiplash the rodeo monkey

While Steve was flipping through the plethora of cable channels in our hotel room this evening, he made the fatal stop at TMZ (if you can even really call that a show).  I couldn't help to be distracted by this bizarre little monkey that rides a sheep dog at rodeos in Texas. 

Right or wrong, this little dude is quite funny.  Check him out in action...

Ride-em Cow-monkey!

blue moon designs

I'm busy buying all the holiday goods for catching fireflies at the Atlanta Gift Show this week and I stumbled upon this delicious looking booth (minus the dog). 

It's not something I'd carry in our store but none-the-less drew me in with all it's warm colors and great designs.

A portion of Blue Moon Design's artist statement reads, "At the age of 24 John has experimented with many different types of creative work. A long time musician, film scholar and photographer John has helped develop a new style of art mixing vintage design with modern attitude. Kenna Mooney (John's better half) has been a floral designer for several years. She has designed for some of the top showrooms in Dallas. With an eye for precession and design Kenna has helped blue moon decor become what it is today."

pick a flag and save

Shop at our Berkley or Rochester location this Saturday and save up to 30% on your purchase! 

Simply select a flag at check-out and depending on what flag you pick, you'll save 10, 20 or even 30%.

If you can't make it in or don't like to take chances, we're also offering 20% off our entire website NOW until Sunday, July 13, 2008.  Just type in coupon code: FLAG to receive the discount.

Do like getting great deals on whimsical wares?  Stay in the loop by getting these super-savin' posts delivered to your email inbox HERE.

share a smile on us!

Last year, our fabulous firefly fans helped us gain Channel 4's Second Best Gift Shop Title.  We were blown away with your support and can't wait to see what this year's results bring!

Reading all your wonderful comments make us smile ear to ear, so we thought it was only appropriate to return the favor.  As a thank you for voting for us, we'd like to give you a free Mina Lee card with any purchase. ($3.50 value * cannot be combined with other offers * one per person * coupon must be present at time of purchase * expires 9.15.08)

Simply click HERE to vote and print off the free card coupon.  Coupon is valid at our Rochester & Berkley locations.

Here are some of my favorite cards by Mina...

Thank you so much for voting for us!

Feel free to foward this news to your friends and family... and maybe you'll find a funny Mina Lee card in your mailbox!

wind down with radiohead

Loving this radiohead song - House of Cards from the album In Rainbows

(don't mind the first 15 seconds)

A review reads, "House of Cards seems benign at first, with its 'The Girl from Ipanema' guitar sliding and Selway’s rim taps. But the echo on Yorke’s vocals gets stronger, and the words start to run together, and some synthesized string lines come in and when Yorke sings 'Forget about your house of cards,' it is suddenly a line bogged down with emotion, an emotion achieved without Yorke’s top-of-his-lungs wailing or Greenwood snapping his wrist on his pickguard." - Matthew Fiander

a weekend breakfast treat

My friend Michelle turned me on to making crepes and now they're my favorite weekend treat.

Just whisk:

1 cup Bisquick

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Heat up a non-stick frying pan and keep the burner at medium.   Pour a 4-5 inch circle of batter and then tilt the pan back and forth to spread out the batter creating a 8-9 inch crepe.

The crepe cooks fairly fast and only needs to be flipped once because it's so thin.  This recipe makes approx. 10 crepes.  They refrigerate very well so you can enjoy them for Saturday & Sunday breakfast.

I fill mine with a dollop of yogurt, fresh strawberries and bananas, but the possibilities are truly up to you.  You can even make them for lunch... some shaved turkey, sauteed mushrooms & swiss cheese - ummmm!

I hope you're enjoying this beautiful holiday weekend... eating breakfast on the porch or deck, taking naps in the hammock and watching fireflies at night.

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34, but still a kid at heart

So many sweet surprises came my way for my birthday, I couldn't resist sharing some of my goodies with you.

Look at this box!  I squealed with delight when the postman delivered this gem.  Leave to my friend Aly (owner of the lovely boutique, Bloom) to transform a shoe box into a magical home for a fantastic collection of birthday goods.

After all, what birthday is complete without a crown, lei and pink hippo bubbles? 

Thank you Aly!  Your are such a sweetheart.

Web gal extraordinaire, Sara worked her photoshop skills on this super-duper close-up of Gus.  I asked her if she accentuated his nose because it looked so long.  Nope, that schnoz is all his.

Thanks so much Sara!

My dear friend Kim (aka domestic diva) introduced me to the wonderful world of Anya's Spice Lab.  I can't wait to whip up one of these dessert cheese balls ...ummm.

Thanks a bunch Miss Martha!

And Miss Dena (aka gift basket guru) put together an array of delights!  Lucky Gus even got some treats and toys.

Included in the goodies was this very clever necklace that you can switch out designs as you please. (They stay in place via a magnet!) I've already contacted the artist to see if we can start carrying them at the store.  Thank you Dena! You always find such unique wares!

A little trivia about my sweetie, Steve - he can wrap a mean lookin' present.  But you won't see him behind the counter at Christmas because he's a bit of a perfectionist (corner creases and all) therefore not the speediest wrapper... but boy, doesn't it look nice?

Inside was a snazzy device that allows me to play the ipod in my car.

I ended my big day with a walk down to Coldstone Creamery with Steve & Gus.   Did you know if you register your birthday on their site, they'll send you a free LOVE IT Signature Creation coupon? Cheesecake Fantasy for me!

Here's to another year of great friends, good times and sweet surprises.

6 ways to stay cool

This is how Gus and Tuesday keep their cool...

How do you keep yours?

xl beer glass $12.50 ice kabobs $8.00  smoothie recipe deck $13.95 flower fan $15.50 ice cream queen kit $21.50 cucumber gel eye masks $5.50

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