catching fireflies fun and unique gifts

another successful mega march!

The sun may not have been shining, but our day was still filled with smiles because we raised over $1,300 for the Michigan Humane Society and had a grand time dog-watching (and walking) along the 2 mile loop in downtown Detroit. Thanks so-so much for all your donations.  We hope you enjoy this virtual tour of the morning's events...

And we're off...  sniffing & walking, sniffing & pulling, sniffing & sniffing

The small ones are always the most stylish...

However, the big ones still hold their own.  These two handsome fellas were pooped out about a quarter mile into the jaunt so they just took a break and enjoyed the flood of oooohs & ahhhhhs from fellow dog lovers.

This year the route took us on the river walk and even though it was a bit breezy, it was still tempting to walk through the gurgling fountains.

After enjoying some tasty scraps from our lunch at Slo's BBQ, Gus settled in for a cozy afternoon nap.

Thanks again to everyone who walked and donated to the cause.  Because of you, many well deserving dogs & cats will find loving homes and families.

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tour of artprize

Steve & I spent Saturday afternoon touring the wonderful world of ArtPrize in downtown Grand Rapids and highly recommend you make the trip to this fantastic temporary - truly public art museum.

There is something for everybody - from a pink room spackled in frosting, a sweet dream sequence video short, oodles of doodles and even giant photographs of painted ladies...

If memory serves me right, I believe that ribbon tree was from Grand Rapid Public Schools and each ribbon has names of students/teachers on it. 

That balloon sculpture is in the top 10 and the artist, Jason Hackenwerth is from New York...Check out how they made it right on site and take a look at his awesome wearable creations in action.

Loved this concept and am tempted to create my own shelf of scent memories.

The blue bridge was full of lovely large works of art... including a giant table & chair set painted by the wonderful furniture company, Sticks.

I thought this wonder woman photo series was quite amusing and our friend's little girl, Sylvia favorite piece of art was this t-shirt tunnel.  As you can tell by her blurriness - she loved running laps through it.

 

I'm really drawn to the imagery of the figures on the window.

 

I think it's funny how the monkey is in charge of the bronze colored live street performer statue.

 

This installation blew me away.  As you can see, this block has been damaged by some curious hands - but it shows how fragile it is.  I don't know how he transferred such a clear image entirely made out of powder... amazing.  He should have landed in the top 10.

 

The top portrait is of Michael Jordan's mom - made entirely out of Michael's classic Air Jordan silhouette.  And the one below it is made entirely from push pins!  That one get's my vote for the top 10.  I really admire how one can take such an ordinary object and create an amazing portrait.  (you can see the model talking about the piece)

We ended the night with watching this...

And wish we were to there witness this...

So glad we got to be a part of this very first ArtPrize experience!

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off to artprize this saturday

It's pretty sweet such an interesting art competition is just 2 hours away in my home town of Grand Rapids.

Here is just a smattering of the 1,262 displays of art all around the city.  That image of a gal above is made entirely out of wine corks.  And yes, that is a giant table & chair set on top of a city bridge!

Here's a little bit about ArtPrize:

At ArtPrize, any artist—from established to emerging—has the chance to show work. Any visitor can vote. The vote will determine who wins the largest art prize in the world. We also took the unusual step to allow people in the city to open a venue and choose the artists to show in their space. There is not one official curator or jury for the competition.

The number of venues is fluid, so the number of competing artists is fluid. The possibilities are wide open.

We can't predict what will happen, but it should be a lot of fun finding out.

Come and see.

• Top prize: $250,000
• Dates: September 23 - October 10
• Location: Grand Rapids, MI USA
• Winner is determined by public vote
• All attendees of the event can vote
• Top 10 entries will receive a prize
• Multiple artists can collaborate on an entry
• Artists may only submit one entry
• Property owners/renters in downtown Grand Rapids can become a venue
• Number of artists represented is only limited by number of venues that become available

I'll report back after my Saturday adventure!

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looking for your inner wild thing?

I must admit I'm not one to go to kid-focused movies, however the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are looks quite magical... plus it's directed by the talented Mr. Spike Jonze.  Opens October 16!

a sweet sketch of our store

Whenever 'catching fireflies' is mentioned on the internet, we get an email from Google with the link leading back to the site.  I was delightfully surprised to find this lovely sketch from a talented gal who captured the whimsical flavor of our Rochester location.

Shal wrote, "There was this cute little building called 'Catching Fireflies' - supposedly and arts and crafts store.. they have a lovely looking building! So I had to draw that!!" 

Thanks for sharing your sketch.  We hope you stop by the store soon so we can meet you.

september means cider time

Since the last weekend of August felt like fall, I thought why not welcome it with a tasty glass of cider and a sugar cinnamon doughnut?  Even though our Rochester store is just minutes away from this popular place, Steve and I had never been to Yates Cider Mill before... and it was worth the wait! Our doughnuts were so fresh, they were still steaming plus you can actually see the process of cider making while waiting in line.  So if you have the Michigan fall itch for tradition, make your way to Yates - they're even offering this sweet coupon for you early birds:)

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window watching at anthropologie

Before I returned back home from the gift show, I had to swing by the Anthropologie near Rockefeller Center to see what they cooked up for their summer window displays...

I love how the hose is squirting out blue paint onto the colander/bowl sprouts.

 

And the flurry of flowers is made from cut up soda bottles... as well as the leaves.  They are always coming up with clever ways to transform the ordinary into art.

Like using cardboard, paint, some wood and a nail gun.

Always inspiring.... which reminds me I need to change up our front windows soon.

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cupcakes, records & restrooms

We made our way to the hipster restaurant, V*ynl  in the Hell's Kitchen district for dinner and discovered some of the coolest bathrooms around...

The bathroom door simply reads CHER, and upon entering you're greeted by a full wall mosaic of the vixen along with a story shadow box and her music playing in the background.

And for the guys... how 'bout a commode dedicated to the king?

Also couldn't help to notice the clever chandeliers made from a bunch of dual light socket extenders.

Earlier in the day we snagged a couple cupcakes from Crumbs (thanks for the recommendation Sarah:) and dined on them for dessert.  It was so hard to pick just one flavor... so we started off with the key lime pie and red velvet.  Maybe tomorrow we'll try the peanut butter cup and Boston Cream... do you think we could score a discount since our last name is McCrumb?

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eating my way through nyc

Steve & I are in New York again for the summer gift show - which means selling our paper goods during the day and enjoying tasty dinners every night with all our artist friends.  Two new spots this summer so far...

Authentic burritos, sandwiches and the best tasting grilled corn-on-the-cob ever at Cafe Habana in SoHo.  They were so busy, we opted for the take-out window and dined on the street corner with our friends Michelle & Katie.

And for dessert... malted milk ball gelato anyone?  Ymmmm Ciao Bella.

Night two...  Five Napkin Burger in the Hell's Kitchen district with Jodi, Collen and Amy Peters.  These burgers were so huge we ended up splitting them and boy-oh-boy were they amazing!  I might need to scout out some gruyere cheese and rosemary aioli when I get back to Detroit.

And of course I made my must-stop at pinkberry on the walk back to the hotel.

All charged up for the 3rd day of the gift show! 

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world's longest yard sale this weekend!

Got this weekend free?  Like treasure hunting?  You might want to think about heading south on highway 127 for over 600 miles of yard sales!  I heard about this unique event from one of our firefly fans who's going for the first time with one of her girlfriends.  I can't wait to hear some stories about her wild adventure. 

I have to admit, I'm intrigued by the whole concept.  I think meeting the people behind this event would be as entertaining as hunting for odd ball treasures.  If anyone has been or plans on going, please share your fantastic finds and crazy stories with us!

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