local focus :: laura bucci handmade

this week's local focus is about the lovely laura bucci handmade. i first saw laura's work some time ago, and was instantly smitten by the collections of gorgeous fabrics she uses in conjunction with crisp natural linen. i love the simplicity of laura's goods, they combine smart design with impeccably sewn details. seriously, i've never seen such straight seams + perfectly pressed corners!

i have recently connected with laura via the wonderful worlds of twitter + blogs. we somehow seem to have missed chatting in person at a couple of recent vancouver events [both the handmade nation screening and the vancouver etsy meetup] but i am sure that we will meet one another in due time. she is a very sweet + genuine person, who clearly enjoys making a living doing what she loves.

images via laura bucci handmade on etsy

laura has just recently started saving $1 from each of her online transactions to donate to kiva, an organization for micro-lending to entrepreneurs in poor countries. your money is given as a loan to an entrepreneur in need, and you get to choose where it's going + see the worker you are supporting. i think this is so fantastic, we should all take a page from laura's book.

you can read about laura on her website and blog, and be sure to visit the laura bucci handmade shops at etsy and big cartel [where canadians can pay at par, yippee!]. happy shopping :)

local focus :: paper-ya

we took a saturday morning trip over to granville island this past weekend, which was great. i used to get there two or three times a week, but since we moved 'across the bridge' to north van last summer, it's become a rarity. if you lived in vancouver, you'd understand that people [myself included] make a pretty big deal of driving across those bridges. it's really not so far distance-wise, but there's just something about the bridge and its unpredictable traffic that makes it feel really far. anyhow, rambling aside, it was great to be back over at my old haunt. the highlight for me was visiting one of my most favourite shops, paper-ya.

as i wandered around ogling all the goodies, i made mental notes to remember a few of the lovelies i saw. i probably could have spent hundreds, but managed to limit myself to a few supplies i needed for biz notes, as well as these, which i've had my eye on for some time.

below are a few things i've loved for some time, and part of the reason i flock to paper-ya over + over. they always have just what i want to find, plus a few extra goodies i didn't even know i needed.

items via links as listed below, clockwise from top left

rhodia notepads :: rhodia

bloom everyday card:: smock paper

listography books :: listography

crop lunch box :: shinzi katoh

abc flash cards by julie morstad :: buy olympia

laptop bag - bunny and lace :: track and field designs