The Sukie Iron-on Craft Pad is amazing.  You can order it here or its in the store.

The Printnaking Bible is a great gift idea.  You can order it here or its in the store.

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Today I have marked down all of the holiday-themed items at ROOM SERVICE.  The ornaments, stockings, trimmings, and cards are all 25% off.

These items are IN STORE ONLY -not on the website…so if you see something you like call or email me and i can take orders over the phone. 216-281-4221 / info AT roomservicecleveland (dot) com

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Grays Auctioneers and Bazaar Bizaar, just 2 more reasons to head over to the Detroit Avenue area this weekend….That And ROOM SERVICE had another week full of deliveries of LOTS OF NEW PRODUCT!!!

ROOM SERVICE is planning on attending BOTH events this weekend and so should you!  In fact RS will have a table set up at Grays Auctioneers for their holiday auction Saturday.  Doors open starting at 11am.  Baz Biz is featuring several of ROOM SERVICE’s favorite local designers, so get your holiday shopping done with a visit to ROOMS SERVICE and then hop on over to Grays Auctioneers and then skip back to BAZ BIZ!  WHAT A WEEKEND!  i DO heart cleveland!!!

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Well, after many well-meaning attempts at forcing myself to comprise a GIFT GIVING GUIDE I have come to the inevitable conclusion that while I manage to accumulate many hours of internet-surfing, probably in a single day, I cannot manage to do so in any sort of concentrated way or for a long enough period of time, in one sitting, to accomplish the heavy task of comprising a list of items (not just from my own store, from anywhere) that would make great gifts for everyone on your list.

SOOOOOOO, with that, like the lazy blogger I feel like right now, I have decided to instead, create a list of MY FAVORITE GIFT GUIDES from OTHER BLOGGERS!!!!!  To be sure, there have been many, and most are Fantastic! and MANY include items i sell here at ROOM SERVICE, which is always fun to discover, but I cannot include them all so I will link to my top 5 lists this season, and then allow myself to mentally move on from the nagging sense of guilt I have attached to not having done this seemingly (For a buyer/store owner anyway) simple task….phew…now lets do this!

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER :

Pia Jane Bijkerk’s guides are quite thoughtfully-assembled, not surprisingly, I mean, she is a sought after stylist, but the palette she was inspired by this year underscored all of her selections and it was really cohesive and the soft tones, while not the typical palette of ROOM SERVICE, which tends to gravitate towards bold pops of color, is EXACTLY what I am needing and feeling in my personal aesthetic these days….I think the hectic nature of my life owning the store, has caused me to quiet down my wardrobe.

so do yourself a favor and indulge in the entire list, but I have included her section on men because i think it is a really great selection and that luggage (now sold out) is amazing.

The lovely Courtney of in(side) the loop created an awesome series of gift guides.  I may be biased to this particular installment because she included a Cleveland-made product sold at ROOM SERVICE, the Japan-shaped cutting boards made by Clevelander Matthew Burke, but each of her installments were inspiring to me, and if you didn’t know it already Courtney was last month’s “LUCKY GIRL” in Lucky magazine!!!  Pretty cool…go to her site to get the thorough descriptions of each item on her list.

From the amazing Ez at CREATURE COMFORTS this is a portion of her guide, which is for men, women and children…if you haven’t already, check out the complete guide here.…and one of the installments, for men, below: 

A Cup of Jo’s Joanna Goddard has kind of killed me with her guides this year…be sure to check them out, here is just one image from her mom guide, that is the GUIDE FOR YOUR MOM WHO BAKES FRENCH BREAD AND ADORES PARIS…

Bloesem’s BloesemKids gift guide is one of those super awesome assemblages of kids’ products that actually make me want to procreate…just to have these cute toys laying around my environment!

Design*Sponge had an extensive listing of guides as well, but it was one of their interns’ installments that I really liked because it included rub ons, which i carry several styles of here.  I also have gone ahead an ordered (for myself) the coat rack included in the list, and am in love with the bike bell…check it out:

ok, this next (and last) one is really not officially a “holiday gift guide” so much as it is just one bloggers’ personal wish list…but what a well-assemble wishlist!  Because of how beautifully selected it all is, I am dying for it all!  the unicorn diaries’ lily’s wishlist:

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New to ROOM SERVICE (not yet on web, will go up later today when i get into the store) are these Scandinavian-designed pieces.  I LOVE the nut bow/game, what a clever idea and a GREAT gift idea for someone from the workplace, your boss even.  Below the game are two different sets of cafe mugs, one set has photographic images of a city skyline with a sun and clouds drawn in and the other with a photographic image of a windmill, birds and a tree.

Nut bowl game is $24.99

set/2 mugs with gift box are $22.99

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SO if you recall, I have taken part in Sofia Barao’s Autumn Swap with Something like, 20 different bloggers from all over the world!  It was such a tremendous joy for me to put my package together for my new friend Shelley of Oiseau, which I have posted about here and here.  And today I have received my WONDERFUL package from Jen over at Back Woods Wife and it is all so CUTE AND FUN!!!  

There is no doubt about the fact that each gift was thoughtfully chosen.  My lifelong favorite book, which I have read countless times, spend countless hours watching the assorted movie versions, Is Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (more on this in an upcoming post as I just watched the film again last night), and Jen included the book, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, the first of a trilogy that takes a closer look at one of the most intriguing literary figures of all time!  Also, included were a lovely necklace made of buttons in the loveliest pallet of colors (very much like my logo colors, which was such a lovely choice!!) chocolates, which i am insatiable for, tea, and stationary.  I mean, the whole thing was so fun, so thoughful, it just utterly brightened my day to have a new friend, put together an assortment of items with such care.  just lovely!

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I am so excited about some of the stuff coming in to my store, ROOM SERVICE, for holidays!  Some items have already come in (and practically sold out: PANTONE MUGS) but most of my gift items are yet to come.  I will (hopefully) get around to putting together a holiday gift guide, with some of my favorite gift ideas (and NOT just ones bought through Room Service), but in the meantime, i have to share with you something I have ordered in specifically for the holiday shopping season.

Paige Russell…Her ceramics are incredible.  really clean.  really cool.  I for one am going to have to get the MONSTER TRUCK piece ($85)!  I think I am going to use it for makeup pencils in my bathroom!  I have limited quantities in stock, pieces can be special ordered.  From Paige’s collection RS has some of her ceramic jewelry, canisters and use-for-whatever-you-like monster truck and camper vessels. (prices ranging from $35-$85.

Paige Russell (f.k.a. Paige Stahl) was born and raised in British Columbia,Canada. She studied Fine Arts at Langara College in Vancouver and went on to earn a BFA in Product Design from Parsons School of Design in NYC.

Voted most sportsmanlike for 7th grade volleyball, Russell was also named one of the “Top 20 young designers to watch out for” in the 2001 edition of Wallpaper magazine’s Design Directory. Her work has been featured in Interior Design, City, Bucks, and Inspired House magazines as well as the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum.

check out her site here.

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MADE IN THE 216 fall 08

MADE IN THE 216 Fall 08 was awesome!  Thank you all so much for supporting ROOM SERVICE and nearly 20 different Cleveland-based designers.

It is all kind of a blur to me still.  Friday was SO crazy and fun!!!  Saturday was a bit like friday but substitute alcohol with coffee.

It was really rewarding after months of planning the event to see how lovely everything looked in the space and how well received it was by everyone.

Many Many more products, great housewares and kitchen gadgets, jewelry and more to come for holiday at ROOM SERVICE, but I was so thrilled by some of the items at this event that you may see them at ROOM SERVICE a bit longer than just this weekend!  So if you missed the event, a portion of the products from that show will still be available.

Thank you to all designers that participated and if you or anyone you know designs anything and would like to be considered for the next MADE IN THE 216 event, which will be held in spring, submissions are accepted through EMAIL only…email info@roomservicecleveland.com and in the subject, write “216″.

To continue support of all the designers who participate in my events, I would like, even though I still sell many of them at the store, to support them by giving you MORE info on them via the designer’s websites or etsy sites…if i have them:

The Bubble Process 

WRATH ARCANE

Red i jewelry

super industrial love

Oceanne

Claire Teschel

Minno

Little Korboose

Small Screen Designs

BCTZ

Studio Dog Face

Buzz Buzz Designs

Rose Marincil

Matt Burke

Anni Nanni Purses

Laura Kushnick

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So, the other half of my “sweet sweet Sunday” was a visit to Lilly Handmade Chocolates, so that I could buy a gift for someone with a custom selection of flavors that they personally enjoy.  

These kind of places are what make our town so dynamic.  Be sure, this holiday season to shop independent!

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Below are some pictures i took yesterday morning while in chagrin falls, to see my parents (who were not home at 8:30 in the morning, because they were out chopping wood for fire, which i though was such a cute fall morning!).  I also went to Chagrin to see my BFF, Beth, who Saturday night became betrothed to her lovely boyfriend, jimmy!  We had a lovely cup of coffee, the 3 of us and giggled about their big news!

So, since joining the blog world (already 7 months ago now!!),  I would have to say my favorite thing, besides having a venue to exhibit things that inspire or make me happy, is the way it connects people from all over the world.  Those who fear that all this advanced technology takes away the ‘humanness’ from communication or complain it is all too impersonal - They are not considering the fact that this technology, specifically internet and blogging, is connecting people that would otherwise have NO good reason to have ever crossed-paths!  what a romantic notion that is to me!  

I was so excited to be a part of Sofia Barao’s AUTUMN SWAP…an opportunity to SEND comfort, in the form of a comfort drink, a comfort food, comfort food for the soul, and a comfort surprise, to another participating blogger. All I have to go on is the person’s blog and a list of some of their likes/dislikes.  NO ONE knows who has their name or what to expect, just that we have some comfort package being sent to us from someone somewhere in the world.

We are to POST our gifts WITHOUT mentioning who they are destined to, so without giving away too much, I can just say that, I was charmed by this person’s blog, she lives many thousands of miles away from me and other than the fact that she is a chocolate and coffee type of gal, I cannot say anything more, as I fear it would give it away to the person before she has received her package…and what fun would that be!

I have chosen things that I think she will like, but have also tried to find Cleveland-centric items, so for the coffee lover, I have chosen a Fair Trade Organic 1lb of coffee beans called KARMA which is from Phoenix Coffee Shop.  For the chocolate lover, I have selected a 12-piece chocolate set filled with the flavors she savors from an amazing chocolatier right here in Cleveland, named Lilly Handmade Chocolate (see more on this in my next post).  I have included one of my favorite books, because I really get the sense she may like it!  I did not want to pick anything from my own store as it kind of felt like cheating, but ultimately couldn’t resist, and so after picking 3 of the 4 items from elsewhere, i also threw in a few things from my store that seemed to fall into something she could be interested in, one for art projects or correspondence and another merely for the look of it!!

above are some of the handmade chocolates in the flavors my recipient enjoys.  I had so much fun assembling it, I hope she enjoys it!

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