Valley Life

Ouch. But so arty. And part of the whole whittling deal, which the Bleeding Thumb Whittling Club takes in stride and then some…

When you mix hundreds of Santas, a few more Mrs. Clauses and some scandalous elves, you’re bound for entertainment. Over the weekend, we followed the Arizona Cacophony Society’s annual Santarchy bar crawl in Scottsdale and took a few notes. The Good’s above, the Bad and the Ugly are after the…

Sometimes it’s more fun to give people presents they’ll never (and should never) use. Marketed on television, sold online, and rarely found in anywhere other than the discounted section of any store, these gifts are so wrong, we wind up buying them anyway. So here are a few gift ideas…

We’ve decided to camp out until Bunky Boutique sets up for its Holiday Trunk Show. (Thankfully we only have a couple hours and the coffee next door is pretty good.)At 7 p.m., the boutique where we often find holiday gifts for ourselves favorite friends is hosting Melissa Zaki Jewelry, against…

Our hipster friends may be the hardest to shop for, mostly because we’ve never heard of anything they like (and they’d like to keep it that way). But there are a few things every hipster secretly wants and will be impressed that you found. Here are our local finds that…

Downtown Phoenix is developing quite a little vintage scene. On December 1st, a new line of  clothing, Hailey’s Hand Me Downs joined the growing list of indie cool finds (First Butter Toast, recently GROWop) as the newest purveyor of vintage goods.Hailey Andresen, a recent FIDM grad, is the Hailey behind…

Pajama City, an online pajama store based in Maryland, specializes in one thing: Adult footed pajamas. The store’s website says the company actually ships the pajamas daily from its warehouse, which means two things: a) People order adult footed pajamas on a daily basis and b) In the northeastern United…

Some people are crafty, some aren’t (i.e. me). It’s the way of the world. But taking a cue from Mantastic Crafter Patrick Murillo, I’m training in the art, and hoping to work my way up to something truly mantastic, all while trying to avoid what Murillo calls a “craftastrophe.” My…

When it comes time for the holidays, our artist friends can be a little, well, hard to please. Hey, they know what they like. Luckily we happen to know a couple who gave us a few of their own gift tips. Here are a few locally found gift ideas that…

Robert Black is a household name in Phoenix.The Ford/Robert Black Modeling Agency is responsible for booking the best models in town. And the guy owns the Fashion by Robert Black store in Scottsdale.Working with beautiful women in beautiful settings with beautiful clothing? Yeah, we’d say he’s got a kickass job…

So Sudan, a new indie shop in the AZ Lost Boys Center in Phoenix, will host a grand opening this weekend. The center was established in 2003 to provide a safe and community-based space for war affected Sudanese refugees living in Phoenix. Store founders Amguma Deng, Nyakour Kagook, and Alal…

If you’re like us, you’ve got at least one geeky loved one who seems impossible to buy for. Maybe it’s your tech savvy mom, your nerdy BFF with the L33T-speak license plate or a boyfriend whose Halo 3 addiction has him peeing in soda cans to avoid bathroom breaks.      When we checked…

TRON fiends and Daft Punk lovers collided (quite literally) on the Rips dance floor over the weekend when the bar held a TRON holiday party. We checked out the costumes, the lack of costumes, and the costume envy and took a few notes. The Good’s above, the Bad and the…

On a balmy Sunday afternoon, the Icehouse in Phoenix played host to Thread, a traveling, curated indie fashion show. The set up was cool, the DJ was pumping, the snacks were free flowing, the vendors were buzzing around each others’ tables — but where were all the people?…

So you didn’t attend early-December’s Crafeteria — the 5th-annual craft bazaar put on by Frances Vintage and a great spot to find unique, creative local gifts. You missed bustling crowds, St. Francis’ pumpkin soup, meeting some local artists, and picking up some really cool, creative and one-of-a-kind gifts. But don’t…

When smells of pumpkin, sweet orange, blueberry and butterscotch come out of Tracy Perkins’ kitchen, trust us, it’s nothing edible. Perkins started Strawberry Hedgehog, a vegan beauty product company, after years of searching for soaps and products she could use, guilt-free, without having to empty her wallet.It proved to be quite…

Too Much FurHey, it’s winter. A little bit of cozy fur is great for the inside of a coat collar or on the end of a scarf. But sporting He-Man boots with a full fur coat and hat will make you look like an ass. We live in lizard country,…

The Heard Museum is one of Phoenix’s largest (and oldest) art attractions because of its comprehensive collections, interesting exhibitions, and cultural festivals. In its more than 81 years in the Valley, the museum has expanded to include a North Scottsdale location, a café, a shop and bookstore, and the Berlin…

A year ago, local artists Monica Aissa Martinez, Carolyn Lavender, Mary Shindell, and Sue Chenoweth had seen each others’ work in galleries around town, but never imagined working together. On Saturday, the women met to discuss their upcoming collaborative project over tacos, burritos and a ton of salsa. The four…

Editor’s Note: Crafting is bigger than ever, it seems, and the bug has certainly hit Phoenix. And yet we’ve been to far too many craft fairs and other events that, well, sucked. Poor attendance, crappy crafts — we’ve stopped believing the hype. Which is why, frankly, we skipped this thing…

Thread, a one-day-only, indie-centric retail fashion show and sale, is posting up in Phoenix for the first time. Founded by London-born Lara Matthews in Los Angeles in 2003, Thread showcases wares by emerging DIYers from spots such as San Diego, Seattle, Miami, and the United Kingdom. The Phoenix show plans…

Yes, it’s that shopping-crazed time of year, and to be honest, we’re a little nuts about shopping, and especially writing about shopping. Our latest fix: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts are hosting a two-day Holiday Jewelry Trunk Show on Friday and Saturday, with…