You've been asking us for phone and desktop wallpapers for awhile, so we got our act together over the summer and are proud to introduce UNIQUE USA Wallpapers! Every single month we'll bring you rad designs and photographs to download for free. Here is our very first round of images... You can say we went 'bananas', hehe!
Your desktops and phone screens have never been so unique! Enjoy...
or for your phone:
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Instragram contest over the weekend!
And the lucky Winners are ...
Our Grand Prize Winner!
Runner Up!
Runner Up!
Runner Up!
Runner Up!
Runner Up!
Thank you LA! Our 6th Annual LA Summer Market, took place in downtown LA August 9 & 10 and it was a blast. Cool shoppers, awesome participants and loads of fun perks like photos from Smilebooth, free DIY crafting, free drinks from RUNA, Joia, GT's Kombucha and more! Here is a collection of our favorite photos from the awesome weekend of American-made shopping. *CLICK IMAGE TO SCROLL THROUGH THE GALLERY
Our fearless founder, Sonja Rasula, finally agreed it was time to get a business card. But she didn't want just any old business card - she insisted on designing something fabulous, crazy, shiny and most of all, unique. Here is what she came up with: the thickest card stock she could get and letterpress with copper foil. Thanks to Underwood Letterpress who made Sonja's wildest 'bling biz card' dreams come true!
We are excited to announce a new attraction within our UNIQUE USA Markets: The Unique Clique Classroom! Now you can come see our hand-picked experts tell their stories, give advice, teach a class, answer your questions and more - and it's included in the price of admission! This August 9 & 10 head over to the Unique Clique Stage within the LA Summer Market to get inspired. Scroll down to see the speaker schedule...
SATURDAY, August 9 2014
2 - 2:45pm: Ellen Bennett, founder of Hedley & Bennett
"The Real ABCs of Taking Your Idea and Making It Into a Business"
4 - 4:45pm: Sonja Rasula, founder of Unique USA/The Unique Space/CAMP
"1 Part Destiny, 2 Parts Washing Dishes: How to Go from Crappy Jobs to Owning Your Own Empire"
SUNDAY, August 10 2014
2 - 2:45pm: Bonnie Tsang, photographer
"The Power of Marketing through Visual Social Media"
4 - 4:45pm: Andrew Gibbs, founder of TheDieline.com
"Global Trends in Packaging & Design"
Get ready for a HOT summer in the city! We are moving our annual LA Summer Market from the airport hangar in Santa Monica to our usual downtown LA spot - doubling the number of amazing, Made-in-America vendors you will discover! Join us and escape the heat in the beautiful penthouse at the California Market Center - shop and support your local economy, enjoy free snacks and refreshing drinks, make something in our DIY Den, plus more!
Unique LA's Summer Market arrives August 9 & 10 Cost: $10 at the door (cash only), $10 online (get a guaranteed tote bag), Kids 12 and under are free.
Admission includes: • The first 5000 ticket buyers each day get a limited edition cotton tote bag from our artist series • Unlimited re-entry for both days • Free drinks from JOIA All Natural Sodas, Honest Tea, GT's Kombucha, Art in the Age and more! • Free snacks from KIND Bars, Cookie Chips and LUNA! • DIY craft projects all weekend long in The DIY Den! • Free photo booth portraits and a print at the Oh Snap Studios Photo Booth
Where: The Penthouse at California Market Center, 110 East Ninth St. Hours: 11am-6pm (both Saturday & Sunday) Parking: There is secure, underground parking at the California Market Center for a $6 flat-rate during Unique LA. There are also numerous outdoor parking lots surrounding the building. Hotel Partner: The Ace Hotel DTLA - use the code "UNIQUE" to get 10% off when you make your reservation, click here to read why we love the brand-new hotel!
Buy modern, made-in-America goods from over 350 curated sellers at UNIQUE LA!
The largest Made-in-America shopping event in the country, attendees get the rare chance to meet and shop directly from over 350 hand-selected designers and artists. The exciting two-day shopping event makes it easy for you to buy local and support LA's economy, discover great design and deals, join in community, and have a blast. The products at the show are proudly made right here in the USA so you're putting your dollars right back into our economy and local community! Visit our popular Cafe to take a break and enjoy a coffee or delicious locally-made food. With fun for everyone plan to spend the day with us... See photos from previous events!
If you you've taken a peek at my blog… you probably noticed how much I love myself some ethnic prints. I especially love it in small pops in a wardrobe and thought it would look great on the upper portion of this shoe. The steps are pretty simple and can be used on a variety of different shoe styles, maybe something that's already in your closet. Here's how...
This week, we paid a visit to one of our partners for CAMP - Proprietors LLC and sampled the drinks that will be served to CAMPers this June! All we can say is YUM*
*We would say more but we're buzzed from sampling all the cocktails...
Our goal at Unique LA is to create an amazing community that understands the value of and supports buying local, made-in-America goods. We also want to make sure your shopping experience is amazing, so we work hard to add lots of perks for attendees at all our Unique USA events. What can you expect to find at our pop-up markets?
+ Stay refreshed with free drinks from our curated selection of partners including JOIA, GT's Kombucha, Honest Tea, and artisanal cocktails from Art in the Age
+ Enjoy free snacks from companies we love such as KIND, LUNA and Cookie Chips
+ The first 5000 ticket buyers each day get a cotton tote bag from our artist series
+ Get free portraits and prints from Oh Snap Studios, every show has an exclusive, creative backdrop!
+ Rest your feet and make something fab with your own hands (at no cost!) in our DIY Den - the Spring Market features DIY screen-printing!
+ We've created a Baby Changing Room & Lounge, so parents and kids have a quiet, private place to relax.
+ Shoppers can enter our fab Photo Contest with Hunter's Alley for a chance to win one of two $250 shopping sprees! Simply post a photo of your favorite finds at Unique LA on Instagram on either Saturday or Sunday (May 3,4) by 8pm, make sure to mention #uniqueLAgetsfoxy and follow @uniqueusa and @huntersalley... We'll choose a winner each day and announce at 9pm!
+ We've partnered with The Ace Hotel DTLA to give shoppers a 10% discount when booking a room: Use the code UNIQUE
Attention Shoppers and Super-Fans...Unique LA is this weekend, May 3 & 4, at downtown LA's California Market Center. We know that some of you like to pre-plan your stops, making sure to visit your favorite vendors. Here is the Vendor Directory & Map, which you can print to plot your way around the show.
We've got an absolutely amazing lineup of 350 vendors for you to enjoy, making it easy for you to buy American-made. See you soon!
Welcome Our New Partner... The Ace Hotel! We've been lucky to have a relationship with The Ace Hotel in the past, so when they announced they were opening a downtown Los Angeles location we were over the moon with excitement. We had early access to the hotel site, which is literally across the block from where we hold Unique LA (the California Market Center), and knew once they were finished with renovations it would be stunning. They opened this year and all we can say is WOW - their 2nd floor bar has become a favorite, the cafe is a great place for meetings and breakfast, and the rooftop lounge and bar is to die for! We are happy to share that we have partnered with The Ace Hotel DTLA! We encourage you to explore downtown Los Angeles during our events - shop with us during the day, then stay the night at The Ace and wander. There are great shops, restaurants and bars all over and within walking distance from the hotel. Use the code UNIQUE when you make your reservation to get 10% off!
That's right folks, our 6th Annual Spring Market has arrived. We've curated over 350 of the best made-in-America brands to help you "buy local" and support our economy while finding unique goods and gifts... Which reminds us to remind you that Mother's Day is around the corner, so give your mom some local love from UNIQUE LA - or better yet, bring her to the market and let her pick something out!
For more info: Get the details, browse the participants, flip through our LookBook, spread the word! We look forward to seeing you soon!!!
This Spring, sip on this... The season has finally changed and Spring is here! When we think of the season we envision flowers, the chirping of birds, picnic blankets in the park, and most definitely a fruity, refreshing Spring cocktail... We asked our friends at Art in the Age to visit the office to show us a fabulous Spring cocktail recipe. They thought a punch would be perfect and we agree. This recipe is sooooo good, and the pretty touch of adding flowers and slices of lemon is perfect! If you want to be creative, use a star-shaped cookie cutter on the lemon slices for extra pizazz. Enjoy!
Spring Fever Punch 1 Bottle of Hendrick's Gin 1/2 Bottle Art in the Age RHUBARB 1/2 Bottle of Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade 1 Pint Earl Grey Tea (or any Fresh Brew) 1 Bottle Rose Champagne Top with Lemon Slices & Edible Flowers
It's hard to describe the magic that took place last year at our first-ever CAMP, a creative conference I started to fill the void of uninspiring, boring, old-fashioned business conferences. There is relatively little trace of it online and in social media, namely because we take the attendees' phones for the four days they spend at CAMP. Gasp! :) My goal is to make sure every Camper is truly present, connected and open to the experiences at CAMP. Which is part of the magic I mentioned before - only those of us who were there truly understand and know what went on. The deep, life-long friendships that were formed; the elation, fear and pure glee from jumping out of trees; the delicious cocktails that were enjoyed while watching the sunset in the mountains; the inspirational rush we got when we each had an "a-ha moment" about life, work, play, passion; even skinny-dipping.
Rediscover fresh air and the wilderness. Rediscover that childlike wonder you had when you were 12-years-old. Rediscover the dreams, wishes, hopes you've tucked away over the years. Rediscover yourself.
In just four days you can completely change your perspective, gain clarity, increase confidence, embrace your dreams! The conference combines hands-on workshops, business classes and panel discussions, with campy programming like outdoor activities (archery, horseback riding, yoga) and arts and crafts (indigo dying, leather crafts, calligraphy), and curated evening events to allow for community building, networking and pure fun. Registration is open now and even though we added 75 spots, CAMP will sell-out, as it did last year. So hurry! Whether you work for yourself or a large corporation, give yourself the gift of play. Of growth. Of innovation and imagination. No excuses, just do it!
Discover great independent designers and artists, support your local economy, and take part in community. We make it easy to shop small and have a blast while supporting the city you love! Meet and shop from the actual designers and artists, selling everything from jewelry to home decor and furniture, stationery to men's leather goods!
