I just love this Make a Wish print from the Yumi Yumi Shop. It’s a digital print of an original illustration done in combination with pencil, pen and ink, love and some digital tweaking.

 These 4.5″ x 5.5″ matte white note cards with envelopes come in a set of 4. So Cute (bunny), Too Cute (Mouse), Always Cute (Fox) and Forever Cute (Polar Bear). By Lucid Dream Designs and available at Hey Pretty Cupcake.

Love, love, love the butterfly-love print designs from Talla’s Spring 07 Collection. Both her Spring and Summer collections are on sale, so you can pick up so very sweet tops and dresses for really great prices. Talla, the designer behind her namesake company, creates all the lovely prints in her collections, so be sure to stay tuned for the Fall Collection to see what she comes up with.

I went to the beach yesterday. We went later in the day after all the tourists had left for the day and really communed with nature. It’s nice to visit the beach and actually be able to appreciate the awesome beauty and serenity that the beach has to offer.

You can also appreiate the beauty of Catherine Weitzman’s beach inspired designs. A trained metalsmith, Catherine creates expressive works of beauty inspired by the natural world. Her work has evolved from a lifetime of extensive travel by land and sea. Currently, she lives in Hawaii and incorporates the aesthetics of the islands into her collections.

I featured foundling earlier this week in a post about the Etsy Trashion Street Team and their trunk show at the Etsy Labs and I was really taken with the foundling shop and I’ve been poking around it all week.

Everything in the foundlig shop is made from vintage, found, recycled and repurposed materials. Designer Betsy Carr hopes that you can feel the stories and secrets of her designs’ previous lives. Like this Dogwood Tote, which is made from a vintage handkerchief and vintage linen. It’s so pretty and delicate and looks like something my Great Aunt Rose, one stylish lady, would have used when going out to a garden party in 1947. There’s plenty of stories and style behind the jewelry and accessories at foundling.

Need a host or hostess gift that won’t break the bank? I’ve got just the thing for you—decoupaged tile coasters from little tile gnome. Each tile coaster is backed with cork to avoid scratching tables, decoupaged with unique decorative papers and sealed twice with a waterproof varnish to add shine, and protect against water damage. They come in a set of four and are only $10. Buy 2 or 3 sets to keep on hand for a quick last minute gift for those occasions that always pop up for which you need a gift. You will find girlie designs and unisex designs as well, so these would make great gifts for either guys or girls.

I just thought I’d share a few of the search phrases I found in my stastics this month.

women wearing rubber mini skirts
kick ass rayon suit
oven mitts naughty
llama yacht

I don’t ever remember writing about rubber mini skirt wearing women or a kick as rayon suit. I’m also pretty sure that I never had anything to say about a llama yacht or oven mitts naughty and I’m not entirely sure what a llama yacht or naught oven mitts are? There really is quite a lot of room for interpretation of those phrases. Have the oven mitts themselves been naughty in some way and is there an independently wealthy llama who has his own yacht? Maybe he has some ovens mitts naughty as well.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled program, but please do feel free to share if you have a website and get hits from totally random search phrases too.

While browsing Etsy the other night and checking out who hearts whom, I came across Decorative Instincts. I honestly don’t remember which Etsy shop led me to Decorative Instincts, but I’m glad I ended up there. Sometimes, I feel like browsing around Etsy is like playing spin the bottle. Sometimes, you are really glad the bottle lands on a shop and sometimes, you are not. In this case, and in the case of most of the shops that I “landed” on the other night, I was glad that I had done so. I really like the screen-printed hand towels and the bold and elegant patterns of the pillows, aprons and other home accessories that Decorative Instincts creates and I think you will too.

Yum! Don’t these sound delicious…Melow Melon Lip Balm, Sweet Honey Bee Lip Balm and Wild Berry Burst Lip Balm? Make Al Gore smile and throw out those petroleum lip balms and pamper your lips with soybean lip balm from Crooked Mile Candle instead. Crooked Mile Candle also makes and sells soy candles and other soy bath and body products and soy is just better for the environment.

Last year at Christmas, I bought about 30 or 40 soy votives from Crooked Mile to give out as little gifties. You know, those little gifts you give co-workers, teachers, and acquaintances and I also kept some for myself. I really like soy candles because they burn cleaner and I love the scents from Crooked Mile Candle. I was completely pleased with my shopping experience with Crooked Mile as well—fast shipping, excellent communication and really terrific products and packaging. I think I’m going to do the same thing this year with the lip balms, because who wouldn’t appreciate a scrumptious lip balm tied up with some ribbon. I know I can appreciate that they are only $3! ;

Plus, use the code FIXX20 for 20% off with no minimum purchase! I know I will be using it to stock up on some soy candles, lotion and lip balm.

Indie Fixx was recently featured on 52 Projects, which is a blog that I adore, and Wise Bread, which is new to me but totally intriguing and I will most definitely be checking out in the future.

Thanks for the props, guys!

Why do I have to find all this cute stuff on the Internet, so much so that there just isn’t enough money in my checking account, enough credit on my credit card or even space in my house to put everything if I were to buy everything that I like? Oh yea, that is what I do, I find stuff. I think I’m pretty good at it too, if I do say so myself.

Pink Paisley Button and Wood Bracelet by Indulgence at Etsy.

I share with you two haiku I wrote to celebrate peach season.

Fuzz makes my lips hurt
I dare to eat you anyway
Juicy, plump, ripe heaven

AND

Summertime ripe peach
Juicy hands, lips, chin and feet
A bushel to eat

Do you love peaches? Want to share your love of peaches? Leave a comment with recipes, links to peach products, links to pictures of you eating a peach, your own haiku or whatever you have to celebrate the glorious peach.

This post is dedicated to my little sister, the biggest peach fiend I know. I love ya sis!

Taking a break from my reading Harry Potter yesterday, I came across a blog called Inside a Black Apple which led to me the writer’s Etsy shop, The Black Apple. I can’t believe I’ve not come across The Black Apple before, because these prints are right up my alley.  I love a mix of sweetness and mischievousness thrown in with a lot of dreaminess.

The Etsy Trashion Street Team is having a trunk sale Friday, July 27th at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. Directions are here. The Etsy Trashion Street Team is a group of over 70 artists from around the world who specialize in turning trash into treasure and create eco-friendly upcycled items. They will have recycled art, jewelry, clothing, home décor & more for sale, plus there will be trashion-themed films, make-your-own trashion activities and refreshments. The trunk show is free and open to all ages, plus the first 25 people through the door will receive a FREE trashion team gift bag. Attendees are requested to RSVP via email at rsvp@etsy.com.

Make sure to check out the trunk show on Friday for some amazing upcycled goods, and if you can’t make it you can also shop Trashion on Etsy. I’ve highlighted the Recycled Poppy Bobbypins by foundling and the Vintage Silk Scraps and Silver earrings by .tomate d’épingle, who are both members of the Trashion Street Team.

Is anyone done reading Harry Potter yet? I’m not, but I am trying to stretch it out as much as I can, which is difficult since it is a children’s book after all and not that hard to read.

Anyway, here’s a little entertainment for you from the Potter Puppet Pals if you are done reading or just taking a break. You know I don’t usually post this kind of stuff, but I thought this was just frickin’ hilarious…it made me laugh out loud and everything.

Bunnies do seem to propagate rather a lot and so to keep up with their cuteness you must proagate your own cuteness. To help, here’s a necklace from Imogene.

Happy reading folks…you know that is what I am going to be doing after I finish this post. If anyone is actually reading my blog and not Harry Potter, here’s a few Harry inspired goodies from Etsy.

I’m pretty much a child a heart and it doesn’t really take much to entertain me. For example, every time I see a bunny in the yard, or anywhere for that matter, I yell, “BUNNY” with utter abandon and total glee. I really just get super excited and I want to hold them and love them and squeeze them. No not really, but I do love bunnies and furry creatures in general and it just makes my heart light to see them. I really love waking up in the morning, walking out on the deck with a cup of coffee and finding bunnies eating my grass. I know all you garden peeps do not have the same love for bunnies as I and I can totally respect that, but you have to admit that they really are so damn cute.

Anyway, I think this Bunny Front & Back Tee from harrilu is almost as cute as the real thing. Harrilu offers lovely and totally original silk-screened designs for the whole family.

Jen Morris, who has the same name as my best friend in 4th grade, recently contacted me about her shop that she jointly runs with her hubby, Glenwood. The husband and wife team create exquisite laser engraved wood veneer and letterpress invitations with an organic flair. Their business, Oslo Press, was born in the fall of 2006 when planning their wedding, the pair decided to design and create their own invitations after being disappointed with what they found on the market. Their vision for their winter wedding invitation involved a combination of dark walnut wood, rich brown ink, a soft green paper and a curly willow motif. The invitations were a success and not too long after the wedding, Oslo Press was born. I think the rich textures of the wood and letterpress go together beautifully with their nature-inspired designs. I also like that they named their shop after their beautiful snowy-white kitty, Oslo.

One of my favorite shops, Funky Utopia, is having a Summer Blow-Out sale. Check it out and save some bucks on stuff I have featured here before on Indie Fixx.