Here’s one of the entries in Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge….it’s an inspiration board from Melissss of her dream indie bedroom. You can check it out larger here.

It includes the following indie goods:

Tree Hugger Wall Graphic: ellynelly.etsy.com
Apothecary End Table: BlackMtnFurniture.etsy.com
Coral Bed: deliafurniture.etsy.com
Plastic Fantastic Dresser: modernfront.etsy.com
Bird and Twig Floorcloth: bhstudio.etsy.com
Where Shabby Meets Chic Chandelier: RetroUnique.etsy.com
Vintage Quilt Top: lucyjean.etsy.com
Birds and Bows Pillow: Olive.etsy.com
Hello Beautiful mirror: biggirlco.etsy.com
Colorful Rice Paper Lantern: bijoucreek.etsy.com

Where’s your entry Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge?

The deets:

To enter: Send me images from your home of your completed indie & diy home decor projects or images of your mood/inspiration board of projects you are planning or dreaming of (not all of us currently are in a place to redecorate, but still dream about it, right?) You can email me your images or upload them to the Spruce up your Place Flickr group. Please include the names and links to any indie goods that you are featuring in your images. By entering you agree to allow your photos to be used on Indie Fixx.

Don’t know what a mood board is? See examples at flickr HERE and HERE.

The Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge will run from May 6th - June 18th.

The Prize: The prize is totally fabulous and includes the following donated indie goods:

1. DecoyLab - Animal Alphabet poster (blue/pink) and Cuckoo clock (blue)

2. INK&WIT - Winner’s choice of print, either Pommebirds or Elephants

3. Circa Ceramics - $100 girt certificate for anything in the shop, including custom orders

4. Buyolympia.com - $50 gift certificate

5. Skinny laMinx - Apron & 3 tea towels, winner’s choice design

6. Berkley Illustration - Winner’s choice of (2) 8 x 10’s

One winner will be chosen at the Challenge end to win the prize.

For today’s Tutorial Tuesday project, I’d like to share this great tutorial from iHanna (Hanna also has an Etsy shop) on how to make a “clothes line” inspiration board using an an old frame. I thought this is very timely for all of you who are putting your inspiration boards together for the Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge. For some more inspiration for making your own inspiration board, visit the Inspiration Boards blog.

From iHanna, How to Make a Clothesline Inspiration Board.

Directions:

1. I used a big vintage frame and re-painted the whole thing white. I love these big frames so much! I have a few with beautiful gold ornaments and those I won’t touch, but this one was rather ugly if you ask me, with several colors that was kind of worn out. So I used a white paint we had at home and painted all sides twice. What a change!

2. Then I took some kitchen string and stapled that to the backside with a staple gun. They run from one short end to the other, like a cloth line that you can hang your inspirations on. I like these lines with cloth pegs or paper clips, some hang them directly on the wall, but I wanted a frame for my inspiration to kind of give it a special place above my desk.

3. Read more

My ‘mood board’ for my new office space that is in the works. ***

I’ve got a fabulous new contest debuting today on Indie Fixx…it’s called the Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge. Spring is the season for that annual rite of renewal, otherwise known as ’spring cleaning’, and it’s also a time when I personally get re-inspired to spruce up my place. Of course when planning and dreaming, I’m thinking about all the cool indie home decor goodies I want to buy and the handmade home decor projects I want to do. I know you are all are the same and I want to hear about your plans and dreams, hence the Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge.

The deets:

To enter: Send me images from your home of your completed indie & diy home decor projects or images of your mood/inspiration board of projects you are planning or dreaming of (not all of us currently are in a place to redecorate, but still dream about it, right?) You can email me your images or upload them to the Spruce up your Place Flickr group. Please include the names and links to any indie goods that you are featuring in your images. By entering you agree to allow your photos to be used on Indie Fixx.

Don’t know what a mood board is? See examples at flickr HERE and HERE. Also, see my example above. Read what shops are represented in my mood board at the end of this post. ***

The Spruce up your Place: Indie Home Decor Challenge will run from May 6th - June 18th. That’s 6 weeks and should be plenty of time for you to get your act together to enter!

The Prize: The prize is totally fabulous and includes the following donated indie goods:

1. DecoyLab - Animal Alphabet poster (blue/pink) and Cuckoo clock (blue)

2. INK&WIT - Winner’s choice of print, either Pommebirds or Elephants

3. Circa Ceramics - $100 girt certificate for anything in the shop, including custom orders

4. Buyolympia.com - $50 gift certificate

5. Skinny laMinx - Apron & 3 tea towels, winner’s choice design

6. Berkley Illustration - Winner’s choice of (2) 8 x 10’s

One winner will be chosen at the Challenge end to win the prize.

***My Office Mood Board at the top of this post includes indie goods from the following.

Split pod vase from Whitney Smith Pottery
Cross-stitch pieces from Chez Sucre Chez
Felt Birds from Lauren Alane
Fabric House from Stephanie DosReis
Print from Dan-Ah Kim
Print from INK&WIT
Print from Yellena
Prints from The Black Apple
Fabric from Repro Depot
Fabric from Purl SOHO
Fabric from Cia’s Palette

For those of you who live in the US, I’m sure that you’ve heard that the economic stimulus checks have started to go out this week. I’m also sure that plenty of you are going to do exactly what the government doesn’t want you to do, put it in savings or pay off debt. I know I plan on doing that with most of mine, but before I deposit mine in my savings account, I plan on treating myself and supporting some independent design as well. According to the U.S. Government, that certainly would be the most patriotic thing to do (written with a certain amount of tongue in cheek sentiment).

So, I plan on doing my civic duty and here’s some of the goods I have my eye on. What are you planning on doing with your check? Whether we agree with the strategy or not, the checks are on their way, so are you planning on supporting indie design?

I’ve had my eye on the carved resin necklaces from Hotcakes for some time now, ever since I first saw them in person at my local indie brick & mortar shop, Bloom. I’m attracted to their bold statement and graphical pendants.

I really, really , really love the screenprinted bags from Jenna Rose. The Rooftops Porter Bag in natural cotton canvas is the one I’ve been coveting.

I featured the handmade journals by Five and a Half earlier this year and ever since I’ve wanted one. I always carry a journal around with me to record thoughts, to help me stay organized and to sketch new designs.

I’ve been a long time fan of the Bella Lucce line of skin care products and the Wildberry goodies are among my favorites.

I have a pair of the Mohop bent ply sandals and now I’d like to get their newest addition, the Wedge Sandal.

The Split Pod from Whitney Smith Pottery would look so lovely on my desk and now that’s spring, I could use it to bring a little bit of color in from the flowerbed.

The only problem with getting one of the recycled skateboard necklaces from 2ReVert is, which one to pick?

These cross-stitch pieces from Chez Sucre Chez would look fabulous in my new office.

The Mimosa Earrings from Prismera Design are just absolutely stunning. I really feel that I need to own them!

Andre is so sweetly melancholy and cute! From Morninglori’s cast of adorable little characters.

The porcelain cup and saucers from Bailey Doesn’t Bark are so lovely in all their quirky simplicity.

I’m also thinking of adding one of the Chair series of prints from Desire to Inspire to my office.

***Edited

We’ve changed the cat’s name again, her new name is Pandora.  After getting to know her these past 5 days, it really is the most appropriate name. This is the absolute last time we are changing it!****

I swear this is not turning into a cat blog, but I did tell you that I would share some more pics of our latest Indie Fixx kitty. We have changed her name about 12 times now, but have finally settled on Lola, at least for the time being…We’ve never had this much trouble naming a cat, but this one is schizophrenic—one minute she is sweet and lovey and the next minute she is a wildly freaky spaz kitty. She does seem to fit right in around here though. She still does run like she’s afraid if we reach down to pet her and will not definitely let us pick her up, something our other cats enjoy. I feel like she may have been abused or at least terrorized by a child or something. Sometimes though, if I sit on the floor near her I am able to coax her over and she will get all rolly polly silly and get right in my lap. She will even reach up and give me a kiss. Anyway, here’s some pictures I took of her today. Sorry they are a little blurry, I still can’t use the point and shoot correctly.

This is Isabella and Lola taking matters into their own paws trying to get their own treats. Isabella, the ring leader, jumped up on the counter, got the treat bag and for about 5 minutes tried to get that damn bag open (when I took it away) while Lola watched, waiting to see if she could do it. What a couple of punks!

Since we have the new kitty who is going to only be an inside kitty, I’m looking for a planter to plant some kitty grass in for the house. Of course you know I don’t want a mundane planter, but something that’s a little quirky to fit in with my eclectic decor. I came across these stoneware guys from The Plane Jane Project and I think they may just be the thing I’m looking for.

Image from The Nature Conservancy

Since today is Earth Day, I thought I would share some Earth Day tips with you. I’ve included some of the things I do to be more eco-friendly and some things that I am striving to implement. This is by no means a comprehensive list, there are plenty of other ways that you can reduce your impact on the planet and many others that may fit your lifestyle better. I’m also including lots of links and resources, so you can find out more about how can do more to become more Earth friendly. Every little bit does count!

My list of 22 things you can do to reduce your impact on the Earth.

1. Use cloth towels and napkins instead of paper ones.
2. Take a ‘Navy Shower’, which basically means turning of the water when you are soaping up.
3. Use Craig’s List, freecycle, swaptree, peerflix, bookins, half.com and others to get rid of stuff you don’t want anymore. Of course, you can always donate it to local charity shops as well.
4. Cut your grass less, use an electric mower or plant clover or another good ground cover that does not need to be mowed.
5. Use reusable shopping bags instead of paper or plastic as much as you can.
6. Hang your clothes out to dry on a clothesline or drying rack instead of using the dryer all the time.
7. Combine errands, so you don’t make as little trips in the car.
8. Reuse plastic and glass containers to store your leftovers in instead of buying those disposable containers. You have to wash them out to recycle them anyhow. Use any paper bags or newspapers you collect as wrapping paper. Cup up any 8 ½ x 11 scrap paper you collect into quarters and use padding cement to make your own notepads.
9. Buy local food and produce.
10. Eat less meat or become a vegetarian.
11. Have a home energy audit.
12. Replace your lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and turn the lights off when you leave a room for any length of time.
13. Reuse shipping and packaging materials. I reuse as much as I can in the Indie Fixx Shop.
14. Buy goods that are made from recycled material.
15. Fly less.
16. Use the library instead of buying all your books, magazines and dvds.
17. Share magazine subscriptions with friends and/or donate your magazines to the library, doctors’ offices or senior centers.
18. Plant native species in your yard and replace and avoid planting invasive species.
19. Try to make your workplace more environmentally friendly by organizing office recycling, affecting purchasing decisions, encouraging less waste and more.
20. Recycle used electronic equipment responsibly.
21. Eat out less.
22. Walk more, drive less! It’s good for you and the Earth.

Please feel free to share some of the eco-responsible things you do in your life.

Here’s a list of resources to learn more:

National Audubon Society
Environmental Defense Fund
Friends of the Earth
The Nature Conservancy
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club
National Wildlife Federation
Rainforest Action Network
American Wind Energy Association
Worldwatch Institute
World Wildlife Fund
Earthday.gov
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Conservation International
EPA
National Recycling Coalition

Earth Day coverage from some of my must read blogs:

Etsy Storque
Treehugger
Craftzine
Apartment Therapy
Crafting a Green World

We decided to go with the name La Niña for our new little Indie Fixx kitty. In addition to being a weather phenomenon, La Niña means the little girl in Spanish. It’s a pretty sounding name and seems to describe our kitty pretty well: she’s such an itty bitty little thing, but has such a capacity to cause a whole lot of trouble.

Thanks for all your suggestions and sharing your stories about your kitties. I really enjoyed reading all the comments that you left.

We got a new kitty today! Yay! Now we are a three kitty family and I am firmly on my way to being a full-fledged cat lady. Our new kitty is a sweet, shy and frisky kitty found by a no-kill shelter behind a dumpster about 4 weeks ago. She is about 10-11 months old, but is so small that she looks more like a 6-month old kitten. We just brought her home today and she is still sniffing out the house, but mostly she is hiding in whatever corner she can find.

She has already been spayed and has all her shots, so now we just need to come up with a name for her. The shelter named her Love Bunny, but we aren’t really liking that name—it’s too cutesy and cliche. We prefer names that aren’t necessarily the most obvious cat names, but we are really having trouble coming up with a good name. I came up with Kali and Callisto, but we aren’t really sure about those names at all. So, I need your help! Please leave a comment with your suggestions. If we decide to pick your name, I will come up with a little thank-you package of fun indie goodies including some Sampler stuff, Sublime Stitching embroidery kits, misc notecards, an Indie Fixx button and other stuff.

I will also have better pictures for you, once she is more adjusted and not so skittish.

Finish this sentence: I will find…

Leave a comment below with your response and I will pick one winner Sunday, April 6th to win a selection of goodies from past Samplers I’ve received including embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching, a recycled vintage book notebook from Attic Journals, fill-in-the-blank calling cards for owner and pooch from Busy Nest Cards, a houndstooth wallet/mini-clutch from Ember Bags, assorted notecards and more.

Here’s my response.

I will find….a Wii, if it kills me.

I will find print from Laura George for TGIF: Thank God for Illustration Friday.

Here are some lovely new goodies in the Indie Fixx Shop that I’d like to share with you.

Art is the antidote for what ails you! A clever magnet set made from original Wolfie and the Sneak artwork will arrive in a prescription bottle with the label ‘Art is the Antidote‘. What a great gift for an art lover or your BFF who is under the weather!

Exclusive prints from Wolfie and the Sneak. Very limited series—ONLY 5 have been printed of each print! The print on the left is called Invisible Connectivity and you can read more about artist Renee Garner’s inspiration here. The other print is called Enriching Growth and is my personal favorite.

Are you a clever kitty? Then you need one of these Clever Kitty totes from Cathy Peng. Available with pink, red or blue glasses.

Good Kitty and Bad Kitty stationery sets from Cathy Peng. Get one of each to fit your mood.

Sweet and charming Flower Rings from Intrinsic Garden, just perfect for spring.

Letterpress notecards from Messenger Bird Press. Choose from the Dress Form notecard on the left or the Woodland Creatures Set on the right.

I’m going green and greener today on Indie Fixx…that’s green, as in the color green—and greener, as in eco-green. I’ve compiled a list of goodies that is bound to make you green with envy (yes, today is also going to filled with clichés). Some of my finds are eco-indie products, because I know you all want to be more responsible shoppers. Other finds are just great green lovelies in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Finally, some of my finds are both…green and green-er! Which ones are which????

1. Whale Preppy Print Tee from Charlie and Sarah

2. Shadow Pods Moleskine Journal from Gosh Darn Knit

3. Clover Card from Hello World

4. Owl Gocco Print from Matteart

5. Envy Earrings from August Lately

6. Canvas Tote from Peace Love and Canvas

7. Swirly Green Bobbies from Sprout Studio

8. Fuchsia Foliage Pendant from The Intuitive Garden

9. Coin Purses from Bird vs. Bird

10. Reconstructed Skirt from Secret Lentil

11. Four Cork Tote Bag from Cork and Cotton

12. Recycle or these animals are going to eat your pants T-Shirt from Andy Eats Only Candy

13. Vintage XO Typewriter Earrings from Webby Sue’s

14. Cork necklaces from Uncorked

15. Flirty Apron from Callie Micks

16. Ctrl, Alt, Delete Keyboard Pin Set from Acorn Studios

I love My Paper Crane and that’s why I am so ecstatic that Heidi Kennedy, the mastermind behind My Paper Crane, agreed to be interviewed for this week’s Indie Artist Fixx. If you aren’t familar with My Paper Crane, Heidi creates works of art out of plush. I think Heidi sees the world as made out of fleece and polyfil and I don’t think there is anything she can’t make out of those materials.

Read more about Heidi and My Paper Crane in my interview with her below. Make sure to visit My Paper Crane to see what’s for sale and visit Heidi’s flickr site to see am overview of all the goodies she has created.

1. What’s the name of your business and what do create and sell?

My Paper Crane and I make and sell mostly plush but sometimes painting, embroidery and other random things.

2. When did you get started with your business and why did you decide to open your own indie biz?

I started my website about 5 years ago mostly just for fun. I wanted to be able to put the things I was making all in one place, it was a very rough website! I started blogging from it, and the business just sort of took off from there.

3. What’s the creative process like for you?

When I get a new idea in my head it is hard for me to sometimes concentrate on the stuff I should be doing (paperwork, orders, etc.) I will usually do a few little sketches to get the ideas down in some way. This sometimes will help me focus on “work” and then sometimes I will stay up late working on new ideas.

4. What’s been your biggest accomplishment so far?

It is hard to pick one thing..having my own solo show last year at Art Star was amazing, but I also feel very fortunate to have been contacted by Kidrobot. I have been working with them to make toys and clothing based on my designs and it has been amazing!

5. Tell us one funny/goofy/silly thing about yourself.

I have a funny thing for lotion and reapply it ALL the time, I dont like it when people put fabric in their mouths (its like nails on a chalk board) and I love to use Claussen pickles to scoop and eat fresh salsa…the round pickle chips.

(Continued)

I’m planning on starting a Guest Blogger feature here on Indie Fixx. Don’t worry, I won’t be taking a back seat or anything like that. If anything, there will be more content than ever on Indie Fixx and I know you love the sound of that.

So, if you are interested in doing some Guest Blogging and want some more info, send me an email. I have a few specific topics in mind, but I am also open to your suggestions and areas of interest. Ideally, I’m looking for both peeps who just want to do an occasional post and for peeps who are interested in doing a reoccurring column. When you contact me, please send me a link to your blog, if you have one, or some other writing sample.

I need a little help. Okay, I needs lots and lots of help, but just a little bit of help with this particular thing. Remember, I mentioned I bought a Toddler Tote from One Little Monkey last week? Well, I want to fill it with some goodies for my niece’s 2nd birthday in March. I thought a cute little plush would be sweet. She’s been into taking care of a “baby” ever since her little sister was born this summer and she just loves anything adorable. She’ll even go, “Aww, so cute,” and I gotta tell you, that is just the cutest thing in the world.

So, help me narrow down which plush I should get from my choices above or suggest a new one.

1. Sweet Chocolate Bunny from Puncezilla
2. Banana from Plushoff
3. Lulu the French Doodle Girl from A Bit of Whimsy Dolls
4. Miss Fleu- blue Baboushka Doll from blossom-designs
5. Quinn from Msmibbs
6. Plush Matryoshka Doll from Modiste Me
7. Anton from Morninglori (okay, this one would be more for me)
8. Stuffed Bunny from dmollison
9. Elephant from Maiden Love

more at twiigs.com…

Indie Fixx has been nominated for The Fabbies in the category of Best Indie & Niche Blog! Yay!

What are the The Fabbies you ask?

The Fabbies are the first-ever, blogger-organized awards to recognize the top Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle blogs from around the world.

Various prestigious blog awards have existed for some time, but they repeatedly snubbed the Lifestyle Blogosphere, deliberately ignoring the growing power, influence and prestige of this group of bloggers. So, in typical entrepreneurial style, three bloggers decided to take action: The Manolo of Manolo’s Shoe Blog, Tina Craig of Bag Snob, and Lesley Scott, Fashiontribes…with crucial assistance from Christina Jones of eBeautyDaily and Sam Francois of Papierdoll.

One of the best features of the Fabbies is that it’s a democracy. Rather than a few judges determining which blogs are “best” in 12 different categories (which showcase the impressive breadth and depth of the Lifestyle Blogosphere), it is the real experts – the blog readers, fans and supporters – that determine the winners with their votes, highlighting the deliciously freewheeling spirit of blogging.

I’m very honored to have been nominated and would be even more honored to win, since it would be based on the people’s vote. So, if you love Indie Fixx and would like to see Indie Fixx win The Fabbies, sign-up here to VOTE!

Voting will be live until April 30th and the awards will handed out during New York Fashion Week in September. 

The theme for this week’s TGIF: Thank God for Illustration Friday is hair…some of the featured prints may depict the dreaded “bad hair day” or just some really interesting styles. You be the judge.

Serpentine Braids by beesknees industries.

Bad Hair Day print from the Dreamy Giraffe. Corinne from Unconventional Ida.

Riding the Wind print from Badbird’s. Unruly Hair print from Emma Klingbeil.

The Precarious UniWig print from Marmee Craft. Temptation print from aussiepatches.

Winter Apples print from Carambatack Design. The Green Dress print from redheather.

I know I’ve been incommunicado since Friday, but Mr. Indie Fixx and I took advantage of the long weekend to work on the redesign of Indie Fixx. I had hoped to be able to make the changes on the 1st of the year, but there is only so much that one can accomplish in a year. Better late than never, you know!

I’ve been planning an update of the design since the opening of the Indie Fixx Shop. It’s been a sad long time since Indie Fixx had been updated and I didn’t want her to look like the Shop’s ugly stepsister, so I asked Liz Wong to work on a new logo for me. Once again, Liz was able to understand my gibberish and Crayola drawings and gave me exactly what I wanted!

I think the new logo better represents the blog and my personality and it feels like such a better fit than the old one. It’s like getting sparkly brand spanking new clothes…and you just can’t believe those old rags you used to wear.

So, my wonderful friends, what do you think of the new look? Share your opinions, thoughts and critiques!

A multi-talented “Jane of all trades” artist, Jenifer Lake from Sprout Studio is my featured artist this week for the Indie Artist Fixx. The best way to describe Jenifer’s work is to say she creates loveliness. Whether it’s re-purposed vintage jewelry pieces, illustrations, ceramic cuties, glass creations or accessories whatever Jenifer puts her mind to create, it will be lovely. I think you will agree. Based out of San Fran, Jenifer’s work can be found on her website, in brick & mortar stores around the country and in online shops including the Indie Fixx Shop.

Read more about Jenifer in my interview with her below.

1. What’s the name of your business and what do create and sell?

sprout studio & i make and sell handmade lovelies & art goods!

2. When did you get started with your business and why did you decide to open your own indie biz?

officially march of 2005, but i was really planning and testing 8-10 months prior to that. i’ve been a maker of art and things my whole life & when i started to see more & more of the diy presence in little boutiques, i thought, well, me too!

3. What’s the creative process like for you?

well, it really depends on what i’m making or working on. i tend to be someone who has a quite a bit of ephemera around her — so i’ll pick & cull from all this detritus and compile art collages, or my glass necklaces, or think about themes, or color ways to help me get started. i always keep a sketchbook or sticky notepad near and am sketching or thinking about things a lot. i find a lot of inspiration in the daily going-on’s of business of life, so i get a lot of ideas throughout the days. sometimes just trolling around on the net can be inspirational in fashion themes and what is popping out & what’s the new thing to help me think about my vintage products.

4. What’s been your biggest accomplishment so far?

being able to get my business up and running all on my own. and then keep it running and creating new things all the time! i’m also really proud of the amount of indie craft shows i’ve been accepted to.

5. Tell us one funny/goofy/silly thing about yourself.

errr…is being clumsy goofy? if so, i’m not so co-ordinated, and i really wish i was! i’m that person that trips up going down the street and then laughs and looks behind her to see what HUGE obstacle was obviously put in her way

6. What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst?

being able to be creative & mess around with a lot of “stuff.” i also teach art full time though, so the best thing about that is the kiddos (kindergarten through 8th grade). the worst about sprout studio is taxes & paperwork.

(Continued)

Check out the Indie Fixx Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for gift ideas for your secret and not so secret valentines. You’ll find gifts for girls, guys and kids. Also, make sure to visit the sponsors of the Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for more indie Valentine’s Day shopping!