What’s white & blue & red all over? My red, white & blue pixx from the Summertime Indie Fixx Galleria in honor of July 4th here in the US.

RED….1. The Sea Within ~~~ 2. Leaflette ~~~ 3. A Punkin Card Company ~~~ 4. Vadjutka ~~~ 5. Yeah Hello ~~~ 6.  Snapdragon Beads

WHITE…1. Alison Tauber ~~~ 2. wearableJULES ~~~ 3.  Berd & Bee~~~ 4. Royal Buffet ~~~ 5. Bread & Badger ~~~ 6. Monkey & Squirrel

BLUE….1. Mama’s Little Babies ~~~ 2. Underglass Jewelry ~~~ 3. Ben & Oliver ~~~ 4. The Sea Within ~~~ 5. Dana and carol ~~~ 6. Flapper Girl

I visited the Charm City Craft Mafia’s Pile of Craft show this past weekend in Baltimore. I think it’s the 3rd (or 4th) annual one that they’ve put together and this time around they stuck to just local Baltimore talent, which is pretty cool. There are definitely lots of talented Charm City folks.

While at the show, I bought a necklace from Broken Plate Pendant Co, a mug from Pink Kiss (my other one got broken), a t-shirt for Mr. Indie Fixx from Spaghetti Kiss & some earrings from Beth Pohlman. Also, thank you to Jen from The Littlest Bean for the barrette too, a sweet birthday present!

I also had my eye on the crocheted necklaces & earrings from HVM Designs and the copper and polymer clay jewelry from yummy & company.  Plus all these goodies below.

Print from illegible ink

Headbands from The Littlest Bean

Deer plates from Pink Kiss

Plush from Greenstar Studio

I have a A Peek Inside: indie home tours treat for you today…Christine Martinez opens up her lovely home for us! Christine is the proprietress of LAMA, an amazing online boutique showcasing Latin American artists and designers, Latino artists in the US and others who find inspiration for their work from the Latin American world. As a lover of Latin American arts, culture and design, LAMA is a veritable smorgasbord of eye candy for me—I especially love the homewares and decor goodies. yum!

After gawking at the LAMA wares for some time now, I finally realized that most of the beautiful pictures are taken in Christine’s own home. My interest was piqued and I wanted more! Of course, I figured you would too. Take a look below and learn more about Christine’s home and decorating style in my interview with her. Please enjoy and tell us what you think!

Christine has also very generously shared a coupon code good over at LAMA. Use the code INDIEFIXX, which is good for 15% off all purchases above $20…until July 12th. Hmm, I’m off to take a look!

1. How would you describe your decorating style?

I would describe my decorating style as having its foundation in my love for all that is mid century modern accessorized with objects that reflect my admiration for independent artists and designers. Although I studied interior design and all its formalities, I’ve never been one to take decorating seriously and I think my home reflects that. I love incorporating bold and bright tones wherever I can and choosing items that have interesting shapes and lines. I believe that above everything, a home should be thoughtful and everything in it should be able to tell a little bit about who you are as a person. That’s something I’ve always tried to keep in mind when decorating the places I’ve lived. I think if you walked into my home, you would know that I’m a very quirky person.

2. Tell us about your home. Is it an apartment or house. Is it newer or a refurbished older home? Did you completely redo it or just add some new paint?

We live on the first floor of a large, refurbished craftsman style home with two units above us. The home was purchased by our landlord a few years ago; it was in serious need of a tremendous amount of work to restore its beauty. It was a major undertaking but he was able to save most of the original elements that make this home a true craftsman. I never get tired of admiring all the great built-ins and the details in the original wood floors. This home has some of the best bones I’ve ever seen.

3. Pick a few of your treasures and share what’s the special to you.

That’s a tough question because I truly treasure everything around me but if I had to choose, I would say the Hayward-Wakefield side tables I purchased in the saddest state ever and the incredible platform bed my boyfriend built for us. They’re so special to me because they remind me that we’ve never needed a lot of money to surround ourselves with beautiful things. All we ever needed was the willingness to put the time and effort into what we value and appreciate.

4. Do you consider your home ‘done’? Or do you consider add and take away and rearrange?

I wonder if I’ll ever live in a home I consider “done.” It seems impossible to me as I’m always on the lookout for something new to add. Of course, that leads to a lot of rearranging because I’m someone who has difficulty parting with things. I take breaks here and there from changing things up, but “done?” Never!

5. What’s your favorite room and why?

I LOVE my living room! It’s so big and perfect for entertaining. We can have a bunch of friends or family members over at the same time and everyone is comfortable. Everyone has a place to sit and relax. I love that. Seeing so many people comfortable in my home makes me smile.

MORE PICS AFTER THE JUMP…

(Continued)

What: Charm City Craft Mafia (Baltimore, MD) Pile of Craft. Shop handmade and have fun at this year’s Pile of Craft, a DIY art and craft show. There will be over 50 amazing, local, crafty vendors showing off their astounding apparel, jewelry, accessories, ceramics, paper goods, fine art and so much more!

When: Saturday, June 20th, 2009 from 10am - 5pm

Where: @ Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (Inside St John’s Church)

Why: So you won’t be lame and besides, you need something to do on Saturday! Plus, I’m going and you might run into me.

Here are some shops I’m looking forward to checking out.

Carlybird Weaves

Tigerlilyshop

The Littlest Bean

 Pink Kiss Pottery

The Summertime Indie Fixx Galleria debuted this week and will run for 3 months until September 15th. Each week I will be sharing treats and treasures with you from the Galleria shops. There are some really amazing finds in this Galleria…not to mention, lots and lots of coupon codes as well!

The Indie Fixx Galleria is a periodic juried showcase that I curate to highlight indie shops, their goods and to promote handmade and indie made goods in general. If you are interested in participating, I will begin accepting applications for the next Galleria sometime soon, so stay tuned.

Today, I am old. I am as old as mom. Well, not how old my mom is today, but how old my mom was when I thought she was an old lady. She wasn’t an old lady though, but just a young mother, and I am not old, but I used to think that the age I am today was so ancient and so far away that I would never be that old. Well, I was wrong…today is my birthday and I am that old.

I’m not going to say that ‘O’ word anymore, but instead I’m just going to share a bit of wisdom I’ve learned over the years….which is that time flies whether you are having fun or not. You better make the most of things and have some fun goddammit, so you don’t wake up one day, when you are actually old (like 84), and wonder what the hell happened. That’s enough preaching for today, on to funner things.

In Indie Fixx tradition, it may be my birthday, but today I am giving away the presents! I have TEN PRIZES to give away to TEN WINNERS!  You can see the prizes below as well as visit the shops who donated them.

How to win?

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post wishing me some birthday cheer! Also, make sure to share your top 3 shops from all the prize choices below and tell me what you would put your gift certificate (or winner’s choice) towards for each of your top three shops.

I will choose 10 random commenters to win and hopefully it will work out that each winner will be able to win one of their top three prize choices.

This giveaway will end Monday, June 22nd at 11:59 am EST.  Good luck to all of you and Happy Birthday to me! I hope I get some birthday loot that’s as wonderful as all these prizes!

• Win a $25 gift certificate from Hilary Caroline Jewelry. I would put it towards this necklace, but you can choose whatever you like!

• Win a $25 gift certificate from Able Mabel. I think this Stash N Go Pouch is quite nice, don’t you?

• Win a winner’s choice pair of stud earrings from Penelope Rakov (spoton). I just lurve all of her work!

• Win a $25 gift certificate from lillyella. That’s just enough to get this necklace.

• Win a $30 gift certificate from maizie. I would get the Solstice necklace!

• Win a winner’s choice (8×10 or smaller) photo from Hilary Hitchcock. You are gonna have trouble choosing just one…

• Win a $25 gift certificate from Berd & Bee. I fell in love with their candles, but these embroidery mugs are pretty freakin’ cool too.

• Win a $30 gift certificate from Panopoly. Wee ceramic wonder indeed!

• Win a $25 gift certificate from Brooklyn Soul. Earrings or a necklace…I’d go with some earrings!

• Win a $25 gift certificate from Up Up Creative.  Hmm, paper. It does a person good. I like this ‘I’m sorry your _______ sucks so much’ card!

Travel Spa Pillow from Wende of Mireio

Wende Oates Larsen is back to share another edition of The Best of Etsy here on Indie Fixx. Wende posts The Best of  Etsy every Wednesday on her blog Evidently and on Twitter, which is where I see her selections. Also, her deletable Etsy shop is called Mireio.

by guest contributor Wende Oates Larsen

Hello again, Indie Fixx readers. It’s great to be back. Jen asked me a few weeks ago if I’d put together another The Best of Etsy (#tboe, for those of you on Twitter!) for Indie Fixx and I jumped at the opportunity. I’m always excited to share the depth of talent that can be found on Etsy. I’ve been saving the good stuff just for you!

Last time I was here, I had a themed list. Everybody loves a theme, right? Themes inspire clever quips and pithy titles, which in turn creates a tidy little package. And Wende loves the packaging! (there I go again talking in 3^rd person. I blame Facebook!) But I’ll confess I’ve been having a hard time settling on any one idea this week. It’s been difficult enough narrowing down my choices, but this list is refusing to be contained or labeled. Beauty is like that sometimes and you just have to go with it!

The Best of Etsy: 10 June 2009—The Can You Really Contain Beauty List

Is it possible to have too many handbags? I don’t think so. And if you check out LaTouchables, you’ll agree. I’ll take one of each.

I wasn’t kidding. You really cannot have too many. I’m digging this bag from Dazzling Lanna. So quirky and artsy cool.

I’m such a huge fan of Porterness. Her work has a great urban edge to it. Simple clean lines punctuated with fabulous color. Her most recent listings feature vintage glass. One word: Amazing!

One of the things I love about the designer for Jane BonBon is that she creates for curvy girls and real women. Check out her new dresses for summer.

Armour sans Anguish is as unique as you are. And this dress requires no words.

Sugar and Flour make Itty Bitty Cookies. Something so cute and tiny couldn’t possibly have calories. Right??

Every wardrobe should have a tunic from I Heart Fink. It’s the perfect summer staple!

Ok, these had me at orange. But vintage and mid-century chic? I’m sold!

These make me want to do a little artistic vandalism. I can think of several public bathrooms that would be greatly enhanced with better signage. Promise you’ll bail me out of jail, m’kay?

Jen Hewett’s work appeals to me for its whimsy and color. If you haven’t discovered her work yet, you really should take a peek!

Whew! See what I mean? If you can sense a theme or find a pithy name for the list I’d love to hear it in the comments! And I hope you’ll join me on Twitter each week to get The Best of Etsy Scoop.

 About the contributor: Wende Oates Larsen is a mother, writer, and Twitter addict. When she’s not doing those things, she’s busy working in her studio creating beautiful housewares out of vintage textiles for her store Mireio or doing laundry. She does a lot of laundry!  You can also find her abusing comma rules on her blog Evidently—where she writes about her life living in a tiny wind-blown town on the coast of Oregon.

More of my Art Star Craft Bazaar coverage from this weekend.

First off, here I am with indie superstar Jenny Hart of Sublime Stiching…who couldn’t have been sweeter!

L O V E the candles from Berd and Bee. They use both soy and beeswax and only natural fragrances. Love the molds as well—like these candlestick candles.

And these pine cone candles also from Berd and Bee. I bought a golden rose scented beeswax candle and a soy pear shaped and scented candle. The pear candle is made from an original mold of actual pears.

Napkins and Ceramics from Cakehouse and May Luk Ceramics.

More Cakehouse goodies.

Chair and pretzel necklaces from Colleen Heineman.

I bought a deer pin from My Santo. It’s on the left in the bin that says ‘decal pine $10′.

I wanted to buy all the woodland creature blockprints from Tugboat Printshop. I had to be physically restrained by Laura.

She couldn’t keep me from buying a pair of felt and sterlimg silver earrings from Wearable Jules though.

I also bought this leaf green felt necklace from Knitknit. I have LOTS of felt jewelry, but I so NEED more.

More Knitknit loveliness.

I finally got to meet the lovely Laurel Denise in person, who is by the way, a real dollface. I also bought one of her Circle Love pendants.

More jewels—here are some long dangles from Kflick.

Finally for today, I almost bought some tees for Mr. Indie Fixx from Dydrm, but he is so picky. I wasn’t sure which design and in what color. Will have to share the website with him. Dydrm is this amazing artist collective that you should cehck out.

Will share more Art Star tomorrow…the final day.