Oh, how I envy those in Portland, Oregon. Why? Flutter.

The shop that is described as “a delightful disarray of found objects and clutter” recently celebrated their 2 year anniversary in May. Within its doors are vintage and antique one-of-a-kind pieces gathered from around the world. A shop that is feminine and quirky offers up goods for your home, an apothecary section, jewelry, books, paper goods and toys. Flutter is a store similar to living art in that it is constantly changing and working as one big installation of carefully selected treasures. The online shop is just a few months old, yet you get the feel of the beauty that lies within the walls of the brick and mortar location. If you’ve ever been there, please share your experience with us. It’s on my list for whenever I make it back up to Portland.

Take a look at this tree stump pin cushion ($20.00)!

Erika Kern of My Imaginary Boyfriend have whipped up a pin cushion that is totally handmade. The wool felt stump is hand painted and sits about 3 inches in height. I like the details of the grass and flowers that circle around the base.

Check this out…

Now that I’m in a new city for this HP, I wonder whether or not I’ll be in line for the midnight showing. Hmmm…

Some amazing goods from one of our sponsors, Shana Logic…

Bird Cage Tee by Deadworry: $20.00; Plush-kill Wall Series - Unicorn by Cherrybox Studios: $80.00:

Antler Envy Print by Tasi Fi: $25.00; Riku Belt-Black by Ukiyo5: $69.00:

Here’s the newest limited edition 8×10 print from Jaime of Design Milk. It’s super groovy, super fun and oh-so-trippy.

Psychedelic Chandelier Print: $18.00:

Is the mustache back in style? Maybe it never really went anywhere. Either way, I am finding myself strangely attracted to the whole facial hair thing. I am into the mustache designs that I’ve been seeing around lately. However, I have a new favorite site that offers up a line of strictly-’stache goods.

Fuzzy Ink is dedicated to mustache clad apparel. All of their shirts sport hand printed artwork and their custom stamped tag, making all of the products offered one-of-a-kind. Located in North Carolina, this company is looking to add plenty of new designs to their shop and possibly a few other things to the site including an artist spotlight for their collaborations. Another special thing you’ll find on the home page of Fuzzy Ink is trivia! Answer the trivia question correctly and you’ll receive $2 off your purchase. The gang recently returned from New York where they promoted their newest design, Start Spreading the Stache. The shirt is a special edition Jason Giambi design and 15% of all sales will go to a NYC based charity. Check it out…

Start Spreading the Stache Shirt: $13.95:

I really do adore all the designs by Fuzzy Ink. I am in favor of the Stache Anything shirt (I heart Lloyd Dobler), but here are a couple other faves…

Moustache Ride: $17.95; I Got 99 Staches: $17.95; Dirty Squirrel Escapade: $17.95; Stubble Trouble: $17.95:

Alright, so I guess I pretty much linked to all the designs on the site. I couldn’t help it because I think they’re all amazingly stachetastic. Head on over to Fuzzy Ink and show your stache love now.

I got a little email from Erin of the fabulous Anatomy of a Skirt shop. As if I didn’t already love it there, she pointed me in the direction of her newest project called Robot a Day. Every Monday through Friday, a new robot pouch design makes its debut. Why? I say, why not!

For a number of years now, Erin has made robot pouches much to the delight of her customers. Wanting to take her creativity to the next level and see how she could push herself is what started the whole robot production. All of the robot pouches are made of vinyl scraps that are being saved from other works (reducing the stuff going into the wastebasket!). Here are a couple of my favorites…

Gnome Robot Pouch: $40.00; Banditobot Robot Pouch: $35.00:

Cowboy Western Robot Pouch: $35.00; Beaver Robot Pouch: $40.00:

Happy Friday and happy weekend, all!

1) Keep Calm and Carry On Poster in Chartreuse Green at sfgirlbybay: $25.00; 2) I Heart You Crindo - Mandolin by Miss Tess: $30.00; 3) Medium Boxy Bag - Alexander Henry Skulls by Obscurities Hot Glass: $12.99; 4) Ride My Bicycle Handstamped Cotton Ribbon by Paloma’s Nest: $7.00/2 yards; 5) Block Print Cupcake Apron by artgoodies: $38.00; 6) Nice Pear Sterling Silver Ring by Ash Hilton: $75.00; 7) Thumb Wrestling Limited Edition Silkscreen by Alisha Gould Designs: $30.00

Roberta Oaks Power is a Hawaii based designer who is dedicated to using eco-fabrics like Bamboo in her clothing line since the launch of her Fall 2007 collection. Whimsical, sexy and chic apparel can be found at her site and her Summer 2008 dresses are here. Born in Missouri and now residing in Honolulu, Roberta’s brand can be found at boutiques within the Hawaiian islands, the US mainland, internationally in Japan and Canada and online. I love the fresh colors and happy feeling the dresses give me. Here’s a peek…

Georgie: $164.00; Aubrey: $152.00:

Gwen: $164.00; Amalie: $145.00:

It’s time to learn more about one of our sponsors…

Meet Deborah Stauder of Whispering Willow:

Name: Deborah Stauder

Business Name: Whispering Willow

Where are you located?
Easthampton, MA

What is it that you design and create?
I make custom photo booth picture frames. I make standard 4×6 and 5×7 frames as well but my photo booth frames are my biggest seller, hands down.

What is your favorite part of the design process?
I love browsing through the glass color choices. No two sheets of glass are ever alike. Even a color that I use frequently can look especially beautiful and different depending on how that particular piece was rolled.

Where/How did this all begin?
I have been doing stained glass for 11 years, making everything from large window panels to jewelry boxes. About 7 years ago, I wanted to make a friend something unique for her birthday. We both love photo booths and every time she came to visit, we would climb into one and take several photos. I designed a frame to fit one of our best shots and she loved it. That particular design, the “marquee”, is still my best seller. I started selling a ton of them at craft shows and then decided to create a website to sell online.

Who or what inspires you?
Anything absurd and ridiculous appeals to me. My two daughters, 13 and 9, have very quirky senses of humor and we are constantly laughing. (usually inappropriately!)

What advice would you give other independent artists who are just starting out?
Participate in some local craft shows and see what appeals to people. You might surprise yourself. My husband was skeptical of my photo booth frame idea at first, thinking they would not really appeal to the average person and yet they were and are my biggest seller.

What is your favorite indie purchase or trade?
I love the beautiful bags at Moop and plan on getting the Market Bag. I also collect portrait style paintings from The Invisible Fountain artist Luke Cavagnac.

What’s on your iPod/music player right now?
Turbonegro, Gallows, Every Time I Die, Hatebreed…

What t.v. shows are you currently hooked on?
Dexter, Chelsea Lately, haunted places/ghost type shows.

What was the last movie you watched?
30 Days of Night. So Stupid!

What’s your favorite food?
Potatoes in any form! Guacamole, beet salad, chicken on the grill.

What’s your favorite candy?
I’m really into nonpareils lately.

Coffee or Tea?
Coffee.

What store could you walk around in for hours and be happy?
I love antique stores, flea markets and used bookstores.

Any pets?
Three cats, Maggie, Punchi and George and a big shedding, yellow dog named Maizy.

Favorite place to visit or place you’d like to visit?
I have never been to Europe so that is my goal. I am sure that the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre will be amazing but sadly, after hearing about the Jack the Ripper tour in London, I am strangely attracted to England!

If you could be a superhero, what would your name be and what would be your superpowers?
Not sure of a name but it would definitely involve some sort of invisible car equipped with a massive cowcatcher to push irritating drivers out of my way. Road Rage Woman, maybe??

Any celebrity crushes?
Hank Von Helvete, Keith Buckley, Frank Carter. I have a thing for singers. Jason Stratham isn’t so bad either.

Favorite Holiday?
Valentine’s Day.

If you were a shoe, what shoe would you be?
Dr. Marten oxblood 8-hole boot.

What do you secretly wish you could do/be?
I would love to know how to play guitar. It would be so cool to play lead guitar in a kick-ass band and tour around the country.

Favorite piece of clothing?
Any of my pajamas.

Do you speak any other languages? If not, would you like to learn one?
Italian or French would be nice. I took French in high school but to no avail.

We’re already half way into 2008 already! Oh yes, so soon. What are your plans for the year?
I would like to learn to relax more. I want to get more organized and maybe take part in some indie craft fairs.

Thank you so much, Deborah! I have to admit that I share some of the same likes/favorites/wishes as you! Check out some goods from her shop (all Photobooth Picture Frames range from $38.00 - $125.00 depending on size/strip size)…

Green Marquee; Pink Heart:

Black Skull and Crossbones; Blue Stars:

Red Marquee; Pink and Green Dragonfly:

Ooops, belated birthday, I mean (Mixed Plate turned 2 on Tuesday, July 22). I can’t believe that I’ve been at this for 2 whole years now. I wanted to say thank you so much for sticking with me during this fun journey. Mixed Plate is an amazing thing that I participate in every day. I get to explore the talents out there, peruse the web in search of amazing things to share with you all, and make new online friends. You are all so important to me and I always appreciate your kind emails and comments and support. This little family of ours sure is lovely, isn’t it. Yes, I do believe so. Mahalo to you all. I hope that you will continue on my little adventure with me.

If we were all together I’d bake some real cupcakes. But for now, enjoy the Birthday Cupcake Note Card with Candle by Creative Apples: $2.00:

ps - If you wanna advertise on Mixed Plate, let me know. I think I’m going to do a little something special to celebrate the 2 years we’ve shared together.

Jayme McGowan is an extremely patient person. She creates very detailed paper pieces of artwork that you can see at her shop, Roadside. Her beautifully crafted paper sculptures that come in wooden frames are fun and imaginative. While she is currently sold out of her originals, you can still purchase prints that definitely make you do a double-take. The quality of them are so excellent that I kept reading the descriptions over and over to be sure I wasn’t mistaking the prints as originals. Keep up with Jayme’s newest projects and find out when she’ll update the shop with more originals (as I’ll be on the lookout for) by checking out her blog.

The Scissors (ha, ha - hair related just like a few of my recent posts): $14.00; Making It Rain: $14.00:

The Trapeze Twins: $14.00; Balloon Travel: $14.00: