wren and chickadee.

Loving these prints in Wren and Chickadee‘s shop…

Squirrel Love: $14.00

Lovely Vintage Plates: $14.00

Snippets: $16.00

Cupcake Papers: $14.00

Midday Snack: $14.00

Tulips in Turquoise Glass: $14.00

Get To Know: Scarfu.com

Sponsor break time! Here’s a little introduction to a new online indie clothing boutique.

Meet Scarfu.

Business Name: Scarfu.com

Where are you located?
Jersey City, we have a wonderful view of New York City from our apartment.

How did you come up with your business name?
Like any skill, we feel that style is something that takes discipline to hone. When it comes to indie clothing, it takes added discipline and time because the aesthetic is really something you have to fight for against mainstream mall “fast fashion”. With mass production, we felt that fast fashion not only dilutes individuality and cheapens style, it also hurts the environment by making clothes disposable.

We named our store Scarfu because we wanted something that combined our goals and ideals – it’s a combination of scarves, which are our favorite accessories, and a sense of fighting against an enemy through a martial art like kung-fu, hence, Scarfu!

Where/How did this all begin?
Scarfu.com began with our many trips to the Brooklyn Flea Market and endless hours of surfing the treasuries on Etsy. We fell in love with the alternative indie lifestyle and wanted to be able to share it with people outside New York. We began attending trade shows and went to endless showrooms to look for clothing items we wanted to share with everyone.

What is your favorite indie purchase or trade?
I’m torn between indie clothing and paper goods. I never stop marveling at the immense talent out there. There are too many things on my “to buy” list, but some of the stationery from Story by Mia (Etsy) and Oh Joy are way up there.

What’s on your iPod/music player right now? What’s on your “Crafting Music Playlist”?
Travis – Writing to Reach You
Andrew Bird – Fiery Crash
Delphic – Doubt
Pedro the Lion – Rapture
The Wrens – Boys You Won’t Remember

What’s your favorite food?
South Indian dosas and thalis – try Dosa Hut in Journal Square just outside of New York. Cheap, quick and extremely tasty. Also love dim sum brunches.

Coffee or tea?
Tea definitely! Barry’s Gold Blend to be specific, the number one tea in Ireland!

What store could you wander around in and be happy?
We can’t name just one! We love walking around checking things out at Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Pylones, Funusual, cookery stores like Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma, bakeries like Buttercup, Magnolia, Beard Papa, furniture stores like CB2, Design Within Reach. Also love wandering around flea markets.

Favorite place to visit or place you’d like to visit?
I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. The culture seems to produce some really cool and different people – dyed hair, schoolgirl kitsch and sleeping-pod businessmen in Tokyo, but also seems serene Buddhist and Shinto shrines in Nara.

Thanks so much! Japan is definitely a place on my “must travel to” list! Here’s some of what’s at the shop currently…

Pocahontas Blouse: $80.00; Ribbon Scarf in Cobalt Blue: $15.00

Pink-Pocket Army Jacket: $69.00; Kings Road Dress: $95.00

POM Skirt: $40.00; Bronzo Blouse: $35.00

Mixed Plate readers can enjoy a discount of 10% off for all new customers. Just type in coupon code “mixedplate42” at checkout. There’s also an opening sale going on right now through March 1, 2010!

want to advertise on Mixed Plate? Of course you do! Shoot me an email at liana@mixedplateblog.com to get started.

heart & key.

Visiting Emily’s shop is always a problem for me. Each time I do, I fall in love with something new…

This Heart & Key original painting {acrylic on canvas} will be available in her shop on Monday, February 15.

blog it forward. {inspiration}.

Did you check out the first round of Blog It Forward participants yesterday? Danni of the wonderful site Oh, Hello Friend started off my group. If you’re new to Mixed Plate, welcome! I hope you’ll enjoy it here it and will stay for a while.

What inspires you? It can be difficult to narrow it down to just a few things. I mean, that’s part of the reason I have Mixed Plate. There’s so much inspiration out there that I keep it cataloged here where I can share it with you all. To pinpoint what inspires me was tough, but here is what I came up with…

Colors. All sorts of pretty, happy colors…

via swissmiss

via Color Me Katie

via Oh Happy Day!

via Such Pretty Things

via Willful*Suspension*of*Disbelief

via Daffydil

I noticed there’s lots of food above. Which I guess would mean that I am inspired by pretty things people cook and bake.

Office and art supplies {vintage and modern}…

via Present&Correct

via B-Kay

via Lisa’s Collection a Day

via G. Sheller

via reebob

via dottie angel

via Present&Correct

Interesting home design and decor…

via Freshome

via Decorology

via Something’s Hiding In Here {really, I love everything they do}

via Apartment Therapy

You know I love paper {especially letterpress}. But I really adore the people that are still making magazines and keeping print alive…

via Contrast Magazine

via UPPERCASE Magazine

I enjoy perusing beautiful photos…

via alice b. gardens

via abby try again

via Sem

Some of places I wish I could visit…

via Irene Suchocki

via Rebecca Plotnick

via Brooklyn Museum

via Melanie Hillier

I’m absolutely inspired and each day is brighter because of her {she’s magical}…

via Color Me Katie

And, of course, anything that reminds me of home. I miss Hawaii…

via Contrast Magazine

via dawneday

via Quicksilver Events

via Keola

I am also inspired by the people I meet each day, my family and friends, music, fashion, animals {especially dogs}, typography, packaging design, independent artists and designers, small businesspersons, and anyone who wants to make this world a better place. You know, just to name a few.

Please continue to check out all of the blogs. Tomorrow Manvi of Mochatini will be continuing our blogger mashup. I can’t wait to see what inspires her!

ps – thank you again to Victoria. I can’t imagine how much work it must have been to organize 300 people {although it’s a guarantee that she received more emails than just the 300 of us!}. I really appreciate you putting this project together. Also, thanks to Ez for our adorable badges and Hijiri for the helping to create the special Blog it Forward page!

In case you missed it, others that helped kick things off yesterday include sfgirlbybay, Creature Comforts, Hula Seventy, Paper Pony, Design for Mankind, Ink on my Fingers, Poppytalk, Heart Fish, Smile and Wave.

xoxo.

I haven’t seen an item in the Simplesong Designs shop that I wasn’t in love with. I purchased a couple sets of these during the holidays to include in gifts I had made {and kept a few for myself, of course}. These may need to be mine as well…

XOXO Pencils: $7.00/set of 8
XOXO Pencils with Tag: $5.50/set of 4 pencils w/letterpress tag

blog it forward starts today.

I’m so excited to be participating in Blog it Forward. It’s the brainchild of the fabulous Victoria who put in an extreme amount of work to organize a list of 300 bloggers {yes, 300} who will be taking to their blogs each day to share what inspires them personally. This is a perfect way to learn more about your favorite blog editors as well as discover new ones {that I’m sure will soon become favorites}. It is set up to be something like a chain letter. Today the first person in each group will start by posting on their own blog, then linking to the next one in their group and so on. This will take place over six weeks and will be all sorts of goodness, guaranteed. I am looking forward to taking part in this project and hope you all enjoy it.

Thank you to Victoria for all of her hard work!

bittersugar.

Yesterday while I was in the Mission I strolled around visiting my favorite local shops. One of my stops was, of course, to Little Otsu. I came across these adorable letterpress prints by Portland-based artist Bittersugar {featured before here}. This was my favorite…

N is for Narwhal:

and then there are these…

O is for Otter:

K is for Kangaroo

Y is for Yak

and many more.

all prints are $20.00

love me. or else.

Alright, so maybe that’s not the most appropriate title for a post…I do love everything at Canadian-based designer Mélanie Favreau’s shop. And while I could easily wear so many of her pieces, I think this one is super awesome…

Love Me or Leave Me!: $65.00

wag your tail.

I had this card {that, of course, I can’t seem to find right now} that had a drawing of a dog on it. It said something like “tail wags are like a smile on the other end.” It’s true. I love seeing dogs wagging their tails and am sad when I see dogs that are missing their them. Tails are for wagging. They are for saying “I’m happy” or “I’m excited, let’s play” or maybe it’s a simple smile. Sharon Montrose takes so many amazing photos which include an entire series of dogs, even one of just tails. Enjoy…

dance.

Doesn’t this photo make you want to put on a skirt {ok, or a comfy pair of pants} and swirl around the dance floor…

Dance by Kimberly Creagan: $18.00

joan.

Joan Jett has been playing this morning via Pandora. Do you ever ask yourself…

What Would Joan Jett Do? Shirt in Red at the BUST Boobtique: $22.95

also comes in pink

plum & sage.

Andrea Bonelli is the Bay Area jewelry designer behind Plum & Sage. She also runs the great shopping blog …Anything Indie. Here’s a few favorites from her shop…

1. Owl: $50.00
2. Stardust 14k Gold Cups: $75.00
3. Hammered Triple Stack: $70.00
4. Trous – Sterling Silver: $60.00
5. Nuggets – Faceted: $25.00
6. 14k Petite Abeille: $75.00

ps – looks like there’s free shipping in February. Visit her site for the code!