Nonpareil

Our house was built in 1929. It’s a cool old house that my husband and I totally fell in love with {at first sight}. It’s banister is one of my favorite parts of the house…it’s so completely smooth, that I have to run my hands over it’s curve every time I run up the stairs….I just love the feel of it!

…Which brings me to Little Alouette….a sweet little Etsy shop with wooden teethers and toys that give the smoothness of my banister a run for it’s money {how’s THAT for a segue!}. The pieces are beautiful. They are easy to grasp…finished with organic flax oil…and are NOT plastic. The hippie mama in me totally appreciates this.

I love the organic feel of the hand drawn, beautiful prints by Chicago based Maramiki. Who knew such a fabulous little biz was so close to home! Her colors are pretty and subtle…lovely reds and I love the bluey-green…it matches my blog perfectly!

Check out her site, or her etsy shop!

Hi everyone! For this week’s “Tuesday’s Tunes”, I thought I’d add a music-related indie shop. Well, sort-of. Moxie and Oliver make fantastic leather goods…including some really cool guitar straps. That fits in with the theme, right?! I also like their clutches and wallets and things…especially anything with those cute poppies on them!

And, as for a song…I chose my favorite Norwegian artist, Sondre Lerche…as a little ode to our exchange student from Norway who lived with us last year {2007-2008 school year}. She and her girlfriend came back to stay with us for two weeks, and just left on Sunday. I already miss her a ton. So, this one is for Hilde!

It’s an old tune, but I have yet to tire of it…hope you enjoy!

Fellow crazy-dog-lady Leigh Jackson, from Noisy Dog Studio creates some great dog portraits from her Washington studio. They are so sweet! Guess which one of the dog’s above belongs to Eva Longoria?

If you have a rescued or adopted dog, you can submit his or her photo to Noisy Dog Studio’s 2009 Faces of Love project. 10% of the purchases will go to A Place to Bark Animal Rescue in Tennessee {you are not obligated to purchase the portrait}. It’s a win win! If I could only get my daschund, Weenie, to sit still for a minute, I’d send in his picture.

Here are the photos Leigh used for inspiration:

I’m blown away by the necklaces from A Lucious Thing. They are just exquisite. Those earrings {top, right}!! Thanks to the fabulous blog Olivet for scouting these out! They are perfect for a bride, don’t you think?! Now, if I only had somewhere fancy-schmancy to go…