Nothing makes me smile like a few colorful, fat sea creatures:

I’m especially a fan of that blowfish at the top. Such a positively scary-looking thing has been made into cuddly form. And it’s awesome-looking.

You’ll find this plush at Zooguu. Zooguu was originally Sweetestpea on Etsy, and in fact, both stores are still open and sell plush. More stuff is in the Sweetestpea store for the moment, but it’s well worth it to check out both shops. The selection is vast — there’s everything from sea creatures to chicks to monkeys to one-eyed monsters and even this rice ball.

And there’s this cute elephant:

The roly poly style of all the animals is a fun one, and that just means there’s more to squish.

In addition to plush toys in different sizes (from tiny to extra large), you’ll also find ornaments, cozies and a pillow cover.

When you think 1970s wallpaper, you might think of really awful colors and gaudy patterns. It all seems so … 30 years ago!

But When in Doubt, Draw Flowers has brought vintage wallpaper back — and not in a horrifying way:

It’s all so bright and cheery and flowery … and so much better on accessories than plastered on the wall (though you could do lots of decorating with the lampshades or coasters available from the shop). You can also decorate yourself with wallets, bags and jewelry.

Everything is unique and reusable, and my goodness, it’s nice to know you can bring back the 70s in a way that won’t make you cringe.

It’s almost spring (thank goodness — it’s been pretty cold all around the U.S. it seems!), and what better way to celebrate than to wear some cute flowers in your ears?

You’ll find these cute-as-a-button earrings made by Los Angeles-based artist Nora at Designs by Nora. She makes these lovely studs out of polymer clay, and they’re available in just about every color in the rainbow in her shop. And there’s a sale going on, which is just another bonus!

Besides the earrings, she also sells some amazing hand-crafted purses made by her uncle, Naz. Many of the purses are leather, but there’s also this wonderful floral number (which would probably go well with some flower earrings!):

I love all kinds of bird items, and these are no exception:

These lovely items are from Australian artist Naomi Murrell. She is a freelance illustrator and designer who turns out many, many lovely illustrations and art, which you’ll find in her shop. The art has an organic feel, with plenty of birds, plants and apples. You can also check out the laser-cut brooches if you would rather wear your art than hang it.

The art in the shop is silk screened and signed by the artist. Here’s another piece from the shop:

There’s something about letterpress that’s so wonderful. Maybe it’s the texture. Maybe it’s because there’s such an old-school quality to it. Maybe it’s care and handmade touch that goes into it. Whatever it is, it’s appealing. Throw in some lovely illustrations and bright colors and you’ve got this:

Very cool, eh?

You’ll find these goodies at Old School Stationers, a charming operation based out of Portland, Oregon. Brian and Amy turn out these letterpress creations that you can then find on cards or ready-to-hang wall art. Each image is hand-drawn and created with an old-school letterpress from 1917.

There are also journals with letterpressed covers available.

The art is awesome, and you’ll find something nice for sure!

There are left-brained people and there are right-brained people in the world. And then there are those who are predominantly one or the other and feel the need to dabble in the pursuits of the opposite brain. I think a scientist by day/crafter by night would qualify, wouldn’t you?

Here’s how one scientist gets her creative outlet on:

(I love it when someone takes elements of his or her profession and expresses it creatively! The napkins are pretty awesome … I’m not a scientist, but a beaker would be fun on my table. Or the molecules.)

This is the work of Erin Wamsley and her shop, The Bohemian Scientist. Erin is all about making functional items out of things she finds around her house. Many of the things in her shop were made from repurposed fabric — in fact, there’s a bag in her shop that she says was made out of vintage 70s tablecloth and a pillowcase!

She’s also passionate about the DIY movement and creating practical items at reasonable prices. From her shop announcement:

The culture of sewing and crafting in America originally evolved out of simple necessity. Today, as America moves further into severe economic depression, sewing is again becoming practical. Take this opportunity to reject mass-produced consumerism, and to return to useful, hand-created, original design.

Every item I sell is useful. Everything is one-of-a-kind. Nothing is over $50.

Now that’s pretty cool.

If you love to doodle, you’ll sometimes find that you’ll come up with some awesome patterns by accident. I’m a big fan of hand-drawn patterns, and these are no exception:

These super sweet journals are from Lucie Summers of Summersville. Who wouldn’t love doodling or writing in one of these?

All of these journals or sketchbooks feature patterns hand-drawn by Lucie and screenprinted onto fabric. They’re wonderful, whimsical and just gosh darn cute.

Lucie not only has the books on sale in her shop, but she also sells the fabric. There are also screenprinted buttons and even this awesome quilt!

I’ve written before about the crazy things people knit, but let’s not forget that there are some awesome crochet patterns too! If you love sea creatures, you need to take a look at these:

(Remember, these are all patterns only, not the actual items!) You can find these patterns at Wunderkammer. There are other fantastic sea creatures in the shop, such as an octopus and some lovely coral.

Right now, there are mostly just patterns in the shop, but do keep checking to see occasional specimens and more embroidery. Or, you could buy a pattern and ask a friend of yours very very very nicely to make a sea specimen.

I always think it’s amazing when people throw all their passion and philosophy into their work. It lends their work a certain vibrance and always makes you feel good to support the cause. And it helps that the items are cute, too:

All the items above are the work of Jen at Never Felt Better. Jen is a fellow Sacramento resident and IndieSacramento vendor! She is also a vegan who uses no animal-derived materials in any of her products. Many of the bags and scarves and wallets in her shop are made from acrylic (man-made) yarn, and she doesn’t use wool or silk or leather.

She also uses recycled vintage scraps of fabric for other items, such as the soldered pendants and the appliques on the bags.

Her passion is a bit infectious and Jen hopes to spread that good feeling around. In Jen’s words:

never felt better is more than a catchy phrase! it is a recipe for happiness: a combination of my love for all things vintage*cute*wearable, a pinch of compassionate living, one cup of my decade plus of retail and resale experience, stirred until blended. throw in a dash of silliness and you have all things never felt better!

Well, maybe you’ll feel good (maybe even better) all around shopping from here. Good stuff!

Photography is such an art. I especially love people who take pictures of animals because they can be so hard to capture at the right time. I had a soft spot for this cat in particular because I know my cats would never sit still long enough for a photo like this:

Isn’t that adorable? It was originally a film print, which is even more cool! And you can find this lovely print at Donna Pool Designs.

Donna is a former freelance photographer, now stay-at-home mom and artist. In addition to the photographs you’ll find in her shop, she also has hand-sewn puzzle balls and plush, ACEOs and lots and lots of buttons made from vintage magazines (these are especially cool … and entertaining).

There’s a lot of really neat stuff, and a lot of the photography is of cats if you’re a cat lover. The ACEOs are neat, too, particularly the ones that feature old cameras! Retro cameras rock!

And if you need custom buttons, this is also a great place to look!

Here’s a sample of more stuff from Donna:

Yummy jewelry from Adorn You:

The stuff in the shop is really adorable, fun, fresh and affordable to boot! Do check it out.

I also love how a lot of the items are named after food, like the ring above (it’s called Chocolate Lime Souffle). I am a sucker for food.

This certainly isn’t your ordinary pottery:

All this work is by ceramicist Natalya Sots. Everything in her shop has been hand-formed and hand-glazed and hand-painted. It’s quite amazing, really. A lot of her pieces have this colorful, whimsical feel to them — I almost feel like I’m stepping into an Alice in Wonderland-like world. The details are intricate, and every piece is worthy of being in an art gallery.

And do check out the teapots — they are perhaps the most stunning pieces in her shop.

I’ve seen lots of nice wet felted things, from scarves to hats to jewelry, but I’ve never quite seen anything like this:

What absolutely amazing work! You’ll find these totally unique items at Feltasy. The work is intricate and it’s obvious a lot of love and care was put into all these items.

If you really want to be blown away, though, go check out the other Feltasy site at www.feltasy.com. There, you’ll find even more goodies, including wall hangings, bags, jewelry and this totally amazing felt dress.

If you’re a big fan of rabbits, you’ll love these awesome ACEOs (Art Card Editions and Originals) and paintings from Blue Dog Rose:

This is all the work of artist Nakisha Elsje VanderHoeven. Many of the paintings and ACEOs use rabbits of all colors and shapes as their subjects. There’s something really charming about these paintings — I especially like the one above of the cat since that reminds me of my own cat who makes that face when you try to pick her up.

You’ll also find bookmarks and jewelry in the shop, as well as awesome animal wire sculptures like this:

I have to admit, when I saw this dragon bracelet, I was totally floored:

All the color and wire and detail … and the wings were pretty cool. And then I kept poking around Shiny Things and realize there’s a lot more where that came from:

Orin Drake is the one behind all the beads and the wire making all this great stuff. In addition to things you can display in your home (like the tree and the spider), she makes lots of jewelry. If you’re not into wearing a dragon on your arm, you’ll find other wire-wrapped jewelry that’s a little smaller in scale, like this black heart necklace. There are even a few clay sculptures in the shop.

There’s lots of good stuff that’ll make you go wow, so do take a look!