Well, OK, so getting posterized actually means getting embarrassed on the basketball court ’cause you’re the lame duck who got dunked on. But for sure, you wouldn’t be embarrassed if you showed one of these lovelies off in your living room:

All this is the work of Laura from Asbestos Press. Laura hails from Sacramento and does a lot of rock posters for local bands and venues. She comes up with the designs and then silkscreens every single poster by hand.

The posters are all limited-edition runs, so get ‘em before she runs out of them! (I will admit, I have fallen victim to waiting too long myself.)

Occasionally, Laura also has test prints available in her shop. These are collages that accumulate throughout her silkscreening process, and these test prints are one of a kind. It’s a rare chance, since you never know when test prints will show up in her shop. If you head over now, she’s got a couple test prints up, including this one:

indie*galore has been on hiatus for a while now, but it’s back for the New Year!

It’s been a reflective period, and a good time to maybe write some thoughts down. What better place to write a few thoughts down than these wonderfully made journals from amanobooks?

All these journals are made from mixed media: photographs, ephemera, paint, wax, stamps and all kinds of found materials. The result is not just a journal, but a work of art.

There is also some mixed media art available at amanobooks, like this lovely piece:

There are those who can create art with brushes and pencils and pastels, and then those who create art with pixels and digital paint. Just ’cause it’s digital doesn’t make it any less vibrant.

Case in point:

Those works are from the computer of Rhonda at Digital Decor. In addition to making these digital prints, Rhonda is also a graphic designer (her design company is called SoCo Creative).

Rhonda’s style is varied, from bright, colorful and simple graphic illustrations to real-life works of art. There’s food, fruit, animals and lots of awesome psychedelic swirls and great backgrounds. Definitely lots to see and plenty to catch your eye — and something to add some color to your walls.

Looking for some unique sculptures or clay items, whether they be for wearing or for around the house?

How about these?

This positively stunning work is from Stormy Designs. She is an artist who specializes in creating things with polymer clay. You name it, it’s in the shop. Jewelry? Done. Glass items covered in richly textured and colored clay? Done. Buttons and baubles? Done.

Everything in the store is hand-scuplted, and many items are one of a kind! You just can’t replicate all those textures and patterns exactly!

Stormy Designs also takes requests and custom orders. Yay for convenience and getting exactly what you want!

Vinyl records have that retro-hip quality these days. Recycling is also pretty hip these days. Combine the two and you’ll get some doubly cool accessories and home goods:

This is the work of Christine from Eye Pop Art in Portland, Oregon. Her specialty is taking vinyl records and painting the intricate mandala designs on them.

Mandalas may be round, but that doesn’t restrict Christine’s imagination at all! In addition to turning the records into clocks and wall hangings, the makes them into wavy mirrors or bowls. And there are, of course, the record cuffs. Very cute, bright and colorful.

She’s even taken her painting skills to CDs and turned them into wicked suncatchers like this:

If you’re looking for an amazing art piece for your home — and one that’s functional at that — do check out Eye Pop Art. And you’ll be supporting upcycling, which is an added bonus.

It’s one thing to paint big, pretty pictures, but painting small, pretty pictures is an awesome skill:

They’re all little works of art! And wearable! Become a walking gallery and pick up a few pieces from Binding Twine.

Each piece is one of a kind, and many pendants are hand-cut and hand-painted. You’ll find a lot of nature-inspired things — flowers and trees and birds — but there are also pretty patterns and even a set of ribs. The detail in each painting is exquisite, all the more amazing since many pieces are less than two inches square.

I’ll admit, I’m jealous of people who can draw. And can draw effortlessly. And in different styles.

So that’s why I’m digging the work of Seattle’s Liz Wong and Eric Adler of Artghost:

The top two pieces are cards featuring Eric’s drawings, and the last piece is a painting from Liz. Their art features 50s-style images, animals, records, and some of the coolest schoolgirls you’ll see (and that you probably wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley).

At Artghost, you’ll not only find their art on traditional mediums (such as paper), but some of the illustrations wind up on some awesome limited-edition handbags. These handbags are Liz’s illustrations, which are then silkscreened onto the handmade bags.

It’s a wonderful collection of art, definitely worth taking a peek! It’s also a great place to check out if you love retro stuff.

There are toy dogs and then these toy dogs:

Then again, these dogs are such amazing works of art that you definitely don’t want to consider them toys or anything that children should play with! (Besides, they’re awfully small and dangerous to kids.)

But if you want to put one on your shelf to admire, head on over to Kay’s K9s.

All these dogs are painstakingly needle-felted by the artist, Kay. They are all one of a kind comissions. She works off pictures of people’s dogs, and has depicted several breeds. Her attention to detail is amazing!

(If you want to see a gallery of Kay’s work, head over to her website and click “gallery.”)

Kay also does pins and keychains of dogs. Here’s a sample keychain:

This would be a great gift for the dog lover who has everything!

If your walls are feeling a little bare and need some fun pictures to spruce it up, here are some pretty little birdies:

This art is the work of Sion at Ubiki. Sion’s work is simple, fun and bright. It borrows heavily from nature (trees, mushrooms, birds) and comes in vivid colors.

Most of the prints come in 5 x 7 size (without frames), so if you’ve got a particularly blank wall, you can put all sorts of bursts of color on it with Sion’s art.

By the way, Sion also runs a blog about indie goodness called Cuteable and also started IndiePublic, the place for lovers of indie stuff to congregate!

Here is Part 2 about the awesome goodness that was in my Sampler Select: Home!

Etched shot glass from Bread and Badger. Finely detailed and super cute. Bread and Badger is also another one of my favorites.

Pillowcase and embroidery pattern from Sublime Stitching. The perfect way to spruce up a bed!

Decorative tile from Little Flower Designs. This was probably one of my favorite things in the packages. Absolutely beautiful. I can admire the craftsmanship all day. And birds are cool.

Clothespin doll kit from The Small Object. A pretty neat idea … and the super retro clothespins are cool. Can’t wait to put it all together.

A special edition of CROQ Zine, with articles about the home! If you’re unfamiliar with CROQ, check it out. It’s a great zine packed with helpful tips and great ideas. And this special edition also has some vegan recipes. Yum!

Print called “Housegirl at Tea” from The Black Apple. There’s a hauntingly beautiful quality to this piece. Very nice.

Again, you’re highly encouraged to check out the Sampler Select! The current Sampler Select: Sleep is on sale now, and another Sampler Select, with the theme of Pins and Needles, will be available in November!

You can also check out the regular Sampler, which of course is on sale every month.

And lastly, check out all the great contributors to The Sampler. They all make pretty fabulous stuff!

I’ve got this thing about eyes. They’re the most expressive part of someone face. And you can’t help but be drawn to someone’s eyes when they’re a really nice color or just plain pretty or dreamy.

Kind of like how the eyes draw you in to these lovely portraits (and of course, you realize the piece as a whole is pretty darn sweet):

This art is the work of South Carolina-based artist KJ at The Dreamy Giraffe. KJ has a very distinct style, featuring girls with large, dreamy eyes. And they’re cute folks, from the hero with her jellybean above, to this portrait of a girl and her turtle.

It’s not just girls, either. There are a few animal pieces (like this octopus — though I guess an octopus is technically not an animal), all featuring those same distinctive eyes.

KJ’s descriptions and titles of her work are also pretty witty and worth the read!

One of the treats I got in my August Sampler was this lovely floral card from Sugar Lily:

I’ve always been a fan of Sugar Lily. The cards are cheery and often feature beautiful patterns (I got a daisy-adorned one a while back). The ones that feature drawings or characters are whimsical and cute. Overall, the designs are clean and simple and still eye-catching.

For a sampling, check out the Howdy Chicken card and the octopus wedding card.

Have you ever heard the saying “I love you like food loves salt?”

Well, these cards take that to a whole new level:

These delightful cards are from uccello curioso, based in Los Angeles. There are a whole host of these food cards, including a few that pay homage to steamed rice, fish tacos and sushi. Yum.

All the cards are screenprinted by hand, and then watercolored individually. Lots of labor for a cute thing!

There are also other screenprinted goodies, including coasters and card sets, just in case you’re not feeling hungry.

If chickens weren’t well, chickens, they could be superheroes. And maybe they’d look like this:

This wonderful character is actually called the Chicken Bandit. And he (or she, you never know) is the creation of Claire over at Absolutely Small.

If you like the Chicken Bandit, you might like this chicken-inspired ACEO as well.

Chicks and chickens populate the world of Absolutely Small, but inspiration comes from other animals too. Even imaginary ones. Like this fuzzy one:

It’s a liger! (Combination of lion and tiger — it’s a Napoleon Dynamite thing.) And it’s got chicken traits too.

You’ll find many whimsical paintings, prints and pompom animals at Absolutely Small, and Claire does personalized pet portraits too. So if you’re an animal lover, it’s a pretty neat place to look.

Absolutely hysterical:

Ah, Sorry. Such a fun game.

This great illustration is the work Cate Anevski, who has an Etsy shop called Bees Knees Industries. Cate has other things in her shop, such as stuffed toys and paper goods, but the artwork is the main draw here. She displays an amazing range of styles, from sort of clean and simple (like the piece above), to whimsical and just different, like this piece: