I would like to tell you about site I found called Library Elf. It is a free service that links to your library card and sends you reminders when you have books due. I love this service because I tend to check out a lot of materials and it is easy to lose track of when they are due. I often have overdue fines and while I love giving money to a great institution like the library, I’d prefer to donate to the Friends of the Library once a year. I think this service will be really helpful! You can check to see if your local library is on Elf and sign up here.

Here are some really fun and lovely zippered pouches and bags by Etsy designer jpatpurses.

Uptown Olive Clutch $7 Sakura Blooms Pouch $16 Retro Aqua Coin Purse $8

She is a mom of 2 teenage daughters and was inspired to try her hand at sewing purses for her daughters.  She got so many compliments, she started jpatpurses. There are more lovely photos of her purses on her blog here.

Katie Jump Rope Clutch $7 Pink Bloom Clutch $7 Katie Jump Wristlet $18

See…. they are Fun and Functional! What more could you want? P.S. She also does customer orders!

I got a nice email from Amy at Armato Design in Minneapolis. She was happy to have her cards in a winning poster and she blogged about it here. She says it made her day!

Amy is a graphic designer whose true love is hand illustrated and letterpress printed stationary. Each card is a work of art and is unique because it is printed on a 100 year old printing press which is hand fed, one piece of paper at a time, one color at a time. Imagine the time and effort that goes into these.

Here are some of her terrific cards~

-Hello Tree 6 pack for $12- - Rosy Birthday single card $4- - Thank You 6 pack for $12-

Thank you Amy!

I am SO EXCITED!

I found out today that I am one of the winners of the Etsy poster contest! Etsy asked its members to create a grouping of their favorite handmade items to be printed into posters and cards to advertise Etsy and its fabulous shops.

This is my poster. If you follow the link and then click on the magnifier you can see the pictures clearly and see the names of the artists and designers.

I had such fun making it… choosing beautiful purses, notecards and jewelry in the killer color combination of lime, turquoise and orange. I’d like to have any of the items on the list, and in fact I did buy the gorgeous thank-you cards from Cecilyink. I have also already blogged about the sugar scrubs from SugarLips, and hope to be able to try one of them soon.

You can view the other winning posters here. They are really stunning!

I found a fun contest on Modcloth that is running until September 3. You create your perfect “back to school” outfit from the site Polyvore, (such a fun time-waster for me!) and submit it and you can win a $100 gift certificate for clothes or accessories at Modcloth. Here is a an example of one I made:

Modcloth was founded by Susan Gregg, who began it four years ago to support her thrifting habit. Now it has grown to a place to find cool apparel and accessories by lots of indie designers. Surf around to see vintage clutches and one of a kind shoes and cute, cute fruit necklaces.

Ok, so it isn’t exactly lemon, but it is a yummy yellow nonetheless. Deb is a studio potter from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, who works in stoneware and porcelain. Her Etsy shop dbabcock is filled with cool, one-of-a-kind pieces that are whimsical and practical at the same time. See her Salt n Peppa Pot here.

This piece is called Happiness is… a bowl of soup, and I couldn’t agree more.

And lastly, the lovely Sunshine Bowl.

These pieces are all under $50, (of course) and Deb says they are very durable and may be safely used in the dishwasher, microwave and oven. Take a look at her other work as well, she makes beautiful pottery in other colors too!

ashleyg is a talented young artist from St. Louis, who has been featured on Etsy. This is a print of her illustration in ink that has been digitally colored. I think HELLO May is very sweet, and you can get the print for only $20. Now that is affordable art!

The Humphries is an original painting in acrylic and ink on 6″ x 8″ hard canvas panel, and is signed and dated. I am breaking my rule of keeping each item I mention under $50, but I think including an occasional splurge is ok. It is her original art and sells for $135.

I see that ashleyg has already sold over 3000 of her prints and art works. That is what is so exciting about having your own shop on Etsy or your own website if you are an artist…. anyone around the world can view and purchase your art! It is like one big art gallery. I love it! If you want to know more about ashleyg be sure to check out her blog.

Here are some more of her prints.
Growing Growing and Knitty Knitty and Subtle Sea.

I wanted to give a shout out to some wonderful photographers I found on the Flickr.
This sweet lemon is taken by zerjavca.

I used this image for my favicon. It is just a simple, clean lemon and is just perfect. zerjavca is from Slovenia and you can see her other photos here.

This bright and cheery flower photo just makes my day!

pasilaly kindly allowed me to use this in the header of my blog. She is another great photographer on Flickr. Look at more of her flowers and landscapes here.

a.rud.beth took this gorgeous photo of a lemon slice. Wow! I love it! Check out her other pictures of fruit here. They will keep you cool this summer.

This beautiful photo is taken by my friend Angela, known as Twinmama on Flickr.
She takes glorious photos of her twins and of landscapes. They are dreamy and moody and I think she is very talented. See for yourself here. You can also read more about Angela on her blog slolane.

Also, if you want to have fun, explore flickr by typing in any topic you are interested in, or clicking on one of their tags. You will see millions of gorgeous photos of amazing people, places and things!

What better way to celebrate summer than rubbing lemon sugar all over your body and smelling like a lemon drink!

Lemon Sugar Scrub, $14, SugarLips

The product description says, “The texture of this sugar scrub is unique as the granules are finer than in most and the oil doesn’t separate from the sugar. It is more of a paste, really.”

This Etsy shop, SugarLips, features body sugars, lotions, toners and decadent body butters. The products are created by a skin care specialist and sound good enough to eat. Try the Coffee Bean Sugar Scrub, the Brown Sugar and Fig Vegan Body Butter, or the Grapefruit Facial Tonic. SugarLips says these products are as safe, effective and as gentle as possible, and you can contact her for more information about the ingredients.

Fresh!

I didn’t want to go too long without talking about Joom. Joom Klangsin is graphic artist from Bangkok who lives in San Francisco and designs the most fabulous pillows, totes and paintings. Her shop is on Etsy and she has a lot of beautiful designs and they are very affordable. Check out her shop!

This sweet pillow is Cardinal on agapanthus for $28 in Joom’s etsy shop.