It was many months ago that I randomly discovered ibride. They were featured on several design blogs and I instantly fell in love with their line of ornate wall art trays. Since they were seemingly everywhere at the time, I didn’t bookmark any online stores. Of course the name ibride quickly slipped from my memory and I have spent the last few months keeping en eye peeled for those gorgeous baroque flourishes and collages of anthropomorphic animals. Quite a hybrid of style, eh? In fact, the name ibride is actually a play on words that is meant to represent “hybrid”. The company consists of 4 French relatives, Rachel, Benoit, and Carine, who I wish I could find more info about online. Their official website is in French and is Flash based so it doesn’t lend well to translating. Anybody know more about them?

Their stunning art trays come in 3 different themes; vintage ladies, animals in nature, and hybrid human/animals attired in exquisite vintage clothing. The imagery is simply amazing, but it’s the colors that really grab me: brooding, muted shades with splashes of vivid color. Everything they make is truly a hybrid of modern and classic. Better still, the laminated trays are made from a recycled wood core!

And lest I forget to mention their newer offerings: furniture shaped like the lower half of an animal. The Basset Stool and Dog Stool (both shown above) are available in black or red. Joe the Polar Bear book shelf measures nearly 4′ tall and is super limited edition.

All but 4 of the trays offered at Burke Decor include Free Shipping in the USA.

Father’s Day is just around the corner and buying brand new factory produced items is so 1900’s so be sure to give something special to your Dad. Now you could bust out your craft supplies and make a macaroni portrait of yourself made with love, OR support some professional crafters and buy from Etsy’s Father’s Day Showcase.

Supporting Etsy stores helps keep crafters crafting and spreads the knowledge that we don’t need to shop at big box stores for everything. There are many ways to browse an online store, but Etsy makes it even easier with their Gift Guide section that uses the community to pick gifts for special occasions or that special someone.

Don’t forget about eBay as well. They have a handcrafted category that is worth checking out as well. Below is the most popular item from the HandCrafted category.

This St. Patrick’s Day, why not keep it green without resorting to the green beer? Mallory at Miss Malaprop organized a 2 day “Go Green and Save” sale that includes 6 Etsy stores that “feature recycled materials predominantly in their work”. Awesome! The discounts will vary by store so check out the full list of participating artisans and get to browsing…

Sunday and Monday, March 16 & 17, 2008

Blik Surface Graphics provides awesome designs that we can easily affix to our walls, tables, mirrors, and other flat surfaces. Plus they are easily removable so it doesn’t ruin the surface it was once adhered to. They have many different designs to fit many decor styles, but I’m a big fan of bringing nature into our homes. My favorite nature inspired graphics is the 7.00 Wall Graphic which comes with seperate branches, branch nodes, leaves, and birds so you can arrange it all however you like. I really appreciate the modular setup Blik has with their wall stickers so the customer has more creative freedom with their decor. Buy some for your own place, or send them as a gift, either way they will surely bring a smile to those who get to enjoy them daily.

Other nature inspired wall stickers by Blik:

Flying Birds

Undersea Theme

Retro Googie Nature

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