Beautiful, beautiful pieces. The top image is from DesignYourHome’s shop : Burcley Blue stripe, Handmade bed linen, Duvet cover. The Teak Salad Serving Set is from thewildplum’s shop and the Mod Spot Vase can be found over in shoshonasnow’s Etsy shop!

<rant>

I’m a huge fan of Etsy. Huge. I love the simplicity in setting up a shop, the community that keeps buyers and sellers engaged, and the assortment of vintage/handmade items just waiting to be found. I do, however, have an issue with the alchemy section. This is a section where you can request an item to be made…everything is custom!

If I search in the alchemy section for the word “design,” it brings up about four pages of results. Some of the requests include: round custom designed business cards, blog header/logo design/background design, postcard design for mailer, store design, etc. The shocking part is that 90% of all graphic design requests list $40.00 or less as an ideal price for such work.

If I want a custom leather purse on Etsy, I pay more. If I want a custom necklace, I pay more. If I want a custom painting, I pay more. Heck, if I want to customize my order at Applebees, I pay more. Why isn’t this expected when other Etsy shop owners (or small business owners) are looking to brand their business? Despite the ridiculousness of these requests, I’m even more embarrassed by the fact that each request has 5-40 bids placed by “designers.”

I don’t care if you’re a 32-year-old mom who likes playing in Photoshop, you shouldn’t create a logo for $10.00. Ever.

</rant>

Sometimes if you dedicate an hour…or two…to finding things on Etsy, you’ll actually find amazing things. Don’t get me wrong- there are so many talented shop owners but there are A LOT so I always have a difficult time finding what I’m looking for. Hopefully you’ll enjoy these finds, unless I buy them all. Just kidding. I can’t afford all of this.

From top to bottom [sarahseven’s Mustard Beau skirt and tea top, MariesVintage’s Vintage 70s OXBLOOD Leather Cowgirl Boots 5.5, leoniesaliba’s Handmade Leather Weekend Bag, kickinmulevintage’s Vintage 1970s Snakeskin Evan Picone Heels Sz. 6.5, jennyndesign’s Briefcase in Chestnut Brown Leather – Made to Order.

- Minimal design meets dish washing. I love this alternative to my current drying rack.

- I have a love for pretty wallpaper. Someday I’ll choose a pretty pattern like this.

- If this doesn’t inspire you, nothing will. Check out this completely renovated apartment.

- Go For It Design and custom type. Wonderful.

- Photos of this house caught my eye. They did a great job of utilizing wood throughout the home.

- I love birthdays. And these photos.

- I always go back and forth between having a tattoo as a piece of art or having one because it represents something very important. Either way, I love these tattoos.

- This video made me cry. Life is a beautiful thing.

All photography by Kelly Vanderploeg Photography. The rest of the wedding photos can be seen here on her blog.

You can visit her blog, connect on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter. Hire her. She’ll make you look beautiful.

- The aerial shot above was taken by David Zimmerman. I found it over at Black Eiffel. Love these.

- Max and Margaux’s wedding video is amazing! The video was created by Shark Pig.

- Need a placeholder while you’re building a website? I found this via SwissMiss.

- This art direction for Art Review caught my eye.

- Did you see this dumpster pool?! Amazing!

- I love this. Beautiful thinking.