Hello decor8 readers! My name is Michelle Caplan, and I am a Mixed Media Collage Portrait Artist based out of Los Angeles and I'm here to cover Etsy Take Five Tuesday for Holly today. I was lucky enough to meet Holly in 2005 when she purchased one of my pieces. We became fast friends and she introduced me to the blogging world, and encouraged me to start my own blog. It was during the very early days of decor8, and Holly helped to inspire me then to push myself to new limits, and she inspires me now with the eye-candy that is this amazing blog! My studio is in my home and I spend a great deal of time surfing the web and seeing photos of other artist creations, but rarely get to see them in person. In an attempt to interact more with the outside world I recently began working in the new brick and morter Henry Road gift boutique located in Studio City, CA.

The store is owned by my good friend Paula Smail, who is the brains behind the fabric line Henry Road. Paula has dedicated her shop to be a fabulous place to find one-of-a-kind vintage and antique items. She has also made a commitment to showcase and support independent crafters and artists. It is a perfect balance of new and old, and of manufactured and handmade. Holly shared a mini tour of this shop in May however since many of these artisans have their own Etsy shops, I thought it might be fun to share my top 5 favorite Etsy Shops whose work I have finally seen in person in Paula's shop, and am totally enamored with!

This adorable little gnome is the creation of the fine minds at Brooklyn Rehab. Every time I walk past him in the shop he just makes me smile! I can see him hanging out as a fun paperweight on a desk, or peeking out of a kitchen window sill herb garden. He is just too fun!

The deer head collage sculptures of Jennifer Khoshbin are fascinating in her photos, but you cant really appreciate the scale and impact until you hang one on your wall! She is definitely one of my most favored recent finds!

These anemone bowls from Element Clay Studio were so gorgeous in person, that the second we unpacked the shipment, I chose the one that would be coming home with me! It sits atop my dresser and is a great and unexpected receptacle of my jewelry at the end of every day.

We recently got in this fab pillow from the brand spanking new shop Sown! Each pillow is made from a vintage feed sack, and incorporates modern printed fabrics! This one actually has a Henry Road fabric on it! We are eagerly awaiting a new shipment!!

One of the coolest aspects of Henry Road is that every 3 months, there will be a new local artist featured on the walls! I have been a longtime admirer of Michelle Moodes work, and we have been lucky enough to have her as our late summer artist. Her smaller pieces are incredible, but large and in person, these pieces are so amazing! Each is like its own universe, reminiscent of the flower in Horton Hears a Who! I love love love Michelles' sense of balance, and how she has expressed herself through her arrangements. (I am excited to say that my own work will be featured in the October show!)

I hope you enjoyed this mini tour through some of my favorite Etsy shops. I hope that there are some finds here that you may not have seen before, and that you will be inspired to browse Etsy.

(photos and text by michelle caplan)