Gathering Inspiration

Origamiforms-fantazmic!

Deployable/Transformable Structures from Daniel Piker on Vimeo.

So cool!

(via what alice found)

Swine Love

I'm feeling the need to support swines due to the outbreak of the latest bug. Last I read, Egypt announced it will slaughter 300,000 pigs to try and prevent/contain any risk or exposure.

Now I'm just saying, isn't this just another wake-up call for us, the people that drive this country/world economy (rotund bellies) for us to see what we are doing to our natural state of co-existence? We are really at that tipping point of catastrophic effects, and unfotunately, for those families that have lost relatives due to this outbreak, they are living in this fact. I am having an especially critical eye that ground zero is in Mexico, where a large pig farm is located. Why is it always a mega-economy like ours, taking advantage of a more vulnerable one (ala Mexico)?

(Photo courtesy of my friend Jon who posted it on his FaceBook page. Source: unkown)

leaves, leaves and more leaves

A little sneak peek at the leaves I've been blanket stitching felted circles on fabric leaves for Liam's preschool. Each child helped to pick out their own fabric leaf as well as arranging a selection of felted circles to create caterpillars which were temporarily held in place with fabric glue, until I could secure them in place with a blanket stitch effect.

The online auction will be May 15th, and I have about a week and a half to finish the quilt a week earlier so that it can be displayed and hopefully pull at some heart strings for a winner! Tiny beads have since been sewed on for eyes, with names being stitched in accordingly. Once that's completed, it's assembly time!

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Our Hell

Would I be so dark as to say this song says it all? But really, I feel like a ton of pressure has been lifted off my shoulders. Some major deadlines have been met with high praise (whew!), and the car situation isn't looking as bad as we thought (adjuster was VERY generous!). So, as I close this week, Emily's song Our Hell seems appropriate. It's a good thing, really—I'm able to coast into the weekend being able to breathe and relax a little.

...Now for that quilt project...will someone bring me 50 little gnomes to help!?

Grafica Fildalga

Completely and utterly precious and beautiful! This totally made my day!

(THANK YOU SWISSMISS!)

Chukuno Cube

Move aside Arm & Hammer, presenting.....charcoal! Being half Korean, growing up we used charcoal as an air freshener in the frig. This concept originated in Japan who has made it into an artform of displaying beautiful white charcoal called Binchō-tan or white charcoal (aka binchō-zumi) as a decor element but also for it's cleansing properties. Used in homes and in gardens. I still get my ready-to-go-box at the mega Koreana Plaza in Oakland that dutifully works for a few months (though the packaging is nothing to show-and-tell!) Chikuno Cubes are not only compact and ultra cool in design, but are MEGA practical! Chikuno Cube is an air freshener made from ultra fine powder of bamboo charcoal and clay minerals. Bamboo Charcoal has a high capacity of absorbing odors, but the secret to the superior absorption powder of the Cube is the micro-honeycomb structure that amplifies its surface area by hundred fold. The 2 inch cube has the surface area of 4 football fields and works ingeniously in refrigerators, closets and cars. Every month it says to place it in direct sunlight for 6 hours to release all that it has trapped. (Get it at Delight!)

Another tidbit that is a fabulous closet essential are closet de-humidifiers! These REALLY work. I get mine also at Koreana Plaza in Oakland, but you can get yours here! (good old Amazon!) It absorbs an ungodly amount of moisture that gets trapped in your closet, especially if you run a humidifier at night, have steam heat or live in an area that gets pretty steamy. Helps to preserve your clothes!

(via NotCot)

Hitting Reset: Emily Haines

Am feeling the need for a soft reset myself these days. Saturday night, around 10:30pm, we had an unfortunate event take place right in front of our abode. A drunk driver slammed right into our parked car on the street, along with our neighbor's truck and young trident maple. Amazingly, none of the perpetrators were hurt. When I heard that slam and metal-on-street drag impact, my heart just sank with full terror. I was scared to think that the impact was on our home— was Oliver on the sofa hurt? what must our front wall look like?.... the reel was rolling through my mind as I made a mad dash out to the front of our home. I was out back in my studio catching up on work, but heard everything as if I was right on the spot. The quietness of the evening amplified the noise. When I ran outside to see, that's when I saw the suspect vehicle, up on the curb, inches away from the trident maple (I guess they tried reversing out back) and their front right tire missing. First thought: good, they can't get away. Of course as I was walking towards the car, Oliver was already out on the street (good, he and the house are ok). The 3 individuals started to disband, making a "run" from their abandoned vehicle. A neighbor yelled "Hey, where do you think you are going?", only to be met by silence. Our car had been pushed up onto the sidewalk, its left side gouged and crumpled. The thought occurred to me immediately, had it not been for our car to take the bigger impact, our neighbor's house, not ours, would have had no front wall. One of the suspects came back trying to retrieve something, and was (thankfully) snagged by the police. This offered little solace in knowing that they all didn't get away. In the meantime, we are picking up the pieces with insurance claims, adjuster, and preparing for the hunch that our car is totaled (Having paid it off only 4 months ago, this result really bites)!

The long and short is—a car is just a thing; you can be doing nothing, and still be impacted by the actions of others; but above all, stop to see yourself in your own life and acknowledge those that you care about and let them know with words AND actions. Our little Liam was awoken by the LOUD noise and of course wanted us to get him out of bed to see the commotion. Not what we intended, but there was no way to shield him from everything going on. This event definitely RESET my perspective on my own hectic pace of late. I think I need another one though that is a soft RESET. I think I just have the perfect idea......

(*update: car was totaled. Now we have to look into the process of getting a new car, and unfortunately, have a car payment once again. The most frustrating part is, we can't get a replacement Clean Air Sticker for a new car, as the state of California stopped issuing them. This allowed Oliver to drive the commuter lane to work, saving time on his 1.5 hours each way commute. Without it now, he is in some serious drag time on the road. Excuse my candor but, THIS REALLY SUCKS!)

(via swissmiss)

Sakura Spring Branch

Trés chic - and unique! by sara westermark

Susan Boyle: a true example of living your dream at any age

Susan Boyle on Britains Got Talent 2009!! Incredible Voice!! @ Yahoo! Video

A good lesson: to not judge a book, or in this case, a person by it's cover! I so love that Susan Boyle walked right up on stage, glowing in the moment and just reeling them all in, only to get emotional at the end at her own magnitude of greatness!

Chicken or Egg: what came first?

Easter completely sneaked up on us this year. I have my friend Jenny LaMonte to thank for having hosted a gathering the prior Sunday where she showed some friends and I, the "art of decorating eggs" using a kit (shhhh!). So much fun - and dare I say....easy, while being creative? Mine came from Williams-Sonoma, where I decided to give in and buy the Ebelskiver Filled-Pancake Pan, something I've been eying for a while. Having never been a pancake fan, these were a big hit—delicious!! A VERY successful purchase indeed!

Aside from "blowing out the egg whites/yolks", the process was loads of fun. The glass beads were from a local store in town. We will definitely do again next year! Even our cat Reza seem to like the new decor.

Happy Easter!~