Two Wishes

Because Cute Animals Never Get Old....

Let's face it: a blog is ultimately about forcing the world to view whatever you want the world to view....  And today?  It's pictures of my pets.  Because in my book, cute pictures of baby animals never go out of style....

My boy Milo.  He has been lonely since my other cat passed away this spring, so sometimes he is allowed cheer-up visits from his girlfriend, Ed's kitten Ratlet.  They carry on a torrid love affair involving much snuggling and face cleaning.  He sings her long, heartfelt love ballads about her golden eyes.

Our 6-month-old Sheltie pup, Zoe.  The vet's receptionist refused to give her back after her recent spay  because she's "a dude magnet, a chick magnet ... an everything magnet!" She has 3 stalkers that we know of.  Ed believes this would be the best-subscribed blog on the Internet if I did nothing but post daily photos of Zoe.

Out of the Closet

Over the several years that we've been dating, Ed has slowly converted me to his cause of closet sci fi geek-dom....  Case in point: this past Friday, we went to a showing of Serenity that was being held as a fundraiser for Equality Now in honor of Joss Whedon's birthday.  (Joss W. created the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly as well as the movie Serenity.)  I hate re-watching most movies, but this was my 3rd time seeing Serenity in a theater, and I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

More importantly, though, before the movie they showed a speech that Joss Whedon gave at a 2006 Equality Now event addressing the question "Why do you write such strong female characters?"  It was such a fantastic speech that I simply had to share.

His speech begins at around 2:30, after an intro by Meryl Streep.  Clicking the link takes you to the video on YouTube:

Sometimes I find it particularly inspiring to hear sentiments like this coming from a man....  'Abdu'l-Baha, one of the Central Figures of the Baha'i Faith, said "When men own the equality of women there will be no need for them to struggle for their rights!" 

He said it in 1911.  96 years ago.

DIY Fun: Magazine Bowls

Secret confession time: I subscribe to over 20 magazines.  (It was extremely dangerous for me to learn that you can get ultra-cheap subscriptions to popular mags through Ebay.)  When I'm done with them, most go to a second reader that I found through Freecycle and then hopefully go on to recycling.  But with that many magazines passing through my hands each month, I'm always interested in creative uses for the magazines themselves.

Enter magazine bowls!  I'm far from the first person to have discovered these bowls.  I learned to make them through a tutorial over on Craftster.  But even that tutorial was inspired by products that have been sold in stores for a long time.  Generally, artists in developing nations use traditional bamboo-weaving techniques with recycled newspapers to create bowls like the spare black-and-white newspaper beauties from Hip & Zen or this more colorful "Confetti" version from The Friends of the Seattle Public Library:

I'm also rather enamored with a confetti paper frame I recently came across in an online store called Zanisa:

A version of these items can be created from magazine pages at home.  It's a time-consuming process, but quite easy and relaxing to work on while you're watching TV.  There are four basic steps.

1.  First, gather lots of colorful magazine pages!  You'll be folding the pages into strips, so you're really only interested in the strip of color that will end up showing -- roughly two inches on the clean (as opposed to torn) edge of the page.  I tend to make my bowls along color lines (browns, reds, black-and-white, etc.), while other people believe the more colors, the better!

2.  Second, fold each page horizontally into roughly equal strips.  I usually fold the strips about 1 1/2" wide.  I use a glue stick to attach the outside edge of the strip so that the strip is compact and easier to work with later in the process.  (This is either a brilliant development on my part or an enormous waste of time and energy; I haven't been able to figure that one out.)  There's a lot of variation in this process between different crafters.  Some people roll diagonally, as I believe was described in the original Craftster tutorial linked above.  Others cut their strips to equal widths rather than folding.  I chose my process because I believe that folding horizontally is easiest, and I'm all about the easy.  Here's what a small stack of finished strips looks like:

3.  When you've got dozens of finished strips, start rolling them into a coil.  I usually glue-stick my first 4 or 5 strips for extra stability because you want them to stay in a tight, smooth roll.  (But, again, maybe I just need to justify my purchase of that 12-pack of glue sticks!)  After that, you'll start in with the Scotch tape.  Use a piece of clear tape to attach each strip to the next in one long "snake."  Note that, once you have your base started, I find it's often easiest to make a long snake of 10-12 strips in your lap and then add them to the coil all at once, rather than adding each strip to the coil as you go.  It's easier to work in a strip than on a round surface.  Meanwhile I keep a rubber band around the coil to ensure it's tightly rolled even when I'm not working with it.  Your coil will end up looking like a big coaster or trivet:

 

4.  To make your big coil into a 3-dimensional bowl or pot, place your thumbs into the center of the coil, and pull upward on the sides with your fingers.  The sides will "telescope" upwards until you wind up with a pot shape.  This part is fun!  You can keep sliding the slats around until you find what works best for you.  I often require quite a bit of arranging and rearranging until I find a shape that's not lopsided but not too boringly perfect....  Sometimes it helps to use an existing pot or bowl as a guide.  This particular magazine bowl is intended as a new home for a fake plant with a broken pot, so I popped the plant inside to be sure it would fit -- not something you want to find out afterward!

Once you find the shape you like, pull out your trusty ModPodge and give the pot a few coats to keep it intact and give it strength.  And you're done!   Here's my new pot, still held together with its rubber band, waiting for ModPodge.  It's being kept company by a couple of completed pots destined as a gift for a friend.  The pots make great gifts because they're natural containers for chocolate or cookies or beauty products, baby gifts, or whatnot....

My favorite part of magazine bowls is always the view from the top:

Waist Gomu Skirts

I've been on YesAsia.com looking at Japanese craft books again this afternoon.  Which seems a good occasion for posting another from my collection.  Even though I own this, my eye is still drawn to it every time I see it on one of the craft book sites.  The cover is just so moody and dramatic:

"Waist GOMU Skirts", by Watabe Sato, ISBN 4-309-28077-3. 

What is a "waist GOMU skirt"?  I have no idea.  Google's translation of the title from Japanese -- "The West Rubber it is Visible Clearly and the Skirt Adheres with the Straight Stitch" -- doesn't do a whole lot to clear it up....  But they're awfully pretty!

If I ever get around to making something, perhaps I'll start with the leather patchwork skirt.  I've got a ton of pretty ultrasuede fabric sitting around.

P.S.  I really DO have cute little zakka books as well!  For some reason, I've just been in the mood to post all the moody fashionable ones of late....  We'll get to them all one of these days!

My Obsession: Sunburst / Starburst Mirrors

For many years, I have been obsessed with huge vintage sunburst / starburst mirrors.  (Although they are a staple of high-end decor, on a quick Internet search I could find only this one photo, on the Metropolitan Home website:)

Unfortunately for my obsession, the real deal isn't cheap.  We once saw one at C-Mart, Washington/Baltimore's fabulous discount warehouse for high-end furniture and fashions at a discount, but even at something like 70% off, it was still nearly $1,000 and waaaaaaay out of my range.

Thus began the long search for replacements within my meager range.  Because I purchase nearly everything on Ebay, I created a saved search on Ebay that emailed me every sunburst or starburst mirror listed at under $50.00 within the United States.  There were many because the look is having a comeback these days.  You can even find modern versions at popular stores like West Elm, CB2, and Fortunoff.  Still, a lot of them just looked cheap.  And there are a lot of factors to consider, in terms of "arm" ratio, whether there are little mirrors on the arms and if so where and how many, silver versus gold, etc., etc., etc., and none of them quite pleased me the way the gorgeous ($$$$) traditional ones always do.  The $49 West Elm version interested me, but as I waited to decide, an interesting Ebay listing finally arrived in my email inbox:

The total price?  $10.94!  That was 99 cents for the actual mirrors, with $9.95 for shipping.  If you get too close, their lack of quality is extremely obvious, but there's no reason to get too close.  After all, they hang high above the kitchen garbage can.

These little mirrors have kept me happy and content for a very long time.  Well over a year.  And then it happened....  I received this month's copy of Marie Claire Idees.  It had a crazy-wonderful photo of a sunburst mirror made out of pink plastic spoons!:

For one or two insane moments, I actually considered making one of these.  It's ... Just. So. Cute!  (Plastic spoons ... who knew?)  And then I came to my senses and realized that, no matter how cute, there probably isn't a place in my home for decor made from plastic spoons.  Oh well.

And now I'm feeling the mirror jones ones again.  Though still trying to think of creative -- read, cheap! -- ways to satisfy it.  Recently, Holly Becker at my favorite home decor blog decor8 featured the work of an Etsy seller named AnneChovie who sells lovely paintings of rooms and images straight out of home decor magazines.  Her work is quite affordable and she takes commissions, so I actually considered asking her to paint me a big sunburst mirror!  (Here's some of her work:)

But then today, as I was searching around for images, I actually discovered a couple of almost-affordable versions of the real thing.  This shop has some in silver and gold that are just over a yard in diameter (a bit small in the traditional sense, though not exactly tiny) for $259 plus shipping:

And this shop has a slightly unusual, modern design for $299, with free shipping.  It's a glorious 50" in diameter: 

Overall, not loose-change kind of money, but hardly out of reach....  Let's just say I've added both to my Wists.  You never know!

Edited on 7/9 to say that I found another affordable sunburst mirror, courtesy of the August 2007 issue of Domino.  Called "Vega," it's 45" in diameter and surprisingly only $269 despite coming from Neiman Marcus.  Their Website says it's on backorder till early August, but here's hoping it will come back in stock.  It's a striking one!

Giving Back

I enter contests as if my life depended on it.  And in the past few months, I've been freakishly lucky in the winnings department!  First, there was this little stash of beauty booty:

Flirt! Flirtatious! perfume from Allure magazine; DDF (Doctor's Dermatologic Formula) Nourishing Buffing Beads body cleanser from Lucky magazine; and Good Skin blush and tinted lipglosses, from Lucky magazine.

The perfume has a lovely scent but unfortunately fits into the very large category of smells that trigger migraines for me, so it will have to be regifted or go into my ebay shop.  And I know blush is supposed to be a beauty wonder, but I can't figure out how to use it given my rosacea -- I'm always trying to make my cheeks look not red?  But the body scrub and lip glosses are both HUGE hits from brands I never would have discovered without the contests.  And there's an even larger prize -- also from the very aptly named Lucky! -- in the works in the next week or two.  Stay tuned.

But being the bleeding heart that I am, I would be uncomfortable accepting all this bounty without turning around and giving something back to someone else.  So I've spent the past week putting  packages together for soldiers in Iraq via AnySoldier.com.  Been sending mostly girlie items for female soldiers, figuring it's the least girlie place imaginable and sometimes, no matter who or where she is, a girl needs a little makeup and shampoo and a fashion magazine to lift her spirits.  Then there's the big load of items for the thrift store that needs to be dropped off, though realistically that's more about my cleaning and downsizing than anything else....  Finally, Cindy over at Skip to my Lou recently asked via WhipUp whether people could help with a project to make security blankets for Chinese orphans.  I've been dying to get at the sewing machine, so on Saturday I grabbed a few spare hours and some flannel, Minkee, and satin binding and put together a few of these:

I've always believed "giving back" is more about the giver's hopeful feelings and desire to be of service than it is about the recipient in any way.  Especially in cases like this, where it's done more or less anonymously rather than face to face....  And, interestingly, I just came across this study that found giving back does make givers feel good.  They ran people through an MRI, and discovered that donating money to a food bank activates some of the same pleasure centers of the brain that are activated by eating sweets or by sex.  So next time you're considering doing some good, be assured that it should leave you feeling great ... win-win for everybody!   

Another Favorite Japanese Craft Book

Still sick.  (You know that feeling you have if your ears don't pop after a plane lands?  I've had that for a week and a half and am losing my mind!)  So, here's another favorite craft book to make us all feel better.  It's called Journey, ISBN 4-579-10969-4:

The how-to's are for a fabulous selection of artistic tote bags, done largely in embroidery and applique.  As explained by a customer on Amazon Japan, thanks to the wonders of Google translation, "It was buying on impulse, but there is no regret.  It is one volume which very becomes cute feeling."  Indeed!

In between the actual bags are some beautiful bits of artistic inspiration:

My Holga has been missing for months (not all that shocking given the state of my bedroom these days).  If I don't dig it up soon, perhaps I'll have to sew up a new one????

My First Japanese Craft Book

Although I'm still too ill to actually make crafts (grr), I can at least return to writing about crafts...  By showing off the first of my Japanese craft book collection!  This one may well be my favorite.  It's called The Aprons Have Arrived in Paris (at least, that's a translation of the French on the cover), by Hiroko Le Tohic, ISBN 4-579-10972-4.   It's available at YesAsia.com  -- to find it (or any other specific title), go to Advanced Search and then search by ISBN number.

I love this book because everything is effortlessly chic in a way that melds both Japanese and French sensibilities:

Better still, most of the aprons seem fairly easy to sew, and I believe I could follow the diagrams without needing to understand the written directions.  Many of my Japanese books are mentally filed under "inspiration" because I don't think my still-basic skills can actually handle the projects, but this book's got a shot!

I'm hoping to try my first apron very soon.  Will keep you posted!

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Here's one of today's little Internet amusements.  If you go to My Heritage and upload a photo of yourself, their software will analyze your facial features and shoot out a list of "celebrity lookalikes" with similar features.  The software only works with full-frontal close-ups, so I had to go back a bit in the photo archives to find one that worked!  (Hence the short hair in the pic below....)

All my life (Ok, since college), people have been telling me I look like this-that-or-the-other actress, singer, model, or whatever.  I've probably gotten at least two dozen different comparisons by now.  And the funny thing is, none of them has been anyone on this list! 

I didn't know who Petra N. was, but trusty Google tells me she's the supermodel who famously survived the tsunami a few years back.  As "lookalikes" go, guess it could have been worse!  (Rosie O'Donnell and Bea Arthur, anyone?)

Still lost in Internetland....

I've been quite ill this week, and all I can seem to manage by way of daily activity is propping myself up in a desk chair in front of my trusty computer.  I have spent a lot of hours exploring the far reaches of the Internet, and wow, the Internet is huge!  (I mean, "duh", right?  But sometimes it takes a fresh brush with the vastness of it all to remind you of the mindboggling dimensions of what's out there.)  Every interesting blog or site that I find leads to dozens of others....

One case in point was yesterday's discovery of Delightful Blogs.  Another has been a new site called sk*rt.  There's already a site called Digg, one of the "user powered content" stars of Internet 2.0 in which users submit links to sites/stories/videos/etc. that they find interesting and other users rate those links to determine their popularity.  Sk*rt is, bluntly put (and according to its own Website), "the female version of Digg."  I have mixed feelings on the site -- the tips are mishmash of the inane, the mediocre, the see-my-site self-promotion, and the useful and interesting, and you have to weed through all of the former to get to the latter.  (Then again, you might call that a description of life itself...?!?) 

But I've passed through many interesting destinations in all these Internet travels, and I'm looking forward to sharing some of the fruits with you all.  Stay tuned!