photo a day in August (Part 3)

Day 9

Day 12

Day 13


Day 14

Day 15

(for photo a day)

Super (dooper)

Ruban Rat is a designer toy store and gallery that have just moved from Newtown just a skip and a jump away to Stanmore in Sydney's Inner West. They have clothes and art too. Super dooper glad I found them because I was sad to think they'd disappeared.

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This is what the store looked like in Newtown. I can't wait to visit the new one and get all inspired up.

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I especially love it because it's the first place I saw the work of cat rabbit who is double super dooper. Really.

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TRIPLE super dooper is the Monster Invasion plushie exhibition they're having soon.
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I know I'm spruiking them heaps but, well, I am unashamedly because they're a plushie art gallery and local designers and I love!

quick! QUICK!

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During the year I have felt creeping around the corners a sense of urgency in my creativeness and working life that I have only now put a name to. I don't like it. A feeling that somehow you can only do great leaps of things when you're a certain age, that I better make up my mind because I'm getting older. Of course logically I know this is a load of rubbish, but it still niggles like a true irrational thought. I don't like to think that I must decide and stick to something. I'm more of a sporadic 'ooh look at that shiny thing follow it follow it.. ooh look over there that looks like fun follow it follow it follow it...' kind of girl (which is another thing, do you call yourself a woman or a girl? 'Woman' seems to imply more than I can fit on my shoulders sometimes). Like perhaps with age my enthusiasms and interest will escape me and if I haven't achieved something extraordinary then I may wake up and wonder what happened.

Seeing those damn teenage entrepreneurs in the paper doesn't help. Or the middle-aged people on the train that seem resigned to whatever their lot is, standing slumped and withdrawn. They scare me. They leapt over puddles once. Where does creativity and zeal go? Can you keep learning and exploring all of your long long life? Can I keep wandering around through life trying things and seeing how they go? Or is there some kind of maturity code that stipulates the time to 'settle down' and make up your mind? Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Will we ever know?

Have you ever felt this urgency? What did you do?

when can it be delivered?

The TV Tub is by industrial designer Karim Rashid. It's a one piece design, which includes a waterproof television. The TV is incorporated organically into the shape and design of the tub. The TV Tub is part of the Karim Rashid Collection for Saturn Bath Company of Korea. The oval tub is made out of liquid acrylic resin.
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Bubble bath with wine while watching a great movie? I'll take two.

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Via Unplgged

clones please

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Sometimes I wish there were more than one of me. One doesn't seem enough to do the things I want, to try every idea, follow every dream, pursue all the interesting things in the world, read all the good books, meet all the lovely people, go to all the amazing places. I'd like a few clones please. Or perhaps more hours in the day? The ability to survive without sleep? (although that is one of my favourite things).

Argh. I am exasperated today. It seems I find so many things so darn interesting that I pursue so much and never get anything done. I mean I know I must, but sometimes it-just-doesn't-feel-like-it. Can I live this life over twice?

Greatness

by eddie. damn straight.

Prairie Boots

Comfy and cozy Prairie Boots will get you through the coldest of winters. Turn them down for ankle length or leave them up to keep your shins warm. You don’t need to seam – just add funky buttons and they are ready to wear. Warning: it is so fun to watch them take shape on your needles that you may become addicted. But that’s okay, they make great gifts!

(make a pair for me, m-kay?) pattern at CocoKnits

fabulous

The awesome Laura at BrownEyedGirl has tagged me, yay! I do like being tagged, it often leads to thinking about and posting about something I wouldn't usually. It is about things that make you feel fabulous/sexy/beautiful, so here I go (the rules say you have to list 5 things and then tag five others to do the same.)

1. That feeling you get when your outfit all matches and you're pretty sure you look totally awesome, so you walk with a bounce in your step.

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2. Random compliments. From strangers, or friends.

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3. New tattoo (slightly dodgy pic)

4. New underwear. Matching ones.

(etsy)

5. Forehead kisses.
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So what makes you feel fabulous?

(p.s. has anyone noticed that I seem to have substituted 'awesome' for 'lovely' in the word-I-use-an-awful-lot?)

I tag:
Mim at Cornflakes for Tea
Jess at ALifeSoPeachy
Bek at RedChocolate
Kathy at ChunkyChooky
and Jenny at PaperLion

I am pretty awesome, actually

Sally at Georgie love has been posting this week about what makes her AWESOME (and she is pretty darn awesome) and about how and why it is so hard for many of us to admit to our own awesomeness.
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Here is some of her post.
It genuinely distresses me to think how much time and energy we ALL secretly invest into feeling bad about ourselves. All that time and energy we invest wanting to be thinner, smarter, beautiful, more creative, more like that other girl over there, I want to live in their house, but have her bank balance and that wardrobe. I don't want my daughter Ruby to grow up feeling like she needs to change herself in any way to be happy, the idea makes me both angry and sick. I don't want to pass on all my paranoia and fears and moments of self loathing. I have spent a LOT of time thinking about these sorts of things and subsequently removing all the people out of my life who don't make me feel good to be around.I am sick of media who attempt to make us feel unworthy so we spend and waste money to feel better about ourselves. Mean people who put others down so they feel better about themselves, but I don't blame them. I am 100% responsible for how I feel about myself and whether I fall for that bullshit. (note: edited to clarify that I don't read magazines apart from Frankie & cooking ones usually!)So today I will tell you that I am TOPS. I am very, very nice. And especially so are you. Every day for a week I am going to write something that I like about myself and I think you should too because I like you and we need to spend our time and mental energy on more positive and productive things, yes? We need to live and be happy in the here and now, rather thinking that we will be happy or more desirable if we were different in any way. We are perfect now. You know what IS IN. Confidence and happiness. I'll be having some of that please.


And so this week I have been thinking about what makes me pretty darn awesome just-the-way-I-am. I will post about it this week. Sally's right, it is hard to talk about self-awesomeness. But I will try.

I wonder...

If i... from Tim Brown on Vimeo.

(via the lovely SwissMiss)

little gooey balls of goodness

On the weekend I made gnocchi with my friend/housemate. It's very nice to post something a bit culinary for Recipe Monday, instead of takeout and red wine. They were little gooey balls of goodness. Really, they were.

Ruth's Gnocchi

Boil some potatoes until cooked. The trick is to keep out as much water as you can so you need less flour later on, so don't chop the potatoes into small pieces, and use waxy potatoes like those ones with the purple skin.

When they're cooked, whiz them up to a smooth mash paste. You can add an egg now if you like. We did.

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Then stir in flour until it's doughy. Just a bit sticky, but so you can pick up a blob.

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Now pick up a blob and roll it around to make a little ball of dough. Repeat until you've used up all your dough, or have enough little blobs for your dinner. I recommend watching Flight of The Concord's during this stage. Also good for chatting.

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Try to make them all the same size, not varying wildly like mine. Mine also had cracks and lumps, but I think that gave them character.

Drop into boiling water in small batches. They sink and then, in a few seconds, blop! they rise up and float. Scoop the floating ones out and into a colander.

Add sauce (this one is cream tomato, but I tried them on Sunday just with butter and herbs and that was yummy too), baby spinach leaves and Parmesan cheese.

Pour a glass of wine, make loud 'mmMMMMmmm' noises as you chomp them all up, and leave the flour-covered kitchen for later.

vintage sewing patterns

Over the past few days I have spent a ridiculous amount on vintage sewing patterns on ebay. I like to consider them an investment, for this shop which is yet to be but feels closer every day. I've been randomly stockpiling crafty stuff and supplier details, and have been writing business and financial plans and such. It may not be just a dream after all, and I'll tell you more about it when I have more to tell, I promise.
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Meanwhile, it's rice and beans for me for a few weeks- but aren't they lovely?
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(while writing this post I've surreptitiously bid on 3 more patterns. A 50's rockabilly dress at only 3 bucks? I need to STEP AWAY FROM EBAY)

“ What really knocks me out is a good book,

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that when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. ”

- J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

august photos (part 2)

Day 5

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Day 6

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Day 7

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Day 8

(For photo a day in August)

Heisuke Kitazawa

Subhuman album cover

Sleepy Tigers

Unicorn

you can see more of his artwork here and you can buy his artwork in limited edition prints, on buttons and bags and wallets and other lovely things here. I'm loving the 'a new morning' wallet and 'telescope' book/cd. Sigh.

welcome Samuel!

My amazing big sister gave birth early this morning to Samuel John, 7 lb 8 oz. Can't wait to see photos of his wrinkly little face, and better yet to see them all. My sister is amazing (did I say that already?) and she has such a beautiful family and gorgeous children that she handles with such love and patience that makes me smile and hope that one day I can be a mamma like her (and my brother-in-law is pretty darn awesome too!) She is the one who introduced me to the world of blogging and sharing my thoughts and creations with lovely people like you, and she writes with a candid grace and humour that I love. You can see her blog here and maybe pictures of the little one before too long!

In celebration (and because I was so excited) I preceded to imaginary shop for the cutest baby things for such a precious gorgeous wonderful little tyke.

1. Baby Gift Set 2. Jnr. Executive Onesie 3. Custom Birth Announcement

4. Apple of my Eye Infant Hat 5. Groovy Guitar Bib 6. Little Bunny Shoes

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Sending bucketfuls of love to my sister and brother-in-law, and neices and nephew and to everyone in the whole world really because it is just so darn exciting when little people join us!

made me laugh-out-loud

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Are you really naked under those gloves? For Pete's sake, put on some Handerpants!
These 95% cotton, 5% spandex, fingerless gloves have the look and feel of men's briefs. Slip them on underneath your gloves for extra warmth and protection from chafing! Wear them on their own as a vaguely inappropriate fashion statement! Hundreds of uses! Fits most adult hands.

You know it’s a good morning when

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- You have nice dreams about your friends and wake up smiling
- You have a delicious breakfast with berries in it
- Your stockings don’t have a ladder and you’re breaking your own stocking record
- The park you ride through is freshly mown and you smell cut grass and dew
- People smile and wave and one man whistles a tune
- At the lights a poster of Johnny Depp on the side of a bus smiles at you
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- You are so busy thinking of these things that you don’t pay attention in a lane way and almost get hit by a car.
But you didn’t.

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You didn’t.

all you knit is love

Taken yesterday by my friend Agnes somewhere in Europe, and sent all this way to make me smile.

edit: This is the all you knit is love shop in Barcelona, check out their awesome store manifest:
-Handknit socks keep your feet warmer.
-Shrimp are a finger food.
-Winding a ball of yarn can turn a bad day around.
-Ideas can come from your hands as well as your head.
-An error is just a new technique.
-We learned all the really important stuff in kindergarten.
-Passion is as necessary as eating and sleeping.
-The path is slow.
-Working with yarn is a pleasure, not an obligation.
-Knitting is a highly sensual activity.

visit the website or you can see the store blog here! Thanks Jennifer for letting me know it was your lovely store!

can you pass the salt and pepper please?

moustache salt and pepper shaker.

moustaches always make me giggle.
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Brains. Just because you have a craving for brains

doesn't mean you have to devour them plain.

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Keyboard Salt & Pepper

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Bones. Goes nicely with Brains.

well hello there Sue

I've got myself a new camera *drum roll here*, she is simple, but lovely. She needs a simple and lovely name. Like Sue. So I just wandered around the house taking random photos of knick knacks and cats. As you do.

I haven't read the instruction manual yet, I'm a fan of 'auto' settings, and this one does them well. To get me in the groove I'm going to join up with Jess from A Life So Peachy and do a Photo a Day in August (started by The Byron Life). I'm a little late, but consider this Day 4.

While I was roaming around blogs being inspired, I ran into Amelie and Atticus, so I'm going to join their photo challenge too!

And I'm still finishing off shots for this art project / exhibition co-op thingy (yes, that is the scientific term..)

When will they get around to inventing cameras for eyes? When I was a kid I would imagine that, and whenever I saw something beautiful or interesting I would blink hard and go 'CLICK!'

I've decided to not post a photo every day, but wait until the end of the week and post 'em all at once

bacon and banana sandwich

For Recipe Monday by Amityvilleboronia because

a) I went through a stage of craving bacon and banana, with onion.

and b) this is actually a recipe on yahoo food. A recipe. For a sandwich with two ingredients.

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Ingredients
4 slices of bread
2 bananas
1 packet of chopped bacon (no fat)
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Method
1. Toast bread under griller on one side only. Remove from grill.
2. Slice the 2 bananas lengthwise and place on untoasted side of bread.
3. Distribute bacon pieces evenly over bananas and firmly press down. Grill until done.

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Enjoy! Have you ever had weird cravings?

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by pleasebestill

aspirational

from BusinessGuysOnBusinessTrips

if it's not ok

by susana

the table that eats itself

"Atema Architecture’s ‘Auto-Cannibalistic Table’ is made out of egg cartons, flour paste, soil and seeds. When water is added, the seeds germinate and the table literally eats itself. I’m not sure whether this is a useful piece of recycled furniture or a plant in itself."

Awesome. I knew I was collecting egg cartons for something.

seen on DudeCraft