Ice Figurines In Germany

Berlin, Germany: 1,000 ice sculptures melted under the Berlin sun as symbols of the effects of climate change, drawing attention to a new WWF report on risks of Arctic warming.

The ice sculptures, handcrafted by Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo, were set up in a public area by WWF Germany to show the direct effect of climate change in the Arctic on the whole planet and the future of humanity and nature.

The sculptures began melting in 30 minutes.

Bruce Lee - High Speed Painting

Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Boulders To Lounge On

I just love these fun fun boulder pillows for indoor and outdoor use.

These beautiful gray forms are inspired by the weather-worn rocks found in rivers and tides. Ranging in size from a throw pillow to a couch, Livingstones are not only eco-inspired but also crafted from wool and polysilicone fiber. The whimsical pillowcushions were created by French designer Stephanie Marin and made their US debut at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York.

Eco Friendly & Romantic Interiors

South African designer Laurie Owen creates amazingly peaceful spaces. Her interior designs for African homes and hotels are inspiring for both aesthetic and environmental reasons — she uses natural materials from the local area of a project as often as possible. This means tree stumps and boulders are used as tables, and branches are beautifully arranged to form custom headboards. These stunning, neutral-colored interiors have us dreaming of a trip to Africa...

To An Eco Friendly New Year

Organic Interior products are fast becoming popular now a days. I like that because natural materials sits high on my list whenever I design. Here's a cool clip.

http://www.organicinteriordesign.com/index.php

Recipe for a Happy New Year

Thought For The Day

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate.
Cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past-have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time.

Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts.
Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time.

Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing- don't do it), prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution.

Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of silly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. - Psalm 90:14

Liu Bolin - The Invisible Man

This man paints himself to blend into the background.... amazing!

Sand Art

Let Faith Blossom

I knew a couple who spent days working hard to pay the rent on their small apartment and buy food, while pursuing new opportunities to better themselves. Despite their circumstances, to dream and expand their vision, they dressed up and went to a posh hotel, where they simply sat in the elegant hotel lobby. They looked beyond where they were to where they wanted to be and let faith blossom in their hearts.

Perhaps you, too, need to change your environment . Quit sitting around worrying and feeling sorry for yourself. Instead go find somewhere you can dream. Find someplace your faith will be elevated.

Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear. – Psalm 10:17

Thoughts To Ponder

Thoughts to ponder. Funny stuff I found online...

When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?

If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?

What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

What do they call a coffee break at the Lipton Tea Company?

Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice?"

Do they sterilize the needles for lethal injections?

What hair color do they put on the driver's license of a bald man?

Why is the word abbreviation so long?

And whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

Is there another word for synonym?

If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?

Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?

How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?

Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

How is it possible to have a civil war?

If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to drown too?

what happened to the people who were tested w preparation A - G?

So what's the speed of dark?

Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?

Since light travels faster than sound, isn't that why some people appear bright until you hear them speak?

How come when you buy a jar of preservatives, on the label it says, "No Preservatives?"

Why are there 5 syllables in the word "monosyllabic?"

How come Superman could stop bullets with his chest, but always ducked when someone threw a gun at him?

Why does lemon juice contain mostly artificial ingredients but dishwashing liquid contains real lemons?

Why do we wait until a pig is dead to "cure" it?

Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Is boneless chicken considered to be an invertebrate?

Why is there an expiration date on my sour cream container?

How do you know when its time to tune your bagpipes?

Why do they call it a TV set when you only get one?

Never agree to plastic surgery if the doctor's office is full of portraits by Picasso.

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the OTHERS here for?

STRESSED spelled backwards is DESSERTS.

As I said before, I never repeat myself!

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?

How come your nose runs and your feet smell.

Why is it that a slim chance and a fat chance can mean the same thing, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?

If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

If practice makes perfect, and nobody's perfect, why practice?

Why is there always one in every crowd?

Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?

If a deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

Why do birds not fall out of trees when they sleep?

Why does Bugs bunny walk around the cartoon naked, but puts a bathing suit on when he goes swimming?

When pigs fart, does it smell like bacon?

If money does not grow on trees, why do banks have branches?

If you cut off a glowworm's tail would it be delighted?

If you were under house arrest and you lived in a mobile home, wouldn’t you be able to go anywhere you want?

If our body temperature is normally 98.6 degrees, how come when it's 98 degrees outside, no one is comfortable?

Why are the numbers on a calculator and a phone reversed?

When you see the weather report and it says "partly cloudy" and then the next day it says "partly sunny"; what’s the difference?

How do you know which armrest is yours in the movie theaters?

If you say something is indescribable, isn't that describing it?

Do Dutch people always split the bill?

If you died with braces on would they take them off?

Why do you go “back and forth” to town if you really must go forth before you go back?

Why is it when some products you have to turn it upside down to read the directions, and the directions say do not turn upside down?

Why do all superheroes wear spandex?

Why do bankruptcy lawyers expect to be paid?

What has four legs and an arm? A happy pit bull.

Wouldn't you think big cities would have an emergency phone number 119 just in case someone with dyslexia has an emergency?

Journey

For the Christian, what looks like a detour may actually be a new road to blessing.

The journeys that we take in life,
Though unexpected they may be,
If we commit to follow Christ,
His work through us the world will see. —Sper

I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. —Philippians 1:12

Over A Bowl Of Coffee?

Let me just share this story over a bowl of coffee and laugh about it all over again. About 8 years or so ago, my husband and I had this habit of having either double espresso or 16 oz of cappuccino throughout the day. One afternoon we were at this fancy Cafe and ordered our 16 oz of cappuccinos. After a few minutes the waiter brings us our coffee. Our cappuccinos were served in 2 oriental bowls. Our faces had this "what the...??? are you kidding me?" look. The waiter tells us that it's how they serve cappuccino in Italy. Really? In a China bowl? C'mon!!! So we asked them if they can put it in their regular 16 oz cappuccino cups that we used to have and they said they didn't have those cups anymore.

So we were sitting there staring at our Chinese bowls and actually giggling about the whole silliness. We didn't actually buy the idea. We were even looking around thinking that we might be in some Candid Camera show. We tried to sip once but it felt really ridiculous. We thought that the waiters might be laughing at us every time we take a sip because they're just pulling a prank on us. So we called our waiter again and asked if he could place them in regular mugs because we're NOT drinking our cappuccinos from a Chinese bowl.

Our waiter did take our bowls to replace them. And now for the hilarity part 2, he comes back with 4 regular mugs since they didn't have the 16 oz mugs anymore. Now we had 2 mugs each in front of us. It was so weird but hilarious. 2 people having coffee with 2 mugs each. Hilarity part 3 we had to gulp down one of our mugs to get rid of them and have just one mug each in front of us to enjoy and at least appear normal.

Here's the thing. I recently read an article in Elle Decor how this so called coffee European style (serving coffee in a bowl) was popularized in Amsterdam about a decade ago. A method you wouldn't really see on the other side of the Atlantic. The editor said that now he's hooked and even bought a few bowls, as in the picture to serve to his guests when having coffee at his house.

Ahhh, see now I'm educated. I can now confidently sip my hot cup of coffee with confidence when served in a bowl. But using the Chinese bowl? Ummm, nothing bout that says European. We still go to have coffee at that fancy Cafe to this day but I don't see those Chinese bowls anymore. Well I guess their attempt to do coffee European style didn't really work out. I'd say give it another decade or so.

Loving This Young Jazz Artist

Esperanza Spalding is an American jazz bassist and singer. Spalding had intended to play cello but discovered the bass during a one year stint at age 14 at the prestigious performing arts high school, The Northwest Academy, to which she had won a scholarship. Spalding left high school at 16 and after completing her GED enrolled on a music scholarship in the music program at Portland State University, where she remembers being "the youngest bass player in the program."

Although she lacked the training of her fellow students, she feels that her teachers nevertheless recognized her talent and she decided to instead apply to Berklee College of Music on the encouragement of her bass teacher and did well enough in her audition to receive a full scholarship.

Almost immediately after graduation from college at age 20, in 2005, Spalding was hired by Berklee College of Music, becoming one of the youngest professors in the institution's history.

In this video, she performs the Stevie Wonder hit "Overjoyed" at the White House before a live audience that included President Obama and wife Michelle.

Watch and be inspired by this young artist.... I love her!

Stinky Feet Cover Up

Omigarsh!!! Isn't this the cutest thing. And when you have stinky feet you can just say "Hey, I'm wearin fish scented flip flops!".... This is really cute. I know it's weird and I don't know if it's photoshopped or it's a real design but I'm kinda diggin the novelty idea.

Good Morning Nemo

Won't have a hard time finding Nemo here, since he's the first one you'll see in the morning.
This is the Moody Aquarium Sink manufactured by Open Kristallux in Italy.




Moody was created to define the mood in your bathroom. You can choose Moody to be an aquarium with gold fish or a terrarium with rocks and plants or a Zen garden with sand or a simple pebble river bed.


Moody is not just a washbasin with a built-in aquarium but a creative concept that will transform your bathroom to whatever you would like it to be. The sink glass top can be lifted easily to maintain the aquarium or re-arrange your Zen design. There are openings on both sides of the sink covered by the soap holders that provide access for fish feeding.


Lighting, water circulation, oxygenation and filtration is maintained by a power circuit. The chrome finish brass stand and convenient front towel rail are supplied. Just buy the fish.... In the US it's distributed by Italbrass. Priced from $4495.

Ordinary Miracle

Just finding sunshine on my rainy Monday...

It's not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today


The sky knows when it's time to snow
Don't need to teach a seed to grow
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift, they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up, and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn't it remarkable?
Like everytime a raindrop falls
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today

The birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don't throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
'Cause we are all a part

Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle

Do you want to see a miracle

It seems so exceptional
That things work out after all
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today

The sun comes out and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It's just another
Ordinary miracle today

It's just another
Ordinary miracle today

(A song from the movie "Charlotte's Web")

New Yorker Cover Art Created on an iPhone

Business Week - May 28, 2009

To the list of cool things you can do with an IPhone, you can now add “illustrate the cover of a magazine.”

The artist Jorge Colombo used the iPhone app Brushes to create the illustration that graces the cover of this week’s New Yorker. Colombo will continue to offer drawings made on his iPhone that will be featured on the magazine’s Web site.

Check out the video it's so cool. I never really wanted an Iphone before because it's so big and ugly, but now I want one just because of this application and the possibilities of creating a fun art.

Traditional Japanese Inspired Kitchen

A simple traditional Japanese kitchen is not that simple to accomplish. Attention to detail is very important. Simple is how I always like things to be.

Sliding panels are very traditional Japanese.

Making use of natural materials.

A traditional Japanese woodwork technique called Butterfly Joint.

Over A Cup Of Tea

Wanna know a secret to a healthy day?
Get ready and experience tea with God.

Communications experts tell us that the average person speaks enough to fill 20 single-spaced, typewritten pages every day. This means our mouths crank out enough words to fill 2 books of 300 pages each month, 24 books each year, and 1,200 books in 50 years of speaking. Thanks to phones, voicemail, and face-to-face conversations, words comprise a large part of our lives. So the kinds of words we use are important.

The psalmist's mouth was filled with praise when he wrote Psalm 126. The Lord had done great things for him and his people. Even the nations around them noticed. Remembering God's blessings, he said, "Our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing" (v.2).

What words would you have used in verse 3 had you been writing this psalm? "The Lord has done great things for me and I..." Can you finish it by saying, "And I am praising and thanking Him for His goodness"? As you recall God's blessings today, express your words of praise to Him... as you enjoy your cup of tea.

"I will rejoice
I’m gonna lift my voice
And worship you.
And glorify your name
Among the nations
I will rejoice
In everything I will give thanks
To you, for you have been
My help and my salvation..."
-Don Moen

I Like It Rustic

Last December someone gave me this tea pot set as a gift. One day I thought of driving down to the garden supply store to find some stone or perhaps an old wood that I can use as a tray for my tea set. I found this, cleaned it well with soap and brush, and then applied clear varnish. I also put little rubbers underneath.

I found this cheeseboard online and I love the idea that you can write on it with a chalk. Saves your guests the trouble of asking what cheeses are on the board. And again I like it because it's rustic. It's an ordinary slate that you can pick up from your local stone supplier. This particular cheeseboard sells for $60 at Viva Terra.

Here's another cute idea of a cheeseboard.
This one's made of marble.

Island Elegance

This is eye candy to me. A table setting idea that's simple, fun and elegantly casual.