Stopmotion fantasy..

How cool is this.

Found via Cina. No link that I know of. :)

Justine Smith..

via Justine Smith

A boys day out..

To most of Australia, today was Australia Day, the Aussie equivalent of the US Fourth of July. To this Kiwi/American family, it's better known as The Boy's 12th birthday, an excellent excuse to pack a picnic, and head out to the Botanical Gardens.

For The Boy, it was quite a day. I mean, how often do you get to see the Navy do a demonstration of a Frogman extraction? (If you enlarge the pic, and peer closely, you can see the Froglegs dangling on it's way up. :p )




And then there was watching the pirate/replica tall ship sailing by..




Checking out the old prison out in the water...



Watching the F-18's and C130's put on an airshow..except, that didn't actually happen. After waiting forever, ONE jet roared past in one pass...and it wasn't even an F-18. And then ages later, ONE C130. As an air show, it was one huge disappointment. Luckily for us, we hadn't depended on them to carry the whole day. You can see the one jet below..peer closely at the circle. That was the best I could do since it came in and WENT so fast, and I didn't get no stinkin' second chance! :p



Peering across the water at the Navy destroyers..



Along with all the normal things like stuffing your face with super yummy cake..



Boiling in the sun with a game of cricket..




Getting rowdy in the water..




Messing with fire..




And then finishing it all off by sharing the freeway home with a million classic cars leaving a show. I didn't manage to get a pic of the Bugatti, from sometime around the 20's/30's, with two guys riding along in the rain, no top, goggles on, and CRAMMED in the teeny weeny seat, because a certain someone who shall remain nameless but who's name starts with *DH*, stepped on the gas and passed them before I could get my camera organized. Redeemed himself slightly when he held steady while I tried to snap this super cool one. :p


Happy birthday, baby. I'm glad you had a good one. :)

Rain..

It's raining outside...a cozy, warm thunderstorm. The kind with big, fat drops of water, and brilliant, extravagant flashes of light, and crashes of thunder that lift the hair on your head, and make you feel alive. The kind that makes you want to go outside and stand in it, and just be. Or maybe that's just me.

Credit: Wendy Bevan via Bliss

Dancing in the...station...

Anyone remember that cool vid of all the people freezing in place in Grand Central Station?? It was awesome. But I think this might even be cooler. :p



Found via Altering Thoughts, via The Land of Lost Luggage.

The true cost of safety..

$3,000.00

$5,469.50

$2,982.00

$10,940.00

$1,274.00

$438.00

$17,240.00

$8,950.00

$3,530.00

$2,976.00

Those prices listed are actual figures for how much each item will cost under the new act. Give or take a dollar or two, depending on how much the seller feels like trying to help the consumer and take a slight pay cut.

The fight is still on. We made it to #6 on the list to be presented to Obama on his inauguration, but it's not over yet. While there have been amendments to exempt second hand resale, and a very limited amount of natural materials, that still leaves every one of the items above as "toxic" contraband. Not to mention things like books...can you imagine if your local library or school had to recall and destroy their entire stock of books meant for under 12 year olds? As it stands, on February 10, that will have to happen. Give me a break. Meanwhile, yet another one of the wholesome, safe, European toy companies has pulled out of the US market. At the rate we are going, the only things left to buy for the children in our life will be a limited number of Made in China toys, because huge toy companies are going to be the only ones left who can afford to make anything anymore, and even THEY are going to be cutting down their selection to be able to afford to keep things running. Never mind that Chinese manufacturing is what got us into this mess in the first place.

The CPSA is urging Congress to clarify and amend the bill before it gets set in stone on the 10th. You can help push them by writing to your Senator urging them to get a freaking clue. Maybe use a little nicer language. :p Someone has GOT to wake up and use some commonsense!!!

For a more thorough look at what is happening, check out CPSIA-Central, and a really good article on Etsy.

Seriously, this has got to change. It's completely insane.



Credits:
1. NaughtyLittleMonkeys
2. Dannielle
3. KBellaBambino
4. Ozarknana
5. TheCrochetedBaby
6. BobbiKnits
7. Aebaby
8. PearlyGrey
9. Honeybee69
10. Frillerup

Madelaine..

Lookie what I found over on Decor8..Now these are what I call a self portrait!

She's 17, she has a blog, an Etsy, and a massive Flickr, which is totally worth clicking through to and checking out, cause artsy, surreal self portraits aren't the only amazing pics she takes.

Now excuse me while I go and reevaluate what I've been doing with myself for the last 30...mumble...years...


Credits: All pics from Madelaine's Etsy

Falling rain..

It's going to take a LOOONG time buying my friend's glass to be able to duplicate this myself. Esp at the rate *I* am going! :p


Credit: No idea. Lemme know if you do. But they sure look cool, don't they?? :p

In Australia, a Southerly means cool..

..all I know is THANK GOD. I am not sure how much more I could take! :P


Credit: Clockwork Designs

I like red, too...

Credits:
1. Adamle Photographique via Brown Button
2. Kaat Tilley
3. QG Designs
4. Patrick Demarchelier
5. Gari.baldi
6. Bellatrix Art
7. Unknown
8. Anthropologie
9. Not a clue..the name is watermarked on the image, but I can't figure it out.
10. No idea.
11. Not sure, via All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Light..

Went out to take down the laundry the other day...and looked up..

Snug as a bug..

Are these just not the cutest little dollies?? My SIL bought them from this girl for my dd's Christmas present (No, I don't think dd is ever going to grow out of the doll stage. :p) I thought they were totally clever and adorable. :p

Winter's Song..

It's not winter down here, but lately I have really been wishing it were.

Have you voted yet??

If this law passes, I won't even be able to legally give my kids outgrown clothes to my neighbor. That's not a joke. No garage sales, no thrift stores, no consignment stores..no jumble sales, no church fetes, no blessing the less fortunate. I can't make a homemade stuffie, like my Butter Thief, which you can NOT buy from ANY major manufacturer (believe me..if I could buy a Krsna doll from a major manufacturer, I would be ALL OVER IT), for my nieces. Cloth diapers will virtually disappear. Forget that cute flannel with teddy bears on it for your new baby. You know those cute little OOAK curly hair ribbon pins you see on all those boutique outfits? Gone. What to speak of the outfits themselves.

This all sounds like a sick joke; an over reaction by an excitable, panic-stricken mom somewhere. The first time I heard about it, I thought it had to be. But it's not. Friends have had answers from their congressmen, basically saying, yepp, it's true, yepp, it's staying, this is the only thing we can do to protect our kids. That is the laziest, most retarded answer I've ever heard. But still the truth.

And if you think it doesn't affect you, living overseas?? You wouldn't even be able to make a little outfit for your sister's kid living in America, without it being confiscated by customs. You will not be able to sell any product that might possibly be construed as possibly used by an under 12 yo on Etsy to anyone in the US. That, friends, is a LARGE market to lose out on.

It's in round two of votes to be presented to Obama on his inauguration. Please, please, please vote. Even if you think it doesn't have anything to do with you. Because it does. The ramifications of this, from peoples' livelihood gone so they have to go on public assistance at taxpayers expense, to the waste that will hit the landfills because nothing can be reused, to families that will not be able to dress their kids if they have to buy every single item brand new, to even YOU, when the manufacturers pass on the cost of testing EVERY SINGLE NEW ITEM at a cost of $1500 per item..ITEM IN A LINE, not just line. You think the recession is bad now?? Just wait til this brilliant law kicks in. THEN you will see some soup lines.


To vote, click on the little blue button in the box above, and then click on the little blue box with numbers of votes listed, near the top of the text. It will change to voted, when you do. I think they make you register, but it is super simple, so PLEASE PLEASE don't let it put you off!!

Sunday..

Headed to the beach. I think I'm going to actually swim. :p


Credit: Notebook Magazine

Life is wonderful..