It's Only A Paper Moon

We had fifteen people over for dinner in our little one bedroom home this weekend, and that's not our record so I need to figure out how to make this flexiblelove sofa- they don't sell it in the US yet (not that I'd probably buy it anyway, kind of spendy).

I've been discovering lots of cool cardboard items lately - furniture, playhouses, - even bridges! It all started when I began researching fun bassinet designs for spyglass and found this cardboard one. (My kids know all about cardboard furniture - for a long time their beds were cardboard boxes; I wish I'd been clever enough to brainwash them into believing we weren't poor, just hip and green!)

I took some large cardboard pieces from Ikea's recycling (recycling the recycling) and am going to try to make the cradle just to see if I can, and to experiment with their strength. I think if I paint it it will be sturdier. I'm not convinced about the durability of cardboard. I had this lovely cardboard file organizer, but the seams became worn from paper sliding in and out and they eventually tore.That doesn't bode well for, say, a cardboard house!

Colossal Cubby:

Etsy Stove:

Nothing Office

S. Ban Bridge:

Flatpack Closet:

Extension Chair:

Guest Room:

Record Player:

Light: Zakkacandy Stove: Villa Julia: Inhabitots Sharks: Nume Bathroom: Guest Bed:Here's some more finds - believe it or not, I haven't even made a dent (haha) in the subject. If you're interested in more ideas, WebUrbanist has an article entitled 7 Creative Approaches to Building Big with Paper: Adaptive (Re)Uses of an Everyday Material that I really enjoyed, and google searching will keep you busy for a week!
 

Amoeba Coffee Table:Mark Langan Art:

Cardboard Bathroom via

Cardboard Guest bed via

Cardboard Sharks via

Cardboard Villa Julia via

Cardboard Document Box Stove via 
Cardboard Colossal Cubby House (with instructions!)via

Cardboard Stove Pattern (invented by a mother!) $12 via

Cardboard Office via

Cardboard Bridge via

Cardboard closet via

Cardboard Extension Chair via

Cardboard Guest Room via

Cardboard Record Player via 

Cardboard Light via 

Cardboard Art via 

Cardboard Amoeba Coffee Table via

 

Hidden Depths

For those who hadn't noticed, my titles are links.

A good book has no ending. ~R.D. Cumming

I think this book shelf would make a wonderful window seat.

Purse Snatcher

I love these purses made by mandinka on Etsy.  I'm a sucker for menswear and these are made out of old suits - even using the old buttons, lapels, and labels!  Truthfully, I'm so cheap I usually window shop then find a way to make my own version, but these look  way beyond my skill set so I'm going to have to start saving my pennies!

Just the facts, m'am

On a CSI episode, one of the lab rats was telling Grissom that his high school science teacher had taught his students that if you unwound the large intestine, it would stretch all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge. Now that he was a CSI, he knew better - 25 feet, and that's with both small and large (still some darn good packing, though).

Anyway, not trying to gross everyone out, it just got me thinking of "facts" that aren't facts at all. There's a couple that I feel passionate about, so here's the REAL facts, since knowing is half the battle...

1. Wooden cutting boards are far more sanitary than plastic (and not an eyesore) Read the article; enough said.
2. Alcohol does not easily "burn off" of food.In a study done by Cunningham, Eleese; Wendy Marcason,. "Does the alcohol used in cooking burn off completely? Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2002, it was found that it actually takes a great deal of time to cook off, and the smaller the pan the longer it takes.  The flambé technique leaves a whopping 75% of the alcohol behind!  These study results were the basis for alcohol retention factors used in the publication, USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors (see table below)

I See The Light

The Spanish Lady's recent artistic resourcefulness sent me on a journey of light bulb research.  As always, one peek down the internet freeway leads to a view down a road which leads to a glimpse of a back alley and before long I've learned far more than I intended (because I've been conserving my grey matter for the really important stuff).

I wanted to find out if cardboard near a light bulb (near, not touching) was a fire hazard and I found out it is not.  But on my little road trip I discovered the longest burning light bulb - burning for 109 years! (I must've missed it before because I was too busy admiring the giant wooden head I want for my backyard.)

I also discovered one of many articles on problems with CFL's (or twirly-ice-cream-light bulbs, as they are known in our family) that I didn't know about.  After reading the post on CFLs I felt the same way I did when I was twelve and overheard my parent's joking about "ending it all" by throwing a toaster in the bath.  "What are you talking about?" I ask, and discover for the first time that electricity and water are a lethal combination. (!!) My blood ran cold as I realised how many times I had soaked in a bath tub with the radio perched on the edge for my listening pleasure.  Ohmigosh, I thought!! - I'm still pretty new on this planet- would've been nice if someone mentioned this little fact a bit sooner!! (trying to kill me?!)

Lightbulb art via

Nobody Goes There Anymore. It's Too Crowded.~Yogi Berra

There are a lot of people in the world. Wherever I go, physically or virtually, I feel awash in a sea of people.  They're all real living people with pasts and futures.  They're swimming in the same ocean of time as me even if our paths never cross again. I hear snatches of their conversations and it's the tip of the iceberg of their reality.  According to the census bureau there's 6,814,200,000 people in the world (if you count the commas that's billions). The Population Density Globe is all prickly. 

When I venture out into the blogosphere I feel small. Speck-ish.  Quite intimidated, actually.

 There is  So. Much. Talent. out there.
I spend an hour surfing the web and come back with eyefuls. Mind full.

Where do people find these vast stores of imagination? How do they find the time and energy to pour themselves into art? I'm gobsmacked at the sheer amazingness out there! People are inventing away, building beautiful work-of-art web sites; stringing nouns and verbs and punctuation marks together all by themselves like there's no tomorrow; generating beauty out of the humblest of items. I don't remember people being this clever in school. Quite honestly, I was always the brilliant one. I'm a little taken aback to find the masses waving as they pass.

Here's a sampling of what an hour's worth of perusing garnered, and the thing is, if I go on the net tomorrow "just looking" I'll find a whole other lot of treasures.  I'm just skimming the surface - all the blogs I stopped to visit had their own lists of places to see, who had their lists of people to see, who had....ad infinitum.   You know, it actually took me longer to collect and catalogue these sites than to find them.

1. (a-b). Extraordinary book art "Words Create Worlds" by Kaspan for Anagram Books

2. (a-d)The incredible reverse Trompe d'oeil painting of Alexa Meade These are not paintings pretending to be people; it's the opposite.

3. (a-d) Intricate cuttings of Peter Callesen I particularly like the fact that  "Transparent God" is composed of human cut outs.  (see detail)

4.  Lovely resin jewellry by Liz Hutnick  ( so beautiful, so affordable!)

5."The Figure Skater"  Newspaper Blackout Poetry (exactly like it sounds) by Austin Kleon

6. Can't get any greener than Anastassia Elias's delicate toilet paper art

It's Not Easy Being Green

A few weeks ago I was reading nienie's post about cupcakes and without even thinking my mind flashed "You just eat cupcakes whenever you want, you lucky dog!"  Considering her circumstances, I can imagine her getting a good laugh at being called a "lucky dog", but that's what I felt at that moment - pure envy.

I have no great point to make.  It just made me laugh.  And finding a deadly sin ridiculous seems healthy.

Image via

Eggstravaganza!

I love the simplicity of these urban alphabet mugs.  Too bad so many names in our family start with the same letter!  Oh why didn't I name my children Viceroy, Xavier, Ulysses, and Zuzu?!   People need to start making alphabet mugs with more than one picture option..... like "A" with an ant, "A" with an apple, "A" with an anvil... that way we can all have our own hot chocolate mugs and not get them all mixed up with each other.

These delicate hand carved eggs take my breath away.I so want to reach out and push a piece out of the puzzle egg.

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The eggs on the left look victorian but the ones on the right are an actual victorian-era wild egg collection.  Totally Master and Commander.

I knew the White House had an Easter egg hunt every year  (which I think is an absolutely happy tradition which makes me proud to live in this country, for real) but I had no idea they made special souvenir eggs. I don't know why I didn't, it seems obvious now. I wish somebody had a gallery of every one ever made.  It was actually hard to find these ones - I got them off of Ebay!  Lots of them are signed by presidents on the back.  I'm not a collector, (except of movie tickets and beach glass), but if I were this would be a cool thing to show grandbabies.


















Look at the following closely. How do people even think ofstuff like this?!

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Notice the elaborate Ukrainian eggs (pysanky).  My grandma made beautiful ones and had them hanging in her kitchen window at Easter.  I have lovely memories of watching the light shining through the thin hand blown shells while she deftly cooked breakfast while murmuring the rosary, pouring orange juice in small white bumpy glasses and handing out translucent cod liver oil pills.  Life at grandma's was exotic.  I made pysanky once, but now the only Easter eggs I create are in my post titles.