fabulous llama is fabulous!

because everyone’s monday would be improved by…a fabulous llama!

the wonder of small things…

taking the first bite of a watermelon.  cracking an egg.  floating in the ocean on a sunny day…

“…these are brief, seemingly inconsequential moments that almost immediately slip from memory as they pass, neither life-altering or particularly remarkable, and yet taken together they become a sort of texture of our lives. filmmaker Vitùc recognized the importance of these small moments and collected several dozen of them in his new video short called the pleasure of…”

brightening monday gloom

seems everyone is on the pinterest bandwagon these days.  so i thought i would share some of my “makes me smile” collection…some winsome images that brighten my day.

{all image via pinterest}

the world according to toast…

this little animation by laura jane favela introduces you to “toast” – one of the most wickedly quirky and absurdly pertinent speakers!  i not-so-secretly agree with many of toast’s rantings…

how to build an owl

1. Decide you must.

2. Develop deep respect
for feather, bone, claw.

3. Place your trembling thumb
where the heart will be:
for one hundred hours watch
so you will know
where to put the first feather.

4. Stay awake forever.
When the bird takes shape
gently pry open its beak
and whisper into it: mouse.

5. Let it go.

{poem by kathleen lynch}

collection I : cornucopia

i have decided to begin a series of “collection” posts, themed around certain interests of mine, namely: food, illustration, design, packaging, the great outdoors, literature etc.  i have such caches of internet-scrounged images that inspire and motivate me on a daily basis, so i thought why not share them.  who knows: someone might be out there needing a little dose of visual stimulation?

i am starting off with most everyone’s favourite: food.  i recently became (and trust me i do cringe at how pretentious it sounds) a pescetarian – meaning i eat only fish and seafood as my source of “meat”, other than that it is vegetarian all the way.  so here is a collection of vegetarian/pescetarian recipes i have been hoarding…

vegetable fritter salad

sweet potato veggie burger

wintery vietnamese spring rolls

white bean burgers with sundried tomatoes and rosemary

lentil meatballs with lemon pesto

zucchini & ricotta pancakes

browned butter mushroom panini

salmon with quinoa and toasted seeds

egg, avocado & arugula breakfast sandwich

tuna sandwich with coconut & cilnatro

peri-peri pumpkin with haloumi on a sweet couscous salad

{click on images for their recipes}

brown paper packages tied up with string…

another christmas-y post on a few of my favourite packaging ideas…

{etsy.com}

{wedfully.com}

{tokketok.com}

{katherinemarie photography}

{martha stewart}

{deebeecampos.com}

{urban comfort}

{blissful inspiration}

made me chuckle…

{via 9gag}

as easy as washing mountain goats…

thought i would share some random images i have stumbled upon recently that made me smile…

ode to the cherry blossom…

thank you, spring!  my favourite tree is in full bloom – the cherry tree.  and after an hour’s jog to zoo lake this morning, filled with white and pink blossoms, my chest is glowing and, try as i might, i can’t seem to blot the silly grin from my lips!

{all images via pinterest & google images}

my type of melancholy

there are times when i know that the only cure for my type of melancholy to seek out an avenue of trees & walk between and beneath them…

{image via pinterest}

i am an obsessive compulsive neat freak…

having fun with OCD…

{via 9gag}

ash ghosts

during bushfires if certain species of fallen trees catch fire, they burn down to nothing but white ash, leaving a perfect “shadow” of their former selves on the blackened earth…tree ghosts.

{image by michael poliza}

calvin & hobbes grind

imagine discovering this as you wandered the city streets…it would make my day, no, my week!

small freedoms

i thought these two images did justice to the spirit of starting the weekend…have a wonderful one!

cloud-spotting

i am a cloud-watcher of many years, with photo files full of nimbus-studded skies.  so stumbling upon this dramatic and informative BBC photo essay, in which the met office’s john hammond decodes cloud photos sent by viewers of BBC one’s the great british weather, was a delightful treat.

robot love

per haagensen

goro fujita

matt dixon

goro fujitsa

paper-jet junkie

i really enjoy the nostalgia of paper planes.  they bring to mind an unruly classroom, airborne rebellion and the first aspirations of creating flight.

{click on the images for their sources}

monday blues…

happy monday everyone! i thought i would make light of the beginning-of-the-week blues with one of my current “frequently-played”, bad day by darwin deez

for a small smirk or a grin…

i’ve been feeling pretty low lately, caught in the limbo of looming deadlines and post-deadline reprieve.  so i thought i would flip through some of the images i have collected on pinterest that guarantee at least a half-hearted smirk if not a full smile on my face…hope they do the same for you.

and of course, my current go-to happy song:

head space

i wish i could get this for my desk!  a gorgeously designed skull with secret compartment for stationery, odds n ends, keys,sweeties…

one can dream…

it is my birthday in just under a month and, in the spirit of things, i thought i would put together a wishlist of my current material lustings…

{a classic swiss army knife}

{the kite day dress}

{mid 180o’s lapis anchor intaglio signet ring}

{arredamenti saporiti bookcase}

{blackbird fly twin lens reflex camera}

{balloon bench, a sculpture created by japanese designer satoshi itasaka}

{this gorgeous bird jacket}

kaleidoscopic creepy-crawlies

i thought would share this entymological find with you.  these amazing insect photographs are from this archive.  in my opinion, marveling at their multifacted, metallic armour is a good way to start any day!

a melancholy thursday…

in 2004, the new york times wrote an article about the loneliest whale in the world.  scientists tracking her since 1992, have finally discovered the problem:  she isn’t like any other baleen whale, she doesn’t belong to any tribe, pack or gang.  she doesn’t have a mate and has never had one.  the problem, the scientists have ascertained, is in her songs.  her voice is unlike any other baleen whale.  it is unique in the fact that her species communicate in songs between 12 – 25hz, and this whale sings at 52hz.  thus no other whales can hear nor reply to this lonely creature’s calls to communicate.  with every song, she becomes sadder and more frustrated, her notes going deeper in despair as the years go by.  i can just imagine this massive mammal wandering the ocean – a solitary giant and its sad song…

wanderlust

“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” john hope franklin

recently i have been gripped with such a fever of wanderlust that i find it near impossible to pass images like these and not sigh deeply, thinking: that should be me…

{please excuse my lack of specific sources, all images via flickr & pinterest}