I came, I saw, I concurred.: 12/1/08

chocolate

Ye knoweth how much I love hot chocolate... How can I resist this design by Paprika for Galerie Au chocolat.

As seen on the die line , that fantastic product design blog.

commemorative stamps

via Simple Song .

British stamps commemorating their national designs. Aww.. Now what does my country have?

calendar tape

Isn't it sooo convenient and practical how this calendar tape makes dates stick?

Now they should come up with one for 'to-do' lists and birthdays.

swiss cheese candle

Dont eat this delicious looking swiss cheese candle !

walking bike

Good heavens, a walking bike .. Whatever else will they think of next?

cd tree

On designboom , a tree storage solution. Of course, you know how much this gets me.. tee hee.. im so predictable.

electroman

There's a new superhero in town and his name is electroman

ambigram logos

In case you were in need of some typography love, check out these inspiring ambigram logos including aerosmith, nine inch nails, and the car from back to the future. Nice.

I especially love the aerosmith one. To take a logo so familiar and turn it into a mirror image that isnt obvious until you turn it upside down, now that takes some serious design skills.

For some reason, I feel compelled to lead you to this site detailing 100 cereal box covers for your perusal. If only to make a statement about the gross lack of edible (not to mention affordable) cereals we have in our country, made more obvious by such comparison. Then again, this may be a good thing. Shows we eat less processed stuff.

Apple

Look who sat under the tree this time?

Twist this Word

Add these to your urban dictionary. The New York Times has come up with a list of catchwords of 2008 which you need to know to update your lingo. These include the usual political references, news-worthy events, and various technological imrovement-spawned phrases.

magic shopping bag

Another interesting goodie from point of v : A "magic" shopping bag that appears to be floating in mid air when you carry it.

Ashleigh Brilliant

ashleigh brilliant quips witty pot shots in 17 words or less.

Worth a haha.

onions

Dry (or is it teary) humour

Unforgettable

Must. See. This.

Smashing Magazine's list of unforgettable title movie sequences. Some are obvious, others surprising.

Like I said, unforgettable.

it's alive!

http://www.rolandbutter.blogspot.com/ is about a guy who takes gadgets and everyday things, and transform them into creatures. His arrangements are humorous, life-like, and animated. Quite like Wall-E.

check out his blog or flickr, it's really cute.

Author's connections

C .S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were good friends since they first met at Oxford and belonged to the Inklings group together. But they hated one another’s books. When Tolkien was writing a new character for Lord of the Rings and tried to describe the character to Lewis, Lewis famously responded, “Not another frigging dwarf!” Except, you know, he actually swore. But this is a family blog.

Bram Stoker was a frequent guest at Oscar Wilde’s parents’ house. Oscar’s mom, Lady Jane, was a poet who liked to keep literary company. Bram found himself in Lady Jane’s circle, and eventually met Florence Balcombe, who had previously been Lady Jane’s daughter-in-law to be. Yep, Florence was once engaged to Oscar Wilde. At least, by some accounts. Other accounts say they dated seriously and Oscar merely wanted to marry her. At any rate, Florence ended up marrying Bram Stoker instead. When Oscar heard she was engaged, he wrote her a letter and said that he was leaving Ireland and would never come back. He mostly stayed true to his word – he only came back twice for a brief visits.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were just three years apart in age. They met at the Dingo Bar in Paris in 1925, when Hemingway was 25 and Fitzgerald was 28. The Great Gatsby had just been published and looked to be a big hit; Hemingway, on the other hand, was a relatively unknown author. They were close friends for a while – Fitzgerald was notoriously insecure about himself in almost every aspect, and when his wife once insulted the size of his manhood, Fitz actually dropped trou and asked Hemingway if everything looked normal to him. Hemingway assured his friend that things appeared to be up to par. But the friendship quickly deteriorated. As Fitzgerald’s career fell and he descended further into alcoholism, Hemingway’s work started picking up. Hemingway started making fun of Fitzgerald to newspapers and magazines, to the point that Fitzgerald actually pleaded with his old friend to stop. The reason for the sudden cold shoulder? Hemingway was said to have been disgusted by Fitzgerald’s alcoholism, because he would make huge public scenes and embarrass himself and everyone around him when he was drunk.

And, speaking of Hemingway, he was also once very good friends with Gertrude Stein. He met her in Paris as well, at the introduction of their mutual friend, writer Sherwood Anderson (Anderson also introduced Hemingway to Ezra Pound). She reminded him of his mother both physically and otherwise. He even openly used Gertrude to try to work out some of his issues with his mother. She ended up introducing him to bullfighting, Spain, and prose. He used her as his sounding board and would completely rewrite something at her suggestion. He even made her the Godmother of his first son, Jack.

Louisa May Alcott loved Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Really loved them. Like Alcott, they were residents of Concord, Massachusetts, so she had friendships with both. She and Thoreau used to exchange ideas and he would play his flute for her. The Emerson infatuation may have started when Ralph Waldo gave her the book Goethe’s Correspondence with a Child, which involves a young girl in love with a horny old poet. You can see why Louisa may have been flattered and sort of started stalking him – she would leave flowers on his doorstep, write him love letters but never send them, and sit outside of his window and sing him songs in German. He was married and had a daughter just six years younger than Louisa and never returned her affections.

Lifted from neatorama

Calendar

mibo is offering a free printable calender with some pretty cool prints. What's more, when you're done with the month, you just trip off the dates and you're left with 12 awesome prints to frame and grace your wall. I say, awesome.

More calenders to come up as Mr. J and I are in the process of creating our calendar. It was supposed to be ready in time to give as a christmas gift, but you know how these things are... holidays are a busy time.. so we'll give them as a new year's gift instead.

gifts 2008

Origami Gift Boxes, $9 for three from Paper Red Shoes . (think I could make this myself quite easily)

Gift Bag Sets, $10 for four from Things by Bubbo-Tubbo (This too, could be quite simple and easy to replicate)

XO Limited Edition Gift Wrap, $8 for two sheets from RiffeRaff

shabby chic book set which includes the following books: Shabby Chic, Sumptuous Settings and Other Lovely Things, The Shabby Chic Home, and Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide. Love the parcel paper and fabric ribbons idea.

The most interesting gift I received this Christmas was a goodie bag from J & S. They bought a bunch of cool food/snack items and stuffed it in a ziplock bag, together with our gift for the year. Mine was socks. Hey, presentation counts.

Eye Candy

This week's photo inspiration to calm you down after a hectic holiday

A dress that can be worn in so many different ways. How not to be impressed?

You must have heard of it by now. butter by nadia sells the original signature wrap dress. On the site you will find video and photo instructions on the different ways to tie it. Without doubt, the work of a genius.

Although, at $250 it is very pricy. There are other alternatives like Anne Fontaine's The Electra (a long coat that zips in 5 places to recreate almost 20 different outfits), American Apparel's $25 dollar version, indie designer's "infinity" dresses, etc.

chocs.

http://www.chocolateresearchfacility.com/

is a chocolate shop in (gasp) Singapore with funky graphic packaging.. wonder if the chocolates taste just as yummy..

Speaking of which, im totally hooked on Patchi chocolates. Thanks to Mr. J, I now am craving them. Especially those adorable little stickers. Smooth hazelnut with buttercream. Sweet milky white chocolate. Real chopped walnuts. I. Need.

photo fun

http://www.photofunia.com/ is where you can create all sorts of cool effects with your photos.

good for a laugh.

crazy booth

Happy Holidays!

All I want for christmas is..

Sadly, I missed the Benefit warehouse sale by a week. I wish I hadn't because the prices were slashed by a lot!

Since my eye makeup is running out (and I need more concealer these days), I have been shopping around for some eye makeup.

I was interested to buy some Bobbi Brown products because I like how natural they look, and I've heard many good reviews from friends.

However, yesterday I dropped by the Benefit counter and saw this new product they have, I literally jumped for joy!

Concealer, eye brightener, 3 shades of powder eyeshadow and 1 cream eyeshadow, plus 2 brushes and mascara... for only RM160! The deal doesnt get any better than this!

The Big Beautiful Eyes set which I have only contains concealer and 3 shades of powder eyeshadow, and that cost me RM120. So the new kit throws in 3 extra items for a mere RM40! The bad lash mascara itself is worth RM95 (the full version, not the mini one here)

Everything you need packed into a small set, so handy to throw in your purse. I'm so gonna get it... if I cant find anything better at Bobbi Brown. But I do hear their concealers are the best. Hm..

Primpcess is a jewelry box for your eyes. Open it up & see what's inside. Concealing, contouring, brushes galore... lining, brightening, sexy lashes & more! Complete with step-by-step primping lesson so glamourizing is a snap. For every gal on your list, this is the gift to buy & wrap! Limited edition.

Product details
Kit contains:
boi-ing 02 concealer
creaseless cream shadow/liner in r.s.v.p.
3 powder shadows: for contouring, accenting & lining
BADgal mini mascara
eye bright instant eye brightener
brushes galore & a beauty lesson.