Saturday, March 19, 2011

felt and crochet yourself and apartment

I won't lie, when I first saw this picture, I was looking more specifically at the benches and trying to figure out if we could easily do that ourselves in our own apartment, if it would be easier than this long journey of getting ahold of some palettes (which by the way a student of mine offered to give us some from his business... just before he went on vacation (the week before i'm going on vacation... so thats been put on hold). 

so as i was looking at the benches in the picture and looking around our own apartment as I looked at the picture again I noticed the awesome and how could you have missed it the first time bright rug in the center of the photo. it turns out that it is braided and felted wool, and it's just one piece made by fashion designer Dana Barnes, who began making them solely based on the need to soundproof her warehouse studio apartment for her young children. through pinterest I found this blog post and through that blog this post on the new york times site.

you should go check out all of the awesome photos and the story at the times site. 



"If I should have a daughter"

"I'm gonna paint the solar systems on the backs of her hands. So she has to learn the entire universe before she can say "Oh, I know that like the back of my hand"


And she's gonna learn that this life will hit you hard
in the face
waiting for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they life the taste of air.


A friend of mine posted this on facebook, and I loved it so much I had to share it here. I love this site TED


A little about Sarah Kay (from the TED website)
Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Sarah Kay also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off. 


Now 22, Kay is a successful spoke word poet and codirects Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). Founded by Kay in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages people, particularly teenagers, to use spoken word as a tool for understanding the world and self, and a medium for vital expression.




"A day with Sarah Kay reminded me of poetry's power to help us make sense of our lives, to see the world in a new way."
Deb Martin, Rowan University

Monday, March 14, 2011

Source: flickr.com via Julie on Pinterest

homemade toothpaste/deoderant


I would love to be able to make my own toothpaste like this lady has, and actually... she uses it as deoderant too... i'm a little unsure about that part. But I'm no chemist and I have no idea what goes into what so maybe it is all the same thing what we put in our mouth to clean our teeth and under our armpits to keep us from being stinky. so well... i wish i could try it. but these ingredients arent the easiest, maybe not completely impossible, but not so available and probably not at a pretty price, around here. it shall go on the to do list. besides it's only baking soda, essential oil, and coconut oil. we have coconuts... it shouldn't be so hard to find the oil... right?

Saturday, March 12, 2011

a home


I had to share about this house. This couple in Whales built it themselves for their small family of four! 
From the article, about the house:

Sustainable design and construction:
  1. Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
  2. Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
  3. Frame constructed of fallen trees from surrounding woodland
  4. Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally very easy to do
  5. Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
  6. Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
  7. Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture compared to cement
  8. Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
  9. Other items were reclaimed from “a rubbish pile somewhere”: windows, wiring, plumbing

I find this place very beautiful.... I wonder if I could ever get Julton to live in a place like this for a while... or if a place exists that we could rent even if only for vacation...hmmm