Cate – Page 68 – everydaysparks

Fit for the birds

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Cate

If you’re up for a different kind of holiday, or at least a different kind of holiday accommodation, you might want to check out this bizarro ‘bird’s nest sphere’ accommodation in Canada (Vancouver Island, to be precise). I saw it on Trip Advisor and it sounds like all kinds of wacky. According to the owner: Once one breaks contact with the ground, energy shifts. The magical environment of the forest canopy conjures up thoughts of elves and fairies. One can feel the presence of the forest. That presence seems to dwell in the canopy where it can watch the meanderings below. Like, totally.

For under $200 per night, you could be tucked away in this spaceage Spherical Tree House, which apparently ‘rocks with the breeze’. And rolls with the stronger winds, presumably. They say it’s a marriage of tree house and sailboat technology. Yep, that’s really what they say. There are a whole lot of details on the website and it certainly sounds complicated – the sphere is “accessed by a spiral stairway and short suspension bridge”, which to me sounds like the way to get to heaven (or at least a neighbouring village), rather than your room, but whatevs.

A word of warning – choose your travel season carefully, as a hazard of life in the forest is trees and branches falling in a strong wind or ice storm. A sphere distributes any impact stress throughout the skin and resists puncture or cracking. But when the company that owns them is called Free Spirit Spheres Inc, could you really be sure?

Safe travels, to the Spherical Tree House and beyond.

Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

Uh oh, baby

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Cate

Another day, another gift idea from an online craft website. This time, my favourite Australian handmade site, Madeit. There are so many gems tucked away throughout the site, just waiting to be discovered by someone typing in the right search word. In this case, the right search word was SALE. And that was where I found this baby, dressed lovingly in exotic-looking handmade doll’s pyjamas. AND WALKING ALONG A FENCE. The pjs are from Grandma’s Goodies, though this photo makes me suspect that Grandma is a bit of a baddie and should perhaps not be allowed to babysit the grandchildren on her own. Grandma says the pjs are ‘nice and warm flannelette’ (doll comfort is important) and they feature lined lapels & collar and a velcro closure on the front. But none of this will matter if that little foot on the fence slips and Baby Alive is no more…

If you’d like to give Grandma the benefit of the doubt and check out her stuff, she’s Grandma Bear.

Food sparks, Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

Charming

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Cate

I know that St Patrick’s Day is over and I promise this is the last Paddy’s Day post. Probably. But I just couldn’t hang on to this for a whole year without sharing it…and really, this is so much bigger than St Patrick’s Day. I dare you not to be captivated by the very name of this product: St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Charm Miniature Food Jewelry. Just look at this incredible handmade charm – it looks exactly like a bowl of soup that Heather’s grandma makes. (Heather is the lady who crafts the charms, although this one is lacking the ketchup that she apparently adds to the real version of the soup made by her grandma.)

Heather’s online shop is something to behold – whether you’re a foodie, a jewellery lover or just like weird looking stuff, it’s worth checking out. I bet you will find a gift there for a loved one or even a one that you don’t love quite so much. Heather’s shop is called Sweetnsavorytrinkets, which pretty much gives the game away. Mini macaron charms? Yes, please! BBQ ribs or Cheese enchilada earrings? Totes! Jumbo gummi grapefruit necklace? Alrighty!

And another favourite: 1/12th scale Shepherds Pie in a terra cotta bowl. Why? Well, why not?

If you’re hungry for more, Heather’s charm kitchen is open here.

Arty sparks, WWWhat?

Draw Something. Anything.

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Cate

I think I’m very late getting on the bandwagon, so you’ve probably already seen the Draw Something app. Essentially, it’s online Pictionary with random strangers. Or, Words With Friends in picture format, if you like. And I’m hooked. I can’t really draw – a fact that is becoming more and more apparent with each game that I play – but there’s some satisfaction in your scribble being identified as your intended image. Basically, you choose from one of three options to draw (for your team mate to guess). And then you get awarded coins, depending on the alleged difficulty of what you chose to draw. An everyday plodder drawing equivalent – say, HAT – will get you one coin, while the nimble Russian gymnast drawing equivalent – say, PETSHOP – will get you three coins. (For the record, I have drawn both hat and petshop and they have been identified correctly by the person on the other side. How, I do not know, but that is beside the point.) You can use your virtual coins to buy additional virtual paint colours to brighten up your drawings, or to buy additional virtual bombs to blow up some of the letters that you choose from to name what the other person has drawn. People use bombs to help them decipher my drawings quite frequently – but I like to think that, like Picasso before me, the hidden depth of my work is not immediately obvious to everyone. I am also comforted by the fact that Picasso never had to try and produce a masterpiece using a canvas half the size of a phone screen, with an index finger as a paintbrush. The virtual artist’s life is not an easy one, I tell you.

However, there are some amazing people out there and I am regularly in awe of the quality of their drawings. Others, and I include most of my own drawings in this number, are either intentionally or unintentionally comical and I find myself shaking with laughter as I look at them on my way to work or waiting in line at the supermarket. For an app that is either free or upgraded to a 99c version, Draw Something definitely gives me my money’s worth in entertainment on a daily basis. Judge for yourself…

(Ok, that last one is mine. CMM4. See what I mean?)

Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

St Patrick’s Day, every day

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Cate

And a very happy St Patrick’s Day to you. With so many cheesy Paddy’s Day products around, I struggled to pick one to feature today. But I settled on this. Its full title: St Patrick’s Day Necklace – Tiny Terrarium with Lucky Liam the Leprechaun – Irish. It’s a mouthful, to be sure, but it’s also a pretty cool way to carry St Patrick’s Day around with you every day. Or just on those days when you fancy the company of a tiny polymer clay leprechaun tucked into a bush of preserved moss, stuffed into a little glass jar, corked and strung onto a necklace. Which, let’s face it, is probably every day.

I love St Patrick’s Day and I especially love the way that everyone seems to find some otherwise hidden Irish connection that entitles them to join in the celebrations. It’s a great day to catch up with friends, maybe drink some green beer and eat some green sausages if so inclined, tell some tall tales, listen to music and generally have a good time.

Whether you’re Irish or not, that’s a pretty great way to spend a day. And even though it’s not a holiday outside of Ireland, it is a Saturday this year, so get craic’n and have a wonderful day.

(And if you’re totally taken by Liam the Leprechaun in his tiny terrarium, wander the website of Messy’s madness on etsy.)