How Warm is you Christmas?

Christmas is coming..Christmas is coming..and so is.......the winter season in some parts of the World.
I read that the winter weather blasts Europe with its snow and bitter cold temperature.
Australia, which normally has a warm summer December, this year has been mocked by the strange weather that swaps the warm summer Christmas to cold winter Christmas. I hope the people have prepared themselves with some heat max hand warmers to cut the chill factor.
Winter and snow could be wonderful, or.....dreadful if not prepared.
Some fun and wonderful things I could relate with winter and snow are snowball throwing between friends *love this* :-D, making snowman, and skiing. I never make snowman yet and I regret that I didn't take the offer of a friend who invited me to join him skiing in his village in Trieste when I actually had the chance.

Here in my part of the world, winter never ever comes, and so no snow ever shows up during Christmas. We have a much warmer Christmas than people in the USA, Europe and with exception, Australia this year.
Still, Christmas in our country is usually marked by a cooler weather than the usual. This is because we have a lot of rain and strong wind during December. At home, old people like my parents whose feet get cold easily during night time, are usually looking for foot warmer.

However, regardless the cold weather that anyone may experience during this season, I know the spirit of Christmas will always keep us warm..........in heart :)

Meanwhile...here is another drawing that I make for my Christmas digi-stamp project :))

 

A cuter Mrs. Santa Claus!!...I will make a card with it later or tomorrow :)
Hope you all like her...ehmm...I mean...my drawing  :)

Shiny Charlotte

Who is Charlotte?
Oh, she's just an imaginary friend. I was hooked by her deranged look since the first time I saw her.
Nah, don't get misled, I'm talking about Charlotte the cute rubber stamp image from Kraftin' Kimmie that I bought last month.

Didn't have a clue what would I do with it, until I read a challenge on Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Sparkle, Baby!!" Challenge, and I really really want the prize!!! Josephine!!! She's so gorgeous!! I hope my Charlotte card can lure Josephine to me :-))

So here is it, the deranged but cute look of Charlotte from Kraftin' Kimmie, I use all of the two stamps from the set. I put the other doll on the inside of the card and make a window which is covered with a mica to enable the doll seen from the outside. Click the pics to get a clearer look of all the sparkles.

and below you can see a bit clearer where the other doll is.

 Here's what I use for the project:

Stamps:
- Charlotte by Kraftin' Kimmie
- CL140 thinking of you Heroarts

Papers:
- Basic Grey - Lime Rickey: Tutti Frutti
- Fancy Pants Designs
- CuttleBug: snowflakes

Others:
- Orange Ribbon: ScrapKing
- Lace Ribbon
- GlitterGlue: Amos
- Mica
- Copic markers
- Berol Karisma Coloured pencils
- Clear AquaLip gel pen from Sakura
- Blings

Thanks for looking!! and wish me luck please :)

Happy...happy as a clam cos I won!!

My card "un biglietto per mia Mamma" has been pronounced as the winner!!
I'm so happy, what else could I say :)) I am very happy because my Mom loves it, because Fika and her husband Widya -who made this competition as part of their wedding Anniversary celebration- like my card design.
I can't hide my feeling that I feel proud, because I'm still very new to this card thing and this will sure make me want to explore the world of card making more, I'm starting to really enjoy it now.

I am very excited to see and touch the prize in real now.

Here again another look of my winning card :))

Un biglietto per mia mamma

I made this card as a requirement for Fika's "MINI JUICY CONTEST". The contest theme is about making a card or a scrapbook for someone very special and with some bit story why the person is special.
By default parents are normally always special someones to their children, my Dad is also a special someone for me, but my Mom needs some encouragement because she really had some troubling moments since October last year that made her have to be in and out some hospitals, and from January til early May she almost spent the whole months lay in the hospital bed.

Glad that she made it through, but during that period of time I came to realise how much I missed her and how much it stressed me to see her in that painful situation. Painful as literally being cut without anaesthetic, this was because Mom is very sensitive to anaesthetic agent. Previously in January, she almost lost her life after her bad-toe amputation operation, the operation went well, but after she was back in her room for just about 30 minutes, she started to pant and gasp like she could no longer have power to inhale. She even told us that she couldn't make it anymore, there was only me, my auntie -my Mom's elder sister and my uncle-my Mom's younger brother in the room, all the other have gone home. My auntie and uncle then tried to calm her  and to keep her conscious while I nervously ran for help since the bell wouldn't get the nurses' attention as fast as we want and because the nurse station was just in front of my Mom's room. So in that one day she came out from the operation and landed at the ICU. It was because of that later when she needed another surgery for her sole of foot in March, the doctor that operated her seemed reluctant to do it, it seemed that Mom would be in big risk for that 'small' operation because of Mom's susceptibility to anaesthetic. The chief doctor of the team who's also my Mom's Internist Endocrinologist then took over the operation procedure by himself but without anaesthetic. I don't want to tell the horror here cause it's not nice at all, but just imagine the pain  every time some muscles being cut.

I'm just happy Jesus gave Mom strength  and power during that time, and that her healing process goes so well. I thank also to my friends who prayed for her health, especially to Michele who lit a candle at Church for her cure. I'm happy with this contest too.

My Wow Sleek Template

Be warned *Narcissistic-mode: on* ;-P.
I made up my mind and changed my template again, after I found a template named Joomla Template for Blogger. It's so irresistible. It might look more conventional than the previous template I used, but it's more compact. It's built with many compartments in it, and its clean look design makes this template versatile enough that allows me to experiment even with my limitations :-P.

Since I'm still possessed by one of Gmail layouts -can you guess which one? ;)- I've tweaked the template into this woody board. I also did a bit coding changes so to make the right column appears properly on the old IE6, and so the above two ad compartments to appear on every pages, not only on the homepage.

Luckily I have a techie online buddy, and lucky that my memory was cooperative, I was getting the clue on how to code the template from one of our many chat sessions.

I'm proud with the result, cause it does look like what I imagined, and with this template I can accommodate as many blog candy as before I want.

Here are the recipe of the makeover, in case someone is interested :-P

Main Ingredient:
1. Joomla Template for Blogger that can be downloaded here.
Spices:
1. Wood background: Makore
2. Images: Old World Wax Seal, bubbles
3. Font: Conglomerfont
4. Contact System: VisitorContact
5. Interactive toolbar: Wibiya
6. Navigation: Bloggerbuster
7. Comment System: Commentluv -now with its one-click installation for Blogger, a must have gadget.

That's all, but this look is not final yet.

My Current Template Talk

It's been awhile that I took off my dear "choco block template" and using this very unique free template which is created by Jaloee, an Indonesian blogger.
Quite lucky that I've saved this template before it's become unavailable anymore for download. Sometimes ago I went back to the site and didn't find this template, that then makes this template a limited edition ;-))
Other unique templates made by Jalooe are still available to download for free there, but I like the clear structure of this template.
The structure gives equal exposure to the postings, and eases the reader to choose what to read.

I only face a problem to fill the abundant link and ad compartments that come with this template. I haven't tried to fit project wonderful or similar ads there because collaborating those kind of ads into this template is not as simple as a plug-n-play thing. For now, I just leave them as they are.

Another things that I want to do to this template are adding icons, and probably background for the widgets . Icons might be small in size, but they can bring prominent effect to a site. This template doesn't come with many icons.

I haven't decided what icons to use, but the huge collections of icon from my recent finding gives enough choices.
Have a look:
icojoy, here you can find the Maneki Neko Japanese good-luck cat. I'm not a cat person, but these cats are indeed cute.
fordesigner, this will pamper your need of icons with its super cute collection.
dryicons, it has icons and many more.
dezignous, essential source for free icons and other free graphic stuffs.
visual blast, not many collections, but very good ones.

Hope this finding can benefit other icon lovers too ;-)

Squatting is Better

I was at an Indian resto and reading a random yogi magazine when my eyes hit a small insertion on one of the pages. It's an illustration picture of a person squatting. I smiled, maybe because that simple pose reminds me of the way traditionally people answer the call of nature.

At first I didn't see that there's actually a connection between that elimination pose-like and health. Then as I read it, it says that the pose is good for preventing colon problem. At that point, I still think that the ground is only familiar to those who are in touch with yoga's world, and it has nothing to do with why traditionally people do that pose when they're evacuating.
Or it does have?

Maybe it has. I found out about it after I visited my second world, ie this internet.
The article that I found says that squatting gives at least 7 benefits to whoever does the pose when answering the call of nature. Here are the benefits:

1. Helps you to do the job faster, easier and more complete, thus this helps prevent "fecal stagnation," a prime factor in colon cancer, appendicitis and inflammatory bowel disease.
2. Protects the nerves that control the prostate, bladder and uterus from becoming stretched and damaged.
3. Securely seals the ileocecal valve, between the colon and the small intestine. In the conventional sitting position, this valve is unsupported and often leaks during evacuation, contaminating the small intestine.
4. Relaxes the puborectalis muscle which normally chokes the rectum in order to maintain continence.
5. Uses the thighs to support the colon. This helps to prevent hernias, rectoceles, and diverticulosis, which are often caused by years of straining in the sitting position.
6. A highly effective, noninvasive treatment for hemorrhoids, as shown by published clinical research.
7. For pregnant women, squatting avoids pressure on the uterus when using the toilet. Daily squatting helps prepare the mother-to-be for a more natural delivery.

What a loss then that the healthier squat toilet has become a stranger in today's household ever since the discovery of sitting toilet.

Since the throne in my bathroom is a regular nowadays toilet, I wonder if by doing that yoga squatting exercise before doing the elimination chore will at least smooth the way too? ;-P

Or should every bathroom with non-squat toilet needs an additional furniture like the following? O la la.. :))


I think the yoga idea is a better option.

Source: Seven Advantages of Squatting

Visiting Volcano with Socks in Crocs

Some days ago on my entrecard-hopping I came across Lilly's post which is asking about what is the worst fashion trend. I giggled as I read 2 things that she points out: wearing sandals with socks, and crocs.

Well, I just combined the two of them when I recently visited a volcano, Rakata, the Son of Krakatau.
I wore crocs sandals with socks. I know some crocs have silly design, but mine are the non-silly ones :-D

I decided to wear them for a practical reason only, because the volcano is located on an island and I reached the island by boat. There's no dock there, so visitors have to jump into the water. That's why wearing sandals is more convenient than wearing sneakers or mountain shoes. Besides in my opinion, regardless their designs crocs are light and comfortable to wear.

The island itself, except a little part of its beach, is mostly covered by particles from the active volcano -the volcano was "coughing" many times when we're there. There's almost no tree on the volcano, that's why the particles from the volcano that lay thickly on the ground become very hot when the sun is up, and in August the weather is usually very hot. My feet would cry if I didn't protect them with socks :-)) That's why I put on the socks.

Notice that my crocs have their back straps? I took the straps from my other flip-flop. It's my anticipation, so my sandals would stay attached on my feet as I walked on the loose surface, and to make my walk easier. I found out later, it's not as easy as I thought!!

At least I caught two girls were starring my crocs, I thought either they think my mutant crocs look maladroit or they're admiring them. It turned out to be the later, as they later told me "your sandals are uber cool." :-D

Dog is a god?

dog house with carport?
Unquestionably according to Hollywood, All dogs go to Heaven, but for sure as much as I love this benevolent creature, dog is not a God with a capital letter.

Dog is a god is only a name of dog's houses design made by an Italian designer, Marco Morosini. I learned about him after my friend Chaterina forwarded me an email containing some cute pictures of dog houses with "travel dog's house" written on each picture.

As a dog lover, it's impossible for me not to google the words "travel dog's house" after seeing some of these following photos...

pheww...I'm ready to nap now

dog caravan

where's the porter?

my house uses fake fur of course

temple dog's house

where's my neighbour?

Marco Morosini and..no, I'm not a trophy
Photos source marcomorosini

Office Furniture Solution

Work space may contribute positive value to employees; therefore the arrangement and the choice of furniture are two important components in designing office space. The choice of furniture is very important because furniture is every office inventory that requires them to possess certain qualities for their durability, and because the use of furniture is usually in big number, the choice must be economical in price. The set of furniture choice must also have the ability to merge flexibly with the work space layout.

Price Point from intercounty.com provides wide range choice of office furniture which have been known for their durability, simple but sophisticated design, and their affordable good prices. Office desks from Price Point all use 25mm thick tops, which is above the average standard 18mm thick desk top, and the upstands of office cantilever desks are not only one, but double upstands that is designed to prevent bending caused by heavy weight use. The office desks have clutter free cable system because each of the desks has at least 2 cable ports, this also means no need additional expenses for cable organisers.

All of Price Point Grey office desks have 8 years of warranty that makes them good choice for office furniture because in my opinion, non-private or service use furniture are more vulnerable to damage. Their affordable prices don't make them bear the quality of cheap, low quality desks because Price Point meets BS 4875 Level 4 for its desks strength and stability. Check also their various choice of office storage, such as metal filing cabinets, wooden filing cabinet, multi drawer units, etc to complement the work space.

Habitable Shipping Container

Thanks to a visionary group of developer who built a container city with 100% recycle materials in the heart of London. Now there's a second life for shipping containers and that is better than in scrap yard.

It's even shipped to Australia, Pakistan and South America.
I love the modern look of this architecture, though this will need a good heat insulation for hot climate countries like in my country.

Booth Design

Trade show booths are the representatives of companies in trade show. How it looks may result in sending positive PR company message or the other way around. As a medium to exhibit product or service, booth should have a notable look that is able to pull in the passers-by attention.
These are some physical elements of trade show booths:

Banner Stands
This is the front-row enticement for booth because this element functions as product or service message display to visitors that can make booth stands out. There are different types of this element, ranging from simple square banner stands to non-standard square shape banner stands, from stationary to motorized scrolling system banners. Use hanging or overhead display if you want to form an even more enclosed and compact space.
Table Skirts
Table covers is a neutralizing element. A blank cover and a cover with only company’s name or logo is good for booth design that already uses colourful banner stands. A pattern and colourful covers are good choices for a show booth with less banner stands because this kind of covers -as an exchange to banner stands- can be used as a medium to send marketing message to visitors.
Pipe and Drape
Backdrop, as the commonly largest element of booth, can use this system. Pipe and drape system easily boost the look of booth. Choose the right colour shade, and use only high quality fabric. Drape can be with or without print, just remember to not ruin the booth look with too much use of colours and prints.

Have you checked the mailbox?

Don't let your mail packages hurt, wrecked or torn just because your mailbox has leak on it or doesn't have a proper size. I hated it every time I received postcard or mail that looked like has been on the long torturing journey before it arrived in my mailbox, it's completely covered with stains!
It was all because our mailbox had some leak on its surface and the leak permitted the water to get inside when the rain came. The poor quality of the mailbox material made it vulnerable to impairment. Luckily I live in a safe neighborhood, so we never experience theft or any kind of vandalism over our vulnerable mailbox.


Of course you do not want to wait for bad thing to happen.
If you care about your mails safety, find the sturdy and good-looking mailbox to protect your mails. Mailboxixchange has it all in its collections, whether residential mailboxes or commercial mailboxes, they are all made with high quality materials and they even can be part of your property decoration. There are more than 1500 mailboxes to choose there, that is more than enough.

Even if you don't plan to buy a new mailbox yet, you still need to surf Mailboxixchange, just in case in the near future you need it. One other good reason is also because Mailboxixchange has an afilliate programme that will pay participant $20.00 for signing up. Basically the affiliate programme only valids for any bloggers based in the USA, but there's an exception for those who have their traffic majority come from the USA.
Check out the mailboxes on Mailboxixchange now.

Lighting Source

Don't we love internet? Whenever we need something –even just to feed our curiosity- we can count on search engine, put the keywords and one click will give us the results. Like when I put the keywords fine art lamps, I found www.farreys.com as the first on the list. It makes sense I think, because this site has extensive selection of lighting, it's really a lighting source. Its fine art lamps selections are delighting, and all of the products of that collection is handcrafted exclusively in America.


Other selections are also worth to see, and it's so easy to browse the site whether to search lightings based on the brand or based on the categories. George Kovacs and Murray Feiss are two amongst many designer brands that can be found there.

Above are some of the lamps from the site, can you guess which one is my favourite? ;-)

A Stylish Sucker

It sounds like a joke when something which really sucks can inspire a fashion god such as Issey Miyake. Dyson did it when Dai Fujiwara, the Creative Director of Issey Miyake, hooked him for a collaboration work.

I'm talking about Dyson the dirt sucker which was invented by James Dyson over 14 years ago -who has since then kept developing his ranges of vacuum cleaners. His belief that design must goes well with the function combined with his thirst for innovation, has granted the world with stylish looking vacuum cleaners which are powered by Dyson important invention in vacuum cleaners world, the powerful cyclone technology.

For more information about Dyson hookup with Issey Miyake, just browse Dyson.co.uk. The site also covers all the necessary about Dyson vacuum cleaners such as its history, its various models, its online store that facilitates its customer and Dyson users to find Dyson spares and accessories, and -do not miss- its telescope game and ball game.

Home Lighting

In interior and architecture design, lighting plays a role in creating moods for a building, a room, a space, or even a display. A meticulous plan for home lighting will result in a better appearance. In general, there are two types of lighting, natural and artificial lightings. Artificial lightings or light fixtures each serves different needs.

A kitchen should need a sufficient lighting for food and cooking preparation, this type of artificial lighting belongs to task lighting. Kitchen should also apply ambient lighting which is a general type of lighting that is usually required for common activities. The right choices of kitchen light fixtures will create a functional yet aesthetical kitchen, and a non over-lighting kitchen.

A bathroom might look nice with an ambient lighting type such as small recessed ceiling light fixtures because they can create an even lighting for the room. A high foyer will bestow a dramatic effect with an ambient lighting such as chandeliers.

Kanagraphy

It's another Japanese art of writing.
Very intriguing to me the way the artist composing the Japanese characters so they make resemblance of western words.

Some Kanagraphies made by Makiko Ozeki and Norio Hiromizu can be seen by
clicking that picture of Kanagraph on the left. See that English words? Love life! And it has similar meaning in its Japanese sense too. Must be quite complicated, but it's indeed beautiful.

I learnt about this wonderful thing today when I for the first time chat again on Skype that made me met Norio also for the first time.

Hate vs Love

Great Idea
What lies behind hate?
Collected from 3couleurs