A wish list of sorts...

I've been doing some amateur observing lately, of the astronomical persuasion. It's been fascinating to watch the moon change phases, to look for Venus, and to watch the sun set. I've also been perusing some astronomy books and have completely and utterly fallen in love with the ancient buildings and renderings that they contain.

Where can you see the stars? Well, other than everywhere (on a clear night), here are some unique places to check out various phenomena. As a side note, they're also pretty to look at:

Newgrange, Ireland. An excessively impressive mound with a chamber that's completely

 illuminated at the winter solstice. Built ~3200BC

 (yes, before Stonehenge! and check out the intricate patters in the stones)

Jantar Mantar, (west central) India

Geometric buildings that are actually tools for making astronomical observations, built between 1727-173

  I really enjoy this image of Stonehenge because it reflects the magnitude of this site. They built these massive structures to predict the immeasurable heavens. It looks so purposeful, and yet compared to our (or at least my) first mental picture of the site, so small in comparison to its surroundings. It is that small, and can predict things so incredibly far away! Just try and tell me that's not amazing.

If you have $500-1600 left over after your trips to Ireland, England, and India... find yourself a copy of The Wonders of the Heavens, Being a Popular View of Astronomy by Duncan Bradford, published 1837. It includes this lovely constellation map. 

What would a post be without some glorious etsy finds? I promise, there are only a few this week:

First, a vintage find from La Petit Poulailler: I love this! The lovely shade of blue with the orange spheres and diagrams is incredibly visually pleasing and soothing. It's the perfect match of complementary colors, simple lines, and basic shapes.

And yes, another vintage find, and from another French-titled shop! This one's from La Brocanterie and it's also rocking the complementary color scheme. It's an adorable children's book that helps your kids find the constellations and their names, complete with jingles to aid in the memorization process... sing them with your kids next time you go camping! (or on a long walk or pretend-camping in the backyard... who doesn't love stars and s'mores?)

If this list has inspired you to look up more often, check out this site and it'll show you what can be found above your head this week. So, leave some comments about star gazing, solar system lovin', or complaints about no-longer-a-planet Pluto. Or about things I've left out of the list that shouldn't have been left out!

sew what?

All week I've been sewing, crocheting, and applique-ing.. So, here are some amazing artists, sites, and things that inspired me to break out that rusty sewing machine and get to it.

-First, one of my all time favorite blogs: Masquerade. It's a knit graffiti group from Sweden: how glorious. One of these days I'm going to find these people knitting in the

 Swedish bars and infiltrate their ranks. Oh, and I'll be spending an evening at Hotel Fox in Denmark while I'm at it.

- In the spirit of my Swedish obsessions, here's an adorable "I wish we had IKEA" pillow from etsy's skinnylaminx. After all, who doesn't love voracious efficiency and low prices?

- What's not to love? These pillows from etsy's pillowhappy are fabulous.

 If only I had these when we play scrabble and eat cookies! (with letters written on them with icing, of course)

 -I want this. Enough said. (from etsy's LittleHouses) 

- And yes, I know this is an illustration.. but on closer inspection, it's been sewn as well!

 In general, I adore all of michele maule's illustrations... especially her spools and typewriters. (plus, she's from Detroit... huzzah for local talent!)

---Okay okay, I promise, no more etsy finds!---

-These cups are amazing... I don't know how she does it, but it has me hooked. Check out the ceramic embroidery (and more!) by Claire Coles.

- And finally... Embroidery As Art blog by talented embroidery artist Jenny Hart. (I especially like her embroidered comic pieces from her flickr account!)

Alright, that's all for this week. I hope it inspires you to break out your sewing machine and tailor something, change something, or make something. (or at least buy one of these amazing pieces!) 

Leave a comment if you have any other fabulous sewing/knitting/etc. finds that you'd like to share! 

Until next week...

geeky geekery

Alright, so after that last post, I've been completely immersed in science, so here's a lovely list of great things that  somehow combine art and science.

Lately, I've been reading "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" by Richard Feynman (physicist, philosopher, innovator, kindred soul) and everything just looks like physics to me.. So first, this nuke hugger t-shirt is environmentally friendly AND under Obama's plans, the creation of nuclear plants could create a ton of jobs. Physics rules.

Want more physics in your life?: try Boomshine. is a chain reaction game, and the colors are fantastic. It also has eaten up a significant amount of my free time lately, so be cautious..

Physics and art?: this illustration by  electricboogaloo is adorable, and makes the scientist in me smile. Plus... who doesn't love elephants? (and juniper, of course!)

Confession: To save some money this year, I spent countless hours giving my sewing machine some sweet, sweet lovin' and  the three of us (Al Green, the sewing machine, and I) hunkered down for a few days to make some fabulous home-made gifts. Although I didn't make this geeky gift set, I wish I had! It's perfect for any geek-chic nerds in your life.

Last etsy find, I promise!: I've finally allowed myself some time to remember how much I love and missed reading. (in addition to Feynman I'm reading "The Holy Barbarians" - Lawrence Lipton... a book by a Venice beach beatnik about Venice beach beatniks AND whose son is James Lipton. How cool!) This adorable poster by dazeychic says it all! The colors are so pleasing and upbeat... and the solid coloring juxtaposed with the subtle details in the books makes the viewing experience complete.

More books, please!: For Christmas, I received a fabulous find from my beautiful mother. It's called Microcosmos, and is filled with these fantastic SEM images (Scanning Electron Microscope) that creates "3D" images of things. They're then artificially colored, and they're just really exciting. This is the officially the newest, and most beloved, addition to my coffee table. (Sorry coasters!)

Coffee table talk: Ted Talks. Some of the world's best thinkers, speakers, and doers can be found sharing their secrets, and successes, research, and/or general thoughts. Isaac Mizrah, James Watson, Richard Dawkins, and others can be found here. Topics range from optimism to climate change, string theory (physics) to Rick Werren, and from bread to glamour. 

Okay, well that's about as geek-focused as I can be in one sitting.. but I'd love to hear what YOU think! Leave any suggestions you may have of other nerdy things to check out (for all those squares out there).. I know I'd love to read them!   Until next Friday...

2009!

Sometimes it's hard to remember that a fresh new year has started when there's gray snow on the ground and the sun hasn't come out for days. To focus on all of the exciting things the new year brings, I've compiled a list of things I want to do more, look at more, blog about, practice, and just plain cool stuff:

pin cushions-

 like this one from etsy's pixiefashions

swedish cookies (pepparkokar), IKEA, and pretty much anything swedish is a current obsession

playing with my food- like lego block candies- instructions found on instructables

head bands- 

I just got a new hair cut.. so i'm crocheting the head band below from a pattern on www.creativeyarn.blogspot.com

crocheting- a switch from knitting, and so much easier to transport! (probably because my projects are simple..)

baking- I'm venturing out from my cupcake-standbys (which are really more fun to decorate than to make!) to more adventuresome dishes like pies and a zucchini bakes

physics and math as guilty pleasures- 

biology coloring books

letterpress invitations (like etsy's pistachio press)

mustaches (like etsy's neawear's needlework jewelry)

illustrations from my mom's old cooking books

Feel free to post YOUR favorite things of 2008 or your goals/resolutions/loves for 2009! Hope you enjoyed my list!