Etsy Oddity of the Week

Okay, this one isn't so much odd, as awesome! These are images of screen printed shirts created by Ikyoto. But you have to read the descriptions to fully appreciate the awesomeness. Apparently all the images are from a vintage Japanese science textbook, depicting various scientific phenomena.

Iron Oxidation

Ph Equation

Water Evaporation

Cool, eh?

Tag, Anyone?

I've been tagged! So here goes...

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1- I saw Andrea Bocelli perform a free live concert under the stars in the main piazza in Sienna, Italy. Yeah, that was pretty cool. On that same trip I lived in an apartment in Florence for a month, where I ate gelato about once a day, became friends with Kat (we're basically related), pretended I was Fraulein Maria in the hills of Switzerland, experienced modern ballet at the Paris Opera House, sang along to Moma Mia on the West End, and came to know the awesomeness that is H&M. Gotta love study abroad's!

2- I wrote a thesis. As far as I am aware, this is not typical for an undergrad, but Art History majors at BYU write a thesis to get their BA. Mine compared the work of Hugo Van Der Goes and Michellangelo da Caravaggio, suggesting that Van Der Goes influenced Caravaggio, specifically focusing on these two paintings.

Van Der Goes, The Lamentation of Christ

Caravaggio's Entombment

3- I currently work at BYU in the purchasing department (oh, it's as boring as it sounds); however, I am not a BYU employee. I am actually a church employee. Translation: I don't get tuition benefits. Lame! But the good news is, I can use the locker room. I just have yet to do it.

4- I have a weird, slightly OCD tendency when I am eating. I have to chew an even amount on both sides of my mouth. For example, I was just eating some delicious nerds, so I poured a handful out on my desk, and selected two at a time that were the same color and of similar size, and chewed one on either side of my mouth simultaneously. There was an odd number of nerds in the handful, so I put one back.

5- I have never had my ears pierced. Initially this was because I was not allowed to have them pierced until I moved out/went to college. By the time I was old enough to do it, I didn't care anymore, so I just never did it. My three older sisters all had theirs pierced as soon as they moved out, and my dad joked that they were out of the will. Maybe, someday, we'll find out he wasn't joking...

6- If not for the miracles of modern orthodontia, I would have some seriously heinous teeth. I first started going to the Orthodontist when I was 5 years old, because I had an under bite (translation: my top teeth were behind my bottom teeth when I bit down). In the interim years I have had 5 or 6 different retainers (I lost count). The best was the one I had in fourth grade: the year they first told me I could customize. It was hot pink, glow in the dark, and had a picture of a kitty on it. Seriously stylin'. I've also had 4 oral surgeries. One was to attach a gold chain between my braces and an adult I-tooth that was coming in at an angle. The other three were all related to my implant. That's right, folks, I have a fake tooth. Fortunately, though, through it all, I was never subjected to head gear.

Well, there you go, pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about me and then some. That was tough! And now I'm going to subject Abby, Austin, Emily, Katherine, Katrina, and Nancy to it!

Great Quote

I really liked the quote on Marta's blog today, and wanted to share.

Fall Leaves and Family Trees

Last week we got a note on our door saying the HOA was coming to paint our door on Thursday, and someone needed to be home between 10:00am and 4:00pm to unlock the door so they could take it off the hinges and paint it. Kind of a ridiculous span of hours, but, hey, I get my door painted. So I would have to stay home from work. Shucks. But I would have to plan on staying home all day, so I did a little shopping Wednesday night at JoAnn's and Michael's, and bought supplies for projects to keep me busy. First I worked on a fall leaf garland to go in the front room. I cut the leaves from different colors of felt. Then I used metallic gold thread to sew "veins". Then I sewed them to brown rickrack. (The spool said it was 6ft long, but it was definitely only 5' 6", so that's why it looks a little short for the space). Then I tied the bows, attached the bells, and hung it all up with push-pins.

The picture below is of the tower I created to act as a tripod so I could get a halfway decent picture of the garland. It was all for you, Nancy, since I know you expect great things from me now, and I wouldn't want to disappoint!

After I was done with that I started working on my wire family tree. I got the branches formed and bound. I still haven't gotten pictures yet, so this project is sitting in unfinished limbo until then.

By the end of the day the door painters never came. Brian called, and apparently they had some trouble getting the paint (whatever that means), so they're coming this week sometime. Pretty ridiculous, huh? He told them they'd have to work around us this time, since they didn't feel the need to tell us before I took a paid day off work. But, hey, at least I was productive on my day off.

Odd Etsy Item of the Week

Dear Austin-


I know you do not usually elect to wear dresses, particularly those made primarily of animal print, but I was thinking, perhaps, for this little number, you would make a noted exception.


This bit of Etsy Oddity magic brought to you by HotPinkPistol.

Gobble, Gobble

Well, it's November, and that means my three Halloween decorations came down, and my one Thanksgiving decoration went up.

I got this guy on my trip to Gardner Village with my Mom and my sister. But it seemed a little sad to only have one Thanksgiving decoration so I decided to make a wall hanging (which included a late night run to Roberts, where I ran into Karla!). I wanted a font that was tall and skinny, with serifs and high-situated cross-bars on the "H" and "A". I couldn't find one to fit that description, so the letters are free hand. I drew the pumpkin from one of my glitter pumpkins (those are still up, I guess they count as a Thanksgiving decoration too!), and the acorns were purely from my imagination. I like the way it turned out, but it feels a little insubstantial just hanging on the wall. I think I might frame it or something. Any suggestions? It still seems a little sparce in the front room, so I'm thinking I'll make one of these felt leaf garlands. I'll keep you posted.

*Sorry for the less than stellar photography. The light is best during the day when I'm at work...

More Eye Candy

Okay, I know I just posted like two minutes ago, but I had to share this...

Because they are my favorite flower. Have a good weekend!

found via beachbungalow8

Oooooh, Aaahhh!

I found this lovely porcelain wear via Design*Sponge and had to share:

Aren't they pretty? It's a company called Mud Australia, and they are of course, located in Australia, but it looks like they sell their products all over the world. They come in a variety of colors. It says they sell them in a place called Cielo Home in Paradise Valley. Any of you AZ people heard of it? I might have to check it out when I'm down for Thanksgiving.

Odd Etsy Item of the Week

This week odd Etsy items come to us from Kniffin Pottery. These lovely tiles are also available in maroon and hunter green.