A Week of Collections - Day 6...

Buddharūpa is the Sanskrit and Palin term used in Buddhism for statues and models of the Buddha. So here are some of my Buddharupa... some were gifts, others I found, all of them I love for different reasons...

Beautiful serene or laughing faces... Study and the cultivation of wisdom...

Layers of symbolism and meaning...

I'm guessing a lot of you will have a Buddhist statue too... and they all have a story...

A Week of Collections - Day 5...

Today's subject matter for A Week of Collections -

small bottles (full) of alcohol from around the world...

I can't lay claim to having collected these bottles, some of them are even older than I am, we actually inherited the collection when no one else really wanted it... love the Nessie bottle and the Scotsman's cap... I think these two would have to be my favourites... What do you drink to celebrate Prince Charles and Princess Di's wedding? English Cherry Brandy of course!

And how cute is this? It is about the size of your pinkie finger...

A Week of Collections - Day 4...

I have realised a few things so far during a week of collections... Firstly, I am not as bad as I thought I was at collecting, I collect stuff, but not so many of the same kinda thing that I am going to get locked up... Secondly, after watching Antiques Roadshow yesterday, I realise that I clearly collect the wrong kind of things. One lady had a collection of vintage dolls, the scariest looking one of which was worth around $10,000!

Also, Poppytalk is collecting images of peoples collections and has a Poppytalk Collectors flickr group.

And just typing in "collections" on flickr will return many weird and wonderful images such as these...

Hownowdesign

girlhula

bricolagelife

leclairjosh one two one three

Stayed tuned for more collection goodness/madness and check out Amity Ville who is hosting this week of collections...

A Week of Collections - Day 3...

Bangles and bracelets, I love you, especially if you are in colours like red, green or black. You can be shiny, carved, plastic, glass, wood, fabric, stone... but if there is something about you that draws me to you, you may become a part of the collection... Oh, and brooches, especially vintage brooches...

(a few from the collection, brought all over the world, from Singapore to Italy)

A Week of Collections is hosted by Amity Ville

Project two continues...

Image from LIFE photo archive

(This pic I took)

A Week of Collections - Day 2

(Again, to be read out loud in best David Attenbrough voice...)

Here we see that this collector feathers her nest with a range of photographs taken from her travels. This curious behaviour is again quite common to collectors, although not always recognised as text book collecting behaviour. One can often find little blank wall space in such a nest... It is thought that collectors do this in order to remind themselves of past experiences and possibly to bring them joy in their nests...

Collectors will quite often have a collection of framed photographs that they will keep, despite having no further room for them...

Check out Amity Ville for more collections...

A Week of Collections - Day 1

There is always a meme lurking on the web, waiting to be found and giving me an excuse for another blog post... Amity Ville is hosting 'A Week of Collections' and I'm sure most bloggers have at least one or two collections on show or hidden... So drop past Amity Ville's blog and join in, I want to see what you collect too! Read the next part out loud in your best David Attenborough voice... Here we see some of the collector's things in their native environment. It is clear this collector likes "stuff", and likes to treasure hunt at the beach and while walking through parks, this is common of many collectors. These treasures end up around the collector's dwellings, in this case on the top of this bookcase - here we find fossils, seed pods and shells amongst the photo frames and dried flowers... The collector is just about ready for bed, so we shall try not to disturb her and will check back in tomorrow to see if we can detect any other collecting behaviour...

A Week of Happy...

And so ends a week of happy... But first I want to share some happiness with you. This is one of my favourite authors and favourite books, Alain De Bottons "Architecture of Happiness". If you are into design, architecture or philosophy you will enjoy this amazing book...I can't sum it up better than has already been done so on his site, so -

"One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings and streets we’re surrounded by. And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be - and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.Whereas many architects are wary of openly discussing the word beauty, the book has at its centre the large and naïve question: ‘What is a beautiful building?’ It amounts to a tour through the philosophy and psychology of architecture, which aims to change the way we think about our homes, streets and ourselves."

Another cause for happiness? I got to go to a book signing for the release of this book and got to meet and have my book signed by Alain De Botton! I was one happy nerd! :)

Thanks for a week of happy Pip!

A Week Of Happy...

Last night, while struggling to sleep, I imagined all the things that I would do today and made an important mental to-do list. The urge to complete my previously important list vanished with the rising of the sun as I lay in bed with a book and no energy or motivation. I'm not happy with mothers nature's little trick of making it difficult to sleep in the last trimester! As if getting comfortable isn't hard enough with a bubba belly, then there's the indigestion and toilet breaks... anyway, this is a week of happy and not a week of pregnancy whinging! Needless to say, I was tired today and decided in the end that the best thing to do was make scones and relax... The scones made me happy. Hubby came home and we went and picked up our USB modem. So I am happy because as of today we have the internet at home again! Now I won't have to borrow internet time at the library, my mum's house or work... And so far - success. Our last adventure with internet was no fun, but mobile broadband seems to be the answer (fingers crossed).So, I am feeling happy and I check my new Etsy store and guess what? I have also made my first sale today! Yay!

And to top it off, the lovely Jhoanna at One Red Robin mentioned winning my giveaway in her list of happiness, and took photos of the bobby pins.

A Week of Happy...

I love the rain. It makes me happy. Everything smells different and takes on different colours. Yesterday was overcast and rainy and I found these cute mushrooms when exploring in my back yard...

Yesterday was also a day of nesting and cleaning - which hubby is loving. He is actually looking forward to my impending house wife status! In between the loads of clothes and the vacuuming I was sewing up my latest softies...

Another production line is under way...

Little arms and tails all lined up waiting to be stuffed... I keep stuffing and hand sewing while the cat looks on bemused... and hubby takes a photo. Oh oh... I have run out of stuffing...

See Meet Me At Mikes for more Week of Happy...

A Week of Happy...

Last night simple happiness was found in kicking back on the couch and knitting little scarves for softies and watching the tv with my beautiful other half... (bad night photography) Today, happiness is finding out that One Red Robin is having a giveaway of a beautiful print and a mini cushie! Maybe I shouldn't be telling you, as it will lessen my chances...? But I think I should share the happy! Be quick! You have until midnight on Sunday, 9th November (AEST). I want to win Tango the Peg Bear! He is adorable and would be so cute in bubbas room! (Hint, hint family and friends... :)

A Week of Happy...

I found this picture when I was looking for something else... and it made me happy to remember this! Who wouldn't be happy with a double ice-cream, holding big birds hand at Sea world while having a holiday for your wedding anniversary? :)

A Week of Happy...

I am happy now... but earlier I spent two hours waiting at the hospital for my 36 weeks appointment... urgh! Funny though, I volunteered to be a guinea pig in a post natal depression study, and today I got filmed by the ABC talking to a midwife and will probably be on Dateline or is it Stateline, next Friday? They are doing a spot on the research program. I'll be the pregnant lady with the black hair who is just nodding and trying not to laugh, then has to walk down a hallway - trying not to waddle!! 15 seconds of dubious fame? Still, it makes me happy knowing that I may be able to help other women. :)

A Week of Happy...

Meet me at Mike's is playing A Week of Happy, check it out if you want to join in...

What makes me happy...?

There are so many things that make me happy right now - being pregnant and feeling bubba wiggle and kick, my beautiful husband, my lovely sister, family and friends, crafting, reading, writing, music, op-shopping, my crazy pets, getting more than an hour of undisturbed sleep... Finding beautiful things makes me happy too...

...like Geninne's bird no. 28

...and funny kitties on I can has cheesburger...

I'm sure I will think of more in this week of happy...