a little bit of rainbow...

...for a beautiful Friday! No clouds, plenty of sunshine - sounds like a day to stroll on outside. And what better way to start off a beautiful day than with some rainbow filled pictures? A bookstore in Beijing, China, created by Japanese architect Sako. How cool!

more here.

turning japanese...

me likes. That would be King Koopa, Mario, and that T-Rex looking guy is a badass Yoshi. nice.

from xiaobaosg

summer read

My new summer read. If only summer would get here....SOON...

Walking Plants

How cute are these?! Made by Domsai, and distributed by MONOTONO. great name!

more here

Ann Arbor again

I'm in Ann Arbor Michigan again for an extended weekend exploring and diving into the wonderful world of stained glass. Yup, I am challenging myself to an exhaustive stained glass piece I designed. Progress will be uploaded! Here's an image of one of my mom's pieces. It's a beauty, ain't it?

well that's not a cat...

I decided to chop off my long hair for a summer do. Donations will be made to Locks of Love! This dead animal-looking bundle of hair is about 30cm (so...about a foot!) Why does hair feel so dirty when it's not attached to your head?

grandman shiro

She sure looks like an old catfish...(a cute one though)

paper castle

How could I have missed this?! Incredible! Installation piece named "Umi no Ue no Oshiro" - Castle on the Ocean. I love how there are moving train parts and lights... Can you believe everything is made out of paper?! No wonder it took 4 long years to complete!

more here.

letterpress•fabric wrap

A cute store on etsy...reusable fabric wraps and letterpress cards.

from chewingthecud

papercutting: Famille Summberbelle

This new design just popped up everywhere on the web, and since I am in the 'papercutting artist' mode, I thought I would blog about it. This is just pure excellence. I LOVE IT! It's so fun and poppy. It would make my day if I could wake up to this piece every morning.

Paris & London Paper Cut Map by Famille Summerbelle

papercutting artist: Virginia Rose Kane

I found this artist the other day, and she does amazing work with botanical papercutting. I'm liking the collage-look of the paper she cuts out of. I need to start uploading my own artwork soon!

part of the Orchid series by Virginia Rose Kane

curly moustache trend

Uber cute! I swear I'm not looking around for moustache products or anything, but they keep popping up! Everyone loves moustachios! Unfortunately sold out...

moustache salt and pepper shaker by paperdollwoodshop

MJ Tribute 2

A little disturbing, but comical. It's a Michael Jackson Pantone Guide...referencing all the various skin tones the man had gone through in life...

from about:blank

smart objects

What a smart little oldschool ruler! It's a wood ruler with a digital electronic read out. how convenient... Now all they need to do is make a 24-inch version.

from shayshafranek

The weekend with TJ

The weather turned out great and everything was just about right this weekend. Saturday was the Tom Jones concert at Ravinia, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. And such cooperation from mother nature, when she was sulking all week with rain here and there.The crowd that gathers at these outside festivals are ginormous. The lawn seating can't see the main stage, but there are speakers everywhere and people picnic (or actually bring their whole dining table and then some) and chill. Considering the amount of people, it's a nice and relaxing time.We were lucky to have had Pavillion (theater) tickets. First time. Here's a picture of the old man himself.
We were probably one of the younger crowds that gathered for this show. But no matter. Here is my husband rocking to the music. He usually shows such little enthusiasm...it was a good concert, I gotta tell ya!

Though there were a few fans that were a little aggressively enthusiastic for my taste. There was a group of middle-aged women (I would suspect 40-50) who decided to take off their underwear and twirl it in the air as Tom Jones sang Sex Bomb. The women in the seats in front of us proceeded to undress and join the festivities. Yes, that's an undie on the left and a bra on the right. yuckie! And they did NOT bring an extra pair! I never thought a TJ concert could get so roudy....

a life-size what?

I knew japanese people were kinda crazy..but a life-size Gundam?! Hot-damn! And I thought that the transformer I saw in Las Vegas was large...I will be attending a Tom Jones concert @ an outdoor music festival called Ravinia tomorrow. Yeah for Tom!
Have a good weekend!

cute stuff...

I'm digging the spring storage box at the bottom left. more from bookhou.

gummy bears

I love gummy bears. gummy worms. gummy colas. gummy anything. But especially gummy bears - so these really perked my interest when I saw them. Not enough for me to buy though...500 bucks for all 5! I always liked the green bear the best..

GummiLights from Jellio: FUN...By Design

and we're home...

I got home yesterday afternoon, and came home to two crime scenes. I can't even fathom how they happened.. but here are the pix.
Yes, that is CSI: police yellow tape. I know, we are dorks to have this in the house.
This mirror is like 57 tons. I can barely move it, so I am suspecting that both kitties were involved in this scheme. I guess it's good that the mirror didn't shatter all over the place...

♥ing kitteys..

I don't have much to offer today in terms of blogging, so I will share a picture of a kitten I played with at an adoption fair yesterday. There were tons of kitties at this fair (which I thought was rare, cuz lately there's more older cats than kitties), and they were ALL SO CUTE. I miss my baby kitteys so much. I can't wait to see them tomorrow!

Baby Taro

I'm actually still in Ann Arbor, extending my 4th of July weekend till Tuesday, since my parents are coming down to Chicago then. Of course, that is thanks to a wonderfully understanding husband who drove all the way home by himself so that I could enjoy a few extra days with family :)

I wrote earlier that I was seeing my nephew, but he's actually my cousin's first child, so that would be...my first cousin once removed (I just looked this up on WikiAnswer). How confusing.

Anyway, since I didn't bring my USB cable for the camera, I can't upload the pictures. BUT, I had the brilliant idea to sit the baby in front of the laptop and use photobooth to take a few pix. Here's me trying to force Taro to laugh for the camera. hehehe.
No forcing necessary after awhile though. (He likes buttons and keyboards)

My tribute to MJ

Happy Independence!

I'll be heading up to Ann Arbor, Michigan for 4th of July weekend. I'll be seeing my soon-to-be 1 year old nephew. I can't wait. He's freakin' adorable. Pictures to follow next week. Have a good weekend!

You're going to sleep there?

This was Kuro's choice of location for his morning nap. It's been a bit cold in Chicago (it was a high of 63 ! what? where did summer go?), so I think he was looking for a warm place to snuggle. What better place than between two laptops? One Kuro sandwich coming right up!

Robots in disguise...?

I couldn't even tell that was a Tranformer because of the sneaky disguise. Forget turning into a car or truck; put on a moustache, and voila! they become robots in disguise!

from SLAPt sticker subculture. Available for purchase!