tell me about it

I lifted this post verbatim from Daniel Heaf’s website; I absolutely love ‘Where the Wild Things are’. It was a library book staple when I was growing up and I’m definitely buying a copy for my own bookshelf when little ones come. And this guy, Daniel? Props. This is a true work of art!

Where the Wild Things are in stone, originally uploaded by Daniel Heaf.

We've been in our new place for about 9 months now. Most of the boxes are unpacked, we've done endless amounts of DIY and we thought it about time we treated ourselves to a moving in present. 

We wanted something for the wall, something that says something about the people that live there. Something that represents our brand new little family.

We have tonnes of photos on the wall already and portraits seems a little too stuffy and old fashioned so in the end we decided on a stone relief carved by our wonderfully talented friend Simon Ings. Together we chose a scene from Where The Wild Things are but had India included. From left to right above it's supposed to be India, me, Aldous and Amanda hanging from the the trees. We're all having a rumpus!

Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book as a child. It was the first book I gave to India and Aldous has a fresh copy waiting for him on the shelf in his room.  I dreamt of making mischief and sailing off to be crowned king of the wild forest. Now I get to get to take my whole family with me.

 

As you can see Simon has the most amazing talent and we worked so hard to bring each tiny leaf to life. But he's not limited to Wild Things.his contemporary work is beautiful and often exhibited at London's Oblong Gallery.

Don’t Stop Believing (originally by Journey; covered by Sam Tsui)

One of my favorite songs of all time in (almost) a cappella – and a guy with an amazing (albeit girly) voice. This arrangement is from my new favorite show Glee (even though I have not watched a single episode yet, haha blush).

Michael Jackson Medley (arr. and performed by Sam Tsui)

Sighhhh happy music face on.

I’m currently doing up a post about my wedding vendors – who I used, how much they cost, an evaluation of their services – but I’m trying to do a full review for that complete with pictures and it’s taking some time, so here’s a wedding post to hold you till that comes out.

I love love love Etsy because I’ve always adored handmade, unique crafts and appreciated people who make beautiful things with their hands (that’s one big reason why I fell for the hubba). Here’s a list of local (Singaporean) vendors on Etsy that handmake things that can add that precious, special touch to your wedding day.

All photos in the post are taken from Etsy and belong to the vendors who create the items pictured in each photo.

1. Wedding cards

Fairylovingcreation creates beautiful wedding cards and assorted paper crafts. You can customize with her or you can pick one of her stock designs. Prices are a tad high – the peony wedding invite pictured above is US$3 per card, and the fan wedding programs are US$4.50 each. But you pay a high price for individual handworked items and I think it’s worth it. Just pray that your guests don’t throw them away!

2. Ring bowls

Lovegrowsbygiving introduces a novel way to display wedding rings, rather than using the traditional pillow. The bowl can be used after the wedding to store keys or jewelry and is really rather lovely with its scrollwork and unglazed finish. Prices start from US$14; the one pictured above is US$24. You can also customize the item to have your names or initials or a specific meaningful quote on the bowl.

3. Ring pillows

To be quite honest I detest the lacey, frothy, pale and fake-flowered concoctions that the jewelry places give with their wedding rings. They’re mass-made, machine-made, and look cheap. For my wedding I made my ring pillow from scratch! But you might not have the time or inclination and thus Karenyee’s amazing handsewn pillows are just the thing for you. Using materials like corded lace and silk ribbon, her pillows come in a myriad of deep jewel-tones. They are unique and look so perfectly put together, they’re sure to add a regal and polished touch to your walk down the aisle.

4. Hair flowers

I got my own set of wedding fleurs from Fleurettejo – one for me, two small ones for my bridesmaid, and two on a hairband for my flowergirl. I absolutely loved the holistic, seamless look that brought our three different outfits together. Jo does beautiful work and also does customizations. Go for the white or ivory ones if you’re traditional, but if you’re a daring bride, let her brightly colorful blooms beautify your hair on your wedding day! She can even do you a matching pair of earrings.

5. Envelope labels, rubber stamps, cards, etc

Zoopri produces all manner of things – customized envelope labels to stick on your wedding invitation envelopes, for example, or if you’re feeling more environmentally friendly you could do a rubber stamp with return address and wedding website instead, which has a lovely charm all to itself. And I’ve always loved Save-The-Dates – though we sent ours out online to save on postage and addressing envelopes. Zoopri has an amazingly comprehensive range of designs, paper goods and services, and you’re sure to find something that will suit you and your wedding theme.

6. Floral arrangements

Strangely enough Zoopri also offers artificial flower arrangements. They’re actually really really pretty and very elegant – and with artificial flowers, you won’t have to worry about delicate transport, or timing to ensure the flowers are in full bloom and won’t wilt halfway through your ceremony. And you get to keep them! These are rather pricey though – the first one above is the cheapest one going for US$65.

Love Droplets is a gorgeous flower site. Too bad she didn’t respond to any of my mails when I was sourcing for quotes – and anyway, it looks a lot pricier than my vendor, so I’m good. But Love Droplets has really lovely arrangements.

Gerberas

This is almost exactly what I’m looking for – just picture the gerbera in red

Isn’t this a fantastic arrangement? Peranakan themed :) Surprisingly, I love the carnations. Poor bride’s peonies :P

More red gerberas. Love.

All above pics from Love Droplets :)

And this is the setup we’re planning for our church ceremony…only picture the pail in white, the ribbon in Tiffany blue, and the flower a red gerbera….heh. This picture from Blissful Thots, my own vendor.

Source

Second. Best. Invite. EVAR.

I love the last line – “Dinner and dancing and eternity to follow”.

Swoon!

New pretty things in fleurettejo’s Etsy shop!

Gorgeous red hairband!

Funkehhh. Black and white.

Lately I’ve been a bit mad over jewel tones, especially deep purples and blues and greens.

And I honestly really want this one. Maybe I’ll ask her to make me one in deep greens, heh heh.

Innit gorgeous! Can’t wait for my bridal ones to come :)

Swirly happy dress!

Parasol Circus!

New blogshop! Ok I really like the name. I love the consonance and the way it whispers between the teeth and over the tongue. Say it quietly – Parasol Circus.

Parasol Circus.

*happy shiver*

”

Their stuff is quite pretty – rawr I love all the names. Cirque. Parapluie. Such lovely names. Cirque is the regular clothes collection and Parapluie is the vintage collection. I’m not much for vintage (hallo, I’m such a cheapskate, I can’t fork over indecent amounts of cash for old things – well, except for my gorgeous oversized Adidas vintage satchel – but that was in BKK and it was cheap-ER than usual and well ok) but their vintage stuff is actually quite nice and pretty affordable.

Red Celia Loe dress!

100% silk pale peach dress. Flirty and romantic and sweet.

Anyway go take a look – nice stuff.

And a lovely name :D

White ceramic ring bowls selling on etsy – local seller, too. Nice nice, very pretty.

I swear this is the BEST Britain’s Got Talent act YET.

I can’t embed this but this is really, really amazing. GO WATCH.

A modern druid who calls himself “King Arthur Pendragon” faces his arrest for his refusal to quit his protest vigil at Stonehenge:

King Arthur Pendragon at Stonehenge. Photograph: Barry Batchelor/PA

Utterly hilarious. When we were there, we didn’t see any actual hippies but we did see a caravan parked some way away, blasting Eurotrash techno and with wisps of smoke rising from around it. Hilarious!

The druid protester King Arthur Pendragon defied a court order to leave Stonehenge this afternoon, vowing to continue his protest until the site is open to all.

Pendragon, formerly known as John Rothwell, set up camp on the edge of the site in June 2008 and faces eviction by Wiltshire council, which says he is blocking the public highway.

The 55-year-old, who changed his name by deed poll 33 years ago, wants visitors to be able to walk around and touch the stones rather than remain in a visitor centre and be confined to marked-out trails. He is also calling for promised improvements to the monument to be carried out.

On Monday last week, the council was granted an eviction order by Salisbury county court to remove Pendragon from byway 12, which is known locally as the Netheravon coach road. Pendragon’s camp on the byway sits alongside Stonehenge between the A303 and A344 and includes a caravan. The protester, who hopes to run as an independent parliamentary candidate, pickets staff and tourists daily.

Shortly after the deadline expired today, he said he had no intention to leave. “We have opened a bottle of mead and we are drinking to Stonehenge. I have done a short ritual and spell of protection, calling on the kings of old.

“I am still here so I am in breach of the order as they see it but I have as much right as anyone else to be here. I am not blocking the byway; other tourists park along there. I am not going to go, I am battening down the hatches and continuing my lawful right to protest and my equal right to religious practice.”

Pendragon started protesting with consent from the Council of British Druid Orders after last year’s summer solstice. The government scrapped plans to remove fences around Stonehenge, build an underpass and grass over the A344 in 2007.

Stephen Helsby, Wiltshire council’s highways enforcement and traveller services manager, said last week: “This ancient byway is open to all traffic. Wiltshire Council, in its capacity as local highway authority, has a duty to maintain everybody’s right to use its full width without interruption or other obstruction.

“The council strives to protect all of its public rights of way from trespass and that includes byway 12, which is situated at the heart of this important world heritage site.”

-From The Guardian-