Children's Book Nook: 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

I thought that this book was adorable. More importantly, my son loved it! My son actually loves reading, but his strength is math. This was great for him because it combined reading with math, but was about all of these penguins. The illustrations by Joëlle Jolivet were very engaging for kids.

A new penguin arrived every day for a year...and it made for some very funny scenes. FYI: Parents/teachers, the underlying message afterwards is about environmental concerns/animal endangerment, but done so well for the kiddies. Perhaps this could be used as a great intro into a lesson about habitat studies or even math...

Honestly, I have two kiddie books that I love to give as gifts...but I think this could be added to the list.

The two books I like to give are: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (an absolute fav) & Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess (a great idea for graduating kiddos)

>>>US Residents, follow this link to find your local public library: http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Public_main.html

>>>To buy:
http://www.amazon.com/365-Penguins-Jean-Luc-Fromental/dp/081094460X

Happy Reading!

♥-Kat.

National Chocolate Covered Insects Day: October 14th Etsy Finds.

I promise that I didn't make this up! I may have made up a holiday revolving around chocolate, but no insects thank you very much. This info was found here & even they don't know how this holiday came to be..

These chocolate insects, I would be willing to try.

sweetcelebrations1 chocolate Creepy Crawlers & IguanaMakeIt chocolate dragonfly pops

Bon appétit,

♥-Kat.

The Chattahoochee takes revenge upon Columbus.

So, today is/was Columbus Day...which is a Federal Holiday by the way. It took a trip to the library, post office, and two trips to the mailbox for that fact to catch up with me! I'm bright as a button today, huh!

It rained last night and almost all of today & all of the nearby riverside parks/ trails that I frequent are all now flooded...again. They just reopened this past weekend. Ah, Mother Nature you are the most finicky creature. Ever.

(picture above from Ahpeele)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Top Row: caracurse
Second Row: accentonvintage

Third Row: COGnitivecreations; allthisismine

Bottom Row: PetitPoulailler

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy! I'm off to sew some roses...

♥-Kat.

Sunday sorting duties!

Sunday afternoons are spent cleaning while the games are on. My sunroom (aka studio) was a disaster area from last week's orders. I also had to put in a big order as I'm teetering on empty for certain supplies. SO...I added more storage & took the time to sort some of my grandmother's beads. While the newly low shelves are most practical & fit nicely under the windows...finally getting those into place just weren't as much fun as playing with the beads! We found our own buried treasure!

Perhaps a pot of gold is on for next Sunday?!

♥-Kat.

Garden Fix: Little Known Secret Italian Garden

I didn't actually visit this location...it was after that I learned about Villa D'Ayala in Valva, Italy (near Salerno & Napoli). I fell in love with the amphitheater after seeing an image in House & Garden (I think)...I've still got the clipping, but name isn't on the page.

I have this weird fascination with all things lost...deserted buildings, shipwrecks, Atlantis, "discarded" busts...this is how I started out in the cultural anthropology field at first in college. Okay, back to Villa D'Ayala & the "discarded" busts. Call me strange (I do), but I think that this is enchantingly beautiful...ethereal, really. 

These busts have a home again. Uh huh, you say.  Well, my specific thing with busts started after visiting the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence (you know, the one that the David statue is at...okay). So, after you see the David, hang a left & at the end there is a room filled with various statues & shelves filled with busts.

Ta-dah...When staring at all of the busts, it dawned on me that they were sculpted to represent an actual person. A person that had their own family and story to tell. That bust was most likely in a residence & through the years somehow ended up on a shelf in a museum for gawking tourists to take bad photos of & telling friends that, oh yeah, David did have a big pecker. It's sad & beautiful at the same time. Okay, so that's how I started up with the eccentric fascination for what I consider "discarded" busts & why I love how the busts at the Villa D'Ayala have a home...

Tourist-y info about Valva, Italy & Villa D'Ayala here.

This is not a major US tourist destination, but they actually hold concerts there & International Film Festivals. Some of the Italy tour packages for Campania region make it a day-trip...but I am not a big fan of the blink-and-you-miss-a-city tour packages. The culture & feel of a place just get lost in all that itinerary nonsense!

Hope you're inspired!

♥-Kat.

Because you'd rather be... shopping: favorite things

So I found these while browsing the Gift Guides & Storque on Etsy.

Let me know if any of you have signed on for advertising in any of the Etsy paid gift guides &/or craftopolis.com / craftcult.com sites. I've heard mix reviews about Etsy's gift guides...and not sure about the craftopolis or craftcult sites. They sound ideal for suppliers to adv. on, but especially with jewelry...then again, I know that us sellers like to buy from fellow Etsians too..

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Aren't these gorgeous?! These are from glowfly

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love cardinals (fitting, huh)..these photos are beeaauuuutiful + even the pic's of the females are lovely. Find these & more shots from CrawfordCardinal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My son picks "no one plays with t-rex" as his fav. art piece tonight! by TummyMountain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love these tags SO MUCH! It would be perfecto if these were the only 2 designs in the set for me!

These designs + more from farouche

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two of my absolute fav. things: flavored lip balm & solid perfume. Solid perfume is fantastic to keep in your purse without leaking, but remember to not leave in a hot car!! Another great thing about the solid perfumes is that it isn't instantly overwhelming like that first whiff of sprayed perfume!

Find these at at mybirch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay Moms...the cutest diaper bag from Paris (France, not Kentucky!) by ikabags

Pretty feminine fairy wings just in time for Halloween (& in premature honor of Laurell K. Hamilton's next Meredith Gentry novel coming out within another month!). Err, wings are from UpfromtheAshes and Rebecca has great pieces that pull off the adult seductive fairy / dark angels without looking trashy! Can ship in time for Halloween until 10/19/09!

Bonus points to emandsprout for naming these Frankenstein Monster Mary Janes..that's a random pet peeve calling the monster Frankenstein...sorry for the rant!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I like it in that eccentric & funky way!  headboard by vintagerenewal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me know if you have any recommendations or want me to check out your stuff too!

Enjoy!

♥-Kat.

Monday's shipments...so long...

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, adieu...

& off I go to sew more flowers for necklaces...

♥-Kat.