this red monday: beach art

phew! what a week. there's nothing so draining as having sick children. except for having sick children while being sick yourself. but this weekend we slowly got back to normal life. which of course includes the beach. and going to the beach includes collecting shells and stones.

i have posted about this shell collage before, but it can handle another go. i made it a while back. little shells added while paint is still wet. it's an easy and a fun way to use a bit of those shells some of us just can't help bringing back home. and it's a cool project for kids too: just paint and add the shells. should they fall of when the paint dries, then glue them back on. but in the process it's just paint and shells.

with this post i hope it's safe to say, that i am back as usual. with one little change: i have decided to answer questions in the comments section itself (i wish blogger would add that cool comment thread feature they have on typepad).

wishing you a happy and healthy week!

this red monday: panton's flowerpot

i love this this lamp from verner panton . it's a classic. only problem would be to pick the right color, as it comes in so many great colors.

we had a couple of his topan lamps in my childhood home in the orange-red shade. they really worked well with those orange and yellow giant flower printed curtains. which i, by the way, still have. not as curtains, but the fabric. my mom has saved so many great things, including the fabric that made up our curtains, bedspreads, sheets etc. back in the 70's.

take a look at the verner panton online museum if you want to know more about this creative and inspiring man.

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other shades of red (and white and yellow) this week are these absolutely adorable photos with red outfits from the cherry blossom girl. but all her other outfits are darling as well. right now she's showing this fairy-like diy white flower head band. not sure i could pull it off, but i like it. a lot.
also adorable is this red candy cat brooch from godrillhas21. he's also making some absolutely fabulous mobile phone straps, like this tiny baby on banana.

have a great week!

this red monday: hai pendant

chai/hai (חי) means "living" in hebrew. it's related to the word chaya which refers to a living thing or an animal. both are related to the word chaim, meaning life. the jewish (hebrew) toast on happy occasions "lachaim" means "to life".

among jewish scholars there is a system of assigning numerical value to the hebrew alphabet called gematria. gematria is not only found in the "mainstream" rabbinical literature, but also playes a great role in the more mystical jewish kabbalah practice (yeah, that thing that gets madge groovin').

the letters spelling chai in hebrew is ח and י. according to gematria they make up the number 18, which has made it a spriritual number in judaism. i'm not exactly sure what you are to do with a spiritual number, but i guess you might feel you are about to have a lucky day, if you, say, dreamt you had 18 cupcakes for breakfast.

i know that i would feel like one lucky cupcake myself if i had the necklace pictured above from israeli designer anssi on sense of fashion. this red hai is made of perspex and she's got a red star of david too. but i like the chai - or hai - better.

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other shades of red this monday are also to be found on sense of fashion, like this tribute to the ramones, handpainted red chucks from brazilian artist bruneca aka bruna veloso. she's got a lot more coolness going on, so check her chucks out. also awesome, but obviously not red at all, is the bang! necklace from british designer hoolala.

this red monday: paper cut girl

the cute white dog that appeared in a couple of posts (here and here), well, she has left the building. she went back home to the city. but we got this one from her people when they returned from traveling in china.

it's a chinese paper cut out. and i love it. it's extremely detailed and absolutely gorgeous. our friends told us they watched the old man who made this as he cut it out. he was working in the street, incredibly fast and almost instinctive in his movements.

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today's red monday will be dedicated to paper cut outs. and if any one masters that, it's heather moore of skinny laminx. seriously, take a look at this "cut tut" and give it a go if you feel your hands are steady enough. or these absolutely stunning news paper cut outs. if i could get a news paper like that every morning, i would totally sign up for it. and there's more, like her cut out for the latest lunchbox cowboys release, so if you're ready to be amazed, go visit now.

and the best part: many of her cut outs are used to create prints on items that can be yours. just take a look at her shop and see if you can make up your mind between all this goodness of tea towels, bags, pillows and more.

this red monday: typesetter tray

i know. i'm repeating myself. but i really like this typesetter tray, so indulge me. think of me as this old woman who wants to tell you this amazing story from years ago. the story you've heard 128 times before, but it makes her so happy that you will sit through it again. please.

this typesetter tray was hanging in my childhood home. it was my mom's. at some point she decided to paint it red, but something got in the way (probably us kids - having kids myself have made me realize how tasks that seem so small and easy can become an impossible project. a project you think about at night, really want to finish, but somehow it just can't be squeezed in between all the rest).

alas, today the 2/3 of the typesetter tray is red, the rest is old wood. and i like it like that. D still looks at it sometimes and asks if i really don't think it would be the best to paint it all. but no, i don't think so. and to his credit he has learned not to argue about these things. or maybe he just doesn't care. which is ok.

inside the typesetter tray is my collection of shells and stones. it's growing and has spread to many other parts of the house and garden. i just can't help pick them up at the beach. and i know pretty much where in the world i picked every stone or shell.

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other shades of red: the red lips of these vamps and innocents by annie kevans (via fab). don't you just feel like reaching out and touch those lips? this amazing dress from heidi merrick (via 2 or 3 things i know). i think i would feel so pretty and girly in this. and finally, the video to soon we'll be found by the lovely sia. i know it's not exactly new, but since i first saw it in the fall, it's been haunting me (in the good way). it's amazing, beautiful and just plain awesome. if you didn't watch it before, go watch. now. it's not especially red, but it's colorful. and that will do.

this red monday: playful creation

most days we're outdoors. with a break here and there to be cooled off inside the house. the summer is hot and humid in israel. but a little shade and a little water makes it perfect. and it's a lot easier to be creative - kids' style - outdoors.

the kids are painting. on wood scraps, themselves and each other. then they jump into the little pool. i watch from the shade. assist a bit. what i'm not doing so much these days, is browsing the internet. so no other shades of red today. just more colors...


and thank you so much for all your lovely comments to last weeks cornerview. on a little side note i wanted to let you know that i myself love the fact that my kids enjoy being naked. they are little hippies, i tell you. most days they run around the garden naked too. and they don't seem to bother if everyone else are dressed :) my concern is more to put photos of naked children online. i had a bad experience with that some years ago.

wishing you a colorful week.

this red monday: drinking hibiscus

cold hibiscus tea with lemon, cinnamon and sugar, served with lots of crushed ice. this is what i drink these hot days.

we have some hibiscus bushes around the garden, but i've been buying the dried hibiscus flowers at the market. wonder if i can dry ours myself... guess i can, right?

i made up the recipe as i went along, added sugar and lemon until i liked it. if you want to try a proper recipe, try this one from the lovely 101 cookbooks. here you'll also find this blackberry limenade. a tempting looking, deep red drink.

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other shades of red: the amazing photos from loou including this one with red and pink balloons. and i love these cute alice in wonderland shoes from tiny red.

but lately most of my red came from the light and the sky as the sun has been setting behind our orange trees. no photos of that. i tried, but couldn't do it any justice. so i leave that image to your imagination :)

have a wonderful week!

this red monday: flavors

at the breakfast table. tomato salat with red onions. and red cranberry beans with salt and butter. joined by fresh baked buns and a laughing cow.

a trip to the market. of all the colors, red stands out. chilies, apples, strawberries.

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other shades of red that i love: this amazing marmalade skies necklace (but i already bought the looking glass necklace, so another time).

if you need some redness in your life, then you might want to check out (red).

and, finally, forget about red and sooth your eyes with winged elms and other amazingly soft, white and dreamy photos from bee hives. i wish i could enter one of those photos, just for a moment.

wishing you a dreamy week.

this red monday: painted bird

i got this painting from a dear friend when she moved to hong kong. she makes beautiful art. she used to take care of J and N everyday while i was working. they would spend the day with her and her son, who is just a few month older than they are. i have good memories from that time.

we met in the street and became friends, not only because she's a wonderful person, but also because we had a lot in common: both danish, living in tel aviv, married to lawyers (oi!), and kids the same age.

then we moved to the countryside, and shortly after they moved to hong kong. they visited us a couple of times before they left, like this day back in march, where we took them down to feed the neighbor's horses. we miss them very much!

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other shades of red: these amazing red clogs from swedish hasbeens that i found via skinny laminx. i must admit though, that even though the red clogs are the cutest, my latest obsession after visiting the website is these natural leather peep toes. they have my name written all over them.

this red blouse from tinywardrobe is also absolutely adorable (but no, it wasn't sold to me. wish it had been though :). and this helleristning by julie of moments of perfect clarity is the cutest thing ever.