Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Home Quotes and Cottages

Paci

'Peace' in Sicilian, spoken in Italy


Andrea Del Verrocchio, an Italian Sculpturer


Well, I have been trying to write this blog for 3 days now.
Seriously, does anyone have any ideas?
The load time is incredibly slow.
We have run scans for cookies, trojans, etc.
Nada.

Oh well, let's see how much I can get in today!
I have sooooo many pictures of beautiful cottages,
and found a treasure trove of wonderful quotes!
Let's goooooo......!!!!

stucco cottage



"Home is the nicest word there is."

- Laura Ingalls Wilder


Just a reminder, I have many photos that I have found no credit for.
If you know of photo credits, or names or places of these wonderful cottages,
please let me know.

'Cabin in the Woods' Rock Painting by www.mygardenrocks.etsy.com


"If I ever go looking
for my heart's desire again,
I won't look any further
than my own back yard.
Because if it isn't there,
I never really lost it to begin with."


- L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz



'Fantasy Inn'

Let's cut out some wonderful Victorian homes!
Here are a few patterns from the discontinued books
by BackStreet Designs.





Notice that you can cut out individual houses, or cut them in a row
like the pattern shows.
As extra bonus, you get the wonderful stained glass pattern below them!
:0)



'Tree House'

'Whimsical Fairy House' found on etsy


"The same sun that rises over castles
and welcomes the day
Spills over buildings into the streets
where orphans play
And only You can see the good
 in broken things
You took my heart of stone,
and You made it home
And set this prisoner free."


- Bethany Dillon

10awesome.com



Although today's blog is shorter than I usually do,
I hope you have enjoyed it!
Off to have lunch with Michael, he's taking the day off!
:0)

inkspired

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Elephant Enlightenment

Pas

'Peace' in the Ticino/Lombard language, spoken in Switzerland


a Swiss paperdoll collage, OrigamiBears

I never quite know what I am going to blog about until I actually start writing it!
Today appears to be an
ELEPHANT DAY!!

I have loved elephants for as long as I can remember.
I can stand at the zoo for quite a long time and just watch them.
Some day, I am going to be able to touch one.
That would be super super cool!
Here in the Denver metro area, the Denver Zoo has just opened their
'Elephant Passage' area.
It is quite huge, and will be able to accommodate several bulls,
as well as the matriarchal females.
It also features many animals in larger, more true-to-life settings from Asia.
Our tapir has a new friend, and a decent enclosure finally.

Denver Zoo Elephant Passage

here are some Toyota Elephant Passage info/facts: 

Some of the animals in the new Passage include:
Malayan Tapirs
Gibbons
Fruit bats
Elephants
Clouded Leopards
Rhinos
Flying Fox
Sarus Cranes

an iris folded card by J. Bergkaarten

Some things that make this new exhibit so special:

a biomass gasification system that uses -
elephant poo!!
It converts more than 90% of the zoo's waste
(includes animal waste and human trash)
into usable energy to power the exhibit!
I think that is very cool.
It also eliminates 1.5 MILLION POUNDS of trash from landfills
on a yearly basis.

Wow.

a 45 year old bull with baby 'Baylor', Houston Zoo

But wait, there's more!

The Toyota Elephant Passage has a state-of-the-art water filtration system.
It recycled most of the 1.1 MILLION GALLONS
of water that runs through the exhibit.
The recycled water is then used in the irrigation system and animal exhibits
(think moats, ponds, etc.)


Toyoto Elephant Passage, Denver Zoo, www.denver.org

But wait....there's even more good news!!!

Natural lighting with skylights and windows decrease electric lighting.
The Zoo also uses Solatube,
a system that reflects sunlight to provide natural light.
and
a no-maintenance, radiant heating rather than forced air
to keep the residents, and their human visitors, comfortable,
even through our cold winters.

Elephant in an elephant scherensnitte cutting
by susanne

Extra monitoring systems help to make the indoor air healthy,
and low-VOC carpets, paints, coatings and adhesives were used to build it.

SUPER!!


Here are some really cool (I think)
ELEPHANT FUN FACTS and TRIVIA:

The Asian elephant weighs an average 11,500 pounds.

They can be on average 18 - 21 feet long.

The Asian Elephant is the largest land mammal in the world.

With only some 350,000 wild elephants left,
extinction is very possible by the end of this decade.
That's like 2020 folks.


Let's take a look at just the elephants in Thailand.

Since 1993 the Asian elephant population in Thailand
has gone from 40,000 to less than 2,600 left in captivity.

The remaining elephants are often overworked, abused,
exported to zoos around the world,
and disfigured by forgotten landmines along the Thai borders.

There is this neat lady
Soraida Salwala
that opened the World's First Asian Elephant Hospital
in Lampang, Thailand (1993)
An unheard of thing!

Thailand, November 2011
a mahout and elephant in the Loy Krathong Festival
for the Goddess of the River

Her story starts out with an injured elephant lying on the side of the road,
when she was 8 years old. It had been hit by a truck.
Her family drove past, and a gunshot was heard.
Her father told her "Uncle Elephant is in heaven now."
She wanted to know why, if the elephant was hurt,
he couldn't go to the hospital.

Not getting an answer she liked,
the Asian Elephant Hospital was opened.
It is operated by the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE).
To date, Ms. Salwala and her staff have treated
over 3,000 elephants.
These elephants were injured with everything from
knife wounds,
gunshot wounds,
broken bones
and landmine accidents
to eye infections
and drug addictions.
The Asian Elephant Hospital has even made prosthetic limbs
for elephants mangled by landmine accidents.

A commendable woman;
a commendable Elephant Hospital.

Thai mahouts and their elephants in the annual Loy Krathong Festival,
Ayutthaya province, 11/2012.

Let's have a little elephant fun!


an African elephant, www.color-Your-Own.com
by OrnaArtHeart - here is the exact etsy addy:
Another beauty from Orna's hands:
circa 1848, 'Jullien's Elephant Polka'


original collage, www.meganacoyle.etsy.com

 I have lots more elephant fun,
but blogspot/yahoo is being super slow now,
so I need to close before my blood pressure goes up!

See you soon!!!

inkspired

Here are some of the resources I used in this blog:

Saturday, July 21, 2012

More Fairytale Cottages

Phyongh'wa

'Peace' in South Korean

Traditional wedding costumes paper dolls for Mexico and Korea


Today is another fantasy, fairytale kind of day!
It's 101 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
Sunny with no clouds or chance of rain...
I'd say it's high time for a little fairy-tale dreaming!

Fairy tale Toad House, http://www.claysoul.etsy.com/

I have had way too much fun looking at way cool cottages
with fairies, elves and such.
So naturally, I have to share with you!


'Brighton's Fairy House'

Just as I said yesterday, I don't have much if any information on many
of the fairy cottages that I found.
If you know of a name, or where they are located,
please drop  me a note so I can credit the photos.
Thanks!


I adore the look of a thatched roof!
I understand they need a fair amount of upkeep, and replacement every so many years. So, they would be ideal to rent!!!
I've always wondered what the bug factor is with them?

rounded thatched roof, http://www.cdn.home-designing.com/


"Come fairies, take me out of this dull world,
for I would ride with you upon the wind
and dance upon the mountains
like a flame!"

- W. B. Yeats



unknown source, probably Dover Books

'Commoner's Quarters', www.mygardenrocks.etsy.com


'Storybook House' is 12 inches high

I found some great vintage fairytale house type paper dolls,
many of them from OrigamiBears, but also gathered elsewhere.





'Moreland Cottage, 1785'

"Misty Green" stamped scene by Stampscapes


Solebury Township, Cottage with 1788 additions


'Congratulate yourselves
if you have done something strange
and extravagant
and broken the monotony
of a decorous age.'

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


cottage circa 1958



cottage in Giethoorn, Netherlands

a European Farm House, historical


"Don't let weeds grow around
your dreams."

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
from 'Life's Little Instruction Book, Volume II'


Hansel and Gretel Cottage in the Forrest


'Neighbors' stamped scene using Stampscapes stamps


'Witch Cottage', circa 1920's, California


This next one just cracks me up.
A fine example of scherensnitte!


'Queen of the Double Wide' hand cut by http://www.lisoloo.etsy.com/


'Blue Moon Gnome Home', from etsy but I'm sorry I don't have the exact addy.


you can purchase this at: http://www.artputz.etsy.com/
Charming!


"Between every two pines
is a doorway to a new world."

- John Muir

With that, I bid you good-day!
See you soon!!

inkspired

"Broccoli Butterflies Wood Sprite"
original Collage Art Doll by inkspired