Wishful Blissful White

White is....

innocence

a ruff on a bird so unique

petals silky soft as a wedding gown 

beautiful even when blemished 

a stunning contrast to an endless inky depth

passing through the wardrobe and then the lamp-post...

further in and deeper still

permission to embark on a journey

into another world.

Joining in with Alicia of Project Alicia and Kristi of Live and Love Out Loud

for the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge.

This week's challenge: white.

Things I'm Loving 18.11.11

It's gonna be a big list this week, so I hope you'll hang on in there with me!

It's that time already
It feels like the annual Christmas parade gets earlier every year. It's always a bit hit and miss holding it in Wellington in mid-November with every day bringing who knows what in the weather department! But we hit it just right this year.

One buddy loved Star Wars...no surprises there!

The other little buddy was completely entranced by everything this year, and spent the whole time peering around people to see what was coming next down the street. What a difference a year makes...last year he clung to us all like a limpet completely nonplussed!

Me....? I loved Kung Fu Panda! Don't you think he looks HUGGABLE...that is if you don't look too closely at his glazed slightly tripped-out looking face!

Hang on...are we playing football or ballet?
After the parade, we headed up to Kelburn school so Noah could show off his new-found biking skills to Jackie and Heidi. I took this series of shots of Mylo playing football, but the boy has some serious ballet moves going on...isn't that a lovely en pointe I spy in the first shot and a few pirouette-style moves in the rest?!

Yum Yum Kids
I was really delighted to win the Yum Yum Kids giveaway that Angela Noelle of Striking Keys held last week. The byline is 'Eating Made Easy' and they have a lovely range of kids products, mainly for eating, and I am super excited to be able to treat a friend's little girl who is turning two soon with these lovely things:

The magnificence of Mod Podge
You crafty gals out there will understand my new love affair with this stuff. And it's a big feature of another Christmas craft activity I've been doing that I'll be showing y'all shortly.

For those not in the know, it's basically the most amazing glue/sealer/finish you can imagine. I used it on fabric to make some colourful jar lids and the finish is amazing. It's like the fabric becomes a second skin on the original jar lid, super tight and with a good solid finish. It's not glue as you know it, not at all sticky - so you don't have to worry about gluing your fingers together...important when you're a muppet like me, it is easy to wipe off, creating a glossy finish over whatever it is you're using, fabric, glass, paper, you name it. Sheesh, I think I should be getting some commission here Mod Podge people!

Knowing it....
I just love this quote I saw on Pinterest last week. I've so been there!

This fluffball
He's been a part of this family for nine years now, and albeit he has been somewhat displaced as the kingpin since the other two stooges came along, but he is still rather lovely and loved by all.

Loved...apart from this time of the year when he leaves fluff balls all round the house at the moment as he sheds his winter coat. They would sure give Simoney's dust bunnies a run for their money!

Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 35mm 1:1.8G
All that is really just long-winded gobbledygook for....eeeeek...I got a new lens! I'd found myself rarely using the shorter lens of the two that came with my camera, so thought it was about time to invest in a fixed lens. To cut a long story short, old lens sold on Trade Me, new lens sourced via a great deal on Amazon, plus Christmas money from my brother equals an almost free swap to my new lens....yeeha!

I love it already. Although if I could get a straight face outta my family to show it off in all its glory, I'd be even happier!

And yep, there are indeed dried bogeys and food all over their faces...it's how we roll!

And what's that....I spy another tongue roller in the family.....man I am seriously in the gene pool minority in this household, not only am I the only girl in the house but I'm also the only blue-eyed, non-tongue rolling, hair twirling member of the family too....I prefer to call it being unique though!

My out-takes did not necessarily show off the lens to its advantage above which called for Plan B: using slightly more co-operative objects instead.

But as I'm sure you'll know I'm unlikely to give up that easily, and had to try again, giving the trigger finger a good workout at Te Papa one afternoon this week....practice makes perfect they say!

Box of fluffies
And last but not least, how LOVELY are these fluffy ducks we spotted on our travels?

Love the little chirrup chirrup sounds they were making as they were following Mother Duck around. I had to laugh at the wayward one stage centre right..there's always one in every family..ha ha!

And here's hoping you're all heading nicely into wind-down mode as the weekend approaches.

Happy weekend one and all!

Linking up all my loving over at this gal's place:

Fruit of the Week: Gentleness - The Quiet Strength

It's not an easy word, that gentleness. 

Does it mean showing weakness? And how is it different to kindness? How can you be meek and gentle without seeming to be ineffectual or worse, a complete push-over? 

To start with, I admit I just thought of gentleness as just another word for being humble - I'm sure in some versions of the Bible, it is called humility rather than gentleness - or is that just me mixing up my passages?!

But now, I realise I haven't really given gentleness a fighting chance. Because actually, there is strength in gentleness. It's not a power struggle dominating kind of strength, but rather a firm, quiet point of view, a slow-to-anger response, and never being too 'important' to do the little things.

Last time I went job hunting, I had a story to tell which I hoped would be a good example of a 'can-do' attitude, that I'd do what it took to get the job done without worrying whether the 'task' was appropriate for the official job title. To illustrate, I shared the story of my role as Finance Manager, where I was reporting directly to the CEO and providing timely financial information to make strategic decisions for the company. The size of the company (which had recently downsized from 40 to 20) meant it now fell to me and my assistant to order the milk, stationery, Friday drinks, tasks which we used to have a whole Administration team to carry out. I even found myself unblocking a toilet early one Monday morning to save the company the cost of a call-out to the plumber. I think it's important never to be too precious about where we find ourselves in life. If we can manage to greet each task with the same degree of enthusiasm and conviction no matter what it is, then we will find less bitter pills to swallow along the way.

There's another story told about a corporal directing three men as they tried to lift a log into place. It was too heavy, but the corporal demanded again and again "All right men, one, two, three, lift!" A man in an overcoat came by and said to the corporal "Why don't you help them?" The corporal pulled himself up to his full height and replied "Sir I am a corporal". Without a word, the man stepped in, and with his help the log went easily into place. The man was George Washington.

Here are some meanings I found for gentleness, some of which really surprised me:

1. Humbleness that does not consider itself too good to do something
2. Restraint coupled with strength and courage
3. Enduring injury with patience and without resentment - being able to take unkind remarks with good nature
4. Having a humble, kind demeanour which calms another's anger
5. Powerful, yet tamed and under control. Like a tamed horse, it's strength is no longer wasted in the wild, but it has been focused in order to fulfill a purpose
6. Conduct on the part of people who have the power to show otherwise - like a king forgiving a servant who has failed at a task, and instead of punishing him, chooses to show kindness and forgiveness.

Gentleness is what allows us to be tender, I mean if we just think for a moment about how big and powerful our God is, bigger even than the universe itself, beyond space and time, and way beyond our mortal comprehension. And yet, He treats us with the utmost tenderness and care. I guess I'd liken it to a human lovingly caring for an ant that has wandered onto our hand by accident. And if that is not a picture of gentleness, I don't know what is!

On the other hand, gentleness is not:

1. A false modesty, or
2. A spineless refusal to stand for anything - that's called being a coward!

There can be no gentleness without, first, love. It is the antidote to all that is cruel in this world.

Why be gentle?
It's not just about do unto others as you would have them do unto you, there is a regenerative aspect to gentleness. Treating people gently brings about restoration, and it protects us in situations where we would otherwise act out maliciously from a sense of anger or injustice.

That is not to say that a gentle person cannot get angry, but rather that a gentle person will be angry:
'on the right grounds, and against the right persons, and in the right manner, and at the right moment, and for the right length of time' (Aristotle)

How can we develop gentleness in our lives?
Sometimes we learn gentleness through God's tender touch in our lives, and at other times through difficult times, through resistance. If we allow ourselves to learn through resistance, we are in fact undergoing a process like the smoothing of a stone where eventually all the hard abrasive edges are worn away, and we are left with a stone that is smooth on all sides, no matter which way it is turned, it feels soft and gentle to the touch in our hands.

If nothing else from this, I've learnt that I need not be afraid that the gentleness of the Spirit means weakness of character, when in fact, it takes strength, God's strength, to be truly gentle in a turbulent world.

How To: Giant Hanging Snowflakes

If there's one thing Pinterest is good for, it's stimulating the mind to possibilities previously unimagined by the limitations of one's own sphere of knowledge and experience.

I had found myself longing for a little more creativity (outside of the photography and writing this blog offers) as the season of celebration and the anticipation of all that glistens draws near.

So back to Pinterest I went, and found myself a few new projects. One immediately appealed to my symmetrical-loving eye. Popsicle sticks, glue, paint, glitter, it doesn't get much easier than this!

So, without further ado, I give you:

The Giant Hanging Snowflake Experience

You'll need:
Popsicle (craft) sticks (one or two packs of 100 from the $2 shop)
Strong glue (u-hu or other glue suitable for wood)
White and red paint
Glitter (red and silver/clear)
Gemstones (for a little extra pizazz)
Red wool and fishing wire
Double sided foam tape (for hanging from the ceiling)

This tutorial makes six different snowflakes of varying sizes based on 3 different centres.

For the star-centred snowflakes:
Start with six sticks (two on each side and glue together) to make an asterisk

Then add two sticks in a triangular shape to join up each of the asterisk edges

Snowflake 1
For the first shape, add another four sticks two long with two more coming out in a V-shape.

Snowflake 2
For the next shape, remove the long stick and create a W-shape with 3 sticks on each star point.

For the hexagon-centred flakes:

Snowflake 3 
Start with the same initial asterisk shape of six sticks but then add six sticks around the outside to form a hexagon. From here you have 3 different shapes you can make.

Take another six sticks and make a longer stick by joining 2 sticks together, and then add a diamond shape on top of this with another four sticks. Attach to the main hexagon shape. Repeat for each of the six sides.

Snowflake 4
Start with the same hexagon but add four sticks shaped like a stick figure man to each side using the mid-point of each hexagon to join to the centre shape.

Snowflake 5
Use the same hexagon centre shape but instead of four sticks, just add on two sticks in a cross shape at the mid-point of each hexagon side.

Snowflake 6
Make a mini asterisk using only three sticks.

Make a separate hexagon shape.

Make a cross shape with two more sticks and join to mini asterisk. Lay hexagon shape on top.

Now comes the fun part!

Paint and Glitter
I painted three snowflakes red and three white (two coats for each snowflake). On the second coat of paint, I painted a small portion of the snowflake at a time and then sprinkled the glitter over the wet paint so it would stick. Although, I must admit, even now we still have a fair amount of glitter strewn through the carpet despite my best endeavours it really does get everywhere!

Once dry, hang up with red wool or clear fishing wire. Be warned, they are quite fragile though, I had to re-glue a few that I accidentally knocked when hanging up.

Finally, ooh and aah at how purty and Christmassy they make the place look. One can never start decorating for Christmas too early I say!

Original tutorial based on Pinterest pin found here.

I'm interested to know too, which snowflake design appeals to you most?