orange conspiracy

Not sure what's going on... but my last six sales from my etsy shop this past month coincidentally have all been orange wood burned panels... and all to different buyers from all over! Ohhhhh... its like an orange conspiracy... heehee. Perhaps it's the hot new color for spring and this is a not so subtle message to me to make more orange things!

nha trang pics

The final installment of our Vietnam holiday photos... this batch from our recent time in Nha Trang, a beach city with aqua water, sandy beaches and umbrella drinks.

The view from the plane flying into Nha Trang.
My lazy attempt at a photo, while relaxing and resting under an umbrella on my beach chair... sigh, I wish I were there now!
Preparing sugar cane on a side street. There are street vendors that have sugar cane presses that basically juice the canes and sell the yummy sugary drinks.
View of the city at night.
The band on our small boat tour, which also happened to be the crew, the guides and the cooks. The drums were made out of plastic containers and wood. My husband Roger got dragged up to the front for a karaoke version of "Yellow Submarine" with the band (unfortunately, I have been forbidden to share this video with anyone).
The "floating bar"... notice the bartender pouring glasses of wine in the middle. Our boat (which was generally full of 20 and 3o somethings) was joined by another boat, a seniors' tour from Denmark -- I have never seen a bunch of seniors party harder!
A giant tranquil Buddha on a lotus overlooking the city.

collage: craft thoughts

I am so excited... the craft collective I am a part of, Hob Snobs Craft Collective, has been accepted to participate in the popular One of a Kind show this coming October in Vancouver! This will be my first large trade show. I have only done smaller craft shows in the past, so am a tad nervous... gulp. I guess now I have more reason to get brainstorming on those crafty ideas and kick start production!

decor8

I woke up yesterday morning and found one of my little collages "catching butterflies", featured on Decor8's Favorite 8! How exciting! I am a big fan of  Holly's blog... so much eye candy, inspirational and beautiful things featured daily, and many familiar etsians as well. Check out the posting here.

hoi an pics 2

Ok... so I guess we did take quite a few photos on our trip.... only two more small batches to post.. I promise! These are a few more from Hoi An and the surrounding areas.

This was the giant Buddha on our excursion to the Marble Mountains... basically a set of mountains made of natural marble with caves/caverns that contain several temples. I am still grateful I did not slip and fall and crack my skull in some of the tight spots we had to scurry through.
The Japanese Bridge in Hoi An, one of the main attractions in the old town.
Oh yes... it's SuperBono!... I guess his do-gooder persona spans the globe! This was in one of the local bars.
Rice workers in a field.
The local marketplace... if you can believe it... scooters try to drive through here too.
One of the temples at the Marble Mountains.
Champa ruins at My Son, which is in the jungles of Vietnam. There were swarms of people there... not an easy feat, but I managed to get a few people-free shots. :)

collage: ceci n'est pas une pipe

My ode to surrealist René Magritte's painting "Ceci n'est pas une pipe"... I couldn't resist when I found this vintage image of a pipe. I don't smoke, but I find it strange that with the amount of people who do smoke, very few have taken up the old fashioned pipe... it smells a whole lot better than cigarettes or cigars.

hoi an pics

Some more photos from our Vietnam trip... this time images from Hoi An, a small town near the centre of Vietnam. Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site, the old town was quite and serene.

A view from the water. 
The view from our hotel balcony overlooked a rice paddy field... so every morning we would watch the local farmers tend to their crops.
One of Hoi An's specialty goods are their lanterns. At night there are rows of vendors along the streets all lit up with these colorful lanterns... it's quite mesmerizing in person, hard to capture in the picture.
There were a lot of merchants walking around town selling their wares... food and bottled drinks mostly. There were also a high ratio of tailor shops (you can see one in the background)... they would make anything you wanted custom fit... no joke - show them a picture of your fave designer dress in a magazine, and one day later you'll have it ready to go for a bargain.
There were an abundance of temples in the town too... at times, it almost felt like more temples than people.
Rows of spiral incense hanging from the ceiling of a local buddhist temple.
Rows and rows of cyclos lined up and ready to shuttle tourists around the town... only big tour groups seemed to ride them... we didn't end up riding one since everything was actually very close on foot ...they seemed more for novelty than practicality. Another batch of pics coming soon!