Paisley St Claire

Housewives Tarot

I'm not a superstitious person. I've never really cared for Friday the 13th, black cats or fortune telling but this looks like fun. Besides, its worth buying for the retro styling alone.

Housewives Tarot is a cute little boxed set of 78 tarot cards, a 96 page instruction booklet and retro recipe cards. So you can learn make Madame Marlena's Mystical Martinis while reading your friend's future.

The website also has nifty desktop wallpapers. Follow the links on the website to buy or head to Amazon  where the Housewives Tarot has received some great reviews.

For those interested in graphic design, this set was made by the creative retro geniuses at Headcase Design.

Young Me - Now Me

There's only one thing funnier than looking at someone's daggy baby pictures and that is to see them pull the same pose now. At Color Wars you can join in the global game of Young Me - Now Me. Some fantastic examples are below:

I'd love to recreate the photo of me aged about 6, wearing a bright blue tracksuit, rainbow coloured knee and elbow pads, rollerskates and a stackhat. Hot!

If you're not into self-humiliation pop over to the Color Wars website and waste some time laughing at other people. I particularly love the ones where they've got their parents (obviously now in their 60s or 70s) to help recreate the photo.

This hilarious find via Daily Candy.

Design a Dr Martens Boot

A little while ago I posted about the DIY Converse shoes (see here). Well, I've found more DIY shoe fun! Dr Martens are running a competition where you design a boot, either the 8-hole (1460) or 14-hole (1914), everyone votes for a winner and then it is put into production and shipped all around the world.

Here's the one I whipped up in a couple of minutes just using the design tools on the site.  Its an homage to  my youth, when we wore cherry red docs, rode freestyle pushbikes and BMXs and listened to Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

You can upload your own artwork. I'd love to see a Helen Dardick or Jenn Ski Dr Marten boot.

Got to the Dr Martens website and have a play. If you'd like to vote for my  'Radicycle' boot click here.

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day today. Lest we forget.

Image from National War Memorial (NZ).

Design Book Magazine

Clear your virtual coffee table, there's a new glossy mag out thats worth a look.

The first issue of Design Book Magazine launched this week covering architecture, interiors, products, fashion and travel. This super-slick e-mag gives a glimpse at, lets face it, places and things that you and I may never see in real life. For example:

I liked the global content and the strong eco-flavour. Also, they are looking for contributors, so if you're a writer, designer or photographer you could be a part of it. Check out Design Book Magazine, its free.   

Mothers Need a Little Love

I've often heard people say that being a mother is the hardest job in the world (well, I've heard Oprah say that heaps of times). And I often wonder whether childless people actually believe that. I'm sure that before I had children I probably thought 'how hard can it be?'. Well, I've had some pretty stressful jobs so I feel qualified to make an opinion on this. I can assure you that while being a mother is not hard all of the time (you're right, watching Sesame Street and building a rocket out of Lego is pretty cruisey) there are moments, or even days, when no paid job could ever be as difficult as being the mum.

Yesterday, was such a day for me. I am convinced that if an adult treated me the way my 4 year old son treated me yesterday, it would be considered mental and/or emotional torture. And it seems that the 1 year old has become his terrorism accomplice - working in tandem to create maximum chaos. I will spare you the gory details - I don't want to put anyone off having children - but suffice to say that yesterday I would have preferred to be working for that egotistical, chauvinist, slave-driver I used to be employed by. I know some mothers have darling, wonderful children who never do anything wrong but there are those of you out there who know exactly what I am talking about. And its for us that this book was written:

Porn for New Moms from the Cambridge Women’s Pornography Cooperative knows exactly how to hit the mum's pleasure spot. With phrases (and accompanying images) like:

Look! She loves the sound of the vaccuum cleaner. And you should see her light up when I damp mop!

Damn! You look hot in those sweatpants!

Don't worry, honey. Your mother and I will take wonderful care of the baby while you and your girlfriends are at the spa.

I told my boss I have to leave at 3:00 every afternoon so I can come home and give you a break.

Now, remember, it's my turn to do the midnight feeding, so don't get up!

There's no nudity in this book but who needs it when it says all the right things? I bet we all know someone who could use this book. Porn for New Moms is available from Uncommon Goods, Amazon and Chronicle Books.

And please, no comments about being a bad mother or whatever. I've suffered enough.

Earth Hour

I almost forgot, show your support for the fight against global warming by taking part in Earth Hour and you'll be beautiful like Natalie Imbruglia. Well, maybe not but its still worth doing.

"On March 31 2007, for one hour, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world. In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour."

All you need to do is switch your lights off for an hour at 8pm on Saturday 29th March 2008. For further details check out the Earth Hour website.

Thanks!

I was very excited to see my little blog on Desire to Inspire's Easter reading guide.  Hi to everyone who has come for a look and those who have left lovely comments. Thanks Jo!

Lola bag (BXL6018).

Shoe Lovers, be afraid...

Now, you might think that museums can be pretty boring. What about a shoe museum, bit more interesting? The Virtual Shoe Museum is a fascinating, albeit a bit scary, place. At the museum you can search  for shoes based on colour, style, designer, material and shoe type.  These are not your average pumps though, here's a little selection.

Okay, so those shoes are pretty different, but what about these from the extreme section:

The cat one (top right) is giving me nightmares... but I had to share.

Grumpy Old Man?

The pillow on the left is called 'Grumpy Old Man Pillow' and it was made by Milwaukee based designers Magic Pony Farm. For those who don't recognise him, the man on the right is John Howard, he was the Prime Minister of Australia for 12 years.

The resemblance is remarkable! Any John-Howard-lovers out there should snap this pillow up quick smart.

The Grumpy Old Man Pillow is available at Magic Pony Farm's etsy store for only US$30. The part I love the best is MPF's description of the pillow:

This silly old man would be a funny addition to any living area. Just picture him in the morning scolding you for wearing a too reveling outfit or demanding that he get to read the newspaper first.

I can just imagine a Young Liberal cuddling up to this at night.

Picture credit: Photo of John Howard by Mike Stone