cherry blossom writing set

amazing custom order by isavirtue!

♥ Callah

holga love

I unknowingly first fell in love with holga over at Vero's blogspot, without even really knowing (gasp!) what a holga was. So ignorant. Then, wasting time (I mean, importantly sightseeing) in Montreal at Urban Outfitters, I stumbled upon the lo-fi camera display. It all clicked. THIS was the Holga in all it's glory.

So, I hit up eBay and shall be receiving my new baby in 10-14 days. Beyond excited. Should be interested since I have limited film experience. I'm already planning my next lomo purchase (a Diana+ for those "dreamy" shots), so lets hope I don't suck at film photography. 

I'll leave you with a few holga images from etsy. Click the picture to be taken to the etsy store.

Stay tuned for some shots of my own...

♥ Callah

I absolutely have to reblog this series of photos which I spotted on Splendora.

Check out "The Beauty in the Abandoned" series of photos by photographer Álvaro Sánchez-Montañés for more breathtaking shots of the desert overtaking abandoned houses in the Namib desert. Stunning.


♥ Callah

art imitates life

Have you heard about this yet?

Researchers have found famous artists have kept increasing the size of food portions featured in paintings depicting the Last Supper... They discovered that over the years, meals grew by 69%. As well, the plates were 66% larger and the bread rose by 22%.

On another note... getting the flu is an excellent way to lose 4lbs in a day. Ugh!

♥ Callah

Ok Go!

After watching the new OK Go (RGM version) vid, I had to do some research.

The video is one continuous nearly 4 minute clip, which took engineers about a month and a half to build and test a Rube Goldberg machine to match the audio timing with perfection. Each reset of the machine took about an hour to reset, even with hiring an extra 30 people specifically for that job. It reminds me of a ginormous MouseTrap game board.

Check out The Making Of (1, 2, 3 & 4).
Damian is kinda hot.

video reblogged from RaymitheMinx

♥ Callah

Do something everyday regardless. Nothing will happen unless you first initiate a process of cause and effect. This starts with an action. Reawaken the possibility of possibility. Reawaken it with play. -David Horvitz

♥ Callah

Nuit Blanche

an iPhone photo journey, co-inciding with entry 200!

And the night begins.

I've already shed multiple layers at this point, hence the disheveled look.

Why yes, I am a bit obsessed. SBux for life.

Monopoly with real money. And yes thats the guy from video on trial.

Still got about another hour before we pack in it. Kudos to Annie for driving all the way back to KW after!

The huge CN Tower project. Pulsating lights, up the ENTIRE tower, set to the beat of music.Nice to chill out with a latte and watch.

This was an excellent night. I only wish I had had more nap beforehand!
♥ Callah

It's finally here, after literally months of anticipation.
Cold weather means uggs (yes it's true!), my new trench and my hand-knit scarf. :) I will make a photographic attempt.
♥ Callah

Musee des beaux-arts du Quebec.

I arrived in Quebec City this evening after a long day of travel. Luckily the Quebec-Montreal and Montreal-Ottawa sectors will be much quicker!
Just walking around the city, I've already fallen in love with it! the buildings and old architecture are gorgeous. The fact that I'm on top of a hill makes for stunning views (although not such nice walks up from the train station!)
Not much of the touristy sights were open after 5-6pm, so I headed to the Musee des beaux-arts du Quebec, which is open late on Wednesdays. It was a bonus to find out the permanent collections, revolving around Quebecois artists, is free. That was enough to keep me occupied for the evening! Some snaps:

This was pretty neat- its a video of people holding a mirror, reflecting people viewing the art and trying to stand completely still. It was filmed exactly where the TV is placed, one on each end of the room.

From the Group of Seven- Alexander Young Jackson- "Hillside, St. Tite des Caps"

I loved this fresco. Jean-Paul Riopelle, "L'Hommage a Rosa Luxemburg".

A close up of one of the panels.

Even the light fixtures (ok, singular) were incredible. Claudie Gagnon, "Lustre". Click for larger.

The pic of this is too blurry for me to read. It's titled "Algonquins" but I can't make out the artist!

♥ Callah

Sand Art

Yesterday, I went to the CNE for the first time ever. These are some sand sculptures from the competition. So amazing, and another huge Toronto-scape was being created as we watched!

This one was my personal fave- "Beauty"

This won first place. (click to enlarge and check out his face!)

More on the CNE later!
♥ Callah

Harbourfront Art

I've been busy this week driving the kids my sister usually babysits (nannies?) to the Harbourfront every morning this week for day camp. I took a few minutes this morning to check out the art in the area- it's very cool! This first few pics below are the Simcoe WaveDeck- there are 3 in total along the harbourfront, variations of the same idea (and one more coming). They are quite new, this one being the most recent. I remember reading about this one in the paper a few weeks back so it was cool to experience it myself. They still smell of new lumber- yum!

Turtles are cute (well, the ones that aren't scary), so this is cool.

This is called "Respect", "a photo odyssey celebrating Canada's Boreal Forest"- loads of aerial photographs. It's spread throughout the Harbourfront Centre.
And, this one's for Annie.

♥ Callah

a free all-night contemporary art thing.

Whie being treated very poorly at the bank the other day, I was intrigued when I saw a sign for Nuit Blanche, October 3rd. I googled it and was pleased with the result.

image source: google.

"For one sleepless night experience the city transformed by more than 550 artists for Toronto’s fourth annual sunset to sunrise celebration of contemporary art. Discover art in galleries, museums and unexpected places. From churches and grocery stores to chimney stacks and bus stations, choose from more than 132 installations and chart your own path."

Sounds awesome.

♥ Callah

Off the wall

Read about a cool art installation.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, two brothers have set up a living space above the ground, where they spend 12-14 hours a day. Their one concession is going through the window into the art gallery they are hanging off of to us the facilities. Cool!



♥ Callah

amazing image

This photograph is in my history text for summer, and I think it's amazing. It shows the true strength of the Vietnamese. Captioned: A Cambodian guerrilla is carried to an improvised operating room in a mangrove swamp in this Viet Cong haven on the Ca Mau Peninsula (1970). This scene was an actual medical situation, not a publicity setup. Photograph by Vo Anh Khanh © National Geographic Society

♥ Callah

my forever art

Ok, by request!
My tatts from oldest to newest, and why they're there.
Centaur- Saggitarius. I found this in the horoscopes section of a teen girl magazine and had the artist modify it to my liking. I was 16! I didn't realize it was so worn looking, it doesn't photograph well. it's on my low back (7 years old) and I tend to forget about it! The artist went to jail for being involved in a high speed police chase for crack posession. Nice.

My palm tree (left hip). I actually drew this myself based on a perfume logo. Thanks, Avon. I love tropical places so this reminds me of my "happy place".

Birds in Flight. This one was a google image of real birds! I LOVE travel, and these birds symbolize travel and freedom to me.

Lastly, my family tree (ok, vine). I also designed this one (and my artist freehanded the awesome vines). Each flower represents my immediate family, and their birthstones- we have a lot of September babies! The bigger flowers are my rents, then my siblings, and I'm last since I'm the baby. I got this a week before I went on my backpacking trip- my bro got the Chinese symbol for family at the same time. Some of it is faded thanks to lots of walking during the healing phase.

Steve at Stigmata in Guelph did both of my foot tatts and I will never go to anyone else again! His work has held up the best by far.

Hope you like! If you don't... whatever lol. I love em!
♥ Callah

Man donates skin.

Ran across an interesting odd article about an Aussie man covered in tattoos.

I'm a big fan of tattoos as an art form, and this man has pledged to donate his tattooed skin to the National Gallery (in Canberra, unfortunately one of the places I never stayed to visit) when he dies. Pretty weird, but cool at the same time. (I mean, if you've ever seen one of those Bodies exhibition...)
The design is a "Sydney garden", based on unique local plants you'd find there.

♥ Callah

A sample of NYC

Thought I'd quickly share the tiniest sample of a few things I've seen in NYC.

Cherry Blossoms in Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

I think I must have taken a million photos in the MoMA today. Amazing!!
Monet- Water Lilies
Picasso- Three Musicians
Van Gogh- this portrait of a postman was the "replacement" for starry night, which is currently touring. DISAPPOINTMENT!
Andy Warhol- Campbell's Soup Cans. I never noticed they were all different types before- never looked closely before!

Just not enough time- I will definitely have to come back. (Surprise! :P) Didn't get around to the Top of the Rock when the weather was still nice and dry. Nor the Museum of Natural History!

More to come... including a few purchases!
♥ Callah

Step II.

Some pics of new accessories for my new (old) room.


This is a Vietnamese silk lantern purchased in Hoi An, Vietnam. An amazing bargain!


My cherry blossom wall decals.


Old frames- I'm looking for new pics to update them.


My newly pink (Big Tease- Debbie Travis) wall and curtains: Ikea.


My cherry blossom bedside lamp and funky alarm clock. I haven't figured out how to make it work... it's more for show. Both: Ikea.


The light.


My jewellery tree and wine-glass earring holder which I came up with.


The jewellery tree: Urban Outfitters. Jewellery: Mostly random markets in Asia.


Wine glass: Ikea. Earrings: Australia (Diva), some handmade, others: various.

A few more to come... and soon, the final outcome! (Once I've cleared out all the old junk!)

♥ Callah