And the winner is....

A huge thank you to all of my loyal customers, friends, and fans who entered the Earth Day Giveaway contest. The lucky winner receives a custom tangle necklace made to their own specifications. Everyone who made a purchase from t8designs in 2010 was given three chances to win. Commenting on the original blog post or becoming a fan on facebook was a way for both customers and non-customers to earn another chance to win.
Everyone's name was then printed out (1,2,3,4 or 5 times) and placed in the proverbial hat. Arthur Lyman's "Kon Tiki" played softly in the background....and the winner is:



Amy!! who runs the wonderful company & blog EveryLittleCounts. Be sure to check out her fantastic designs and musings on love, life, and style!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and be sure to keep an eye on the blog because I had such fun doing this giveaway that I'm already planning some future giveaways!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

GIVEAWAY! - Custom Tangle Necklace

To celebrate our lovely customers and fans...t8designs is holding a CUSTOM TANGLE NECKLACE GIVEAWAY!!!

The winner will receive a tangle necklace (value $75-$90) made to their specifications (colors/metals/beads/length, etc.).

The tangle necklaces are made with vintage beads, chains, and findings so they are a wonderfully eco-friendly way to celebrate Earth Day!

If you have already made a purchase from t8designs this year (2010) you are automatically entered with 3 chances to win in the contest. If you have not made a purchase this year, you may enter by leaving a comment on this blog post or by adding t8designs to your fanpages on Facebook. Each blog comment and fanpage request will garner you 1 chance to win (total of 2 chances for those who have not purchased anything this year).

Please feel free to browse the tangled section of the shop as well as the sold listings to see additional examples of the tangle designs you could request.

Thank you so much for your support and I look forward to collaborating with the winner on a wild statement piece!

The winner will be announced on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd.

lifecycle of a t8designs necklace

just found out about this google search story generator...too fun to pass up!

queuing for the toilet at the bar

at 3am at the packed bar i guess we all feel and look a bit like dead flies...



really loving Magnus Muhr's dead flies series...here's a video compilation of the macabre and hilarious photos

It Rains

Guillaume Apollinaire presents a concrete poem

Il Pleut (It Rains)

it is raining women’s voices as if they were dead even in memory
you also are raining down marvelous encounters of my life o little drops
and these rearing clouds are beginning to whinny a whole world of auricular towns
listen to it rain while regret and disdain weep an old fashioned music
listen to the fall of all the perpendiculars of your existence



expression. placement. movement. perfection

in praise of Lampyridae

With the warmer weather upon us, I cannot wait until the fireflies return! Like most children, I delighted in chasing after their intermittent beacons of light in my younger years and despite the desire to keep them close, never captured them for keeps. My appreciation of insects and spiders has always been high- they were captured with dixie cups and released back into "nature" when I found them in the house and not squished. But it wasn't until I was 22 years old and wandering around the Garden for the Blind one night around 3am with a certain fella that my fascination with fireflies hit a fevered pitch. We discovered a glowworm (firefly larvae) nesting area. The little glowing nuggets were scattered all over the ground like fairy dust or stars that had fallen to earth. I scooped up a handful of dirt & glowworms and I felt like a prospector at Sutter's Mill. Who needs gold when you can have the glory of nature in your hand?

Cyclone Season is Coming!!

It's official! Mark your calendars kids because the 2010 Coney Island Cyclone Season begins next Sunday, March 28th promptly at noon.

One of the greatest (well at least one of the most innocent) thrills to be had in the borough of Brooklyn, the Cyclone is not to be missed. Sure it's old. Yes, it creaks. THAT'S why it's so fun. Of course, some of the bloom has faded with the departure of Astroland a few years ago. And I'd much prefer a ride on the Cyclone AND a stroll through Luna Park...alas I'd need a time machine for that thrill...

Dulce Et Decorum Est

I recently acquired this bizarre postcard that dates to World War I featuring a training corps of soldiers wearing gas masks. The image caught my attention due to my interest in World War I - specifically my minor obsession with the war poets. Some of these young men eagerly joined the armed services romantically thinking they would be doing their duty and embarking on a worthy campaign that may not have a favorable outcome ala The Charge of the Light Brigade made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The horrors of the trenches on the Western Front ended the "romantic" notion of war once and for all. Nearly 100 years have passed since these soldiers took up arms against the Kaiser and for all that was learned during that conflict, warfare has become even more terrifying with each passing year. It seems that the smarter the world becomes in terms of science and strategy, the more we lose our humanity. I created this necklace as a talisman against war in our time:



Inspired specifically by
Wilfred Owen, and his 1917/18 poem:

Dulce Et Decorum Est


Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

support your local library!

I love libraries!! I do admit though to being thoroughly overwhelmed when I enter them. SO many books, SO little time! If only I could learn through osmosis...

My local library, like so many around the country and world, operates a small shop to raise funds for its upkeep and expansion. This small shack is a treasure trove of discarded books - both donated and those removed from circulation. I try to stop by each and every week to peruse the new arrivals and recently was thrilled to find this stunning two edition set of Scripture Natural History from the mid 19th Century. Not only are the books bound in green (my favorite color) leather, they contain a treasure trove of colored plates depicting all of the animals mentioned in the Bible. The plates are gorgeous and the informational blurbs are quite astute given the time in which they were written. I have yet to read through them but am going to go for "an animal a day" goal.

I picked these up at the library store for a fraction of their estimated value and am thrilled every time I spy them on my bookshelf. More importantly, the library raised some much needed funds.




So be sure to inquire at your local branch as to whether they hold books sales, if you can donate unwanted books to their fund-raising cause, or offer to do some investigative work for them regarding items that have been donated. My two editions were marked down quite a bit from when they were first donated. But a volunteer had kindly included some bibliographic reference material inside the cover for the future owner's (ME!) reference.


Here are some of the plates.



The Saint Bernard (I adore this picture because it reminds me of the fantastic French animated show Belle et Sebastien from the early 1980s)







The Red and Black Squirrel (note: the Victorian-era book was printed in England when the Gray American variety had not yet invaded creating an environmental nightmare.

I used to have two black squirrels that lived in my yard and I have no idea why but they are about 1,000 times more adorable in both looks and movement than the grays..





The huge and frightful Cassowary (native to the islands of New Guinea and Australia). This mammoth bird (3rd in size behind the Emu and Ostrich) it was referenced in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Most Dangerous Bird"









And lastly...the arachnids...I've blogged about my "Arachnophilic" tendencies before...but I love spiders, and spider webs...haven't seen a Scorpion outside of a contained environment and I hope never to have that experience but they are incredibly fascinating...

springing forward & lightening up...

it's hard to believe that only a month ago there were approximately 50 inches of snow on the ground. thankfully it's melted and spring is peeking through.
time to lighten up and look forward to warmer and sunnier days. i've been working on new photos for the shop and am surprised at how much my mood has improved after jettisoning the darker images.

all i want for easter

I have NO idea why I never knew about these massive bunnies before. They are known as British or Continental Giant Rabbits and with good cause...because they are massive! Look at this fella! Now some of you may know my dog Murphy the Irish Setter who tops the scales at nearly 70lbs...but i think this giant bun could give him a run for his money...
of course, Murphy decided to take a nap whilst curled up in a ball in the shower last night so we know he's a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
I'd like to see these two go on a picnic. And that's really All I Want for Easter.

(pssst...wake up Murphy...I've got a surprise for you!)

j'adore Loie!!!!!!!!!

some suggest that her dancing was simply an illusion... that her skills as a dancer were not really up to snuff...that her enchantment of fin de siècle Paris was more of a parlor trick than true talent...but I beg to differ. Loie Fuller twirled off the precipice of modern dance while the others simply teetered on the edge. She infused dance with mystery and sensuality and became a muse to Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre Roche amongst many others. Her light and fabric show was a multi-media extravaganza when there were only a few "media" to unite. This "Electric Salome" has been a favorite of mine for years...but this chilly winter she is the inspiration behind a new line to debut shortly at t8designs...stay tuned!

happy new year!