a cluster of links

Off for the weekend! Enjoy the links!

+ Lovely Valentine art inspired by stories around the world.

+ Huge pom-poms galore!

+ You might've read this one. The new Starbucks size, Trenta, is bigger than your stomach. I've only had Venti (Signature Hot Chocolate!) once. I think that Venti is quite huge in itself.

+ I applaud their patience. :O Oh man, look at this one.

+ Domino's FTW.

+ How they made The Tale of the Three Brothers from Harry Potter. I loved the style of the animation sequence.

+ Lion necklace from Modcloth!! Love, love!! I'm going to scout for these in local jewellery stores.

+ a print a day. Oodles of inspiration.

+ How my handwriting has changed since kindergarten.

+ Chocolate cake in a mug.

I also have a few backlogged DIY's. I'll get to hopefully post them when a camera comes along? :(

Psst. If you've missed earlier cluster of links, click here! I try to post a few really good links every Friday. :)

Peppermint Tea

Oh man. Remind me never to get Peppermint tea again. I got reeled in by the beautifulness of its box and the reputation of the brand (yeah, I've had it before, yeah, I didn't much like it). I should know better! Gahhh!

Has it ever happened to you? You just love the advertising/packaging/overall design so much, you just buy the product?! Even though you don't need it?

For those of you not studying Graphic Design, Marketing, or anything related to this, you might want to read how stores use science to make you buy things you don't need. (It's a link to Cracked.com, and I must warn you that it is a super addictive website!)

stop motion goodness.

Sometimes, these link lists delude me into thinking that I'm done blogging for the week. LOL.

Anyway, I came across this video on facebook (thanks, Kunal). Had to share:

Just got the timetable for this year! Eep! University starts in just a little over a month! :O

a cluster of links

Yeah, a lot of blogs do these link lists, and I thought, instead of just bookmarking good links, why not share them!? I dunno how the other blogs manage to find heaps of links every week, but I can atleast share what I find here! Do you like it? Should I continue with these?

+ Bird goodness. I have a jar like this that I store my pink and cream lace in. It looks so darn pretty!

+ An interview with Voldemort. (via Just Me)

+ Life-sized sculptures. Underwater.

+ Thank goodness I'm still a Libra!

+ A couple of weeks ago, I made a face and threw away our strawberries that had gone mouldy. How did I not realise that mould can actually be so mesmerising!

+ Um. Salt art. It's a bit intense but amazingly intricate. (via designcrush)

+ This made me smile.

+ Have you seen this show?! So 90s.

+ Buzzy. And beautiful. (via designcrush)

+  Concrete and Honey. Super sweet blog that I'm following!

p.s.: Hahaha, yes, all of my scheduled posts are either at 11:11am or 11:11pm :D

Rainbow Cake???

So the last time I tried it, it didn't really work out as I wanted it to... ahem... anyway, I'm really quite inspired to give it a go again.

Here's the recipe.

p.s.: I've been making some rather lovely hair clips, and I would so love to post them here... I need to find a camera and get snapping!

New look

Hello there! You may have seen the Shabby Blogs notice on the left this past week. Long story short, they switched servers, and I had to get the code for the background again. Which is when I noticed that my old yellow background had retired. They no longer have it. And hence it was time for a new look!! But, really, apart from a few colour changes, everything's the same :)

Do you like it? :D

- Shabby backgrounds

- This is where I got my hex codes (for the colours) from.

a cluster of links

Due to super slow internet, I am not really able to blog as much as I would like... but I'll try to post something soooon! :) Meanwhile, do enjoy the cluster of links that I came across, this week!

+ Wow-i-fying Intel ad:

+ Magical!

+ I so want to take at least one photo like this!

+ Balloons!

+ Toy Story 2... Batman style.

+ Robin's Egg Blue prettyness!

+ Things like this make Chemistry fun :D (check out more videos on their channel if you like)

Hand Animation

It's crazy how much work goes into an animated movie! 24 drawings per second! :)

Lemon Curd; the cooking part

I told you earlier that I would be making some Lemon Curd, which I did, yesterday. I think that it's turned out good for a first time try, although if I were to make it again, I would add some more sugar (... or less lemon juice ... it's just trial-and-error!). Other than that, it is quite similar to the one we bought. Here's the recipe that I followed, and I've written it out if ya wanna copy+paste+print it!

Lemon Curd:

You will need:

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons) + 1 tbsp of lemon zest (I added more 'cos I love lemon zest)/

3 eggs, lightly beaten (yup the white and the yolk)/

1 cup of sugar/

1/4 cup butter/

The preparation:

- Melt the butter over a double boiler.

- After the butter is melted, add all the sugar and mix properly with a whisk. Let the sugar granules dissolve.

- Add the eggs and mix it. 

- Add the lemon juice, followed by the lemon zest.

- Mix everything, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

- Remove from the heat, and pour it through a strainer to make sure you don't get bits of curdled egg in your lemon curd!

- Keep it aside and let it cool. It will thicken as it cools.

- Spread it on bread or scones, use it as a pie-filling, or if you're like me, take a spoon and start nibbling! ;)

Notes:

- With the zest, you don't want the white part. It's bitter.

- I didn't want to lose any of the lemon zest, so I didn't strain the curd. Puny bits of (scrambled) egg wasn't that much of a problem as there were only a couple, which could be easily taken out by a spoon.

- I was just telling mum that this would be a good gift for Secret Santa's!

Ahhh, this recipe by Gordon Ramsay looks especially scrumptious! So tantalising!

a cluster of links

Below is a cluster of cool clickables (hahaha, I couldn't avoid that alliteration!) that I came across, this week:

+ A set of extremely beautiful macro photography. I could stare at this for hours. :D

+ What do creative people do with newspapers? This.

+ Artwork using unusual media.

+ Awhh ♥ (via).

+ Ashley Meaders has a fun job. :D

+ Yes, I made a tasseled (is that even a word?!) garland out of tissue paper to decorate our living room. This is one step beyond garlands!!

+ A dose of fire hydrants!

+ Oh yum, letterpress chocolate!

+ Milk Bottle Art.

+ They should have this instead of stop signs!

1/1/11

I hope that all of you have an ah-mazing, happy, and safe new year! Do you make resolutions? I'm making a few (this is a first for me!). And woohoo, this is the year I graduate!

(new years' announcement designed by me)