Handmade Streetscape

This reminds me of when I had to make little houses and buildings in art class in elementary school.

One time we took glass bottles and put clay around them to look like Gaudi's buildings in Spain.

Our bottle buildings didn't actually look this cool. But it did broaden my world view.

The houses we built focused more on the interior rather than the exterior. I don't think we ever put the houses together but it would have been cool to have put them side by side like a neighborhood. 

Inside a String Instrument

My first impression was that this was the inside of a concert hall. But then I realized it was the inside of a string instrument. I'm not sure if it's a violin, viola, cello, or a bass. 

It takes me back to the days when I used to play the violin. I'd peek inside it and see the paper label inside. I'd look at all the lines, the spacing of the tree rings, marvel at how beautiful the instrument is. 

I had no idea the inside would look this beautiful as well. I think it makes sense that it looks like a concert hall - every time you play the instrument it's like a little concert inside. I think it would be cool to design an actual concert hall to look like this. 

Cool Cat Envelope from Japan

There's so many times I think I should open a Japanese import store because of the number of cool stuffs I find in Japan. But then I figure the fact that there isn't one already means no one around here's interested. Well, maybe me plus a couple friends I know, but that would be it. 

I love shopping in Japan, there's so many stores just full of various knick-knacks. I think the ones I like the most are filled with interior decorating items. I haven't given this much thought but I imagine that due to the general lack of space in Japanese homes, women there like to choose neat items to decorate their houses with, to maximize the space they have. I think it's great to surround your life with neat things. I'd much rather spend a little extra on something I really love than to have something mundane. 

I've written so much already without talking about the cat envelope. 

This looks like it could be a pochi-bag, a bag that parents/relatives would put money in for kids for New Years. Or maybe it's not. But it's the Manekineko, the good luck welcoming cat. I love how the illustration has been framed so you don't see all of the cat even with both sides of the envelope next to each other. But you'd still know what it is if you saw the front of the front. And it's rather appropriate to have this cat, if it's got the proper hand up (although you can't see) since I imagine it would be the hand welcoming wealth.