this old house

When I was young one of my favorite things to do when we would visit my Grandmother's house was to explore her basement. There were so many mysteries to discover and fears to face. (like the giant poster of Mark Spitz and his 7 gold medals) When Julie and I were married we had the chance to move into the coveted "basement apartment", just down the hall of all the rooms of mystery, so of course, we took it.

With permission from the family, Julie and I spend time cleaning parts of the house and discover some amazing treasures. Our favorite is finding old boxes and perusing the contents, sometimes of which we find vintage toys, tools, books and more. The house is filled with a wealth of treasures including some that are over a hundred years old.

Here are some of our recent finds......

a new wonderland

We heard that the snow season is at the midway point and had to quickly look to spring party ideas to calm our freezing nerves. We are furiously drawing from last fall's Alice party for inspiration for a "Welcome Spring" gathering that involves us getting that fresh dirt smell in our noses and maybe a grass stain or two just to show our appreciation of it's return.

Another party involving a method of painting the roses red with your mouth full of Hawaiin Punch (see pictures below) could hopefully get a little dirt under our nails. We love you winter, but we're ready for a little party with fresh air and sun.

leona

(image found here)

(By the by, isn't she the perfect mix of Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood? I always wanted them to get together, this only reaffirms that desire.)

paper works

When building sets for projects we have used all sorts of materials and a good amount of paper. When I came across these amazing pieces of art, I was humbled to know there are some truly great artists who use paper in ways I have yet to discover. There are a whole lot more of these with some amazing behind the scenes pictures of how some of these masterpieces were built. So the next time I pick up a blade to cut out some paper, these little guys will be filling my head urging me to work a little harder.

short stories

Sometimes, while I am perusing the web, I run across some fun images that usually inspire some unique short stories that I think would be fun to bring to life. Julie and I vow one day to write a children's book and it always helps to run into paintings or drawings of things that we haven't seen before as they open a whole new world to our minds.

I would think a story inspired by the picture above would have an opening narration like this: "Hidden amongst the tallest mountains in the world lived the tallest creature whom had ever existed. Having never known where he came from or what he was to become, Jorrp found purpose in befriending a flock of Ingleberry Bluecrows who were lost and believed to be extinct."

a few places to visit

Sometimes when we travel, whether it's across the country or to the library, I like to watch for places that would be good locations to film something, anything. Other times, while watching films, I see places that are good locations which then become inspiration for places we want to visit. The above film is a combination of real places with computer animation. Lucky for us though, there is a website that lists the locations of some of the scenes in the film.

The film is 12 and a half minutes but is worth watching a little bit of. The cinematography of the architecture is outstanding and the colors are beautiful. I couldn't help being a little hypnotized while watching. If that should happen to you, consider yourself warned.

the backstory

People watching may be one of the best sources of entertainment I know of. As I'm sure most of us like to do, Julie and I do our best to come up with stories of the people that stand out to us the most. This is an especially good exercise for creating characters for our movies.

(image via lookbook)

great showdowns

Recently I came across some fun little illustrations from movies I've either seen or recognized. A guy known as Scott C., paints these little ditties and has created a series called "great showdowns" based on some of the best epic battles found in film. Check them out and see how many you recognize.

becca + josh

I remember the first time I saw Becca she had just been hired at my work, and she was wearing the most amazing elephant necklace. Soon after we started carpooling and from then on I knew we were meant to be friends. (Lykke Li may have also had a hand in this friendship....)

Fast forward a few years and in steps a fine fellow named Josh who travelled the world with Becca. Not only that, but he makes some amazing videos to boot.

Matt and I were lucky enough to make a little wedding video for these two-which incidentally gave us a serious case of wanderlust. Must eat a bagel in Maine!

bake a cake

diy valentine's cakes from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

If you choose, Valentine's can be full of stuffed teddy bears, cheap chocolates and sultry saxophone music. May we suggest an alternative - St. Valentine's Carnival Cakes. Pretty sure these little cakes will win your loved one over, sans Kenny G.

stanton and rubi

stanton and rubi from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

This is the latest from our "little movies for big events" series. It was the final movie we made in 2010 and we are pretty pleased with it. We hope this coming year we can experiment with more ideas and push ourselves creatively. So buckle up kids, this could get crazy.