Greetings, friends! I'm happy to be part of a "Deck the Halls" tour where 11 other bloggers and I will be "virtually" sharing more of our Christmas homes today and tomorrow.
Admittedly, one of my most favorite things to decorate for the season is our mantel. And, after thinking and thinking … annnnnd thinking how to dress it up this year, I decided to bring back a few of our nutcrackers from Christmas' past!
Glittery nutcrackers are my favorite … I especially love when the sunlight hits them in the late afternoon, casting "bling" all over the room.
And, while I started out with a simple, leafy garland, I soon realized I wasn't kidding anybody but myself and simply had to have more … sooooo, lots of mesh, glitter ribbon, snowflakes and ornaments made their way up there.
I layered a plain wreath from Michael's over our mirror and then dressed it up a bit by adding leftover ornaments and a strand of lights. And, after searching for something to add to the middle of our mantel, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened a box to find our forgotten "Christmas" sign. (Don't you just love forgotten purchases?!) Thank you, HomeGoods!
"Pencily" trees (from Michael's) also got a bit of bling with tinier ornaments:
Our handsome nutcrackers stand guard by the fire,
making sure that no one takes off with the presents!
I love the ambiance of the lights … especially in the evening.
Thanks so much for visiting our Christmas mantel! Be sure and visit these amazingly talented ladies who will, undoubtedly, dazzle you with their beautiful Christmas creativity!
Hola readers!! Today's post on my blog is guest post written by Sravani. More about her at the end of this post. She is sharing some wonderful tips on .. What are the best places to place a mirror at home?
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest them of all.” This mirror on the wall is not a mere object of reflection. It plays such an important role in Cinderella's life that it can be considered to be one of the main characters in the story. The same is with our homes. This seemingly unassuming object finds a place in almost every room of our house and quietly performs a range of functions. Performing its main function of showing a person what he looks like, the mirror has an undisputed place in bathrooms, above wash basins and at dressing/make-up corners of the house. Inside the bedroom and guestrooms, mirrors should be placed so as not to invade the privacy of a person. “Vaastu Shastra suggests that the mirror should not reflect the bed. Similarly, it should not be placed in front of the study table.” Narrow passageways or rooms will appear to be more spacious if mirrors are placed lengthwise to give an appearance of increased space.
Mirrors can be used intelligently to show or reflect beautiful views. A mirror may be placed opposite to a window that opens to a beautiful view. Similarly, mirrors can be used to reflect sunlight inside the house while taking care to prevent the glare. Mirrors reflecting the dining table are believed to symbolize food abundance by reflecting food on the table. Whichever room that they are placed, mirrors should not distract or disturb normal activities and privacy. E.g. Mirror reflecting the sofa set would catch the attention of the person sitting on the coach and distract him during the conversation.
So, go ahead and employ this mirror to create a splendid image of the home of your dreams.
Author’s BIO: This article was written by Sravani Padmanabhuni from Bonito Designs. Bonito designs are the buddy growing Interior designers in Bangalore. You can check out their projects in moving motion on You Tube. To have a glance of their entire projects check out portfolio.
I have an attraction to old mirrors and this round one is currently one of my favorites!
Remembering back when I was just a young 20 year old and an old oak secretary was given to me and my hubby. It was the kind with the glass door display cabinet on one side and the drawers with slant opening desk and a mirror above. Well that old mirror was all messed up and I didn't appreciate it and had
then you are at right place. Let me introduce you to this term that is only an year old.
GOSF is Great Online Shopping Festival started by Google India in 2012 to benefit customers following the immense popularity of the Monday sale and Black Friday initiated by the giant shopping portals in the US.
Last year customers were immensely benefited with huge discounts while shopping online on 12 December’12. It’s a crazy shopping festival bursting with great offers, deals and discounts.
The good news is, this time the Great Online Shopping Festival is likely to happen again for 3 days (11th, 12th, 13thof Dec) in India.
I am so happy to let all my readers know that Jabong is also participating in GOSF India. So don’t forget to check Jabong.com GOSF during this time. Assuring the most lucrative discounts and deals this time than ever before.
Today I am sharing some of my artwork that I totally love. Some of these I had done long ago
and some I did recently, some are still with me and some are sold.
Jewelry below is paper jewelry. Beads are made out of colorful magazine pages. Butterfly pendant is quilling work. Not sold but has been gifted to dear ones.
This is the first time I made heena on candles though I've made it on hands many a times. Surprisingly it turned out very well and praised by all and sundry. They are with me and adorning my coffee table.
I love to do newspaper craft. These newspaper coasters turned out unexpectedly beautiful and liked by one and all. They are sold and I got few more orders.
Last year I made lot of tea light candles. To beautify them a little more I made pistachio shell lotus around them. It is with me and it also gets attention of every guest.
Well that's not all, I love everything that I have made till date. You can see My Artwork & DIY projects here.
Tell me, among all these which one is your favorite and why :)
STEELCASE BRINGS REVOLUTIONARY GESTURE TO INDIAN WORKPLACES
Inspired By Steelcase Global Study On New Postures Driven By Mobile Technology Company’s flagship Gesture Seating to Address Pain Caused by New, Unsupported Postures.
MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 22, 2013
Steelcase, the global leader in office furniture industry, unveiled Gesture world’s first ergonomic office chair designed to support one’s interactions with today’s technologies. Gesture was inspired by studying movements of the human body and created for the ways people work today. India is part of Steelcase’s global launch of Gesture.
“We love our technology – it’s become a ubiquitous extension of ourselves,” states James Ludwig, Vice President of Global Design for Steelcase. “The user interface is intuitive and responds to various gestures. But what about gesture recognition for the human body? The way technology impacts our bodies as we work has been largely ignored.” Steelcase recently conducted a global study in 11 countries including emerging markets like China observing over 2000 people in a wide range of environments and postures. The study reveals how new technologies and new workplace behaviors have led to nine new postures -- not supported by current office chairs -- which frequently cause pain and long-term injuries, disrupting concentration and creativity. Gesture is designed in response to Steelcase’s global research about changing postures in the workplace. “Tablets were introduced just three years ago. But many people are using chairs that were designed well before these new devices became pervasive at work. Back then, chairs were created to help people hold one pose in front of a computer all day. Now we know that people need to move and change positions regularly, especially as they engage with new technologies. We observed people in pain -- they need a sitting experience designed for the ways we work today,” continued Ludwig.
Gesture
Gesture: A Revolution in Sitting Experience for Workplaces Steelcase researchers studied how the physiology of work has changed, how the human body interacts with new technologies and how it transitions as people shift from one device to another. Researchers noted a more extreme range of human sizes around the world, which impacts postures. The company also studied the changing sociology of work and how people rapidly shift between individual, focused tasks and creative collaboration. Each new activity caused people to change postures. Based on this research, Steelcase designed Gesture’s three key interfaces – the core interface, upper limb interface and seat interface -- to support new postures driven by new technology and more casual behaviors in the workplace. For example: Gesture encourages motion rather than forcing the body to hold a single posture. The upper limb interface allows people to draw closer to a work surface to avoid hunching over a screen and easily move close to the body to support texting postures. Unlike conventional chairs, Gesture’s core interface hugs the lower back when people recline to scroll on a tablet screen. The seat interface adjusts rapidly to help users avoid perching on the edge of their chair. Gesture embraces a broad range of body sizes and easily adapts to meet the needs of each individual user, which is critical in an increasingly global business environment that has to support diverse workers than ever before. Gesture is a system of interconnected parts – inspired by the human body – designed to support every movement. “Today’s workers are driven by their vision – small technologies have a gravitational force to pull the body down,” explained Carol Stuart Buttle, CPE, Principal at Stuart-Buttle Ergonomics. “If the chair doesn’t move with the user, people slouch to make up for it, or flop on the desk to overcompensate for what is uncomfortable. Workers today are moving from bad posture, to bad posture, to bad posture. Gesture helps you be where you need to be – it helps workers find support in smarter ways so they can use their devices in safer ways.”
9 Tech Driven Postures which inspired Gesture As part of its global posture study, Steelcase identified nine new postures based entirely on the result of new technologies. For example: The Draw Technology (small and mobile) allows people to pull back from their desks while they use it. They recline, signaling they’re contemplating or absorbing information and draw the device closer to their body to maintain an optimal focal length. The Multi-Device This posture is representative of how people adapt to multitasking on multiple-devices. One hand holding a phone to the ear, the other tasking on a laptop. The result is a forward lean that is a symbol of concentration and an orientation to the smaller screen of a laptop The Text Smartphones are small compared to other forms of technology and, therefore, require unique postures. Workers bring arms in close as keying and gesturing are performed The Cocoon People recline, bring up their feet onto the seat, and draw their smartphone or tablet close, resting on their thighs. The result is a cocoon – small mobile technology allows people to remain productive in this posture The Swipe This posture results when the device is used on a work surface in “surfing mode”, in which people operate the device with one hand, typically with swiping gestures. Because it’s on a work surface, a person must keep their head a certain distance above the tablet in order to see it, and position their head to look down at it. The Smart Lean This posture is the result of mobile devices that create the desire for people to temporarily “pull away” from others without leaving a meeting or collaborative environment. This is typically a temporary posture and used for glancing at incoming texts or e-mails. The Trance This posture was observed when people were focused on the screen and either mousing or using a touchpad to navigate on the screen for extended periods of time. This is a long duration posture. The Take It In In this posture, people recline to view content on the large display and/or sit back to contemplate. This posture is about “taking in” information rather than generating it. The Strunch The “strunch” (stretched-out hunch) is a very common posture with laptops. As people become fatigued, they gradually push their laptop further from the edge of the work surface, resting their weight on the surface. This causes them to reach forward to work. Since the back and neck cannot sustain the reach and hunch posture for a long time, the person begins to prop themselves up with their non- tasking arm.
Steelcase has established 3 WorkLife Centres in India – the company’s flagship showrooms in New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Steelcase will be soon inaugurating its 4th Worklife Centre in Mumbai. Earlier in April 2013, the company started its first manufacturing facility in India spread across 50,000 square feet at Chakkan, Pune. To try Gesture or learn more about the Steelcase Global Posture Study and Gesture please contact: Allan Guan +852 9272 6861 allan.guan@steelcase.com
Gesture will be available in early 2014.
About Steelcase Inc. For 100 years, Steelcase Inc. has helped create great experiences for the world's leading organizations – wherever work happens. Steelcase and our family of brands – including Steelcase®, Coalesse®, Designtex®, Details®, Nurture®, PolyVision® and Turnstone® – offer a comprehensive portfolio of furnishings, products and services designed to unlock human promise and support social, economic and environmental sustainability. We are globally accessible through a network of channels, including approximately 650 dealers. Steelcase is a global, industry-leading and publicly traded company with fiscal 2013 revenue of $2.9 billion.
P.S All the images are provided by Steelcase and subject to copyright.
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