2009 is drawing to a close, and 2010 is waiting in the wings… Our dynamic team at Badec Bros Deco will be taking a well-deserved break from 18 December 2009, until 6 January 2010. You have until Thursday, 26 November 2009 to place your orders for delivery in 2009! From next week on, we will be taking the orders for 2010.

Therefore, should you wish to have your very own signature Cubedec steel dustbin, interactive sculpture, Cubedec shelving, Cubedec miniature Zen garden box, 2010 Soccer World Cup décor, mild steel lamp shade, mild steel screen, Cubedec laser-cut logo, gabion counter, narration stand, gabion light cage, gabion bollard, gabion water feature, sculptured living wall, sculptured flagpoles, unique pot and drip tray, customized sculpture, Cubedec bench, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogan, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel mould, Cubedec Pot, hanging sculpture, gabion pot, gabion wall or gabion terrace, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellis, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, sculpture or trellis, you can contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas! You dream it, we manufacture it!

Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you! We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit. These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra! We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products.

2009 is drawing to a close, and 2010 with all of its opportunities and challenges is peeping around the corner …

Our dynamic team at Badec Bros Deco will be taking a well-deserved break from 18 December 2009, until 6 January 2010. We thank you for your valued support and wish you a blessed Christmas and joyous festive season. We look forward to collaborating with you in the new year.

Remember, should you wish to have your very own signature Cubedec steel dustbin, interactive sculpture, Cubedec shelving, Cubedec miniature Zen garden box, 2010 Soccer World Cup décor, mild steel lamp shade, mild steel screen, Cubedec laser-cut logo, gabion counter, narration stand, gabion light cage, gabion bollard, gabion water feature, sculptured living wall, sculptured flagpoles, unique pot and drip tray, customized sculpture, Cubedec bench, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogan, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel mould, Cubedec Pot, hanging sculpture, gabion pot, gabion wall or gabion terrace, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellis, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, sculpture or trellis, you can contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas! You dream it, we manufacture it! Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you! We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit. These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra! We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products.

We have had quite a few requests to provide décor ideas to hide unsightly air conditioning units in gardens. Badec Bros Deco specializes in feature walls, such as gabion feature walls. These designer walls are ideal to hide air conditioning units, unsightly views, or ugly old walls, without having to remove the existing wall.

We manufacture our gabion walls from 30mm x 3mm angle iron, which is welded together to ensure a strong frame. Then we weld strong, steel mesh onto the frame to create the shape of the wall. Once the hollow wall structure has been manufactured, we install it on site and fill it with pebbles, slate stone or chunky quartzite gravel.

Alternatively, we can also construct mild steel feature walls and add intricate detail to the surface of the steel to decorate it. There are three finishes to choose from. We can powder coat the feature wall in any colour imaginable, or we can apply mild steel finish or a rusted finish. Our powder coating is SABS approved.

Badec Bros Deco can also manufacture mild steel screens. These screens can be used to create privacy or to hang Cubedec hanging pots or hanging sculptures onto. We can customize our mild steel screens to any size and shape and with a wide range of finishes, such as powder coating in any colour, mild steel finish or a rust effect or even wooden cladding.

Should you wish to have your very own signature Cubedec feature wall, steel dustbin, interactive sculpture, Cubedec shelving, Cubedec miniature Zen garden box, 2010 Soccer World Cup décor, mild steel lamp shade, mild steel screen, Cubedec laser-cut logo, gabion counter, narration stand, gabion light cage, gabion bollard, gabion water feature, sculptured living wall, sculptured flagpoles, unique pot and drip tray, customized sculpture, Cubedec bench, trendy steel décor with your company logo emblazoned on it, mild steel inspirational slogan, steel laser-cut signage, mild steel mould, Cubedec Pot, hanging sculpture, gabion pot, gabion wall or gabion terrace, wooden or steel feature poles, bar code trellis, Cubedec water feature, pergola, arch, sculpture or trellis, please feel free to contact our energetic and knowledgeable sales representative, Mareleen van Zijl, on her cell phone at 078 800 5112, the office number at 012 460 7990, or via e-mail at mareleen@badecbros.com

She will gladly arrange an appointment with you to listen to your ideas and to stun you with our own creative ideas! You dream it, we manufacture it!

Badec Bros Deco will create a 3 dimensional render and calculate a quotation FREE OF CHARGE for you! We can deliver your unique Badec Bros Deco product(s) within 10 to 15 working days, upon acceptance of the design and quotation and the required 50% deposit. These services come standard and will not cost you a cent extra! We offer a 1 year guarantee on all our products.

Image : http://www.flickr.com

For a party fun, you and your son a plane X Games Skateboarding Party. There are many cities that have skateboarding parks or you can have is the place where the child and meet his friends, usually on a skateboard.

Invitations to provide printing from your computer with the help of images from the photo gallery of X-Games Skateboarding mail or Web site for your guests. You can also copy the same images to use as place mats on the tablecloth.

A big party is for youand your child can easily create using the computer and color printer, an X-Games Skateboarding Dictionary. You can send pictures from some of the most popular of your child. Then you will have your guests for a game of charades, acting out their favorite X-Games skateboarding moves. You can assign the certificates to the winners of the games.

Making skateboard-shaped pizza with the lower half of a hot dog bun. Spread basil and garlic spaghetti sauce on the bun thenLayer on salami and cheese. Place on a baking sheet and place under a broiler until the cheese is melted.

Bake a cake skateboard with four round pans and a rectangular cake pan. Bake your favorite recipe doubles or two cake mixes. Place the cake on a rectangular sheet of aluminum foil covered cardboard. Then cut four round cakes in half and stacked on both sides of the rectangular cake. Frost and use your imagination to decorate your childSkateboard.

This party is an excellent opportunity to introduce friends to the game of the baby skateboarding and X Games Skateboarding Party Game.

Hypebeast and Today and Tomorrow have already featured this fantastic partnership between Lego and Muji, but it deserves more than a quick twitter link.

The concept is so simple that I’m sure children all over the world already have their own version.

However, there’s nothing wrong with brands celebrating existing behaviour.

The reason this partnership works so well is that it builds on the essences of both brands: Lego’s boundless creativity, and Muji’s delightful simplicity.

Here are some more images borrowed from the original Yoshikage Kajiwara post (in Japanese):

On a related note, take a look at this glorious anthropological study of Lego ‘nomenclature’, and this inspiring post from Russell Davies on the importance of imagination in play, communications, and the world in general.

Many thanks to PSFK for alerting me to the Muji partnership and nomenclature posts.
UPDATE: John seems to like this too… what is it about planners and Lego?

Today, two years ago, we were united… So thankful for this blessing of having the Beloved in my life. So for Pink Sketches this week, I celebrated our union with this:

What we’re most grateful for this year as we celebrate is….come May next year, we’re having our little one join us…Yes, we’re expecting! So excited! Bub is growing well and having gone through the first trimester of desiring to sleep loads, we’re tremendously grateful for a smooth pregnancy thus far…. So if you had wonder why my posts were fewer in the last couple of months, mummy was resting, praising God for blessing us with our best creation ever…Bub…  I’ve stopped work at the florist, given it best to avoid carrying the heavy buckets of water, and have been spending time reading up on baby and reading to baby and of course, creating. We can’t wait for bub to arrive! Thank you God for everything!

Had lunch with a local here in Destin Florida today.  When we walked in the restaurant owner knew his name, asked about his family and the plans for Thanksgiving.  She made eye contact the entire time and asked questions like how many were coming and other plans for the week.  She set a fine example for retention.

Whether you’re a non-profit, fitness center, corner market, mega super store, or network marketer a key metric is donor, member, customer, subscriber, or team member RETENTION.

Honestly ask yourself how many of your customers would say “they would miss me if I were gone.”

Are we applying the same amount of energy in serving, training, leading each individual as we did in the sale or recruitment process?  Or do we simply react at the point of cancellation — when it is likely far too late.  If you are counting “saves” at the point of cancellation you destined to failure or hard work on a constant path of continuous recovery.

Build a culture.

My irreverent nature is not applied to my members or team — it is fully directed at what I refer as to the status-quo/that’s how we have always done it/let’s schedule a meeting to show how smart we are/knock down any ideas/blame detectives/weakness of others’ highlighters crowd.  They are process purists that find full comfort in conducting autopsies of blame rather than creatively developing and enacting solutions for the greater good.

Imagine a member coming in for an exercise class that was removed from the schedule.  Disappointed, she (or he) inquires at the Welcome Center.  Choose the answer that would make her a fan — “oh, guess we don’t offer it anymore, sorry” OR “I am so sorry, we tried so hard to get the word out on that change — can I check your e-mail, and then would you like me to have one of our trainers lead you through a workout for 15-30 minutes?”  Not exactly the moving of mountains, however I’d think it’d be a fan in the making.  The culture YOU create leads to the better answer — not a script or a checklist.

Too often I see some in industries that serve customers work far too hard at finding the customer’s (or a subordinate’s or downline member’s) error rather than leading solutions.  It is rarely asked if our policies and procedures lead to dismal retention — when in doubt, blame the front line.

Build a culture — at a small restaurant called Dewey’s of Destin, I met a woman who would have hopped on a boat to get shrimp if they were out and we wanted to order some for lunch.  There was shrimp and it was awesome by the way.

What culture are you building with your leadership actions?

Ask yourself another question — would they miss you if you were gone?

This is one of my projects for key stage 3 Design and Technology using sheet metal.  The design uses the steel sheet in a way to optimise the material and reduce wastage, bringing in issues of sustainability into the design and make.

In this design and make I remember marking out with blue dye and scriber, cutting using the guilatine and tin snips, pillar drill to make the initial holes and then the coping saw. Filing was needed to smooth the cut edges starting with a bastard file, moving onto the 1st cut, then 2nd cut file and finally the finishing file.  As steel tends to rust I finished the product with a primer and a few coats of spray metallic blue paint.

One of the most vivid memories I have of Australia from my travels in my childhood were the markets here. I loved the bustling crowds and the beautiful hand-crafted goodies found all around! I was thrilled when I could be part of the local Markets scene, this time selling my heartwork…So for Pink Sketches last week, I celebrated this opportunity:

Can’t wait to explore more markets here Down Under!

Another experiment with the Holgaroid. I’ve been taking a few every day – and want to work with this film quite quickly while the idea is still fresh. In between , a lot of processing of other photos so this is a nice creative interlude.

* You can sign up for my “soon-to-launch” Ezine from the link on the right or from here – and receive two downloadable postcards* )

There are many versions of the Stone Soup story.  The one I am sharing is the only version I have run across personally:

During World War II a young soldier found himself isolated in a small French Town.  This particular town had little food and many of the inhabitants were starving.  It was desperate times for all.  The town’s people were reluctant to share what little they had out of fear for their own survival.  They watched the soldier carefully from curtained and shuttered windows to see what he would do.

They watched the soldier as he rummaged through the piles of discarded items that littered the streets.  Many people had left with what they could carry, leaving some things behind to lighten their loads.  He hunted for several hours before he returned to the fire he had built outside an abandoned building.  In his hand he carried an old dented soup pot, an old rusty fire grate, and a large kitchen spoon.  He had found a small trickle of water spilling from a broken spigot that used to provide clear spring water to the  the town square fountain.   He carried the pot to the fountain and  went about filling the old pot with the fresh spring water.    He then carried it back to his fire where he had placed, over the fire,  the metal grate that he had also found while foraging.  Then the town’s people saw him search the ruins until he found a stone, which he placed in the pot.  The soldier then sat down and waited patiently.

Soon the mayor of the town strolled by.  “What are you doing there?” he asked the soldier.

“I am making stone soup,” was the soldier’s reply.  The mayor rubbed his chin and proceeded to walk to his home that was just down the street.

The grocery store owner also stopped by to see what the soldier was doing.  “What are you cooking there?” the store keeper asked.

“I am making stone soup,” was the soldier’s reply.  The store keeper also continued to walk to his grocery store that was now barren of food.

Throughout the day many of the town’s people strolled by asking of the soldier.  Suddenly the mayor arrived a carrots in his hand.  “Can you use this carrot in your stone soup?” the mayor inquired.  “It isn’t much but you can have it.”

“Thank you,” the soldier said as he took out his pocket knife, cut up the carrot and through the pieces into the pot with a plop.  The mayor turned to the north toward where his office was.

Again, the store keeper arrived bearing two potatoes that he had scavanged from his ravished stores from his grocery. “I have these two potatoes.  Can you use them in your stone soup?”

“Why, yes I can.  Thank you!” he said as he again pulled out his pocket knife and cut up the potatoes into small pieces and threw them into the steaming pot with a plop.  The soldier sat back and waited patiently.

All that day people from the town would walk by offering a small amount of what they had to the soldier for his stone soup.  By the end of the day the smell drifted all through the town.  The town’s people gathered at the soldier’s fire and watched the soup boil.  When the soup was ready the soldier stood and addressed the crowd.  “All of you are welcome to share this pot of soup with me.”

That day the entire town was fed by that one pot of soup.  It was the first hot meal they had had in a very long time.  Alone, they had not even enough to feed themselves, but together, they were able to feed an entire village.

Now, this is not a story of charity but of helping each other.  Those who had a little shared it with the whole.  Those who didn’t have shared the reward.  I am sure that those who had not given went back to their homes and found things to share with the town.  I am sure that there were many other days of stone soup.  Those who did not have to give, gave of their time.  They hunted for more pots, started fires, gathered firewood, contacted people to help, and did what they could to contribute.  There was no charity here, but people working together to help each other.

Look around you.  Surly there are people, families, neighborhoods that can use your skills, expertise, or labor to improve their living standard just a bit.  Is there an abandoned building that can be raised and a park created in its place?  Is there a neighborhood watch group organizing in your neighborhood?  Why not join?  Is there a senior citizen that could use a plate of cookies and a bit of conversation?  Is there a young mother that could use a day just for herself?  Why not offer to watch her children for a day so she can relax and enjoy what ever her heart’s desire? And, while you are at it, why not share your parenting and child rearing skills with her.  Perhaps she doesn’t have anyone to mentor her.  Perhaps she doesn’t have someone she can talk to when she is stressed or worried.  Perhaps she needs your gentle wisdom to teach her the mothering skills she is lacking.  These are small things that can make a big difference

Are there parents who need a car pool?  Is there a school bus stop that needs an adult to watch the children until they are on the bus or to walk them home?  Is there an elderly neighbor who could benefit from a handy man, or is there  a neighbor child who needs a little extra money for doing small things around your home?

We are not islands.  What we do or not do affects others.  It’s the ripple effect.  Everything you do or don’t do sends out energy into the cosmos and in turn, it comes back to you.  This is not about charity.  This is about raising up the quality of life for yourself and others.  One hour a day once each week or every two weeks, is a small sacrifice to make someone else’s life better while  helping yourself in the process.  Not only are you raising up your neighborhood one person at a time, but you are teaching your children and other neighborhood children to give rather than to be takers.

You could organize an after school program where those who need to teach can come and provide the children with a varied insight into their lives and the lives of others.  Or, you could simply open your home to those children who may be latch key kids.  It used to be that multiple generations lived under one roof and the children benefited from the wise counsel of their elders.  Today, seniors are looked upon as a burden and as senile, having no value.  An after school program where those elders can share their vast knowledge and experience and perhaps change the views of their own generation toward young people as well as change the views of young people towards seniors, would be a benefit to any community.  It also gives the elders a sense of being needed and it provides the children with someone to look up to…surrogate grandparents.

It doesn’t take much to send a plate of cookies over to the widow next door.  It doesn’t take much to invite a latch key kid over for an after school snack with your own children.  Make sure you talk to the parents first, of course.  Nothing should be done without their knowledge and involvement.  Perhaps they can give a bit of their time to help as well.  Who knows, it takes a village to raise a child, and it only takes one person to change their neighborhood’s vision.  Why not start a neighborhood vision committee and hold a neighborhood barbeque or pot luck and discuss those things that your neighbors need.  You might be surprised at what you discover.

Now, on the same subject, I just received “The Most Important Gift Catalog in The World”.  It is called Heifer.   The Heifer International project was established to help people and families move toward self-reliance.  Through this organization if you give just $500.00 a heifer will be given  to a family in third world countries, or you can share the gift by giving $50.00 with others who can’t afford the entire cost. For $1,000.00  a family will receive a Milk Menagerie of four milk producing animals such as one heifer, two goats, and a water buffalo.  Or you can share the expense by giving just $100.00.  The gift of a goat is only $120.00 or $10.00 to share the gift expense.  A pig will cost you $120.00 or $10.00 to share the gift expense.  A sheep will cost you $120.00 or just $10.00 to share the gift expense.  You can give a Knitting Basket gift which includes 4 wool producing animals and the cost is only $500.00 or $50.00 to share the gift expense.    You can give a trio of rabbits for $60.00 or $10.00 to share the gift expense.  You can donate a flock of chicks for just $20.00.  You can even give the gift of bees for just $30.00.  If bees aren’t your bag, how about $150.00 for the gift of a Llama or $20.00 to share the gift expense.  Oh, and then there is the water buffalo.  $250.00 will give the gift of a water buffalo or $25.00 to share the expense.  There are also camels, oxen, donkeys, ducks, guinea pigs, and geese.  You can give the gift of tree seedlings as well as grass seeds so that the animals can be fed.  All this comes with training and instruction for the happy recipients.  So, this year, even though times are tough for us all, why not put the energy of generosity out into the universe so that it can come back to you.

“If you give a man a meal he can feed himself for one day.  If you teach him how to garden, he can feed himself for a year.  The Heifer program is not charity.  It is giving those in need a helping hand up so that they can in turn, give back to their families and their communities.  If we rid the world of hunger, we will rid the world of wars and we teach people to be self-reliant.

So go to:  www.heifer.org/gift

Chris

This Morning “Seahorse”swam close to the Surface of the Water and Extended his Hand out so “Dragon Fly”could hold onto it,

They moved Forward Together through the Rough Crashing Tides,

At times it appeared that the Larger the Waves the Greater the Reward on the Other Side but this was Not Always the Case,

Together they Floated,

Swaying with the Oceans Natural Current,

Never travelling the same Flowing Water Path Twice

So Today,

I Leaped into the Blue Sky and Fragmented into a Million Tiny Pieces,

Each piece contained a Smaller Pattern of who I am as a whole,

Sort of like a Million Snow Flake Patterns being lifted away by the Wind,

Possibly spending years above the Ground being tossed around through the different Layers of the Atmosphere,

Each piece relaying information to the other pieces,

Fragmented yet Communicating as Unified

So Today from the Center of my Chest there were 2 Spinning Propellers Resembling the Yin and Yang Symbols,

One Energy Source Was Expanding Outward and the other Source Collecting,

The More Relaxed I become the Larger the Blades became,

There was no limit,

From 2 feet to capturing the whole earth and more,

I could also sense others,

Young kids (Fast Spinning),

Older people (Slow deep Spinning),

Others Life Energy,

Channeled

Today “Dragon Fly”was Flying above the Ocean,

She observed the Water Following a Particular Pattern,

An Ocean Highway,

A Pre Established inertia of Water Flow,

If She flew High Enough she could See the next Direction“Seahorse” was going to be Guided towards,

Like seeing the Future,

She saw large Waterfall in the Distance,

She Flew Down lifted up Seahorse and Found a Completely New and Better Location to Exist Together

So Today “Seahorse and Dragonfly” Discovered a Glowing Silver Stair Case made of Solid Metal and Unmovable,

It had not Previously been in this Location,

It Appears at times and Disappears,

A Portal Opened One Moment then Closed the Next,

When it will Appear again is Unknown,

It Started Deep Beneath the Ocean and Extended Out of the Water,

Into the Sky and Out of the Earths Atmosphere leading into Unexplored Dimensions

Today “Seahorse” Jumped from the Ocean around the Sun,

First he Travelled So Fast Beneath the Ocean he Created an Underwater Sonic Boom,

Then Shooting Out of the Ocean eventually ricocheting off of “Dragonfly” and out of the Earths Atmosphere,

As he Rapidly Sped toward the Sun,

The Heat seemed to Energize him,

Making one Large Circle around the Sun and Rapidly Torpedoed back toward Earth,

Splashing into the Ocean

Today “Seahorse and Dragonfly” Travelled into the World of the Unexplored,

Turning Over Stones,

Digging Beneath the Surface,

Cracking Eggs,

Lifting Up Unconscious Processes,

Zooming into the Unseen,

As they Held Hands they Walked Around the Discovered Material,

Eventually Breaking it into even Smaller Pieces until what they were Examining Disappeared and Evaporated into Smoke,

Fragmenting and Dissolving into the Air

Today “Seahorse and Dragon Fly” Shared their Naturally Flowing Dreams about the Future,

Combining their Shared Visions,

Linking the Present Moment with the Future with each Second,

Creating a Fast Moving Combined Stream of Joining Energies Overlapping and Intertwining together Generating an Unstoppable Momentum,

With Each Day the Clarity and the Speed of the Stream Increased,

Rushing Forward Aimed at Love and Happiness

So Today I was Taken to a Forest where Each Tree was a Floating Galaxy,

There were Billions of these Tree’s, that were Self Perpetuating,

Once Reaching a Certain Stage would Create another Tree and Eventually Another Forest,

The Size of the Canvas Grew as the Painting Expanded,

So there was never any Limit,

Since it was a Self Generating Framework that Grew Around Itself,

Sort of Creating it’s Own Red Capet with No Ending