Things that Spin

Well hello again!
It's a little early for me to be writing again, but I just uploaded a bunch of photos for our store, and figured I may as well use them. I finally got a couple of action pictures of our "Old-Fashioned Button Spinners" as we are currently calling them. Although I like "Big Button Spinners" too. Hmmmm... Anyone else want to weigh in on that one?

Also, I have a brand new obsession. I know, I know, I probably didn't need another one, but this one is actually the coolest thing yet. Ever, maybe. Raise your hand if you've heard of the Kinora Viewer. Well, I certainly never had, but maybe it came along at just the right time in my life. They are early versions of the home movie, using flip book technology. Kinoras and Mutoscopes and Midgette Movie Theatres, oh my! (ok, that doesn't really roll off the tongue.)

Check out this link to see the Queen's own Kinora in action.

I just discovered these, and then the next day Etsy ran a feature on flip books, and there was Joe Friedman with his Retroscope. So of course, I had to buy one. For research purposes, of course.
SO much fun. I'm hoping to make a million of these things. I downloaded a trial version of this program called iStopmotion, which allows you to convert film into flip books. And, to me at least, flip books are another one of those toys that should never have gone out of style.
I haven't had a chance to get active on this yet, but stay tuned.......

Otherwise
Jai has been turning out tops like a madman. Everyone is starting to think about Christmas already. I guess that's what it means to be in the toy business. Although I have to say, it's difficult to think about Christmas (or anything, for that matter) when it's 31 degrees and thick as soup. It's hard not to wilt a little in that heat, but the plants seem to be loving it. Everything shot up and out this week. The naturtiums are finally looking like they're here to stay.
And the chickpeas are blooming! I was a little worried that this would never happen, and admittedly we still have a few hurdles to overcome before we are eating home-grown hummus, but it IS a start. We had roasted baby red potatoes from the garden a couple of nights ago. YUMMY! They went too fast for me to even get a picture. And tonight, it was a giant bowl of raspberries for dessert. I'm saving the strawberries for breakfast :) Have a good one...