Toy Box

Toys, photography, play. (Fair warning, you’re not going to find anything with ‘Ages three and up’ labelling in here …) After something specific? try visiting the Toy Box Index.)

01

Sinful Sunday: Phoenix

This month’s Sinful Sunday prompt is ‘Black and White’:

“Not to be confused with monochrome which means ‘one colour’. I am looking for purely black and white images. No Sepia, no Cyanotype, no Split Tones, no Infrared etc just plain ole Black and White.

However, in order to add interest I am going to suggest that it would be fun if we all posted the original colour version of the image alongside the Black and White so we can see how the two compare.”

Ever since I took my triptych images for the last Sinful Sunday competition, I have become more and more interested in how I light my photographs. The below picture was lit almost entirely by the glow of a fire (hence the post title) with a little stray light coming through the doorway of an adjoining room.

I’m actually not sure whether I like the black and white or the colour version, with its very orangey tones, as the two variations give me completely different feelings. Which do you guys prefer?

Oh, and ten points if you can spot the stray piece of LEGO I forgot to pick up off the floor before shooting this! :-)

 

Phoenix_B&W

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30

Freebies and Discounts: Catholic Priests, Butts, Eggs, and Rock Chicks

I’m not sure if this is the most eclectic Freebies and Discounts post I’ve ever done but, if not, it’s pretty close to it. In today’s bargain round-up: butt plugs, vibrators, masturbators, and vintage Colleen McCullough …

 

THE THORN BIRDS, COLLEEN McCULLOUGH – AMAZON U.K.

If you’ve never read The Thorn Birds (or seen the incredibly cheesy film version staring Rachel Ward, Richard Chamberlain and Aussie icon Bryan Brown – c.f. the roll-around-laughing-til-you-wet-yourself trailer above), click on the above buy link right now. Now, I say! This iconic novel is currently in the Amazon U.K. Kindle Monthly Deal Bin for £0.99 and if you want to be swept up and away by a book that makes Days of Our Lives seem light on the drama, look no further.

 

TWO FOR $25.00 ON SELECTED BUTT PLUGS – LOVEHONEY U.S.

As the title suggests, Lovehoney U.S. are currently running a ‘two for’ promotion on selected butt plugs, so if you’re looking for a bit of bottom love, this is definitely one to check out. There are some nice silicone plugs on offer (I’d recommend choosing toys made from this material over the jelly types as the latter often contain phthalates), including the Beaded Silicone Butt Plug with Finger Loop, the Lovehoney Booty Buddy, and the Adrien Lastic Anal Triball Beaded Butt Plug.

To see all the butt plugs in the promotion, click here.

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27

Edges, Limits and Boundaries

Edges, Limits and Boundaries

Soft limits, hard limits, personal boundaries, personal fears. It doesn’t matter if we’re kinky or vanilla, every single one of us has things that we’re comfortable and not comfortable doing sexually; lines that we don’t want crossed, things that we adore doing. And it’s most certainly the case that one person’s ‘hell no!’ is another person’s ‘hell yes!’ That’s a good thing. If we were all the same, life and sex would be terribly boring. What intrigues me, however, is how our comfort levels and perceptions of what we do and don’t like, can and can’t tolerate, can – and often do – change over time.

Now, before I go any further with this train of thought, I’d just like to make it really, really clear that hard limits should always, ALWAYS be respected. No exceptions. They are not there to be pushed. They are not there to be ‘broken though’. A hard limit is a prohibition, a definite no-no. End of story. And a hard limit remains so until such time as the person whose limit it is chooses of their own volition and without coercion for it not to be.

Public service announcement out of the way, let’s continue.

One of things that I am coming to realise the longer I explore my sexuality is that the devil is very much in the detail. And the gulf between the aforementioned ‘hell yes!’ and my safeword is actually much wider than I originally thought. Not because I’ve been sloppy in articulating what I’m okay with and what I’m not or because I’m getting kinkier (I don’t think I am) but because identifying the things that arouse is a bit like going off to explore the jungle. You take your map with you and it defines the terrain you’re going to cover, but the route you follow to your destination often ends up revealing a multitude of alternate trails and tracks that you just have to go back and explore. And on occasion, those offshoots lead you to places you originally sought to avoid. Continue reading →

25

Sinful Sunday: His Take

“It’s not how the world see you, it’s how you see yourself.”

Well, that’s true to a certain extent. But I’m always curious as to how M sees me. This week, I decided to give him my camera. I told him he could take any picture of me that he liked and I would publish it for Sinful Sunday – and this is the result.

Didn’t realise just how many freckles I’ve acquired on my back over the years! :-)

 

His View Continue reading →

15

Freebies and Discounts: Lovehoney and LELO sex toy bargains around the globe

Lovehoney LELO deals

I know it’s not a Friday, but there are some really good Lovehoney sex toy deals floating around at the moment (particularly in relation to LELO products) and I haven’t done a Freebies and Discounts post for quite a few weeks – naughty me! Ergo, I thought it prudent to let you all know about them before they disappear into the ether. As many of you are aware, I’ve shifted countries recently so, going forwards, I’m going to do my best to keep the various parts of the globe covered with regard to sex toy bargains. Geography shouldn’t impact your ability to obtain good toy discounts, in my opinion.

 

FREE SWOON CROSS MY PALM VIBRATOR – LOVEHONEY U.K.

Until midnight on Friday 16 May, Britain’s online sex toy giant is giving away a free Swoon waterproof vibrator with all purchases of £10.00 or more. And you get free delivery, too. No idea what to spend that first ten quid on? Check out Lovehoney’s ’3 for £10.00 toy selection, which you can find here.

 

UP TO 40% OFF LELO – LOVEHONEY AUSTRALIA

For those of you who shopping in the Southern Hemisphere, Lovehoney Australia has a brilliant LELO deal going on at the moment: up to 40% off LELO selected products, including the Smart Wand, the Oden 2 Couples Remote Control Vibrator Ring (one for the men), and the Tara Rotating and Vibrating Clitoral and G-Spot Massager. Continue reading →

04

Sinful Sunday: Tramp

tramp - verb

  1. (intransitive) to walk long and far; hike
  2. to walk heavily or firmly across or through (a place); march or trudge
  3. (intransitive) to wander about as a vagabond or tramp
  4. (transitive) to make (a journey) or traverse (a place) on foot, esp laboriously or wearily   ⇒ to tramp the streets in search of work
  5. (transitive) to tread or trample
  6. (intransitive) (New Zealand) to walk for sport or recreation, esp in the bush

Yep, I was doing that last one this week :-)

Tramp

Find out who else is sinning this Sunday by clicking on the banner below.

Sinful Sunday

Scavenger Hunt

06

Sinful Sunday: In honour of Caravaggio

I really hope I don’t offend anyone with this week’s Sinful Sunday competition entry; I have taken Molly’s brief of ‘triptych’ very literally and nodded, perhaps more than a little blasphemously, towards its religious roots. (Art History was one of my university majors and I just couldn’t help myself.) As such, my triptych sequence is inspired by both the traditional panel paintings found in churches and the great – and scandalous! – Baroque painter, Caravaggio; a true master of light, dark and the dramatic.

  • Picture one: The Flagellation 
  • Picture two: The Crucifixion
  • Picture three: The Benediction

*My blog layout is a bit restrictive with regard to showing my triptych full-size (although you can click on it to make it bigger). As such, I have placed the individual images in a larger format below the panel arrangement so that you can get a better look at them individually.

Caravaggio_1

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