Thoughts from the Bus Stop

Birthday diorama for my (second) favourite librarian

Design and images (c) Kristen Bailey 2012
 

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Divine Comedy - The Booklovers *

Diorama for new baby: Harry

Design and image (c) Kristen Bailey 2012

Cathy and Tim moved to their new home in Canada last October while Cathy was pregnant, and they now have a baby boy, Harry. I made this for him. Harry and his mum are travelling to England this weekend so I hope to meet him soon!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Deniece Williams - Let's Hear It For The Boy *

Cabaret themed diorama for Rae's 40th birthday

I had to make something special for Rachel's 40th birthday, and once I'd remembered that her favourite film is Cabaret, and put a mood board together on Pinterest, I had the idea for this diorama, which puts Rae on stage at the Kit Kat club, complete with bowler hat.

It's cut from thin card and stitched with sequins, and folds flat for storage.

Design and images (c) Kristen Bailey 2012
 

* SONG OF THE DAY: Liza Minelli - Mein Herr (from 'Cabaret') *

Heptagonal card for Roxie's 7th birthday

Roxanne's seven-sided 7th birthday card - design and image (c) Kristen Bailey

* SONG OF THE DAY: The White Stripes - Seven National Army *

 

Knitted animation: Little Red Plane by Charlotte Blacker

The Little Red Plane is a gorgeous knitted animation by Charlotte Blacker, a stop motion/2D animator and compositor living both in London and Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

She graduated from The University of Central Lancashire in 2010 with a First in Animation and later went on to win a Royal Television Society Award for The Little Red Plane. 

She's currently working on more film projects, hopefully involving knitting - so watch this space!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Suzy Bogguss & Tom Russell - Outbound Plane *

Diorama for new baby: Alexis

Design and image (c) Kristen Bailey 2011

Eddie and Sharry now have a baby girl, Alexis. I made this for her. Haven't met her yet but am really looking forward to it!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely *

Shimmering birds: The Martlets Tree, Crawley

'The Martlets Tree' is a piece of public sculpture which stands in Queens Square in Crawley town centre. It's covered in metal cut-outs of birds (the mythical 'martlet') loosely held onto the branches so that they move and shimmer with the breeze. Last week I caught it looking at its best - in brilliant sunshine under a blue sky - casting wonderful shadows and bouncing bird-shaped light off the pavement in the shade.

It was designed by Peter Parkinson and made by Richard Quinnell, and you can find out all about it via Public Sculptures of Sussex.

All images (c) Kristen Bailey 2011
 

* SONG OF THE DAY: Elbow - The Birds *

Brighton Fantasy: Gay felt appliqué ( #MagpieMonday )

A lovely charity shop find - this time in the Relate shop in Broadfield, Crawley - the December 1963 edition of Patons 'Stitchcraft' magazine for 10p! I going to buy it anyway so the pattern for a felt applique of Royal Pavilion in Brighton (my 'home' town) was a bonus!

I love seen the Pav rendered in stitches - most recently a knitted version by Peter from Temptation cafe in the North Laine. Well done sir!

   

This post is part of Magpie Monday - your chance to share your second-hand treasures.

Birthday diorama for my favourite librarian

 

Images (c) Kristen Bailey 2010

* SONG OF THE DAY: Belle & Sebastian - Wrapped Up In Books *

Birthday diorama for The Blonde

This diorama was based on three of my sister's favourite pop songs. 'Walk On' is by U2 - she has these words tattooed on her ankle! 'Learn To Fly' is by Foo Fighters and she loves the video especially (any excuse for Dave Grohl and chums to dress up!). And that little bird sitting on the fence is a reference to 'Blackbird', her favourite Beatles song.

 

 
 
 
All images in this post (c) Kristen Bailey 2010

* SONG OF THE DAY: Juliana Hatfield - My Sister *

My First Paper Diorama

Look what I made - it's a foldable pop-up diorama! I went to a workshop (in December - yes, am crap at getting posts finished!) at Hove Museum run by lovely local artist Lizzie Thomas, who is part of the Unravelled group of craft-based artists (also lovely - the ones I've met anyway!).

Lizzie showed us several samples she'd made using the same basic principles, and although they looked scarily complex, she explained everything so clearly we all came away after two hours with complete and fairly fancypants versions of our own! All just from some pieces of card and careful scalpel work.

Mine is a secret garden. (I must re-read 'The Secret Garden'...)

 

A great tip from Lizzie was to cut all or part of the back of the diorama away and cover the aperture with artists' tracing paper. Then you get a lovely effect with diffused light shining through. You even place in in front of a candle if you were VERY careful. Maybe one of those fake LED candles would be better!

 

Since I did this I've made a few more, mainly as birthday cards, so I'll post some photos of them shortly. This is a fascinating craft, I really want to explore it further!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Dawn Penn - The First Cut Is The Deepest *

The Knitting Gorilla

Screenshot from 'The Kniting Gorilla', via BBC iPlayer

From CBBC's 'World of Happy', a sweet animated tale of how knitting brought a father and son together: The Knitting Gorilla

Storm in a Teacup

 
Storm in a Royal Delft Teacup, by John Lumbus (c) Laikingland

I would LOVE this teacup automata - turn the handle and and the golden boat rides the mechanical waves, while above the stormy clouds reveal a shining bolt of lightning.

It's by artist John Lumbus, who has worked with the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent Garden. Why don't you put the kettle on, wet the tea, and while it brews, watch this video of a earlier version in motion?

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Fortunes - Storm In A Teacup *

Patchwork Pattern Maker from the V&A Museum

   

This online Patchwork Pattern Maker is a great free tool from the V&A Museum in London, to coincide with their Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition (on till 4 July 2010).

Just complete a simple registration, then upload your own image (I've used my 'Duck House' design here), and the site will reproduce it as a patchwork pattern in your choice of 5, 10 15 or 20 colours, either in basic squares (either 10x15 or 20x30) or in squares and triangles (24x36), in a downloadable PDF which includes your individual colour key and tips on how to create your quilt.

You could also use your pattern as a cross stitch chart. I might try making my pattern up as a paper collage using colour torn from magazines. Thank you V&A!

David Shrigley's funny video for Pringle jumpers

>* SONG OF THE DAY: Weezer - Undone (The Sweater Song) * *

Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art at the British Library

The Klencke Atlas, 1660 © 2010 The British Library Board.

A tasty Culture24 Picture Special: Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art at the British Library

DIY Snow Globe Postcards tutorial from Giddy Giddy

Image (c) Giddy Giddy 

Via WhipUp: A wonderful tutorial from Giddy Giddy - make your own postable Snow Globe postcards. I collect snow globes, and I love sending fun stuff through the post - can't wait to give these a try!

* SONG OF THE DAY:  Belle & Sebastian – The Fox In The Snow *

Joe's 40th birthday... and some of his favourite things

Joe 40 (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

My very dear friend Joe, who is like the big brother I never had, has reached 40! He is not very impressed by this. I wanted to make a special card for him, and it took a long time to come up with the idea, but I'm pleased with how it came out.

It's 30cm high and mostly made in card, but with fun foam for the balloons  (which have thread 'strings'). I drew the hearts, stars and banner. I made tiny bunting from card and strung them on sewing thread, so they hang freely. I cut windows in the 'J' and added photos of his lovely wife Rachel and kids Isabel and Roxanne.

 

Due to variouss illnesses in his house and mine, he didn't get it till weeks after the big day, but he loved it - phew! Isabel (7) said she liked the photo windows best, so I told her, "Those are photos of Daddy's three favourite things in the whole world." She said, "Well, Daddy has FOUR favourite things - Mummy, me, Roxie... and BEER!" Out of the mouths of babes...

 

* SONG OF THE DAY: Peggy Hayes sings Peggy Lee - Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe*

Artist knits replica of pyramid stone as penance for childhood theft

Andy Holden's Pyramid Piece at Tate Britain Photo: PAUL GROVER

Via The Telegraph: When he was twelve, Andy Holden was taken to the Great Pyramid of Giza. While he was there he broke off a piece of the stone and took it back home with him. When his parents found out, they were furious.

As an adult, he was still consumed with guilt, and in 2008 he went back to the Great Pyramid and returned the stone to its original place. He then spent a year creating this 10ft high knitted replica of the stolen stone.

His show, Art Now: Andy Holden is on at Tate Britain till April 10th, and includes video footage of his him returning the stone to the Great Pyramid.

Japanese Culture for beginners

Back in Crawley to see my folks a few weeks ago, I went to a 'Japanese Cultural Event' at Crawley's lovely new library. I have more enthusiasm for, than knowledge of, Japanese culture. Mainly the tradional stuff - geisha, kimono, graphic prints - but also modern phenomenon such as cosplay, especially the sort of outfits worn by the 'Harajuku kids' made famous by street fashion magazine FRUiTS. So it was great to get a good introduction from a Japanese person who lives in Britain.

Akemi Solloway is a lecturer and consultant on Japanese culture, and leads study visits to Japan. She started by explaining that she wears kimono all the time - she had her train ticket tucked in her obi! What really surprised me was that everything else she needed - purse, keys, etc - she kept in the long 'pockets' of her kimono sleeves. She also explained that while the fan she had on her was wooden, she sometimes carried a metal fan which could be used for self-defence if walking alone at night!

Akemi dressed a volunteer in a summerweight cotton kimono known as a yukata, and tied an obi round her waist which she finished with a big bow. The lady said it was likely wearing a corset - rather tight but good for your posture!

Then Akemi took us through part of the tea ceremony. Along the way she told us loads about Japanese history and modern Japanese culture, and told us about the two-day Japanese Art Festival she runs in Richmond every year, which includes art, music and food. This year it's 27-28 February, and it's FREE! I really hope I can get there.

Paper Cutout Animation

Video for NZBC, via YouTube

Via CraftStylish: This is a beautiful stop-motion animation, made for the New Zealand Book Council by Anderson M Studio. It's been created from the pages of a book ('Going West' by Maurice Gee) - goodness knows how long it must have taken!

It reminds me of Su Blackwell's work, especially the ad she did for Beringer wine (below). I love stop-motion animation but am in awe of the animators - I just don't think I'd have the patience (or skill!) required to produce it myself!

Beringer advert, via YouTube

A Close-Knit Couple

Look at who's come to live with me - aren't they cute? They are Russian originally, but came to me from California, via Etsy seller Glamourama. They make me smile.
 

A kaleidoscope of colourful knitwear: Jóhanna av Steinum

Browsing the website of the NICE Festival of Nordic Art and Culture, I came across this amazing knitwear by Jóhanna av Steinum, which is being exhibted at The Bluecoat in Liverpool.

Johanna is a fashion knitwear designer from the Faroe Islands – a small group of islands in the North Atlantic Sea, famous for having twice as many sheep as people and a strong tradition for knitting. Her garments are made by women from the Faroes and the Ukraine, where knitting is also an important part of the heritage.

Just look at the unihibted use of colour and pattern - great styling on this shoot, too. It makes me want to go and raid my cupboards for an outfit full of clashing colours and textures - or maybe chop up three patterned jumpers from the charity shop to make myself a new sweater dress... mmmmmmm!!!

All images (c) Steinum.net

 

Regretsy

 

I've just discovered 'bad craft' site Regretsy, and I haven't laughed so much in ages! Regretsy (tagline 'Handmade? It looks like you made it with your feet.') trawls Etsy for examples of truly excruciating handiwork and takes the p*** mercilessly.

They're currently mining a particularly rich seam of Twilight fan art. Other enticing categories include Dead Things, Pet Humiliation and Spelling Issues.  It's a guilty pleasure, in the same vein as red carpet fashion site Go Fug Yourself. For more bad craft, there's also Craftastrophe and Glitter Gone Bad.

* SONG OF THE DAY: McAlmont and Butler - What's The Excuse This Time? *

Stuarts Granolithic

'Stuarts Granolithic' paving stone in Holland Road, Hove

Grinding gears at Hove Museum

Mum and Dad came down for the afternoon so the Blonde and I took them to Hove Museum to partake of afternoon tea. In the foyer of the museum is a wonderful coin-operated automata by Ian McKay.

There's a chap reading a newspaper, seated next to a lady with a flask of tea...

... and a kissing couple!

I love automata. I enjoyed making the sheep automata for my mum, and I'd like to learn how to design one myself. I'm not a woodworker so I'd like to see if I could make a fabric one - over an armature of some sort I guess.

Rob Ives' Paper Engineering and Pop-ups for Dummies looks like it might be a good starting point.

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up *

Tea and talk

Spotted this ad for the Mental Health Foundation's Tea & Talk campaign, at Victoria Station (London) last week. I thought it was lovely - both the graphic and the sentiment. I've suffered from depression at several points in my life, and during those times I always found meeting with a friend to talk (sometimes about what was troubling me, sometimes about anything but!) was good medicine.

It takes you out of yourself, stimulates your brain and refreshes your perspective on life. Conversation: to be taken several times a week, either in person, over the phone or online.

Dale Maxey: Seeing London

All images in this post are from 'Seeing London' by Dale Maxey (c) Collins, 1966

I spent a few days in Kent last week seeing my old schoolfriend Sharry. The trip was mainly to do with my forthcoming bridesmaidly duties, but Sharry was lovely enough to give me my fix of charity shops, in Maidstone. The very last one we went in - and nearly didn't because at first - it seemed to be a furniture-only shop - turned up this gem of a book, Seeing London, written and illustrated by Dale Maxey, printed in 1966.

I always look at the kids' books in charity shops to see if there are any by my favourite illustrators (Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge books) or that just catch my eye. This was only 50p, AND has a sort-of bus on the front cover, so I just grabbed it without much flicking through it! But when we got home and I starting looking at it properly I got more and more excited...

It's a children's guide to London, with wonderful illustrations, hand-drawn maps and lovely writing, describing six different excursions you could take from Trafalgar Square on a big red doubledecker bus, to museums, galleries and landmarks where you don't need to be with an adult to get in (you can tell it's 40 years old!). Maxey says that London's buses remind him (her?) of elephants, "lumbering along through the mist that often seems to shroud the city", and this theme runs through the illustrations.

 

The covers and endpapers are in full colour but most of the illustrations are in just black and white, sometimes with red accents. There are two full colour maps of London (click on them for larger versions)...

... and several monochrome ones, labelled with the various places visited in each excursion:

 

The pictures are bursting with life and good humour. Just look at this one, enticing you to take a dip in the Serpentine Lido. I love the girl holding her nose as she goes under the water - especially the way her hair and the skirt on her swimming costume are flying up!

I couldn't find a biog of Dale Maxey online, but he/she seems to have concentrated on children's books, including illustrations for an edition of Edward Lear's The Owl & The Pussycat.

You can find Dale Maxey images on Google. I'll carry on scanning in this book and put my images in a Dale Maxey set on Flickr, and set up a Dale Maxey group, see if anyone bites. Ateeeeeeeeeeen'shun!!!

Shelter's House of Cards (and... vote for me!)

Duck House (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter is running a campaign called House of Cards, to highlight the plight of thousands of people whose homes have been repossessed, and the lack of sufficient social housing.

A TV ad (below) has been produced to promote the campaign and Shelter has asked 52 artists and designers to created artwork for each card of a deck of playing cards. Their designs will be exhibited at the Haunch of Venison art gallery, and auctioned in aid of Shelter.

Shelter has run a competition to design the deck's Eight of Clubs, and this (above) is my entry. I've made the eights 'clubs' into trees, around a figure-of-eight pond, with ducks and a duck house, as a nod to the recent 'MP's expenses' furore. It's paper collage on a handknitted background. All entries are being put to a public vote online from 21 to 29 August - so if you like my design, I'd really appreciate it if you'd vote 'Love It'! :)

* SONG OF THE DAY: Orbital - I Wish I Had Duck Feet *

Post Boxes stamps

Image (c) Royal Mail

I love Royal Mail's latest Special Issue stamps, which feature traditional British post boxes. I've been a letter writer all my life, and I love anything with a red post box on - I even collected Postman Pat stuff when I was a teenager (although I see that lately he's sold out to The Man, presumably to fund the purchase of his new helicopter).

I take photos of postboxes, and am part of Flickr's Postboxes by Postcode Area group. I'm currently knitting Jean Greenhow's Christmas postbox for myself, and if I had a little extra cash I'd love to give an appreciative home to one of British Cream Tea's amazingly detailed, beautifully made Red Postbox felt sculptures.

Image (c) British Cream Tea

Happy anniversary Mum and Dad!

37 years - jolly well done you two! Kxx

LEGO fairground carousel

The LEGO shop had a really detailed model of a hotel in its window, and I thought it must be a special display item, but when I went in I found a whole range of these premium models, available as kits. They're expensive but would be really fun to make (but a bugger to dust)!

My favourite is the Grand Carousel - it reminds me of the Golden Gallopers which are on Brighton Beach every summer. This model rotates, the horses and swingboats move, and it plays music!

I love fairground imagery. There are some lovely things on Etsy, including gorgeous prints of carousels and helter-skelters. For a treasure trove of fairground images, check out the National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round *

The Mice on the Mouse Organ make do and mend

Clip from Bagpuss (c) Smallfilms. Via YouTube

The other day I saw a clip from my childhood favourite, Bagpuss, of the mice from the mouse organ singing their little song, and it struck me that they would make great poster children for the credit-crunch era - being very into 'make do and mend':

We will find it
We will bind it
We will stick it with glue glue glue
We will stickle it
Every little bit of it
We will fix it like new new new

Clip of Bagpuss (c) Smallfilms. Via YouTube.

You can buy a CD of songs and music from Bagpuss, which was written by John Faulkner and his co-writer Sandra Kerr, who also voiced Gabriel the toad and Madeleine the rag doll (did anyone else always assume that Gabriel and Madeleine were a couple?)

The Smallfilms website has info about Bagpuss and all the other wonderful series made by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, and even shows you how you can make your own Bagpuss pyjama case!

Gimme a sign

I love the old ceramic name tiles many of the streets in Hove near me have. I can't find any info about how far back they date from but I'm guessing they're Victorian.

Some of them are a bit worse for wear but I'm glad they've not been replaced.

Some have even been remounted on new walls.

So good they named it twice...

* SONG OF THE DAY: Teenage Fanclub - I Need Direction *

Casting Off: A Coat for a Boat

Via the Simply Knitting newsletter: A traditional wooden boat in an unusual knitted coat will be on display at The Customs House, South Shields, from 12 Jun - 21 Jul 2009. Artist Ingrid Wagner worked with Esen Kaya, visual arts development officer at the Custom House and lots of knitters to create the fabric to cover the boat.

School children, college kids and knitters of all ages and abilities have been busy working on all sorts of accessories for the boat. Over 300 knitters have been involved with the project, both locally and from around the world. The boat was built by the Northeast Maritime Trust. On 12 July it will be launched into the Tyne!  More...

Hello Kitty cushion for the Blonde

Hello Kitty cushion (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

It was the Blonde's birthday yesterday. My little sister is a tattooed rock chick, but is also into Hello Kitty. So I made her this Hello Kitty cushion, with added piratisation!

It's made in white fleece - first a plain cushion, firmly stuffed, then an outer layer with a plain back and an appliqued front, which I blanket-stitched together over the base. Comfy kawaii.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Tom Jones - What's New, Pussycat? *

 

A walk from Cromwell Road down The Drive and Grand Parade to Hove seafront

Had been awake all night and the dawn was so lovely Ihought I'd go for a walk with my camera. From 7am to 8am on Friday 29th May 2009.

J'aime beaucoup les magazines trouvés!

Well, how's this for a score? Yes, while just popping out for some milk, glancing at each recycling box I passed, I picked up a 2006 copy of Elle Decoration in one street and the April 2009 issue of Marie Claire Maison in the next (bone dry too, unlike last week's haul)!!! You get a better class of recycling round here, I tell you. If I was still living in Crawley I'd be lucky to pick up a copy of Chat.

I've never seen a Marie Claire Maison before. It looks fab - so colourful and full of great photos. It's even fun using my very rusty (1993) A-level French to decipher the text! I notice that one of the articles is called 'Léger comme une bulle' - light as a bubble - where in English we describe something as 'light as a feather'. I used to get into trouble when writing my French essays for translating English phrases directly into French, where they didn't work.

It wasn't till years later, when I worked in a software/website testing lab, that I learnt the difference between translation and localisation - the latter done by someone who not only knows how to translate words but phrases, sayings, slang and other cultural, religious or political connotations. It's important - many big companies have landed in the brown stuff when trying to sell the same product all over the world with the same brand name without checking if that name is funny or offensive or nonsense in any given country.

The Elle Decoration turns out to be one I had bought when it was originally on sale - I recognise some of the pages I tore out and stuck in my scrapbook. I must fish out the scrapbook and see which bits of the magazine I liked enough to keep and which I wasn't that interested in - I bet my tastes have changed slightly since 2006. Are they more refined or more garish? NB: If you are related to me, that is a purely rhetorical question!

Su Blackwell for Elle UK

Image (c) Su Blackwell for Elle UK, July 2009

The July edition of Elle arrived today and this beautiful papercut illustration by Su Blackwell jumped out at me. I've already enthused about Su Blackwell's work, and it's great to see her exposure in such a mainstream mag. It's for an article called 'The Books That Changed My Life' - "writers, designers, artists and trendsetters" talking about books which have change how they read, work and live.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Rose Cousins and Rose Polenzani - The Book Of Love *

Peter Blake's Art Bus

CCA Art Bus (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

The Blonde and I went aboard Peter Blake's Art Bus the weekend before last. I'd heard he would be around and had taken a book along for him to sign, but sadly he was nowhere to be seen.

The exhibition wasn't very exciting either, just a dozen or so prints, most of which I'd seen before. Maybe I'd been looking forward to it too much, but it was a bit of an anti-climax. I guess it was mainly a promo for the new 'Retrospective' book.

The most impressive thing was the re-fit of the bus. The outside was unmistakably Peter Blake, painted in his Pop Art style and signed - I even love his handwriting! Inside it had 'Target' and Union Flag seats, and fab red LEDs along each step of the staircase (and the Beach Boys, his favourite band, over the PA).

All in all it was a bit disappointing, but it was free so it doesn't really matter!

All images (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

Also:
The Guardian: All aboard Peter Blake's Art Bus
Creative Review: Mother launches art space with Peter Blake show
CCA Galleries: Peter Blake

What Is Knitting Really?

Excerpt from 'Soft Options: The Knitting Kaleidoscope' - created in 1985 for The Knitting Craft Group of the British Handknitting Association; now in The Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection.

Powdering my nose just got prettier

I needed some a new powder compact, and once I'd looked at all the big names and chickened out of paying their prices, I found this Collection 2000 one, which will do the job, was less than £4 and is SO PRETTY!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Shakin' Stevens - Lipstick, Powder And Paint *

Puzzle your postman: Envelopes by Harriet Russell

 

My friend Sarah was telling me about a woman who had posted lots of letters to herself, with her address in a variety of cryptic forms - a crossword, an eye chart, a dot-to-dot, a map with an arrow pointing at her house - to see which the Post Office would manage to deliver. What a great idea!

It was freelance illustrator Harriet Russell's great idea, and she's published a book of all the envelopes which were safely delivered - Envelopes: A Puzzling Journey Through the Royal Mail. You have to admire Harriet's creativity AND the determination of the Post Office workers who ensured that the mail got through!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Nik Kershaw - The Riddle *

Also:
The Telegraph: Harriet Russell: Pushing the envelope
The Independent: Return to sender: Artist puts Royal Mail to the test

 Images (c) Harriet Russell via Amazon.co.uk

I've seen Coraline!!

Sarah (here giving you her 'button eyes'), Mister Sarah and I went to an advance screening of Coraline on Saturday, and it was fab - colourful and creepy and full of amazing handmade details, including Althea Crome's unbelievably tiny knitting (see below).

We hadn't realised it was in 3D - we got given the glasses on the way in - and it made the film even more of an adventure. There's a bit in the opening sequence where a needle passes through a piece of fabric and comes straight out of the screen at you - we actually ducked! It's quite scary in parts too - a couple of smaller kids were taken out by their parents when the Other Mother started turning nasty.

For all things Coraline, check out the official Coraline website, and fanblog Evil Buttons. Book-wise, there's a Coraline: A Visual Companion, all about the production of the movie, and of course the original novel and graphic novel.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Johnny Tillotson - Poetry In Motion *

Also:
Empire: Interviews Coraline author Neil Gaiman
Empire: Interviews Coraline director Henry Selick
Movies.Ie: Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French talk about their voice work on Coraline
Village Voice: Stephin Merritt and David Greenspan Conjure an Unusual Tuner for Coraline

Kelvingrove Elvis

Image (c) Kristen Bailey, 2005

I just came across this photo I took a few years ago on a visit to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. This fantastic sculpture of Elvis is called 'Return to Sender' and is by Sean Read.

I can't find out any more about Sean Read, but I did find this wonderful picture by 15-year old Finn Aschavir, one of the winners of the Kelvingrove Children's Drawing Competition.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Kirsty MacColl - There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Swears He's Elvis *

Nice biscuits

Nice biscuit print (c) Hazel Nicholls

It appears that the humble Nice biscuit is becoming something of a icon in the crafting community. Perhaps folk would rather make them into works of art than actually eat them? They're usually the ones left on the plate - see this heated debate on my fave author Jasper Fforde's website.

This post from Anne at I Like flagged up the work of hwayoungjung, who draws fantastic pictures of famous British foods, including a plate of Nice, Custard Cream and Malted Milk biscuits.

Zoe Graham has created a series of biscuit works, including the Nice, by carving into sheets of MDF.

My favourite is this 'It's Nice To Be Nice' screenprint by reapwhatisew on Etsy (Etsy also has some smashing Jammie Dodger items, if you like your biscuits a more flashy). Reapwhatisew, aka Hazel Nicholls, has also has a blog, where she's posted this photo of a Nice biscuit brooch she made for a friend. Sweet.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Two Pints - The Biscuit Rap *

Turquoise treasure trove

 

I has an appointment in Portslade last week, and afterwards I decided to do the Boundary Road charity shops. And look what I found in the first shop I went in - a beautiful little vintage travel clock, in my favourite shade of turquoise, for £3!

It's so pretty I think I'd have bought it even if it was broken but I wound it up and wandered round the shop for five minutes and when I came back it had kept good time, so it was definitely coming with me.

Usually I use my mobile phone as an alarm clock, but this is much nicer - waking me with a proper old-fashioned 'ting-aling-aling-aling-aling!' It sits next to the old Pifco lamp I bought in a charity shop about ten years ago, on my bedside table, which was also from a charity shop. Love it!

Cupboard Love

Isn't this a beauty? I wrestled with myself all afternoon over this gorgeous old cabinet with glass shelves and curved doors, which was in the Martlets Hospice shop on Blatchington Road (for £35). Eventually I had to admit that there wasn't any room in my flat for it. I do hope it's gone to an appreciative home!

 

Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu

Signal failure at Tower Hill (c) Slinkachu

I'm a difficult person to buy for and don't often get birthday presents which weren't 'on the list', but the lovely Sarah hit the jackspot with Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu.

Slinkachu sets up street scenes with those 1:144 scale figures usually found in model railways, playing with the differences in scale between their world and ours. The book has two views of the same scene - the close-up of the miniature goings-on, next to a wide view showing passers-by and traffic speeding past completely oblivious to the tiny drama happening in a crack in the pavement!

Follow Slinkachu's adventures on the Little People blog.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Dave Grohl - Tiny Dancer *

Best of English bus stop

 

On Monday night I just could not get to sleep, and at 5.45 on Tuesday morning I was up and staring out of my living room window when an Adshel van pulled up at the bus stop over the road to change the advertising poster. Yes, I take photos of strangers at night without their knowledge or consent...

I walked past today, and it's a new campaign for Bombardier beer. They're trying to make themselves the drink of St, George's Day (like Guinness is for St. Patrick's), and the poster features icons of Englishness.

 

So we have Henry VIII wearing rugby kit, holding a conker, one foot on a wheel of Stilton; and the late, sorely missed Eric Morecambe dressed as a Morris man, with a Punk-style leather jacket, making Churchill's 'V for victory' sign with one foot on a policeman's helmet. They are standing on a big Cornish pasty and above the pint of beer is a red letterbox with a miner's helmet on top of it and a robin sat on top of that. On either side are garden gnomes with fishing rods - one has a Rich Tea biscuit on the end of it, the other a Custard Cream.

I've Googled in vain to find out who's done this artwork - have emailed Bombardier so watch this space! It's the work of artist David Lawrence. who has a cracking website. He's produced three posters, here are the other two:

This one has Queen Victoria dressed as Robin Hood and Les Dawson dressed as Queen Elizabeth I, standing on the Isle of Wight (inculding the Needles lighthouse). She holds a rolled-up umbrella and has one foot on a teapot, and he holds a cup of tea and rests a foot on a pork pie. Next to him is an English bulldog with a string of bangers in its mouth.

Here's Winston Churchill dressed as one of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and holding a '99' ice-cream cone, with one foot on a rugby ball. He's standing in Stonehenge with Kenneth Williams dressed as Sherlock Holmes, holding a cricket bat, with one foot on a jar of strawberry jam and, I think, wearing sandals with socks (and I thought that was just Christians...). Above them are red squirrels eating acorns from oak branches. Behind the beer bottle a pantomime horse can be seen. Cheers!