Doll yourself up

Fancy a bracelet made of Barbie bums? Or perhaps a necklace of Barbie busts? Well, believe it or not they actually exist! (You can even get a necklace of Ken's chest and urm... curious plastic bulge!)

I came across Margaux Lange's fun and unique jewellery on the Hannah Zakari site where they've rightly describe how she's made dismembering Barbie dolls into an art form. Check out Margaux's own site for a more extensive collection of the pieces, or click here to read interviews with Margaux from the Daily Mail and The Telegraph.

Decorations

Anthropologie has some really cute christmas decorations right now which could easilly be used all year round to brighten up a room... Most of them look as if they would be quite easy to recreate with fabrics and felt etc. Here are some of my favourites:

DETAILS

Materials used: Felt, papier mache, sparkling velvet, wool, beads . . .

Sexy Ceramics

The "Sexy Ceramics" range from Tina Tsang of Undergrowth Design Co. is available through The Shop Floor. Tina, who has worked as a lingerie designer and an animator puts her past experience to good use by employing the lacey textures of lingerie with the playfulness of animation in the form of the 'sexy legs'. Personally, I'm tempted to get the sugar bowl for my future kitchen of oddities!

Teapot = £75
Cup and Saucer = £35
Sugar Bowl = £35

Baubles, bangles, bright shiny things...

If you're bored of bog-standard Christmas baubles then these fretwork creations by Pieter Erasmus should be right up your street. Unfortunately, they don't come cheap at £70 each, probably due to the work that's gone into them and the fact that each bauble has a limited edition of 30. The baubles can be seen/purchased from The Shop Floor, a delicious site which has page after page of unual treats.

Also from Pieter Erasmus's St Erasmus company come this collection of Artisan jewellery. These exquisite necklaces are made of natural and metalic crochet combined with small and large faceted glass beads. These two pieces are approx £190 each and available from The Shop Floor.

Song love

....:* Mirrorball *:....

I plant the kind of kiss
That wouldn't wake a baby
On the self same face
That wouldn't let me sleep
And the street is singing with my feet
And dawn gives me a shadow I know to be taller
All down to you, dear
Everything has changed

My sorry name
Has made it to graffiti
I was looking for
Someone to complete me
Not anymore, dear
Everything has changed

You make the moon a mirrorball
The streets an empty stage
The city's sirens, violins
Everything has changed

So lift off love
All down to you, dear
And lift off love
All down to you, dear

And we took the town to town last night
We kissed like we invented it
And now I know what every step is for
To lead me to your door
Know that while you sleep
Everything has changed

You make the moon a mirrorball
The streets an empty stage
The city's sirens, violins
Everything has changed

Keep calm and carry on...

This (see 2nd picture) amusing play on the classic war time "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster is available for $15 as a T-Shirt via Theadless by designer Olly Moss.

Happy Halloween

I know this is a day early, but I'll be up in London tomorrow celebrating Halloween with friends ...

This image is by Heidi Burton.

Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane (love love love) has posted some links to some Halloween make-and-do tutorials. If anyone is interested, visit her wonderful blog!

Music!

I'm currently loving "Some People Have Real Problems" by Sia - if anyone watches Jools Holland, she was on the other week, check out the video here.
And the official video which proves she certainly isn't vain!

I'm also liking Those Dancing Days' album "In Our Space Hero Suits" espeically the tracks Space Hero Suits, Run Run and Those Dancing Days.

Lee Meszaros

These merit badges by Lee Meszaros are lovingly silk screened, painted and embroidered on cotton by hand. Different border colours can be selected and each badge comes on a cardboard backing with information about the badge. They would be perfect gifts, coming with messages ranging from "Pushing the envelope" and "Dirt Bag" to "Surviving First Love" and "Having Meat on your Bones" - there's probably something to reward everyone you know with!
You can purchase these badges here for $25 (approx £14).

Crafty Ideas

I really like the simplicity of this set by Little Flower Designs and it got me thinking about getting back into glass and ceramic painting. Hmmm... watch this space!

Shop lust

If I ever visit New York again, I really want to try and track down Pearl River Mart - this shop looks so jam packed full of lovely things! These photos are from Danielle Thompson's blog - Thompson Family Life. The lanterns and the paper garlands and all the colours are delicious! They also sell Cram Cream products, vintage oriental posters and tin toys...

Illustration

Kelly Smith lives and works in Tasmania, Australia. Her work has been used nationwide including in publications such as Vice. Visit her really nicely designed website, her etsy shop and her blog if you like what you see here.

PS. I am jealous of people who can draw like this!

(OvO) - Owls!

Shoegazer Creative:

I made these owls a while ago and intend to make more in the future. They are made of embossed felt, vintage fabric and wooden buttons and hang by a ribbon. Each owl measures approx 14cm from base to ear tip. Two of these three have been given as gifts to friends... the other one, I kept :D (OvO) Hoot!

If you would like an owl, please comment or email for prices etc. Thanks x

Illustration Inspiration

Shen Plum is an illustrator and designer based in Canada. I really enjoy they way she represents animal fur in her images as hundreds of tiny marks, also her sketchbook is something worth diving into for a while if you get time! (and be sure to meet her Zombie Bunny! - see 3rd pic below)

You can visit Shen Plum's website, her flickr or her myspace if you like what you see here.