charity shop challenge

one of my goals for this year is to cut out high street fashion and to instead soley buy clothing direct from makers or second-hand. thanks to twitter, a small group of some friends came up with charity shop challenge yesterday, where people are encouraged to find new clothing in charity shops & post about their finds at the end of the month. fancy taking part?

guidelines:

1. your outfit must comprise of a key-garment from a charity shop plus any other pieces/accessories etc to make up an 'ensemble'
2. annotate your outfit. include a description of the garments/where you bought or found each piece/price of charity find
3. upload your image onto your blog by the last friday of each month
4. on the last friday of the month tell everyone about it & tweet with the hashtag #charityshopchallenge
5. extra credit for those who customise their charity shop find

the image above is a few things put together in spirit of the challenge: the dress (as well as being my first purchase for myself of 2011!) was found in a charity shop in liverpool on monday, the belt is a charity shop find from a couple of years ago & the cardigan is from ebay. hooray for second-hand!

update! charity shop challenge can now be found on flickr - so if you don't have a twitter account, no worries.

cool things girls make

some busy weeks lately - a few days off so my boyfriend & i could have some mini-adventures to celebrate five years together, plus squeezing in doing lots of little bits of work around normal day-to-day things. for now, i thought i'd show you some ace things i've been liking, made by some talented ladies. above, a new addition to our little flat. at first, my boyfriend thought i was putting up festive decorations early, but this particular item will be staying up year round - joie de vivre from banter banner, run by angela deane.

found kaye blegvad's website a few weeks ago, instantly hooked. quite a macabre (sometimes tongue in cheek) series of works, a nice change. i snapped up a copy of her 'onwards' book/zine, about an army of girls who go to war. heck yes.

you may already be aware of verity keniger's work, but you might not yet have seen her new (& utterly incredible) thirty-four layer screen-print, congeries. i shall never weep with frustration at making a three colour print again (though screen-printing hasn't brought me to tears for a few years, fortunately).

i'm largely a pens/pencils/print kind of girl, but i love danna ray's paintings. one of my particular favourites is the above piece, campfire. if i were to find a print of this under the tree this year, i'd be one happy bunny.

trying to buy less

lately i've made a pact with myself to try buy less new things (the ipod touch was a big slip). the idea is to spend less, to think before i buy & to not bring as many brand new products into my home. i'm allowing myself to buy recycled, handmade & second hand so if there's something i'm thinking of buying, i'm making myself hunt it down via etsy, ebay & charity shops. on the one hand, this has been great. for example, i was looking for a mustard yellow cardigan, & ended up getting one on ebay (after a week or so of searching) for a lot cheaper than i would have if it were brand new, & it was exactly what i was looking for. however, the terrible loophole is that i'm basically using 'oh-it's-recycled/handmade/second-hand' as an excuse to buy things. i can't win!

good & bad

things that are rubbish: having the cold.

things that are ace: all those things above. & the fact that my cold is on its way out.

remember, giveaway ends tomorrow!

lake como

how much do i want to buy 'lake como' by paddy malloy? the answer is very much. another one for the wish list!

sweet things

sanna annukka has just designed a line of cards/wrapping paper etc for nineteen seventy three. i love the geometric patterns & the cards that feature various dwellings. they'd look super lovely framed.

i recently bought a timberline pendleton wool purse from welcome home, can't wait to get it in the post. the colours & materials used look ace. the one i bought is slightly different, but there's a few more up for grabs over on welcome home's store.

one of my favourite necklaces is from wildcatters on etsy. they've recently listed this lovely little thing, & i am going to buy it as soon as i have some extra cash.

now that the sun is staying out longer, i'm daydreaming about a pair of shoes that will work for bright days, but will have you covered in case it's not quite as warm as you thought.

promoting

using the blog to do a little promotion for other nice people around the internets tonight. above is an image by erin gilkes aka atlantic treefox, maker of beautiful things. until february 5, poppytalk are letting crafters & admirers vote in the poppies, an award event recognising craft online, & you should definitely have a look at who to vote for. i'm sending you on over to the crafters nominees list via this link, where (if you like) you could vote for miss gilkes lovey creations on that list.

internet art fans may already be familiar with meighan o'toole's blog my love for you is a stampede of horses. meighan has taken another blog on board in the form of wild horses, which focuses on her excellent taste in adornment. i'm looking forward to the visual treats she has to share.

finally, i wish i could visit bristol at some point over the next few weeks. lizzy stewart & christopher bettig, two artists who's work i love, have a joint exhibition at here gallery until the end of february. how i'd love to see their beautiful creations in the flesh! guess i'll have to cross my fingers that the work will make it's way to flickr at some point.

ps. back to my own blog, don't forget that you can still enter my giveaway. there's three more days to enter, don't miss your chance!

wishlist

birch tree forest print by lisa congdon

jasper chunk necklace by wonderwear

pattern (two) letterpress print by christopher bettig

bicycle ponytail elastic by girlsliketrucks

rainy night print by blanca gómez

lines & arrows cushion cover by bestill

oh etsy, you temptress. these lovely wares are just a small selection of things i'd buy in a heartbeat if i could afford to!

letterbox goodness

i think most people will agree when i say getting post is one of life's simple pleasures. getting a letter from someone through the door, finally receiving the package you've been expecting, or the surprise of one you didn't know about. i've been lucky enough to have something from all three categories this week. above are three zines that have been added to my collection: good to know issue #6 from amy (which came along with some other great little treats), if drawings were photographs, by rob & tom & published by it's nice that, plus nature zine by various people & published by hand of man.

a package that i picked up today was a result of an international art exchange currently making the rounds. started by the lovely flora douville, it's basically a really excellent chain letter where, if all goes as planned, you receive thirty six little works of art from all over. above are a zine & print by erin mcphee, which she sent along with two other prints, so it was a great package to receive! her drawings are really quite lovely, & the zine concept was hilarious: once people find out that erin is an illustrator, they assume her boyfriend is one too. as a result, the zine is a collaboration of her drawings as an illustration student, & his as a history student.

this final package is kind of a mystery! which is pretty cool. all i know is that my letter is from canada, that the person may have taken three of these photos & found the rest, & that they associate where i live with a certain film starring paul hogan. i think it's an international art exchange offering, but i've yet to find out for sure.

along with all this great stuff, i've taken part in susie ghahremani's (of boygirlparty fame) pen pal party. mail is the best. i hope you're all getting equally awesome things arriving on your doormat.

timber!

i am most certainly wearing this shirt to work tomorrow.

timber!

people in order: 1. age

lenka clayton/james price

88mph

you probably guessed already, but i love illustration. so whenever i hear of any illustrative escapades happening around where i live, it's pretty exciting. some illustration students at the art college i went to are putting together some zines, & a batch of the second issue was hand-delivered to my workplace today (i was left a copy of the first on my desk a few weeks back, as someone knew i'd like it). titled 88mph, it's a collection of their work, & they're nicely designed & made. i hope to see more in future.

twine & tunes

i'd been looking for some of this baker's twine for a little while, & was super pleased to come across birdhaven on etsy, who not only sells exactly what i wanted, but also donates money from each person's purchase to an animal charity. awesome.

i don't talk about music on here much (i don't think?), but - & this will sound ridiculous - i've been meaning to get around to listening to the band meursault for the past few years (i know someone who likes them, & planned to check them out). well, i finally purchased their album 'pissing on bonfires/kissing with tongues' last night, & i really regret not doing so sooner! very much recommended. there's even a couple of downloads on there if you fancy a test-listen.

sb in dc

i skimmed through the flickr uploads of art house co-op yesterday, curious to see whether i'd see mine or alan's sketchbook submissions among the hundreds on display. & whadyaknow! i found mine nestled in a pile in washington dc! 

regarding yesterday's post, thank you to everyone who submitted feedback & their interpretations via various sites. it's a close call, but i think the people have spoken, & - in the context of the project anyway - i think it'll work best.

sand

i'm not sure how long this took me, but put it this way; this is sand is a good way to whittle away time. (via it's nice that, issue #1.)

apart from playing with pixellated sand, this morning was used to price things & organise some bits & pieces, selling-wise. weekends are precious now (though obviously not so precious that i won't spend an age creating the above image).

more advice

the ever-so-wise advice to sink in slowly just released their second postcard pack. it looks pretty superb, & you can see a couple of videos that john stanbury made giving you a peek inside on flickr. march is a month of A6 sized encouragement it seems. this can only be a good thing.

ampersand

spotted this on design for mankind earlier. i am partial to ampersands, & quite want one!

there's many more on alphabetbags.

find

found in an antiques shop in perth. the box to the left held the larger quantity of beautiful matches & green tiddlywinks piece. the box to the right contained the smaller quantity of beautiful matches & the stamps.

louis roskosch

'the adventures of leeroy and popo' by louis roskosch. i discovered louis' awesome work a while ago, he has a distinct scratchy & textured style, & i love the way he lays out his images. take a peek.

never ending street

new resident on the living room wall. by andreas samuelsson, from here via here.