Another Lost Friend

Here's another Heartbreak Store Lost Friends necklace:

Lost Friends Necklace -- an unusual necklace from the Heartbreak Store's range of contemporary mourning jewellery.

Bearded Ladies and the Royal Mail Strike

Despite what I may indicate in this post I don't actually have a beard -- but I might buy myself one.

What a great little store -- I think I'll buy the whole shop. And my beard will be a white one, for Christmas.

I know we're in the run up to Christmas because ROYAL MAIL ARE THREATENING TO STRIKE AGAIN. It is getting to the stage where it would not be Christmas without a good old Royal Mail strike. I can no longer think of Christmas without thinking of Royal Mail striking -- it is now a Pavlovian response. First hint of Jingle Bells = Strike.

I don't have anything against posties -- they've no doubt got some justifiable grievances -- and I have nothing but praise for the postman who delivers to us. But have a heart, guys. Couldn't it be after Christmas? You know -- the time of year that I and other online traders do around 70% of our business? The time of year that may help keep us in the black after bursting our ass all year trying to survive. During a recession. With retail taking a severe pounding. With the possibility that taking industrial action may just fit in nicely with management's long-term plans? Ah, life is such a sodding vale of tears, don't you think?

And on that uplifting note, here's the Crimson Joy necklace -- latest piece of jewellery to go in our store:

The piece of poetry is from William Blake's Sick Rose

Blake was a bit of a mad genius, it seems. Not only a poet but talented in so many other areas. I wonder if we got a bunch of genius's together -- from a number of sphere's -- if they could come up with solutions to world problems. Everything is just too fragile and dangerous to leave to politicians and management types. Blake may have been able to come up with a solution to the problems at the Royal Mail -- or, at the very least, he could have wrote a poem about it.

Hello Again, Sailor...

There's something about a sailor ... so they say. Sailor-type clothing is wonderfully kitsch and retro, that I know.

I noticed that the blogger from The Snail and the Cyclops has what looks like an awfully adorable sailor top in her Big Cartel vintage fashion shop -- Thirteen Eighty Five.



Cute, cute, cute, you've got to agree.

And talking of cute -- here's our Dollface pendant from Strange Garden:



If you don't think it is cute then you are probably in the majority, as a lot of people think it is a bit spooky. We like it and think the face is more vulnerable than creepy. The background image, on the other hand, scores quite high on the heebie jeebies scale.

Doll necklace.

Old Photographs -- High School Girls

The blogger at Keeping Austin Weird (great name for a blog) works at a girls school, where photographs of ex-pupils -- from way back -- line the walls. This is the beautiful Miss Doryoalace Watson (another great name...) :





Who never married, it seems. One commentator to the blog rightly pointed out the not all beautiful girls marry but it is fairly obvious that Doryoalace would have 'suitors' lining up and marrying was the done thing back then. Perhaps her sweetheart was killed in the war.

Strange to be wondering about the life of a complete stranger on the strength of seeing her image on a wall or a blog. Her name might have caught our attention briefly but I think it must be her looks that captures the imagination.

Allan Gray's James Dean Legend Film

It's pretty definite that the King James advertising agency will be getting a lot more work following the release this month of the James Dean (Legend) film they made for the South African investment company, Allan Gray.




James Dean was/is the epitome of cool and cool by association is still worth having.

Alternative Bags Coupon Code

Here's the latest Larkin & Catcher coupon code:

BAGONE

Use it at checkout and recieve a 15% discount on any bag. It's on for the next week -- and please remember that you must use capital letters for the code to work.

Bags with discount coupon code.

Alice -- and the Shrouded Cross

Two more pieces of jewellery to show you from L & C:

Alice -- Changed necklace. Another piece from the translucent disc collection

Shrouded cross pendant

Amigurumi

Amigurumi is the craft of crocheting (or -- less often -- knitting) small cute figures, almost always animals. One of my aunts attempted to teach me to crochet years ago but I just didn't take to it. The little animals are cute though, so I see how it could catch on.

This little fellow from Angel Hands quite adorable:

And Javavee -- and lots of other shops on Etsy -- has amigurumi patterns, including one for these little guys:

Or you can go to Hook & Needles for a free amigurumi tutorial, which includes videos of the basic crochet stitches -- which is handy, even if you don't intend to make those little creatures but just want to pick up the standard crocheting techniques.

Black Apple Necklace

There's lots of new jewellery in the store just now -- and some bit changes about to take place, which I'll tell you more about in the very near future.

Here's the Black Apple necklace -- its big -- about 2 x 2 inches but pretty damn beautiful with a nice touch of the vampire about it, without being screamingly obvious.

Black Apple Necklace

Strange Story of the Golden Hare

It won't be that often I'll be putting a link to the Daily Mail here (God -- that paper is obsessed with womens' appearances and usually in a negative way) but I liked their piece on the children's author and the return of the Golden Hare.

We seem to be a bit rabbit/hare obsessed around here and there's a good few items related to those animals in the store. And the Blue Rabbit Bracelet is back but probably not for long. The bracelet is featured in one of our recent posts but here's an image of it in the sitting-up position.

It is a really cute piece of unusual jewellery and one of our current favouites now that the Lost Friends necklace is gone.

Lost Friends Are Not Dead

The Lost Friends Are Not Dead necklace sold out in record time but should be back in store in the near future.


Lost Friends Are Not Dead Necklace

It is one of our favourites for a number of reasons -- but mainly because of the haunting image and the sentiment of the message.

Stamp Carving

I've just been over at Geninnes Art Blog watching her stamp carving video -- which was truly mesmerising. Reminds me why I love craft/art/design blogs so much. A lot of the time I'm so busy reading the blogs that I forget/don't have the time to mention them in a post -- so I guess you just got lucky today. I found Geninne's blog (and the video) via Patricia Zapata's A little Hut -- another artist and another great blog.

Cute Jewellery from Strange Garden

Here's a first view of one of the pieces of cute jewellery we have in store from Strange Garden:





Blue Rabbit Bracelet --fat blue rabbit with white and pink pearls.

Where the Hell Are You, then?

Thanks to the Sudden Demise of our hosting service we are now over at Strange Garden. More uncommon objects and very wantable goods will be added anon. Life is still sweet.

Coupon Code Information

Life's got too busy to be blogging all over the place just now -- so I'm mostly over at the Larkin & Catcher blog. Remember to use the MEME coupon code for your 10% discount in the store! Valid for the next few days only.

Alternative Get Well Card

We've just put some amazing unusual birthday cards and greetings cards in the store, including this alternative get well card.






Alternative Get Well Card

The artwork on the cards is by the world renowned tattoo artist and painter Angelique Houtkamp and they are just gorgeous to look at and totally different from the kind of thing you'll see in most card shops.

Lost and Found

About three weeks ago I had to move some stuff through my garden, so I took my precious little Steampunk-style Love bracelet off and put it in my pocket for safe-keeping. But it must have fallen out my pocket and despite a good search I couldn't find it. I could have got another one from the store but I wanted my original one because it was my little good-luck charm -- though not so lucky that it didn't get itself lost.

Today I'm walking through the garden when a little white dog I've never seen before comes tearing past me and through the gate. I go after the dog to see where it goes but its gone in seconds. But on my way back I spy this little cross poking up through some low shrubs...

I take a closer look...

And grab it before it disappears again.

Little Rabbits

Isn't this little fellow the sweetest thing? He's 7 inches high and handmade from vintage angora sweaters.




Little Grey Rabbit $75.00

Find him and more of Sonja Ahlers beautiful bunnies at her Makeitawesome Etsy shop.

Clutch Bags at ASOS

I reckon clutches are going to be big (in every sense) this summer and ASOS has some beauties in stock just now.

I love this structured looking oversized croc-look bag -- it has a slight 1940's look to it, which is always good. Similar bags were also around in the 1980's (not so good -- my all-time least-favourite fashion decade).

ASOS Metal Trim Croc Look Oversize Clutch £18.00

This gold-coloured French Connection quilted clutch also has a lot going for it -- the addition of the chain handle is an added plus point.

French Connection Quilted Oversized Clutch Bag £45.00

Is the Economy Improving?

According the the Telegraph there are 10 reasons to be cheerful about the economy

Celebrities Ageing Badly

The Forever Young piece in the Chicago Tribune lists around ninety 'then and now' photographs of celebrities -- and boy, was it scary.

Scary Man in make-up -- in contrast to his normal-looking (but with weird hair) younger self

It took me a while to go through all the images and it was kind of depressing but I was transfixed by just how ghastly some of the celebrities looked in their ill-judged attempts to beat the hands of time. Couldn't help thinking how more dignified most of them would look if they ditched the desperate (and fruitless) attempts to turn back the clock and just concentrated on looking good for their age.

One thing I noticed was that the men looked at least as bad as the women (though it was sometimes difficult to tell what sex they were) and also that older men should never, ever wear cosmetics.

Here's some of the things I learned from looking at the before and after images:

• after a certain age refuse to have your photograph taken. If unavoidable insist on black and white
• keep your teeth looking as natural and realistic as possible. Excessively white, extremely even teeth just look like dentures and their 'perfection' draws attention to all the less-than-perfect aspects of a face
• don't have cosmetic surgery. Even so-called successful surgery leaves the person looking strangely alien and usually not a great deal younger

See all the images at Forever Young: celebs then and now

Gothic School Bag Sale

For the next few days only -- save 25% the large Catfight gothic shoulder bag. Sturdy, lightweight, looks fabulous and is a great alternative shoulder bag for school or college!

Our Style Icon Competition

If you don't already know -- that's the beautiful Louise Brooks in the above images -- one of our choices for our Style Icons Past and Present competition. Cute prizes for the best entries.

Shock Horror: Dita Von Teese 'Wears Granny Shoes'

Chris Johnson over at the Mail Online is horrified at a supposed lapse of glamour by burlesque style queen Dita Von Teese. Johnson is seemingly disappointed by the 'orthopaedic granny shoes' worn by Von Teese at the Coachella Festival in California at the weekend.

Wrong, Mr Johnson. Or even stuff and nonsense, as my dear old granny might have said. The shoes complemented Dita's outfit perfectly, authentically matched her 1940's look and the wedge style was an ideal choice of footwear for wearing at a festival.