Brighton...Vegas of the South....

Things have been HECTIC recently, I'm on the other end of a 2-week work bender and haven't had any time for anything extra-curricular lately, how depressing...

Anyway, this weekend I was able to finally get away from it all and spend some time with friends in beautiful Brighton celebrating the 30th birthday of my friend Mike, we went to the arcade on the Pier and had some fun with the amusements, and I really enjoyed the bright lurid colours of it all, the neon was just what I needed to wake me up....

Petshop friends....

On our trip to the local pet shop last weekend I found a few new friends to photograph, I just wish I could have taken them all home with me!

Lava necklace....

A while ago I wrote THIS post about The Ultimate DIY contest, and my proposed entry into it....

Now - obviously I did not organize myself well enough to actually send my entry in, but I did make it and have worn it several times since, so thought I might as well show the final product to justify my efforts!

Its amazing what you can do with an extra long shoe-lace, some seed beads and a needle and thread!

Cowling....

The latest addition to the Lucy Knits and crochet collection....

A military style extra chunky crochet snood!

It was so easy to make, I just bought some extra chunky yarn (106 yards / 97 metres / 170g) , a 20mm crochet hook (monster size!) and just crocheted around in a circle through the back loop until the yarn ran out (or until desired length) to achieve a reversible textured snood, one side is ribbed, the other is a nice nubbled texture (as in the pics above).

endpapers....

I love endpapers, to me they are the best bit of the book, and I saw a post on
Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog
today which inspired me to do a post of my own on some beautiful examples I found online.

Yellow phantom

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=955

Velveteen rabbit

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=957

Poe’s tales of mystery and imagination

illustrated by Arthur Rackham, originally published in 1935, this is a reprint from the 1970's.

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=1873

A selection of Nancy Drew book endpapers

Mama’s bank account

found by Jeffrey

http://www.goofbutton.com/2007/12/mamas_bank_account.html

Exactitudes....

THIS website is fascinating, here is the blurb explaining the project.....

"Photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 16 years. Rotterdam’s heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in many cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element. "

Wim van Sinderen, Senior Curator Museum of Photography, The Hague