Thursday 7 October 2010

Childhood

And here is the first issue, Childhood.

Brikolage is a concept magazine designed to inspire young people to be creative. The theme for our first year is Age. Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood and (in Decemeber) Old Age.

Read, enjoy and Be Inspired!

Adolescence

Because I didn't know I could do that, here is Brikolage Adolescence issue

Brikolage

As I've not toooooo much to say today, but I'm online, AND I really think you should; I'm just going to put here. right here. Brikolage Adulthood issue.

It's super. It's amazing. It's the third in a series of four. Do it.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

the way it is...

I have pretty much come to terms with the fact that I am not going to be a regular blogger. I tried (sort of) and failed. I get too caught up with life outside the computer! Or Twitter...that evil thing is just so EASY! Why do I find (especially as I am a writer) that constructing something more than 140 characters is difficult? Actually, that's not even true, sometimes I find a Tweet difficult. I think it's because I'm stubborn and when I am told "you must write" I'm like NO! Like a small, fat, greasy child I sit in the corner and say NO. I will not write, just because I should.

SO, my logic is, maybe I will write if I tell myself I don't have to. We'll see. 6 months later and my next blog will confirm otherwise.

So my quarterly magazine Brikolage has been going very well! Check it out here It's quarterly and comes out with the seasons. Also, each year is themed, so each issue within that is a sub theme. Brikolage is in it's first year and the theme is Age. Spring had Childhood, summer had Adolescence and autumn had Adulthood. We're currently working on Old Age which is very exciting and I'm actually looking for a musician to be our featured artist for this issue if anyone has any ideas.

Next year the theme will be Shapes and I have managed to gather a small, dependable team which will allow me time to explore the possibilities of how I can develop the concept. You see, Brikolage is designed to inspire young people to be creative. This inspiration for creativity (and a bunch of other top secret ideas) has the potential to become something really successful and I just need to take the time to get some funding to help me develop these ideas. So that's my plan for late 2010/early 2011.

In other news I have written my first screenplay - a 10 minute educational thing about James Hutton - the godfather of Geology. It's an Alice in Wonderland style whirlwind trip of a young girl and her dog finding herself in a land of animation and music as the singing rock chorus fill her in on the history of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and James Hutton in the time of the Scottish Enlightenment. It will be awesome trust me!!

In less interesting news I am incredibly poor, saving to A learn to drive and B move to Vancouver for a year. So my love of fashion is currently being acted out from a safe distance. If I get too close who knows what could happen? It will be dangerous. Although I couldn't help myself from falling in love with these boots!! They fold over to reveal a nice sheepy skin goodness. Oh my! I. Want. Them.


Oh dear I've turned into a small, fat, greasy child again....

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Hot Foot

It is so definitely summer time now! OK so the heat wave in Scotland only lasted 3 days, but the sun is still shining and it is still summer clothes weather.

I am reeling at all the lovely summer skirts and dresses I already have (this is a first as usual I never have enough) and how much it pleases me that I can wear them. But, the most exciting this has to be that I have not worn socks in a few days! And this has brought out the very necessary foot accessories.

I am not a fan of feet. I intensely dislike my own and other peoples unless I have given them permission (for their feet to be liked). The only way I can handle my feet being shown in public is to do them up with nail polish and ankle bracelets....and maybe even a toe ring or two. I could do without the jewellery (NEVER the nail varnish) but, let's face it, my feet just look nicer when the jingle.

I seem to have lost my ankle bracelets that I purchased in India so I have been borrowing my mum's. But this cannot go on and so I am on the hunt to find a pretty ankle bracelet...preferably one that jingles.

Where to start...

Saturday 27 March 2010

Lazy blogs

I am currently engrossed in my magazine Brikolage right now so my blogs have been lazy and boring. I don't know when I will be able to get back to interestings things again (if I was ever there I am not so sure), but until then check out a video from the lovely Banana Sessions. It's a Prodigy medley which I very much enjoyed.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Brikolage!

Check out my new magazine - it is amazing! (if I do say so myself)

Brikolage

We need contributors for our next issue: Adolescence if you're interested in getting creative post a comment or check out our facebook page which is in place of our website for the moment!!

Thursday 11 March 2010

A freckle faced red head girl...

Last week I dyed my hair dark red. I have been obsessing over the idea of having red hair for quite a while; suddenly noticing natural red heads on the street and oozing jealousy over their burning locks.

I can't get the light reddish blond look without bleaching and it wouldn't look natural anyway, so I have been forced into the dark reddish orange look - but I love it!

I tried henna first. And boy is that time consuming. 20 minutes preparation, 4 hours on the head...for a slight hint at red hair! It looked great on the bottom where my hair becomes lighter due to bleaching long ago and not having had a hair cut in WAY too long, but everywhere else you could barely notice. Nice, but not nice enough.

So I had to return to the unnatural, "evil" but effective chemist bought hair dye. Still, my hair is now and orange hinted deep red and (despite slight fading at the ends - curse you bleach!!) it looks perfect. I love it.

Which is just as well as I will never be a natural red head. So know when I look on in envy at those gorgeous gingers at least I will be comforted by the flash of red in my reflection on the shop window...



Sunday 28 February 2010

Baby it's cold outside...

Just on the train back from London after performing a short cabaret piece at the Little Angel Theatre in Angel (durr). That was so much fun!

We stayed with a friend and organiser of the Puppet Grinder Cabaret of which we were a part of. She lived in a warehouse accommodating approximately 20 people in Manor House in London. Apparently, warehouses are "ware" it's at ho ho. Sorry, that was a poor pun. It's true though, they are the cool place to be. And mostly in a temperature way as well as in a hip and happening way, but in this instance our tiny box room was boiling hot.

In the two days we were in London we walked around Angel. A lot. And I drooled over the gorgeous vintage shops on Camden Lane (I think...) especially the one with the eccentric gowns in the window display. Unfortunately, the cabaret piece is with two boys, one being my brother and the other being his gassy friend, who don't particularly take to shopping. So they dragged me around searching for an internet cafe, but refused to go anywhere that looked nice as it would make them feel scummy. So I suffered bad cake, no shopping and plenty of card playing. Though, to be honest, I really enjoy the card playing even when it is at the expense of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins which I am enjoying tremendously.

Then, we performed, ate pizza and squeezed into the Kings Head Theatre for a pint and lots of drunken dancers wiggling their bums in our faces. Nothing like feeling about two foot high as you sit on a precarious wooden chair round a tiny table in the middle of a crammed pub run by bar staff who are so cool they don't do any work, they just chat chat chat. Saying that though, it was quite fun.

Yesterday we dashed to Cambridge for lunch with our cousin, which felt incredibly extravagant! Then we ran back, got changed into silly costumes and went to our aunt's for a murder mystery party. The ones where they have tapes between courses that sum up the plot so far. However, we experienced some technical difficulties when my aunt's husband played the last part of the tape accidentally revealing who the murderer was before we'd even started!

So of course we played on! And in fact, it gave us a classic comedy moment that couldn't have been carried out if you tried!!

Lots of wine and Cappavine (£3 red wine/ coffee combo from Lidl) was drunk and I am sleepily typing this on the train home.

By the way, I think I've forgotten what warm is...

Thursday 18 February 2010

Just a tribute


It seems wrong for a fashion blog not to post up an immediate commemoration for the late Alexander McQueen, but in all honesty when I heard about it my first reaction was not "Oh my god I need to blog about this" and as I'm not a day to day (as much as I try and fail) I will only mention it now I have finally plonked myself down in front of my computer. And because I must.
I must because not only was he one of the world's favourite designers, he was one of my favourite designers. I don't often blog about designers as I often can't relate to fashion as it's seen on the catwalk. I try so hard to be a fashionista, but most of the time if I'm looking at fashion forward blogs or runway pictures I am pretending to like it when in actual fact I am thinking "that looks rubbish I would never wear that." Not the most intellectual thought there, but an honest one at least.

Alexander McQueen is one of the few designers I have blogged and thought about that I genuinly love. I read an interesting article somewhere (foolishly can't remember, but it was most likely the Guardian) which glanced over the question of whether his label will continue without the distinct vision of its creator? Who knows. If it doesn't though, there will be a lot to remember him by.




Wednesday 3 February 2010

Objects tell a story...

Added to my busy schedule this week is a short masterclass with Joy Haynes about Stories and Objects. It's at the Traverse in Edinburgh as part of Manipulate Festival.

Every night there is also a show, which I unfortunately missed yesterday, but I am going to see tonight's performance and I am going to be IN tomorrow night's performance! So that will be fun.

I am having much fun playing around with paper and lights and other bits of crap that are lying around and making them alive! However I am also exhausted and brain dead.

I promise more interesting stuff will come out of my head and on to the keyboard soon!

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Skater Girl

So...um...I must have been out of the fashion/ blogging world for too long. Since when is a jersey dress called a skater dress? Isn't that something Avril Lavigne would wear as opposed to a very on-trend Topshopper giving a nod to 90s?

I am confused...

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Roberto Burnissimo

Last night I organised a much needed meeting for my Brikolage group to discuss how we were realistically going to get the magazine in print due to extreme financial disabilities. Although we are contacting potential advertisers we haven't given ourselves plenty of time to chase them all up without harassing them so much that we put them off completely. This is partially our fault and partly the cause of some people promising help and letting us down; however the latter cannot be helped and we simply have to get on with it as best we can! Which we are doing and even if we only get it out online it looks GREAT and will definitely be in print soon.

So I decided to host the meeting at mine for a change, but had forgotten it was Burns night. When I realised this I sent my brother out on a hunt for enough veggie haggis to feed 10. I love an excuse for veggie haggis it is DELICIOUS. The other day I went to The Compass in Edinburgh with my boyfriend and had a veggie haggis burger. No words can describe how sinfully delicious it was. Apart from; not as sinfully delicious as their Sailor Jerry, chocolate and chestnut cake! Oh my goodness...

Sorry, drifted off into a fantasy world of chocolate, rum and haggis there. Snap back to reality! Unfortunately there was no veggie haggis to be found at 6.30pm on Burns night in Leith so we had to opt for a last minute cheap and cheerful dish (as well as almost the only thing people think I cook): spaghetti!!

Yummy scrummy spaghetti. I do love it. It also went down a treat, with my brother deciding to call it Roberto Burnissimo night and I reciting an ode to the spaghetti. So the house was a complete mess by the end, considering I had sent a text to everyone asking if someone could bring a dessert and everyone did!! Four cakes and a couple bottles of red wine later and I'm passed out i front of the fire feeling very satisfied....

Just as a side note I have been lusting after this backless Jimmy Choo for H&M for a while...they sell it online but not in the UK n'arg.

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Winter Wonderfilmland

Throughout the Christmas period I have made a point of seeing as many movies as I could possibly cram in to my busy schedule. And this time, may I add, it is actually pretty busy. After being a puppeteer for Big Man Walking (if you don't know it check it out, it was amazing) and walking him up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on New Years Day I have landed a job selling him to European festivals for 2010. It's hard work, especially as everyone is skint and very busy, but someone has to do it!

I have also been writing for The Scotsman. This part is unpaid, but very good experience and I am regularly seeing my name in print. I have written '48 hours in...' for almost every city I can think of that I have been to. I must admit there was one (48 hours in...Tel Aviv) that I haven't been to, but that is I haven't been to it YET. My cousin lives there and I am definitely planning a trip there soon. And doing the '48 hours in...' really got me excited at seeing all the cool things I can do there.

I am also trying to get Brikolage back on track, which is proving very difficult! Mainly as I need to pin people down and get them to finish the work they said they were going to do...but isn't that always the way! So if you want to get involved in the exciting new magazine then visit out Facebook site. It tells you all about it and will have to do until the website gets up and running. Which will be soon. Hopefully.

I'm also rehearsing a short 4 minute cabaret piece with my brother and a friend which involves my brother and I manipulating a very sexy lady puppet named Marzipan dueting with a saxophone on 'Baby it's cold outside'. That will be on at the Traverse in Edinburgh as part of Manipulate festival - I'm very excited!

On top of that I am still living in a lovely land of lusting after clothes. From the fringed suede jacket which I am yet to post an image of as I am embarrassed asking anyone to take a pic of me, but look awful when I take a photo of myself...to gorgeous Irregular Choice shoes which I wear non stop to a fabulous H&M dress I got in the labyrinthine Copenhagen store. I tried to find a picture of it online, but failed. Instead I found this amazing Jimmy Choo for H&M dress for you to ogle at! *drool*

Oh, and here I am all distracted and realising I haven't even mentioned the films I have seen. And I have made myself forget them all...
The most recent I saw was It's Complicated. Absolutely ridiculous if only for the horror caused by Steve Martin's blown up face. Truly grotesque. Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep were great. Pretty silly film, but enjoyable. I'd say a 3 star affair.
Then I also saw The Road which was excellent, but very harrowing. The most accurate post apocalyptic film I've seen, though saying that I tend to avoid that genre as it makes me feel pretty miserable.
I saw Where the Wild Things Are which I found incredibly depressing. It left the audience with absolutely no hope. I was wanting something a bit more fun; in the book Max is just a naughty kid with a great imagination, I think there could have been a lot of fun had with this! But instead it had to go all psychological and deep and made me feel utterly depressed.

There are more, but my reviews are short and not very interesting so if I think of something wild and wacky then I'll post that up in another blog. I will end on one more film note though which is I cannot WAIT for Alice in Wonderland. Even if it's not great in any other way visually it will be superb.

Monday 4 January 2010

Merry Festive Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

I have been to Copenhagen for Glog and Danish carols; danced crazy ceilidhs and sung Auld Lang Syne on Hogmanay and walked an 8 metre blue man up the Royal Mile on the 1st of the 10s!

I think I have just about recovered.