When most people see Jillian Scott’s horses they do a double-take. Is that really a zebra in North Lanarkshire, Scotland? Nope, it’s part of Scott’s art — but the canvas she uses isn’t paper or linen; it’s the bodies of horses. From shaving giraffes to dragons to Batman, this is the realm of creative clipping.
And some of the designs are crazy. For customers Scott has shaved everything from a skeleton to the Minion from Despicable Me on a horse’s rear — a type of clip called a “bum patch” that’s increasingly popular wIth people who don’t want to commit to a full-creative groom — to a One Direction logo onto a pony. But her favorite designs is her leopard print.
A horse groomer for ten years, Scott, 27, started experimenting last year: she took out her clippers and carved a zebra pattern into her horse, a job that took around three hours, with breaks to consult images on her phone to make sure she had the pattern right. The same clip now takes her 45 minutes. Her work started getting her local attention — some positive, some not so friendly. “Some people don’t like new things,” she shrugged. She charges $63 for a “regular” clip and $78 for a creative clip.
Scott isn’t the only groomer using horse hair as artistic medium. Melody Hames, 28, a graphic design student at the University of Salford, Manchester who works at JMC Equestrian, wanted to combine clipping with her art.
After sketching her designs on paper she clips freehand — with no stencils. Her most impressive creation: a detailed castle etched into the side of a Freddy, her 4-year-old horse. It took nine hours. Read more…
Say what you will about Barbie, but that girl knows how to market herself. Sure, I could bash the notion of a pink themed house filled with physically disproportionate plastic dolls wearing skimpy size -Zero clothing, but you guys are smart, and I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Instead, I’m looking at the giant pink behemoth that is the Dream House (a European version in Berlin and another one in Florida) and getting a big case of pink-eye. Modelled on Barbie’s Malibu Dream House (would have been interested to see the architects blueprints) the Berlin DreamHouse opened May 16th, 2013 and features 2,500 metres squared of pink frothy stuff you can touch, taste and obviously. buy. Well, Mattel isn’t a charity right? The Florida DreamHouse (opened May 8th, 2013) is pretty similar to its European cousin. Both offer ‘life size’ rooms (well, it’s a house) decorated with everything a Toys-R-Us child is familiar with, on an adult scale.
What I think is pretty cool about this is the RFID pink wristband all visitors receive on check in. The DreamHouse offers interactive experiences at the ‘Dream Stations’, allowing a semi-custom adventure. By this I mean that you input details such as name, gender and language and then the bracelet will interact with you AND the LED touch screens around the house.
There is room for every sort of person in the blogosphere, but one that I’ve found cropping up again and again in my circle of friends is the rise of the food blogger. I have nothing against restaurant reviews- they’re helpful, and it’s good to get personal suggestions; but I do object to dining with someone who photographs every course. It’s weird, that’s what it is, and though it may make for a great blogpost, it turns dinner into some odd interactive show, where you suddenly start enthusing about the paprika blended mint sauce or the ‘insert pretentious foodie slang here’.
There is still room for innovation and creativity in the food blogging world (no, I don’ mean using a Lomo/Instagram filter) and I’ve found it personified by the 33RPM project. The Desserts on Vinyl project features delicious looking desserts- from ice cream sundaes to creme brulee and pear tarts- spinning on a vinyl disc, and the creators have paired this with a dedicated Spotify Playlist to match the sweet treats.
It’s a playful look at the food we love to eat, and a way of suggesting that foodies and food bloggers should up their game. These desserts all look mouth watering, and you can tell that serious time has been spent creating something beautiful and surprising out of everyday desserts. I love the feeling of food in motion you get from these images and the bright colours and feeling of movement make these images strangely mesmerizing.
Now that 2012 has finally arrived, it’s time to start getting revved up for the Olympics (not so far away now), actually start visiting the gym and start tackling some of those resolutions on your list. One of them is bound to be ‘Have a lovely, stylish and geekified home’, so I’ve out together ten great gadget accessories to let you live a lovely geeky life at home.
1. Geek Wall Stickers from Bouf
I’m a big fan of wall decals (easy to apply and remove= no landlord surcharge) and Bouf has an amazing selection. My favourite would have to be the Super Mario wall stickers, which would be amazing for a games room- heck, any room, but they also have a more muted space invader version if you want to class it up.
2.The iPod Duvet set
Show your love for Apple (and your single status) with this super cute coverlet. I wish you could custom order it with your favourite Apps- mine would come complete with Dropbox, TripAdvisor and Byline. Read more…
London is home to many keen cyclists and the advent of Boris Bikes (nicknamed after the mayor of London for non UK readers) in the capital has seen more and more people take up this sport. It’s a cheap convenient way to traverse central London, but the enjoyment levels of this activity do suffer with the vagaries of the British weather. It’s lovely to take a sunlit cycle ride on a nice day, less so when it’s sleeting so hard you feel like your face is being violated by Edward Scissorhands. Could Uberhood be the answer?
Uberhood is an umbrella designed for the bicycle which easily clips onto the handlebar and is meant to give you cover whilst you cycle. It comes in a a variety of colours and they say it’s suitable for both ‘blazing sun and driving rain’. Sadly, we only get to see it pictured on someone trying it out in the blazing sun (see video and picture) so we have no way of knowing if this could withstand rain, as I feel the ‘first umbrella for the bike’ might have some serious flaws if anything stronger than a sprinkle were to fall on it.
Nice concept, just not sure they really deliver on the execution. When they get it right, I’d like to see it on every Boris Bike, till then it looks like we’ll stick to buses and the tube when it’s really wet. $79 from Uberhood
The idea of escaping urban life and going to live in the jungle is not an uncommon dream, but one that rarely gets taken up (think bugs, lack of water etc). Bubble Tree are offering the idea of uncluttered space for those of a more dreamy nature, and their vision of utopia comes with all modern conveniences.
There are two types of ‘bubbles’ you can choose from, the Bubble Room which has a few sheltered areas and the Cristal Bubble which Crystal Maze style allows passers by a 360 degree view of your activities. You get to enjoy an approximately 13 foot living area which encapsulates a sleeping and sitting area and looks something like a plastic igloo. Inflated by an electric turbine, you’ll be protected from the majority of the elements, though a tornado might shake up your home a little. The bubble is coated with a special UV filter that is designed to regulate the temperature and keep you free from bugs and y’know, actual nature. You do get to see what’s going on, but you’ll be protected from the harshness of everyday environment through the lovely bubble screen. Read more…
Woouf is a Barcelona based company that aims to reinterpret common objects by ‘inverting the dimensions in relation to spectators.’ They’ve successfully fulfilled their brief with their stunning line of Woouf beanbags. You can choose from a retro Camera option (my favourite) or a retro looking speaker and they also have cute keyboards and faux luggage beanbags to enjoy. Read more…
