Beatlemania is real!

So, last weekend myself and the lovely Louise took a cheeky trip to Liverpool in pre-celebration of her 21st birthday. I have only ever been to Liverpool once before and that was at night, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised (despite still being largely opposed to the scouse accent, sorry).

We had an early morning coach booked which, believe me, when you've spent the last 11 weeks of summer sleeping in til at least 12, WAS A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM. Nevertheless we were up and on it! We arrived in Liverpool and made tracks straight for The Beatles Experience which I was very much looking forward to. We found ourselves amongst a group of German tourists on our way in which was a very baffling moment, but luckily the nice lady at the museum plucked us outta there and sent us in the right direction. The museum was great, although we opted to not have the audio commentary headsets (which if I go again, I'm definitely avin'), but there was plenty to see regardless. The place was packed with memorabilia and a steady stream of Beatles music was filtered through the airwaves as we wandered round, making it very difficult not to get caught up in all the hype.

Beatles tights!!

Flattering Ringo bobble-head.

60's Jetsetter Style.

Obsessed with neon lighting..

Here's me, feeling magical.

Louise Lennon

I must say as well, that The Beatles experience had one of the best gift shops I've ever encountered-- like genuinely reasonably priced Beatles souvenirs! I shall be returning in December to purchase many' a Beatles themed gift (for myself).. I bought myself a cheeky patch for my denim jacket, Rubber Soul, obviously (best Beatles album). My favourite thing about the museum though was that it only confirmed what I already thought: George was the best Beatle.

In the seperate Beatles gallery, further along the docks, I was very proud to see that the majority of photos housed there had been taken in Huddersfield, my home town. It pleased me a ridiculous amount. Later on, Louise and I got a little lost (well, I wouldn't have said we were lost but Louise said we were, I just said it was an adventure) and somehow stumbled upon Mathew Street, home to the Cavern club and plenty more Beatles related little bits. Y'know, perfect touristy photo opportunities..

Me & John reppin' similar jackets.

We did a bunch more stuff in Liverpool, I promise we weren't total Beatles weirdos.. But I thought I'd keep this post all Beatles-y. Since my return I appear to have literally contracted Beatlemania. It's real. I can't stop listening to 'em and talking about them and researching. It's weird. And as a Rolling Stones fan I don't know how I feel about it! MICK JAGGER, GIVE ME A SIGN!

Come to think of it, how come there's no Rolling Stones museum? Hmm..

More crafts!

So, for the last of a very crafty few blog posts! I would've included these last few stragglers in my last post however they were both gifts for birthdays that were occurring between then and now. ANYWAY, here they are.

First off, I know you're probably sick of hearing about my recent hype for making picture tiles but here's my last little spin on it. (I say last but you just know every one of my friends is gonna be getting a cheeky tile for xmas). I should say that this was a very personalized gift, for my friend, Helen. She's a big Quentin Tarantino fan so I took that as my starting point. I then stumbled across some really nice prints by an artist called Ale Giorgini, which you can check out here. He conveniently had a few different Tarantino inspired pieces and so I selected the ones that I knew Helen liked best and got to work composing my masterpiece gift. (steady on, Laura). I used the same technique as before for creating the tiles which, again, you can find here. I then found myself a bit of scrap wood in me' dad's shed and painted it white before mounting the tiles at equal distances (I just did this using some strong adhesive, a "No More Nails" type thing).

And here's how it turned out.

When the adhesive had set I then stenciled on the film titles (admittedly, not very well) and voila! Helen was happy enough with it and it was a very easy make.

My next make wasn't that crafty actually, but a personalized "handmade" gift technically. An easy, cheap solution to making your own presents as well. This one was for my lovely friend and ex-housemate, Louise! Twas simply a print in a simple frame. I created the text on Photoshop and formatted it for printing before sending it off to Snapfish to print for me on some matte photo paper. I specially downloaded a nice, quirky font as well, just because nothing says less effort to me than Times New Roman!

Apologies for the low quality image!

Then all I did was choose a frame, basic white was all this particular print needed, I thought. Easy peasy.

Ooh, you crafty beggar.

That's right, more crafts.

Good news, it is now Autumn! That means jumpers, boots, scarves and plenty of tea! It also means that there's not long left til I go back to uni and, I must say, I am relieved. "Summer" has just been too long. This does mean though that there will probably be a decline in crafts to update you with, and for that matter, probably a decline in posts in general. However, for now, I have another little collection of crafty bits to show you!

First off, my "Flight Of The Conchords" T-Shirt, inspired by series 1, epsiode 1 of the HBO television show of the same name. This was a very cheap make and pretty quick and easy. Well, I say that, there was one t-shirt casualty (and a lesson learnt, Dylon broad fabric markers are rubbish). For the slightly more successful tee, I chose myself a nice green top (£3.50 Primark) and got to work drawing out my design onto it. To do this I traced it through the material using a thin yellow felt tip pen. Now, I probably wouldn't recommend the yellow pen, as my white lines never turned out, well... white. However I didn't have a magic ink fabric pen or tailors chalk. You could say I poorly improvised, unless you want a yellow design in which case GO ME. I then applied several layers of white, Dylon fabric paint on top of the yellow outline (sealing with heat between each layer). I then stenciled on a quote from the scene I was depicting (in pen first) and BOOM, done, easy.

Left: My first unsuccessful attempt is now a pyjama top. Right: The finished product!

I tweeted this end product to Rhys Darby, a comedian who plays Murray (the beardy man above!) and he replied saying "very cool!" which made me very happy.

And whilst I'm on the subject of T-Shirts, I may aswell show you the tee I hand-painted for the lovely Chester waaaay back in March, inspired by Chris Lilley's comedy series, "Angry Boys". Twas a well received birthday gift.

And that's your lot for now, more to come at the end of the week (because upcoming birthdays mean I can't spoil the surprises of my other little offerings yet!)

Peace out.