HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

I'm not exactly sure what she's saying... Or who she is... I really hope she's not a right-wing politician...But with the innocence of the language-barrier, I'm enjoying her swagger!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, to my Italo-Stallo Dream Come True! <3 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SUNDAY SONG TIME

The 30 Day Song Challenge has been taking up the virtual-time of half of my Facebook friends, and while it looks fun, there's some questions I would waste wayyy too much brain power trying to decide on... Like "Day 01 - your favorite song"?! How anyone who loves music can decide that, definitively, is a total and utter mystery to me! It hurts my brain!
I'm just going to take inspiration, and make up some of my own too, every Sunday!

So... A SONG FROM MY EARLY CHILDHOOD - Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land - A song my Dad taught me to sing with him and his accoustic guitar. I even have it on cassette somewhere. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to digitising it. This one's for Poppa B!

TOTE THEM POLES!

Might get back on the case of the 3D paintings I started back in Den Haag. I just got word from a friend to say our Langweiligkeit wall murals are still standing!

ART(W)ROCK!

I was ordered to take a last-second portrait of my man, by his label-mates, for his new solo record - Upitup's first physical release, and a 12" vinyl at that!!! I took a load of snaps and they chose this one, and here's the finished design! :-)

WORSHIPPING THE VOLCANO!

Leaving the island today. For our last night, we went for a drink at a sea-edging cocktail bar. These cocktails were ridiculously good! The bar is known as the Island's best vantage point for seeing the neighbouring Island's lava displays! YES! The whole of the nearest island is an active volcano, which erupts every 15 minutes. Always. So we sat and watched it again and again, showering it's distant but unmissable orange-red glow into the blackness. Today I looked at the volcano again, its lava bleached from sight by the bright sun, and I thought about negative space, and light and dark, and what colour is!
And then I had to go and pack!

IL POSTINO!

Ending the holiday on Salina, at a too-swanky hotel! We are still eating the best food ever, and having funny adventures and rambles through rocky dusty terrain! Today we hired a car (littlest one, Alessia, had to sit on a knee so we all fit. Oops!) and all went out to see the mountainside house where the fantastic Italian film "Il Postino" was filmed! I LOVE this film, ever since my Dad bought me it on VHS, so was very star-struck and excited!
Me and Gia walked up the side of a vast, cloud-skimming mountain overlooking the house deciding to head back, only when it got too steep to carry on, and we realised that the two huge screeching birds of prey 30 ft above us were definitely sizing us up, and would probably win in a fight!

BLISS IS THE LIFE!

Holiday is located in heaven! I have turned into the Eliza Doolittle of the party, merely for the fact that literally EVERYTHING around us, and the beauty and luxury we have been living in, excites and enthuses me, and brands me with a permanent silly grin, and a hundred thankyou's! The rest of the family have enjoyed it all, but it has been taken very much more in their stride! Soppy-Enthusiastic-Overexcitable English Girl, anyone?! ;-)

VACANZA A FILICUDI!!!

Mr G's Dad has brought the family on holiday to the Eolian Islands- a small row of rugged, arrid islands off of Sicily, with pebble beaches and the clearest sea water I have ever seen. So much Sun, and Realx, and gooood food! Apart from being stung by a Jellyfish yesterday within 3 minutes of entering the sea, I am in heaven! Infact, I even quite enjoyed that experience as part of the adventure!

BRAMBLING ROMAN STYLE

I did so much Blackberry picking when I was a kid. Free stuff, doomed to dry out and fall off it's tree-perch, unless you, the hero picks and eats it! And weren't they ALWAYS growing in abundance in some walled off wasteland, or bit of somewhere that you couldn't quite get to?! We went picking in a big wasteground by the American School today, and in Roma they get to pick wild figs too!!! Really! We got a ton, and they were the best fresh figs I have ever tasted! YUM!

K.O.T.U!

That's "KING OF THE UNDERWORLD" to you!

John Kenn RULES!!!!! He draws nasty sexy beasts onto little post-it notes, and little post-it notes ONLY! You want to check out ALL of his work!!! And his book!

STEPPIN' GIRL BEADED BRACELETS!

Still got some of these at The Hive, if you don't want to miss out, grab one before they're gone!

BUG POP BUTCHER-MAN!

Had the wierdest dream lastnight, about a fat mustaschio man in a white apron, spattered with blood. THE BUG POP BUTCHER! Haha! He was horrible! He didn't really do anything, I mean it was one of those dreams where nothing happens... but things just...are. Glad to be awake! Have sent this pic to the Dream Police! ;-)

THE TERRIFIC TEDDY GIRLS!

Late 1940's youth culture movement, the "Teddy Girls", were a lesser-acknowledged element of the tough and iconic "Teddy Boy" movement. Apparently the basis of the scene came from huge gangs of working class Londoners and Irish immigrants. Culturally, they took the tom-boy look to extreme levels, given the female ideal of the time. With the same slicked back quiffs and broad shouldered jackets as the boys, these chicks were considered terrifying to the average 1950's girl-next-door! Here's two of Ken Russel's stunning photographs of girls from the movement, which was little documented elsewhere. And also look out for an Autumn/Winter collection from BUG POP, taking a lot of inspiration!

ETSY TREASURY: WOLFMAN

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?! Not me! I LOVE him! This Etsy Treasury's dedicated to my real-wolf-loving bezzie Jewelly (Mepresents)! <3 CLICK HERE TO SEE IT!

ART CLASS!

Aww shucks!!! This guy used to run a comic-zine in Liverpool, and he filmed me in a school play once. Then he moved to Japan and became a legend pinup!! And then we were recently re-united after ten years by Facebook. And then he did this! xxx

COMIC BOOK BANGLES!

COMIC BOOK BANGLES! Torn strips of REAL AUTHENTIC Vintage Comic Books!!! Glazed onto a solid wood bangle, and multi-layered with sealing laquer! Each one entirely unique, and One-Of-A-Kind!!! This one pictured below has already sold! They're like HOT CAKES I tell ya! Just £15.50 from BUG POP SHOP!
You know you want to!!!

ETSY TREASURY: CIRCUS!

Yesterday I / JetGirlVintage, (yes another pseudonym/off-shoot project!) made an Etsy Treasury. The theme... CIRCUS!!!
CHECK IT OUT UNDER THIS LINK!

A GIFT FROM THE CASTEVETTS

How have I been designing jewellery for three years and STILL not produced a tribute to the ominous TANNIS ROOT necklace given to Rosemary by her Satan-worshipping baby-snatching neighbours in one of my alltime favourite films!?! ... Will be working on this soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANNY B!!!

At the weekend we went down south-west again, for my Granny's 90th! The whole sprawling BAKER clan were there in force. Aunts and uncles, cousins and second-cousins everwhere! Farmer Nick (my amazing mad uncle) got his male voice choir to serenade Granny and her crew, and made her cry, which is pretty big - Granny Baker is one seriously tough chick! I love Somerset so much, still one of my total dream places to live one day!

HAIR PIECE!

Last week, my lovely mate Barry asked us to his Dad's 60th round at their place. The dress-code was Icons of Music! We were at my Mum's and she kinda steamrollered us into a John and Yoko, which she's been dying to do for ages, and then set about proving why sometimes having an unbelievable ammount of "stuff" really does come in handy. She got the whole outfit together in minutes, and Gia just had to turn up and get dressed! The party was ace, and Barry needs to know his Mum's cookin is ten-star! ;-)

BACK FROM BEYOND!

That was such a dark month! It was all pretty traumatic, and the shock and sadness knocked me sideways, but here we go again with the life thing. It actually DOES go on, as horrible as that first feels!...

DANIEL HOLDS MY HEARTSTRINGS!

:-( Thinking of my Jewelly and the whole of Joey's family all the time.... <3

JOEY CHAINSAW x

I have been asked to spread the world of an artist who had only begun to scratch the surface of his genius talents in art and music. Mister Joey Chainsaw was a sweet gentle soul, and a creative force I barely knew, linked only by our love for Jewelly (AKA mepresents - another amazing artist!), his sister, and one of my dearest friends. He left this world behind on Monday morning, and we found out on returning home from Garry's funeral, when Jewelly recieved the worst phonecall of her life, and lived the most distressing days I have ever witnessed. We are like sisters, and always look after eachother, but I know I will never be able to make this okay. Shocked and grief-stricken cannot begin to describe how I am feeling for my friend and her family. All the love in the world goes to the family Chainsaw! Above is one of my favourites from his painting collection, and below are some links, search him out and spread the word of JOEY CHAINSAW! xxx
Joey's Myspace Page
Cardboard Paintings
Album Covers
A video of the last sessions Joe recorded

R.I.P Dear Garry x

You know that friend who has been around just about long enough for you to forget the first time you met? You know the friend who you can go a few months without seeing, and then your phone rings and they're inviting you out? You know the friend who you really can tell ANYTHING to, without fear of them telling anyone else, without fear of judgement... You know the friend who you can always have an adventure with? During the ten years I knew him, Garry became all of those friends to me, and more.

I had met Garry in the early days of my band. A middle aged man, Peter Pan character, with stripes shaved into his hair, a long pointy beard, and an endless supply of sharp suits and Rock'n'Roll memoirs! He had always been there and done that, constantly throwing in stories about "that time I put on a Bow Wow Wow gig in the local park" and "when I was lost in India in the sevs"... He delighted in embarrassing me with his saucy tales and photographs of weekends past! He indulged me in some of my own Rockstar moments, and consistently gave me reviews and critiques on my band's performance and progress, as he followed and promoted us. He had very strong opinions on everything, and would always say it like he saw it. His advice was almost always invaluable, as was his support and coaching in times of self-doubt.

He knew for a few months he was dying, and I got to spend some precious moments with him before he went. I know he knew I loved him, and although it hurts to think I may never see him again, I can still feel what he was, and who he was, and I know my memories of him, and what he left with me will never go away.

Rest peacefully Garry. You made your mark on this world, that's for sure! xxxxx

HORSEY BANJOS!

Forgot these photo's from my lovely sunshiney day-trip with Baz and co to a Horse Sanctuary in, erm... Formby? Mike Badger had organised a fundraiser mini-fest, and it was jsut what I needed!! :-) x