Utterly Scrumptious party decorations

I just bought a load of this stuff for my Gran’s 70th birthday party next weekend. I would have preferred to go for actual vintage tableware and homemade bunting, but with dissertation and other essay deadlines quickly approaching it just wasn’t an option.

Anyway, I think this stuff is really cute, reasonably priced, and available on tons of websites (all of these images are off Google). My mums pleased that it’s all paper, so the washing up is minimised, and I’m not going to have to get mad at anyone for smashing anything.

La tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis, 1896 aka Poster for le Chat Noir
Théophile Steinlen

I have this on my wall in my room..

Have an interview tomorrow for postgrad study. Really want to wear a bow tie.

(via inmyprivateuniverse)

jacobcharleswilson:

‘Just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from far off to satisfy our needs in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign.’

Paul Valery

André Kertész, Distortions (1933)

Tereza Buskova, Crown of Darkness (2007)

I’ve been sat in a room with this print for almost three hours now. I love it. Not only is it incredibly beautiful, but it has a an air of mystery and intrigue about it.

It’s part of a collection of works by Buskova called Wedding Rituals which includes a number of prints and a short film. The works take as theme the different rituals surrounding marriage and weddings in Eastern Europe.

Crown of Darkness is baed on a Slavic tradition in which a woman about to be married will sit for several days whilst the women of the village prepare and construct an elaborate head dress. Once married, this is replaced by a plain one.

For me, the image has an almost sinister feel to it. The dark lips of the woman, her half-veiled face and the juxtaposition of naked breasts and eloborate head dress create a certain kind of drama. Buskova plays with the idea of unknown cultures being recieved with apprehension and unease.

The work is currently on show at Studio 3 gallery, University of Kent, Canterbury as part of the current exhbition Double Take. It’s free to visit - please come and see me, I get bored by myself!

Phenakistoscope.

This is perfect.

I love the chair, suitcase, shoes - all of it. Especially on top of the lovely white floorboards.

(via apartment-living)

It’s Pancake day!

I had to get up super early to invigilate at the gallery on campus, so I didn’t have time to make these. Maybe later…

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of self-raising flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 egg, preferably free-range or organic
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 pear
• a few knobs of butter
• natural yoghurt, to serve
• runny honey, to serve

Method:

1. Put the flour, milk, egg and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Once combined, grate in the pear, core and all then stir it through with a spoon.
2. Put a large pan on a medium heat and add a knob of butter. Once that melts, add the batter, a spoonful at a time to the hot pan. You’ll need to cook them in batches, cooking them for a few minutes until golden on the bottom, then flipping over and cooking for a few minutes more until they’re done.
3. When they are golden and fluffy, serve them right away with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some runny honey drizzled all over the top.

Happy pancake making..