yophoto

Recently I seem to have had a fair amount of reason to feel dismayed at just how little some people seem to care about the things they do and the goods they produce. To go into too much detail would just be depressing - and in any case, that isn't what this blog is about - so instead my next couple of posts are going to celebrate some really cool people and companies who very obviously care about what they do and as a result produce some lovely, lovely things.

My first celebration of greatness requires a bit of a preamble. Last year I spent a few weeks travelling round India and Nepal. It was blooming fantastic - please, please go to one or both of these amazing countries if you ever get the chance. Anywho, I'll admit I got a bit snap happy and took in excess of 600 photos - of everything from temples to rubbish tips - BUT they've just been sitting on memory cards since I got back - 11 months ago!

I'm sure you'll agree this represents a bit of a fail on my part, but last week I decided to do something about it and put together a couple of photobooks using software from http://www.yophoto.com/. It took me a bit of a while to sort the good photos from the less-good, and I wanted to make sure you could really see the images on the pages, rather than them just being crammed together and overlapping. I got there eventually, though, and uploaded the book for processing.

I have to say I was a little apprehensive about what the quality might be like, so I only ordered one of the two books to start with. But, on Monday, less than a week after ordering, I received the finished product - and it's amazing! The photos are pretty decent quality and printed on good paper and the book is bound with a lovely attention to detail. One of my favourite things about it is that I chose a photo to wrap around the entire cover, which makes it seem really personal, whilst at the same time looking pretty blooming professional! (I would upload photos, but it seems a bit strange to take photos of a photobook ...) I know there are a lot of companies out there offering a similar service - but really yophoto did not disappoint. Happy days!

Lino printing

Do you remember lino printing from school? I remember a somewhat epic art project in year 7 where we were required to bring in a 'favourite thing' and recreate it in a variety of different artistic mediums, from sketching it to modelling it in clay - and finally as a lino print. Having inadvertently brought in one of the most difficult things for my 11-year-old self to draw and craft (a little round tin with an image of Piglet on top - incidentally less a 'favourite thing' than a 'first to hand thing') my initial experience of lino was somewhat dampened by the terribly inferior sketch I had to base my print on. And the result was equally disappointing. Gutting.

But it needn't be like this! There are some fantastic examples of lino prints out there - and some are so incredibly intricate! There's no denying these pieces are accomplished, but I think there's equal beauty and intrigue in some of the very simple prints, too. (A quick search on etsy brings up loads of fab examples.) And - my own initial experience notwithstanding - creating something so lovely doesn't seem like it might be all that difficult (with a little bit of practice of course!)

Last Christmas I decided to give lino printing another go and create some home-made Christmas cards. I did two prints: a polar bear and a robin and found it to be an enjoyable and therapeutic experience - not to mention VERY satisfying as the results were (thankfully) about a million times more successful than my tragic little Winnie-the-Pooh pot!

Of the two prints, the robin was my favourite; here's what it looked like:

This is the tester card, where I experimented by giving the robin a little glitter breast to pimp him up a bit. The final cards were very simple: a square card in an off-white, with the robin print in the centre, decorated with a smattering of red glitter.

I'd thoroughly recommend trying out lino printing. It's good fun, isn't hugely expensive, and you don't have to be all that artistic to create lovely results! (This really informative lino printing tutorial is definitely worth checking out: http://www.lemonlight.org/weblog/2008/02/lino-printing-t.html)

How to make a Mr Grass Head

You will need:

• jam jar
• sawdust
• grass seed
• leg of a pair of old tights
• small rubber band

1) Spoon some grass seed into the leg of the tights. Two or three teaspoons should do it ...

2) Now spoon sawdust into the leg, on top of the grass seed. How much is dependent on the desired size of your Mr Grass Head, but it'll take a fair few handfuls at least.

3) Once you've filled your Mr Grass Head with enough sawdust, tie a knot to secure it.

4) Pinch a section of sawdust at the front of the Mr Grass Head and secure with a rubber band. This becomes the nose.

5) Place the Mr Grass Head in his jam jar, leaving a little bit of excess tights leg at the bottom to soak up the water and keep Mr Grass Head moist. Give Mr Grass Head a face using whatever bits and bobbins you like! Here I've used felt, attached with waterproof glue.

6) Your Mr Grass Head is now ready to be watered! Give him a good soaking to start him off by submerging him in water for a while, then fill up his jam jar with water to keep him moist. Put him by the window to give him the best start to life (although experience proves he'll persevere, even when residing in a dark toilet). All being well, you can expect him to start sprouting little grass hairs within a matter of days!

The Mr Grass Heads

Having made a Mr Beardy Grass Head as a novelty present for my boyfriend (random story) I was left with a whole lot of grass seeds and a big bag of sawdust. So, I decided to make a whole family of Mr Grass Heads! These delightful fellows currently reside on various colleagues' desks and window sills - and one lucky soul has even found himself in a bathroom, sat pride of place atop the toilet!

I have to admit, I really didn't imagine that the Mr Grass Heads would grow (especially the one in the toilet) BUT amazingly, they're all sprouting little grass hairs in their own special and unique

ways. Ignoring the strange looks I've been receiving from some people at work when I go to water my own Mr Grass Head, it's been rather a delightful experience so far. I've become quite attached to my own little dude and am really rather proud of his grass-growing efforts. Should I ever remember to take my camera to work, I will endeavour to take and post a photo here - but for the time being, here is my housemate's 'special friend' sporting his 10-day-old growth.