Products Archives - Page 7 of 9

January 6, 2016January 6, 2016

Does it Hurt? A Compilation of Tattoos and the People They Collect

We chatted to AJ Taheri, Frederick, MD, writer and editor for Weeva, an online company that create personalised scrapbooks and family history books, about his new project; Does it Hurt? A Compilation of Tattoos and the People They Collect.

What is the Does it Hurt? A Compilation of Tattoos and the People They Collect project? Weeva makes memory books. A lot like scrapbooks, you add your stories and photos into as many sections as you like. You can send out invitations via Facebook or email, requesting friends and family to join in as well and expand your book. Typically we make them as anniversary gifts, birthday surprises, for family reunions, memorials, etc., but lately we’ve been making a lot of community projects. What that means is that everything is the same, except that there’s no invitation necessary. Anyone can participate and add their stories and photos, and that’s what this project is: a collection of stories and photos of tattoos that anyone can add to to share their art, their personal expression, and their passion for ink.

How did the project start? Starting the project took no time at all; once I decided I wanted to do it, all I needed was a title, and then boom, there it was. Having so many tattoos means people are always stopping me to compliment them, ask questions about them, and share their own stories, and I’ve heard so many interesting things that way. I figured it would be really cool to give people a place to share their own tattoos and the stories behind them in a place other than a blog or a Facebook status. This begins online, but eventually it’ll be a printed book, something more tangible and permanent than just posting something quick on a passing internet thread.

What inspired you? Tattoos are more common today than they have been in the past, but there’s still a bit of a stigma surrounding them. I just find it really fascinating hearing how many different reasons people have for getting tattooed, seeing what they chose to have on them forever, and knowing what their lives are like behind that. Yeah, some tattoos are on gangsters or prisoners, but some are on millionaires, rockstars, investment bankers, old men, young women, etc. The point is that there are people from every single walk of life who have tattoos, and they all have unique stories. Those are the ones I love to hear.

How can people get involved? Getting involved is literally as easy as clicking here and sharing your experience. It doesn’t cost anything, you can sign in via Facebook, and you aren’t obligated to purchase the book once it’s created. All you’re doing by getting involved is adding your thread to the tapestry, making the story better for everyone who wants to go there and read them or buy it when it’s done.

I put a story into each thread to give people an idea of the kinds of things I’m looking for with this project. My own tattoos are mostly video-game themed, most of them go back to my childhood in some way or another. My entire right arm down to my hands and fingers is a Pokemon-themed sleeve, with the exception of a couple of Legend of Zelda pieces on my knuckles and forearm. I grew up on those games and I think the artwork is just really beautiful, really colorful and engaging. I’ve got all three rows of my knuckles tattooed, and the last one says LEFTOVER, because I toured with a band a while back called the Leftovers with some of my good friends from high school.

Can you tell us about your tattoos? I’ve got a full chest piece of a bleeding winged heart, and it doesn’t mean anything at all, I just got it because I like the art; a lot of people seem to have trouble understanding why you’d get a tattoo without a meaning behind it, but it’s just art to me. I’ve got some World of Warcraft pieces on my chest as well, a salute to a few years back when I almost played the game professionally. I could go on and on, I’ve got too many tattoos to name them all, but that’s the gist of it. They’re mostly gaming pieces and nods to important things in my life, but a few are just there to look cool.

December 1, 2015

London Below

Sunday 6th December
Doors open 12-5pm
£3 entry fee
Epic Dalston, 13-15 Newington Road, N16 8BH, London

Sunday 6th December marks the return of London’s most exciting and innovative alternative market, London Below is London’s other underground.

After the success of the show’s debut this summer, the alternative market returns just in time for Christmas with an array of items and stalls catering for all tastes and fetishes.

Think weird and wonderful, dark and grungy and maybe even a bit of naughtiness thrown in for good measure. The market will play host to some unique workshops including; jewellery making with Black Heart Creatives and ‘Hurts so good- a beginners guide to flogging’, an workshop run by Kink Craft that’ll teach you all you need to know about flogging and more…

Confirmed stall holders include:

Jenny Robin Illustration, Alice Brown’s Cupboard, Lucy Luskini’s art jewellery memento moir, Elektra UK, Voodoo Betty’s Boutique and many many more…

October 28, 2015

Horror influencing fashion

Our guest blogger is Jade-Bailey Dowling, fashion writer and creator of Nouvelle Noir, a blog dedicated to dark fashion. This is the first in a series of post where she looks at how horror influences fashion and how you can draw fashion inspiration from the movies…

Horror has influenced fashion in many aspects over the years. Designers have taken obvious inspiration from a particular horror heroine, such as Carrie or Wednesday Addams, or adapted their new season style to fit the aesthetic of a film or genre; it is undoubted that horror and fashion sit on a precarious diversionary line.

Wednesday Addams

In this fashion series, I will discuss how designers past and present have looked to the horror genre to gain inspiration for their clothes, and further still how these have been translated by the high street and enable horror fans to take their love of horror from film to fashion.

First up, Stephen King’s coming-of-age combined with kinetic powers heroine Carrie White. The novel has been adapted for film various times, most recently in 2013 with Chloe Grace Moretz featuring as the infamous Carrie.

Carrie is a firm favourite costume choice for Halloween and fans often pour red paint or dye over any cheap white or light coloured dress they can find for an easy yet striking outfit for the night. Carrie can be a fashion icon without the need to reference this, albeit pivotal, moment.

The infamous blood scene from Carrie 1976

For those familiar with the novel or film, Carrie White’s style is very much reflective of the modest, strict upbringing inflicted by her religious mother, Margaret White. However, this granny chic style is set to be very much en vogue for Autumn/Winter 2015, as seen on the catwalks of Miu Miu, and Prada.

Mui Mui A/W

Although the 2013 version, directed by Kimberly Peirce, is set in a modern setting, the fashion choices of the costume designer follows that of the original film that aligns itself with the novel and is set in the 70s, another source of A/W 2015 style inspiration such as at Burberry.

Screen shot from Carrie (2013)

Channel your inner Carrie White with 70s inspired florals, a-line denim skirts and chunky shoes.

Denim dungaree dress, £20, Boohoo
Shirt £19.99, New Look
Brogues, £19.99, H&M
Knee High Socks, £2.99, New Look
A Line Demin Skirt, £30, Topshop

Despite Margaret White famously stating “Red. I might have known it would be red”, the famous prom dress is actually very light pink. For those who wish to steal Carrie’s prom look, pre pig’s blood of course, opting for a nude, or light pink dress can pay homage in a delicate and sophisticated way. With loads available on the high street at reasonable prices, should you wish to cover yourself with a red substance that will, hopefully, come out in the wash you can transform your look from Prom Carrie to Bloody Carrie with no major expense, while looking more authentic than other Carrie Costumers.

Screen Shot Carrie 2013

Left to right: Miss Selfridge – £55, Rare @ Topshop – £45, Glamorous – £25

Next time, see how the 90s iconic witch film, “The Craft” has inspired fashion, from catwalk to street style.

September 10, 2015January 4, 2016

Sick Girls Official

Our guest blogger is 34-year-old Southsea creative Alanna Lauren, founder of RubyxRedxHeart. She chatted to Natalie Watts and Fox Xoft founders of Sick Girls an online store which sells creepily cool prints and accessories, about how they met, what inspires them and their tattoos…

Tell me a bit about yourselves! How long have you gals known each other and what was the inspiration behind sickgirlsofficial.com?

Fox: We’re both freelance illustrators from Toronto, Canada who graduated from OCAD University in 2012. We weren’t friends right away though. Eventually we bonded over Keyboard Cat, because remember that used to be a thing?

Natalie: We met in second year, some bogus computer class, it was supposed to teach us how to make a website, but clearly I learned nothing.

Fox: SadGirls started off because I used to be really into making zines at the time and Nat and I had a graphic novel class together and liked each other’s work. We decided to do a zine based on bad ass babes. I think we were vicariously living through our work and creating the world we actually wanted to inhabit, because in reality we were VERY poor, eating A LOT of ramen, while our tears bled the ink on our mountains of school assignments. Fast forward to three years later and basically we just got our shit together and shifted our medium from viewable art to a wearable product with a similar intent.

Can you tell us about your tattoos?

Fox: I’m in love with Alex Snelgrove’s work. She did the black woodcut flowers on both of my arms. Last month she did a woodcut Pegasus on my hip because I’ve been obsessed with Greek mythology for as long as I can remember. Those ones are amazing, but I’ll always have a soft spot for the stick-n-poke on my ankle done by the talented Open Entity, which is a drawing of the welcome mat on the door to Hell that Natalie drew as flash art. Because Nat is MLC (Major League Complainer) and has that WAH tattoo, I started calling her “Wahwah” or “Wahtalie” a while ago and it stuck.

Natalie: I have one tattoo I had done when I was 18 somewhere in Oshawa that is of a Welsh Dragon and then two that are stick-n-pokes. One of them was done by Open Entityand of just ‘zzz’ on the back of my arm, and the other on my ankle by a guy I was seeing – which is probably my favourite one – of the letters ‘WAH’… because I like sleeping and complaining.

What’s in a name? Who came up with sickgirlsofficial.com and what does it mean to you?

Natalie: I came up with the name Sick Girls one night while we were drawing, the name describes our style of art and ultimately it’s just who we are… I like the idea of being an outsider, and I like illustrating really gross shit. I am very shy, and have a hard time expressing my thoughts; I’m also a huge mumbler. I like the idea of being able to express myself through my illustrations. Sick Girls is a unisex brand, but definitely caters towards more females who want it to be known that they aren’t just your average girl. Pretty flowers and kitties? BORING! Slime and barf coming out of your eye sockets? Now that’s more like it!

What took you down the patches and pins route to showcase your designs?

Natalie: At first we didn’t have any patches or enamel lapel pins, for our first pop-up shop we began making Sculpey candy pins and necklaces, which were entirely handmade. I was also producing ShrinkyDink pins, which I still make today, but is time consuming and labour intensive. Once we started getting noticed on Instagram and making more sales, it was hard to keep up with producing all handmade items, so we started designing lapel pins and patches that we can get mass produced.

Fox: Patches and pins are great because they can add personality to a plain old bag or denim jacket. You can customize or make a statement on articles of clothing you already have. It’s great because everyone has their own collection that tells a story or says something about their personal aesthetic. I have my own pin collection on my bag, and I’m stoked every time I add a new pin because it’s another brand/artist I admire.

sickgirlsofficial.com has a strong message for women. What does it mean to be part of the ‘sick girls club’?

Natalie: For me, it’s just not really giving a fuck, like what you want, even if it’s not the norm. I mean I like drawing stuff that gets me excited, and I get excited by drawing gross shit. I’m happy that other people enjoy it too.

Fox: We’re all about being tough, never giving up and in general not giving a fuck if other people tell you you’re not good enough. We’re “sick girls” because we don’t have a “typical girl” image to promote. Being ‘girly’ or ‘feminine’ isn’t a fault by any means, but we’ve always balanced the feminine imagery with things that were gross, disgusting, and visceral. Even though “girls” is in the name, the brand is unisex though obviously some products cater more to the ladies.

What does the future hold for sickgirlsofficial.com?

Fox: We’re working on the wholesale game right now. We’re still selling products individually from our online store, but we’re starting to sell wholesale to shops worldwide. So far our merch is available in stores in Toronto and Ottawa and few cities in the USA. Next THE WORLD.

Natalie: I’d really like for Sick Girls to take off, I think in order for that to happen we just need to keep creating as much as possible. We’ve been discussing some collaborations with other companies, as well as working with a large design label, which will be using one of our products on their next spring/summer line. We seem to be getting more and more interest from stores to stock our products each month. It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come in less than a year, I think things just seem to be getting better with each passing month and can’t wait to see what happens!

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015

House of Butterflies

Justin Taylor and Charlie Lane are the creators of House of Butterflies, a small online business that sells framed butterflies, moth and beetles. The couple set all of the specimens themselves from their home in Maidstone, Kent. We chatted to Justin and Charlie to find out more about their arty adventures…

How did you start House of Butterflies? What do you create? The House Of Butterflies started from an idea we had at a craft fair, where Charlie was selling prints and original artwork. We thought it would be fun to do something together, we both share a common interest in taxidermy and art so thought why not combine the two. The framed butterflies idea came from Justin’s grandparents house as they have a small collection of framed butterflies hanging in their hall way. We both thought how great they look and wondered if we could make something along the same lines. We sat and researched the idea for a month or so before finally taking the plunge and having a go.

What inspires you? The inspiration for our boxes comes from the idea of preserving something beautiful. They are inspired a lot by the seasons, nature and by things we really like. We find when we sit and talk about ideas we tend to inspire each other. We try to choose the butterflies or moths first and then try to match the background to them rather than the other way around. The art in general is inspired by the outdoors; gardens, plants and animals.

Do you have a background in art?
Charlie: Yes, I studied at Maidstone UCA and have a degree in print making. I learnt a lot about etching and I helped with adult courses in a print making studio. I have done a lot of commission work for small businesses, band logos and for special occasions. I spent a couple of years in the tattoo industry working in a couple of small studios.

Where do you source your items from? We source all of our specimens from a entomologist based in the UK. He sources all of his specimens from butterfly farms abroad, people hear “butterfly farm” and usually think how terrible. When actually they are the most ethical way to source specimens, they bring employment to poor areas and stop the practice of wild collecting which has had a devastating affect on some species. Finding an ethical source and supplier was a big thing for us, a lot of time and effort went in to finding the right supplier with the legitimate source.

How do you create them? What is the process? The process is a fairly long one and takes time and patience, we had a few disasters at the beginning. We are completely self taught when it comes to the setting of the butterflies and it was a total case of trial and error. Internet videos make it look easier than it actually is.

The process starts by having to relax the butterfly, moth or beetle as they arrived to us in a dry/closed state. The specimens go into a relaxing tub which has a mild chemical solution in it. The chemical solution breaks down the enzymes in the specimens body making it pliable again. The specimens stay in the relaxing box until the reach this state, once there you can remove them and start the setting process. Opening the specimens is always the most fun part as you get see the true glory of what your setting. We pin the specimen to a setting board, which is a board with a small channel down the centre to hold the specimens body in place when you spread the wings. Then we very carefully pull the wings into the position we want using tweezers and then with strips of wax paper pin the wings so they are secure. We then leave them to dry out again for a number of days, depending on size. Then we unpin the specimen and then you have a set specimen, which is always very rewarding.

The vintage frames we stain ourselves to give them that old look, then we add the vintage artwork and add specimens we think work well with the artwork.

Where can people buy pieces? Do you do commissions? We have a small Etsy shop where people can buy from us, we update regularly with new items as we like to keep a good variety of pieces on there. We can be found on Instagramwhere with have a direct link to our store.

We take on commission work and our always up for a challenge, whether it be artwork or a specific butterfly or a combination of the two, we will always try our best to accommodate.

What are your plans for the future? We are hoping to keep going and maybe expand more, we do a lot of craft stalls, especially in the winter months leading up to Christmas. The big plan is to have a small high street shop where people can come in and browse.

How did you meet? How long have you been together? We met through a mutual friend who Charlie was tattooing, she thought we would get on well, turns out she was right. We had a few dates, realised we shared a lot of common interests and thats about it, and people say romance is dead! We have been together now for two years.

Can you tell us about your tattoos?
Charlie: My tattoos are a mix of things that remind me of all the places I have lived across the world as a kid, and pattern work that I’m really into. I like the geometric and dot work tattoo styles as it is how I myself draw. I like the work of Vana Chanelle, who has tattooed me a few times, along with Dan Frye who done a stunning traditional style Indian bride on my arm. I have tattooed myself a lot.

Justin: I’m a big fan of traditional style tattoos and love fat lined pieces. I have a lot of skateboard related tattoos as it used to be my favourite past time. I have a bit of a mix of black and grey, traditional colour and pattern work. I have my good friend Ben Griffiths to thank for a lot of my work, also Dan Frye and his partner EJ Miles.