Process a negative image with your brain!

I found this online today and it simply amazed me! Stare at the coloured dots on the girl's nose for around 30 seconds and then look at a white wall. Slowly the colour image starts to process, and looks almost like a hologram. (If that doesn't work blink rapidly). Amazing what our brains can do, I love illusions like this!

(via PetaPixal )

 

Petr Spatina - Glasses

Skoda have produced some really memorable adverts (One of my favorites being the Skoda Fabia Cake car, you can see here.) This advert is also simply amazing. It shows a man playing music by running his fingers across many crystal glasses which are in the shape of the car. I didn't believe it was real until musician Petr Spatina appeared as a guest on the Joathan Ross show recently and played his unique piece of music 'fragile sounds' live! He even did a Lady Gaga cover! It was unbelievable, I find it difficult enough to make sound from one glass, let alone composing music using glasses with water in them! You can see the skoda advert below, and watch Petr's performance on the Jonathan Ross Show here.

Flicks - How the Movies Began

Came across this lovely book on vimeo a few months back and forgot to blog about it. Its such a shame it is not for sale, I would have bought one straight away! 'Flicks - How the movies began' is an interactive book showing the history of motion. There are many pop outs carefully explaining the cinematic devices and the development of moving image. The book was designed by Graphic Designer and Filmmaker  Arnold Schwartzman. The book explains many devices from flick books and zoetropes, to the invention of the Zoopraxiascope and Kinetoscope. The book looks really fun, I just hope one day it is made available for sale! Watch the video below to see how it works.

Shake

Fantastic photographs by Carli Davidson of dogs as they shake off water. Using a high shutter speed she has captured some really strange expressions. Some of these images are quite frightening, their faces twist into some very unnatural positions! You can see the whole series on Carli's website here.

Yulia Brodskaya

Yulia is one of my favorite paper artists. She uses the technique of quilling which involves rolling strips of paper to create patterns and images. Yulia glues the paper together to create amazing typography and illustrations. This new project is called Love Doves, there is so much depth and detail to the piece. It is really interesting to see how the image was penciled in before the strips of paper were applied. I have tried this technique before, and I was hopeless at it! You can see more of Yulia's work on her website http://www.artyulia.com/. (Images below via colossal)

Jennifer Lo - Mon Amie la Rose

Absolutely stunning photography from my friend Jen Lo. Mon Amie la Rose is a series of photographs of the beautiful Alice. Jen has just finished her new website, please have a look at her work she is very talented. You can also follow her blog here.

Papercraft 2 - Design and Art with Paper

For christmas my mum bought me the new Papercraft book. I think its probably the best papercraft book I have got yet! There is such a broad range of work, and some really fascinating projects. There are projects from artists such as Johnny Kelly, Yulia  Brodskya, Rob Ryan.

"With an unparalleled collection of new and groundbreaking projects, papercraft 2 is an inspiring up-to-the-minute survey of current developments in contemporary design with paper. In addition to more outstanding 3D graphic design, illustration, installations and motion design, the book and bonus DVD present work from an even broader range of creative disciplines." 

Below is a photograph of one of the spreads in the book, showing work from Anderson M Studio. I really love this project, I think it is a really exciting motion piece. You can see more work from Anderson M Studio on my blog here. This book has also introduced me to many new artists and projects. I feel very inspired and want to start creating some paper art work again! You can have a look inside the book on the Gestalten website here.

2012

Happy New Year to everyone! I started off 2012 in Bristol, it was a really great weekend. I am back home in London now and ready for a fresh start. I am back at work, with my new years resolutions and a plan for the next year ahead. I really want to get one of these 2012 calenders designed by Nando Costa in collaboration with his wife Linn Olofsdotter. You can buy them online from their 'Mine could be Yours' website. The calenders are really intricately laser cut, each one taking up to an hour to cut! The detail in the pattern is very beautiful and the calender looks stunning against a window with light flooding through. I never had the opportunity to try laser cutting at uni which was a shame, definitely something I would like to experiment with in the future (one to add to my new year list!) You can find more photos of the 2012 calender on Nando's website here. http://archive.nandocosta.com/#2268180/2012-Calendar

Happy New Year

Lovely little video by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing a Nancy Wilson song, 'what are you doing New Years Eve?' The video went viral after being posted on Zooey's blog HelloGiggles. I definitely want to watch 500 days of summer again after seeing this. The video is really sweet, hopefully they will be doing many more collaborations. Wishing you all a Happy new Year!

Winter Wonderland

I got the chance to go to Winter Wonderland again this year. We went at night this time and the atmosphere was so much better! There were so many beautiful lights everywhere and the smell of food and mulled wine was so tempting. the rides seemed to be much bigger and faster too! After one round on the waltzers we all felt it was enough! It was a shame the ice skating was so busy, it would be nice to go back when its not peak time, the rink goes around a big band stand where live music is being played. But I think the best part of the whole day was the churros from Rosie's Donuts and Sweets stall. They were really hot and crispy and covered in melted chocolate. Yum.  I want to go back just for some more.

Christmas

We had a nice relaxed christmas and boxing day with family. We did the usual and played lots of games, filled ourselves with far too much chocolate and festive food and of course lots of wine. The Apple and Cranberry Christmas Chutney was a success, everyone seemed to like it at our christmas party with the cheese selection. I got lots of lovely presents this year, including a few beautiful books, which I will blog about at some point. I'm enjoying some well deserved time off work this week, roll on new year's eve!

Merry Christmas!

Mum has been using her crafts to make christmas cards again this year. Here are three she made for our family, they look so pretty with the sparkle and beads. Its also a good way to recycle christmas cards from previous years, keeping the patterns and glitter. I still can't believe its Christmas tomorrow, time has flown! Happy Christmas Eve to everyone, have a wonderful Christmas weekend!

Croc Nail Effects

I have been playing with my new nail polishes. My lovely work colleague Carole-Anne bought me a collection of Fearne Cotton's new nail polish range for christmas. There are some really gorgeous colours including a mushroom brown and bright turquoise. I also treated myself to a new Barry M sparkle polish for Christmas day and I couldn't resist getting the new Croc Nail Effects. Similar to the Crackle Nail Polish, this one splits into a crocodile pattern. It is a bit more tricky to use, you have to apply the polish to a base which is touch dry as it doesn't work on dry polish. It also takes much longer for the effect to appear, almost 5 minutes! My first attempt was a bit messy and it took some practice getting the right balance of polish and the timing of layers. Next time I think I will use a brighter colour underneath, so you can see the pattern more.

Homemade Christmas Chutney

For christmas this year I decided to make some chutney to give as little presents. I saw this recipe on Kirsty's Homemade Britain Program. You can find the recipe here. The chutney includes lots of different dried fruits which makes it much sweeter than normal chutney. It took a while to make it, and the onions and cider vinegar stung my eyes alot! I bought the little jars from Lakeland and made my own little tags and decoration. I think I may attempt to make jam next, its fun and the jars look so sweet!

Let it Snow

Google have added a christmas touch to their search engine. When you type the words 'let it snow' in the search box, your screen begins to fill with tiny snow flakes! It builds up until you can barely see the search results, which include many different covers of the song let it snow. A defrost button then appears to clear your screen. Or you can also have fun scraping away the snow flakes using your mouse. Just like you would on a frosted car in the snow!

Little Tree

We put up our Christmas tree earlier this week. Its quite a bit smaller this year as they were just so expensive! Flossy had fun watching us decorate the house, peeking around the door. This is her first christmas, and she was quite naughty attacking the baubles on the tree! Mum has her decorations all colour coordinated to match the room, which means lots of purple, ha! Even the photos have a purple tint! I had fun playing with my new camera lens, it was really quite tricky getting used to the super zoom!

Violent Lips

I knew it wouldn't be long before something like this came out. Jessie J has definitely started a trend with her dramatic lips (you can see my post here) and now you can buy your very own designs for your lips with this stick on tattoos at violent lips. I first came across this on Pecan Pie Blog, I think they are pretty eccentric but would probably be quite fun for fancy dress. They look quite easy to apply, maybe a bit fiddly but no more than fake eyelashes. Jessie J has usually has her lips done for performances and tv appearances. I don't think they are very convenient for daily use, I don't see how you would be able to eat or drink with them on! I find it hard enough with lipstick! Check out the Violent Lips website here, there are many designs to choose from. http://www.violentlips.com/