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Congratulations Christina! I'll be popping your goody bag in the post tomorrow.
Sorry if you were unlucky this time but keep an eye on the TREATS page for more goodies in the future. You need to keep an eye out for sneaky hints on the blog though or you might miss out. Happy Halloween!
Mwahaahaahaaa *cackle cackle*
Not everyone has noticed that the TREATS section of this site has been updated with a new giveaway- I need to work out some sort of alert system - so I thought I would repost the page here before it's too late.
I'm not entirely sure why but I'm really in to Halloween this year! It started when I was tabling at LePub's A Fashionable A'Fayre mini market event last month and was asked to donate a prize for the raffle to help raise money for the charity that kindly donated the tables for us to use. I'd been saving some Paperchase Halloween goody bags ever since I bought them in the sale last year and had been eager for an opportunity to use them so I popped a few zines in one and then went on a mission to the supermarket to buy a few spooky treats to fill it up with.
I seriously have never seen shops in the UK stock so many Halloween goodies as they have this year! Tesco had two whole aisles of costumes and decorations and enough sweets and chocolate to rupture your insides zombie style! Even all the regular brands have got in on the festivities and brought out limited editition cakes like Fiendish Fancies, Lime & Slime Jaffa cakes and Cadbury's Cinder Toffee cakebars... yum yum! So I picked up loads of ace snacks and silly accessories and was especially pleased with my contribution to the raffle.
I know so many people are all cynical about Halloween as it stands today - a commercialised amalgamation of the Irish Samhein, the British Calan Gaeaf and the Celtic All Hallows' Eve - but really, what's wrong with a little bit of fun?! Get yourself a pumpkin, carve up a Jack o'lantern, invite your friends round to drink scrumpy cider and bob for apples, tell ghost stories, light a candle for a deceased relative, paint your face white, pop in some fangs and run around the streets in the crisp Autumn air foaming at the mouth from sugar overload. No? Why on earth not, you stuffy old trout?! Enjoy yourself! Most importantly, instead of complaining that no-one speaks to their neighbours and communities don't exist anymore - stop hiding behind the curtains when children come knocking. Open the door! Admire the creativity in their costumes, challenge them to perform a trick, share some sweets or make some toffee apples and actually meet the local children in your area. Be generous. You'll be a much happier person for it.
So, incase I haven't made myself clear... Yay for Halloween! And in the spirit of generosity I've put together another Halloween goodie bag full of zines and treats. Just email your name and address to eleanor@eleanorjane.co.uk with the word 'TREATS' in the subject line by Monday 26th October and hopefully the Royal Mail will stop striking long enough for me to get your treats to you in time for the 31st.
Unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to check the ingredients in the sweet packaging and as a result, not everything is suitable for vegetarians. Which is really rather naughty of me being a vegetarian myself. Oops! So if you do happen to be a veggie then please say so in your entry message and I shall endeavour to swap the treats for something a little friendlier should you win. You can always give the spares away to trick or treaters...
Good luck!
PS. Pumpkin bucket not included... he's mine :)
"From a city in which art and creativity amount to little more than tumbleweed, comes Buys You Chips (and shags you don' I?); a pigeon-encrusted, collaborative zine of photography, biography, poetry and observation inspired by life in Newport. Available now from Diverse Records on Charles Street for less than the cost of a dirty burger and a bottle of pop."
It's high time Newport created something worth engaging with that isn't another dirty low-on-alcohol-high-on-syrup cocktail from a souless chain pub on the high street. So, with the help of Chris and lots of talented contributors I have made a Newport fanzine! Issue One features; photography and scribblings from me, Chris' work ethic, the lament of a sad, stumpy pigeon by Geraint Wilson, The Old New Seattle - Andy Barding's tales from the Newport punk wars, an illustrated guide to thrifty livings, Joe Strummer's old flat, a small dispute between the residents of Swallow Way courtesy of the Environmental Health and Services Department 1988, Laura Symes' experiences of being a young Mum in Duffryn, the best Chinese takeaway on Chepstow Road, a guide to the world of zines, the ghost of music scenes future by Jonny Janiero, a word from the 'mayor' and after preliminary discussions in the Angel, adambob recruits for a mission to the moon.
The reception of the zine has been fantastic - we've sold out and had to replenish the stock in the record shop a couple of times, had some amazing feedback and have been given an ace review on The Joy Collective. I'm so pleased that Newport is actually interested! In fact, I was in a coffee shop with my friend Adam the other day, rambling on about how concerned I was that Newport wouldn't be receptive to something so far from the mainstream only to discover that the man sitting opposite us had bought a copy a few days before. Amazing! That's why I love Newport sometimes.
Oxford
was beautiful; I came over all Brideshead Revisited imagining Sebastian
Flyte and Charles Ryder stumbling down the cobbled streets, champagne
fueled, "unused to wine", rambunctious, disorderly and gloriously
camp! No personal photos unfortunately as I was on a tight schedule, nipping
between colleges and negotiating the awful traffic. I would like to
visit again soon though, perhaps for a long weekend people watching in
the coffee shops and walking through the botanical gardens ("I don't
know where I should be without the botanical gardens!"). If you have any recommendations of interesting or unusual things to see or places to stay in Oxford I would love to hear about them.
So, lots of blogs to catch up with and it's back to working on the Tinkers Infinity project from the studio for me! (Awesome - for the first time ever Typepad has decided to co-operate and let me change the colour of my links!)
Why go to IKEA and buy a print of a generic old pebble when you can support young photogirls?! ;)
For a limited time only I have listed prints from my 'Soul Catch Fire' project on my ETSY for super low launch prices. The prints are digital c-types, printed on matt finish Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper (so they wont fade in the light). Unmounted, ready to frame and available in three different sizes. Snap them up now as before long they'll only be available as a small edition of exhibition prints via my gallery agent. Quick smart!
My studio is unnaturally tidy this morning so I thought I would share some pictures as it's unlikely to look this spotless for a long time! Flick from Tinkers Infinity is visiting at lunchtime to spend the afternoon planning our new secret photoshoot project; likely to cause lots of mess, stress and fun in (hopefully) equal measures. We'll be casting for a model, a make-up artist, a hair stylist and a studio assistant soon so keep an eye on the blog if you fancy yourself as an integral part of a photoshoot and bagging some free handmade treasures as a result!
Hello hello! I am so behind on my blogging at the moment as I've been flitting about all over the place this week; collaborating on a new zine all about Newport (I am VERY pleased with this!), tabling at A Fashionable A'Fayre - a new monthly mini market at LePub, launching new prints for sale on etsy, packing up special Halloween goody bags (more about those later on in the week), trying to squeeze into C's pocket so he could take me to London to interview Biffy Clyro with him this morning (I failed!) and plotting an exciting new project with my most favouritest friend Flick of Tinkers Infinity. That's top secret for another week or so though.
In the meantime, Flick has had me in the studio snapping away at her latest collection of jewellery and accessories inspired by fairytales, whimsy and times gone by. The new stock will be up on the website by the end of the week but check out the pictures below for a cheeky preview of a few of the shots, including my favourite - the Rosebud Darling alice band which I clevery sneakthiefed from the box of goodies prior to returning it! Mwaahaahaa!
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