So I got round to taking photos of the embroidery I've been doing. I've also listed them up on etsy & updated the photos for my cards. However much I love the process of doing & completing a cross stitch I always spend ages getting round to listing them. Maybe it's because I don't actually like the idea of parting with them. That's why I haven't listed my Edie Sedgewick embroidery up, I'd have to like vet the buyer to make sure they were worthy. Control freak much.

Any ideas for what else I could stitch?

Hell yeah! I've got a double page spread in the new S/S12 edition of I.T. Post. I was so excited having picked up the mystery fed ex package from my next door neighbour that I came bounding into our house & smacked my forehead straight into the top of our door frame. Needless to say, after a lot of blood, a stressed phonecall to the NHS Direct woman who when we said we couldn't tell if it was a deep or a shallow head wound that I should either sit down & take a paracetomal or go to A&E; when I finally tore open the package it was almost worth the head injury.

I'm left with a small staple sized scab just behind my hairline at the front of my head & a lovely hard back magazine/publication full of inspiring talented people that I am more than chuffed to be amoung. I'm still not 100% sure where it's avaliable (Hong Kong?) but I have uploaded my article on whether fashion is worthwhile (the theme of this issue was Worthwhile) here so you can read it. If you so wish. 

SWEAT ISSUE±14 IS HERE!

Perfect company for bidding farewell to those January blues. In this issue there's fashion illustration by Clover Chen, cool artwork by Emma Alhqvist plus other peoples new years resolution & my article musing over Lana Del Rey.

I'm also giving away 10 issues ABSOLUTELY FREE because the people at the printers are now like my best friends haha. If you would like a free issue either leave your e-mail in the comments below or e-mail sweat.zine@gmail.com. EDIT: All the issues are gone now. Sorry! First 10 people get the free issues, we'll contact you about postage addresses etc. Otherwise you can read the issue online here and buy it for £2.50 from the link at the bottom of the page. 

At work yesterday I got a text from my mum to say that her & the builders were very excited about a FedEx package that had arrived. So when I got home & opened it up I was extremely excited to see the magazine I wrote an article for a few months back. I don't actually know too much about it from the sparse correspondance I've had with one of the editor/contributors but google makes me think it's a publication in conjunction with a boutique type shop in China. It came from Hong Kong.

BUT enough of that, down to the nitty gritty of the fact that it is FUCKING AMAZING. It's basically like someone's vomited up all the best editorials & fashion adverts, along with some kick ass articles and bound it all together in a highly design conscious way. There are little booklets between the big pages, pop ups at the end & even one of those pull the slide & the image changes thing. It took me a while to find my piece, "Sunday Best" & I have to say the black on green niggled me a little because it's properly hard to read, but oh well. To be honest I'm just super flattered to be asked to do this kind of thing!

I'm not sure if the issue is available anywhere online. There are videos of the past issues here, but if you'd like to enquire about an issue if you drop me an e-mail (neonpeg@gmail.com) I'll interrogate them for you!

Skyping with Jesus whilst he's on tumblr & spamming me with links sometimes has it's advantages. Dermagraphique & Fuck Off SHIT Tattoos have become two of my favorite blogs. Basically they are the antithesis to tumblogs like Fuck Yeah Tattoos! Who post photos of any tattoo as long as the sob story is enough. Now, I do have two text tattoos, a finger tattoo & a handmade one (as well as having submitted to FYT) so I break almost all their rules, but it is pretty unfortunate what people end up with on their bodies forever. Plus mine were (mostly) well thought out & (mostly) worked on & done by an artist I love & respect. Although part of me may wish I had chosen instead to cover my whole body with classic traditional tattoos, but hey... Anyway, if you are considering a tattoo for the first time PLEASE READ one of these blogs.

At work we're having like a little exhibition where all the work is by staff & it gets made into prints that we sell in the shop. The deadline for submissions is 1st December, so if you're in Bristol over December/Christmas please come in to Blackwell & at least look at them! I will happily talk you through which one's to like & not like depending on the person who made them haha. So I was trying to get some inspiration from my old workbooks from college & stumbled across some lovely (if I do say so myself) embroidered ribs. I also did hips, but these turned out better. So...

What do you think?

ISSUE±13 IS HERE

For just £2.50 (+postage) you can get your very own copy to flick through, read & use to complete crosswords & dot to dots around the uhr...TV, at Christmas. The last SWEAT of 2012, which is pretty darn exciting. So to celebrate, if launching on 11/11/11 wasn't enough it's also chocka block with awesomeness from Spring 2012 trend reports & games to stunning artwork by Philippe Debongnie and Sarah Watson. Don't ever say I don't love you, you can view it all & purchase it HERE.

Sorry things haven't improved. This week has been generally shit all round on a personal note. Although I do have a new tattoo...randomly. Love you all.

Shameless plug for the embroidery sets & pieces I've finally photographed & added to my etsy shop here. They're all based on Sailor Jerry tattoos & I made the cross-stitch patterns my very own self. Also, with each set or framed piece comes a little explanation of the meaning behind each tattoo.

Like the phrase, "Pig on the knee, safety at sea. A cock on the right, never lose a fight." being one of the reasons for a getting a pig and a rooster tattooed. Mostly they're emblems of good luck, returning home safely like the swallow, or keeping grounded whilst away from home, remembering loved one's & pretty girls they hope to return to. I love all that kind of stuff so I find it pretty astonishing & wonderful. I always wish I planned to cover myself in traditional tattoos... but oh well, I still love my equation.

Yay! Projector fun! Probably would've all worked better if I had a partner in crime, but having a free night for once I just had to get on with it. Trying to line up the light before it got inappropriate etc etc. There are actually some cool ones I did that are less appropriate but I kind of don't want to put those on the internet. I'm sorry I didn't really think that through. But anyway, I hope you like them. & Mat's already suggested old photographs might look cool so I'll try & get on that. For more images head over to my flickr. Plus my Berlin films are up on there too... the ones I still haven't posted.

Good day today, even though *he* went home, but Blink 182's new album came out. & even though what I'd previously heard just sounded like +44 or Angels and Airwaves, rather than Blink, the album is a lot better than I expected. It also hits on the little nostalgic feeling that started brewing when I saw them at Reading last year, so good! Oh to be 14 again. 

Spent the weekend watching Disney films. I really love Beauty & the Beast. I forget how amazing it is & then something reminds me why it's my favorite film. So want to get "For who could ever learn to love a beast?" tattooed somewhere...

What did you do?

Runway to pavement in 11 days, beat that highstreet. Yes, I may have had some screen printing issues (ie, having to paint through the stencil on 'more' leaving all these splodgy bits) plus having to cut the t-shirt neck to make it more comfortable. But hey, it's a start. & seems more appropriate with all the part conferences happening around now. Shame it would be inappropriate to wear it to work... no? Worn with disco pants & platforms because I felt like stomping around & feeling powerful, as you do.

If anyone wants a t-shirt please e-mail me! I'd be well up for producing more once I get hold of some more t-shirts & new screen fabric. I'm sure copyright can be wavered, I mean... it's a different font!

And runway to Moleskin in 2 days, that's even better! Got inspired to do some painting & rewatch 500 days of summer (how good is that film? I mean I can pretend it's cheesy when I've been away from it, but really I can imagine watching it with my kids when it's a classic), even though I probably should have been more inspired by bagging a new lens on eBay that arrived yesterday. So now I should have better photos again! PLUS good old Curry's took my money in return for a tripod that won't throw my camera to the ground & a cable that means I can stream my laptop through my projector. Arty photos of me in front of various photos, on their way soon. Oh the suspense!

How are you today?

ISSUE±12 OF SWEAT

HAS LANDED.

For it on your doorstep it's just £1.50 + postage. You can find a link to buy it, or observe the beauty of it ***here***. It'll make you make faces as above. Or you can possibly use it as an, um, hat. Packed full of delights from Jonathan Kelham, Siobhan Barbour & Mice Ailing.

Well good innit.

My collages of Resort 2012

Brights: Top left, Zero + Maria Cornejo. Bottom left, Yigal Azrouel. Top right, Jenni Kayne. Bottom right, Michael Kors.
Prim & Proper: From top to bottom, Erdem, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Carolina Herrera, Donna Karen, Gucci, Doo.Ri, Jason Wu, Jason Wu, Doo.Ri, Erdem & Naeem Khan
Pucci Suits: Emilio Pucci...
Florals: Top to bottom, Jill Stuart x 6, Yves Saint Laurent x 2, Suno, Thakoon Addition & Alexandre Herhcovitch.
Prints: Top row left to right, Giambattista Valli, Pedro Lourenco, Stella McCartney, Naeem Khan. Bottom row left to right, Adam, Givenchy, Giambattista Valli & Suno.

More on the ICBFASHION tumblr. All images from Style.com. Stuck, cut & arranged by moi. One of the great things about blogging this stuff is I can just about justify the time it took me to make them. Still on course with the revision, but I have taken on other company after my *alone day*. Two weeks just two weeks left of my entire education.

Scary.

I'm so tired it's ridiculous. I've been mindlessly cross-stitching since about five this morning but I have finished my vulva for the Shoreditch Sisters Embroideries Campaign to end Female Genital Mutilation. They're making a quilt of them. If you in anyway are able to apply images to fabric I totally insist that you get involved. You can make it as abstract (or realistic) as you want, just has to be 7"x7". All the details are here. I should be revising physics but I just can't, it's like a massive brick wall or something. I've made the flashcards & I lay them, my textbook & all the past papers out in front of me & even with the answers in my hand I have no idea how they got what they got. I don't know whether to cry or just...keep pretending time doesn't exist.

In other news I'm having somewhat of an existential crisis about the blog. It may be the lack of sleep or sobriety over the weekend, but I feel like I really want to do something. It's been amazing getting more followers recently, but I feel like I've done pretty well on getting awesome bloggers to comment regularly with interesting insights rather than for their own gain. But then it's so amazing when you feel like people actually read your blog, right? I feel like because I'm not a *fashion* blogger, or even a *political* blogger or an *art* blogger then I can't really ask for a concise audience either, do you know what I mean? But I know there are amazing people who, like me are interested in all sorts of things & it's so great to be able to find those people. Anyway, I don't know what I'm talking about. In conclusion: I might do some guest blogging on a politics blog about fashion. No?

I think this was mainly prompted by the South West Blogger Meet Up Dichohecho told me about. Because they're meeting up in Cabot Circus to go shopping, which I have a resolution not to do this year. & it made me think about how awesome it would be to actually meet some bloggers who think like me & are generally amazing. Maybe I should do my own & we can go charity shop shopping in Clifton (they get the best picks in Bristol...). Even though I have no money, am saving any I do have for Berlin, & should be chained to a desk revising Mass Defects. I'm tired & not making sense. E-mail me if any of this sounds plausible: neonpeg@gmail.com.

Awesome.

ISSUE±10 OF SWEAT IS HERE!

You can read it here, buy it here & stare at photos of my reaction whilst reading it *ahem* right here. You can only see the exclusive, awesome very special pull out Royal Wedding poster by Jaymie O'Callaghan if you buy the hard copy, but since it's only £1/$1.50, why the hell wouldn't you buy it? There's also Karolina Burdon, poetry by Shanna McCloud, John Garcia, xkcd & my very first published short story!

SWEAT LOVE