Category Archives: Stuff to Buy

’77 Gibson for a ’77 Gibson!

Engagement Guitar - 1977 Gibson Less Paul Artisan

Sorry I’ve not been bloggin’ much lately, been a bit preoccupied with popping the question to my missus. Did the deed yesterday, Nicky said yes! Rather than get a diamond ring, which to be honest I think is probably the least interesting thing you can spend a lot of money on, I got her a guitar instead!

Neither of us play guitar, so at first sight it seems quite a random choice.. But her maiden name is Gibson, same as the legendary guitar makers, so I thought I’d get her something to remind her of that when she becomes Mrs Cookie.

I wanted to get her a vintage Gibson (this sort of thing just gets better with age), preferably a 1977 model to match her birth year (and mine). After a lengthy bit of research I decided on the Les Paul Artisan model, it’s basically a Les Paul Custom with hearts & flower inlays on the headstock and fingerboard. Beautiful looking thing, thought Nicky would appreciate all the detailing, they didn’t come in many colours, but this walnut finish was my favourite.

The fact that it had quite a short production run (1976-1982) didn’t help any, I couldn’t find a single one for sale in the UK. Only the states seemed to have any Artisan’s that people were prepared to part with, some way too pricey, some played to shit, but when this one popped up it seemed a good price and in good nick, so I rather nervously wired my money across the pond and hoped for the best. Well Neals Guitars did us proud and it arrived safe and sound.

I think I made the right call, Nicky loves it and has no plans to trade it in for a diamond! More pics on my Flickr »

Present & Correct

Present & Correct Store

Just found this lovely online store, the London based Present & Correct. “A long-term obsession with stationery has culminated in a constantly evolving store. A selection of P&C products mixed up with handmade goods, vintage items and work by designers from all over the world”.

I could of happily bought just about everything on there, but had to restrain myself! I did pick up this great vintage dymo machine, and this 1949 book on preserving (and a few secret other things). Most of their stuff is one off finds so get over there and have a look before it all gets snapped up.

Rob’s on the telly again

Rob Law, Trunki Programme

Pleasantly surprised to see my mate Rob’s face on the front page of iPlayer last night! He’s in the first episode of Dragons’ Den: On Tour (skip halfway through for his bit).

There’s a sneak peek of his new hard cased rucksack which doubles as a child’s booster seat – BoostApak. Apparently there’s a law now that anyone under 12 or less than 135cm in height has to use a booster seat (news to me?), so I’m sure he’ll sell a shit load as it’s dual purpose makes it a hell of a lot more useful :) You’ll have to wait until Spring 2010 to get hold of one though :(

Also if you’ve got a little kiddie, check out his new limited edition Gruffalo Trunki, almost as good as mine & Nicky’s mammoth effort.

Suits you sir!

Social Suicide Yellow Suit

I‘ve a couple of weddings coming up on the next 2 weekends and I just realised that my suit looked a bit stupid on me after losing a few stone walking the CDT… Not to worry, I’m mates Simon & Tig (Social Suicide) make, in my opinion the most interesting suits around. Each one generally tries to do something that has never been done before and chock full of random features and functions that you wouldn’t usually expect from a suit such as their specially designed ‘Razzle’ pocket ;)

Ideally I would of like an orange suit, but I was quite taken by this bright yellow one. One of the wedding’s is my mate El, who I do all the branding for. I think it’ll be quite funny that I’ll be on brand at the wedding!

I got a bit carried away with poses this morning when I got Nicky to take the picture, rest on my Flickr, I really like the jumping shot, but too gay to actually post here.

Also you ladies, they’ve started a women’s line of suits (by Christy), not on the website, but I saw some down in their store.

Booze News – Beerosaurs!

Michael Crichton’s fictional tale Jurassic Park saw scientists bringing back dinosaurs from the dead by extracting dino blood from a mosquito preserved in a blob of amber. Seems like fact is catching up with fiction, they’re not building a funfair though, oh no, a brewery instead! Good lads :)

Apparently they’ve extracted a 45 million year old yeast from the belly of a bee trapped in a blob of amber. So after a long rest the yeast can finally get down to what it was born to do – turn sugar into CO2 & booze.

There’s a bit more of a backstory to it than that, Wired have got the lowdown on the prehistoric beer.

Apparently it’s due to be released in the Autumn, but there’s currently not much on their Fossil Fuels website.

Click on the dino pic to grab a desktop picture.

Seb’s Tits & Arse

seblester - Tits & Arse

I‘ve blogged about the typographic skills of Seb Lester before, but I think he deserves another post for this excursion from his usual precise clean vector lines, to this more old school tits & arse action ;)

He’s got his first solo show coming up on the 6th August (on for a month) at the Electrik Sheep Gallery in Newcastle. I’m sure his limited edition prints will be selling fast, so if you live nearby, you should go check it out.

Phaeton Typeface

Phaeton Typeface

I‘m a massive fan of Kevin Cornell’s illustration work, so was delighted today when I saw he’s made his first font – Phaeton. Like most of his stuff it’s straight out of the Victorian era, oozing with charm & character, and chock-full of different ligatures & vignettes. You can get it for £35 from Veer.

He was helped out by typographer Randy Jones, who’s made a similar hand-drawn type – Olduvai. Sadly my budget didn’t quite stretch to that.. but it looks very nice.

Obama Naked with Unicorns..

Obama Naked with Unicorns

This is one of the weirdest things I’ve seen in a while.. by an equally strange artist called The Painter of Pancakes. He says he started painting after “I had something of a mental and spiritual breakdown”, makes sense, and he also adds “My paintings sometimes horrify my family”. Well I say good work, they put a smile on my face, check out all his Naked Obama’s with Unicorns here »

Some other links:

Bizarre video of him here.

Check out his paintings for sale on eBay.

Cheers for the link Nicky | Via: WildAmmo.