1130th
May

The MCM Expo is over, and I think I slept for about 12 hours last night. I needed it! We sold lots of jewellery, made lots of friends and saw lots of strange costumes. I would consider that a success.

It was a great first Expo for I Heart My Art and big thanks to anyone who stopped to chat with us. I think the best part was hearing what pieces of jewellery people liked and getting positive feedback from everyone. We sold out of a few bits, but the rest (plus some new designs) have all been put up in the shop. Here are some photos of us at the Expo, and some costumes I enjoyed.


Nikki and our new friends from the Splott Division

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1120th
May

Not much has been happening this week, as I have mostly been recovering from all the gigs and parties from the last two weeks. I went to see Atari Teenage Riot last Thursday at the Islington Academy, and it was great fun as I expected. Kap Bambino were supporting so I made sure I got myself there nice and early and was on the barrier for them. They got a surprisingly long set (I think it was about 50 minutes) which meant they could pack in a ton of new songs as well as some old favourites. The new tracks sounded awesome with a slightly more mature sound, and obvious influences from a much wider spread of dance music. There were a few other fans in the audience so I didn’t feel too out of place rocking out hard to a support act! After they finished I moved off to the side as I was anticipating quite a crush for ATR. Turns out I was pretty correct, although it was more of a happy pit of dancing people than an aggressive one. Atari Teenage Riot played tracks that spanned their career and also showcased some material from their new album. It was extremely infectious and I soon found myself dancing along without abandon after a few minutes. The crowd kept yelling for more and they ended up going over their curfew, but it was all worth it as they played two encores and ended the night on the anthemic Revolution Action.

Activate
The Only Slight Glimmer Of Hope
Black Flags
Shadow Identity
No Remorse (I Wanna Die)
Into The Death
Too Dead For Me
Atari Teenage Riot
Destroy 2000 Years Of Culture
Sick To Death
Ghostchase
Re-Arrange Your Synapses
Midijunkies
Is This Hyperreal
Codebreaker
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Blood In My Eyes
Speed
Start The Riot
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Collapse Of History
Revolution Action

Next week I have the whole week off work, and I’m going to France for a holiday to visit a friend. I’m going to see Queens of the Stone Age at a ridiculously tiny venue in Strasbourg as I couldn’t get tickets for the Roundhouse gig, and then when I fly back I have to immediately make my way to the Excel Centre for the MCM Expo. It should be busy!

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1112th
May

Long time no see! (write/post/read/etc) I’ve been pretty busy over the past month as my table at the London MCM Expo has been confirmed, so I’ve been making lots of jewellery, sending off new designs and coming up with exciting ideas. I did have a minor setback, where I accidentally ordered a design sheet in pink instead of red, so I now have a load of pink Star Trek engineering insignias. Luckily all the other designs work just as well in pink, so I just need to reorder the insignias in the correct colour.

There have been so many public holidays over the last few weeks and I have spent them lazing about in the sunshine in parks, having BBQs and going to house parties. I will do a big photopost soon to recount my adventures.

There have also been lots of gigs which have all been awesome. I went to see Tim Minchin at the Royal Albert Hall on the 28th April, and although I was late arriving I luckily only missed the first two songs. It was the same show as at the O2 Arena last year, but to be honest I had forgotten half the new songs already so it was still just as funny and captivating. The show was being filmed for a DVD which was exciting, and I had seats that were really close to the stage, so maybe I will be able to spot myself!

The next gig was one I had been looking forward to for most of the year; Death From Above 1979 at the Forum. Due to some last minute spare tickets I ended up going with some friends, which really made the experience even better. We got there early and bagged some nice places on the railings behind the pit so we had an awesome view without getting squashed. The crowd were hands down the most mental I have ever seen at a gig, and the amazing thing was they kept going from the first song to the last. You could literally see the steam rising off the mass of bodies. DFA played pretty much their entire discography, bar two or three tracks, and kept the talking to a minimum. It was exactly the comeback it needed to be, just the audience and the band connecting over the tracks that have made them such a cult favourite over the years. I highly anticipate their set at Reading Festival, along with their inevitable future tours and hopefully a new album too.

Turn It Out
Dead Womb
Going Steady
Too Much Love
Cold War
Black History Month
Go Home, Get Down
Little Girl
Blood On Our Hands
You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine
Pull Out
We Don’t Sleep At Night
Romantic Rights
Do It!
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You’re Lovely (But You’ve Got Lots Of Problems)
Losing Friends
If We Don’t Make It We’ll Fake It

Coincidentally, while I was at the DFA1979 gig I managed to blag tickets for an intimate Friendly Fires show on the Monday. God bless Scarlet Mist! It was at Heaven and was a small warm-up gig to preview their new album, Pala. I was confident it would be amazing as their self-titled debut was one of my favourite albums of 2009 and they had always been great when I had seen them at festivals. Luckily it lived up to my expectations and we danced away an hour in the sweaty arches of the venue with no cares in the world. The new tracks sounded great and they had a ridiculous light show full of lasers, spinning colours and confetti to accentuate the carnival atmosphere. They ended on Kiss Of Life which elicited a loud cheer from the crowd and we all shook our hips along with Ed before it was time to leave.

Lovesick
Blue Cassette
True Love
On Board
Chimes
Skeleton Boy
Show Me Lights
Live Those Days Tonight
Hurting
Jump In The Pool
Pull Me Back To Earth
Paris
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Hawaiian Air
Kiss Of Life

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114th
Mar

This year I want to try and get away from the internet stores and sell some of my jewellery in person. As nice as the internet is, it gets a bit lonely sitting in my jewellery-making basement with only a computer and a post box for company (plus a hoard of plastic toys). I am thinking that some conventions would be a good place to bring my jewellery to the masses, as there are a lot of geek-based items and the bright kitschy bits will probably appeal to the convention crowd. The next big one in London is the MCM Expo in May, so I’m going to book myself a table and start stocking up on supplies! I’ll have to sell about 25-30 pieces of jewellery over the weekend just to cover my table costs, but even if that doesn’t work out it’s still a fun weekend. They usually have pretty good guests and I’ll go dressed up for the fun of it, plus I’ll drag along a friend to help me out.

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