summer-so-far

summer-so-far
Seeing as we reach August tomorrow, it feels as though summer is pretty much half over. And so far its been rather darn good! I've been a bit slack with updating here, but hopefully this lot will go some way towards making up for that, and also possibly explain where I've been hiding for the past month or so!

This entry is extremely picture heavy - i will warn you now!


Glastonbury


Summer began on Worthy Farm at the end of June: Glastonberry was super: immense and awesome in every sense of the words. Sunset up on Pennards Hill on the first night has to be a highlight. As was the lovely Park stage and the excellent Stornoway.



Over the course of the weekend (more like 6 days), we were lucky enough to see such delights as Bon Iver, Lisa Hannigan, Regina Spektor, Lamb, M Ward, The Specials, Madness and the almighty Tom Jones to name but a few.


The weather held out rather well indeed. (after an initial tantrum of thunder and lightning on Thursday and a little bit of rain on Friday) The toilets of course were the big bummer, (no pun intended) the toilets and the mud. Although now, looking back the horrors of both have wildly attenuated in my mind and i seem to have managed to forget that i even whinged about them once! (I'm sure Paul could put you straight on that one though!)


And now im dying for next year to roll around already! somehow! And I'm keeping my fingers are well and truly crossed for Radiohead!



Wireless


I was treated to an education in urban music at Wireless by my best bud Bloomfield. We had an excellent day watching the likes of NDubz, The Noisettes, Calvin Harris, Tinchy Stryder, Mark Ronson and Daniel Merriweather and Mr Kanye West. Far too many guilty pleasures than i should really admit to, but it was a really rather excellent day indeed!





Malta


Lucy and I decided that after a week of slumming it in a field at Glastonbury, we deserved a week of relaxation, so we jetted off to Sliema in Malta for just that. We lay out in 34ºC heat everyday, with not a cloud in sight! I did manage to steal some shade from a nearby ledge and the occasional umbrella, but still came back with a very respectable tan!


We went on a day cruise to the Blue Lagoon at Comino on a Turkish Gullet. I have never seen the sea so clear and so blue in my life - it was absolutely beautiful! The boat docked and we were able to swim in the crystal clear waters which was lovely, if a little salty, but we were soon chased out of the sea by the HUGE fish that were gathering waiting to be fed!



Sliema was lovely. not quite as fancy looking as St Julians, but it had some lovely restaurants and beach bars where you could take your drinks down on to the rocks and watch the sea lapping the shore as the sun set. mmmm! i'd go back in a flash!


Aside from the coastline being rather beautiful, the winding streets had their charm too. Everywhere is quite dusty and dilapidated, but the stone architecture is really rather charming with little jems hidden along every path.


We had such a lovely week, away from everything at home and were super sad to come back to the british rain, but these things must be done. And now i have my brand spanking new passport i am the biggest fan of summer holidays you will meet. FACT! I'm so ready to start planning next year's travels...! Although nowhere else in Europe feels quite as exotic as Malta now - I had no idea it was going to be quite so hot!


V&A village fete


On our anniversary weekend, Paul took me to the V&A Village Fete - the last ever V&A Village Fete for that matter. Its such a shame that it wont be continuing next year - it's such a great platform for some really novel ideas that you wouldn't normally get the chance to witness.


Check out the cardboard piano! Tattly Divine had everyone 'fishing for victory' on their stall, where i managed to bag myself a rather spiffy bracelet from the lucky dip. Paul and I competed on the Garudio Studiage's Economic Meltdown Office Challenge. I won and received a nice big fat (25% discount) cheque and Paul was handed his P45! heehee!







Ben & Jerrys sundae on the common


And finally, last weekend was the Ben and Jerry's Sundae on the common complete with petting zoo, (full of ducks with the oddest of hair do's) carousel, helter-skelter, and of course scoops and scoops of free ice cream!


Camera Obscura played a rather lovely set, and The Human League headlined - which of course made mine and Louise's day! They were so much fun that we hardly even noticed the rain! The whole day was done and dusted by 8'o'clock - which suited us just fine - we were home and in bed by 9:30! perfect for a sunday night!



And that is that. A very exciting couple of months - and its not over yet. I still have lots to look forward before summer is through, i just need to get over this flu that i've managed to contract. And no, i'm pretty sure that it's not swine flu, but i'm hiding out at home, just to be safe!

And now that all that has been said, i promise that i will be back soon with some pretty exciting news :o)
x

truck monsters

truck monsters



So the lovely people at Truck Festival asked Lucy and i to make them some monsters based on their little monster logo to sell at the festival this weekend. If you're lucky enough to be heading on down to Hill Farm in Steventon be sure to bag yourself one of the handmade limited edition little blighters!



Each monster has a screen printed patch displaying the Truck logo on their bottoms, and a festival lanyard with a little bit of information about their dispositions.

We ended up slaving over them for quite some time and naturally became rather attached. Of course we were very sad to see them go so please, go buy, and make sure that you give your Truck monster a good home!

x.

London Zine Symposium 2009

london zine symposium 2009


The London Zine Symposium yesterday was bigger and better than ever. With an apparent record number of zines, crafters, writers & distros spread across the two rooms at the Rag Factory selling their wares and celebrating DIY and zine culture.


Lucy and I arrived bang on schedule having made an effort to not be early as usual! We set up our Lazy Soosan table, complete with banner and bunting, and watched in awe as people began flowing through the doors: a veritable stream from midday right up until six o'clock.


Our manic day of prep payed off and everything went rather swimmingly. We even managed to squeeze in some precious time to make a batch of alphabet biscuits to draw in the punters! In all honesty they turned out to be more like shortcake... a slight overkill on the flour quantities, but no one was complaining and they all got gobbled up with 2 hours still to go!


It was an absolutely beautiful day despite the threats of rain from the weather forecasters, which led to somewhat tropical temperatures in the rooms, but it didn't seem to put people off one iota.





We met some lovely people and saw so many great zines - the 6 hour stint flew by without us really getting a chance to take it all in and see absolutely everything. From what we did manage to get to, highlights include Fever Zine, Bel's Art World, Shebang and Girl Photographer, to name but a few.


Not the main attraction perhaps, but definitely one worth mentioning... the floor, which i was informed had been installed sometime between last years event and this one, was rather special! A recycled school gym floor perhaps? whatever it is i seem to have come away with quite a few pictures of it! Looking down whilst walking around the room, the colours and shapes danced around your feet - very neat indeed!

So, it's all over for another year now, and a great day was had by all... roll on 2010!
x.

lazy soosan at LZS



So we've been waiting rather impatiently for this news, but today we received confirmation that Lazy Soosan has been allocated a spot a this year's London Zine Symposium - hoorah!

So yes, we will be manning our table all day, so please do pop along - it was a really great event last year with some rather special workshops, and a great selection of zines to peruse your way through, and even a radical history walk, touring the sites of housing, class and gentrification around spitalfields market. The day is sure to be just as fabulous as last year and is well worth a visit - i kid thee not!

And now for the science part:

London Zine Symposium
Sunday 3rd May 2009
12pm - 6pm

The Rag Factory
16-18 Heneage Street
London
E1 5LJ

Be there or be square!
x.

happy mothers day!


I hope that there has been plenty breakfasts-in-bed, flowers and chocolates, and freshly baked cakes doing the rounds today!
x.

E-E-E-Ever so Exciting!

E-E-E-Ever so Exciting!


Issue E has arrived! It's been a while coming, but we promise that it is well worth the wait! with such spectacles to behold as Elvis himself, a trio of eager beavers, a pretty rubbish employee of the week, and a rather interesting young chap called eugene, its all ever-so-exciting! So head on over to the shop to get your hands on our latest labour of love! (sneak preview below!)


In other Lazy Soosan news, we now have alphabet badges up for sale, which we think will look just smashing on a lapel, a bag, a sweater or maybe even a hat. The options are endless!


And as always, keep checking the Lazy Soosan blog for up-to-date, last-minute, hot-off-the-press Lazy Soosan news!

x.

giveaway

lazy soosan giveaway



If you've been itching to get your hands on a copy of The Alphabet Series, then head on over to Design for Mankind and enter yourself into the giveaway! We've teamed up with Erin to offer you the chance to win issues A, B, C and D, and a pack of our postcards too! so head on over quick-sticks and add your comment to the list to be in with a chance!

More Lazy Soosan news coming super soon - so stay tuned!
x

snow time!

snow time

So, its been brewing for a while now, but last night, the snow finally hit. The heaviest snow in the last 18 years that is...! London trains and buses were cancelled, airports and schools closed, and the office was pretty much empty.

I do love snow. especially when its this thick and crunchy! i decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and take an afternoon stroll down to the duck-pond. (very picture heavy...!)



Their green and indigo flashes are super pretty. and their legs seemed to be extra-specially orange! I wasn't allowed to feed them, but they seemed to be happily munching on goodness-knows-what under the snow.

I continued my walk up to the Great Barn and Manor Farm House before finding myself in St Martins Churchyard all of which had been completed transformed by the heavy dusting of snow, and looked all rather quaint indeed.





The snow didn't really stop all day, and by 3pm it was threatening to get heavier, so, while i still had a tiny amount of sensation remaining in my feet, i carefully dashed home along the slippery, slushy pavements, back to the saftey of my own back garden, a cup of hot chocolate and a steaming hot bath! (very much in that order!)



There are heaps more photos from my wintery walkabout on my flickr, so if you're not all snowed-out yet, click on the picture below to take a peek!



Now all thats left to do is hope and pray that it wont have all disappeared by the time i wake up tomorrow morning. that would be very sad indeed! I hope that everyone is enjoying this lovely spell of snow, take care, and try not to slip up!
x.

Between the Covers

Between the Covers


Between the Covers is an exhibition about women's magazines and their readers, currently showing at The Women's Library in Aldgate. At the back end of last year, lucy and i got an email from Melanie Maddison, (editor of the Leeds-based 'zine Colouring Outside the Lines) asking if we could provide some Lazy Soosan work to be a part of 'Zine Fest' - a series of zine related activities and seminars supporting the exhibition. So on Saturday, we toddled along to the exhibition to see Soosan, and all the other lovely zines in action.


To read more about zine fest take a peek here and to read reviews of the comic exhibition, pop along here, here and here.


and i couldn't not mention the beautiful cake stall! Yum indeed!

x.