Just a quick one my lovelies! We are far too busy celebrating in style with Ophelia to stop for blogging but in thanks for all the lovely birthday messages she has received here for your delight is Ophelia in her birthday/valentines wear! May you be inspired by it! Not quite an American Beauty but definitely a Newton Knock Out! Huge love to you all...back to the party!!!!xxxx
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Good morning campers! Its all a bit early here and I type this bleary eyed and half asleep but since today is a very special day for Ophelia I thought I'd better say a few words! Ophelia, you have become a very much loved and cherished member of our kooky family-you've been there through highs, lows and all that falls in between without judgement, comment or infact even a single word to say...the perfect house guest really. Plus you don't eat which makes choosing what to cook a whole lot easier. Your only demand is to be decorated and celebrated which we are only too happy to do for you-whilst we all mooch about in our holey second hand threadbare clobber you outshine us all in a variety of glamorous and striking outfits (minus yesterdays chavtastic efforts!) which you wear so well. Three cheers to you my lovely on this your Birthday! Here's a little fantasy for you and your readers to entertain today...xxx Please check back later for Ophelias Birthday (suit) photo!! Big Love to my marvellous mannequin!
Hello again my lovelies! More news from Planet Ophelia! Recently Ophelia was privileged to be witness to the kindness that complete strangers can show. With no prompting or encouragement except perhaps seeing on here that she is in need of a serious fashion injection into her wardrobe, someone who has never even met Ophelia, namely the gorgeous and stylish Samski, has been out and about trawling the preloved shops for something to really set Ophelia on fire! Prepare yourselves Ladies and Gentlemen for what your eyes are about to behold! And when you look at Ophelia please consider what her name would be in this outfit because Ophee seems not very fitting all of a sudden...and whilst you are at it think of a caption (yey! Caption Competition!) so I can rest my addled brain and get on with preparing the Birthday Post! (Yes, folks it is Ophelias birthay tomorrow-the day of love and my! how we do love her!) So back to the photo of the new outfit with a huge thanks to the ever charitable Samski who so kindly passed this outfit up! Reckon she would've looked a treat in it too! Thanks Babe! (unfortunately photo does not really get across the sheer retro beauty of this cosy number and the bright glory of the colours!)
Guys and Gals I have finally located the camera lead (its always the sofas fault!) and so it is time to let the merriment commence! Get your feet up and your reading specs on...Ophelia has been one busy lady!!! In the last few weeks a variety of opportunities have befallen our beloved Ophee-some she was not particularly keen to accept but as I reminded her..."Life is too short to not make the most of it-stop wingeing and go and get ready!" Oh-hang on-I think that was one I said to the kids! Anyhow despite Ophelia having an unlimited lifespan, all being well, I really do believe that she is in no position to refuse! So I assigned her to 5 days of helping with running this busy crazy household- doing chores and the like to give her the opportunity to see what it is like being a domestic goddess...I should know after all! Ahem! She has well and truly earned her brownie badge after completing the following tasks (complete with fantastic photographic evidence!) Day One: Washing up the dishes: Day Two: Dusting the bookshelf: Day Three: Fixing the car: Day Four: Tub Scrubbing: Day Five: Hoovering Hilarities!: So there you have it-what a wonderful asset that girl is! My house is sparkly like a new pin! She is available to hire for all domestic duties (although I have not told her yet!) although I must warn you that speed is not her forte but she is thorough!
As well as all this Ophelia has also been busy with other things...more in the next blog! It might even get written tonight so keep an eye out! Toodle pip for now! xxx Evenin' all! Hope this blog entry finds you toasty after a cold week. We have had several brilliant things happen this week including the discovery of that fantastic invention the crampon (tricky to get on and I have pinged a few across the room and nearly hit people but well worth the struggle!) and seeing real proper six pointed starry shaped snowflakes for the first time ever-I thought Thing 2 had stuck his head in a tub of seasonal scatter sequins in star shapes until I picked one off and it melted! Mind blowing that no two are the same or is that a magical myth I wonder?! Ophelia has been indulging in a bit of snowplay this week-hanging out with a beauty of a snow-woman in the garden-gorjuss! She has also joined Twitter (Ophelia Days) but is struggling to make birdie friends and hasn't got much to say this week anyhow. Poor love-she has been a bit neglected by us recently (ie. in the same outfit now for five days!) because life has sort of gotten in the way. Patience Ophelia! Your time will come!
I can feel a phase of Les Mis outfits coming her way, p'raps with a bit of audio?? or maybe a focus on domestic life? Watch this space-I'll get in gear eventually! UPDATE: Apologies for forgetting to post this and then failing to post a follow-up! No excuses really just busy having fun! Ophelia has completed a week of domestic chores and what a char lady extraordinaire she has proved to be-who knew how capable that girl was to be once in an apron! Puts me to shame! I expect she has been desperate to get stuck in really after spending all those hours observing the spiders webs and fluff build up from her corner in the room! A full photo set will follow once technology troubles have been resolved...ie. where did I put that camera cable!?! After enjoying and episode or two of the beloved 'Call the Midwife' Ophelia has taken to dressing up as Jenny Lee! That photo will make an appearance too sometime soon. Other than that we are busy thinking of what to do for Ophelias birthday which is on the day of love Feb 14th! Ideas?? Until we meet again my lovelies! Keep checking back and I will scour the house for that all important cable so we can proceed! xxx Legless with Feet on Wheels. This week I have been mainly fantasizing about slippers, enjoying possibly the best bed partner in the world-my new electric blanket, and even wearing big pants with great comfort! Its happened dear readers-I have officially entered the zone of comfort over class (not that I was EVER classy to be honest-always happily in a class of my own!) Nevertheless its still a bit disconcerting...am now awaiting delivery of a onesie and corn plasters (joke!!) Ophelia on the other hand has been living it up in kitsch Cambridge at the beautiful home of www.janehellings.co.uk/www.retro-junky.co.uk artist extroardinaire-challenging the accepted, making your stomach churn and your heart flutter all in one with her wonderful creations and collections. You can find her and her vintage treasures at the Cambridge market on Mondays. Jane has recently revisited a project of old...'feet on wheels'...which has involved her carrying around blue severed feet (textile!) for a month (see first website link for further details). Since Ophelia is sometimes carried around rather cumbersomely and usually sans legs (she doesn't sit!) I thought it would be a lovely thing to get legless Ophee and some false feet together for an evening and catch up with lovely Jane. I do like it when weird minds meet and get each other when the rest of the world may not understand! To many people Ophelia is unusual yet to our family she has always felt very a normal addition. At Janes she was right at home and not an eyelash was batted when I turned up on her doorstep in the snow with half a mannequin! Not so sure the man who walked past me in the alleyway on my way back to the car very late and in a snow storm felt so relaxed about Ophelias presence-I did quickly reassure him that she was not a dismembered dead body. Not sure I didn't make it worse for him :o) Other news is that Thing 2 is currently obsessing big time about the arctic trip he reckons his Dad has promised him when he is 10! He is contemplating which fingers would be best to lose and what the design of his flag should be when he finally reaches the North Pole and where we can get the metal rod for the flagpole! Despite this he still won't wear a jumper to school! Thing 1 is busy with all things snow-making lists of snow activities, planning snow wear-blimey, today she has even managed to get out in it :o) and she has also been making lots of quiches! Until we meet again my lovelies keep warm and well and dance lots! x Well ladies and gents I've had a lorra laughs today in my quest for finding a 'friend' for Ophelia! Focusing on her romantic future saves me from having to deal with my own shambolic love life and I like the idea of using this page to highlight to you all mannequins of the world beyond these 4 walls...good and bad! I came across a Weird Mannequins facebook page the other day which has some crackers but it looks like no one has posted for nearly a year so maybe I can help!
Anyway todays shining star is not weird at all really apart from his unusual chain head gear but having met his family I can tell you that they are a great bunch, enthusiastic, keen to help match make in any way they can ('do you want us to move him so you get better light for a photo?'), generous in that they want to mention this blog on their page and to top it all they sell a million and one interesting and useful bits and bobs! I am talking of course about Mackays of Cambridge. Most of you local lovelies will recognise this gorgeous man...I am wondering if he has a name already or if we should perhaps start thinking of one for him...answers on a comments form please! Ophelia is non-committal at the moment but she is wondering what this man can offer that is massive (see photo below)!?! No answers for that teaser please! This is a family page :o)! Ooh, I feel like Cilla Black...'Here's our Graham with a quick reminder'... Granny Manny! Today I have been thinking a little about mannequins in my life, how they have given me many lovely memories and have been a bit of a recurring theme really and perhaps thats how Ophelia has ended up with us...like its meant to be, written in the stars, inevitable! I have always, as long as I can remember, wanted my very own shop dummy-a proper one with a head and stuff. For many years I fantasized about being the person that you sometimes see in shop windows dressing and arranging the mannequins but I never really understood how you became that person. I used to set up scenes in my bedroom with draped fabrics and vintage suitcases, 1940's childrens story books, old bottles, a car grill and an old iron...all a bit random and definitely missing a person to tie it all together. In later years when I lived in Bath I recall the bed shop across the road was looking for someone to sleep in a bed in their window-to be a living mannequin-as some sort of quirky sales stunt. I loved the idea and did apply but it never came off-perhaps they had a rethink given that it was a bit of a dodgy street!
When Thing One was young she loved nothing better than going shopping with her granny Dobber and pretending to be a mannequin in the shops. Dobber then loudly admired the beauty of the mannequins and Thing One jumped out delighted to have tricked her! Obviously this mannequin madness runs in the family or maybe in us all...mannequins do seem to appeal to many people and I am surprised and delighted by how many people I know who have taken to Ophelia like a friend and ask after her! I get so pleased that we have found Ophelia and that Thing One and Thing Two can grow up with the freedom to try out any crazy fashion ideas they have with no fear of ridicule, they can project any personality on to her that they like and express their own angst, sense of fun, fantasies and dreams. I would recommend it to anyone, particularly when kids are around. The world is saturated with airbrushed images, prescribed fashion rights and wrongs, personal criticism and shame in getting things 'wrong'. Kids need to try things out, to explore their ideas safely and having such a variety of potential looks for Ophelia allows them to see that you can look good in many many ways and you certainly don't need a brand to do that. Ophelia expands all of our worlds and we undoubtedly expand hers. I am conscious however that as cracking as Ophee is she represents a body that few of us have and in that sense I worry about what messages she is giving my daughter. My wish is that in the next year or two, during this crucial phase of Thing One moving in to teen land, Ophelia gets a friend-a more average sized mannequin that we can all enjoy dressing up...only trouble is that means a whole new mannequin wardrobe to store! And then of course I ought to balance it out with a MANnequin so Thing Two gets to do the Ken thing! Crikey where will this end? We are on some weird journey! Anyway thems me thoughts today my lovelies! Nighty Night!x Just to let you know that the BBC have permission to use Ophelias scream in space video when they talk about the project as part of their Stargazing LIVE shows (on between 8pm-10pm tonight, Wed and Thurs). Chances are they won't use it but you never know! Fingers crossed they decided to send her in to orbit just for the hell of it! Incase you missed it here's her video below... What a blinkin' shambles! Apologies (or apple orgies as I like to say!) for the ridiculous lateness of this blog post. All intentions were to share the bad taste glamour with you before the New Year was seen in but life has conspired against me and proper influenza has taken control of the house and its inhabitants in rather a wretched way leaving me wanting to start a blog on the devil that is real flu so I can rant about nerve ending pain and worship my only friend through this hell-the giant tablet that is paracetamol! I am scarred mentally by the last few weeks and am finding it difficult to return to 'normal' but surely a big dose of bad taste Ophelia related rambling will work its magic-no? Here goes! I am delighted to announce that Bad Taste Xmas 2012 was a resounding success, one which I would love to repeat if only to not have to worry about looking good on Xmas Day! Boy I really did look bad!! I think I won first prize to be honest although good effort was made by the family (except super poorly Thing 1 and Thing 2 who could not get beyond pjs and pants, respectively-I can let them off I think!) My fabulous outfit was a cracking Ebay find where I managed to singlehandedly upset the seller by telling them it was for a bad taste party-turns out it was her sexiest outfit of the 80's...strange-it didn't seem to work its sexy magic on me but in the end we had a nice bit of banter about it and she has asked me to post her a photo of moi, resplendent in peach! It really is something to behold. I shine brighter than any guiding star! This outfit seems to have all the possible 80's disasters in one place-boxy big shoulders, brocade, pleats, a confusing and wrong mixture of fabrics, one colour overkill, tie at the waist with mullet style back, ski pant foot hoops and useless zip on elasticated waist! Teamed with some mint green barlow specs, a vast quantity of 80's curls, some blue shiny eye shadow on a cement layer of the wrong coloured foundation and I was ready to rock! Beautifully hideous! Like the giant peach gone wrong! :o)
We played a fab bad taste present swapping under pressure dice game-gifts included a Keith Harris and Orville programme, a plastic turd complete with flies, a poundshop flashing penguin (flashing lights!! not anything else!) and this grotesque pig ornament which strangely nobody wanted! Also everyone had a dodgy word that they had to drop in to conversation as many times as possible throughout the day. Although Mums hubby Pat probably won in terms of frequency my sister Hannahs clever introduction of the word 'gusset' in to general chitchat wins hands down for pure hilarity! The piece de resistance would have to be the bad taste yule log cake-complete with chocolate turd, deer and robin! -perhaps a step too far for some but I have at least discovered that I am quite skilled in the art of making fake faeces-one for the CV surely! And so, to next year...perhaps bad taste will rear its ugly head once more...there are certainly a million and one ideas unused and just today I have discovered in Bedford the perfect charity shop for bad taste central! I am having to resist! But for how long I wonder! Happy New Year to one and all. I leave you with a slideshow of all good and bad! Sit back, rest your slippered feet, sip on your glass of Blue Nun and enjoy!xxx |