Heavy Eco- Made in Prison

Flicking through the pages of my Drapers magazine 3 weeks ago, I failed to notice in the advert in the back pages that recently sprung to my attention.

Heavy Eco is a brand where the 'one of a kind' bags and handmade organic tshirts have been designed by Eastern European criminals in prison. However, this isn't where their talents end. I Pad sleeves and Mac covers, male boxer shorts & wallets have recently been added to the line. The motifs that feature on the original pieces are inspired by Russian prison Tattoos. (which reminds me, slightly off tangent, there's a Russian Tattoo exhibition on at the Nottingham Contemporary Museum this weekend for those who are interested)

This tiny advertisement interested  me on a number of levels. a) I am one of these people who is adamant they want a tattoo but hasn't the foggiest what I would like or where I would have it & b) I am all for second chances & love the idea that somebody somewhere is doing something productive in prison whilst rehabilitating themselves in preparation for the outer world.

"These jailbirds are applying their harsh reality and dark minds to create innovative eco fashion."

Reading through the site, the story behind the brand never failed to stop amazing me. I can only wish that something like this could be set up within our prisons.

Like many I believe that one of the contributing factors for people turning to criminal activity is due to their childhood. I am in no way tarring everyone with the same brush, I can see that this reasoning can't be applied to all but I can see how a bad start in life can have ramifications on your future. To me bad experiences should push you to achieve greater things (easy for me to say again with the upbringing I have had, but it refers to my belief in taking a positive out of a negative situation). This brand achieves this on several levels.

Heavy Eco share my belief and wish  "to show that just because something or someone seems  to be lost or useless doesn’t mean that they don’t have a future" . All the artisans, including the convicts, get paid for their work. They also believe that childhood experiences can forge an unexpected path towards prison. It therefore donates 50% of its profits to homeless children or those in an orphanage.

Have a look online at some of their pieces and see what you think. This is one of my favourite tshirts

http://www.heavyeco.com/

21 things do before im 21

A recent topic of conversation in the S&X office turned to people turning 30.

Me be being the current baby of the office clearly doesn't have to worry about an impending midlife crises, but Fay talking about how she had encouraged her friend to take up martial arts, tasking her to become a black belt before she turns thirty, got me thinking.....

21's quite big.... what do I want to do before i turn 21.

 I don't want to do anything too cliche, so I am waiting to be inspired......

I shall have a think and keep you updated on any decisions I make.

x

Christmas Already..........

Yes everyone I was dutifully informed by my Mother that it is 17 weeks until Christmas.

My reaction was exactly the same as yours,

"Why the hell are you on about Christmas when it's not even the end of August yet?"

To be honest she had a reasonably fair answer (Mum will be leaving her job soon as we are due to move& is unsure whether she will have one by Christmas... money etc) but it got me thinking about the most amazing discovery i made.

Tucked away in the back of dear old Topshop, displayed rightfully on a shiny white pedestal were (& hopefully still are!) my dream pair of brown leather boots. Of course who, but a handful, could of crafted such an exquist pair of leather hoofs, none other than Kurt Geiger himself.

Every year I search tirelessly for the perfet pair: they have to be a specific brown - not tan or light ash brown but a darker shade- they have to be knee high, with a chunky heel& they can't be too high or completely flat -im saying between 3& 4 inches. As you can imagine, my specific criteria only meets a handful of pieces a year, all of which, seem to be either when I have no money or no where near an occasion such as my birthday or Christmas.

My 16th birthday, Kurt Keiger Sale stansted airport, £120 boots down to £40 plus tax deduction, the only pair in my size were grey. Two years later, Christian Louboutin end of august (17 weeks until christmas, 7 months until my birthday). Last year, River Island £100 boots September time (before loans)& now as if my luck couldn't get any better, August 2011 £200 Kurt Keiger's.

Do these shoe companies like torturing me :(

Bringing Facebook into 3D

You may soon notice a trend running throughout my upcoming posts as they are all inspired by my recent purchase of company magazine !A impulse off the cuff purchase, bought to amuse me on a train journey to and from my placement last week.

It has really inspired me so fingers crossed you too like my finds !

So back to the actual subject, Facebook.

It seems my generation, cannot seem to live without it. It is the subject of many debates, questioning why we need to update our status every day, share private things to the world, even why we need it in the first place. But now ladies and gents, I (and Company Magazine) can announce you can order a book version of your account and even documents friendships with fellow facebookeees!

Documenting everything from your most frequently used words, snapshots of your biggest and most popular album as well as depicting the friends you interact with the most it collates in a 3D format your 'social memories'.

I think its actually quite a nice way to make a rather 'sheep-like' activity, personal to you.

I have been considering them for my Facebook fanatic friends so there hours of dedication to informing everyone of their activities are immortalised forever in print. (I may sound judgemental but for those who know me I am guilty of everything described here)

What are your thoughts? Is it taking Facebook to the extreme, or a nice memento?

Who has the s&x factor?????? I DO !!!

Soooooo for the last two weeks i have been interning at SX- Media again like I was before.

It has been great getting back to grips with the projects particularly loving how involved I'm getting with the Speedo and Style Birmingham events! However I have to say my posts have been severely lacking as I'm working 7 days a week for a month..... TIRED.COM

Nevertheless I'm loving it and i love being busy and actually having something to do everyday Student bum i am definitely not.

So i thought I'd give you a little run down of all the things i have been up to !

Monday i sat sifting through 1012 Meltwater articles for Speedo mentions and products. I'm not going to lie it's not the best job in the world but i got to spend the whole day looking at this....

It therefore was definitely NOT a bad job at the end of the day

My new celeb crush quickly lost its full potential however when i saw this image

Yes ladies..... this fine specimen of a man nearly ruined his chances with me by continually donning a GRILL ! Why oh why ????

Anyway, Tuesday afternoon i was tasked with compiling a list of stylists for an event as well as potential Speedo ambassadors. This is something that i really enjoyed, looking over someones past work really fascinates me. I did this for the majority of Wednesday too but also compiled a list of event listing websites for the Pavilions Style Birmingham event.

On Thursday I started posting the Pavilions press release on the event listing websites and I can not describe the feeling i got when i saw the first one go live. I know I hadn't written the press release but it was good to see something out their that I had contributed to. I also had to pull together a PowerPoint for the Speedo Ambassadors for Paul here too.

Friday was very much the same as the rest of the week. I continued with the lists of stylists and postings for Pavilions but also had to list swimming clubs. I used my initiative and made an excel spreadsheet with all the contact information which came into use during my second week as i had to email them! one step ahead for the first time in a long time !

I was ill Monday and Tuesday so when i got back on Wednesday it was nice to see Jo again who had been holiday. I kept working on my lists for the swimming club but was also tasked with looking for more creative event listing sites for another side Pavilions project we are working on.

Thursday was continuing with the creative event listings but i also got to look through newspapers Jo had collected from Shanghai to look for Speedo coverage from the Swimming World Championships 2011. It reminded me so much of when i was there, it is such an amazing place :( Thursday was also the day i managed to flood the conference room whilst i was watering the plants...... not my fault i wasn't informed of the massive crack in the bottom of one of the plant pots!

And Friday....well Friday we all had that Friday feeling and i spent the whole day emailing swimming clubs on behalf of Speedo's unforgettable swims. I felt oh so important :) It was quite nerve wracking however, I rewrote the emails about  times as i wasn't quite happy or unsure of the wording but turns out i did something right as I had loads of posts on websites !

Happy, ecstatic.....there is no word for it

Babygrow Bunnies

My boyfriend and I recently visited his sister and niece and she told me about this amazing Facebook group which I have to share with you (his sister not his niece)

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/handmadebylaura

This fantastic little find turns your old baby grows into cuddly,beautiful keepsakes so you never forget those timeless moments. Not only do you get something for your little one to cherish, but you won't have to worry about how quickly they grow out of things as there is now a use for these baby grows! Best of all there is finally an excuse for keeping hold of these pieces meaning no more nagging from the other half. 

Laura runs this business through Facebook, placing orders through an email system to get your name on the waiting list. You pass your details through and then Laura emails you back when it is time for you to send the baby grows to her. Then it is just a waiting game as to when you receive your little package.

It's such a wonderful idea and I couldn't recommend it more,either as a gift for someone or even if you do it yourselves. May I suggest though (a tip from Kirsten) that its probably best to get your name down asap (i'm going to suggest midway though a pregnancy even) as the waiting list is currently at a year long if my sources are correct. Nevertheless i'm sure you will agree they are completely worth the wait!

 When Kirsten receives hers I will of course let you know of her thoughts and maybe get a picture for you !

Returning to say hello !

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of communication recently been very busy with coursework and trying to sort out my placements for the summer !not good i know :(

i hopefully will be starting a blog on some of my more specific interests soon so you should take a look !
im now on twitter so if you fancy following the hectic life of a trent student take a look at my page

http://twitter.com/#!/GeorgiePrentice

right im off to get my outfit together for this evenings festivities i'm a geisha!

will post a picture soon
x