Visit my Home Town Today- Which Craft Fair, The Rabbit Rooms

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I am ferociously proud of my home town, Bangor, Northern Ireland. When we were all spritely teenagers discussing prospects of travelling across the water for university, I was the boring one talking about how much I would miss the coastal path & local 'goth shop' (which I ended up working in).

I moved away for a few years. I say away, I mean 20 miles away, but now I'm back living in Carnalea on the edge of Bangor. In that brief period of living a few miles apart, I had a snowglobe tattoo done of the pier & lighthouse. I love Bangor THAT MUCH.

Bangor's town centre is worth a visit even on a rainy day like today. There are half a dozen charity shops, a full to bursting second-hand book store (Dufferin Avenue), and the best cafe in town is Babettes in Lower Main Street.

Today you can also call into The Rabbit Rooms, which is home to a new craft fair, Which Craft. It's on until 4.30pm so local people get in your cars, give Bangor a visit, and have a nice bun in Babettes.

Dyson Vacuum Cleaner Tattoo

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I received an email today from reader Andy Hussey. After seeing my post about Eames' chairs, he thought I'd like to see his Dyson tattoo. Its certainly unusual; I'll let Andy explain.

"The artist Bez had said he was bored doing portraits when we chatted at a tattoo convention some time before we did this so I said to him well do me a Dyson then... I thought it was a design classic and I am thinking of having other classics on my leg. 

He thought the idea was great eventually he found time to fit me in and did it in April at Carlisle tattoo convention. I had to travel from home in Ipswich Suffolk to get it done but it's well worth traveling to get the right artist for the job. "

Tattoo Flash by Bob Done, Brighton

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I've touched on old school tattoo, nautical kitsch before & thought I'd include this original painting by Brighton's Bob Done.

I commissioned this for my first wedding anniversary as my 'paper' gift for my husband.
We are both quite heavily tattooed with old school designs, so I knew he'd appreciate this.

I've been thinking lately about getting a tattoo dedicated to my love of kitsch, but can't decide which iconic item to have etched onto myself!

Claire

Tattoo Kitsch of Terry Bradley

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Local Northern Irish artist Terry Bradley's dockers & pin-up girls have made old school tattoo images accessible for those who before might have thought tatts just meant tack.

My husband & I are both heavily tattooed with old school designs (swallows, dice, skull & crossbones, sharks, ships) so Bradley's work was an easy choice for a Christmas present for us last year from my parents-in-law.

I have very few things hanging on our walls that I wouldn't tag as 'ugly art', this is one of them. We have two, but this is my favourite. Sailortown Hero.

Claire

Sailor Jerry & Nautical Kitsch

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Nautical kitsch is mainstream & has been in fashion for interior design & women's clothing & accessories for the past couple of years.

 It's a theme you're more likely to come across in 'normal' homes, bathrooms most frequently & if it's a look you'd like to recreate you don't have to hoke around as much to find pieces to do so.

 When it comes to seaside decor, our family goes straight to Sailor Jerry.
You may be familiar with the name from the brand of sweet vanilla rum, or from his legacy as a tattooist.

 Sailor Jerry tattoos have strong nautical themes, real sailors & Navy men would have these designs.

 Any Sailor Jerry merch is expensive, so if you find anything that looks like his work at a car boot sale, I'd recommend getting it, even to sell on if the look isn't to your taste.

 We have many old school tattoo & nautical themed items, but by far the biggest is a recent addition, an authentic Sailor Jerry shower curtain. A reproduction of a dozen or so of his tattoo flash sheets, which customers would have picked their designs from.

 It's very striking & is the centre piece of our little bathroom. It was bought for £40 on US Ebay, which is the cheapest I could find it. That's an expensive buy for me, I prefer my treasures to be bargains!

Claire