Jewellery brand of the month: Kitschy Kittens

The next brand I’m going to explore is:

KITSCHY KITTENS

Kitschy Kittens are based in Australia and make cute acrylic brooches with a distinctive look.

I bought this Harry Potter-inspired Hogwarts castle brooch.

Hogwarts brooch

This Spooky Time clock brooch is on my wishlist.

Spooky Time brooch

I also love this Once Upon a Time brooch.

Once Upon a Time brooch

The Little Mermaid is my favourite Disney film, so I love this Ariel brooch.

Ariel brooch

This Alice in Wonderland brooch is beautiful too.

Find Kitschy Kittens at the following locations:

Website: kitschykittens.bigcartel.com

Instagram: instagram.com/kitschykittens

Facebook: facebook.com/kitschykittensdesign

200 Years of Polar Exploration

exhibition poster

The auction house Spink held an exhibition entitled 200 Years of Polar Exploration recently, featuring artefacts that have never been on display before, including photographs, equipment, medals and other memorabilia, from the expeditions of Scott and Shackleton, to 21st century explorations led by figures such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the late Henry Worsley.

The exhibition was staged in aid of The Endeavour Fund, which aims to help wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans use outdoor challenges and sport as part of their recovery and rehabilitation. This was the charity promoted by Worsley, who took part in several Antarctic expeditions before tragically dying of peritonitis during his 2016 attempt to make the world’s first unaided Antarctic crossing. One of the items on display was his pair of skis, decorated before their use by his children – a moving and poignant sight.

Other items included medals, and photographs from the Heroic Age and later. As always, I loved the opportunity to explore artefacts re;ated to Antarctic exploration and its history.

Christina Aguilera (The X Tour) at Wembley Arena

Christina Aguilera on stage

I’ve been a fan of Christina Aguilera since I was at school, so I was excited to finally see her live at Wembley Arena. The X Tour featured plenty of songs from Christina’s massive back catalogue. My only issue was that there were so many songs, some of them were shortened: I’d rather she picked fewer songs and sang the full versions, but maybe that’s just me!

Overall I loved the concert, Christina sounded amazing and it was brilliant to hear iconic tracks like ‘Fighter’ and ‘Dirrty’ live.

Setlist

  • Bionic
  • Your Body (Martin Garrix Remix)
  • Genie in a Bottle
  • The Voice Within
  • Dirrty
  • Vanity (Shortened)
  • Express (Shortened)
  • Lady Marmalade
  • Can’t Hold Us Down
  • Sick of Sittin’
  • Maria
  • Makes Me Wanna Pray (Shortened)
  • What a Girl Wants (Shortened)
  • Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You) (Shortened)
  • Say Something (with Luke Edgemon)
  • Ain’t No Other Man
  • Candyman
  • Accelerate (Shortened)
  • Moves Like Jagger
  • Feel This Moment
  • Beautiful
  • Fighter

Encore

  • Let There Be Love

Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh

Mask replica
A replica of Tutankhamun’s famous mask

I feel very lucky to have got tickets for Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Saatchi Gallery in London. I went to the exhibition on a day off in November, with my mam and a friend, who’d come down to London for the purpose.

Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery
Exhibition queue
Waiting to go in

The queue outside the Saatchi Gallery was massive, and it was obvious that the exhibition was going to be popular. It commemorates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, and marks the last time these artefacts will tour before being permanently housed in a purpose-built museum in Giza. Although the exhibition does not include Tutankhamun’s famous mask (which is available to view in replica at the end of the exhibition), it includes a vast array of treasures, many of which have travelled out of Egypt for the first time. London is the third stop on the exhibition’s world tour.

Cartouche box
Cartouche box

The treasures take up the whole of the Saatchi Gallery; great thought and care have been taken in arranging a one-way route allowing visitors to navigate the site with ease. The space was crowded, but I can’t see how it could have been made less so to accommodate everyone wanting to see the exhibition. Though I had to wait a little time to view a few of the exhibits, I managed to see everything I wanted without feeling rushed or overwhelmed.

Wooden boat
Wooden model of a boat
Fan
Fan
Shield
Shield

The exhibition is structured in a way that corresponds to how the boy-king’s tomb was laid out. You move through outer chambers before finally arriving at the sarcophagus. The artefacts, many of which were made in a hurry by artisans after Tutankhamun’s early death as a teenager, reflect everything a pharaoh would need in the afterlife, including statues, shields, fans, boxes embossed with hieroglyphs, shining and often encrusted with gems. However, there are also the more mundane items, such as simple chairs, a bed and even foodstuffs. It really struck me what good condition these items are in, considering they are over three thousand years old. I’m sure the centuries spent locked inside a dry, dark tomb would have helped, but still, it’s pretty impressive. Keeping in mind their age, the workmanship and the detail on these artefacts is simply astounding.

In addition there is an examination that led up to Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb in 1922, including the acknowledgement that a young boy acting as a water carrier for the archaeological party, Sheikh Hussein Abd el-Rassul, helped to discover the tomb by uncovering the top step. Finally, the exhibition looks at Tutankhamun in popular culture, including songs, films, and the Egyptian influence on 1920s fashions.

Sarcophagus
Sarcophagus

Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh is an expensive exhibition, but I honestly feel it is worth the money. We spent a good half day there, and there was much to admire and to learn about.

The exhibition runs until 3 May 2020.

Marina (Love + Fear Tour Part 2) at the Hammersmith Apollo

Marina

After loving Marina’s spring 2019 concert, I bought a ticket to her November gig at the Hammersmith Apollo, part of Part 2 of her Love + Fear tour. It was good to be able to see her at a more traditional gig venue.

Some of the songs she performed were the same as last time, but there were a few new ones added, such as ‘I’m Not Hungry Anymore’, a track I’d never heard before, and my fave ‘Teen Idle’.

Setlist

LOVE

  • Handmade Heaven
  • Hollywood
  • Primadonna
  • Enjoy Your Life
  • I Am Not a Robot
  • To Be Human
  • Superstar
  • Froot
  • Orange Trees
  • Teen Idle

FEAR

  • Believe in Love
  • Bubblegum Bitch
  • Emotional Machine
  • No More Suckers
  • I’m Not Hungry Anymore
  • Karma
  • Oh No!
  • Baby (with Clean Bandit)

Encore

  • End of the Earth
  • How to Be a Heartbreaker

After Hours: Nosferatu – Live Score with The Cabinet of Living Cinema

I love Halloween and I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. I found the perfect event to attend: a screening of the F. W. Murnau classic from 1922, Nosferatu, at Gunnersbury Park in west London, organised by the The Cabinet of Living Cinema.

I had seen the later version of Nosferatu – an adaptation of the vampire legend – but not the original silent film, although I was aware of its status as a classic and an Expressionist masterpiece. The Cabinet of Living Cinema write and perform live scores to accompany classic films, and here they did a fantastic job: I loved both the film and the score, the latter genuinely enhancing the former.

Of course I dressed up for the occasion, with my Halloween cardigan, Curiology Cemetery Necklace and La Vidriola Nosferatu brooch.

Selfie with Halloween themed jewellery