Matija Blagojevic's Milky Packaging

I think this is the second time I've featured milk based packaging in the last 6 months (see Anders Drage's Mountain Milk) but to heck with it, I love the stuff after all. Milky is a project by Matija Blagojevic which he worked on for his MA degree in Graphic Design. This is just a portion of the project which also features some really nifty cereal boxes, the designs work perfectly together. I'm not 100% sure who the target audience is but I'm pretty sure they would catch your eye in the isle, next to all the everyday plastic cartons. I'm sold.

You can see the whole of Blagojevic's Milky project here

In other news - Thank you for all your positive and uplifting comments last week, from when I was being a right grump-bags and down in the dumps. I think I needed that to snap me out of it, I may not be in a great place in terms of a career but there's a lot of people with much bigger problems to deal with. Also you might have noticed that Buckets and Spades is now Dot Com! You don't need to update any of your GFC, links or bookmarks; everything should work just the same. If you do notice you're having troubles  or my posts not showing up in your reader please do let me know.

Enjoy your weekend folks.

Buckets & Spades - Open For Business

If you have a keen eye or you follow me on Twitter you may have seen that I've taken the plunge and opened an Esty shop. I've been wanting to for a while, over the last couple of years I've been collecting small home goods, old advertising stuff and stationary. To start with I've got a few vintage milk bottles from in and around the UK. All the products that I'll be selling have been individually sourced and hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be uploading some more interesting odds & sods. I've installed the shop on my side bar on the right so do please take a look.

Currently I'm shipping to the UK and US, hopefully my American chums will be into a bit of British paraphernalia.

I'm a new comer to the Etsy world so if anyone has any advice and tips please do comment below, that would be a massive help.

Buckets & Spades - Honest Home Goods

Buckets & Spades x Balibaris Selection

From left to right - Steven Spieldberg t shirt/Nouveau Droit indigo selvage slim jeans/La Cie du Kraft A5 notepad/Madras navy gingham shirt/Pijama fluo Ipad case/New Balance 420 "Road to London" sneaks/dark green socks

I was recently asked by Parisian retailer Balibaris to to pick out some of my favourite products from their store, and here's the result. Balibaris started out in late 2009 selling ties and other small accessories, a couple of years on and the chaps have branched out into their own range of clothing which is all produced in France and a few other countries around Europe (apart from the Japanese denim). They also stock brands like Han Kjobenhavn, Opening Ceremony and Sanders as well as having some pretty cool, low-key collaborations going on. The online store has been a big hit, so much so that they will be opening their first boutique in Rue de Marseille, Paris this coming September.

The fluo Ipad case sticks out like a sore thumb I know. Every time I go shopping these days I end up looking at the same old stuff so I'm making an extra effort to challenge my normal tastes at the moment. I reckon this would make a pretty cool additional to my daily carry-arounds. Which is your favourite item from the selection?

Thanks to Balibaris for this opportunity and their photography.

Being a Gentleman with Aramis

Recently myself and 5 other male bloggers were approached by New York based fragrance brand Aramis about an exciting new project. The brief was to create original content about how we each celebrate the act of being "Gentlemanly" and what it means to us. I was really excited to be involved right from the start, as the brand evokes fond childhood memories for me.

As I was growing up the only strong male role model in my life was my Grandad. His family were  Israeli immigrants who set up a tailoring company in the East End of London and this is where my Grandad trained to be a tailor. Somewhere in between this and serving in the army he became a footballer, retired early and then became a factory manager, in my hometown of Blackpool. He was an extremely compassionate man who was charming, impeccably well mannered and a joy to spend time with. One of his chosen aftershaves was Aramis, every time I hugged him I got a whiff of the infamous "peppery & potent" scent. I remember trying to squeeze him as tight as I could because it made me feel safe and loved. For me, these values and personality traits embodied what it means to be a gent.

Each blogger was asked to come up with an original idea about what the word Gentleman means to them. For me, being a Gentleman isn't just about being courteous and well dressed, it's your attitude towards people and life in general. My concept was to create short mantras about how we subconsciously live our lives, accompanied with a photoshoot of my day-to-day life. Here's what I came up with...

I'm really excited to see what the other 5 bloggers come up with, as I'm in good company. The Dandy Project, Kate Loves Me, Impossible Cool, Guerreisms and Man of the Cloth are all coming up with their own original Gentlemanly concepts. Feel free to check them out.

The Aramis fragrance itself is extremely elegant whilst at the same time being masculine and powerful. If you asked me 10 years ago if I'd wear a fragrance like Aramis the answer would have probably been no, but as with many things in life I have matured and so have my tastes. They have become more refined and considered, which is reflected in my own personal style. So here's to the "peppery & potent" scent of Aramis and all things Gentlemanly!

My Grandad, Leslie Bennett circa 1955

New Design & Layout

Fresh design/fresh fruit

Two things are fresh this week, Buckets & Spades finally has a new design and layout, which is all thanks to Hollie(I'm naff at things like that and she did it all from scratch). She was kind enough to put the hours in and sort it all out for me, I'll take her out for a meal as a thank you. 

What do you all think? If there is anything wrong in your browser please let me know and I can sort it out, I know everyones is on different settings ect.

The second fresh thing is fruit, I've been at my local fruit & veg shop taking close up snaps for my current uni project. Thank you for all the nice comment, you will be glad to hear I am very much less stressed than I was a week ago.

Photo1

I stole the Polaroid idea from Lipstickkk. You won't find many serious photos of me, it's my "damn, the tailor's was shut" look. I rarely get moody, honest.


I'm wearing my new biker jacket too, pretty chuffed with it.

Buckets Re-Vamp & Update

So, slowly but surely I'm trying to revamp the blog. Now I'm not the most technical person when I comes to codes and what not, so it's only small things changing but hopefully it will look a bit more interesting when I have finished. Colours, fonts, sizes, slight change to the layout, that sort of thing.

I do want to design a new header for the blog too, as this one has been knocking about way up there for a good year 1/2 now. Does anyone fancy designing for one me? I'm going to start working on one soon, involving pattern and colours.

In other news, I'm still in London but I've been jobless for about two weeks as the job I moved down for didn't work out(I can't really go into it on here), so I have just been enjoying the city whilst I can. Also at the same time catching up with friends, exploring the area and improving my cooking skills. I've been looking for more work as I really wanted to be around London for London Fashion Week but I may have to go home just before it. I do have tickets to two of the shows but I don't know if it's going to work out.

"Can I Give You My Card?"

So Christmas has come and gone for another year, gone are the days where I would get sacks full of toys and other useless gifts that were forgotten about a few weeks later (though I don't mean that when it comes too lego/racing cars/mini pinball tables and sweets!). This time around I stuck to my £20 per-person rule and it worked out a treat, I did spend a bit more money on Hollie but that's a given!

Without a doubt the warmest gift I received was a dark purple cashmere scarf from Marks & Spencer's which I have been banging on about for months, but the most thoughtful gift I found in my stocking was a pack of my very own business cards from moo.com:

They came in a wonderful presentation box, my face lit up with surprise and joy, but there was one more surprise on its way.....

....Hollie had only gone and designed and personalised a set of 5, each in various fonts and colours. The apple green one reminds me of the font they used for Sesame Street, but the turquoise one is a sure favorite.

This was such a thoughtful gift and just in time for me to take them down to London, where I start a new job in a few weeks. I'll be sure to keep a few of them in my wallet just incase, but the question is, who is going to be lucky enough to get the first one?!

Customise your own business cards at moo.com

On another note for the new year, I think Buckets & Spades needs a re-vamp...