All Parked Up - Our Print Shop

One thing that has kept me busy over the past few months is working on getting some prints ready. It's something I've thought about doing for a while, and after a fair few regular requests via Instagram, I finally got my act in gear and set up a super basic shop on Etsy.

 

Since July I'll shipped 50+ orders to all parts of the world; from Malibu, CA to a small coastal village in Australia. It seems folks are enjoying them in Scandinavia too, with the majority of international orders going to Denmark. Crazy.

 

Currently we have five prints available; three cars, One "Shopping Trollies in Orlando", and one of Hollie's It's a Love Story" print. We have plans to add a handful more in the run-up to Christmas. Each print has featured on my Instagram account at some point, so it's a lovely feeling to see them in other people's homes.

 

Here's a link to our Etsy store.

Thank you,

Mat.

Car Spotting in Lancashire

My obsession with car design continues. A selection of cars I've spotted over the past month - my favoruites being the Bruick Super Rivera (pic 1) + Ford Escort (pic 8). One day I'll be whizzing around in one of these babies. Seeing anything you like?

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Car Spotting in London

Two sets of wheels I spotted when I was out and about around the Bloomsbury Square area of London last week. Saab and Mercedes doing their thing very nicely. Sweet hey? Spotted any interesting cars lately?

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Drive Style by Horst A. Friedrichs

   

I'm kind of obsessed with this stuff at the moment, The Selvedge Yard has proper hooked me in. I'm still yet to actually own a car, which is mostly due to not really needing one, not being able to afford one and enjoying cycling a whole lot. But that doesn't stop me fantasising about driving a proper British classic car and attending shows...ect but most of all I'd love go to a proper race track or even better, a drag race on the beach! You might need a bit of specialist car insurance though, one company I know is Footman James; it's always best to play it safe folks.

Horst A. Friedrichs's Drive Style available here*

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BMW Art Cars

(Image source)

In 1975 French racing driver and auctioneer Herve Poulain came up with the genius idea of commissioning well known artists to create their own designs, using iconic BMW cars as their blank canvas. The BMW Art Cars project was born. The first model to get a paint job was the 3.0 CLS (image 1), designed by artist and best pal Alexander Calder. What started off as a means to make the cars more aesthetically appealing on the track took off and turned into a really exciting body of work. Since the inception in '75 there's been 17 Art Cars to date, with some of the biggest names in design and art being involved. Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Walhol, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and most recently Jeff Koons all getting in on the action. Several cars were even hand-painted (David Hockey image 4), Walhol was so impressed with the outcome he said, "I love that car. It has turned out better than the artwork".

My love of cars stems from an early age, my Grandad was a manager at a local parts manufacturer and his passion for the job had a big affect on me. If I'm honest it's more about how they look, their history and cultural relevance than how they actually drive. The BMW Art Cars project is a perfect example of this. If you're following me on Instagram you'll see I post quite a few car related things from time-to-time, the Citroen D'Special being one of my favourite finds up to now. Classic Car insurance at the ready.

It will be really interesting to see BMW Art Cars project progresses over the next few years, which designers come on board and how they each interpret the brief. Up to now the bar has been set pretty darn high, with Lichtenstein's 320i Turbo being my pick of the bunch. Were you aware of this project before, which is your favourite design?

Read more about BMW Art Cars* project here.

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Well Camp

I hear the price of these things has skyrocketed over the past few years, lately I keep seeing more and more of them. Either people are doing them up or there's some pretty lavish people in my area. I nearly got hit by one when I was cycling the other day, probably my fault for staring at it too long. I guess it wouldn't be the worse way to go, out with a v-dubs bang, literally.

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Instant Round-Up #3

1. Wearing Farah Vintage jacket*, Albam shirt, Levi's 511, Clarks Desert Trek, Burlington socks, Johnstons scarf 2. Spotted this classic Morris Minor 3. New pair of Nudie Thin Finn* w/ Northern Goods Co. Key Fob and bandana 4 & 5 Snaps from work at Togs + Clogs, New Balance latest drop and a bit of styling 6. Coffee reading, latest copy ofAesthetica Magazine 7. Messing with your melon  8. Hollie enjoying Scampi & Chips at The Queen's in Lytham // *Items c/o Urban Outfitters

Here's a few of my favorite images I've taken on Instagram of late. I've not taken as many photos as I'd like to over the past couple of months but I'm slow getting back into it. Incidentally I've been thinking about buying a new compact; only thinking mind as one of my main priorities at the moment is saving for our Orlando trip pt.2. You may remember we had to cut our first trip early due to a death in the family.

We're all booked for June and this time the road trip we planned to embark on the first time is definitely on. Our loose plan right now is to drive up to Savannah, Georgia then on to Charleston, South Carolina with the finally destination being something within the Blue Ridge Mountains and staying over in some Ralph Lauren style log cabin. Sounds good to me, have any of you guys been around those areas?

Let me know your Instagram handle and I'll get following. Find me at @mat_buckets.

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Advertising - Fiat's Original Parts

You guys all know I like a nice bit of neatness of a Saturday morning, this series of adverts by Fiat for their Original Parts campaign fits the bill nicely. Showing all the parts and pieces that make up someone's certain profession but adding one rouge part in, which changes the whole mood. Bit sinister actually but I like the idea non-the-less. I wish I knew more about cars to tell you what Fiat use though.

I haven't got a car myself as I'm nowhere near in the position to be able to afford one but I could see myself driving around in a Fiat 500 (ayy not a sponsored posts or anything, I wish), Hollie has one and it's been pretty top notch over the last couple of years, minus a leaky pipe or two. 

Anyway I hope that this is enough inspiration for you have have a "neat" weekend. Possibility the most corny thing I've ever said on here but lets just go with it.

Image source

Saturday Treats

Disney Quest watch from cira '99, found in my mum's junk drawer. All it needed was a fresh battery.

Mercades Benz key ring, found in a bag on my old collection of cars(this will now replace my Marc Jacobs airplane keyring).

(oops blurry) From left to right - Silver thumb ring, Topman skull ring, Silver Art Deco ring, Paul Smith "Love" ring.

So this weeks moto is, "Look in your own backyard".

On another note, I've just realised that THIS is my 300th blog post! How exciting is that, I've had this blog for about 2 years now and I've loved every minute of it. Thanks to everyone for your constant support, lovely comments and feedback. And a final thank you and "hello" to all the new followers of Buckets'.

In with the old