Keep Calm And Carry On and on and on and on

Just type "Keep calm and carry on" into Google images and see how many hits you get! Originally printed up as posters in Britain by the Ministry of Information on the outbreak of World War 2, the handmade community has got hold of it and now it is absolutely everywhere and crafters the world over have wrung almost every last drop of life from it.

Ever the pragmatist, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon before it was too late.

Think Star Wars. Think Yoda. What would the little green Jedi Master say to you if the Dark Side of the Force was stressing you out and getting you down? Calm you must keep and carry on you will, hmmm?


(it really does help if you read that in a Yoda voice. Can't do Yoda? Try Grover from Sesame Street - it's the same thing!)

So here's my take on the Keep Calm phenomenon:

Oh, and I also made some of these:

I'm not sure where the idea came from, it's certainly not mine. I think it was probably something someone shared on Facebook at some point and I filed it away in my mind for future exploitation.

Available from my usual outlets (Etsy and Folksy)

Zingy Rocks My World!

A tricky choice of viewing in tv tonight - Eurovision or Norway v England. Luckily The Hump was first to perform on Eurovision so I watched that then turned over. Great song but it's a grower and not an instant tune. Then it's a ballad and there are 25 more songs to come, so poor Englebert will be forgotten by voting time.

Now it's half time in the football so time to get down with the coolest advertising character since Flat Eric (remember him?) - EDF Energy's loveable Zingy the dancing flame . If you're in the UK you can't fail to have seen him. Here's a reminder though:

Crazily, EDF haven't tried to cash in on all the Zingy love with a range of merchandise yet - they'd make a fortune! Just look for Zingy on Ebay and you'll see the craft world hasn't been slow to grasp the opportunity!
Mrs Gelert Design adores him, so as a surprise I made her a Zingy mug - an opportunity to win brownie points with her indoors and gain more experience with my new dye sublimation printing setup.

Of course, always one to try and exploit a marketing opportunity, and until EDF Energy realise what they're missing, I printed a few more mugs and put them up for sale to see if I couldn't begin to recoup some of the money I've invested in my new printing venture.

So far so good!

He's available on Ebay, and in both my Etsy and Folksy shops. Here's a photo:

Isn't he just the best?