the pony is out to pasture...

... but not forever. You've probably noticed the tumbleweeds rolling past here during the last few weeks - unfortunately blogging is having to take a backseat as I try not to drown in freelance commissions, in-house bookings, vendor contracts, marketing plans, mortgage approval forms, building inspections and just to top it all off, wedding preparations (five months to go, eeeeek!).

You can still get a regular dose of cool stuff via my Twitter feed - I'll be posting links to tasty morsels of random awesomeness until someone magically creates more hours in the day and the blogging can recommence...

in the fold

Note to self: UK high street store Oasis is having a moment.

First there was the Trompe L'Oeil collection which The Showpony lusted after back in December, and they've now come through with the fashion goods once more. Sure, a lot of stores with their finger on the sartorial pulse order in a big tall, frosty glass of freshness via up-and-coming designers (hiya Sportsgirl!). But Oasis takes it to another level by asking fashion students to collaborate with them. This time it's two textile design students who were tapped on the shoulder to create the Paper Doll capsule collection.

Think silk dresses designed using folding and pleating techniques.
Think three-dimensional patterns and shoes with origami-inspired details.
Think nips and tucks ... thankfully without Julian McMahon's waxed chest.
Think May 3rd. That's when the Paper Dolls collection will start walking out the door...

'tache-tastic!

Movember may be seven months away, but that doesn't mean your vehicle can't rock a moustache that's guaranteed to make Tom Selleck drool with envy. Thanks to Carstache™, 'the global leader in automative facial hair', your wheels can now stand out from the pack with a US$39 jumbo novelty 'tache. Why the hell not? Set in the classic handlebar style, The Showpony's favourite is the 'firestache', a bright orange number, but you can also choose from 'classic black', 'so hot pink', 'legendary blond', and for the grey nomads, there's 'wisdom grey'. Go on, you know you want to...

(via Cool Material)

a serious case of vaseline lens

The Showpony doesn't usually post about magazines - she leaves that in the highly capable hands of Erica over at Girl With A Satchel - but the June 2010 subscriber's cover of UK ELLE is an exception to the rule. It's Kylie Minogue shot by British fashion photographer David Slijper who appears to have wiped a big dollop of Vaseline on the camera lens before getting down to business. Avant garde or just plain awful? To be honest, it reminds me of my pre-laser surgery days when everyone looked like this if I didn't have my contact lenses in...

(pic via Cover Awards)

game on

So there's this game making its way around the blogosphere at the moment, where someone 'tags' you by posting the sixth photo they uploaded to their site, gives you a shout out then you have to do the same. I didn't make the rules, okay! Thanks to my friend Acacia who is addicted to all things celebrity at Misc. Online, I just ratched through my archives to sniff out the sixth pic ever featured on The Showpony...

Ta da!
It's from this post about unconventional wine labels that are unleashing their inner artists (or commissioning official ones) to make sure their bottles don't blend into the background when they're sitting on the bottle shop shelf...

According to this game's rules, I now need to 'tag' three blogs so they can do the same... here we go...

Miss Elise who has her finger on the retail pulse over at Stuff That I Bought

Jessica who blogs about her all-natural cancer fight at The Wellness Warrior

Veronica, aka the curator of cool, at Veronica Loves Archie

i'll have my unicorn medium-rare, thanks

If your fingers haven't already tapped in your email address on the Lost At E Minor website to subscribe to their newsletter, there's a high probability you're still blissfully ignorant of the new 'delicacy' that is putting foie gras to shame - canned unicorn meat. Ta da!

According to ThinkGeek, when unicorns reach the end of their sparkly fun lives, their inner compass points them towards Ireland, specifically Radiant Farms in County Meath, where they are massaged with Guinness daily and fed a diet of candy corn.

Once the unicorn has passed on to equine heaven, its horn is crushed into the meat for added crispiness. Why? Because apparently the outer layer of keratin begins to develop a flavour very similar to candied almonds. And who doesn't like candied almonds, hmmmm?

The big question is, what does the canned unicorn meat taste like? Is it like Spam, only sparkly? "Rotisserie chicken with with a hint of marshmallow sweetness" is the answer - I'm praying it'll be the surprise ingredient in the next Masterchef pressure test...

(pic via ThinkGeek)

the gift that keeps on giving...

... well, for a couple of weeks anyway, depending on how green your thumb is. Postcarden is a series of three illustrated greeting cards that fold out into a 3D structure which are then used to house a miniature garden. A packet of cress seeds is included in each card, so all you have to do is dampen the base, sprinkle the seeds on, feed it some sunshine and let nature do its thing. Genius comes cheap, with each Postcarden costing £7.50 plus postage.

(PS - that sound you hear is Peter Cundall, Brendan Moar and Don Burke high-fiving each other as gardening inches its way up the cool barometer.)



(via DailyCandy London)