Friday 3 December 2010

Zazzle Christmas 2!

It's a Friday evening. There's a log fire going in the fireplace, snow on the ground outside, and I've started my Christmas shopping this week! Getting things for my sisters is still proving to be difficult, so I returned to Zazzle for a little inspiration.

The thing with girls is, we carry around a lot of stuff. Purse, make up, phone, keys, spare keys, a pocket diary, a pen, packet of tissues, a book, and anything else that we might need during the day. And for girls that are at school it's even worse because they have to take school books with them too, and PE kits. So a nice tote bag to help carrying all this stuff is always welcome.

Girls Cutie Pie Bag bag
Girls Cutie Pie Bag by E_MotionStudio
Create a bag at zazzle.co.uk


This lovely bright "Cutie Pie" bag is from the shop of E_MotionStudio. They have got some lovely items in their shop, including gifts for the family pet, and some simply fabulous "Princess" hats for the special woman in your life.

Happy shopping!

Thursday 18 November 2010

Zazzle Christmas!

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, etc etc. Except we don’t eat goose, we have turkey in my family! And actually for me the big thing in the approach to Christmas isn’t the chubbifying of any animals, it’s the gift buying.

In theory using the internet should make Christmas shopping so much easier. But it doesn’t, because two of the people I’m buying for are older children/young teenagers, one is eleven and the other is thirteen. What on earth do you buy a 13 year old girl? She has tons of make up, she got a load of fashion books for her birthday, she really doesn’t need any more clothes, I am tearing my hair out!!

And I know that plenty of you will be having this problem too so I asked the good sellers at Zazzle for a little help and inspiration!

Here today we have the shop of Funcards. It specialises in personalised gifts, from bookmarks to iPad cases, with original artwork and photography.



I love the colours on this folder. Perfect for the little writer in your household as a place to keep all their musings. And because it is customisable you can change the name from “Tamara” to that of the receiver, and you do not even need to keep the “poems” bit either! It can be artwork, homework, postcards, anything they do or collect!

More will be coming so stay tuned for more gift ideas!

Thursday 4 November 2010

Cor blimey!

I never thought I'd be making another "sold" post so soon! It's really lovely to wake up, check my email, and find that Zazzle notification :D Makes me dance around my room like a total nutter.

So my first sale notification was to tell me that someone had bought TEN of my latin phrase postcards! I am incredibly chuffed about this, as you can well imagine, including a Cicero one:



And then my second one was to tell me that someone really likes the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, because they bought three of these lovely hats!



So my November has been off to a cracking start! Thank you to my lovely buyers, I hope everyone enjoys their purchases!

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Yippee!

Gooood morning everyone!

I have tea, I have toast with marmite, and I have CSI on my screen :D

I also have a sale! *Happy dance* It's actually my second sale in a week. Last week I sold this Plato <3 badge:



And then yesterday I woke up to discover that my latest line of Troy sports hoodies had also had a sale! Someone clearly likes Aeneas because they purchased this snazzy little number:




Zazzle has announced their Chrismas Order Deadlines so if you're planning on buying anything classics based for Christmas, make sure you get it in before the deadline! <3

Monday 11 October 2010

Still here!

Hello everyone!

I'm still here. Still Zazzling! Just been very busy with other work. I promise I will try to be a better blogger.

I'm very happy to say that I've already managed to get one sale in October! Someone clearly likes the Greek hero Odysseus!



I'm currently working on adding new things to my Zazzle store on my days off so keep an eye on the New Products section of my store to see what I'm coming up with in the run-up to Christmas!

Monday 12 July 2010

Zazzle Monday!

Good morning! It’s Monday and that means we are back to the beginning of the week. I hope everyone had fun weekends!

Today I’ve picked something for the ancient Greek world. Even if you don’t know anything about ancient Greece there are still a few names that should be familiar to you, such as Homer. Nowadays most people know the name through the infamous “Homer Simpson”. But to students of the ancient world Homer was a blind poet who composed two epic poems; The Iliad, which covered several days of the ten year Trojan War, and the Odyssey which covered the journey of the king Odysseus as he tried to get home after the war.

Greek students are required to read both books as part of their studies, although they tend to read one of the many English translations unless they’re studying the Greek language. Those that read it in the Greek can now read it whenever they have a cup of tea, thanks to this mug!



On one side this mug has “Iliad Book 1, 1-23” (1-23 refers to the lines) and then on the other side it has the passage written in ancient Greek! This mug is in the shop of googolperplexd who has lots of “nerd products” in their shop (their words, not mine XD) including t-shirts and mousemats!

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

Welcome to Wednesday! Is it wet wet wet or sun sun sun where you are?

Let’s move to ancient Greece today. As I’ve said many times before it’s one of my favourite periods and places to study. I am a bit of a Grecophile. And I know I’m not the only one, ancient Greece inspired some of the world’s greatest thinkers. And even now it inspires writers and artists.

But whether you’re an artist drawing or simply a busy person that likes parts of the ancient world, chances are you will need a bag to carry your things around in when you go to work or to the shops. And now you can show your love of ancient things with this tote bag!

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This tote bag was designed by BaoStudio on Etsy. Based in New York their print their designs on a bunch of products and they’ve got a huge range of designs.

Wednesday 30 June 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday one and all! I hope your week is going well so far, time to start making those weekend plans!

Today we dive head first in to ancient Rome! The Romans, as we all know, were a polytheistic society and as a result had dozens of gods and goddesses. Some of them are very well known, such as Jupiter and Juno, and some were probably known only to people on area of Italy. Today I bring to you one of the lesser known goddesses, Meditrina. There was a small festival, the Meditrinalia, celebrated in October in honour of the new wine that had been created that year. At some point someone realised that they needed a deity to go with this festival, so they added Meditrina.

And now someone on Etsy has drawn her and put her on a card!

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I think this picture is great! I love way she’s been drawn with 1920’s-flapper hair and the colourful decoration around the figure. It was done by EmilyBalivet, who has lots of other gods and goddesses from various cultures in her shop. You can either buy greeting card sets, prints, or the original artwork! Definitely go have a look at her shop, her “Eros and Psyche” painting is also awesome.

Monday 28 June 2010

Zazzle Monday!

Merry Monday morning to y’all!

My blog posts may not be so regular at the end of the week because I'm starting a new job on Thursday and I won't be around so much DX

So we return, once again, to the world of ancient Egypt. I’m fairly sure that everyone assumes the ancient world was rather plain and stone coloured because all the statues and other things that have survived had no colourful decoration on them. But in reality it’s simply a case that the paint has worn off over the centuries, and the plain items we see were once covered in vibrant reds, blues and yellows.

So this week I’ve picked a fantastic mousemat that shows off the colour of ancient Egypt!



This mousemat has a picture of the Eye of Horus on it in blues, reds and greens, and I love the “torn papyrus” edging used as well. This is from the lovely shop PrintedGifts, and 25% of the money they get from sales is donated to Wildlife Direct so you get a nice product and you help charity!

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

Good morning, good morning, to you, and you!

Because I don’t know if there is a song about Wednesdays, I don’t have the time to Google to find one, and because I’ve watched Shrek 3 recently and Donkey sang it XD

Okay, I sound like a certifiable nutter so let’s move along shall we? I’m hopping on to Etsy today to bring to you a gorgeous item relating to ancient Egypt. The Egyptians have a LOT of Gods, most of them taking on the appearances of the animals that surrounded the Egyptians. Anubis for example was the jackal-headed god, they believed that he protected the tombs of the dead, possibly because jackals were rather ferocious animals and if you’re going to be buried for all eternity it’s nice to think that you’re going to have an awesome guard dog protecting your burial goods.

And then there were scarabs, the Egyptians believed that a scarab beetle pushed the sun across the sky. Because when you have no idea about gravitational pull and all that jazz you just have to think up something to make the sun move. And now you can get a scarab beetle necklace!

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A brass scarab on a chain! It looks quite large but it’s only 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches so not that big at all really. I love the level of detail on it. This was created by JuliaDent, she has lots of other bug and animal necklaces in her shop as well as beaded earrings and other bits and bobs, but for obvious reasons it’s the scarab that I like best!

Monday 21 June 2010

Zazzle Monday!

Gooooood morning campers! I hope everyone had a fun weekend that was packed with...fun! This morning we are going back to ancient Rome.

I must admit, I’m finding it a little hard to find “funny” Roman things, maybe I’m just not searching hard enough. Or maybe the Romans aren’t as popular as the Greeks and the Egyptians. There could be a niche market there, if only I had the time to properly exploit it XD But who needs humour when one can find rather nice photography?



This pretty little postcard is from gothicarts, it’s simply titled “Imperial Roman Women” (I think they meant “woman”) and they have lots of photos of the ancient world on other products in their shop. Along Rome they’ve included ancient Greece, and Pompeii, and some Egyptian things as well!

Friday 18 June 2010

Friday Feeling!

It's a Friday, the weekend is almost here! I was planning on going and getting some bread today so I can eat breakfast this weekend (my Mum is on a health-kick and the only bread we have is yucky wholemeal stuff DX) BUT my car won't start so I can't go anywhere. Before anyone tells me to "walk", the nearest town is 10 miles away and there are no pavements along the road once you leave the village O.o But it should be fine next week as I'm getting the battery replaced on Monday, and it's getting an MOT so I'm crossing my fingers it will pass without anything expensive needed!

So let's ignore my car problems and get down to business! I recently read a news item on rogueclassicism about a report recently published in the UK which stated that latin should be taught in state Primary schools. I was actually incredibly lucky to attend one of a handful of British state secondary schools that had a Classics department with two Classics teachers, very few British state schools have a Classics department (it's generally a subject that has only been retained by private schools) let alone one with two teachers.

I really do hope that the call to bring latin (and Classics in general, even if you struggle to get to grips with latin you can enjoy studying ancient history and classical civilisations) back to British state schools, especially primary schools, catches on. And to that end I spent yesterday creating a bunch of products that you can use to show your support!





I've got more in my new Bring Back Latin section of my Zazzle shop (once it updates itself DX).

And if you are in the UK, near London or Oxford, and you are interested in learning latin or ancient Greek then you should check out the fine work done by the Iris Project, especially their Classics in the Park events!

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

Hello all! It’s a lovely...cloudy June Wednesday here in my little corner of England, but I hope there’s a bit of sun shining on you guys :)

Today I am bringing to you another Greek-ispired Etsy item. This one literally had me squeaking with joy when I saw it. I love the concept, and the pun, and the drawing, overall I just REALLY love this whole thing so I hope you do too...

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IT’S HELLAS KITTY!!! How freaking awesome is that!? It’s a little pocket mirror there but you can also get a fridge magnet or a card with the same design on. I just had to feature it on this blog when I saw it because I love it! Hellas Kitty, a pun and a cute drawing at the same time! It’s in the shop of AtomKid, which is a little thin on the ground at the moment but hopefully they’ll be fully up and running soon, and there will be more Hellas Kitty as well ;)

Monday 14 June 2010

Zazzle Monday!

Here we are again, back on Monday, and you should by now all realise that that means a Zazzle feature for the day!

And we are back to my personal favourites, the ancient Greeks! We’ve already done Athens and Sparta and while I did searches for Argos and Corinth I couldn’t really find anything that jumped out at me (most of the Corinth stuff was about the USA, I guess there’s a city over there called Corinth as well) so I decided to go with a bit of mythology instead.

I love ancient Greek myths, the gods were always arguing with each other, and tended to have major double-standards when it came to the behaviour of mortals. And they had some very interested monsters, such as Medusa....



I love the way this Medusa picture has been done so that it fits the rectangle, too much white space can distract from the picture, plus it makes it look like there are a LOT of snakes on her head (which where probably were). This card was in the shop of ThaliaTook and she has got a whole load of designs based on myths from around the world!

Friday 11 June 2010

Friday Feeling!

It's Friday, and it's the start of the world cup! Tomorrow night is going to feature me and the TV, with the England vs USA match. COME ON ENGLAND!!

No new sales to report this week but we can't have everything. Instead I've been adding more products to my Zazzle store! I decided to court minor controversy by creating some thing about the Elgin Marbles, so people can now declare what side they're on in this heated debate.





I've also got stickers and bumper stickers with the same words on, and I'll be adding t-shirts and mugs soon as well :D Oh, and I'll be doing similar with the Rosetta Stone for Egyptologists.

Right, I need more tea!

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

What is today? It’s Wednesday of course! And that means that today we are diving in to the world of Etsy. Home of the handmade, and with plenty of ancient history inspired items to make one smile.

History can inspire anyone to create anything. We’ve already seen Greek letter blocks, a shower curtain, and a cross-stitch design among other things. It really is amazing how many people can use the ancient world to come up with a new idea or product or design, even after two thousand years!

And today I am bringing you a pair of Roman-inspired shoes! Yes, I said shoes, believe or not the Romans didn’t spend all their time running around in flip-flops despite the hot weather. Sometimes boots were needed, depending on your job, such as...being a gladiator.

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These are red suede “gladiator boots” by TantrikaTribe, a shop filled with handmade shoes! They come in other colours and in leather as well as suede so you won’t be short of choices. I don’t know how comfortable they are, or how realistic they are, but they look pretty damn cool!

Monday 7 June 2010

Zazzle Monday!

It’s just another manic Monday. I wish I could do the rest of this blog entry with song lyric references but I can’t, not without sounding a bit weird. Maybe I’ll try in the future XD

So on this lovely Monday, the first Monday in June, I am bringing to you something relating to ancient Egypt. As is probably evident from my previous blog posts, I love it when people use the ancient world to make a joke, or make at joke at the expense of the ancient world. Basically I just like laughing.

This week we have got a cartoon on a t-shirt!



Yes, I laughed, and I know you did as well! While the Egyptians were excellent builders and they came up with some really good mathematical stuff, you have to wonder if they made the occasional mistake while building some of their awesome monuments. I found this t-shirt in the shop of mayc00p, she’s got some great cartoons in her shop, and the same one in that shirt can also be found on a mug (in case you don’t want it on a t-shirt but still find it funny!).

Friday 4 June 2010

Friday Feeling!

Hello everyone!

It's Friday! I had some very good news at the start of the week, I had two sales on Zazzle!

Clearly someone likes the hero Prince Hector of Troy because they bought a badge about him!



And then two days later I sold this postcard! I don't know if they agreed with the quote or if they just like Juvenal but either way, I hope they like it!

Reasons For Living postcard
Reasons For Living by CreativeClassics
Post cards made online at zazzle.co.uk


And I finished changing my Zazzle shop! It's now got sections and subsections and everything else! Very hard work but it looks a lot better and it's easier to navigate now.

I hope you all have good weekends!

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

We-We-Wednesday! The middle of the week! Only two days to go until the weekend! Keep on plugging away at the work because soon you can have two days off!

This morning I bring to you the hot, sandy world of ancient Egypt. One of the really cool things about ancient Egypt is hieroglyphs, a pictoral form of communication. Took a long time for people to work out what those little drawings meant but, thanks to the Rosetta Stone, we got here eventually. And now instead of painting them on walls we can...sew them!

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This image is actually for a PDF file. StitchesByKryss is a shop filled with gorgeous cross-stitch patterns that are emailed straight to you, and they include this beautiful Tutankhamun cartouche pattern, you print off the instructions and set about with your owl little sewing project. She includes an explanation of each hieroglyph, and I love the choice of colours she has used. Her other Egyptian inspired patterns include a winged goddess, a lotus design, and the Eye of Horus, and are definitely worth checking out.

Monday 31 May 2010

Zazzle Monday!

Today is a Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK, but I’m still working! Lots to do, including this blog!

So last week we dipped in to the world of ancient Greece with a Sparta hat, this week we are swinging back to the Romans.

What I love about the ancient world is that it can inspire so many things, a desire to learn for example. An inexplicable urge to throw yourself in a trench in Greece and start poking things with a trowel. And humour, lots of humour.

Today I bring to you a postcard that’s poking a little bit of fun at the Roman emperor Nero. Nero was famous for being a nutter, and at the time he considered himself to be a wonderful musician. He liked going to Greece and competing in their musical competitions because he said they were the only ones that could appreciate his talent (they knew what side their bread was buttered and gave him first prize every time). So I had to chuckle when I saw this:



Yes, it’s a Guitar Hero twist on the emperor Nero! Found in the shop of saywhattees, this guy has got some seriously giggle-worthy stuff in his shop so go check it out!

Friday 28 May 2010

Friday Thanks!

So today has been a very busy day for me. I spent this morning finishing a new learning resource (soon Etsy, soon I'll be listing on you!) and then I've spent the afternoon starting to revamp my Zazzle shop. I received a really nice email from a fellow Zazzler explaining how I could change things in it to make it easier to navigate so buyers can find what they're looking for quickly and easily. I'm going to finish it all off over the weekend and stick up the link when I'm all done ^_^

So a big thank you goes to shopaholicchick for taking the time out to help me!



That's one of the prints from her shop (yes I deliberately chose the latin one). She's got a LOT of awesome designs including a Geek section :D

And then today I also received a note that I had been included in a Squidoo lens! The lovely giftbonanza asked for Father's Day mugs and I figured my blue "Servus Domesticus" could work, and she included me in her Dad Bonanza selection!



That's one of her own mugs that I think is so cute! She's also got a wide range of items in her Zazzle shop so check her out too!

Oh, and this is the mug that she featured:



Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Etsy Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope everyone is having a nice day so far!

As we all know by now, Wednesday is a blog day and today we are going with Etsy! We’re in full circle now, back to the ancient Greeks. Who are my favourites anyway so this certainly isn’t a hard task :D Today I decided to bring a piece of pottery to you.

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This amazing pot has been hand-painted with satyrs and humans having a bit of a party! I found this in the shop of jamesofsilverlake, an artist in California, and his shop is all beautiful handmade pottery! (Although sadly, not all of it is in the Greek style XD)

Monday 24 May 2010

Zazzle Monday!

I’m sure there is a song about Mondays out there but I have yet to hear it. I’m fairly sure that there isn’t a song including the word “Zazzle” but clearly it needs to be invented, because then I could combine the two to create the Monday Zazzle song.

This week we are back to my beloved Greeks. I had the Athenian fridge magnet before, this time I’m swapping allegiances and going to Sparta, the city state that went to war with anyone and everyone. Home of public naked dancing, public naked PE lessons, and turning 7 year old boys in to scary soldiers. And now you can show your own allegiances with this baseball cap!

Sparta embroideredhat
Sparta by classicalteamspirit
Have a cap embroidered online at zazzle


Yes, I AM one of those Classicists that hates using random ancient Greek letters to show a completely different modern letter (such as showing an E as a sigma). But I quite like the simple design of this cap by classicalteamspirit, and so I am willing to let that pass. After all, it could be worse, it could be another stupid “THIS. IS. SPARTAAA” joke.

Friday 21 May 2010

Friday Feeling!

I've got that Friday feeling! The weekend is coming, the sun is shining, I overslept this morning XD

So I have been all kinds of busy this week, in fact last night my brother asked me what I had done during the day and I listed everything and then suddenly thought "Wow, I managed to cram all that in to one day?" XD

And one of the things I've done this week is add even MORE stuff to Zazzle. Haven't sold anything this week but the more I add the more likely I am to be seen :D This weeks new products include some more Latin Quote postcards.

Friendship postcard
Friendship by CreativeClassics
Create photo post cards online at zazzle.co.uk





And for anyone that hasn't seen my entire store, check out Creative Classics for my other products!

I hope everyone has a good weekend, see you all on Monday :D

Wednesday 19 May 2010

An Etsy highlight!

Good morning everyone!

This sun is shining brightly here! But this IS Britain so it will probably be cloudy within the hour XD

So today is Wednesday and that makes it an Etsy day! I covered Egypt last week with the Ra shower curtain, and the week before that we had the Greek alphabet blocks, so this week I am going to go with something Roman! In this case a "Brass Roman Leaf Branch Bracelet".

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This bracelet is absolutely gorgeous. It features a set of leaves in brass, surrounded by pearls (you can pick your pearl colour). As soon as I saw it I thought of the laurel leaf crowns that the Roman emperors wore, and while I don’t know if that was threebirddesigns’ intention, her title “Brass Roman Leaf Branch Bracelet” suggests there may have been a little ancient inspiration in this design :D

Monday 17 May 2010

Zazzle Monday!

Monday is here, the weekend has been and gone, and now it is time for a Zazzle spot!

I’ve already done the Greeks and the Romans so this week let’s move to another ancient civilisation, the Egyptians. Inventors of pyramids, animal-headed gods, and papyrus, the Egyptians did it all.

And plenty of that has continued, we don’t build pyramids but we still like to visit them, we don’t have animal-headed gods but we still have the images of them, and we don’t have papyrus.

Actually, we do have papyrus....in a manner of speaking...



Yes, nowadays it appears to be scorned by graphics designers and anyone with a vague interest in digital art, along with it’s unfortunate cousin Times New Roman, but for those of us who study the ancient world we see “Papyrus” in our font list and give a small, fond smile for it. Something which I’m sure AkimboShirtlery understands :D

Friday 14 May 2010

A good week :D

So this week has been a good week.

My marketing materials should be ready next week for the activity days, I’ve got an accountant to deal with all those horrible numbers and forms that make me want to run away and hide, and...I SOLD FOUR PRODUCTS ON ZAZZLE!

I am a VERY happy bunny right now. I sold a Virgil badge yesterday afternoon, and then woke up this morning to find that I have also sold three Achilles mugs.







I hope Allison from Texas and Ruth from the UK both enjoy their products :D Certainly made my week!

Wednesday 12 May 2010

An Etsy highlight!

Blog Post 3

Hello everyone! Today is an Etsy day! And today, for your delight and amusement, I bring you the ancient Egyptian god of the sun, Ra.

But this isn’t just Ra on any old artefact, or his picture on some random postcard. No, this is something that an Egyptologist, archaeologist, or any another –ologist would be proud to have in their home! Even if their children are embarrassed and have to apologise to their friends.

Yes, it is...Ra on a shower curtain!

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I think every bathroom would be greatly improved if they had Ra on their shower curtain. It’s a pretty unique thing to have as well, most people go for some sort of water-based pattern, or just a plain colour, but this is something different. This curtain can be found in the shop of eternalart, and she also has Thoth, a Mycenaean hedgehog and an ancient Greek helmet, there’s something for every Classicist!

Monday 10 May 2010

Zazzle Spotlight!

I’ve got that Monday feeling! It’s time for a Zazzle feature!

One of the really cool things about Zazzle is the number of different products you can buy. It’s not just t-shirts, there’s baby grows, pet tops, mugs, bumper stickers and mousemats.

Not that I need a mousemat at the moment, my laptop has a trackpad.

BUT if I did need a mousemat then I would want something ancient history related. Say for example...a map of the Roman empire. Oh and lucky me, someone has made one!




It’s a map showing the extent of the Roman empire in 395 AD. I’m assuming that the different colours on the map show the different areas that were conquered by a certain date but since the key is missing you might have to guess what those dates are. Still, it’s pretty cool just to see how big the Empire was, so thank you to cooldudeproducts!

Wednesday 5 May 2010

An Etsy highlight!

Wednesday is Etsy blog day!

Todays blog entry is all about the Greek side of ancient history. I love the Greeks, they were my favourite group to study at university.

One of the aspects of ancient Greece that I enjoyed studying was the language, although it can be a bit difficult to get to grips with the alphabet at first, so I really wish that when I started learning it I had these blocks;

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How awesome are they!? Quercusdesign prints them out and ships them to you flat, all you need to do is cut them out and assemble them. They are card so if you sit on them you’ll squash them but can you imagine how much fun you would have playing with these? Greek classes at university would have been much more amusing if we’d had them!

Monday 3 May 2010

Zazzle Spotlight!

So here we have the inaugural blog post for Creative Classics on blogspot, and I figure it should be something good. And funny, because funny is always good.

Quite frankly I don’t think there are enough funny cartoons about the ancient world. People seem to think that because it was old we shouldn’t laugh at it, I’m sure they think the Greeks didn’t have a sense of humour (which shows that not enough people read Aristophanes). So it is with great joy that I give you this;



Well...I laughed.

That one is from a fridge magnet, you can find other funny cartoons including more history ones at spikeys studio! Definitely check them out because they are VERY giggle-worthy.