MUSEROUND: Apollo 13

Yesterday was the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission. The rocket was intended to be the 3rd spacecraft to land on the surface of the moon, until the Saturn V rocket malfunctioned and caused damage to the spacecraft’s cryogenic tank. After the accompanying bang and shudder. Jack Swigert uttered the immortal, yet often misquoted words – “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” A big one really, with vital oxygen venting into space – so with some urgency engineers and astronauts including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (the third Apollo XI team member was Michael Collins btw – remember that for a pub quiz) started work on a solution. Well, the command module did splash down safely ending a mission famously dubbed a ‘successful failure’. Notably, the dedicated crew, even in serious danger took photos of the far side of the moon. My manifesto for the week is to be that dedicated to doing every job that properly.

1. Adding vinyl art on interior walls is easier than hiring an artist and a lot cheaper. Apply to walls, windows, tiles, mirrors and doors etc. From Stickerbrand.

2. The Space Oddity – Disco Apollo headpiece by Mythunderstood who loves to make one-offs using vintage, found objects, organic materials, old textiles, toys and trinkets collected since childhood.

3. Elisabeth of Parsnip and Pear likes rain, blackberries and foxes – a girl right after my own heart. She makes badges from used and vintage books, catalogs, dictionaries and maps found in little shops & dark attics.

4. The brains behind Modern FX was born on a mountain top in Tennessee
 and later made us this wonderful tile of the moons cratered surface. I’d LOVE a room full of these babies!

1. alyoisius is  a displaced Londoner in Sydney who knocked out her front tooth with a lawnmower. She loves ELO – what’s not to love?

2. Space bracelet from Black Kat Designs by bead-maker Kat, who has been crafting since she was just a little kitten.

3. Moon brooch from Murgatroyd and Bean. Murgatroyd and Bean are an owl and  a hare who make wonderful things. Please see also their most excellent fox brooch.

4. Beautiful original Luna pendant by Grace Designs. And it’s ON SALE!

Swap out that plain boring cover for one of a Columbia Shuttle Launch to liven up your room! It’s from ShaZakLar. This kind of design-on-a-switch-plate-thing seems really popular in the USA – I wonder why we don’t do it more here. Perhaps it’s all in the wiring.

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So I’m sure we all know the space race urban myth that NASA spent a wad of dollars developing the Space Pen that writes in zero gravity and the Russians just took a pencil.  I’ve even heard that developed in to the tale of the Russian air filter blocked by pencil shavings. Unsatisfyingly untrue it seems, so in lieu of that, why not make some honorary room for neat-AS pencils.

1. Paper Pastries say that nothing is better than a hand written letter. Unless it’s written by an amazing pencil right?

2. Personalised pencils from Exclamations – your name, shop name, a celebratory message maybe?

3. Mariko (which means ‘bouncing ball’ in Japanese) is a high school English teacher by day and a lover of crafting by night. Try these Jane Eyre themed pencils for size (of coolness!).

4. I like to draw. I am awesome. These two sentences are etched into the sides of two wonderful blue pencils that are included in this pencil pack along with one 50-page drawing pad. Seriously, what could be better? From my craft and stationery heroine, Sarah Neuburger at The Small Object.

Rodger and out.