Allotment update – Year 2

It’s been nearly a year since my first allotment post on here, at that stage we’d had our plot for 6 months and were still in the process of clearing the plot. Well, it was quite a good year to be honest, and as well as giving us a steady supply of fresh veg and fruit, it got us and the kids a lots of fresh air and saved us a bloody fortune!

Probably the biggest success stories were the sweetcorn, the onions (which we hung in shed 2), mange-tout and the potatoes. So much so, that we’ve planted even more this year. We’ve also taken on a new plot! The people next door didn’t really make a go of it last year, and in turn didn’t renew their interest, which has made it really easy for us to expand. It’s about half an acre now!

Sounds good yeah? Well, not strictly true. We’ve actually found that the rubble that had supposedly been buried 7 feet down into the ground, was only about 2 feet down, so we’ve spent the last few weeks digging up massive concrete slabs, bits of walls, glass, metal fencing…you name it…even a fully working retractable dog lead! Get in! Still, we’re getting there, and have nearly two good size patches sorted already.

Last year we also experimented with a bit of homemade booze, making elderberry wine, blackcurrant wine, and even some marrow rum (surprisingly drinkable). This year however we’ve gone up a notch and planted some proper grapevines, Cabernet Sauvignon ones, and they’re looking healthy at the mo!

Anyway, a year and a half has passed since we took on the massive task of getting it fully sorted and, well…we’re getting there. It’s a retreat from the stress of work for me, and it’s great that the kids can learn where food comes from whilst having a great time with their friends on the lawn/slide/sandpit etc! Check out the latest pics on my Flickr photostream, the latest of which are below:

Introducing World Cup Stick Up!

After a half hour brainstorming meeting between me and Simon Wilson over a cup of coffee, and 2 weeks hard slog from the team at fuse8, I can proudly confirm that our fun World Cup website ‘World Cup Stick Up’ has now gone live!

The basic concept is this, you can upload your own picture, pick from one of the set sticker templates (currently Charlton, Keegan, Waddle, Beckham, Beardsley, Seaman and Graham ‘Turnip’ Taylor) and turn yourself into a football sticker. You can then upload your pic to facebook, where it creates your own World Cup Stick Up album. Twitter integration is coming soon.

Despite working on several pitches which have facebook connect at the core of the concept, and some experimentation with our developers, this is our first proper attempt at using it on a site. It’s been a hectic week in which we’ve experimented which the flash and javascript APIs, but we got there in the end, and it really has made a massive difference to the campaign. The vast majority of early visiting traffic has come from facebook, showing that a fun tool, and a snappy bit of copy on each upload can make a huge difference.

The last time we created a self-promo site at fuse8 was at Christmas, with our Powered by Sprouts website. The launch of that site was under similar circumstances, in that there is a crowded marketplace. Replace Christmas, for the World Cup, and as you can imagine there are a lot of agencies and brands doing their own thing. It was imperative this time that we created something that could be updated and tweaked periodically to maximise word of mouth. So, the idea this time was to create different ‘packs’ of stickers, so we can continually update and offer more choice on the site! The great news for non-England fans, is that the next pack is our first ‘Rest of the World’ pack, hopefully containing Maradona, Valderamma, Voller and Gullit! Keep an eye out on the site, and follow World Cup Stick Up on twitter to keep up to date with all updates.

Have fun using the site, and let me know what you think! Always great to get some feedback!

You’ve gotta love Moshi Monsters!

If you haven’t heard of Moshi Monsters then chances are you don’t have kids. It’s fast becoming THE social networking site for kids under the age of 13, and after a few weeks of playing with it, after daily persuasion from my 4 year old girl, I can proudly come out and say it’s brilliant.

The basic premise of it is simple, you create a cute little monster with a house, you look after it, buy it clothes and furniture and then mingle with other monsters. It is in essence a safe social network for children. It’s very simplistic, but the design and details make it great fun, and hugely addictive.

I’ve been doing a lot of research recently into designing digital content for children, on the back of being involved in the BBC @North initiative with fuse8, and Moshi Monsters hits the nail on the head. Cute characters with big eyes, great sound design, easy to use, and engages you on a daily basis to collect ‘rox’ (Moshi Monsters currency)!

It’s also educational, and that’s the main reason I keep going back with the kids. The daily quiz, which gets you the most rox, is a collection of different puzzles and quizzes. It’s a good way of getting kids involved in elements of maths, english and geography. There are also a selection of downloads for kids to colour in.

So, if you have kids, check it out, but be careful…it’s addictive!

Mr Capello – The North’s very own World Cup anthem

Well, after weeks of anticipation the North’s very own World Cup song, Mr Capello, has been released as a free podcast available on iTunes!

The video already has over 5 and a half hits on Youtube and is spreading fast on facebook, all very exciting considering me and the kids are in the video! Check me and my wee boy Fraser out at 1:52 exactly.

For those that don’t know the song was written by brother and performed by his band The Defenders, from Leeds/Bradford. The song was made possible due to a collaboration between Mag If, a production company from Newcastle, and investment from NorthernNet who made available the use of the MABs.

Here’s hoping that it gets some good coverage over the next few weeks! If you could, please help out by downloading for free.