Crafted from old newspapers, plastic bags, discarded CDs and soda bottle caps, Bolivian designer Marion Macedo’s quirky fashion creations have added an eclectic dimension to the catwalks of Europe, South America and Asia.
Each dress is a unique, eco-friendly work that takes about a week to make by hand and comes with a $250 price tag. Ms Macedo does most of the work herself, using giant needles for the crochet work.
Since starting out in 2005, the fashionista has been invited to present her work at several international venues, including the 2006 Amsterdam Fashion Week, the 2008 Paris Chocolate Festival,fashion shows in Tokyo and in Madrid.
Getting home with sledge hammer
A man trying to break into his own flat with a sledge hammer after locking himself out was surprised to come face-to-face with police officers – one of whom had a Taser.
A neighbour of the man had called Essex Police, concerned that a crime was being committed. The caller had seen a man, armed with what they thought was an axe, smashing into a boarded up window in Hawthorn Avenue, Colchester, at about 11.20 p.m. on Friday night. However, rather than a burglar, when police officers arrived they found a frustrated man armed with a sledge hammer – borrowed from another neighbour – trying to get into his home.
Geese mean wintry weather
The arrival of 12 white-fronted geese to Britain means wintry weather could be on its way, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
The species does not breed in the UK but two races from Greenland and Siberia migrate to parts of Britain, including southern and eastern England, from October to March.
Some have been spotted this week at the RSPB’s Pulborough Brooks nature reserve in West Sussex, indicating a cold weather front is coming.
Heavyweight six-kilo baby boy
A hospital in Berlin has announced the birth of a super-size baby boy, weighing in at six kilos, whose 40-year-old experienced mother had a natural birth for her 14th child.
“According to our research, there has never been a child of such heavy weight born without a (caesarean) operation in Germany,” said the head of the neo-natal unit at the hospital.
The mother, identified as Elfi Y., is herself obese, tipping the scales at 240 kilos, the hospital said, adding that she had gestational diabetes but still did not give up sweets. Her new baby named Jihad will join nine brothers and four sisters, three of whom weighed more than five kilogrammes at birth. Newborns weigh on average 3.5 kilos.
Creepy-crawlies distract drivers
Insects are a big bugbear when it comes to distracting drivers at the wheel, a survey has showed.
As many as 40 per cent of motorists have been put off by a flying insect, the poll by webuyanycar.com found. Also, 17 per cent have been distracted by spiders and 11 per cent by small animals, with 13 per cent drifting into another lane due to a distraction and seven per cent having an accident. Women (21 per cent) were almost twice as likely as men (12 per cent) to be distracted by a spider.