Tea Francis

That looks so lovely and peaceful. Enjoy every minute!

Ohhh I love them so much! Such tiny, vibrant, cute little things!

Thank you!

Thank you! It’s coming together, slowly 😂

A car door card panel with hand stitched spiderweb detailing in gold thread on black vinyl, leant up against a wall with clips holding it in place. Another spiderweb panel in progress sits on the carpet in front of the door card, with a clamp next to it.

Black leather effect vinyl car door cards leaning up against a wooden sideboard, in various stages of completion/modification. The larger ones still have the original fabric, but the smaller one in front has a gold spiderweb stitched on black vinyl inserted into it.

The BMW project is not without spidery influence… just in case anyone was concerned. I’m hand stitching gold webs for the interior/upholstery.

Yeah aureolus is a possibility, but honestly it’s very difficult to tell from a photo without a good look up close, especially when it’s lost several legs. Even when I’m 99% sure of species, I’m loathe to commit to an ID without a proper examination. Spiders are tricky little buggers like that 😂

Curious what irecord & inat said it was? It’s Philodromus sp., but to say which one for sure would require a closer look… or someone far better versed in Philodromidae than I!

Commission work, pet cotton top tamarins. Mounted on a very beautiful piece of grape wood from the south of France.

My resting bitch face working on remounting a really battered old pedestal mounted zebra skin. Nightmare. His eyes are full of orange handles euro pins.

Two olive baboons in similar relaxed sitting positions, mine on the left and a student’s on the right. I was tasked with mentoring an intern up at the studio. I think she did very well indeed!

Big male olive baboon, recently mounted by me, currently drying and full of pins! He’s gonna be handsome boy.

Taxidermy shenanigans from the past couple of months or so… client work, not for sale.

Hahahaha!! 😂😂😂 Well, good fun is seldom cheap 😎

Surprisingly decent fuel economy! I think… I can’t be sure my fuel gauge is fully functional at this point 😂😂😂 But seriously, this particular engine isn’t too bad when it’s mapped correctly. Even as it is now it’s done alright!

Amazing. Thank you! 😱😍

Well, she’s been mapped for track stuff so currently she growls like an angry bear when she’s idle & screams like a banshee if you even so much as think about the accelerator pedal, but I’ll be getting her remapped soon to tone it down a bit for the road 😂

I mean… I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. But I don’t feel quite out of my depth just yet, so I’ll figure it out! 😁🖤 I love the headlights!

Stopppp 🥹🖤

Omg thank you 🥹🖤 You know me… gotta keep myself busy or the brain worm gets me 😂 Actually, that reminds me… I amassed yet more nibs and pen paraphernalia a few months ago. I still need to send you pics etc!

Thank you!

She was a 320i, but she’s got a 3.0l straight six M54B30 from an E46 in her now.

Satin black BMW E30 with wide body kit parked on a brick driveway next to a brick wall, with shrubs behind it.

I have a vision for this car. It’s always evolving, but it’s coming together and I’m so fucking happy! Next up… engine remapping, accelerator pedal and gearshift tweaks. Then hopefully I’ll actually be able to start driving her. I’ve had her three weeks today! Ok fine, one more pic.

A montage image of a few stages of creating custom door cards… starting with mismatched parts in the top left, then with the handles and pockets being sprayed to match. Quick test fit of one of the door cards in my car, then newly blackened handles and pockets test fitted. Grey OEM carpet now dyed bkack, and an obligatory pic of my car for good measure.

Door card being masked up for pattern making purposes.

Headlining sprayed black, drying on my garage floor,

A sneaky peek at what I’m planning for the interior details. A panel pattern with cobweb design drawn on, a test panel with hand stitched partially finished cobweb on it, plus scissor, needle & thread, and awl in the pic.

And here are a few photos of what I’ve been up to in the interim, preparing to get her interior sorted out…

Freshly sprayed & drying. She’s all masked up, bonnet is popped open but not lifted, she’s all black and a bit glossy still as the paint is wet.

All out back together, now she’s satin black and sexy as fuck. Still in the spray booth having been left to bake for a while.

How she looked before… mostly dark grey with white front fenders/arches & bumper. Parked next to my garage with my Dad’s Z4 M40i in the background.

And how she looks now… all satin black with her brand new custom painted badge, dechromed & replaced with gold. She’s so fucking fine. Parked on a brick driveway with manicured hedges and shrubbery around her.

And here are a couple of progress photos plus a before & after.

Me, with my hair pulled back and glasses on, using a small hand held belt sander hooked up to a compressor to cut out the holes in my unpainted, white front bumper for my indicators. My two-tone grey & white car is behind me with the bonnet open, BMW engine cover visible, with a box sitting on top of it containing said indicator lights. Scattered about the rest of the image are various car bodyshop implements & vehicles/parts.

Me, hair down, glasses on, covered in dust & crouched in front of my car unscrewing a bolt that holds the kidney grilles in place, in preparation for painting. In the background are a couple of trucks in various states of disassembly. By my feet are tools and folded sanding discs.

Me next to my car which is now fully rubbed down and masked up, ready for painting, parked in the spray booth/oven. I’m rubbing it down with a tack cloth here to get all the remaining dust off prior to spraying.

Rubbing down my front bumper before it all goes in to be sprayed. Spray booth/oven containing my car is behind me.

Last Saturday, proper work commenced on my car. Here’s a selection of images of me preparing it to be painted.

Hoooo boy… yes, I have a lot of thoughts on the subject. Particularly regarding cognitive dissonance from my own perspective. It’s very challenging… to call oneself an animal lover whilst also keeping animals, as I do. Lots of hypocrisy & justification etc. It’s an interesting topic, for sure.

Aaahhh I love this!! Thank you!

Do you have my idea how much this made me laugh?’ 😂😂😂 I’m so happy to hear that.

Anyway, bye. See y’all in what… six months? Merry Christmas.

Sexy lil bitch. My 1989 BMW E30 in her current Frankenstein’s Monster-esque mismatched & rather scruffy state. Graphite paintwork everywhere besides front fenders & bumper, no bonnet badge, no indicators (indicators? On a BMW? Don’t be silly). Parked in a body shop yard full of old banger racers, vans & tow trucks, with a few trees surrounding it. Nice sunny day, sunlight bouncing off the bonnet, blue sky. Perfect. Take it all in because the next time you see her, things will have changed a bit!

Obviously, I’ll never forget Abigail, my El Camino… but this is THE car as far as I’m concerned. I’ve wanted an E30 since I was 10 years old. Specifically a 2 door coupe. I DID THE THING!! I have entered my Bavarian Rectangle Era™️🙏🏽

Oh, & although it started its life in 1989 (when I was 6 lol) as a 320i, it lost its original engine & gained a frankly stupid 3.0l straight six from an E46 M3 which puts out 228bhp… in the car it was intended for. Fuck knows what I’m getting out of it in a shell that weighs about 28 grams wet.

Anyway, fwiw to anyone who cares; this is a v meaningful project car. I will not be driving it daily (I still can’t quite make myself drive it at all yet… baby steps), I will mostly be restoring/modifying it into the car of my dreams which I will never, ever willingly sell & will be buried in 😂

Very dark photo of an old BMW E30 in need of some work with two tone bodywork in graphite & white, with gold LED angel eyes. Parked on a brickwork driveway at night.

Me all in black, as usual, posing like an idiot next to my new old car on the back of the transporter that delivered it to my house.

Me posing like a dork leaning against the front of my new old car on my driveway.

Another stupid pose in front of my new old car. It might be dorky and really cliche to be taking selfies with a car, but this one has so many layers of symbolism, nostalgia, healing, overcoming…. It’s like a big Bavarian, uh… onion. Yeah. Those have layers.

I bought this…

Heyyyy! Checking in to say hi, see how you’re all doing, let you know I’m not dead & tell you how delighted I am to see that spiders & chaos reminded some of you of me 😂 Since I last posted, I’ve stuffed countless animals, & done something ridiculous that I’ve been wanting to do for like, 30 years.