Pop the champagne, it’s my Blogiversary (for real this time…)

Today (well, technically it was Friday…) marks my 2nd Blogiversary and I intend to celebrate till my fingers turn pruney!

Who knew I’d last this long, 2 weeks would have been pushing it…

I always say that blogging is counted in either dog or Hollywood marriage years so in human terms I’ve been at it for about 14 years and it feel that way at times.

I stated out as an RA blog lurker in the summer of 2011, this blog which followed in January 2012,  was intended as a place where I’d gather materials I find on the net that could come in handy for my MA thesis in Fashion.

Fast-forward 2 years later and here I am blogging almost exclusively about Richard with an MA degree in Fandoms and Fanfiction…

This fangirling will take over your life if you’re not careful, but then I guess we wouldn’t want it any other way!

My blogiversary coincides with the annual round-up created my WP, so here’s I Want to be a Pin Up in 2013:

For the longest time I felt like the new Pin Up on the block, now it’s more like a goldfish in an Armitage pond 😉

Thank you so much for supporting my blog, I really appreciate it!

Some time spring it will hit the 500,000 clicks mark which it truly overwhelming and humbling.

Thank you for coming here for a giggle, for engaging and contributing with your comments.

I always say I seem to have the nicest, wittiest and possibly craziest readers and I couldn’t want it any other way.

I bet there are a few lurkers that fit that description well too and hopefully we get a chance to become familiar by my 3rd blogiversary.

I hope to meet up with a few other RA enthusiasts this December in London, fingers crossed.

It would be wonderful to watch Richard strolling the red carpet one last time to support the role of Thorin surrounded by my peeps.

I raise my glass to you Dear Friends, Na Zdrowie!

Have a Heart on Valentine’s Day

First things first, THANK YOU to all of you who have already sent in your cropped features 🙂
I still need more of your face/body parts for my FanstRA4 project, so please send them my way!

Keep them coming please, and I WILL start cold calling (or emailing, as the case may be) to fill my needed quota of a hundred billion (more or less…).

Scrolling down at the post published at I Want to be a Pin Up, I really do look like a total Armitage creep/weirdo/call the police and get a restraining order, because it’s been RAining Armitage over here for months.

Just call me Miss Pervy Armitage (no, really, I’m planning on officially changing it…).

As part of Valentine’s Day I’ve decided to separate my posts into those that refer more to the official name of my blog, and those that are connected to the Armi-loony in me, which will be posted tomorrow.

Time for the Valentine’s Day Pin Up Girls 🙂

Some people are surprised I embrace Valentine’s Day so much, seeing that I’m single and jaded to the extreme, but I can’t help but support a day that’s all about love, in whatever shape or form it happens to be present in your life.

I wish you true romance  on the 14th of February, chocolates and long-stemmed roses from a passionate lover, champagne and some extra vigorous chandelier sex.

Then again, if you happen to be like me and you don’t even have a proper chandelier to hang from, I wish you the feeling of being loved by friends and family 🙂

I hope you have a steaming Valentine’s Day and remember, in the words of RuPaul:

If you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?!?!?

Mr Armitage, I like you in your blue jeans, you give me sweet dreams…

Many of you know the particular fondness I have for Richard Armitage and his jeans, especially of the tight (tight I tell you!!) Lucas North variety.

I’ve discussed them and what lies beneath, bounced coins of them, even compared their appeal to Porter combat pants.

Therefore I see it as fate that GizTheGunslinger takes my personal fetish to new heights.

This is one of the most beautiful fanvids I’ve seen in ages.

It’s so stunning, I dare you to watch it just the once!

I haven’t watched a fanvid so many times in a row since discovering Sexy Back 3 which has now become an Armitage Army classic and was even mentioned in the Richard Armitage Glamour UK interview 😉

The images are so powerful they actually make Lana Del Rey sound really good (this is me being bitchy in 2013, to hell with resolutions…).

Looking like that, blue jeans will never go out of style 🙂

Cooling Down in 2013

There have been plenty of those filthy Hobbitses (as Gollum would call them) and Dwarveses here lately, but then how often do you get to cheer your favorite actor on while he promotes one of the most important movies in his career?

2013 is upon us and I was thinking of making a list of my New Year’s Resolutions until I realised they’d be pretty much the same as last year.

Makes me think that perhaps these resolution don’t work too well or maybe don’t know how to work them.

I find myself in the same spot year after year, so maybe I do suffer from one of  the worst ailment known to mankind:

I keep doing the same things and expect different results!

The question is how the heck does this hamster get off the wheel.

How about some new ideas that could change things up?

This list makes sense:

How about just breathing and enjoying life?

What would life be like if we accessed our inner Pin Up and face each life with a smile (not to mention showing plenty of leg…).

Anyway, here are some beautiful ski bunnies to inspire us this winter.

   

I hope you have a wonderful hot/cool Sunday 🙂

More Hilarious Hilda!

A while back a very special Pin Up Girl won our hearts.

It’s time for some more Hilda, created by Duane Bryers.

Today’s theme is one of my most favorite activities reading.

So happy to see that Hilda loves reading too 🙂

It’s not just about reading, Hilda also likes writing 🙂

Hilda is the funniest when she gets into trouble.

Oh, Hilda!

Have a day worthy of Hilda 🙂

Access Your Inner Pin Up Hilda!

Today’s post was inspired by our fellow Armitage Admirer Luciana!

She tweeted info about a Pin Up Artist that portrayed women in a bit of a different way.

I very often post pictures depicting sexy Pin Up’s with nicely rounded bums and I rack worthy enough to hang an apron on, all clad in stockings covering their shapely calf and thighs.

They all ooze innocent sex and are very feminine.

Duane Bryers created a series of amazing  Hilda paintings done specifically for Bigelow & Brown’s Hilda calendars, from 1957 to 1970, although he continued to do original paintings till the early 1980s.

Bryers employed a number of plus-size models to pose for him, reminding each of us that shapely women have always been considered worthy to inspire works of art!

The artist once said:

“I got the idea for a plumpy gal pinup and thought I’d like to make it into a calendar series, but how was I going to sell a plump girl?”

There are many MANY amazing Hilda images, as Duane painted close to 250 pictures of Hilda over 36 years!

I have no doubt this isn’t the last time I’ve posted images by Bryers, so today I’ve opted for pictures that remind me of autumn and early winter.

By the way, Hilda has more curves than I’d know what to do with, but I think we’ve all felt a bit like this at one time or another:

It’s official!

I love Hilda!

It’s time to take a leaf out of her book and grab life by the… chocolate sundae!

Thanks very much Luciana 🙂

Walt Otto’s Pin Up Girls

Autumn is slowly slipping away from us, but I found these beautiful illustrations by Walt Otto that are reminiscent of harvest season.

They are very wholesome indeed 🙂

Fritz Willis’ Pin Up Girls

Fritz Willis is one of the most famous vintage illustrators.

He worked on ads for Pepsi, Quality Papers, Max Factor, Purex, Sunkist, Crown Zellerbach, SpringMaid Sheets and others.

He also did story work for Esquire, Saturday Evening Post, Redbook, Collier’s, and covers for Ice Follies programs from 1952-1969.

Oneq Nao’s Pin Up Girls

I’ve decided to present a different style of Pin Up today.

There’s something eye-catching about the marriage of 40s and 50s sensuality with  an Art Nouveau feel and a modern twist.

Oneq Nao is a very interesting Japanese artist, and I can’t wait to see more.

Edward Runci’s Pin Up Girls

It’s been a while since we had some Pin Up Girls, so today I wanted to post images by Edward Runci.

His skills are comparable to  Gil Elvgren.

 Runci girls frequently got caught in compromising situations like climbing a fence to flee a bull, or dress blowing up on a Ferris Wheel ride.

His girls are rosy-cheeked, voluptuous, often blonde Marilyn Monroe-types who radiate  wholesome sensuality.

 Who doesn’t like a cheeky Pin Up!