embellished

over for another year...

2012-01-07T04:50:00.000-08:00

The Christmas tree came down yesterday, it seemed a shame because it really brightened up our room. But, all good things come to an end, and now I need to find some pictures or other things to add a splash of colour, which of course means shopping and that can never be a bad thing!

Epiphany may have been yesterday but I couldn't resist a little instagram trip down memory lane. So here are a few snapshots of my Christmastime...

Mmmmmm, eggnog. How many days is until Christmas 2012? ;-)

baby bunting

2011-12-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's back! I blogged a little while ago about getting back into the creative swing of things so I decided to make some bunting for two little babies' Christmas presents. Here's number one, this had to be posted across the country so needed finishing earlier. I'm seeing baby number two on Christmas Eve so I've not started his yet - luckily he has a much shorter name!

Because, as usual, I left things close to the last minute I didn't really have much time to embroider the bunting, so I experimented a little with stamping paints. I like the effect although it's still a work in progress.

I also found today a tutorial on Youtube showing how to do chain stitch properly - I'd just worked out my own way of doing it and it appears I was very much over-complicating things! So expect the next bunting to have lots of chain stitching!

my favourite christmas songs! (radvent: music)

2011-12-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas, all the festive decorations, food and drink. I've been listening to Now That's What I Call Xmas over and over again on my iPod to get me in the festive mood (although some of their song choices aren't quite right - Samantha Mumba's version of All I Want For Christmas? A cover of Last Christmas? And Mary's Boy Child not sung by Boney M? Foolishness if you ask me!)

Listening to the Christmas songs got me thinking about my favourites, and the memories they each hold. So here, for your delictation, are my three most favourite Christmas songs!

Mike Oldfield - In Dulci Jubilo

This is my absolute, all time favourite Christmas song. It's an unusual choice, but I just love it. I remember being little, dancing around the study (which was where the record/CD player was) no doubt wearing thick woolly tights and a nifty festive velvet number (ah, the 90s!), pretending that I was doing the chimney sweep dance from Mary Poppins - I have no idea why!

I love all of the different instruments in the track, particularly the electric guitar part which makes any good song sound extra festive (see Justin from the Darkness playing on Band Aid 20 for proof!).

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

This was the UK Christmas Number One for my first Christmas so I suppose it is quite apt that I like this one! Again, it totally reminds me of my childhood Christmas and whenever I hear those opening bells it takes me straight back and leaves me in no doubt that Christmas is on it's way!

I think this song means a great deal to a lot of people. I remember when Band Aid 20 was released in 2004 (my last Christmas at uni) and it premiered on the television, there were loads of us crammed into the common room excited to watch the video, I have to say I think it is much better than Band Aid II. Maybe it's because we were all mid-80s babies that we loved it so much, but the original Band Aid has definitely stood the test of time for me!

The Pogues ft Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York

My final favourite song has been a slow burner. I remember it being played by my dad every year, but never knew the words properly (I thought they were singing 'low and lay' instead of 'Gallway Bay', and that it was 'God I'm the lucky one', not 'got on a lucky one' - I don't quite think I realised what the song was about!). And of course I remember listening to it with sadness when it was played on the radio as a tribute to Kirsty MacColl.

In recent years though it has become one of my favourites. It's the song of choice when my friends go out for Christmas (and has been sung on karaoke on many an occasion). Three years ago at Christmas my boyfriend and I had just bought our house and were decorating our bedroom so that we could move in in the new year. I remember standing up a ladder in a bare room, painting the walls, and looking out of our back window across to the lit up Christmas tree in our precinct and this is the song that is playing - reminding me of that exciting time and with all of the right lyrics!

radvent: travel

2011-12-10T02:42:00.001-08:00

I'm a bit late with this Radvent entry... I was never intending on writing something for every day of the challenge, but this one was an entry I felt I needed to write about so, a little late, here is my Radvent post on the theme of TRAVEL.

A couple of years ago I went to Egypt on a development project (I've written a couple of posts about it before). It was a challenging trip in many ways but a totally unforgettable experience, one that I know I will cherish forever.
I could write and write about even the most minute details of the trip, so here are just a few things that made it such a fantastic experience for me:

Teaching, Inspiring
We designed and ran workshops for girls and young women on the theme of employments skills. We made the sessions fun and interactive, with lots of sily games and while it took some participants a little while to get into the swing of things, by the end of each week they were really enjoying themselves and throwing themselves into the games - even those who weren't so confident with speaking English. It was great to help the girls see what skills they already had and how they could be used to help them in their search for employment. The trip was organised through guiding so we showed them how we run our units and activities and a lot of the girls decided to become involved as leaders themselves which was great!

Learning about Islam and Egyptian Culture
This is perhaps the main reason why the trip was unforgettable for me. I live and grew up in a very middle class, predominantly white area - there is very little diversity so what I know about other cultures and religions has mainly come from RS (religious studies) lessons at secondary school, and of course now the internet allows a lot more exposure into other cultures. When I think about that fact, it does seem strange seeing as I live fairly close to a big city which has all sorts of different cultures, but that's just how it has been - not out of ignorance, just out of circumstance.

So being submerged in Egyptian culture - living in an Egyptian apartment, eating Egyptian food, running on Egyptian Time (lunchtime means tea time, people staying up until early in the morning) - was a fantastic experience. I learnt a lot about Islam (and Coptic Christianity) from the teenage girls who looked after us while we were there. Hearing about why they choose to wear a hijab (even when scuba diving!), seeing them pray and experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of Ramadan was such an experience, and totally different to the reputation that Islam gets from (some) Western journalism.

Visiting the Pyramids
This was absolutely amazing - getting to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World! I've always loved history from being a small child (I ~~had~~ still have all of the Horrible Histories books) and learning about Ancient Egypt in my GCSE History of Medicine module was what inspired me to study Ancient History at A Level and eventually Archaeology at University. Going to see the Great Pyramids at Giza and the Sphynx was a real highlight of our few days in Cairo. And, yes, when our tour guide asked us if we knew why the Sphynx's nose had fallen off, we all answered that it was because Aladdin scared the sculptor when he flew past on his magic carpet! (I may have studied Archaeology but I also paid close attention to my Disney films!)

And afterwards...
I'm so pleased that I got to visit Egypt before the revolutions of the Arab Spring. While we were there we had a throw-away conversation with the girls about Hosni Mubarak and how he was always ini power because people could only vote for him. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed odd, but that was as far as the conversation went. Of course now I understand a lot more about the parliamentary situation and when the revolution happened (and following an enforced silence from my Egyptian friends on Facebook) it was good to see how positive they were about their future. With the elections having just taken place, it's anyone's guess as to what the future has in store for Egypt, but I hope that the country gets what it wants and deserves.

radvent: caring

2011-12-05T03:03:00.000-08:00

This Radvent post about CARING is going to be short and sweet - rather like its subjects!

When we picked our little RSPCA kittens, we felt bad that we couldn't take all six (believe it or not, these two are brothers from the same litter). We decided to get two so that they could keep each other company while we were out, but it really pulled at my heartstrings to leave the other kittens and their mum. Happily they all eventually found homes.

I'm glad we chose to care for these two lovelies. They keep each other company and can often be found snuggled up together, grooming each other or having a little kitty hug - they actually put their arms (legs) around each other. So cute!

Radvent is being run by Princess Lasertron. Why not pop by and read what others have blogged about?

radvent: balancing

2011-12-03T06:45:00.001-08:00

How do you do it all? As soon as I read that question I knew exactly what my blog about BALANCING would be! I always seem to be busy - I work full time, on a shift rota so I work some weekends, as well as being a Brownie leader in my spare time (and of course fitting in my personal life somewhere along the way!)

So how do I do it all? The honest answer is I don't! There's always some job I'm putting off because I don't want to do it, or I can't be bothered - leaving the Brownie accounts until the end of the year to type up, or leaving the kitchen in a mess because I'd much rather sit down and watch television.

Some people say I do too much, but I really don't agree with this. Yes, I have stressful moments (such as last night when I remembered I hadn't decorated my Guiding district's Christmas tree that I promised I would sort out and which needed to be on display at 11am this morning - it's at times like these I'm grateful for all my crafty stuff I have lurking around and is why I was up at 2am making paperchains out of a necker!) and yes, I might sometimes get wound up about the things I have committed to, but I do all that I do because I enjoy it. I work because I need to, but I do the job I do because it's what I wanted to do. I love my Brownie meetings once a week so I do the extras that come with the job of being a leader. And I always make sure to have time in the week for myself, my boyfriend and my social life (and my cats!). It's not a conscious effort to balance things, it's just how it works out and I guess that's just life!

radvent: challenging

2011-12-01T10:40:00.001-08:00

Over the next few weeks I'm planning on participating in Radvent, a project created by Megan aka Princess Lasertron (that's her image up there!). Megan explains it much better than me, but essentially it's a journalling project focusing on the past year and looking to the year ahead. Last year's posts were great reading so I thought, why not give it a try this time around and use it as a springboard to getting back into blogging?

When I saw that the first subject was CHALLENGING I wasn't sure what I would write. I thought, I haven't really done anything challenging this year, or faced any challenging situations. Part of me felt that was a good thing - that the year hadn't thrown up any unexpected problems, but the other part of me thought 'A year without challenges? How rubbish is that?'

But when I thought about it more, I realised that I had tackled something challenging. In fact it all started around this time last year when we began what would become the very slow process of redecorating and rennovating the three rooms in our house that hadn't been touched since we bought it (very nearly three years ago now!) This time last year I had stripped the kitchen walls but not painted them, the living room was totally derelict with huge holes in the walls where nasty 1970s fireplaces once stood. We spent the Christmas season (and beyond!) living out of our spare bedroom and I got a severe case of cabin fever when I came down with flu over Christmas!

Sorting out and decorating these rooms was a big project (our living room is actually two rooms knocked together, and is our dining room too). I had a clear vision of how I wanted the living room to turn out and I'm pleased to say we achieved it!

Once these rooms were complete, we turned our attention to the bathroom; again, a huge rennovation job including an all new bathroom suite, underfloor heating and new ceiling insulation. Unfortunately the company we ordered the suite from had appalling customer service and we (my boyfriend especially) had a stressful time getting it all sorted. Now the bathroom is almost finished (just a cupboard to build) and I have lovely new towels to match our beautiful tiles, we can breathe a sigh of relief!

I realised that the reason these challenges didn't spring to mind immediately, even though the bathroom problems are still very recent, is because throughout I shared the challenge with my boyfriend (I still find it odd to call him a fiance) and we had the help and support of our parents. They came and painted with us, waited in for deliveries when we had to work and even went to the head offices of the bathroom shop to fight our corner. I really appreciate their efforts and they will all be getting extra special Christmas presents this year!

We're still in the process of 'kicking the butt' out of these rooms. Our house is now fully decorated but the living room needs those little touches that make it homely - and just as I was thinking about this post and that very need, my mum rang to offer my parents' Christmas present to us: a trip to IKEA to fill a trolley with paintings, lamps and any other bits and bobs that take our fancy.

If blog posts had morals, I guess this one's would be that challenges don't have to be difficult - it all depends on how, and with whom, you deal with them!

PS - you can read all participants' posts for Radvent Day 1 by using the links at the bottom of this post

thirty before 30

2011-11-15T02:16:00.001-08:00

A littlewhile go (61 days ago to be precise!) I passed the 1,000 days before I turn 30mark. A lot of my friends found it odd that I was mentioning it, seeing as it’sover two and a half years away, but I decided to draw up a list of thirtythings I want to do before I turn thirty – so here they are!

I’ll becrossing things off this list once I’ve done them (and I’m sure I’ll beblogging about my attempts!)

Thirty things before 30

1. See the Northern Lights

2. Go to America

3. Bake 30 different cakes

4. Go to New Zealand

5. Run a half marathon

6. Buy a pair of designer shoes

7. Go to Stonehenge

8. Go to Skara Brae

9. Go walking in the Lake District

10. Get married

11. Learn to do the splits

12. Go indoor skydiving

13. Run a sub-51 minute 10k

14. Set up an online shop...

15. ... and sell from it!

16. Try pilates

17. Get a better (or just new!) job

18. Be fit and get toned

19. Cook/host Christmas dinner

20. Start dancing again

21. Get a professional manicure

22. Sort out my camp blanket

23. Do some artwork for the house

24. Climb Snowdon

25. Donate £30 to three charities

26. Read the BBC top 30 books

~~27. Own some diamond jewellery~~ (done!)

28. Find my perfect make-up

29. Plant up the back yard and make it look lovely

30. Plan a fantastic 30^th party!

back again

2011-09-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again, popping up after another absence. Maybe this time I'll get the hang of actually blogging regularly - or maybe not! I've been so busy with home and work related things that I've just not had time to do anything creative (let alone blog about it!) and I have to say I'm starting to get itchy fingers and can't wait to get crafting again!

I'm still day-dreaming about doing something crafty and creative as a sideline. I've been doing this for several years now, though, and I often wonder if I'll ever do anything about it. But I'm getting back in the swing of things by making some name bunting for two new babies and I'm hoping to be able to make some extras with a view to listing them online.

And now that the nights are drawing in (sob!) I've got a jersey dress to sew, as well as a lovely skirt pattern to use up the rest of the material from my dress I designed and made in a course I did this time last year (I can't believe I haven't sewn anything since!). So I guess I have lots to keep me busy! I'm really looking forward to using my free time to make things instead of painting/decorating/tidying the house!

needlebook

2011-02-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

A few pictures of a needlebook I made for a birthday present, complete with chewed pin thanks to a very curious (an slightly foolhardy) cat!

whoopie!

2011-02-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

These were my second batch of whoopie pies, and boy did they taste good!

The lemon ones didn't rise as well as the chocolate ones (maybe because they used bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, rather than just a larger quantity of bicarb), but they tasted gorgeous! I put lemon curd and lemon butter cream in the middle. Yum.

This time I used strawberry Fluff instead of plain marshmallow flavour. I found that the synthetic strawberry taste does get disguised by the icing sugar, so it was a nice accompaniment to the chocolate, which is quite strong. However, rather than use shortening in the filling I thought I'd try the recommended method of diluting the Fluff with water to reduce the amount of fat in there. This made for a rather runny filling so you got very sticky fingers, but the taste made that worth it!

princess frosting

2011-02-02T01:50:00.000-08:00

I'm quite into making cakes and decorating them so I looked up ways of using my icing nozzles properly (anyone else guilty of just using the small one to write with and the star one to make pretty blobs?).

I watched a video on Youtube showing how to use the 'ruffle' nozzle to make petal shapes (I'm sure it has a real name but I've mainly seen it used to ruffle the icing; it's curved with one end wider than the other) and, eager to try it out I bought some ready made fairy cakes from Tesco to decorate, then whipped up a batch of buttercream.

For the icing I mainly used Cookeen vegetable shortening as I have seen this technique on many American cupcake tutorials. However, I found that even with lots of vanilla essence it still tasted odd, so I added some butter in too.

Making the petals was very easy and I quickly got into the hang of it! I found it didn't matter if the shapes weren't perfect as it still looks good!

frocking friday #3 and #4

2011-01-30T07:42:00.000-08:00

Last week turned out to be quite hectic so I never got a chance to post my third Frocking Friday outfit. In fairness, these photos are so rubbish they probably shouldn't be posted, but as I forgot to take a photo of my outfit for week four, they'll have to do!

Dress: Miss Selfridge

Top: Topshop

Shoes: Primark

I did change into knee high boots later on as it was so cold!

As for week four, sadly I didn't get to take a picture as I was at work all day, then had to rush out for two birthdays and then found out my friends had got engaged, so Friday evening was given over to celebratory drinks, not photos of my dress! I wore my new French Connection dress, which I absolutely love and have worn quite a few times, so I'm sure you'll get to see it pretty soon anyway!

christmas biscuits

2011-01-19T01:10:00.000-08:00

I forgot about these quick photos I took of some lovely looking biscuits we got for Christmas.

The perfect accompaniment to a festive gingerbread latte! Yum.

reolutions: make more!

2011-01-17T03:43:00.000-08:00

The final of my resolution posts! I'm determined to get back into crafting more often this year. I've always got loads of ideas of things to make, so it's just about finding the time to do it! (Notice how lots of my resolutions involve trying to find time?)

"make more"

I'm talking felt, cakes and dresses! I've got some good recipe books and nice new icing sets so I'm ready to go on the cake decorating front. I've already made my first batch of whoopie pies and my next goal is to decorate a cake with icing ruffles. So pretty.

As for dresses - I did a 12 week dress making course last year and I'm determined to keep up the skill. We designed our own patterns so I've never used a commercial one, but I'm ready to try with some patterns I ordered online. My first attempt is going to be the black dress from the middle pattern. It's a jersey dress, although you wouldn't think it, and working with stretchy fabric can be tricky, but I'm going to give it a go!

frocking friday #2

2011-01-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

For my second Frocking Friday I went with something a little more casual and cosy! The jersey dress is very comfy and is a flattering fit as well as being my favourite colour of purple!

I'm having a bit of a lazy afternoon at home, hence the fluffy slippers in the picture. Later I'll be wearing it with these lovely new shoes. I was so pleased to find them in my size because they are the end of the line. Part of my 'dress better' resolution was to find some fancy looking flats and these certainly fit the bill!

Dress: Primark

Slippers and flats: Accessorize

resolutions: dress better (and frocking friday #1)

2011-01-08T02:32:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of clothes, but I find I tend to wear the same things over again. I sorted out my wardrobe earlier in the week and I found I have an awful lot of grey things (seriously, looking at all the dark coloured clothes was like looking into a black hole!)

So this year I intend to make sure I wear all the clothes I have - I've been very harsh and bagged up the ones I've not worn for a while ready to take them to a charity shop or even try to sell a few of them on e-bay. I'm also going to make sure I don't buy anymore grey things - I want bright, fun clothes!

"dress better"

Most of all I want to make sure I enjoy my clothes. I'm going to dress well, all the time. This week I pulled out a sparkly gold and black striped jumper from last year, and wore it with jeans and my new gold converse. It made an otherwise casual outfit look preppy and special, and it made me feel good! I love how clothes can do that.

Secondly, I'm going to attempt to take part in Frocking Fridays. This is a continuation of the Dressember project that involved wearing a dress every day in December. I didn't partake in that myself but I followed some of the bloggers doing it, and it was fun! This time, the idea is that you wear a dress every Friday of 2011.

Strictly speaking I think you are supposed to wear a different dress each week, but I don't really have many dresses - so far anyway! So, while I'll probably repeat several of them, I want to buy more dresses this year - they're much better than trousers! In fact I kicked off the first Frocking Friday by buying myself a nice new dress in the sale. And I bought it whilst wearing this:

Apologies for the crappy camera-phone-taken-in-the-mirror photo, but no one in Real Life knows about my blog so I couldn't ask anyone to photograph me! (Also, that's why my face is covered - no one could ever possibly tell it was me! I should become a spy really, I'm so sneaky...)

Anyway, here's the details:

Tunic dress: House of Fraser

Cream skirt (under the dress to make it decent!): House of Fraser

Cardigan: Topshop

Grey tights: Topshop

Boots: Dorothy Perkins

resolutions: live better

2011-01-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

My second resolution is all about enjoying life and having fun!

"live better"

First of all, as with most people, I'm aiming to be healthier this year. I've always been lucky to be slim, but after two years of living in my own home I had managed to put on just over a stone in weight - mainly because I wasn't having my parents' nutritional cooking, and because there is a high emphasis on cheese and chocolate in this household! But, after a couple of months of watching what I ate, by the start of this year I was back to the weight I had been before moving out, and in fact, the weight I had been since I was 18. So I'm fully intending to keep it up by cooking proper meals. They don't always have to be healthy, but they do need to be home cooked!

I'm going to make more effort to sit down at a table (we'll be getting a new one soon) and share meals with my boyfriend. We have different diets - he's vegetarian - we work different shifts, and are often shooting off to whatever separate activity we have planned, so more often than not we eat different meals at different time!

I'm going to exercise more and actually use the gym membership I pay for. I've signed up for tap dancing classes with my friends, which is something I really enjoy (and like to think I'm quite good at!) so I'm going to be getting out there, being fit and having fun!

I'm also going to aim to do something fun each week. Whether it be a trip to the cinema, a walk down the canal - even painting my nails; I want to make sure I have a little 'me' time and that I don't fall back into the usual routine of work-sofa-tv-bed.

I've realised how easy it is to get stuck in a pattern, and I want to make sure that this year I keep things lively!

resolutions: a little goes a long way

2011-01-02T12:47:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

Well, it's been a while, but I'm back! I hope you had lovely Christmases, unfortunately I was ill throughout Christmas with the flu (and am still only just recovering) so it wasn't as restful a holiday as I'd hoped!

So, here we are in 2011! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was writing my resolutions for 2010. To be honest, I didn't really stick to any of them (oops!) although I have been much better with keeping the house tidy! At the moment we are on the cusp of redecorating pretty much the whole of the downstairs (the hall is already done) so everywhere is a complete mess right now. Walls are stripped, ceilings are awaiting plastering and our 'beautiful' 1970s fireplaces are about to be demolished!

All of that leads me on to my first resolution for 2011 - I'm going to do these as a series of posts, to give me time to think about each one and hopefully ease me back in to posting regularly.

"a little goes a long way"

In 2011 I'm going to make it my aim to do something little around the house every day. At the moment I usually spend the whole of one of my days off each week tidying the house, which isn't fun in anyone's book but particularly when you work shifts like I do it can seem a waste of a good day off!

So, although there does probably need to be one big tidy to sort out the mess that has built up over Christmas (and me being too ill to do anything about it!), I'm going to take satisfaction in doing one little job each day. Today I sorted out my wardrobe. So, the drawers and shelves also need sorting, but I'll do that tomorrow.

A little job might be dusting the banisters, vacuuming a room, cleaning the bath, even just putting some flowers into a vase - but it will all count towards making our house a nicer place to be!

What are your resolutions for 2011?

ramadan kareem

2010-08-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

At sunset tonight, Ramadan begins. This is a reminder of the fact that this time last year, I was in Egypt; an experience that will certainly remain one of the best of my life.

I went out with a group of young women to run a development project and I loved experiencing the Egyptian culture and a different way of life to here in the UK. I spoke to teenage girls about their decisions to wear headscarves, and the various ways they are worn. It was such a fascinating experience to learn about Islam from these girls.

In the last week of our month-long visit was Ramadan. It started later in August last year, and we enjoyed watching the streets being decorated before the first day, with huge lanterns called Fanous, and streamers and bunting made from metallic film.

We were invited to the first Iftar (breaking the fast) by our host. This is a time when people come together to share food. In our case it was a feast, and I remember the turkey the most, mainly because it was the last thing I would have expected to eat in Egypt!

We spent our last days in Cairo, and walking through the markets at Khan al-Khalili hearing the call to prayer blasting out from the many mosques nearby was a wonderful thing to hear. People set tables up around the streets and all the vendors came together to share dates and drink juice from plastic bags, always asking us to come and join in.

If you will be celebrating Ramadan, then Ramadan Kareem to you!

happy birthday to me!

2010-07-14T02:37:00.000-07:00

source

Today is one year since I first started this blog! And while I may not always keep up with regular posting, I've managed to post something every month since I started, which I think is pretty good!

I'm working on a little something in celebration... something I hoped would be finished by the end of this week, but I've just had a rather exciting phone call about a last minute job opportunity so I'll probably be busy with that - but watch this space!

In the meantime, why not have a piece of cake? There's lots for you to feast your eyes on at:

Amy Atlas

Crumbs and Doilies

The Cupcaketologist

Cupcakes take the Cake

hup holland!

2010-07-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm supporting Holland tonight (I had them down to win since before the World Cup started - I should have put some money on them!) but, I don't own anything orange and all my friends are supporting Spain. So we're watching it at a Tapas bar, probably not the best place to wear full on Dutch clothing!

So I rustled this little brooch up whilst watching Andre (lots of childhood films were on today!) and I'm very pleased with it. It was so simple to make, too. I will be wearing it tonight, with my fingers crossed!

GO ORANJE!!!

oops!

2010-06-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just realised it's almost a year since I first wrote on this blog! I know I've been a bit lapse recently and I feel guilty about it! (Who'd have thought you could feel guilty about a blog?)

I wrote a post a while ago intended for my birthday - then never posted it! Oops! Once I get it sorted I will post it (dated when it should have been posted!) so the timeline might not make sense, but never mind.

Then I will try my hardest to get back to posting regularly! And try my hardest to get back into crafting - I've just been so busy!

decorating ideas

2010-06-01T02:16:00.000-07:00

I love this picture, don't you?

Source

It's from Martha Stewart's website that I have recently discovered and it's genius! So many home and craft things to look at! (I can visualise my boyfriend rolling his eyes as I type that!)

We're starting to plan the big redecoration of our lounge/dining room (it's two rooms knocked through into one) and want to go with a blue-beige palette. Or at least, I do! So I've been having fun looking around for inspiration. There's lots of potential for painting different walls in different colours as there is the central 'arch' between the two areas, and fireplaces in each room that create alcoves on either side. We also have a gorgeous original sash window and built in cupboards (our house was built in 1905) so we want to make a bit of a feature of those.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

I want a contemporary feel that emphasises the traditional aspects of the house, and I think some soft blues and beiges will mix nicely with a polished wooden floor.

dessert table

2010-05-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I am having some of my girl friends over for a little 'Baby Sprinkle' before my friend has her little girl. I have learned from the internet that for second babies it's a sprinkle rather than a shower because the mum will already have baby things! Her little boy is almost 14 months old and he's such a cutie.

I've recently been looking at cupcake and dessert blogs, as well as some crafty/homey ones so I've decided to do a dessert table. Never seen one before? Here's an example:

Dessert table by Amy Atlas

The photo comes from Amy Atlas' blog; the website can be found here. There are such lovely colour combinations. I love how a bit of extra-special presentation makes the desserts look so good! Plus, it's lots of fun to imagine which ones I would eat - usually all of them (I have a big sweet tooth!)

I'm going for a pink theme for the desserts, so I'm making cupcakes with pink sprinkles and marshmallows dipped in chocolate. I'll be spending most of Saturday baking, then Sunday will be decorating time!

I have also been inspired by the way Rachel of Heart of Light displays flowers around her house. Mine is in need of a good decorating at the moment so I'm going to get some lovely pink flowers to hopefully detract from the not-so-lovely wall paper!

sunshine!

2010-05-24T02:08:00.000-07:00

What a lovely weekend! We got our new habitat garden furniture out and sat in the back yard for some al fresco dinner. It's looking really nice now after planting lots of flowers. With our olives and crackers, I had wine, my boyfriend had Peroni and we ate this delicious cheese:

I ordered this from Godminster after seeing it on Domestic Sluttery. They recommended it for valentine's day, but I thought it was a perfect anniversary present for my cheese loving boyfriend! Pretty and tasty, what else can you ask for in a cheese?

mmm mmm macaron!

2010-05-13T02:31:00.000-07:00

Photo by Keven Law

My recent posts haven't been about any of my crafty stuff, and I'm hoping to get back on the crafting bandwagon over the next few days. Right now I'm planning how to redecorate pretty much all of the downstairs of my house - and planning some gorgeous cupcake and cocktail combinations for when it's all finished and I can have my girl friends round!

I really want to try making macarons - apparently they aren't as tricky as you might think. And now I've got the thought of them in my head I really, really want one! I've only ever had macarons once, when I went to St James's Palace so I'm pretty sure they were authenic, Pierre Herme macarons as they are available in London and, well, it was royalty! They were so tasty. And making them looks like fun!

folksy finds: and it was all yellow

2010-05-05T04:23:00.000-07:00

I hope those of you who live in the UK who can vote, did vote! I'm looking forward to finding out the results and will be trying to stay up late to watch them come in. Because of purdah and my job I've not been supposed to make any political comment on social networking, which has been quite tricky seeing as it has been such an interesting campaign this year.

Anyway, voting has closed now, which means I'll be able to discuss things on twitter and facebook! In the meantime, here's a few things from Folksy that I was drawn to today ;-)

Black and Yellow Button Cufflinks by Hand Over Your Fairy Cakes

Felt Flower Brooch by Jessie Stacey

Yellow Bird Cushion by Sixes and Sevens

keep on running

2010-04-29T03:24:00.000-07:00

It's the Great Manchester Run in just over a fortnight, and I'll be running (eek!) 10k - hopefully in a time close to one hour. I've been training, but not as much as I probably should have! However, I did manage to run 6k in 40mins the other day, which according to my calculator puts me on course for 1 hour 6 mins - if I can keep that speed up, of course!

I'll be off for another run again tonight, then I will be researching the best running clothes to buy as I have had advice from Great Manchester Run veterans that running in a normal t-shirt is not good... especially if it's hot!

So, while I'm pulling on my trainers, why don't you have a look at these trainer-based delights from Folksy?

White trainers necklace by Brought Back Again

Multi Converse Bracelet by Retro Faerie

'Put Your Feet Up' Cushion by Sixes and Sevens

fish and chips

2010-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

While I'm thinking of all things British, the ever-gorgeous Tatty Devine have taken a sea-side theme for their latest collection. Having spent last Saturday eating chips in the sun on the beach (followed by a cheeky sail on a pirate ship!) this necklace appealed to me a lot!Just make sure the seagulls don't pinch any!

rule britannia

2010-04-21T08:10:00.001-07:00

With it being the Queen's birthday today, and St George's Day on Friday, I've come over all patriotic. Remembering some lovely Anna Lou of London jewellery I saw on a recent trip to the Museum of London, I headed over to ALOL's website to feast my eyes on these beauties:

How cute is that corgi? And the crown hairslide would be perfect to wear on Sunday, when I shall be coralling my Brownies at our St George's Parade. Here's hoping the lovely British sunshine we've been having of late keeps up over the weekend...

absence

2010-03-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

Whoops, I've not been on the blog for aaaaaages! I have been incredibly busy over the last few weeks and my laptop has decided to die, hence the prolonged absence.

If you follow me on twitter you'll know I've been yo-yoing up and down the country going to London and have been busy rehearsing for a show that starts tomorrow. I've also been flat out at work, so sadly no time for crafting or indeed updating my blog.

Watering Can - blank greeting card by Elli Moody. Find it here on Folksy

I'm very happy the sun has started to make an appearance. I love those fresh March days when it's still quite cool but nice and sunny with blue skies. I'm hoping it holds out to the weekend so I can do a bit of gardening - my front flower beds need a tidy and I've only planted one thing in the back so I need to sort that out in time for the sunny weather (she says optimistically).

In the meantime, happy St Patrick's Day! (I wore my only green item of clothing yesterday so it's purple and black for me today but I'm feeling green in spirit!)

Picture of Clover Good Luck Mouse by Nats Nest - find here it on Folksy

This reminds me of a line from a song in the show... 'I looked all over for a four-leafed clover but I just didn't find it right' - very apt, seeing as the internet is playing up and it took ages to search on Folksy!

spread some sunshine!

2010-02-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

I was so pleased to see my blog has been very kindly given a Sunshine Award by the lovely Emma from Bling and Buy! It's great to know that people are reading (and enjoying) my blog and that I'm not just typing away to myself!

The conditions of accepting the award are that you include the award picture in your post, pass the award on to twelve blogs you think deserve it (and tell them so on their blog) and send some love to the person who gave you the award.

So, here is my list of twelve blogs that I think deserve this award. They weren't hard to pick because, as you will see, they are fabulous!

This also got me thinking that I need to follow more blogs as there must be much more creativity and interesting writing going on out there!

Blooming Felt

Bugs and Fishes by Lupin

Crumbs and Doilies Cupcakes

Domestic Sluttery

Laura Baillie Designs

Unsurprisingly the vast majority are crafty blogs! I plan to do a little write up of each of these blogs in future posts as it would take far too much room up in this post.

So, I hope you will stop by these blogs, and don't forget to give Bling and Buy some love, too!

christmas presents (part two)

2010-01-30T03:36:00.000-08:00

I made this pink flower headband for my cousin, to go along with two other plain headbands that came in the set. The colours look really nice in her hair, which I guess would be best described as being on the gingery side of strawberry blonde. Unlike my hair, which you can see in this picture.

Headband: Claire's Accessories and Embellished
Dressing Gown: Next
Sofa and Curtains: Model's own.

christmas presents (part one)

2010-01-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

I made this iPhone cover for my boyfriend's Christmas present, based on the 'home' screen of his iPhone. Cutting out all the apps was a bit fiddly but it was great to see it all coming together as I stitched the designs on, then put the apps in their correct line-up.

The turquoise I chose for the lining was a good choice, if I do say so myself. I think it adds a nice, bright 'lightness' to the design.

folksy finds: och aye and g'day

2010-01-26T00:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Burns Night and if you follow me on Twitter you will have seen me tweet about this little cutie:

Wee Highland Cow by Quernus Crafts on Folksy

And today is Australia Day (which I worked out means - scarily - that it is 19 years since I went to Australia! I was only 6 at the time, but still...) so how about this badge set? I love the kangaroo!

Fabric Buttons - zoo animals by Mollimoo on Folksy

folksy friday (mmm coffee!)

2010-01-22T03:43:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy week as I have been getting to grips with my new job, which I love and am really enjoying!

'J'adore Cafe' Brooch by Jim Jam Sandwich

One thing I find myself tempted by is lots and lots of lattes, though!

Winter Morning-Coffee Cosy by MrsB

Staring at a computer screen all day makes me quite drowsy, so in the afternoon I need a bit of a caffeine pick-me-up. Luckily this also gives me the excuse to walk to the nearest Starbucks, so I can get some good fresh air at the same time.

Spring Pea Green Cotton Coffee Cup Holder by Dolly Knits

I'm planning to make some prototype coffee warmers, because I feel bad using the cardboard ones all the time (my fingers get burned otherwise). Naturally they will be made from felt. The reason they will be prototype is I don't have the colours of felt I envisage my finished design in. But, practice makes perfect!

Ladybirds Picnic by flo's photos

All of these lovely coffee-related crafty things can be found on Folksy, or you can go directly to the seller's shops following the links under their pictures.

baubles!

2010-01-17T02:37:00.000-08:00

And here's what those supplies turned into! My cats obviously took a shine to them as the tree was knocked over more than once. This was a common sight over the Christmas period:

at last - photos!

2010-01-16T02:29:00.000-08:00

Hooray and hurrah, I have finally managed to buy a card reader so I can upload my photos! So here for your viewing pleasure are the supplies I used to make my baubles.

And yes, I know these would have been better timed before Christmas, but I guess we could say I'm being super-prepared for Christmas 2010...?

workwear and healthy100: 8/10 = 8/100

2010-01-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

workwear by embellished_ on Polyvore.com

So here are two of the three items of clothing I bought today. The third is a purple dress from Next, but they don't have a picture on their website. I really love the shift dress, it's such a flattering cut and will look lovely with coloured tights.

It's pretty difficult to shop for work clothes when you have a smart-casual dresscode. What is too smart? What is too casual? It's hard to know! Plus, I seem to be a UK size 11 right now because the 10s were too small and the 12s too big!

Happily, though, my healthy 100 is going ok so far, after a delayed start because I was ill and also had the snow to contend with. One of my days off was planned as I was going out for a curry, but the second was accidental when I had gravy on my chips for lunch and didn't think until afterwards that there would be no way it was vegetarian! And, yes, I know, chips don't exactly constitute as healthy, but then neither do the dairy free chocolate bars I've been road testing this week, either, but I still lost 2.5 lbs.

The thing is, I know I won't stick at this unless I can have nice treats. If I can have a chocolate bar now and then knowing I haven't 'broken the rules' then it will make it much easier (and as you can imagine, some of the vegan chocolate bars are pretty hit and miss). Plus I know have an organised meal plan to put into action next week, so bring on the next ten days!

(I have no idea what is going on with the formatting of this post - it won't do what I want!)

work wardrobe

2010-01-12T01:01:00.000-08:00

Oh, hello, ModCloth, yet another online shop that I wish were British. If it weren't for my hesitance to buy clothes online from another country when I don't really know what size to go for, and if money were no object, this would be my new work wardrobe.

I'm very excited about going shopping for clothes to wear for my new job that starts on Monday. It's the first time I don't have to wear a uniform, so I can't wait! (Of course, I am equally excited about the job itself!)

parchment flowers

2010-01-10T06:19:00.000-08:00

I saw this Etsy How-Tuesday video months ago, and immediately went out to buy florist wire and patterned vellum to match our living room wallpaper in order to make myself a bunch of flowers. It's all still sitting in my cupboard waiting to be used!

I'm definitely going to try this soon - not least because we'll be redecorating soon and they won't match the room they're intended for!

stuck at home

2010-01-08T02:55:00.001-08:00

What with the snow and building work, my days off have been pretty much confined to the house. I have been catching up on my sewing, though - these pink triangles are going to make the bunting for my cousin's birthday, which must have been the best eighth birthday ever because she got the day off school and had lots of snow to play in!

On Tuesday I had a snow day off work - the first time anything like that has ever happened so it was very exciting! I managed to tidy up the house, which was good considering downstairs is now a building site - at least the rest of the rooms look nice! I finally got round to organising my craft table in the spare room.

I found the jelly tins in M&S before Christmas, they were reduced in a sale and I really liked the colours. They'll be handy for storing odd bits of felt and paint tubes, and being able to see what threads I have in the glass jars is very useful.

The flower is a headband I bought from Lupin. Unfortunately my head does not agree with headbands so it doesn't really fit, but I think it looks nice on my tins (and will inspire me to sew neatly!).

This is my current workload. The canvases you can see are going to be hung on the wall in the hall. The rest, of course, is bunting. 10 points if you can work out the name!

snow day!

2010-01-05T10:18:00.001-08:00

Today, for the first time in my life, something was cancelled because of the snow! Something now means work, but I never ever missed school because of snow. My schools never shut for the day. Schools must have been hardier back then.

I've got some nice pictures of the snow, which I tried to put up using the memory card slot in the computer (still not found the camera cable), but the slot is for an SD card and mine's XD. So no photos - and no making use of my spare day by writing blog posts in advance.I'm telling you the minute I buy a new cable,(hopefully tomorrow) you will be bombarded with photos of baubles, Christmas trees and the crafty presents I made for people! Better late than never!

Instead, I tidied the house. Which is perhaps not as visually stimulating as blog pictures, but at least everywhere is nice and clean!

happy new year!

2009-12-31T04:33:00.000-08:00

It's almost 2010 (in the UK at least) and you all know what that means - New Year's Resolution time!

To be honest, I'm not particularly good at keeping New Year's Resolutions. At best I make it to the end of January before I've broken them, but every year I make them again! So this year I'm doing something slightly different. Perhaps I should re-brand them as New Year's Aims instead!

Picture from examiner.com

My first aim is to have 100 healthy days. If you follow me on Twitter you might remember I have recently been following the Vegan Lunchbox, and author Jennifer McCann's sister site This Is Why You're Thin. The sites are certainly inspiring! While I don't want to become vegan, I know that a vegan diet is very healthy and full of good, nutritional fruit and vegetables. Since reading Skinny Bitch early this year, I have been trying to cut down on the amount of dairy I consume. We don't have milk at home, instead I use oatmilk for porridge and soymilk in coffee and smoothies.

Unfortunately, I have the biggest sweet tooth, so to be honest, any benefits from the slight change to my diet are masked by that! Plus, living with a vegetarian boyfriend who dislikes vegetables (work that one out for yourself!) means I'm not really getting the nutritious meals that I should.

Picture from Laptop Lunches

So, armed with my wonderful Laptop Lunches bento box, and Jennifer's Vegan Lunch Box recipe book, I aim to have 100 vegan (or vegetarian) days in 2010.

I worked out that 100 days straight would take me to April 10th. Now, even with the best will in the world I know that is unlikely to happen. So, I am going to give myself days off for special occasions like birthdays or meals out, and tack them on to the end. Ideally I would like to have only two 'off' days a month, so if I incorporate them into the schedule that takes it to April 16th. But I'm not going to be overly hard on myself; if I have extra days off, then fine. But I would be very proud if I manage to get my 100 days in before the end of April!

My next aim is to be more house proud and organised. We bought our house just over a year ago and so far have decorated half of it. The rest, unfortunately, seems to be a bit of a mammoth undertaking, but we'll get there. What I really want to do is be much tidier and cleaner - I want to make a rota for cleaning tasks and make sure I don't have to spend one of my days off each week cleaning up, and that if we get unexpected visitors that the house is tidy!

The third aim is to keep up the crafting, build up my Folksy shop (remember I was supposed to stock that by December? Oops!) and make regular posts on the blog!

Wish me luck, and have a wonderful 2010!

christmas crafting

2009-12-14T13:25:00.000-08:00

It's a bit worrying to realise I first decided to make my tree decorations way back in September, yet I only have two fully sewn baubles and four waiting to be finished. Did I mention my tree goes up on Wednesday??

I'm keeping the designs nice and simple, mainly with a straight line pattern either horizontally or vertically crossing the circle. I say mainly, because the six completed so far are all like that - variations on a theme! It may be that future ones are different (the tree may be going up in two days, but the sewing will continue!). I'm really liking the way the colours have turned out, they're very rich, and the satiny ribbon and sparkling sequins and embellishments enhance the jewel-like colours of the scheme.

This was my initial idea for the colour scheme. It has altered a bit; the grey has taken a back seat and is just appearing in ribbon strips, the second, pinker purple is now a lot lighter, and I've added navy in there too. They all work very well together, and I would show you, but I've still not found my camera cable!

In other Christmas news, the Swiss cohort of my family sent me an advent calendar before December, but it only arrived yesterday. Which meant I had to eat thirteen chocolates in a row. Such a shame...

home sweet home

2009-12-12T05:46:00.001-08:00

Home Sweet Home Heart by Coles and Barnes at Folksy

Once again there has been a big gap between my posts. This time, all down to the fact that I can't find my camera cable to upload my bauble pictures. I hope it will turn up soon or I'll have to buy a new one!

Today, my boyfriend and I have owned our house for exactly one year! Very exciting. Now everywhere is getting Christmassy it reminds me of standing in the very bare and undecorated spare room, looking over to the precinct and seeing the Christmas tree all lit up (we didn't move in until February so we didn't have a tree ourselves); decorating our bedroom while listening to Fairytale of New York on the radio and rewarding our efforts with Christmas cake and orange juice.

Looking back over the last twelve months, this has certainly been a big year for me (and us!):

We bought our house (and in doing so met our 2008 New Year's Resolution made at Hogmanay in Edinburgh)
My boyfriend got a new job
I bought myself a new car
I went to Egypt, had an amazing time and met some really good friends
I got my Queen's Guide Award and met royalty (!)
We bought our lovely cats!

Perhaps most importantly, this year I learned when (and how) to take a step back. This was undoubtedly the busiest year of my life, with most of my days off work taken up with some commitment or other, as well as two evenings a week running Brownies. While I was in Egypt for four weeks I had a lot of time to think about things and I have reduced my commitments (just one Brownies a week now) and stopped myself from saying 'yes' to everything, even if I want to. I've realised how important it is to take time out, even if it's a day spent cleaning the house, milling round the shops or simply watching television all day.

I'm looking forward to next year because I know I have more free time that will coincide with my boyfriend's free time. In 2010 I'll be enjoying a lot of me, us and kitten time!

upcycle

2009-12-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

Today was the deadline for entries to Folksy's Upcycle Christmas competition, which is being run in association with Sue Ryder. The idea is to take something old, broken, unwanted etc and upcycle it into something shiny, new and lovely. The deadline passed about two and half hours ago and, looking through the entries, there are some wonderful creations out there!

Here are my favourite five (all pictures belong to the makers!):

This lovely little boat is by The Knitted Bird and features a knitting needle as a mast. I love the colours of this piece, and the texture of the papier-mache. It looks like something I would want to put in a scrapbook!

The soft colours of Moon/Moth work really well together. I love a nice pair of arm warmers, but it's the big moth button that I particularly like in this piece by Kettle of Fish.

I love the delicacy of this necklace by Sian Bostwick Jewellery. The printed text on the flowers gives it a real 'high end' feel. I'd love to see what it looks like from the back of the neck! I'm definitely considering bidding for this when the auction opens.

These Foxy Twins by The Linen Cat are great fun. I love their clothes (you can undress them!), and the fleecey fabric makes them look nice and cosy!

Finally, a fascinator style cocktail hat from Lupin Handmade. Very festive colours, and I love how the beads really stand out against the felt.

So, those are the five that got my favourites. I'm looking forward to see who gets the most Folsky user favourites, and who the judges pick to win!

advent

2009-12-01T03:18:00.001-08:00

Well, it's certainly been quiet over here for the last week or so! I had good intentions of starting making my Christmas presents, but then after my last post my TV broke so I had to go to my parents to watch Strictly Come Dancing, therefore no sewing for me.

I've been super-busy these days too, and with a reshuffle at work meaning computers are less accessible so my usual lunch time blogging session is out of the window at the moment! Luckily I can use my iPhone to write posts on my breaks but the images won't be such good quality. Oh well, it's better than nothing!

So today is the first of December! I woke up to frozen cars, frosty grass and see-your-breath weather. Lovely! I love Christmas and now it's December I can start to get excited!

For the first year ever, I don't have an Advent Calendar. On the whole that's possibly a good thing because I'm trying to be healthy and extra chocolate is something I don't need! It annoys me though, that the Advent Calendars you see in most shops have nothing to do with Christmas. I don't want the cast of High School Musical telling me to have a 'Star Dazzle Christmas', nor do I want a calendar that carries on past Christmas to New Year. Advent Calendars shoul be about Christmas, not television shows or films. They're not even about chocolate! I'm not particularly Christian and don't go to Church, but once I bought an Advent Calendar that had nice, biblical pictures and, shock horror, no chocolate. It was just too hard to find a nice, traditional Advent Calendar that actually celebrated Christmas. For me, a manger scene, a Christmas tree with presents and Father Christmas are thr only things that cut it.

The reason I don't have one this year is that I forgot. Normally my boyfriend's mum buys me one, but as of yet not this year and suddenly, here we are at December. It's my first Christmas in my own house so we're starting from scratch. I'm going to have to make it lovely and festive - starting with buying Love Actually for a bargainous £3. That film just shouts 'Christmas', and I can't wait to have the TV to myself so I can start the festivities rolling!

Image from www.countrycrossstitchkits.co.uk

prince of sandwich

2009-11-14T02:19:00.001-08:00

Here's the third and final of my felt in-jokes: the Prince of Sandwich. I think you can probably work this one out yourselves - a mix up between Earl and Prince. Apparently it also could be a Burger King which is also apt as we had that as our final meal on Egyptian soil!

Here are all three of my creations together. What an interesting bunch!

The were all made with felt from Paper and String, which I thoroughly recommend as you get a lovely selection of colours to choose from and it is really good value. Check out the Paper and String blog

I'm aware my posting has been rather sporadic recently; I've been really busy with lots of various projects coming to an end so hopefully in the run up to Christmas I will get a lot more free time to make things and focus on my blog and, more imporantly, my Folksy shop which as of yet is very bare! I'm also pleased to see I now have six followers to my blog - hi everyone and thanks! I appreciate it!

I've got the house to myself tonight so I'm planning a bit of tidying, sorting some paperwork and then I'm going to start on one of my Christmas presents, so I should have that to share with you soon!

pigeon of peace

2009-11-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the second present for my Egypt team leader... the pigeon of peace!

To cut a not especially long story short, we asked groups of workshop participants to draw things they felt were important. One group drew a heart for love, the Guide trefoil for Guiding and a dove for peace, but when it was explained to us it got mistranslated as a pigeon. And then we took it from there...

roachy

2009-11-03T02:31:00.000-08:00

No, your eyes do not deceive you, that is indeed a felt cockroach. And yes, I did make it quite happily!

This rather odd choice of insect to immortalise in felt is part of a thank you present for the team leader of my GOLD Project in Egypt. As a group we wanted to get her some silly little presents to remind her of the trip and the in-jokes that we now share. So, meet Roachy. He was the first (of quite a few) cockroaches that we found roaming around our apartment. I spotted him in the kitchen, and he ran into one of the drawers. Somewhat typically from a group of six girls, a lot of us didn't want to go near it, but our team leader carried it out on to the balcony in the drawer, insisting we didn't kill it and she called him Roachy.

Subsequent cockroaches weren't as big as he was - honestly, he was massive - until one day an unsuspecting cockroach was gassed with cockroach spray and squashed with a bottle. Given its large size there was a worry it might have been Roachy - maybe he crawled back in? Who knows. Anyway, here he is immortalised as a reminder of the project!

look what i did today...

2009-10-27T03:39:00.000-07:00

I ran a Big Draw workshop!

As it's part of Manchester Science Festival, our Big Draw focused on biology and robots. Using oil pastels (after we ditched the not-waxy-enough candles) and paint to create 'x-ray' art.

Nice and simple, but the children really like it!

quack quack quack and craft fair

2009-10-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

So, on Tuesday night I sat down after Brownies in front of the TV (Gok Wan) and sewed a birthday badge to try out my lovely new felt. Sadly, I failed to take any photos of it :-( but it's a little yellow rubber duck on a blue background with '21' cut out of lighter yellow felt. It's a mini-present for (surprisingly) my friend's 21st. She really likes rubber ducks, and I hope this actually looks like one! The distinctive rubber duck colouring should hopefully disguise the beak, which isn't duck-like enough for me for some reason!

I need to find a good, fine 'nibbed' (if that's the right word?) tailor's chalk. I have a large one which is great for big shapes, but not so good for the finer details. Any suggestions?

On Friday I managed, after a series of delays involving dentisits and car dealers, to get to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, which was really lovely - full of fantastic crafts and craftspeople. It really makes me wish I could do something like they do for a living.

Sadly, the prices were a little too high for me, but these are a couple of my favourite vendors (photos from their respective websites):

These tea cups by Virginia Graham caught my eye straight away. I love the mix of patterns, the colours and the quirky metal handles. My lucky aunty was bought one of these by my mum for Christmas. I'm not sure what I would prefer - using them to drink luxurious coffees or to stash my crafty pencils in! She also makes tea pots and badges, amongst other things, so I urge you to stop by her web site.

Jane Moore's jewellery stand was the one that I almost nearly bought something from. In fact I may still buy something from her website; it needs careful consideration because everything is so lovely! Her catalogue is genius, because you can pick the pattern, pendant shape and jewellery type. Sort of like a pick and mix for jewellery!

So yes, although I didn't buy anything, I am certainly lusting after a few objects!

craft excitement

2009-10-20T07:17:00.001-07:00

After a few days of worrying it had got lost amongst pre-postal strike activity, my parcel of felt from paper-and-string arrived! It must have actually arrived yesterday, but usually when the postman can't fit large parcels through the door, he pushes one of those 'we called but you were out' cards saying they've left it in the gas meter cupboard. There was no card this time, but this morning I thought I'd check just in case and there it was in all its purple-wrapped goodness!

I'd ordered around 30 pieces of 12" x 12" felt, so it was quite a substantial package that I carried all the way to work so I could open it up (and it made nice hugging material too!). Sarah, who is behind paper-and-string, always includes a little note card and this time it had a picture of one of her reindeer ornaments on the front - particularly apt since most of the felt I ordered is destined to become baubles for my Christmas tree!

I'm so glad it has arrived because I have two birthday presents to work on this week. Once they're done my Christmas crafting can begin in earnest, and of course I set myself the challenge of listing four of my pansies on Folksy by December. Oh, and I've just remembered a set of felt 'ornaments' that I have to make as a thank you for our team leader in Egypt, based on in-jokes we had whilst we were out there. So, it looks like a busy crafting time ahead for me!

This weekend the Great Northern Craft Fair is taking place in Manchester, and as I have the day off on Friday I'm going to head along and see what lovely things I can find and buy! Should be fun!

strike

2009-10-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

Ordinarily, the idea of a postal strike would probably just annoy me slightly. This time around, I'm waiting on my official invite for my Queen's Guide Award presentation at St James's Palace, which is pretty important so I hope it gets itself to me safely!

Since venturing into the world of Twitter, Blogger, Folksy and Etsy, however, I have come across many creative people running their own little business, selling jewellery, crafts and other beautiful things. It's people like these who are going to be hit worst by the strike - how can they easily run a business that relies on a postal service that seems to be crumbling around them?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my felt order from Paper-and-String will arrive soon. I've got so much that I'm bursting to start making, and some of it needs to be done quite quickly!

Hopefully the strike due to start this week will resolve itself speedily, or the temps that Royal Mail plan to hire are super efficient. Or, just maybe,the 'Bling Bus Gang' on Twitter might come to the rescue!

Incidentally, the post box up there survived the IRA bomb in Manchester. Always makes me feel a little bit proud when I post something in it!

bunting!

2009-10-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

At last, here is a picture of the bunting I finished last week! Unfortunately, it's not the best quality photo. I had intended on taking a lot of pictures on the morning of the christening, but I overslept and ran out of time. So expect much better pictures of the next bunting - there are at least two more to come, one for another christening, one for my cousin's birthday and one of my friend's from work is about to become a dad (literally, it could be happening this very second) so his new baby may get one too.

all quiet on the western front...

2009-10-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

I've not really had too much to blog about these past few days, mainly because I've been so busy! I'm back at work after the weekend followin a seven (yes, seven) day shift, which was accompanied by two nights out where I didn't get home until gone 11pm (strictly speaking, I don't think I can class that as a 'night out'!) so I've been a busy little beaver of late.

I did get my bunting finally finished in time for the christening on Sunday. It was a lovely service and nice to see my friend's little girl again, who looked lovely in her dress. Photographs of the bunting will follow shortly I promise!

Sunday evening was spent playing with another friend's baby son, who is just about ready to start crawling. It's his christening in December so I won't be hanging up my bunting tools just yet!

In other news, my spare room finally has a carpet and my craft desk is ready and waiting for me to cover it in things to make and do. I need to find some good shelves and storage boxes to keep everything tidy in or my boyfriend won't be happy!

Today I have been preparing for The Big Draw at work so my head is full of stickers and wax crayons and all sorts...

cupcakes to make you smile

2009-10-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

I have a very sweet tooth. I absolutely love cakes and chocolate. On a good day, they're great. On a bad day, they make you feel better. Whilst I'm trying to eat healthily (although a hot chocolate and vegan chocolate bar may not exactly constitute healthy, but hey, it's dairy free so not a lot of fat there!), there's nothing to stop me from looking at nice cupcakes, and gosh, these are nice to look at!

From The Little Cupcake Company. The pink sparkly one in the middle is tempting me so badly!

From Crumbs and Doilies. Purple is my favourite colour, and look, they do giant cakes too! They even have a cupcake blog, which I am now dutifully following!

From Classic Cupcakes. Finishing off with chocolate cupcakes - combining my two favourite foodstuffs!

lovely mugs

2009-10-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Oh, isn't this lovely? I really want to have one of those mismatched collections of crockery, where things tone in with each other but are all different, and this mug contains the colours I would want to build that collection around.

It can be purchased at Rosebud And Farthing (the name of the site itself is wonderful), which, of course, is where the picture is taken from.

I can just imagine sipping a nice caramel latte from it right now...

pansy again

2009-10-03T02:46:00.000-07:00

Just a few, better quality photographs of my little pansy (i.e taken on my camera, not on my phone!)

The last picture is my favourite :-)

pansy

2009-09-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

This is the result of the 'emergency sewing' I had to do after (once again) forgetting a friend's birthday. I'm quite happy with this not-so-little brooch. I had a nice, petite one in mind but this more or less covers the palm of my hand.

I was also pleased that I bought the thread to match the felt, and the brooch back, from two local shops near to my house. Much more satisfying than buying from HobbyCraft.

I intend to work on this design with the aim of listing it on Folksy. I think rather than yellow thread, cylindrical beads would be quite striking in the centre.

So, here is my first Folksy aim: to have 4 pansy brooches listed before December. Well, you've got to start slowly but surely, and I have a few other ideas to work on too!

fun things

2009-09-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've got lots up and coming in the next few days to keep me nice and busy:

* Test driving my new car (wooh!)
* Shopping for a suitable 'black tie' dress
* Going to Alton Towers (for the first time ever)
* Sunday lunch in a nice restaurant with my parents
* Tourism Awards ceremony in Blackpool Tower (hence the need for a black tie dress)

I'm looking forward to my weekend (and Monday) quite a lot! Amongst all of that I hope to get in some sewing - particularly for a birthday present I'm already overdue with, and I really need to sew on the final letter of my bunting, then it will be ready for the bias tape.

Today I have been focusing on my Christmas list - who I want to make presents for and what I will make them. So far I've got it down to:

*A flower brooch for my mum
*A harajuku girl brooch for my sister, and maybe a handbag or purse too
*A flower headband for my 7-year-old cousin
*A Manchester City keyring (or wallet embellishment) for her 11-year-old brother
*An iPhone case for my boyfriend
*Two tree decorations for my two secret santas (work and friends)

All of these will be made from felt, aside from my sister's handbag/purse, for which I may well use fabric from Fabric Rehab. Look at these lovely designs they have!

Anyway, I'm off to figure out what to wear on Monday! Enjoy your weekends!

owls

2009-09-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

Owls by embellished_ featuring Monsoon accessories

I like owls. It may have something to do with the fact that, on Tuesday evenings, I'm called Brown Owl by a group of 7-10 year old girls. So, when I see anything owl-related I tend to notice it (I was very annoyed last year to find owl-print Rocket Dog pumps which don't fit my feet!). I've had a particulary owly time this last week. First, I went into Accessorize and spotted the gorgeous owl brooch you can see on the left. I bought it straight away. It's my first brooch, actually, and goes well with a lot of my tops and the bag I bought not too long ago.

My staffroom at work is having a huge clear out, and on one of the piles of stuff was a book that I loved in primary school - The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson. I fondly remember reading that in the infants.

So all this owl business got me to thinking about my owl necklace (the gold one above), that I got from Love Hearts and Crosses. I found the site through Twitter (I think I just search for 'jewellery'), and it has some lovely things on there. So much so that I couldn't decide which to go for, so instead opted for their lucky dip offer, which I think is an excellent idea. Not only do you get a few things instead of one, it saves you money, too!

LHC goodies by embellished_ on Polyvore.com/

I was really pleased with my selection (I got the silver heart and kissing angels. There were some clip on earrings, too, courtesy of the non-pierced ears option, but they don't appear to be on the site any more) especially with my owl and my 'love is...' necklace, which have been worn a lot since.

So, following on from the owl theme, when I saw that LHC was having a competition to design an outfit on polyvore featuring an item from LHC, mine had to be Oscar!

A wise old owl by embellished_ featuring Valentino bags

I've gone for a sort of foresty, owly theme and I'm pleased with my set!

earrings

2009-09-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

earrings by embellished_ featuring Monsoon accessories

It's earrings like these that always make me wish I had pierced ears.

I can never decide whether or not to do it. On the one hand, I like lots of earrings I see in the shops. On the other, I often feel that only dangly earrings would suit me, and that I don't want to have holes in my ears on the days I don't wear any earrings. Plus, there's a certain type of satisfaction to be gained from not having your ears pierced. I guess because so many people do have pierced ears, not having them is kind of interesting.

After 25 years of being piercing-free, it's quite tricky to take the plunge!

hermione

2009-09-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

It's not just about pirates today... my inner Harry Potter Geek couldn't let the day pass without a mention that it's Hermione's birthday today, and, in fact, her 30th. So, I busied myself last night with finding Hermione related buys, too (which proved much easier than pirates as there was only a small selection!)

First off are these bottle cap earrings by joeydedang on Etsy. They remind me of the butter beer cork earrings that Luna wears.

Secondly is this polymer clay brooch of Hermione wearing the Sorting Hat, again found at Etsy and is by noialand.

Finally, a long time want of mine: a golden snitch necklace! I really wanted to make myself one but the lovely bead shop near me closed down and I can't find wing charms anywhere locally... I'll have to search online, methinks, because I do like making my own jewellery. This is by anniejacks at Etsy and is beautiful!

Again, the pictures belong to the vendors.

pirates

2009-09-19T02:14:00.000-07:00

Ahoy me hearties! Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so avast ye landlubbers and yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Last night I decided to have a scout around Etsy and Folksy to find some piratical delights, and it seems I wasn't the only one with that idea as the Folksy front page is currently showing some of its best pirate related items, including this charming eye patch from Lupin Handmade:

I'm a big fan of Lupin's work, having bought her cherry blossom headband a few months ago. She has shops at Folksy, Etsy and her own site Lupin Handmade which is where I got the headband from. She also has a blog, the wonderfully titled Bugs and Fishes which I thoroughly recommed. I love her birds so much!

Another little cutie I found was this beardie pin by prairiedog over on Etsy:

And if felt doesn't tickle your fancy, check out this charm bracelet from ghostlovejewelry; subtly piratical but overtly gorgeous!

And, as it is my project du jour, I had to include some bunting! This one is by Sue2 over at Folksy.

Of course, all of these photos belong to the sellers of the items!

Why are pirates called pirates?

Because they Arrrrrrrr!

slow sewing

2009-09-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a non-evening yesterday. It seemed to just disappear after getting home at 6pm, going to buy food for tea, making tea and then sorting out letters for Brownies tonight before going to my parents' house to print them off because our printer has run out of ink and only sells the cartridges in PC World, nowhere else. By the time I got back home it was close to 9.30pm and, while I had intended to sew the second letter onto my bunting whilst watching television, my kittens needed a bit of TLC so instead we just snuggled up on the sofa.

This is how the bunting is looking. I'm working on the yellowy-creamy one at the moment, you can see an O waiting patiently to be sewn on! (Although it's not going on the peachy colour you can see next to it) Underneath are the blues (and blue and red paint) for my next set.

I'm feeling super-organised because I bought a storage box to keep everything neat and tidily in, of which my boyfriend approves.

I got most of the felt from Myriad Online, a site that specialises in natural and recyclable toys and crafts. The prices are higher than in HobbyCraft but the quality of felt is so much better! I bought a few HC pieces of felt to balance out the colours (the disadvantage of going off colours on monitors is that in real life they don't always look quite how you imagined), and they were much thinner and less smooth than the Myriad felt.

I was also really pleased with the speedy delivery. I put my order in on Thursday afternoon and my parcel was waiting in my porch on Saturday morning, and that was without requesting express delivery! I will certainly be using them again, especially once their catalogue arrives!

the gears are turning

2009-09-14T04:08:00.001-07:00

Another quiet morning at work, giving me plenty of time to wander around looking at the steam engines (stationary ones, not trains, although we have those too!). They really are lovely. Obviously, they're magnificent feats of engineering, but they are full of pretty things. The wheels, cogs and valves make wonderful patterns by themselves and the colours of the older ones, which tend to be blacks, browns and golds, are lovely too.

Then when you start to look closer, you see that they actually are decorated; little brass hands on oiling taps, twists in the safety bars and floral decorations on top, flower shaped valves... it's nice to think that even though these engines were designed for hard, industrial use, a lot of thought went into their appearance.

I often think that the shapes and patterns in the engines would make lovely art or jewellery, so I've now decided to have a go at making felt brooches using steam engine designs. When this will get done is anybody's guess, as I need to make a start on my Christmas decorations fairly soon. Thankfully, my first lot of bunting is shaping up nicely, I've printed the fabric paint and have sewn on one letter; three more to go then they'll be ready for sewing to the bias tape.

In other news, I've taken the plunge and registered on folksy. I look around at people who actually make a living out of crafting and feel more than a slight amount of jealousy, so I thought, why not give it a go? It gives me a reason to make my ideas into crafts and if people buy them, all the better. It will be a while before I get anything on there - I'll probably start with the iPhone cases first, but I do have an idea (another!) for tree decorations based on the Twelve Days of Christmas so, if I get myself in gear, there could be a few things for sale in the embellished shop by the end of this year!

pictures

2009-09-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

These picture are somes of the many pieces of jewellery I made in 2007 for the 'skill' section of my Queen's Guide Award. And, in fact, the first pieces of felt work I ever did!

I really got into this style, partly because it was so easy to do but mainly because the vibrance of the glass beads goes really well with the metal charms.

These pictures are in honour of the fact that my invite to St James's Palace for the presentation of my Queen's Guide Award came in the post yesterday! I'm so excited, it took three years of work to get it and I'll meet Sophie Wessex. You have to wear Guide uniform to the presentation but I'm sure the occasion merits new shoes - you can't meet royalty in scuffy shoes!

This is my absolute favourite picture from my Egypt trip. The colours on the camels were wonderful, and they had intricate patterns shaved into their hair as well.

This one comes a close second.

In other news, I've just submitted my application to be on the next series of Kirstie's Homemade Home. My house certainly needs it. Fingers crossed!

website wednesday: tatty devine

2009-09-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

If you like unique and eye-catching jewellery, head over to Tatty Devine.

What is it? Tatty Devine is a jewellery and accessory (hmmm, not sure I've ever written that in singular form, it looks odd!) shop - online, Brick Lane, Soho and a recently opened concession in Selfridges.

Why do I like it? As I mentioned previously, I got my name necklace from Tatty Devine, so obviously I like their jewellery! The style is eye-poppingly gorgeous, with bright acrylics grabbing your attention, and gorgeous designs that set their jewellery apart. I love looking at their website because it is like looking at pieces of art (Rosie and Harriet, who are behind Tatty Devine, say themselves they 'elevate jewellery to art status').

I first saw a Tatty Devine necklace on one of those Top 100 programmes, when one of the celebrities was wearing their trapeze necklace. For the life of me I can't remember who it was, not that it's particularly relevant. Then, I saw one of my 'facebook friends' wearing their name necklace. A quick google search later and I was hooked. I mean, just look at this:

Sadly, my ultimate favourite pen nib and ink necklace doesn't appear to be on the site anymore so I can't share it, but I love this Cinderella style necklace! (Picture from the Tatty Devine website)

bird houses

2009-09-08T04:54:00.001-07:00

I want one of these in my backyard...

crafts, christenings and christmas

2009-09-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

Having always thought of making the bunting for the christenings from cotton fabric, and sewing the triangles and hemming the letters, I'm now working with the idea of making them from felt, which will be much more straight forward. I've found a good felt shop online that has a wider choice of colours than my local HobbyCraft.

I'm definitely sold on this for the blue bunting for my friend's little boy, whose christening is in December, as I want his to be quite funky. The baby girl's christening is next month, and I wanted a more traditional feel for hers, which as I said will be creams and beiges with hints of yellows. That's why I liked the idea of cotton, because of the patterns and designs on them which you don't get with felt. But, I may yet do some fabric paint printing to 'rusticify' the felt. Watch this space!

Also today, I have decided to make all our Christmas decorations. Yes, you guessed it, from felt. As we have no decorations of our own having only moved in to our house this year, I'm going to make a collection of circle and star shaped baubles, with ribbons and sequins. I'm not too sure what colours to go for, either traditional red, white and green or this colour scheme, which I really like:

baby bunting

2009-09-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

Something that made me happy today:

offbeatbride announced that a new site, offbeatmama, is in the pipeline. As the name suggests, it will be for mums rather than brides. When the tweet appeared on my screen it reminded me that I need to make a start on the christening present for my friend's baby girl. My plan is to make bunting that spells out her name, in shades of beige, cream and yellow to hang in her nursery. Thankfully, she only has a four letter name so with two pieces on either side that's just six pieces of bunting to sew, which can act as a warm up for another friend's son's christening bunting, because he will be needing nine pieces.

I've had a quick scout around online for fabric pieces, as buying from HobbyCraft or similar stores is so expensive. I quite like the magnolia pack from sunflower fabrics; I think as the backgrounds they would work really well and coupled with some ric-rac braid could look quite traditional.

Something that didn't make me happy today: My kittens ate my sandwich. Oh well.

back to black... and grey, and teal and navy...

2009-08-31T02:56:00.001-07:00

I can't quite believe it's been almost five weeks since I set off for Egypt, but here I am, back at work and wishing I still had more time off!

The five weeks were very busy but a great experience, and having got home in the early hours of Thursday I have had four days off before coming back to reality. I spent those days mainly seeing my family, playing with my (much bigger) kittens, cleaning the house and, most importantly, culling my wardrobe.

A wardrobe sort out is something I'd been planning to do since before I left for Egypt. When the wardrobes were first put together from the flatpacks, my clothes were lovely and organised by colour, which, me being me, lasted all of five minutes. I really wanted to be able to see my clothes, and I knew there were things in there that I don't (or shouldn't) really wear. Thinking of the old adage 'do you wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time', I knew it was time for a clear out.

And clear out I did. I'm half proud, half embarrassed, to reveal the following statistics:

Clothes thrown out: 61

Clothes for charity: 37

Clothes for eBay: 1

'Maybe' Clothes: 9

The maybe pile will be reassessed after Christmas when I will see if I have worn them since. So that all adds up to 99-108 items that I got rid of from my wardrobe!

I have itemised every remaining article of clothing and, although it's certainly not the capsule wardrobe I dreamed of, at least I know what is in there! Out of my keep collection (not including underwear and socks) there are:

Guiding/camping clothes: 18

Gym clothes: 8

Work uniform: 8

Clothes: 51

The top three categories don't really count as they are things I need to have, even if I don't wear them on a daily basis. So, 51 items of clothing - a lot more than the 20ish that are required for a capsule, I know, however I do seem to have two 'capsules' within that. One, a smaller collection of browns, reds and creams, the other, greys, navies and blacks with teals and purples.

One of the rules of a capsule wardrobe (or a mega-capsule wardrobe in my case) is to take three base colours and two accents, that way, all your clothes will match - and I've practically got that done with the latter group.

So, naturally, I went shopping (for things I realised I needed!) and, having evaluated my wardrobe and seen what is lacking it was really easy. I had a lot of jumpers that look good with jeans, but I didn't have a nice, short but not too short, skirt to go with them. Hey presto, a new Topshop black skirt that will enable various jumpers and t-shirts to be worn with my conveniently coloured navy, grey, black and purple tights.

Also, having carried around the same two bags for four years, they were getting quite dusty and faded. So, a trip into Accessorize later and I came out with this beauty, which quite frankly couldn't have been more appropriately coloured than if I'd custom made it myself.

You can't really see on the picture but the sides have teal piping that matches the lining, which you can just see on the handles.

My next lust-have item are these shoes from topshop (they're brighter in real life). I nearly bought them yesterday but at £55 I felt I should spread my spending as the new bag, skirt and dressing gown, plus a food shop, splashed the cash (or plastic) enough on their own!

website wednesday: princess lasertron

2009-08-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across Princess Lasertron via offbeat bride, last week's website of the week. Her own wedding was featured and many brides use her wonderful bouquets. They were swimming around somewhere in my subconscious when a few weeks ago I decided to search for 'felt bouquets' on etsy, and her page popped up, which led me in turn to her website.

What is it? Princess Lasertron designs, makes and sells, felt and vintage button bouquets (among other things) which are popular with brides (and lovers of pretty things) all around the world. Her website is a blog which features weddings her bouquets have been in, other crafty things she makes and sells, and her daily life as she runs her business.

Why do I like it? I love this site, which is mainly down to the fact that Princess Lasertron has managed to create a job doing the thing she loves and makes such wonderful crafts. The pictures she posts are lovely to look at and are really inspirational for wannabe felt crafters like myself (working with felt and felt products may well become a theme of this blog!). She also has a nice writing style so her posts are always interesting to read, and she introduced me to the glory that is polyvore (more on that site to come). In short, she seems like the sort of person I would really get on with in real life, which is possibly a little bit internet-crushy but there you go.

But seriously, if you like crafts, felt, buttons, beautiful colours and pretty things, go there now!

iFelt

2009-07-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

I recently got an iPhone and I didn't want it to get scuffed on the screen. I tried using iPod socks but my phone was always falling out of them so I decided to make myself one.

After thinking about the design for a while - initially I was going to make a flip-top one that would hold the phone but had a flap I could lift off the screen to use the phone, but after finding contradictory reports online as to whether you can put magnets close to an iPhone I gave that one up - I finally went for an 'envelope' style felt case with a flap that can be folded over and tucked inside itself, thus solving the problem of the iPhone falling out all the time.

I hand sewed it, and it all worked pretty well aside from an issue with the bottom seam, which I sewed first before I measured the width required to keep the phone snug. So I have a little strip if extra material squashed inside the bottom, but from the outside it looks ok.

The flower design was, as I'm sure those in know can tell, inspired by Princess Lasertron (more on her to follow shortly). Sadly my attempt to glue the flower on the case backfired (it appears fabric glue doesn't work on felt!) so I had to sew it on and there are a few smudges where the glue is visible, but it's certainly not bad for a first attempt.

My boyfriend wants me to make one for his iPhone (sans flower, of course) and I guess that's the best seal of approval I can hope for!

website wednesday: offbeat bride

2009-07-29T03:17:00.000-07:00

Before you ask, no, I am not planning a wedding nor am I engaged. But my friend was (she got married a few weeks ago) and she introduced me to offbeat bride. She was having a themed wedding and came across the site whilst searching around the internet for similar wedding ideas. And let me tell you, this site is fabulous!

What is it? Offbeat bride is a site run by Ariel, who published a book of the same name detailing the planning of her own offbeat wedding. It's basically a place where brides (and grooms!) who don't necessarily want the whole traditional white wedding thing can get inspiration, share their ideas, and look at some wonderful pictures too.

Why do I like it? As I said, I'm not a bride-to-be but, at the risk of sounding uber-girly, it's just nice to look at weddings! Especially these, as they are so colourful, creative and wonderfully photographed. Admittedly, not all the weddings featured are going to be everyone's cup of tea, but then, that's the point of the site - they're offbeat!

The posts are also great inspiration for crafts and decoration too, so it's a win-win situation all round for me!

A couple of my favourite weddings are here and here. And this bouquet is gorgeous!

time flies

2009-07-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

This week I have found myself wondering why it is that time goes so quickly when you really don't want it to?

On Wednesday I am off to Egypt for four weeks so I have been super busy getting stuff ready, but then this week, when I really needed all the spare time I could get, I got ill. So, I have only two more days before I start the journey (I'm going via London), and not only do I still have to pack, buy a few more things and sort out all the paperwork etc that I have to leave behind, I also need to fit in seeing my parents and my boyfriend before I go, as well as finish a banner that I'm making for the trip.

Thankfully, my trustly little Singer is getting me through the sewing, although the lightbulb was certainly fitted before health and safety came into swing, because I keep burning my hand on it!

I'm quite proud of the banner. It started off looking a bit ropey because I've never sewn such large amounts of material before so the base fabric was getting bunched up underneath the applique parts, but now I've started sewing on the felt design it looks quite nice! Certainly not bad for a first attempt and it will be finished on schedule tomorrow night (because I have no choice in the matter!) Pictures will be up in due course.

Before I go hopefully I will have time to write a few posts that I can put online during the trip, all providing I can get internet access. This little blog may only be fledgling but I don't want it to go into hibernation for a month!

man on the moon

2009-07-20T02:43:00.000-07:00

Today (or early tomorrow morning UK time) is the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. As I work in a science museum, this means a busy day (and week) ahead as we have a lot of activities planned as part of our celebrations. I've got to run three planetarium shows today, which I really enjoy doing so that's all good!

I had a little nosey around etsy to see if there was anything lovely that fitted in with the astronomy/moon theme and found this:

I love the textured metal and the crater holes, and the star is so cute. I know just the person who would love this necklace. It's by ValerieTyler and, obviously, the photo is hers, not mine!

If you're on Twitter, follow @apolloeleven for realtime tweets of the 1969 mission. And while you're there, why not follow @embellished_ while you're at it?

say my name

2009-07-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

I love jewellery that makes a statement, and that says something about the person wearing it. So what better way to do both things at once than a name plate necklace?

Carrie in Sex and the City pretty much set the trend with name necklaces, although I have to say while it might work on SJP, the gold metal version isn't my cup of tea. For starters, I'm not really a gold person when it comes to necklaces, and the range of necklaces that are out there are much cooler.

Anyway, I decided a while back that I needed to get a necklace of my name, and after a scout around the web, settled on Tatty Devine. They make their necklaces from acrylic plastic, they come in three different font styles and you have the option of adding a heart, star, or lightning bolt charm to the necklace.

Unfortunately they don't do them in purple, which is my favourite colour, but I think this turned out to be a good thing because I went for the mirror silver instead. At £35 the mirror options are £10 more than the other colours, but I think they make the necklace look extra special. It really looks like it's cut out of a piece of mirror, and, when the light catches it, it's not always apparent what the necklace is, which I think is cool. I like a bit of intrigue.

When I first wore it, one of my (male) friends asked me if it was a 'bit chavvy'. I could have said, 'it's ironic', but, to be honest, I love it so much I actually don't care if people don't like it. I know it's cool, even if they don't!

If £25/£35 is a bit pricey, try kitsch-tique, who do two different styles of name necklaces for just £12.50. Bargainous!

luscious lips

2009-07-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

I was shopping in Boots this morning when something caught my eye - pink vaseline!

It's tinted to make your lips look rosy. And the colour of the tin was so nice, I had to buy it! So now, my handbag is currently rocking blue (original), yellow (SPF 15) and pink vaselines. Don't ask me why they are all in one handbag, I have no idea.

The problem with this vaseline is, while it is a lovely colour and contains rose and almond oil, I don't think it tastes very nice. It reminds me of the taste of the perfume sticks the Body Shop used to do when I was a teenager (which looked just like chapsticks, hence me knowing what they tasted like!).

Even if I don't lick my lips, once I've put it on I get that taste in my mouth, which is a shame because it's so cute. Oh well, it will be useful for lipgloss-related emergencies.

pin cushions

2009-07-16T02:32:00.000-07:00

In preparation for a sewing project, and having just moved out of my parents' house, I needed to get needles and pins (no more borrowing mum's!). I bought a selection of pins with different coloured pearly beads at the end, because I like colourful things!

Because the pins are so pretty, they deserve a prettier home than the plastic holder they came in. So, I'm looking for a pin cushion (or, inspiration for one I could make myself, because homemade is always best!). I really like the colours of these. In fact, I could by a whole bunch of the dotty ones and display them in a clump on my coffee table!

These are all from etsy and, from the top down, can be found at: lupin, TheLavendarTree and madeinlowell

All photos belong to the makers!

website wednesday - domesticsluttery.com

2009-07-15T04:15:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to do a semi-regular series of website 'reviews'. Just talking about sites that I really like, or sites from shops that I like.

I'm going to kick off with a brand new find: domestic sluttery

What is it? It's a home and lifestyle site for, in their own words, 'women who have better things to do'. It showcases cool, quirky and beautiful things for the home, and fantastic recipes for cocktails and cakes (two of the best inventions to begin with a c!)

Why do I like it? To be honest, I think it would be pretty much impossible to dislike it. As a new home-owner with dreams of a house brimming with domestic bliss, but with a job and two kittens to take up my time, it's safe to say I fit their target audience description and this site is a feast! The pictures and articles are inspiring, and even if the prices are above my budget, well - a girl's got to have a dream!

It's perfect for day-dreaming, finding inspiration for your home and is full of lovely things to look at. Take these alphabet drawers for example. Or these delicious cupcakes. Don't pretend you aren't imagining which order you would eat them in! It would be the pink or purple one for me first.

shoes

2009-07-14T14:52:00.001-07:00

Office - Cheeky Bow

These are so pretty. And just £10. I have serious wants right now! But, they're no longer available in my size, which makes me sad.

But, if you're a UK size 3 or 6, get yourself over there.

sewing

2009-07-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

Look at my gorgeous new toy!

I have been given my boyfriend's grandma's sewing machine. Despite the fact that she is in her nineties I imagined it would be a white plastic one and would be useful for the odd sewing jobs here and there.

But when his mum brought it round today, it was in a case. With a beautiful old key tied onto the handle.

Then, when I popped open the lid:

It's a Singer Sewing Machine! With vintage Singer packaging! And, it's so beautiful! Just look at the golden patterns, and the shiny blackness of it. This is the sort of sewing machine that makes people want to sew. I know I do.

embellished

2009-07-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to embellished, my own little web-corner of... something. I hope this site will become part blog, part creative centre, part craft-shop (well, I can dream!) and full of beautiful things!