Lately

Making pretty lunches...





Cats snuggling in blankets...



More snow...



Trip away in the countryside...





Cooking meals for family...



Pretty new plates and wallpaper as a table runner...

Taste Test Results...

I tried out the new Etsy Taste Test feature and it showed up some really lovely things. But I wish I could access the list of items I selected in the first place! These are my top picks out of the list it generated for me...

1 Nature Design
2 Peeko Apparel
3 Taylor Ceramics
4 Lunasa Designs
5 The House of Hemp
6 Studio KMO
7 Elephantine
8 Clamlab

Snowed in

Eight inches of snow and the transport network collapses.. so we've been snowed in for a couple of days which has been quite fun!

I made my Christmas cards yesterday. I folded sheets of cotton-fibre paper (that I bought a couple of years ago and never used) and cut out stocking shapes. Then I put fabric behind the openings and stitched around the edges with white thread to hold the sandwich of layers together.

We've also put up our tree, and I made a skirt for the base which Honey thinks I made especially for her to lounge on.

Skirt Refashion: How to make a button skirt

I made this skirt one afternoon last week and it's already become one of my favourites as it hangs so nicely is comfy to wear. I refashioned it from a longer skirt that I found in a charity shop (it was originally from Precis, so it's a really nice quality and was worth salvaging). The fabric is a thick, silky polyester with a sheen. I don't tend to wear brown, but the weight and texture of the fabric is just lovely.



The basic idea when making this skirt is to salvage the waistband and reattach it to a shorter length skirt, whilst creating a button front. It might sound like a long-winded thing to do when I could just cut the skirt shorter, but the original pleats were ripped and I like my pleats more ruffly. You could add in a side zip instead of all the buttons down the front, but I just love this look, and it's an excuse to use some of the pretty buttons I have in my stash.



Here's a quick 'how to'...

Daily wear: big spots

Top: Uniqlo
Skirt: Charity shop
Coat: Urban Outfitters
Tights: Sainsburys
Shoes: Crocs
Necklace: Charity shop
Poppy pin

I bought this pleated skirt for a couple of pounds several weeks ago, and finally got around to adjusting the size of the waist to make it fit perfectly. I love how it peeks out of the bottom of my coat: it adds a bit of sunshine to this dreary, windy, wet weather.

A birthday

Honey, my beautiful assistant, offered to pose with a simple gold bow (which complemented her colouring perfectly) for a photo for my husband's birthday card. She gave him the card this morning and he loved it!

Day dream

Ikea Karlstad 3 Seat Sofabed
Ikea Karlstad Footstall
John Lewis Cushions
Muji Coffee Table
Habitat Rocking Chair
Unto This Last Shelving Unit
Anglepoise
Ikea Solvar Chairs
Muji Dining Table

I've got bit too much time on my hands at the moment, and I've been daydreaming about all the things I'd love to buy for my home. We definitely need some new dining chairs, but all the other things are purely for dreaming. We have two perfectly good sofas (although I don't like the beige colour..) so I don't think I'll be able to convince my husband to buy the one above. Although it does convert into a sofabed! But we already have a sofabed in the spare room... oops. I've loved that rocking chair ever since Habitat introduced it several years ago. And the coffee and dining tables from Muji are just perfectly simple. Must stop this day dreaming.. my home is already fully furnished!

Basically, if I moved in here I would be very happy!

Colour fun

I've had this jacket for a few years but have never worn it as pale cream just doesn't suit my complexion. It's a fine cotton/silk fabric with a layer of wadding sandwiched in the middle. It only cost £5 from TK Maxx but the brand is Dagmar which I understand is a Swedish brand and I always felt it was too good to give away. The label states dry clean only, but I decided to be brave and hand dye it.



I'm so pleased with the results! The colour I used was Rosewood Red by Dylon and I stirred it in the dye bath for about 20 minutes, then rinsed it thoroughly and allowed it to drip dry.



I wore it on Monday, but the temperatures have since dropped so I won't be able to get away with such a lightweight jacket until the spring! It will work under a winter coat though, as it's feather-light.



Since the original colour was cream, the resulting colour is quite pinky and warm toned. (I once made the mistake of dying a cream top grey, and it ended up greenish!)



When I took the jacket out of the dye bath, I threw in this jumper from Uniqlo. It was originally light grey with bright blue stripes, but the colour just didn't do anything for me. But I love it now and I've worn it twice! It's a mysterious pink-but-almost-brown. I'm so happy I have two new items to wear but I didn't pay a penny :)

Daily wear

My favourite kind of skirt is one that twirls as they always make me feel happy. I made this one from a much longer and larger linen skirt I found. I kept the pretty hemline intact and cut off the top half, gathered the top edge and attached an elastic waistband. It's really comfy and I'll wear it lots.

I picked up the cardigan from a charity shop this week. It was originally from LK Bennett (bargain!) and is more of a jacket as it's made from quite a heavy, tightly woven knit. I was worried the colour didn't suit my skin tone (as I've often been told that I shouldn't wear yellow) but I feel the colour is fine. In fact, I really like it!

Cardigan: Charity Shop

Skirt: Self made

T shirt: Marks & Spencer

Tights: Sainsburys

Making space

For the first time in my life, I have a super-duper organised wardrobe. There are drawers too!! Two Ikea Malm bedsite tables from the spare bedroom slot in perfectly. It's incredible being able to find absolutely anything I want and not having to sift through piles on the floor.

I've discovered that it's impossible to keep things tidy when there's just too much in there... so I'm getting rid of about a quarter of my clothes and have started listing things on ebay. I'll post anywhere in the world :)  Here are some of my faves that I wish I could keep:

Inspiration

I've added lots of images to my tumblr over the past few days. I'd quite happily move into any of these places.

Since finishing uni I've been productive and sorted through every cupboard and drawer. I have two boxes of clothes to list on eBay, and several bags of odds and ends to take to the charity shop. For once, I feel organised; it's such a relief to know everything is in order. The next thing I need to do is touch up some paint work, paint a couple of doors, and possibly paint the insides of the wardrobes. I've written a list of things we still need to buy for the flat (new dining table and chairs from Ikea, a couple of lamps, chest of drawers), and things we can make ourselves (bookcase, shelves). It's terrible having time at home as it makes me want to change everything around!

Glimpses

Since finishing uni last week, I've gone a bit skirt crazy and have made 3 skirts, and found another 3 in Charity Shops that need alterations. I made this one yesterday morning (from a men's shirt) and took it off quickly to take a photo. Little Honey couldn't keep her paws off it!



The brushed cotton is so soft and cosy...



It's just so comfy and easy to wear. I want to make 5 more, but do I need so many..?



I found this Anglepoise in a bric-a-brac shop in Brighton last weekend. It was quite a bargain and I adore the colour.



The sea air in Brighton was really refreshing.



We went on a trip to Oxford on Sunday morning and travelled via Paddington.



Can't wait for these home grown pears to ripen fully.

What I've been wearing

1st Row: Gap t-shirt, Charity Shop cardigan, Charity Shop necklaces
2nd Row: Charity Shop dress, Uniqlo Jeans, Dorothy Perkins scarf

I've always loved the idea of creating a capsule wardrobe: a collection of pieces that coordinate with each other. I'm not organised or minimalist enough to achieve a totally capsule wardrobe, but I do love to pieces that mix and match.

Over the last few weeks I've been wearing a lot of navy with coral and was so excited to find a scarf that incorporates both colours! I think this coat by APC is my ultimate dream, but at $560 it's likely that I'll stick with the navy blue one from UO that I bought a couple of years ago!

Film memories

I finally had a film developed that had been in my Agfa since July. It always amazes me how it captures details, like the sun reflecting on the lake above. It has come out just how I remember it.



I took a few photos of the side wall of Tate Britain that overlooks my college, whilst waiting around for a tutorial. The craters in the stone are traces of bomb damage during the war.



Cherry picking..



Daisies in my granny's garden, standing tall and proud, holding so much hope for the coming summer months.

Little things

Over the last few weeks, my life has been filled with miniature staircases and trees, as I've been finishing my final project.



It was exhausting; I've never worked so hard in my life. I couldn't have done it without the support of my family. One little person found it a bit boring and did all she could to get my attention.



Now college is (mostly) over I can relax and take things easy (for a little while)...



I enjoyed the last few days of sunshine before the rain arrived.



It's so nice to finally have the time to do things like picking damsons (although I wasn't much help and decided to take photos instead...)