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Saturday 31 December 2011

this year.

This will be the year that:
  • Cardy and I moved into our second flat together in South London and discovered a shared love of wooden floor and bay windows
  • I partially tore the cartilage and completely severed a ligament in my right knee
  • I underwent my first ever surgery following the above
  • I discovered that nurses do still give out dinosaur plasters to adults
  • My skate name was registered
  • I went a solid year being happy with my job
  • I joined the most amazing choir which makes me incredibly happy
  • My baking skills went up a level having discovered the Hummingbird Bakery cook book
  • I had a go at some crafty projects which made me realise I'm not too shabby at making stuff
  • I got over my fear of wearing dresses on a regular basis

Wednesday 28 December 2011

crafty photo scavenger hunt - december.

1 - Inspiration.

Comic Book Tattoo is a collection of short graphic novels inspired by the songs of Tori Amos. It features some artists who I think are amazing. So on the whole, a rather inspirational book!

2 - Something I Made.

As it's Christmas I thought I would finally show off this piece of work which I made for Cardy last year. It's rather massive and is a cross stitch version of the Space Invaders arcade game. Pattern made by myself.

3 - Motifs: Geometric.

I bought this for Cardy as a Christmas gift. It's a piece of bismuth, a metal which occurs naturally but can also be grown in labs. This is a lab grown piece. I love the geometric patterns and the petrol puddle colours.

4 - Colour.

I love playing with colour, and one of the easiest ways for me to do it on a daily basis is through the use of eyeshadow. I'm a huge fan of Urban Decay, I love the rich shades and they're generous with the pigment.

5 - Festive.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Sunday 25 December 2011

this week.

  1. Christmas - this year Cardy and I are at my parents for the holiday season. We've had a fab day, a brilliant dinner and a Doctor Who special. Good times.
  2. Getting over my fear of wearing dresses - I've never really been a dress girl, but since having my surgery and being forced to wear a leg brace for six weeks I've got rather used to wearing leggings and dresses. So on Wednesday morning I treated myself to some fancy frocks in Desigual (where else?).
  3. Silver nail polish - robot fingers!
  4. Bob Bob Ricard - I went to BBR with some of the girls from the office. AMAZING. I had my first ever chocolate fondant and I am now officially in love.
  5. Watching reruns of She-ra on YouTube - yeah, I'm a cool kid.

Sunday 4 December 2011

red.

So I took some photos of Juno the other day.

Oh em GEE I still can't get over the level of pretty.

this week.

  1. Chanel of Spectral Impression - OK, not strictly a 'thing' so much as a person, and a lovely person at that. Huge thanks to her for giving feedback when I was attempting to redesign my blog! I'm in awe of her talent, her use of watercolour is just stunning and I love her character designs. She's at the top of my list of 'online friends who I wish I could meet up with in real life and natter over hot chocolate'.
  2. My nurse, aka Cardy - I'm currently unable to do much apart from sit on my backside and read/watch TV/game/try to write/waste endless hours on the internet so having some help from Cardy is SUCH a life saver. And the boy's good at washing hair!
  3. The Guild - I first heard of Felicia Day when one of my dearest friends introduced me to Joss Whedon's Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. When I stumbled across her website yesterday and saw that she'd written and starred in her own series about online gamers I thought I'd give it a go. I'm now half way through Season Three OK, so when I started drafting this post on Friday afternoon I was on Season Three, but I've watched the whole thing - some of the episodes are only five minutes long, don't judge me! It's definitely worth a watch.
  4. The Roller Derby World Cup - the first ever Roller Derby World Cup is currently being held in Toronto, Canada. England claimed a well deserved third place! My money would be on USA to win. It's been such an inspirational event, the fact that all the players and officials have organised and funded this themselves is pretty spectacular. I think that regardless who wins, everyone who has been involved with the event should be very proud of themselves.
  5. Rain - I know, I know, I probably sound like a right misery guts, but it's December for goodness sake! It should be wet and windy outside! Although I'm quite glad that I've been huddled indoors for a week and a bit because hobbling in the rain? Not a good look.

Thursday 1 December 2011

december goals.

  • Get back into regular blogging - I've neglected this blog over the last four months. I think that a bit of a redesign will get the blogging juices going again!
  • Take part in the December Crafty Photo Scavenger Hunt, I had so much fun doing it in August.
  • Bake some delicious Christmas treats!

Sunday 28 August 2011

crafty photo scavenger hunt - august.

I'm taking part in the Crafty Photo Scavenger Hunt organised by the lovely Kirsty aka The Leopard Anchor. Every month she will be posting five categories and those taking part have to take photo to represent each one. This is my first crack at it.

1 - Inspiration.

It is no secret among my friends and family that there is one shop which pretty much owns me. I found Desigual when I was a poor student who could do nothing but just gaze at their clothes in wonder. Now I'm a graduate and have a decent job I am slowly building up a wardrobe to be proud of. I'm not a slave to fashion, but Deisgual clothes not only inspire me to be creative and daring with texture and colour, but they make me feel good in myself too.

2 - Something I Made.

Hummingbird Bakery chocolate cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate frosting - went down a treat for my Dad's birthday!

3 - Motifs: Birds.

I'm going to a fancy dress party next weekend - the theme is 'fancy dress from the neck up'. It finally gave me an excuse to buy a mask from the crazy talented Teonova on Etsy - I thoroughly recommend you visit her shop!

4 - Supplies.

They look like sweets!

5 - Holiday/Vacation.

I haven't gone away this summer, not even for a long weekend, but I think we can all agree that an English Summer isn't an English Summer without some Pimms!

Sunday 21 August 2011

this week.

  1. The riots being over - I haven't really been updating recently as when I would usually compose my end of the week message I've either been ill or watching things burn on the TV. I'm so glad that the trouble is over and London can start to get back on its feet.
  2. Battlestar Galactica - myself and Cardy took a punt and bought the miniseries and first season in the sale and OH MY WORD we are mildly obsessed. It's amazing. Like Star Wars meets Das Boot. And Starbuck as a woman was such a clever mood. Love it.
  3. My new girls - they've come home and it was well worth the wait! They really are spectacular.
  4. OrangeistheSun on Etsy - OrangeistheSun was suggested to me via the 'You might Like' feature on the Etsy homepage. It was a good call! I've emailed her about a custom Davis necklace, I love the vivid colours.
  5. Chocolate cupcakes - I made my first batch of Hummingbird Bakery chocolate cupcakes yesterday and they were a hit when my parents came to visit today. And after making the frosting I couldn't help but lick the spoon.

new in town.

So my two new girls finally arrived!

I can't get over how amazing they are! Juno and Naomi are going to have lots of photos taken of them over the coming weeks.

Monday 1 August 2011

august goals.

  • Make some Red Velvet cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.
  • Get going with Leopard Anchor's Crafty Photo Scavenger Hunt!
  • Sew something! Anything!
  • As my new girls aren't home yet I wasn't able to take photos of them, but I have taken lots of photos of my other girls.
  • I baked one batch of brownies and one lot of cupcakes, and them were pretty damn glorious.
  • I've been quite busy at the weekends so I've not got my needle and thread out yet, but I have been making good progress with my Felicity Hall needlework.

this week.

  1. Zelda in 3D - Cardy bought me this for my birthday and I'm so impressed! The 3D graphics are ace and I love the clever little touches like the gyroscopic camera.
  2. Eden of the East - again, another birthday treat from Cardy! We managed not to watch it all at once but it was rather difficult as it's so good!
  3. Sunshine - I'm not a huge fan of hot summers but I have missed the sunshine!
  4. Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland - I love Coupland novels so much and this one certainly didn't disappoint. I'll have to write a review when I have a moment.
  5. My best friend moving to London - I went round on Wednesday evening and we watched a DVD, cooked Thai curry and drank G&T. Good times!
  1. Birthdays! - I had such an ace birthday this year. My parents came down to London and the four of us had a great day. We went out for lunch, ate lots of cake and had a lovely walk around central London and the local high street.
  2. Cupcakes - whether small and pink or giant and glittery, they're always good.
  3. Felicity Hall - she makes the most amazing needlework kits. I'd been looking for craft kits that didn't look like they were made for four year old girls or old ladies so when I stumbled across her site I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.
  4. Wahaca - I fancied trying something a bit different for my birthday lunch so we went to Wahaca. I was very impressed, I think it's going to be one of our regular lunch spots.
  5. My amazing Lauren Grace rollerskate necklace - thank you Dad!

white tigerlily.

I don't think I'll ever get over how pretty she is.



More on my Flickr.

Monday 18 July 2011

little luxi.

I haven't taken photos of my Pullips since... April 2009 if my Flickr is to be believed. So I decided that my Toybox submission this week should be of my old favourite, my Chill who I renamed Lux. I find them frustrating to pose as I'm so used to BJDs but it was really fun having a big head and huge eyes in front of the camera again.

More on my Flickr.

sugar pink.

I finally plucked up the courage to make something from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook my Nan bought me for Christmas. As it's my birthday tomorrow I thought I would make some vanilla cupcakes for extra celebratory treats.

I was feeling a little bit nervous when I started mixing the flour, sugar and butter together as it was very different to the method I was using before, but I'm so glad I stuck with it and saw it through. The recipe said to whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract in a bowl before adding to the flour and sugar mix, and it resulted in a much smoother batter.

Once the cakes were cooked and had started to cool I set to work on making my first ever batch of butter icing.

I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to basic old icing. This stuff is positively sinful. I am so excited to sample one tomorrow!

this week.

  1. My best friend moving to London - my best friend from uni has just moved down to London so we went out for dinner this week. We've already made rough plans to meet up again soon, it's so great having her closer!
  2. Post-choir drinks - it's birthdays-a-go-go at choir this week so we went out for a celebratory drink on Thursday evening. It was so much fun, I need to socialise with the lovely Lips ladies more often!
  3. Lunchtime drinks - it's also birthdays-a-go-go at work we went out for drinks for Friday lunch. I was treated to G&T, olives and sausage and mustard - lovely!
  4. Office presents - seeing a theme? The girls gave me some early birthday gifts on Friday morning. I got some baking goodies and a gorgeous purple Le Creuset mug.
  5. Hoovering wooden floors - after the dreadful cream carpet in the previous flat, hoovering is a geeky domestic goddess treat!

Sunday 10 July 2011

this week.

  1. Reaching 100 posts! - this is my 100th post! It's taken me long enough. I hope it's all killer and no filler.
  2. 64 Colors' Nature Spirits Dunny - I managed to score both of the 64 Colors 2011 Dunny on eBay. They're making me very happy this week.
  3. Desigual's Autumn/Winter 2011 Collection - Desigual have released photos of some of their new collection. I already have a wishlist.
  4. The Killing - we watched the first two episodes on Thursday and I was very impressed. It doesn't have the usual flash of American crime shows, it looks very stripped back. I guess it's because it's Danish, it has that stripped back realism that I've seen in Scandinavian productions.
  5. London Rollergirls Season Championship - we spend most of yesterday in Earls Court watching the Championship play offs. A huge congratulations to everyone involved, it was a brilliant event. The Storm Troopers doing the rounds were amazing too!

Friday 8 July 2011

nature spirits.

I managed to get my hands both of 64 Colors' contributions to the Dunny 2011 series.


To say that I'm smitten would be an understatement.


More photos can be found on my Flickr.

Monday 4 July 2011

july goals.

  • Take loads of photos of Neko and Blythe when they come home.
  • Bake at least one batch of cupcakes.
  • Have a go at sewing something, whether it be a felted plush or a really basic doll dress.
  • We found a new flat and have moved in! I think I managed to stick to my brief and myself and Cardy are already feeling right at home.
  • I did wear a skirt once, but unfortunately the weather wasn't really on my side!
  • Neko and Blythe aren't home yet so I wasn't able to take any photos of them, but I have started to take more photos of my collections.

Sunday 3 July 2011

cassis & cream.

I decided that Lenore, my Minifee Ryeon, deserved some camera time today.



The rest of the set is on my Flickr.

this week.

  1. Our new flat - yeah, I know that this was one of my favourite things last week, but as all of our stuff was still in boxes last week and now we pretty much have everything unpacked, I think it's different enough to count. We've still got some things to find homes for, but we're more or less there!
  2. Having proper book shelves - in our last flat we opted for a huge display unit from Ikea and while it was good for dolls and other delicate things it really wasn't so great for books. And all of our DVDs lived in a big box and didn't really see the light of day. Now we have two big shelving units that hold all of books, DVDs and lots more.
  3. The rose garden out the front of the flat - we have some lovely rose bushes outside, the smell is amazing when you walk out the front door and the wind hits you just right. They provide a lovely splash of colour too.
  4. My roller skate doorstops - we were looking for a doorstop and I chucked one of my old skates there as a temporary solution. It actually looks rather cool! Looks like it's now become a permanent fixture.
  5. Pancakes - it doesn't need to be Pancake Day to make pancakes. Nothing better on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

kitchen critter.

One of my favourite critters next to my favourite mug. I'm trying to make my new kitchen as colourful as possible!

lazy sunday.

This was the first weekend in a while that we've not had to think about packing or unpacking, so we decided to kick back and relax. Yesterday we popped into central London to buy some bits for the flat. Our new sofa is white so I bought some lovely purple cotton throws last week, so of course we needed some new cushions to match. We're also on the hunt for some pasta/noodle/curry bowls as our previous ones belonged to our landlord. Cardy had the grand idea of buying one each that we really liked - I bought a lovely one from John Lewis with a poppy red reactive glaze. Cardy still wants to shop around.

Today we have pretty much done nothing but do a bit of shopping. I decided that I fancied some pancakes for lunch so I broke in another one of the hobs on our 'new' electric cooker (I say 'new' because it's new to us). I bloody love pancakes with a sprinkling of sugar and a dash of lemon juice. Glorious.

Saturday 25 June 2011

this week.

  1. Moving into our new flat - we moved this afternoon. It was hard work but we did it!
  2. Being able to blog from my phone - BT managed to muck up our Internet but at least I have my iPhone!
  3. Fairy lights - it's amazing how homely they make a place feel!
  4. My Mum's organisation skills - she was amazing today, a one woman army. I don't know how we would have coped without her!
  5. Chip shop chips - especially amazing after a day of heavy lifting.

Sunday 19 June 2011

blue bunny.

I'm a creature of habit.

When I was a little girl, this was my constant companion. He's called Blue Bunny (inspired, I know) and he's been sat on my pillow or by my bed for as long as I can remember. My Mum told me that I used to try to feed him chocolate and when she would clean him I used to watch him go round and round in the washing machine.

He was also my favourite travel companion when we used to visit my grandparents. I remember feeling slightly guilty leaving him at home when I went on school trips. So it doesn't really come as a surprise to me that he's not yet been packing up along with the rest of our stuff. I guess he'll be the last thing to go away, along with the duvet and pillows.

Some things never change.

this week.

  1. The Chain by Fleetwood Mac - we've started to sing this in choir and it's sounding amazing! I'm so excited to be able to perform it in front of an audience.
  2. Finding forgotten chocolate - while packing up the flat we found a stash of chocolate hidden away. Chocolate is lovely, but I do feel slightly sick now!
  3. To do lists - I feel like I'm living off lists at the moment. I'm so looking forward to everything being finished!
  4. Creating my birthday wishlist - I always send Cardy some gift ideas for my birthday and Christmas. My list this year contains a lot of pretty, there's no filler to be found.
  5. Four Rooms on Channel Four - I'm not usually a fan of 'Flog It' style shows, but I've become slightly addicted to this one. I guess it's because the items are so quirky.

Friday 10 June 2011

rainy london.

Today it rained a lot. I had to go over to the other office this morning and got soaked on my way back. Luckily I had a spare pair of trousers with me as I was wet to the knees. When I got home I decided it would be the perfect time to take a photo of the Dunny I bought the other week.

It's raining again now - I can hear it pattering on the roof.