Straight up.

Just about to get back to painting my chest (it's a wooden chest, not my actual chest), but I thought to save having clutter later and share this critter with you.


I did a terrible, 'typical me' thing and just roughly followed the instructions, so was super worried that he would turn out looking like nothing, but I'm glad he at least looks a bit like a foxy fox. Perhaps not as foxy as Elsie's family of foxes, which is where I got the tutorial from. I don't even know why I didn't follow it exactly, would have saved me a bit of anxiety (not that I haven't got enough to go around) and it's very simple and easy to follow.

This was the part where I started to get worried that things might not turn out how I wanted them to...



May or may not had to perform a bit of a bodge-job on his poor old nose as the nose I'd bought had a weird back that was too long to just sew on, there's probably a way around that though, tips would be greatly appreciated.


This is from a patchwork set that I got for just £1, mega props to Fabric Land for that one. ♥


I had so many perfectly posed moments that I could have captured but she got very quickly distracted by the reflection of my watch and started going crazy. I think she approves though, as she hasn't yet tried to maul him yet.

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Maybe he is a bit rough around the edges, and a bit fat, but I kind of like him. He was a great excuse to use up extra fabric (and buy some more), so I'm really pleased with him.
Now it's back to painting, but more on that later.

What do you think of my take on A Beautiful Mess' foxy fox? Have you been up to anything crafy recently?

Tuesday Tabs #9

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

This week is a bit Etsy-centric because I might have gone a bit mad and had one day last week where basically all I did was browse Etsy, but then, I was ill so what else was I supposed to do? And I've found some quite pretty things, so it's not technically an unproductive use of time...

I've got some great news, not necessarily for me, but Moon has managed to bag himself a job! I'm so happy because now he won't be such a mope. We're planning on heading down to a place called Newbury tomorrow to check out places to live. We need to have a serious talk about what we're going to do next because obviously I don't have a job at the moment, but my mum said she's willing to support me for a bit, and I'm sure there are other things that can help me out. It does make a me a bit sad though because I actually have enough money to be self sufficient, but only for about three months before it's all gone and then I really would have nothing. So it's a tough decision to make, but I wouldn't mind a change of scenery.

I've not really had any more leds for jobs, but I've only really picked up the job hunt again within the last couple of days so I hope to hear back from places soon, or just keep going...

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Letterpress prints, £23.61, Happy Deliveries


Small Fabric Blue Tit, £150, Catherine Frere-Smith
Not entirely sure why anyone would want this but I totally do.


Don't Forget to Write, £20, Jamie Mills Illustration
This is firmly on my wishlist, firstly because it reminds me of 'Up', secondly because it's a limited edition of 50 and finally because it's pretty big (A3). I plan on buying this as soon as everything has settled down, I already have so many things that I want to frame and put on the wall, but this would be a welcome addition.


There's Always Room for Ice Cream, £22.95, Two for Joy Paper
Is it unusual to want to hang things in the kitchen? I think this would look great in a kitchen.


Crimson Galaxy Print Skirt, £78.69, Shadow Play NYC
You know what I want to know, where the promised 'diffused down to high street galaxy print' is, owning a pair of Black Milk leggings just doesn't satisfy me anymore and while this skirt is beautiful it's a lot more than I'm willing to spend.


Jersey blazer, £49.99, Zara
There's been so much fuss surrounding Zara recently that I thought I would pop into the Kingston branch while I was there. I kind of feel like I'm not yet old enough to be shopping there, just due to the price range of most of the items, however, for investment pieces, I think I'm in love. I saw the most gorgeous bag, which sadly I can't find on the website, for around £70, which yes, is a lot but it would never go out of fashion. This blazer probably is one of their more fashionable items, just because of the pop-colour, but the quality in is ten fold anything I would be able to find in New Look, which when you consider the price isn't too bad. I may consider a more sensible version once I've got a job.



Space bunting necklace, £8, Sophie Dear

(via The Sun: Biz Sessions

'Love Me Tender' (Cover) by Peter Liddle and Matthew Taylor of Dry the River
So fast making their way onto my list of favourite bands, which as many of you may know is pretty tough as I only like about three bands.


1m Tall Totoro Plush, £38.03, MOLAPILA
Feeling as though there is little need for a description as this is just so ridiculous.


Moomins V Mormons T-shirt, £20, Hole in my Pocket


Set of 5 Mr. T Mugs, £32.79, Lenny Mud


I Miss Being A Small Girl lasercut, £87.21, Rob Ryan

(via Goodnight Little Spoon)

Cat Breeds - Contempo Kitty Breeds Poster, £24.17, Sarah Loves Cats
What 'Tuesday Tabs' post would be complete without something cat-related?

(via Goddamnitshawn)

May or may not have had a browse of the 'bacon and eggs' tab on Tumblr after posting this picture of bacon and eggs.


Stallion cushion, £12, Habitat
I usually associate Habitat with being pretty luxury, so I was pretty surprised to find this cushion was only £12, as normally cushions are through-the-roof expensive, seemingly for no reason now that I consider how cheap it was to make two cushions. Sadly due to now having a million cushions and already outputting my crazy on the cat cushions, I can't justify injecting yet more of my obsessions into my someday home's interior decorating, I really don't want people visiting and thinking they've entered the house of a cat and horse-obsessed mad woman.

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Link Love: ♥

Hand-stamped DIY Pony-print Dress — Big lover of any animal print anything, and in a DIY-tastic mood so this may very well get done at some point, it's seems so easy.

DIY Chalkboard Cabinets — Although I'm totally in love with Elsie from A Beautiful Mess' chalkboard kitchen, I think this tutorial by Elizabeth from Delightfully Tacky is much more up my street. Thanks to both these ladies though, I now know that such a thing as 'chalkboard paint' exists, which could make for some super-neat upcycling, Hopefully we'll find somewhere that will allow us to do as such.

Three Springtime Milkshakes — The mega-pie in me would be happier if these weren't milkshakes, as I'm probably the only person in the world who doesn't care for milkshakes, but these are very pretty instructions and I have been known to break my own rule and sip on a banana milkshake every now and then.

Gem Fatale's Feline Fest — Gem provided major Caturday treats at the weekend, featuring nail art homaging that Lazy Oaf t-shirt and the most adorable DIY pocket fabric inspiration - her own tutorial on this is linked below.

DIY Pocket Patch Shorts — Apparently I can't get enough of Gem this week, this morning she posted a really simple tutorial on how to get those patched pockets. I have way more fabric left over than I had bargained for so it's definitely something I'll be trying out soon, talk about excellent utilisation of hair straighteners!

Drunk Girl Designs — Awesome kitchen-themed original artwork and prints, including illustrated recipes, tea towels and this great Sriracha hot sauce print.

Kaylah's Cats looking a squirrel — One of the main reasons I love The Dainty Squid so much is the kitties. I adore this super cute post of Kaylah's cats looking longingly out the window at a squirrel, they're so well-captured.

Famous brands and their names

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I'm not sure how well this post flows compared with others as it's a total mix of clothing, interiors and even jewellery, as well as DIY tutorials. It's been that kind of week though.

Wake me up.

I've had a nice couple of days, and weirdly both have been spent almost completely on my own. I don't really mind as it's meant that I've been able to get things done. I'm so pleased that I'm basically over this flu, here's hoping it never comes back.

Saturday evening was a fairly non-eventful one, although I did finally get around to making one of my cat-cushions. Hand-sewn, with a zip and everything, I'm really not too shabby at sewing. Admittedly, I did have a little help from this tutorial, but in my defence, it was showing you how to do it with a sewing machine and I did it completely by myself. I have no clue how to use a sewing machine, but can definitely see how it would make this 10 times quicker/easier, it took me a few hours to make my cushion, but if I'd had a machine I reckon it probably would have only taken about half an hour, if I got my skates on.

I picked up a metre of this stripey fabric from Fabric Land as I thought all cats might not look as good, and I'm happy because I think they really go together. I've since realised I'll have a ton of fabric left over whatever I do though.


I picked up this pin wheel from this eBay seller, it's so pretty, but I've messed up the pattern and even lost a pin already.


I used to make cushion covers a lot when I was younger, I don't remember it being as fiddly as worrying about seams but I'm glad I took the time to do this because it looks so much better for it.


Once I'd finished sewing the zip in, I placed the fabric so it would be inside-out and pinned it, before overcast stitching the two fabrics together and then turning the cover back out and inserting the cushion. I forgot to unzip the zip first so I had to re-do the last few steps, but I now know for next time. All while my 'adult 18 year-old' sister went out drinking with her pals...



The rest of Saturday evening was spent with Doll being a hunter, and booting up old-favourite, Theme Hospital. Might have done a super nerdy thing and worked out how to boot it using a DOS programme... It's just as much fun as I remember.

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Today was a lovely day too, it's been quite productive, I've applied to around five jobs, which I think is enough considering it's a Sunday - one inbox was even full so I think it might have been better to hold off until Monday anyway. I've tidied my room and just generally been quite relaxed, it's probably good prep for tomorrow when The Apple store is going to tell me I'll need to fork out £101 for a new battery for my Macbook and I'm going to have to pay a visit to the Jobcentre. It's just been one of those days, and the weather warming up makes me feel so positive, it also meant I could let Dolly into the garden without freezing to death.

This is what I started the day with, really hit the spot, I'm not even sorry, this is what Sundays are for. I'm pretty sure I've shrunk a bit anyway as the leggings I'm currently wearing didn't fit me and now do.


Here's a quick Photobooth of what I wore today. I love this t-shirt but I always seem to lose it, and not wear it for ages. I picked it up when Lazy Oaf had their pop-up store off Brick Lane back in November.
T-shirt: Lazy Oaf
Skirt: H&M
Leggings: Dorothy Perkins


Am I bit silly to like this photo? It was intentional, not an 'oops autofocus' moment so I think I can think it's quite good. She was stalking my neck strap, sometimes she really is a great cat, but my sister and I have been discussing that she wouldn't make a very good human.



One thing I did today was sort out the flowers that Moon bought me last week as they were looking a little bit sorry for themselves. I saved the ones that still had a bit of life in them and transfered them to a smaller vase and I've turned most of the roses into home-made pot pourri. I've also pressed a few of them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens... fingers crossed that it works.



This is a bowl that Moon bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It had the worst candy in it, but I've since mainly used it has a trinket bowl. I thought that I could temporarily rehouse those trinkets just for this, I'm pretty happy with this choice.

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Here's finished cushion number one (I'll be working on number two this evening), sitting pride of place with all my other cushions. It's a bit ridiculous, I think when I have my own house these will be much happier on a sofa than on a bed.



Did I mention I'm pretty pleased with myself, I think this has turned out pretty damn great.


Doll seemed to be very happy that I've moved these to the windowsill, I'm very paranoid about her knocking them off, but she seemed pretty happy just sniffing them.





I'll leave you with this one. I'm printing off a few CVs to hand out tomorrow, but any time the printer does anything she's suddenly right there, I think it's because it makes a similar noise to the hoover but isn't as big or mobile.
I hope you have a lovely rest-of-Sunday. x