Today was an incredibly uneventful way to see in a new month. Scarily seeing in a new month really, what am I going to do? I sure hope I don't see in another month jobless, this is all getting very uncool. I still don't think I've caught up on all my lost sleep from this week as I still feel exhausted, but I'm beginning to think it's probably more down to the general stress rather than just not sleeping enough. I did this on Friday morning, but I figured that now was as good a time as any to share them with you. Because it was so cold yesterday I still haven't got around to finishing off upcycling my chest, but expect to see things in the next few days.
I used Gem Fatale's fool-proof tutorial and I'm super-happy with the result. I picked these jeans up for £13 from Primark, and they'll do as a good stand-in for the Republic daisy-print trousers I've had a hankering for. Although polka-dots do add something different to these jeans already, I think they needed a little extra. They were too long for me anyway so needed taking up, but having kitties on the pockets is the best bonus. I don't think I did a too bad job considering I was lacking hair straighteners which look as though they would definitely make the job a thousand times easier. Now I know it's this easy, I definitely think I'll give it go again in future.
While I remember I also thought I would share these neat tropical-print shoes I picked up from ASOS for just £11. I'm currently not that happy with them as after a first serious wear they've left me with some very sore blisters. I'm willing to push on forward though because overall they're pretty solid and feel like they might last quite long, plus the pattern is pretty...
Have you bought anything fun lately to fully embrace the brilliant weather, may as well enjoy it while it lasts.
Today's the day I start FatMumSlim's April Photo A Day Challenge, which, due to how this post has turned out, I'll slip into a new post. There's still a lot of the 1st of April left, so it's not to late to join in.
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.
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?
I know it's late and we're all tired, but I have some de-cluttering today. I'm pretty sure that I've placed a comfortable fifth in the Motel Rocks Nail Art Competition, but it was nice to feel appreciated, particularly as there were so many other great entries.
I realise that this is a bit futile as I've been relatively absent for the last few days but I swear it's because I've been so busy, I've barely even touched my computer. Today was a bit of a dead-loss, we went all the way back down to Newbury for just one house thinking it would be a total dream, when it was actually a bit of a dump, nothing worth settling for either and pretty 'studenty'. I think we've found 'the one' though, here's hoping that it's not gone, and if it is, we'll have to keep looking, we were being a bit optimistic in thinking that we'd find something in just the three weeks leading up to when Moon starts his new job, which is Monday! As well as racing down to Newbury, I also did the first few bits of my upcycled chest/bench. Wilkinson paint is currently my best friend, £1 for a decent-sized sample pot that was more than enough for the first part, except for the yellow, I don't recommend yellow - but more on that later.
I only got home a bit ago and all I've done is made a cup of tea and feed the cat, you're pretty high on my list of priorities. The job front is looking up a bit, I received the expected rejection letter from Sky, but I kind of knew it was going to happen, and I have an interview for an internship with theprintspace tomorrow, which I'm super-excited about. I need to get my skates on really because I haven't had time to really prepare or even plan what I'm wearing, today and yesterday have been such a mad-rush, no thanks to the impenetrable fortress that is my current doctor's surgery...
So this week, despite it only being Tuesday, when it feels like it should be Friday, is going really well and I feel like I'm getting a lot done. I'm going to start sewing a few more things, which I'll share with you soon, there seriously needs to be 30+ hours in a day with a week like this. Between personal projects, admin and applying for jobs, I've still got to fit in driving lessons and my test is scarily so soon.
Coral Demask Prom Dress, £39.50, Dorothy Perkins
I can't really resist a good prom dress and I think this one is so cute. Coral is the best colour for getting you in the mood for things feeling a bit more springy - although the weather is doing a fair amount to remind us of that at the moment anyway. Sadly I can't justify the nearly £40 price-tag at the moment, but the shape and colour make it a real beaut.
Laundry Double-brooch, Hairy Sock
I was really sad to see that this is now out of stock, I'll definitely be keeping a beady-eye on Hair Sock from now on, or a having a thorough browse on Etsy. I've never really seen anything like this before, and it goes really well with my current love of collars.
Smitten With Kittens Tee, £30, Brat & Suzie
I don't know how I forget that designers like Brat & Suzie exist, Moon and I always stop in at Boy Parker in Brighton and Brat & Suzie is definitely one of the more memorable brands there, although there is a lot of great designers to choose from. I love this t-shirt, what could be more apt for me right now, but I think it would teeter me over the edge of the cat-lady scale, it is in my favourite colour though...
Young Colossus, Orlando Weeks.
Being the fan-girl that I am, I've already placed an order and I'm so excited to get it. Orlando Weeks, lead singer of The Maccabees, not only designs their album artwork, but has also worked with Florence the Machine and Jack Penate. This will be a lovely treat for my eyes and ears, a book with a six-song soundtrack, having heard a few of Orlando's other side-projects, I'm hoping this will live up to expectation. There's a limited number of 1,500 copies but you kind find more information on the Young Colossus website.
No advert has made me want to commit to a phone more. So much lolz, and such a pretty phone/tablet/awesome device.
Car-print skirt, £12, S/S 12 Primark
Sadly I couldn't find this lovely skirt anywhere when I popped into the local Primark yesterday, I have settled on a cute car-print shirt in lovely pastel colours but it just isn't the same. Maybe it's gone forever... #sadface
This song is so nice, I'm kind of annoyed that seeing Brian Wilson live put me off The Beach Boys for so long, because they have some pretty cracking songs.
Link Love ♥:
Plus Fox Doll DIY — I've already cut and pinned the material for my first attempt. I went a bit crazy in Newbury Fabric Land when I saw they even had nose-buttons so I'm thoroughly on this one. I've made a few alterations, but I hope to make a few, particularly as the bag of 'toy stuffing' I got, is enough for around five...
Quilted Diamond Tote Bag — (viaHow About Orange) — Download a neat .pdf pattern to make your very own quilted totebag, another project that will put to use the metres of extra fabric I have left over from my cat cushions.
DIY Starfish Hair Clips — Clearly I've been in a bit craft-centric this week without realising, but this is another DIY tutorial, this time for cute coral hair clips. You often see shells and starfish when by the sea sold as souvenirs, and I think this is a much better way to keep them than as ornaments, if that's even what you're meant to buy them for...
Crafty Creatives — Plugging these ladies again, if you've paid attention thus far and think you might be interested in the above, you should definitely get yourself signed up to Crafty Creatives. They'll provide you with a pretty monthly delivery of neat craft projects, kind of like Glossybox but a bit more hands-on.
Joseph of Hoxton — A moving, and funny documentary photography series about an 81 year-old man from East-London called Joe by Photographer, Martin Usbourne, definitely worth a view, the text is great. Along with Martin Usbourne's animal portraits, this is one of my favourite projects of his.
Glasto Facepalm — Possibly one of the best Twitters since Chino Wanker.
Pie & Vinyl, Southsea — Taking Rough Trade East's coffee/record shop a step further, I think a visit to Portsmouth is required it sounds like so much fun. Such a shame that some nice/creative things are finally happening in Portsmouth now that I'm not longer there.
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.
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.
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.
