‘Have nothing in your
house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’
Now that’s just crying out to be hung on a wall or embroidered onto something.
29/08/2012
Standen - an English country garden
As mentioned in my last post, I spent bank holiday Monday exploring
Standen, a beautiful house in Sussex looked after by the National Trust. Hopefully
you will be able to see from my pictures that the gardens are stunning, filled
with flowers, secret corners and plenty of places to sit and admire the views.
The house itself is styled with William Morris wallpapers and an array of beautiful
patterned textiles. It’s just the kind of place I could imagine living (well, a girl
can dream) and in fact as you go round the house you can follow the story of some
guests staying for the weekend through a series of letters and
diary entries. It was all so interesting that I was too distracted to take
any pictures inside, but I did pick up a great quote from William Morris
himself...
Labels:
Live
27/08/2012
Daisy nails
I spent today looking around a gorgeous English country
garden, complete with vegetable plot, orchard and croquet lawn (but more on
that in another post). So it was only fitting that my nails sported a few flowers
and greenery in the form of daisies and my favourite pastel green polish - perfect for wandering amongst the flowers.
Hopefully these will cheer me up at work tomorrow too... if only every weekend was
a bank holiday.
Collection 2000 Manicure in French White / Barry M in Lemon / Topshop in Gone Fishing
I hope you’re all having a fantastic day!
22/08/2012
Handmade floral skirt
Back in February I made my first ever skirt and posted a few top tips learned from the experience. After that, I fully intended to put
away the sewing machine and try some other things... until of course I spotted
some amazing fabric in a shop in Brighton. It was floral and it was on SALE.
I love it so much that I sneakily wore it last week before finishing the seams as I couldn't wait!
I might even try a dress next time...
Obviously I then realised I needed a spring/summer skirt as
well as the autumn/winter skirt I had just finished, so skirt number two began.
It took me slightly less time to complete and was only marginally easier second
time around - it’s safe to say dressmaking takes practise, practise and then
even more practise. I still made the same mistake with the waistband and had to
ask for help a fair few times.
However, despite the often frustrating moments it’s all
worth it when you have the finished item! I love the skirt (even if the zip is
slightly wonky), it has been great for summer and, as I made it myself, it’s the
perfect length (I’m quite tall so most high street skirts end up as a rather
unflattering length). I love it so much that I sneakily wore it last week before finishing the seams as I couldn't wait!
I might even try a dress next time...
Labels:
Craft
19/08/2012
Floral bow from The Vintage Set
Last Sunday I was lucky enough to win a twitter competition
for a gorgeous oversized bow from The Vintage Set. As you can see it’s blue and
floral – a match made in heaven! It came in a gorgeous package (I’m sure I can
use that pearl bead string for something!) and obviously, once it arrived on
Wednesday I couldn’t wait to wear it. As it comes with elastic headband it’s
perfect to wear in your hair, but that’s a bit too casual for the office and I
had couldn’t wait until the weekend now could I? So, in order to make it more
work appropriate I had a go at styling it different ways...
The package
I do love anything floral
On Wednesday I tied it to my favourite vintage style bag – and received lots of compliments at work
Then on Friday it brightened up a plain black top with the help of a safety pin
I’ve had several more ideas too – it could be used wrapped around a pony tail/bun and used as a hair tie rather than a hair band, or worn as a cute collar/bow tie with a buttoned up shirt... the possibilities are endless!
The package
I do love anything floral
On Wednesday I tied it to my favourite vintage style bag – and received lots of compliments at work
Then on Friday it brightened up a plain black top with the help of a safety pin
I’ve had several more ideas too – it could be used wrapped around a pony tail/bun and used as a hair tie rather than a hair band, or worn as a cute collar/bow tie with a buttoned up shirt... the possibilities are endless!
How would you wear it?
12/08/2012
What’s in my knitting bag?
There have been a lot of ‘what’s in my handbag’ posts at the
moment and I love a good nose in someone else’s handbag, especially when the
bag is as pretty as this. Unfortunately, if I were to
do one of these posts I would feel obligated to include the receipt, 1p and pen
lid graveyard that lies in the bottom of my bag and I’m sure none of you want
to see pictures of that! So instead I thought I’d reveal the contents of my
much loved knitting bag.
What’s in your knitting bag?
You can probably tell from the image that the short answer
to ‘what’s in my knitting bag?’ is A LOT of Cath Kidston. But to go into
slightly more detail...
1.
Knitting needles – the majority were given to me
by my Nan as she no longer knits much. They’re mostly normal needles but there
are a few funny shaped ones that I have no idea about!
2.
Wool and receipts - I know I just commented on
the forgotten receipts that live in my handbag, but it’s actually a good idea
to keep wool receipts so you can return any spare balls at the end of a pattern, genius.
3.
Maoam – I love these sweets and end up with
packs everywhere.
4.
Current knitting pattern – find out more about
the pattern here. I’ve also got a photocopy of the page I’m using, as
the booklet won’t balance on the arm of my sofa without constantly sliding off.
Irritating beyond belief, trust
me.
5.
Tape measure – it matches the bag. I love it.
6.
Scissors – see answer to tape measure!
7.
Pins and pencil – The ‘book of pins’ is also
from Cath Kidston, I was worried it wouldn’t stay shut to start with but it
does the job perfectly.
I did consider keeping on my
bookshelf but it’s really much easier to keep in the knitting bag.
8.
Knitting – I finally had time to start my next
project, a summer cardigan. Although I’ve already gone wrong several times and
am only a few rows in so I highly doubt it will be finished in time for this
summer!
Labels:
Knit
08/08/2012
Summer scarves are a girl’s best friend
I've noticed that in the office at work that we (and by 'we' I mean the women)
each have our own style, there’s the one who wears bright colours, the one who
wears neutral colours, the one with a heritage style, the one with a preppy
style and me – the one who wears scarves. Somehow I always seem to have one somewhere
about my person and with the unchangeable weather this year (apart from that
one week of summer, now a distant memory...) I’ve been working the summer scarf
A LOT.
Today I discovered that many colleagues have already given
up and packed away their summer clothes in preparation for autumn! But, if like me you’re not ready to give up on the
sunshine just yet, here are three must have summer scarves to hold off the winter wear a little bit longer...
1.
White and lightweight. It goes with absolutely
everything and has pretty embroidery, what’s not to love. You could totally buy a plain white scarf and do some simple stitching as a DIY.
River Island
2.
Pastel green , this one always helps to brighten up a grey day. Plus it's the colour of mint ice cream!
3.
Vintage AND patriotic, anyone else hooked on the
Olympic Games?
Accessorize
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