Filed under: wish list
… I think it’s time for another cup of tea.
Honestly if green tea wasn’t so healthy then my addiction to it would be a bit of a worry!
Does anyone else have an addiction that just happens to be good for you?
Via den10studio
Filed under: friday i'm in love
I have a bit of a thing for foxes.
I’m not sure whether it’s their bushy tails or their wily ways but they always look like they’re up to something.
There a few that live in my neighbourhood and I always get a total thrill when I see one scampering across the road – it feels a bit like seeing an animal that’s escaped from the zoo (one that can’t eat you though!).
Anyway, for today’s Friday I’m Love, I thought I’d share a few foxy finds… how gorgeous is the fox stole necklace? Think I might have to treat myself to one soon!
Happy weekend everyone xx
1. Cabin 2. sleepyking 3. magicsnowman 4. Lodge 5. bbel 6. thetimeisnow 7. foxparade 8. carolinedulko 9. mrYen
I love love love this dress. So cute, so kooky, so cool.
(Is it mad that it’s my favourite ‘wedding’ dress I’ve seen so far?)
Oh to be another Zoe (a Zooey in fact) and get a gorgeous Erin Fetherston dress for free…
… and look this cute in them…
I would of course be very happy to hug Erin too!
1. via sanasaurus 2. via lovelovelove 3. via orangebeautiful
Filed under: wish list
Love this ‘Heart on Sleeve’ print by Sycamore Street Press.
It’s just so simple and pretty.
(Can’t remember where I originally spotted this print so sorry if that was you!)
I came across these gorgeous wooden objects the other day by Pen Pencil Stencil. Aren’t they fab?
I can’t decide whether I love the collection of ‘kokeshi’ most or the pencil pirate… (I certainly never knew I needed a pencil pirate until now!).
His blog is rather lovely too – especially as he works in Japan quite often and has loads of great snaps of things he’s seen there. So makes me want to be back there now though!
Have a great weekend everyone xx
Found via Present and Correct
So on Saturday myself and the fab Not So Nippy met with Sequoia and Sam from Mirrorbox Photography for a natter (and cup of the green stuff) about wedding photography.
They’re both lovely girls and have a real infectious enthusiasm for what they do – I left wishing my wedding was sooner than it is as I was so excited about some of the stuff we’d been talking about.
The eagle-eyed among you may have realised that I’ve already shown you Sequioa’s wedding, but then I spotted Sam’s wedding over at Rock ‘n Roll Bride so I had to share.
Doesn’t she look so pretty in blue? (And how amazing is her hat?!)
Makes me want to be a shade braver with the dress I pick.
Eeek! My style resolutions are on Tea For Joy today. This means I’m going to have to stick to them!
Thankfully I’ve been quite kind to myself (ie cheated) and not given myself too many tasks for 2010…
If you want to check them out, have a look here…
P.S. Check out how snowy it was the day I wrote them!!
A little question for a Monday morning. Would you rather have a mini harmonica necklace or a mini whistle necklace?
I’m undecided. I know for a fact that I can’t play a harmonica but when it’s this tiny does that matter? Hmmm…
1. SeaUnicorn 2. MothHouse
There’s not enough fun in life is there? (Especially not in January.)
A friend’s resolution for 2010 is to have more fun. I think it’s the perfect kind of resolution – none of this do better, be better, stop being worse we all beat ourselves up with – it’s a promise to yourself to get the giggles more, smile until your face hurts and laugh until you can’t remember why you were laughing.
So in honour of that resolution (and because I feel like I need reminding of the fun things in life) here’s a few things to make you smile – including some of my favourite smiley quotes.
Have a lovely weekend everyone xx
1. Hopeless 2. thesmallobject 3. kristimcmurry’ 4. design sponge 5. ouma 6. Hellomarine 7. thesmallobject 8. farouche Smile quotes by me (well, the quotes are from finestquotes.com but I designed them!)
Filed under: weddingnesday | Tags: lola's room, nostalgic photography, wedding
How beautiful are all these photos by Lola’s Room? I’m in love…
Wouldn’t they make for the most gorgeous, dreamy wedding theme?
I’m especially falling head over heads for the scrabble letters and penguin books… oh, and the Polaroid camera, and the teacups, and… well all of it really!
P.S. Meeting my first potential wedding photographer on Saturday – and even though we’re still no further on deciding on a venue (why is it so hard?) – it’s beginning to feel like we’re some progress. Yippee!
Happy Weddingnesday everyone xx
Filed under: friday i'm in love
It’s Friday and I feel like I could do a little dance of joy I’m such a good mood today. I’ve had a great – if totally knackering – week.
On Tuesday, the other half booked us tickets to go to San Francisco, Las Vegas and maybe San Diego (haven’t quite made up our minds on that one) in April.
As you can imagine we’ve been joking about getting married at the Little White Chapel all week. Don’t think we’ll do it though…
And then on Wednesday, I was off seeing BBC Scotland about a TV pilot I wrote for them. I’m not sure if anything will come of it but it’s exciting all the same – and a good kick-up the butt to keep going with my outside of work writing.
Also this week, I’ve also been plotting and planning… as I’m thinking of starting an online shop for the crafty stuff the other half makes. You’ll have seen some of the things he does on this blog (and I’ll hopefully show you more soon) but it would be nice to get him an outlet for what he does – and there’s only so many things he can make for me! Will tell you more when I know more!
And then yesterday, I discovered some lovely person (thank you whoever you were!) had nominated me for the the Little Blog Awards. I never knew I wanted a Little Blog Awards egg cup before but I certainly do now!
If you fancy voting for me (pretty please), you can click the egg cup image in the sidebar of this blog or click here.
Anyway, as it’s Friday and I’m feeling like stuff is on the move, I thought it was a good excuse to show you this ‘Have a Good Journey’ poster from the ever brilliant Shelf.
Have a great weekend everyone – and if anyone has any San Fran, Las Vegas and San Diego tips I’d love to hear them!
Wedding chapel found on flickr
Egg cup from mutteringsfromthemoor
So finally as promised, here is the making of the world’s most awesome Xmas present… as told to me by my little sis and OH. (They are so sneaky!!)
Step 1:
Source furry material for the main suit, yellow fleece for the crown – plus some buttons and velcro.
This may involve the following conversation in a fabric shop:
“How much fabric would I need to make a wolf suit?”
“To make a wool suits?”
“No, a WOLF suit” *bare teeth, growl & show claws*
“Oh, about 4 metres.”
Step 2:
Wait until your sister/other half (ie me!) is out for the night… and then steal her pjs to make your template with! (This will ensure your wolf suit fits.)
You’re going to cut two sides out of the fabric – a front (which will look like a gingerbread man without a head!) and a back (which will look like a gingerbread man with a head… this head will form your hood eventually).
Step 3:
Put the furry sides of the suit together (so the fur is inside) and lightly stitch the whole thing (apart from the cuffs and hood) to hold in place.
Watch out for cats wanting to sit on it. (Note this will happen a lot.)
You may have to hoover your carpet several times if yours is a stealth suit making mission as the fake fur will go everywhere!
Step 4:
Dust off your sewing machine… and sew like a crazy thing. (Obviously still leaving the ends undone for feet, hands and your head.)
Step 5:
Cut your wolf suit’s tummy open… this is where you’ll put velcro on the inside and buttons on the outside – and will ensure the suit can be put on.
Also why not try on the suit at this point – just to check out how cool it looks already! Ok, so you have no ears but you can use your hands to pretend you have some!
Step 6:
Sorting out your hood… because the back of your suit still sort of resembles a gingerbread man with a head (!) this big square section is what makes up your hood (as the previous pic).
Then “make a separate fur sausage shape to sew to the front of that (hood) for the curve & hemming of the front. If that makes sense!”
Step 7:
“Wolf ears – pointy triangles with two cards inserts each and stuffing. Sew on and pin to hood where they will stand almost upright. This was more than somewhat fidgety when doing it on yourself! Note: If possible get your helpful father to assist with pins… try to make sure he doesn’t repeatedly stab himself in the thumb though.”
Step 8:
Make your tail… “the tail’s gotta be long and heavy so with lots and lots of stuffing”. Then sew it on your suit.
Step 9:
Make yourself a fleece crown. Base this on a Christmas cracker hat… insert plastic tips into the crown points to ensure they stay up.
Step 10:
Give to your sister for her Xmas… expect a lot of wild behaviour to ensue!
P.S. Watch out for this checklist of injuries which may occur during the making of your wolf suit:
- Two pierced father’s thumbs
- 3 broken machine needles
- Two pairs of forever fluffy black tights
- One kitty that thinks I might have attacked her
- Many lost hours trying to figure out the right tension for elasticated fabric
P.P.S. Just in case, you haven’t had enough wolfy suitness. Here’s a vid my Dad shot on Xmas Day… let it be said that I didn’t know I was being filmed, I thought I was just getting my pic taken… and I hadn’t seen what I looked like yet! (Watch for the bit when I discover I have a tail!!)
Filed under: Thrifty finds
So tomorrow’s post should be the making of the infamous suit (I’m learning just how secretive and sneaky my sis and OH can be!) but for today I thought I would show you my favourite Xmas find.
Now me and my sis love going thrifting – so Xmas is a perfect excuse to take a day, just the two of us, and go explore our favourite places for some abandoned treasures (and potential presents!). Here’s a few pics of us hard at work…
And here’s our favourite find, a vintage Cadburys Roses tin… isn’t it pretty? (We didn’t actually find it in the snow I have to add – I just thought it looked pretty to take the pics there!)
Filed under: weddingnesday
Love this globe and map-themed engagement shoot spotted over at Green Wedding Shoes. (You all know how obsessed with globes and maps I am!)
The idea of pegging the maps to the washing line is so sweet!
P.S. Have a quick question to ask you all? I currently post all my weddingy stuff both on Conversation Pieces and Weddingnesday. I’m thinking of starting to post the Weddingnesday stuff on Weddingnesday only. Would you prefer that? Or does it just make it more hassle having two blogs to look at instead of one?
Having a deliberation as looking at last year’s posts, the wedding ones did seem to take over a bit!
Filed under: crafty ideas, me, myself and i | Tags: christmas, present, wild things
So it’s almost the last day of Xmas… the Christmas tree is coming down tomorrow… so what better way to cling to the festive season than by showing you one of the presents my crafty little sis and other half made for me.
I thought I’d show it in picture form, like those old Jackie magazines!
So this is me and my little sis opening our stockings from Santa (along with my other half’s knees!)
Us taking pics of everyone else opening pressies… don’t you just love my sis’s Donna Wilson scarf that Santa brought her?
Me opening my present… you may notice I am already wearing the first bit of the present – a clue!
Have you guessed what it is yet?
Me realising exactly what it is!
Trying my present on…
Just chillin’ in my Wild Things suit…
How awesome is that? Will reveal in another post just how my sis and other half made the suit – just in case you want to make one too.
It’s very cosy… perfect for wild rumpus in the snow!
Happy 2010 everyone! Hope you all had a lovely Xmas? Mine was great but far, far, far too short.
Anyway, I’ve got some fab things to share very soon – presents I got, presents I bought and my (dun-dun-dun!) New Year’s resolutions – but in the meantime since it’s the first Monday back at work I thought a bewildered cat in a giant tea cup was somewhat apt!
I know this is how I feel today…
P.S. For the observant amongst you, this cat looks very like our cat but isn’t… we do actually own a large tea cup planter but taking a pic with either of our cats in it would probably result in blood loss on our part. Shame really… it is a cute look!
Pic via tranism.com
I may have mentioned already but I’m feeling rather Christmassy this year… so I thought I would share some pics of our festive efforts before I disappear from blogland for the year.
Here’s our 7ft tree that the other half carried home himself! I’m only 5′3 so decorating was a little bit trickier this year…
And because I’m technically about to show you the full living room, I thought I’d give you a wee reminder as to what it looked like when we first bought the place… so this is our living room in October 2008…
And this is it December 2009…
As well as putting up the decorations, we also got round to putting up some of my vintage art deco mirrors (I own over 20 of them so they’ve been piled up in the spare room for a while now). This one is perhaps the most Christmassy of them all…
But I also like my little cloud one’s reflection too… you can see my pile of presents I’ve been wrapping on the fireplace hearth.
This is the fireplace in all it’s (rather gloomy due to my flash not working) glory… I got the Victorian mirror from a junk shop in Glasgow for £2! (Perhaps my best bargain ever!)
Also we’re loving our paper snowflakes this year… these are our smallest ones (all the others are in the hall) and they weren’t meant to go here at all… I just stuck them here originally to stop the cats from sitting on them!
And since I haven’t shared this already… here’s the Alexander Girard UO cushion we got for our Parker Knoll. It says ‘love’ in lots of different languages.
And these are the other UO cushions my friend grabbed for me while she was in New York. I adore the Where The Wild Things Are cushion…
Of course, no homey post would be complete without a cat pic… and here she is… our half pedigree, half feral cat looking vaguely festive!
We also sprayed some snowflakes onto the windows (told you we were feeling festive!)
And these little Paperchase owls are this year’s addition to our Xmas decs…
Of which my favourite decoration of all is our Xmas star that my little sis made for me about 12 years. It takes pride of place at the top of the tree every year.
Anyway, I think that’s more than enough Xmas stuff from me… I’m going to take a wee blogging break for the holidays. So have a lovely lovely Xmas everyone and will see you all in 2010 if not before!
Merry Xmas! xx
I’m so excited to being sharing this wonderful Weddingnesday interview… it’s about a super cute elopement to New York.
Sequoia, an amazing wedding photographer, and her other half had planned to go to NYC for their 12th anniversary… and decided that it would be fun to get married while they were at it too!
I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading their story as much as I did…
How did you get engaged?
We had originally planned to go to NY to celebrate our 12th anniversary. One night we were walking home from work and started joking about how surprised everyone would be if we got married while we were there… and how handy it would be to have the same wedding anniversary as our existing anniversary.
At this stage it was all jokes and light-hearted chat, but then once we got back to the flat, Finlay said that we should actually just do it. I couldn’t believe it!
Neither of us had ever had much interest in getting married but as soon as we decided to do it we were grinning from ear to ear and it seemed like completely the right thing to do. And it was.
As a wedding photographer, some people might be surprised that you choose not to have a ‘traditional’ wedding…
I love a traditional wedding and have been to many brilliant weddings over the years. But we just loved the idea of getting married in New York, a city we both love and on a special date for us. Everything fit together so well. My sister lives in Manhattan and it was lovely to have her with us on the day.
From a photographic point-of-view I was delighted to get the opportunity to shoot a wedding against the backdrop of New York, the most visually iconic city in the world.
I always knew I was going to do the photos myself so did some research beforehand on where I’d like pictures taken and then managed to capture them all using a tripod and self-timer.
How did you plan your elopement? Did it take long to plan?
Honestly, it took about an hour. Once we decided to do it, all it took as a bit of searching online and we found the New York City Hall website which had all the information we needed.
We applied for our license online, picked it up the day before the wedding and then showed up ready to get married 24 hours later.
What impact did eloping have on buying the dress/picking the venue etc?
I decided to buy everything once I got to NY as it would be quite exciting to do it all the day before. The dress was in the first shop I looked in, hanging on a rail by the door and exactly what I was looking for, so I really lucked out there.
Getting shoes was far more stressful and involved several cabs round Manhattan trying to track down the right pair in the right size.
Finlay was lucky as he has a kilt and required no last-minute shopping trips. I did plenty of research online beforehand, picking out dresses and accesssories I liked, then I emailed the links to my sister who found the stockists nearest to our hotel. She was a godsend!
Is there anything you would advise someone thinking of eloping (or having a ‘traditional’ wedding) to definitely do – and not to do?
Eloping was the perfect way to get married for us. Our parents were really pleased for us and supported our decision completely.
My best advice would be to plan ahead with regards to paperwork and legal stuff and make sure you have everything you’ll need if you don’t have time to go shopping when you arrive.
Also, we knew before that our ceremony was going to be very short and quite formal. Make sure you know what to expect from your ceremony because you may be disappointed if you were hoping for something more personal.
With regards to a traditional wedding, I know my wedding photography clients get lots of inspiration from wedding blogs like Once Wed, Snippet & Ink and Rock ‘n Roll Bride – the internet is a great place for research on trends and ideas for wedding themes.
What was your favourite bit of your wedding?
The whole trip was a blast, but if I had to pick one moment it would be when the officiant said ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ – I welled up! I know it’s cheesy but it was such a big moment having been boyfriend and girlfriend for so long.
And one thing which made the whole trip a bit more special was the New York Yankees winning the World Series the night before our wedding.
Neither of us know the first thing about baseball but there was a great atmosphere around the city with people celebrating and ‘Empire State of Mind’ by Jay-Z was blasting out of windows all over the place. It’s become our official wedding anthem!
Tell us about your engagement ring and wedding ring?
My mum gave me my Gran’s ring to use as a wedding ring which meant so much as it was another link to family on the wedding day.
We shopped for an engagement ring the day after we got married – another non-traditional aspect of our wedding– and found the perfect one in a little antiques shop near Union Square park. It’s art-deco 18 carat gold with a diamond. The setting is absolutely stunning.
Any tips on wedding photos/choosing a photographer etc?
As I’ve been both a bride and photographer I think I’m qualified to dole out some advice to engaged couples!
The most important thing is to have a good rapport with the photographer so you can communicate your ideas with them. The internet is a great place to see portfolios, but the best way to make a decision is to actually meet the photographer in person.
Also, I wanted to capture as many small details from the holiday as possible as I knew it would go by in a whirl.
Ask your photographer to shoot your table decorations, flowers, favours etc because you may not notice them on the day and its nice to have a memento of them.
And from a photographer’s point of view, every couple and every wedding is different so working with a couple you get on with makes for a great environment for shooting pictures.
Lastly, how does it feel being a Mr and Mrs?
Being a married woman is great, though I can’t get used to calling Finlay my husband!
Filed under: wish list
I think I love You…, originally uploaded by gemma correll.
How was your weekend?
Mine was spent being a festive fairy… spraying snowflakes on the windows, hanging up our paper snowflakes, watching Xmas movies and, eh, turning glass jars into light shades (I’ll explain properly in a future post).
So what’s this got to do with the bear?
Nothing at all… he’s here just because it’s Monday. (And because I couldn’t find a festive pic I liked more than this illustration!)
