All Tied Up

Today's outfit. I didn't go out anywhere today but I think that's the best thing- if i'm at home all day I can wear what I like without worrying about how it looks! I haven't worn these leggings since I got them because at the bottom there's a thick band of lace which sort of sticks out weirdly, but I love the colour so i'm trying to find things to wear them with. I think lilac is a great colour but it's quite hard to wear. I also quite like tying this shirt up at the front but leaving the back hanging long, just because it's something a bit different. I think it brings a little bit of a summery feel to the outfit! You can't see very well in the photos above but the skirt actually has this subtle pattern all over it. I'm not sure what you'd call it though, it's not exactly brocade but the pattern is all raised and kinda textured. I got it from the Clothes Show Live last year in the vintage section, I think it was around £10? I bought it for work experience (I was in a school) but it's a nice shape and I don't own many black items of clothing so i'm going to try and wear it more this autumn/winter.

shirt- Topshop, skirt- vintage, leggings- John Lewis, necklace- Fat Face

Snappy Snaps!

Just a quick, simple post to show you a few of the shots from the two shoots I've done recently. The first was very quick with my brother in Norfolk last weekend, in a field which had been cut down. It was actually raining at the time and the settings kept going wrong on my camera so I had to do the same things like three times!! My parents were picking blackberries from the hedgerows whilst we were doing this- public ones, don't worry we weren't stealing! We actually used them with some of my grandad's apples to make a pudding for tonight. When my brother was taking this I was actually yelling at him to get a move on because the sign wasn't exactly thick and was cutting my butt in half. Not pleasant!

I was trying to make this photo look all old and film-ey, but i'm not sure that really worked.

These were from last week when I met up with a friend for a little shoot in some woods in Marholm. Luckily it didn't rain, but I didn't take very many shots. She definitely got better ones than me, but that's a given because she's so amazing!

Walk The Lines

I've always been into art, but during the past couple of years I have really gone off drawing for some reason. I used to love using all of the different pencils to create the most accurate drawing of a flower I could, or anything else for that matter, but during gcse art I've just hated it! So after seeing that various bloggers and photographers use pens for more graphic drawing, I decided to give it a go as it was something which I had never tried before. I went to Hobbycraft (one word/ two words?? who knows!) with my mum and she very kindly bought me a pack of four black drawing pens, of varying thickness'. I've practiced with them a couple of times before, but today was the first time I tried to properly sketch with them and I thought I'd share the result! As I spent the weekend with my family at Hunstanton, I took with me September's issue of Elle to read again because I knew that I would have missed out some features the last time I read it through. The photo below is definitely by far my favourite image from the magazine, as it's just so simple and quite cute. I think I also like the symmetry!

I wasn't sure if the reflection of the flash off the page made it difficult to see the photo, so below is the same image with the flash turned off. I don't know who the model was, but if she ever sees this then I apologise for accidentally making your lovely legs look so chubby!

On a completely different note, who likes the patterned backgrounds to these photos?! The first one is a quilt which I found in my grandad's house and is at least 50 years old, the second is my duvet cover. I have no idea where that came from, but i'm sure it's pretty old as I don't remember it being bought and it looks as though someone actually made it themself from a large piece of fabric.

Oh and also, I've just applied for my first ever job! Fingers crossed I'll get it, it would be really great to earn some money of my own finally. My best friend from primary school is going for the same job though, hopefully there won't be too much rivalry. I'm certain we won't fall out, we've been friends since play school!

Big Day!

So, yesterday was gcse results day. After feeling totally fine and not too worried for the whole of the holidays, I had a bit of a last minute scare on monday evening when I suddenly realised that if I had done really, really bad in the final exams then I may not have got into the sixth form of my school, and I hadn't even applied to anywhere else! Luckily I needn't have worried, I found out that I got 6 A*'s and 8 A's!! So so happy about that, I even managed an A* in textiles which I never expected at all. This is what I wore to collect my results, along with my brogues and a short trench style coat.

top- H&M, short- thrifted, tights- Jack Wills

As a sort of reward to myself after exams I went into town with a couple of friends for lunch and allowed myself to actually spend some money! Only at the charity shop though, obviously. The first thing I saw as I walked through the door was this Warehouse shirt in a size 10. I'm sure I remember seeing the same one actually in store not all that long ago, which may have been what drew my attention to it. It is a little tight around my chest and the buttons do bulge a bit if I move my arms weirdly, but other than that it fits pretty well. I really like it buttoned all the way up for a more quirky look.

shirt- thrifted/originally Warehouse, everything else- as before

Also bought some leopard print bows from H&M, because I don't have many hair accessories.

hair bow- H&M

Best buy- a pair of boots! £3.75 from the charity shop. I have similar ones which you can see to the right in this photo but they have little heels, so I though as these are flat they would be more practical for walking on days out and such like. Mainly, as usual, I was thinking about the art trip to Paris in October! I now have plenty of clothes and shoes to keep me comfy yet relatively stylish whilst walking around loads of art galleries and museums.

boots- thrifted

Mum took me for a haircut in the evening, and they straightened it so it looks really long! Sorry about the rubbish photo but I only remembered to take one right before I went to bed.

This necklace also arrived in the post today, a free gift from one of my lovely flickr contacts along with two prints of her photos. I don't have many short necklaces that aren't too chunky, so i'm sure i'll be wearing this one lots!

dress- Jack Wills, cardigan- H&M

Bang Bang Jewellery

I am having some serious jewellery cravings right now. Mainly, I want unique jewellery with minerals (or gemstones, same thing to me haha). I found these rings and earrings on etsy and my brain just screamed 'I NEED THOSE RIGHT NOW'. My absolute favourite is this purple 'agate slice' ring- the bright colours and huuuge-ness of it just make it completely amazing to me. I just love the clash between the bright purple ring and the red nail varnish. I actually have a slice similar to the one below from back in my manic-gemstone-collecting days, except it's slightly smaller and green, and was considering doing a DIY with that. Thing is i'm a little scared about ruining it and getting glue everywhere; maybe this week i'll have a look in town and see if there's anywhere selling a basic double ring which I can glue it onto. I only have about three rings at the moment and I don't wear them very often at all, so something like this could be great for parties as something to jazz up a basic outfit with. This one looks like a slightly smaller and less 'obvious' version, possibly more sophisticated even?? I can see this working with an entirely neutral outfit, like a cape and tapered trousers. But because it's still pretty big it would really bring everything together and add some interest to what could be a boring outfit. Ahhh there I go, planning my a/w outfits around clothes which I don't have and probably never will! I think it's best that way for now, at least until I have money to buy clothes with and places to wear them to. Although I think on tuesday after getting my results (aaaah!) i'm going to go on a charity shop crawl around Peterborough town centre and if I see anything I like under £10, i'll just buy it as a well done to myself for (hopefully!) doing well. And if I don't do well, then i'll just say it's something to cheer me up!

If only I had my ears pierced, I would wear earrings like this all the time. They look as easy to wear as the fake pearl earrings everyone has these day, but still be slightly different so that you feel a bit more special in the day.

I wanted to get my ears pierced in year 5 in primary school, but in the end my friend did and I didn't and my mum just seemed to suddenly forget all about it. I'm thinking about maybe getting them done for my birthday this year though, because i'm always seeing cute earrings and wishing that I could wear them. But then I get scared and think 'what if I don't like wearing earrings, or I get an ear infection or something?!'. I'm like that too often really, whenever it comes to things that I can't change back straight away if I don't like it- like my hair! Who knows, as it isn't my birthday for a while yet (December!) maybe i'll become more confident in my appearance and finally take the plunge.

All photos from here

Hoot Hoot

Bit of a self promoting post here i'm afraid haha.....but not to sell stuff, just to show you these little owl plushies which I made this week. Okay so yes I am selling them, but that isn't why i'm writing about them I promise! I just think they're super cute so it would be nice just to show you guys some photos of them. The one on the right is the first one I made and was more of a test go really to see how well it would work, but I think it's turned out fairly well anyway. The left is my favourite though and I'll be sad to let it go if i'm honest, because it goes so well with my room and is just so sweet! I'm sewing them completely by hand and using only bits of fabric which I already had, either scraps of vintage or cut offs from clothes which I've had to take up. They do take quite a long time to sew, but if I did them by machine they would 1) not be as neat and 2) not be as lovely and handmade. edit: I actually started this post yesterday and since then someone has said they want to buy the plushie on the right- YAY!

These plushies are made almost entirely from scraps of fabric which I already had; the only parts I bought were the trim as 'feathers' on the body, the buttons used for the left hand plushie, and the stuffing. A lot of the fabric is actually just offcuts from clothes from charity shops, like the main body of the one below is from a skirt which I took up and sold to a friend, and the floral print on the one above is from another skirt which I took up for myself.

Check out these cute little buttons below! I bought them a while back to possibly swap onto a jacket, but in the end I didn't use them and they are just perfect on these plushies. The roman numerals are like a clock face, and I made sure to sew them so that the 12 is at the top just like a real clock. I don't know what other people think, but as far as i'm concerned they're just adorable!

I have also made one more plushie since I took these photos which is quite blue with a pink gingham background and a denim section around the eyes- it reminds me of something old american style, but maybe that's just an English stereotype haha!

The Perfect Bangle

Back from a rather windy weekend from Hunstanton- thinking about blogging even on the beach! ^ Hopefully this means I'll get into the habit of blogging more regularly...

I don't usually like candid photos of myself, or generally many photos of my by other people, so I really had to post this one taken by my brother when he hijacked my camera on the beach. Not only is it candid but i'm actually smiling and showing teeth which is something I would never have done a couple of years ago because I was so self conscious about my teeth. The reason for this was that my two incisors (?) are pointier than most peoples, so I thought that whenever I opened my mouth people were staring which obviously wasn't true. Although once at primary school I did have one younger kid come up to me in the playground, point at my teeth and say 'aaaaagh a vampire!' and then run away! It didn't particularly offend me at the time, I just laughed, but maybe that's part of the reason I was so self conscious??

The charity shops at Hunstanton always seem to have one or two good things in them, although they're mainly just accessories seeing as I don't think I've ever bought clothes from them. This bag is for me and mum to 'share', although I think it's quite likely that I'll use it more than her! I normally only use cross body bags but I liked the subtle pattern in the leather, plus for some reason i'm really attracted to red accessories lately. I don't really like the white stitching but it's not too obvious from a distance, so I'll just learnt to ignore it. Another thing which appealed to me with this was the folding over top- I won't lie, I was thinking of that Mulberry Alexa bag! Ohh what I wouldn't do to have that bag!

I think this is one of the best things I've ever found in a charity shop! I used to be obsessed with jewellery and base my entire outfit around it, but for the past couple of years I just don't seem as bothered about it. I have a couple of simple necklaces which I wear often, but other than that having anything around my wrists or neck just seems to annoy me. I noticed this a couple of months back and decided that I had to find some cheap yet good quality vintage jewellery. Thing is, since then I've seen none whatsoever in the charity shops, and in 'proper' vintage shops in London everything is so expensive! But then yesterday I happened to glance over at the jewellery section in one of the charity shops, and alongside the usual bought-in cheap looking bangles was this beauty! It's fairly old and worn, and looks a bit like a mini tapestry around it. I've actually worn it every day since I bought it, which is saying something for me as it just goes with everything in a strange way. And it only cost £1.50! I don't think my love for charity shops will ever fail me....

Rain Rain GO AWAY!

This is yesterday's outfit, although I have to admit I didn't wear these shorts all day because they really are very tiny, and so not so comfy for sitting down in! I bought them not long ago on holiday, mainly because I wanted some high waisted ones but not those which have lots of buttons like a corset. Though these are indeed very short, I still love them. I was debating with myself whether or not to sell this bodysuit/leotard yesterday, because although I do really like it, I never know what to wear it with. It's ever so slightly big on my around the belly, so the excess fabric does make me look a bit larger, but I really do like the pattern along the sleeves. I think for now i'm going to keep it, but if I haven't worn it much in the next month or two I'll have to let it go.

I got this backpack from a car boot sale on the second day of holiday, and I was just so happy when I spotted it! A few weeks before then I had gone to a show with my family and there was a stall there selling leather backpacks, but they were around £40 each and I don't have that much money to spend on something which isn't really essential. But this one only cost £4, and the leather looks like it's in pretty good condition without scratches or anything. I think it'll be really good for the art trip to Paris in October, because it's so strong and I can put all my art materials and camera in it for walking around lots and lots of museums and galleries!
These boots have been so great, I found them in a charity shop at Hunstanton for mere £2.50! Every time I've worn them since people have asked me where I got them, and is it bad that I kind of like saying that they were thrifted?? Haha, i'm one of those people who hates it when people have the same stuff as me, not because I want to stand out or anything but I would just rather my clothes only belong to me.

I'm staying at Hunstanton again this weekend until monday, so who knows I may find some other good things on the charity shop crawl with mum!

bodysuit, shorts, boots, backpack- all thrifted, tights- H&M, socks- Topshop

Treading The Boards

Today me and my brother went for a little bike ride with my camera to check out a possible new location which I had walked past before, but never properly investigated. In the end we only got to spend about ten minutes there because we got a phone call from dad telling us that mum wasn't happy about us going out, so we had to go home and clean (boo!), but I still managed to get a couple of fairly decent photos.


I got about three takes to do this one before we ended up leaving, but they all turned out surprisingly well compared to previous running photo attempts. My hair is growing out a bit more now which is great, especially for photos. This photo in particular reminds me of some of Hello Mr Fox's outfit shots, which by the way I loved!

I love my camera for giving me such clear skin, haha. Although wind is not a friend of my fringe, unfortunately it always seems to go silly just as the shutter is released! This photo shows my top better, which is one of the items I got from a charity shop on holiday. I'm so lucky because it fits me perfectly, which doesn't happen to me very often and so I've worn it lots! It's only a vest top so is really meant to be summery, but I've worn it a couple of times over a plain grey long sleeved top which looks just fine for autumn. My wardrobe doesn't change too much with the seasons, so this will be a lovely way to put some floaty-ness and fun into my winter outfits :) I love how the pattern looks sort of digital and pixelated, and yet something still reminds me of a more traditional celtic pattern?! It's originally from Topshop, and i'm sure I remember it in shops only last spring or something?! I'm sure it would have been over £20, so i'm super happy I only paid £3.50 for it! Charity shops are just the best things ever right now.
top- thrifted/originally Topshop, cardigan- Boden, shorts- Warehouse, tights- John Lewis, shoes- Marks and Spencer

Ratty!

We have a new friend! My mum, brother and I were all in the veg patch this evening spraying white fly and generally getting each other very wet (I say each other, they were both spraying me!) when I saw this white thing with a fairly long tail run from behind my brother. I went over to have a look, and this little fellow was just stood next to the water butt! At first my dad thought it was wild and obviously wasn't too keen on its survival, but seeing as it hadn't run off or attacked us we realised it must be an escaped pet or something. We've got quite a lot of pets, but nothing like a rat (we have a hamster, but they're not all that similar) so we really didn't know what to do with it. If it stayed out in the wild it could be attacked by other rats or become malnourished, so mum knocked on a few doors whilst me and dad fed it hamster food. We couldn't find anyone with a lost rat though, and there weren't any posters around the area or in the post office window, and no vets take rats, so we were getting pretty desperate! Mum rang loads of people, even my grandma who had rats as a young girl, but nobody could tell us anything at all.
So, we've put him in a big shrub pot with some small wire over the top so that he can't escape in the night, and he's currently curled up asleep at the bottom of the pot in the kitchen :) Sorry it's not a very good photo, but he moved so fast that they all turned out really blurry. Hopefully tomorrow we'll find somewhere to take him, whether that's to the owner or Woodgreen animal shelter.

Anyway I will be doing that post about my holiday at some point this week, it's taken me long enough! There will probably be a separate one about my pretty big charity shop haul, I did super well up there!