So it turns out I’m not as super organised as I thought I was!
Wow, this month has got away from me. It’s been quite chaotic. Bacterial gastroenteritis, court hearings, adoption training, housework, work work, kids, husband…no time for any crafting 😦
Still, I’m getting back into the swing of things. I’ve got some crafting planned and I’m finding my wardrobe mojo….
I have mentioned in my blurb that this space is also about my crafty bits and pieces. Well, this is a post about curtains!
Woohoo! I hear you all cry …the excitement!
Seriously, I am a sad individual who gets excited about making curtains. Making blinds, making cushions, cross stitch, other embroidery, quilting and sewing clothes. Basically, anything involving a sewing machine and fabric.
ahhhhhhhhh fabric. I love it! That sensation of rubbing the fabric between my fingers, feeling it against my cheek, thinking about all the lovely things I can make with it…….. totally love it!
I have quite a serious addiction to buying fabric, something which is not helped by my close proximity to the wonderusness which is Birmingham Bull Rings’ Rag Market (all together now, ahhhhhh ahhhhh meeeeen!). Being in desperate need of some new bedroom curtains (I’d got bored with the old ones) and finding myself with a Saturday to myself, I popped along with my Mom and purchased 12 meters of a silk type fabric to run up these beauties:
It was originally £4 a meter, but I managed to barter the stall holder down to £3! BARGAIN! and with lining fabric at £0.50p a meter (50p a meter!!!!) the whole lot only came to £42. I already had curtain tape and thread in my stash, so for a morning shopping (such a hardship) and a morning making, (again a terrible hardship!) I had beautiful new curtains for the boudoir!
Super pleased with myself!
I don’t know about you, but I do get such a sense of satisfaction, a warm fuzzy tingle inside when someone asks “where did you get that / those” and I reply “Oh, I just knocked them up on the sewing machine”. Is that just me????
Having said that, I do recognise that I am one very luck girl in that my Nan taught me to sew and that my Mom is still around to help out with the curtain making. I do consider myself very much an apprentice to her master craftsman!
Love & Light
Li
I had all good intentions of not neglecting my blog over half term. All good intentions that went up in smoke. Juggling full time work, 2 hyper kids and a hubby who doesn’t always see a job needs doing have led to my not blogging for a week.
I didn’t realise that I would miss it, but I did!
I have only just really stepped on the path of self acceptance and body love and the fabulous Mrs. Bebe recently asked ‘where you at?’ which really got me thinking about my journey of self acceptance and love. It is something which I do want to blog about, but due to circumstances and my own feelings, I don’t want to just yet – I don’t think I’m ready…..
So, for today, here is an OOTD from yesterday. I was in a curriculum planning meeting all morning at the office:
Tan shirt dress: Asda George £18.00 (size 20)
Black boyfrield Cardi: Asda George £12 (size 20)
Trotter heaven boots: Peacocks £28 (size 8)
Gold slinky belt : Matalan £4 (Size L)
Please excuse the grimy mirror, the hubster didn’t do his one and only job this week!
I felt super confident all day in this ensemble. Head held high and not afraid to step out! Does anyone else get that feeling from an outfit?!
Love & Light all
L
X
I have the luxury of working from home for around 90% of my job. However, there are occasions when I need to head out of the office and work. I’m a freelance trainer so, I’m out and about at meetings and delivering training. Thankfully, we have a ‘uniform’ which takes a lot of hassle out of deciding what to wear for training events.
But. When I’m meeting clients / potential clients, I always ALWAYS struggle with what to wear. My normal style is informal and somewhat indie shabby chic….if that is even possible.
So, this OOTD is a worky ensemble.
Jacket – Matalan Size 20 -£15.00
Dress – Ebay size 20 – £14.99
Shoes – Footglove, charity shop £8.00
tights – Evans
The dress was a total ebay bargain. £14.99 for what was originally a Simply-Be dress. It was billed as a ‘magi-sculpt’ dress with a hidden panel which was supposed to smooth out your sihouette. To be frank, it looked just plain weird. I’d got an elastic panel which was cutting into my thighs, so I did the practical black country thing and took my scissors to it!
Et voila!
Something of a Va Va Voom!
Have to say, I love this dress! I think that with the right bra (maybe Balconette?) and a button undone, this could even be a ‘going out frock’!
What do you think?!
Love & Light,
L
My Mom ascertains that I was a magpie in a previous life. I am drawn to all things shiny, sparkly or twinkly. I will often be found cooing over accessories whenever we are out shopping. The Hubster practically tears his hair out when we go around car boot sales as I have been known to get lost for hours marvelling at the glittery gloriousness that is a brooch collection or second hand earrings.
So imagine my delight when I espied this little beauty:
Dragonfly brooch £3.00 – charity shop
Hmmmmmm….sparkly!
Love & Light
L
You know I said I wasn’t going to buy anything?
That I was on a spending ban?
Yeah?
Well. Guess what happened to just fall onto my feet as I browsed around my local Peacocks store?
Aren’t they lush?! Beautiful even….
They’re a size 8 riding boot, which are part leather and part quilted fabric. They have a fabby zip up the side which actually went up first time. No sweating, no swearing, no having the use a coat hanger for extra torque. Bonus!!!!!
Admittedly, I did have to size up from my usual size 7. This was nothing to do with the calf sizing though, the shoe itself was actually tight. The 8 feels super comfy….trotter heaven!
Now, I have a 46 cm calf width. Something which not even Evans can accommodate at times. It all depends on the style of the boot. I had almost given up on the hope of finding a riding boot which was right on the button in the purse department and in the style stakes! I’d looked around and they were either too plastic looking or looked right but were far too pricey.
So, imagine my delight when I tried these babies on and they actually zipped up?!
Squeel with delight? You’re damn straight.
Woop with joy? Audibly so when I looked at the price tag to see £28.
That’s right folks, £28!
Well, even the hubster can’t moan at my spending a measly £28 on a pair of knee high riding boots which make my trotters look and feel great! Look, I can even ear them under jeans!
Suffice to say, these darlings have not been off my feet since I bought them!
It just goes to show ladies, just because a shop only stocks up to a dress size 20 in their clothing, it doesn’t mean their boots won’t fit….I shall not be afraid to try again!
Love and Light
X
p.s. I refer to my feet, lovingly, as trotters. I don’t mean it in a derogatory way. I actually think my feet are quite pretty. My family think I’m mad – I rebut that with a reminder to my mother that she calls her feet ‘hooves’.
My children love to bake and cook with me. It is one of those activities that they only do with Mommy (the hubster seemed to get divorced from the kitchen at the same time as we got married….hmmmmm!)
We are looking forward to our first proper Samhain (Halloween to my non-pagan people) and so we made some ‘pustule pies’ as a practice on Sunday.
Ready roll sweet short crust pastry (Aldi)
Lemon Curd (Aldi)
These were the most super simple thing to do with the kiddles. They only needed to cut out circles using a cookie cutter (we used a 2 1/2 incher), spoon in some lemon curd and 20 minutes later (you will want to check them though. I just about got these bad boys in time. They are a little ‘crispy’ on the edges!) you’ve got pustule pies!
We got 14 out of one sheet of pastry. We could have possibly got more but the hubster requested a ‘lemon curd pasty’ with the remnants…so that’s what he got!!
There were lovely….I think I tested 4 as my hand snuck to the plate to get number 5 I start to feel a little sugar sick…..you know that feeling you get after too much jelly and icecream???
As I have said before, i’m a busy working mum. What I may not have mentioned is that both the hubster and I are trying to save as much money as we can to be able to move house. This poses quite a dilema for a girl like me who has a serious clothes shoes and handbag addiction. Before the children came along I would think nothing of blowing the majority of my monthly salary on clothes, shoes and handbags. I have even committed the sin of buying the same thing twice because I’d forgotten I’d already got it.
No more! Now, I have swapped my spend thrift ways for the thrifty saving ways. I now love mooching about the local charity shops looking for items which can perform a multitude of functions. School runs, office, errand running, that kind of thing.
I recently went mooching at my local Sue Ryder charity shop. BRILLIANT shop! I picked up two Sainsbury’s TU shirt dresses (one black, one Kacki) both size 20 for £4.50 each. A Wallis black jersey dress with pockets (size 18 £4.50) and a black Evans jersey shirt dress (size 20 £4.00). I also got a lovely wooly cardigan size Large for £3.00. so that’s 4 dresses and 1 cardigan for £20.50. That is what I consider to be a bargain!
So, here is my first outfit
:
Shirt Dress – thrifted from Sue Ryder – originally Sainsbury Tu size 20(£4.50)
Leggings – size 20-22 Primark (£3.00)
Denim shirt – Gap – size XXL (at least 10 years old now!)
Knee high brown boots (Pirate boots according to my kids!) Evans at least 5 years old
Pink cotton long sleeved T’shirt – Primark Size 20 (£3.00)
Pink scarf – I got 3 for a £5 from Edinburghs’ grassmarket 5 years ago.
I wore this ensemble for the school runs and then a day in the office.
Ok – variation on the shirt dress theme:
Same shirt dress, same leggings and same boots. This time I added a cotton cardigan in a biscuit like colour (size 18, £4.00) and a waist sincher belt (size L, Matalan, £4.00)
I do apologise for the quality of photographs, I am still trying to take pictures as I remember to and I’m experimenting with finding the *right* way to do it! Going to have to ask the hubster to start taking piccies!
So, same basics, 2 different looks?!
X
(P.S. I still sound like John Merrick but at least the I’ve stopped leaking snot now!)
I have a stinking cold.
What I didn’t have until around 2 hours ago were balsalm tissues. So, my nostrils and filtrum now looks as though I’ve been grating them. As if that wasn’t enough of a hideous affliction, I also have two rather large, no, HUGE, cold sores on my top and bottom lip. Add these to the fact that I can’t breathe through my nose but have to catch a breath in a slurping kind of way, all makes for a female John Merrick.
I think I will take myself off, put a paper bag over my head and a bell round my neck!
X
So. I am a busy working mom and in any one day I will have managed to get myself, 2 kids and the hubster out of the house fed, watered, washed and dressed, and me packed and ready for the day ahead.
Oh, and made sure the dog has gone out, got fresh water and that the hoover has been profunctually run around to make sure that the hair from said dog doesn’t accumulate in little mini fur balls all over the house…..
This is no small feat. In fact, it’s a monumental up hill battle. Daughter No.1 and Son No.1 both have very definite ideas about what they will and will not do and when they will or will not do it.
I tend to pick my battles, that’s the smart way to go when your daughter has an avoidant attachment style, and I am smart. however, today was a doozy…..cue screaming and shouting and thumping and stomping from my 5 yr old…..we managed to get into the car in one piece (and with school uniform on in a ‘I managed to catch it while it was flying around my room’ style) and on time and with my sanity hanging on by one acrylic nail….just about….
We’re all seat belted in, key goes in, press the ‘start’ button and what should start but their favourite song of the moment. ‘Pique a Baleine’ by the Young’uns from their latest album “When our Grandfathers said no”.
Now. I am sure that this rather brilliant 3 piece did not intend for this french mariners song to be interpreted as a rousing pirate ditty. However, this is what my children have now christened it….the ‘Pirate Song’.
WOW. The powers this song has over my 2 wanton childer-beasts….from screaming, crying, stomping banshees to laughing giggling normal (ish) children. All from a rousing chorus and a few ‘ohh-la-la-las’ which we all sing a long to…I should really send this brilliant trio a little something by way of thanks for making the school runs a now normal and (whispering oh so quietly) an enjoyable experience.
I am tempted to try a Pavlovian type experiment to see if the magical powers of the song will stretch to taming a full on temper tantrum tornado (Daughter No.1’s specialty) I think that may be pushing it an ‘ohh la la la’ too far……
I am aware however, that if the CD gets scratched, lost, or damaged in a freak accident involving wilder beasts I am well and truly screwed!
x
As much use as a chocolate Teapot 