Goals Update #3

So it's the end of the year, and I remembered I had some goals for 2013, which I posted about before.

Here's my final update for this year's goals.

01. Make 100 unique necklaces

Did it

 

02. Start up an etsy store to sell said necklaces!

It's called Little Deer Daydreams

 

03. Create some sewn items to sell on etsy, too

Did this but didn't sell any

 

04. Prepare blog posts much further in advance…

Scheduled posts have been a life-saver for months!

 

05. …but don’t get bogged down with following ‘blogging trends’ (unless they’re interesting to me)

...what were the blogging trends this year, anyway? (This is a genuine question)

 

06. Likewise don’t feel pressured to create ‘seasonal’ crafts/posts (Halloween crafts at Easter? Why not!)

No pressure felt. (Nor motivation)

 

07. Get a hair cut. Seriously. It needs doing. 

Did this eventually. It still looks nice, months later!

 

08. Practice photography, both for blogging and in general

Never really got around to this. =(

 

09. Write more original fiction outside of NaNoWriMo.

Didn't really do much of this, either

 

10. Have a big clear out and sell things on ebay.

Sold a few bits on ebay but also got rid of a lot of stuff through a car boot sale

 

11. Use Royal Pavilion & Museums membership card more before it expires!

It expired. Booo. 

 

12. Paint.

Painted a handful of things this year. Not loads, though.

 

13. Finish reading ‘Tired of London, Tired of Life’ and actually do some of the stuff in it. 

Read it. Haven't been to London since. Bum.

 

14. Complete ‘Wreck This Journal’ (I got one for Christmas and its so much fun)

Finished it! :D Might make a post about it eventually.

 

15. Write more ‘personal’ blog posts (like this one!)

Not sure that I succeeded at this one, either...

Picture so this isn't an entirely text post:

 

 

(I gained a new Discworld book for Christmas, but it didn't fit in with all the others, so I had to relocate them all to a different part of the cupboard...)

 

As for next year's goals...I haven't thought about them yet. How about you?

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope 2014 brings you marvellous things.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all followers that celebrate it :) Hope you have a wonderful day!

Above is a photo of the presents I'll give this year!
They were cheap to wrap because I used things I had to hand, and things that were easy to get hold of. I also put presents in boxes because boxes are far easier to wrap up than odd-shaped things. Also, it makes it harder to guess what the contents are ;)

Pom poms for the ladies, pine cones for the men. These aren't all the presents, but women far outweigh men in our family!

Thanks to Samantha (At Home with Mrs H) for the pom poms! If not for these, I might not have come up with this wrapping idea :)

Wardrobe Revolution Update

Just over a month ago, I posted about Wardrobe Revolution. (You can join me and set yourself any clothes-related challenge you want!)

For me, the challenge is about wearing more of the 90% of my wardrobe that doesn't get worn, and also to make more effort with my outfits.

I've been instagramming pictures along the way (you can find them under the #wardroberevolution tag) and here are some of my favourite outfits so far. Also beneath the jump, my observations on figuring out new outfits and also how I'm cutting down.

Plaid Top: Handmade

Shirt: Holly & Whyte by Lindex

Kilt: Charity shop

Socks: Matalan

Belt: Retro (from my mum)

Necklace: Handmade

Rings: Vintage/gift

The plaid top is the one that I made for Design 1o1. I wrote a litle about it on my first Wardrobe Revolution post, and have since sewn black bias binding to the arm holes.

Semi-Hiatus

After posting here frequently and running regular weekly features, you might have noticed a lack of posts over the past couple of weeks.

Basically, I ran out of scheduled posts. For a while I've been making several in advance and setting them up to post at regular intervals. The last lot I set up was at the end of October, with the intention of having enough to see me through November, because I would be busy with National Novel Writing Month.

But along came December, my motivation didn't come back, and this blog fell by the wayside.

I'm not sure if I'll bring back regular features like Pinning Inspiration or Marvellous Monday.
Honestly, I don't like the way Pinterest widgets look now and because of the change in them, my older posts are now imageless!
I know that I could simply save the images, reupload here, and link to the source, but the whole point of Pinning Inspiration is that, should you feel inspired, you can repin directly from this blog, rather than having to go elsewhere. So in a way, those widgets have to stay.

Complaints aside, I am entirely unmotivated, tired and uninspired at the moment. I have some ideas for projects to share on here, but no energy or motivation for doing them.

That being said, I have a post coming up about Wardrobe Revolution, so watch this space.

Might also post some of my design1o1 stuff here, though I created a tumblr for that.

Hopefully regular posting will resume in the new year. Maybe I just need a little break.

Marvellous Monday #39

Happy Monday!
With December here, thoughts are turning to Christmas (which started in June, if you're in retail!), rime-covered plants, chilly fingers and icy winter mornings. Which brings us to this week's theme, frost.

Though cold, frost brings all those extra details to attention that might otherwise evade our eyes and inspires new ideas, a fresh outlook. A gentle tracery of spiderwebs upon a wilting rose becomes an ice bridle on the head of a silken red horse...

Pinning Inspiration #28

For this week's Pinning Inspiration, I want to encourage reusing rubbish, but also thinking outside the box, with 101 Uses For A Tin Can*



* some uses may not be particularly realistic, but that's what the imagination is for :)


001. Tin can
002. Telephone
003. Kick it

004. Plant pot
005. Pen pot
006. Makeup tidy
007. Wind chime
008. Tie on back of newlyweds’ car
009. Part of shelving
010. Tubular pigeon-hole post system
011. Part of a spaceship
012. Emergency shower when washing in the jungle
013. Prison for worms
014. Dumbells
015. Throw it (at some criminal dude’s head, like in Police Academy)
016. Vase
017. Paint pot
018. Receptacle for melting wax
019. Chamber of a supersonic blaster
020. It’s actually a doodlywotsit, a key part of a TARDIS
021. Musical instrument


022. BBQ for bluetits
023. Brazier for rodents
024. Bin for Barbie (Sindy can use it too)
025. A decoration for a window sill
026. Kerplunk
027. Candle holder
028. Use to make sandcastles
029. A Nefertiti hat for a doll
030. Rattle
031. Wrist cuff
032. Charm on an oversized necklace
033. Money box
034. An unusual name sign for a house
035. A bell
036. Eyes for a robot
037. Pawn in a outsize chess set
038. A place to hide secret things
039. Time capsule
040. Bottle/cup holder on beach
041. Art installation
042. Micro-museum for woodlice
043. Stilts
044. Mini umbrella stand
045. Cup



046. Cruet set
047. Earplugs for giants
048. Golf hole
049. Tin coconut (for shy)
050. Vessel for fortune sticks
051. Button box
052. Build a tower to reach the moon
053. A car
054. Modern monolith. For budgerigars
055. Door stop
056. Lampshade
057. Stretching the imagination
058. Thimble for extremely large hands
059. A purse
060. Tea caddy
061. Jumps for My Little Pony
062. Target practise
063. Rollers for big hair
064. Rollers for tiny steam roller
065. Alternative to bottle in ‘spin the bottle’
066. Tiles for industrial-themed room
067. Legs for elephant sculpture
068. Metal tooth for a giant
069. Jelly mould
070. Gag for annoying person
071. Jug
072. Rapunzel’s tower
073. Earring display thingy
074. Alternative to canvas when painting
075. Littering the countryside (it’s a bad thing to do, so don’t do it really)
076. Christmas tree ornament
077. Magic trick (ball and cups trick)
078. Juggle
079. Play catch
080. Fill with water and balance over a door (a mean trick)
081. Pedestal for important thing



082. Trophy
083. Legs for a foot stall
084. Zoetrope
085. Whirligig for bad beetles
086. Whirligig (the spinning, garden variety)
087. Emergency toilet
088. Outsize cotton reel
089. Recycling (good!)
090. Landfill (no good!)
091. Calendar
092. Cut into curtain rings
093. Columns in model of the Acropolis of Athens
094. Marker for location of buried treasure
095. A weight to stop a helium balloon from flying away~
096. Part of an elaborate contraption to boil a kettle
097. A small cooking pot, for when camping
098. Protecting a little circle of grass from the sun = polkadot grass!
099. Cheap burglar alarm, a la women living alone in the time of the Boston Strangler
100. Flatten into a coaster
101. Draw a face on it, take it with you wherever you go, make it clothes and talk to it, give it a name and make it your new best friend.


Okay, so this week's pinning inspiration was a bit different to usual, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!
Can you think of other uses for a tin can?

Marvellous Monday #38

Are you having a good Monday?

To be honest, I couldn't think of much for this week's Marvellous Monday, so this one is going to be a short, but important one: feeling stupendous. (Because you should all feel stupendous.)

This is a card I bought ages ago (to send to a friend who was feeling a bit rubbish) but of course I had to scan it before I sent it on.
It's by Harold's Planet and comes from a line of many appropriate and uplifting cards :)

...and that's it for today's Marvellous Monday. May you spend your Monday feeling stupendous.
(Remember: milk, coconut oil, lavender...)

Pinning Inspiration #27

As it's a little cold for playing outside so much now, it's time to play inside with a fun indoor fort.
(Yes, even if you're a fully grown adult. Indulge your inner child!)

Marvellous Monday #37

From being grateful for even the tiny things last week, the theme for this week's Marvellous Monday is something huge: nebulae.

Source

Wikipedia defines a nebula as:

[...]an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases.

To put it in layman's terms: pretty space clouds.

Source

When you consider how huge these beautiful sights are - that one little speck of light is akin to our sun - it really puts our existence and a lot of our perceived problems into perspective, doesn't it!

Source

Though vast and far away, modern technology has allowed us to see these sights, become space tourists from our desks and marvel at the universe that surrounds us.

Source

Allow yourself to stare in wonder and daydream about what might be occuring somewhere out there, within these pretty space clouds.

Daydream, and be inspired. 

This post is dedicated to YOU. Have a Marvellous Monday.

(For more amazing space pictures, check out HubbleSite!)

DIY Spoon Decorations

As long-time readers will know, I volunteer in a charity shop and utterly love putting together window displays! The manager had decided for the Christmas window to be done this week, so I made these unique spoon decorations from some donated spoons, to go on our Christmas tree!

Thought I’d take pictures along the way, so I can share this DIY.

This is a DIY that will require the use of power tools. Such things are scary and I am clumsy lately, so I enlisted the help of my Dad :)

Wardrobe Revolution: Mark II!

After posting about my Wardrobe Revolution the other day, I got thinking.

Some of you might wish you took more time to dress up more...

Some of you might wish to dress more casually...

Some might want to work more accessories into outfits...

Or you might want to experiment with a new style...

Or even challenge yourself to wear only skirts/trousers/neon bloomers!

So already, I've decided that #wardroberevolution needs an upgrade.

Therefore, I introduce #wardroberevolution Mark II!

I really want YOU to join in.

I know there are plenty of you who take outfit shots, who maybe want to try out new looks, style up an old once-loved item in different ways, gain confidence through what you wear, or like me, simply want to wear more of the items that you don't usually wear.

So, please come and join me.

Instagram your outfit shots daily, weekly, whenever you want, using the tag 

#wardroberevolution

Check out what other people are doing, ask questions when you post if you're not sure about what you're wearing/want more ideas (I did that today and got a really good suggestion!) and find inspiration amongst fellow wardrobe revolutionaries!

...it's currently pretty lonely on that tag, so what are you waiting for? ;)

Stockless Soup

I promised a post about soup, didn't I?
Unlike when I last posted about soup, this one was successful!

Have you ever been looking for soup recipes, found something that sounds delicious, only to read something like this in the ingredients?

 "2pts vegetable stock"

Do you then groan because you know you used the last one and haven't bought any more yet?

Yeah, me too.

So one day, I thought 'screw the vegetable stock!'
And I made Stockless Soup. Handy if you have no premade stock, but plenty of herbs and spices.

Here's how:

 
Gather your desired vegetables (seen here: pumpkin, onion and carrot).
Also gather various condiments, herbs, spices, etc--whatever floats your boat. (pictured: pepper, himalayan salt, garlic, horseradish, ginger)

Heap your prepared vegetables into a big saucepan and add your herbs/spices/whatever else. I always put in far too much horseradish, therefore my soup could also be known as 'Sinus Clearing Soup'!

Add water and cook until the vegetables are cooked through. Taste occasionally during cooking to see if you need to add more salt/pepper/other flavourings you might have knocking around.

Once done, give it a whizz through a blender if you prefer your soups thick and smooth :)

Extra tips from Kei's Gung-Ho School of Cookery:

How to tell if something will taste good in your soup: Wait until the veggies and a few basic additions are cooking. Smell it, smell what you're unsure about, and smell the soup again. If the two smells 'match', it will be a good addition. If not, don't do it!

Amounts to add: For things like ginger, garlic and horseradish, I go for about 1 tsp per litre. For everything else I use to the old fashioned measure, 'shake a bit in and see how it tastes'

What to add: See what you have in the cupboard! In the past I've used various combinations of five elements salt, pepper, curry powder, garlic, ginger, horseradish,black pepper, himalayan salt, regular salt, a lemon pepper mill thingy from Marks & Spencer, ditto chilli mill thingy, basil, marjoram, rosemary and parsley. Our cupboard for these kind of things is right next to the cooker, so I tend to open the cupboard and add things as I'm going :)

I prefer cooking soup this way to using readymade stock. The first soup I made this way tasted like the homemade soup my Mum sometimes buys from the deli, so I knew I was on to a good thing! Also, from a nutritional standpoint, by cooking in this way you know exactly what has gone into your soup! :)

Pinning Inspiration #26

This week's Pinning Inspiration is a little look at the marvellous creations of Kobi Levi.

Wardrobe Revolution!

I have a lot of clothes.

And I don't wear half of them.

Recently, I read Gala Darling's series on Wardrobe Taming and felt inspired. I went through my wardrobe and separated what I wear often to what I hardly ever wear. I was pretty horrified at how much I don't wear!

And now? Now I'm going to wear that stuff.

To help myself out, I'm going instagram daily selfies and post under the tag #wardroberevolution
I'm also keeping note of what I find wrong with the clothes I'm wearing (and what I like about them!) as Gala suggests in her series.

Here's my first outfit, from today:

The plaid top is one I made on Friday as part of Design 101. I spent just under an hour making it and I love it!
As for the things I rarely wear: the striped shirt (from H&M) and the jeans (from M&S) and the skull print scarf (I don't remember where it was from).
I found the jeans fit amazingly, after ages of not wearing them because I thought they were too small!
The sleeves and body of the shirt are a little short for my liking, but I have plans for that :)
I wore knee-high boots with this when I went out, but took this picture in the morning before heading into the drizzly British weather.

I would love if you joined me with #wardroberevolution.
If you feel your closet is full of things you never wear, check out the wardrobe taming series I linked above and be inspired, then join me with posting your styled-up selfies on instagram, using the tag #wardroberevolution
It would be so great to do this with some other people and see what treasures we all have lurking in our wardrobes, waiting to be worn! :)

Let's have a revolution. Let's wear all of our clothes!*

*not at the same time. It will look strange and probably won't all fit. ;)

Marvellous Monday #36

Are you having a good Monday?

Today is Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day, or Armistice Day, depending where you live). The day commemorates the signing of an armistice which brought forth a formal end to the hostilities of World War I on the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" in 1918. (The war's official end being brought about by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.)

Remembrance Day in the UK was dedicated by George V in 1919 to remember the members of the armed forces who had lost their lives during World War I.

This week's Marvellous Monday, therefore, has a theme of gratitude.

Though war and peace will come and go, though life can be challenging and appear to be nothing but a dark tunnel, somewhere in our lives there is something to be grateful for.

Whether it's a wonderful family, a roof over our head, the adoration of a pet, the satisfying conversation we had with a stranger, or the fact we have clothes upon our back, there is something.

Even the things that don't immediately effect us are there to be thankful for: the scientists working to find cures for disease, the authors working on the future best-sellers that will captivate our hearts and inflame our imaginations, or the farmers toiling in the fields to grow the crops that will end up on our dinner table.

We have the trees that provide shade on a hot day and wood on a cold one, and take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, allowing us to breathe better air. We have flowers to bring colour to our world and produce pollen for the bees that are such a vital part of our ecosystem (and make delicious honey).

I hope it is possible to say that everyone reading this has a safe, secure home, too.

You might wonder about those who feel their life to be so terrible that they have nothing to be grateful for: that there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
That light comes in the form of the people who care. Those who drop by to check in on a sick family member, those doing their best to support a troubled friend on the other side of the internet. The people who set up charities and those that donate to them. Those who give aid.
Those who will not give up on anything--or anyone.

Those who fight - through action or words - for the peace and equality they believe they can achieve.

Take a moment today to dwell on what you are grateful for. It could be one thing, it could be a thousand. Embrace those things, thank the people around you for what they do for you. And have a Marvellous Monday ♥

MOOCing a Mess!

Do you know about MOOCs?
It stands for Massive Open Online Courses, something I only found out about a few weeks about, through my lovely friend Lilia of Horror Shock Lolipop.

She linked me to a couple of places that offer these courses for free: coursera and iversity.

I found lots of interesting courses, but have limited myself to just one for the time being. I picked Design 101 with iversity, which started last week.

Every day, those enrolled receive a video postcard and a letter, set in various parts of the world. On Monday, we are given an idea of what we will do during the week, so we have time to prepare, and there is a quiz (so far, I don't like the quizzes, but that's the only thing I don't like!)
From Tuesday to Friday there is a 'homework' task set, which we should spend no more than 1 hour on.
Saturday is a day for updating our personal notebooks and catching up on homework, whilst on Sunday we get an extra little video to watch.

So far, the homework hasn't been too taxing :)

Homework has involved origami, mask-making, cooking, portraits and paper-cutting!
I particularly had fun with the mask-making one (yes, I made both in an hour! Modelling here with Mum's friend who is awesome and refreshingly silly).

The emails, 'postcards' and letters we receive are fun and interesting. The postcards make use of a lot of cool animation and all reference different aspects of design, music, and things I wouldn't necessarily expect to find in connection to design. There are also some great quotes included along the way.

I decided to enrol for Design 101 (or #design1o1 as it's tagged on all the social media) because design and creativity is something that interests me!
I did a module on design at university, as part of my Computer Studies degree, but struggled with it, along with the majority of my class (a rant best left for another day. Needless to say we passed by the skin of our teeth).

I'm hoping that I'll get more out of this course than the module I did at uni! It's much more hands-on, introduced in bite-sized, interesting chunks, and is visually appealing. The only appealing thing I got from my uni course was the world 'weltanschauung'!

This is distracting me a little from NaNoWriMo, but it's good for my brain to work on something other than writing during November!

Pinning Inspiration #25

It's the first Pinning Inspiration of November. To me, November speaks of jumping in leaves, chill air, eating soup and drinking hot chocolate! Therefore it seems natural to make a Pinning Inspiration post on the theme of kitchens.




Somewhere cosy to shelter from the wind (and get some tasty food!)

Marvellous Monday #35

Since it's almost 5th November - Guy Fawke's/Bonfire Night in the UK - this week's Marvellous Monday is all fireworks.



Above is a video I found on YouTube of one of the firework displays in Lewes, Sussex, UK. Lewes is a town steeped in history and pretty well-known for its bonfire night!




Just imagine that all of these fireworks are being let off to celebrate you...



...the awesome coffee you made this morning, the smile you gave a lonely old man you passed on the street...



...the big things and the little things, the things you do without a second thought and the things you do with thought and kindness...



...your uniqueness, talent, and downright awesomeness, all are celebrated here with bright fireworks to light up the sky.      This post is dedicated to YOU. Have a Marvellous Monday.

211 Things A Bright Girl Can Do

Not a list, but a book (which contains, by way of the contents, a list).

211 Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Bunty Cutler is an entertaining and informative book for bright girls! (Note: not actual girls, unless you want your nine year old to be mixing cocktails.)

This is a sister book to Tom Cutler’s 211 Things Bright Boy Can Do.

Part of the blurb (because it’s long so I won’t write it all out) says:

 “The essential life-skills handbook for bright girls of every age, featuring all the subjects they DIDN’T teach you at school or Girl Guides”.

The tone of the book is, in part, reminiscent of the instructional handbooks of yore, but with a tongue-in-cheek edge and a good dollop of wit served alongside the information, which is in itself pretty interesting.

Content of the book is split into several sections:

The Queen of Cuisine

The Compleat Homemaker (no that’s not a typo)

The Perfect Hostess

How to be Completely Gorgeous

Powder-Puff Mechanics

Jolly Hockeysticks!

How to be Bad

These sections make it pretty easy to pick and choose what to read, according to your mood and desires. So, if you’re feeling like a bad girl you can check out the Belly dancing for the complete novice or if you’re entertaining guests, why not take a gander at How to mix a Harvey Wallbanger?

However, don’t get your hopes up if you’re expecting this book to teach you how to make a macramé bikini. (Anyway, why would you want to?!)

I would have found some of this book very useful as a teenager, such as the part where it explains how to throw overarm (something my school PE teachers omitted to teach us, but expected us to know…)

I suppose I might find some of it useful in future, too!

Thanks to 211 Things A Bright Girl Can Do, I have learnt not only the art of tossing a cricket ball at a poor unsuspecting batswoman, but also handbrake turns (never mind that I don’t drive), how to prune roses, the best way to disembark from a ski lift, but also that it is far better to sit down with a Sidecar cocktail than attempt to look glamorous in the sidecar of a motorcycle.

Thank you, Bunty Cutler, for your pearls of infinite wisdom.

I think I’ll mix that cocktail now.

Pumpkins and some Rambling

So this year, I ended up with two pumpkins to carve, as they were on offer and Mum was feeling generous :)

I agonised over what to carve on them! I nearly carved Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as John Watson, then decided that isn't Halloweeny enough (ditto the Doctor and the TARDIS, though I was sorely tempted)

So I opted for these guys. Max Shreck as Orlok in Nosferatu, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula...probably in Dracula, that. ;)

I chose the Lugosi picture because he looks a little unimpressed...

History Lesson! Nosferatu was a rip-off of Dracula, made after permission was denied for adapting Bram Stoker's novel into a film. The Stoker estate took the makers to court and all copies of Nosferatu were supposed to have been destroyed, but some survived and now people go crazy over it.

 

Personally I like Shadow of the Vampire which is a bit of a black comedy centred around the making of Nosferatu. 

Well, NaNoWriMo is soon to start. Actually it's just gone midnight, so technically it has started for me. 

Originally I'd planned to write an in depth sci-fi/fantasy/religious/historical novel but my brain can't take it at the moment. I don't have enough background knowledge to write confidently. So I'm copping out and writing a sequel to last year's novel instead, as the characters have been knocking around in my head for about eight years, waiting to be written! 

...then again, I might sit down to start and completely change my mind on what I plan to write...

At the moment I don't have any motivation to participate at all, asides from a vague sense that I'd feel like I have failed if I didn't. Which is silly, because it's something I choose to do--nobody is making me! 

The lack of motivation is probably because the end of October has come really rapidly, I'm participating in a free iversity course, and mostly because I currently have a Project. Said project involves drawing/digitally painting a scene incorporating a bunch of my friend's characters. I'm giving myself a huge project in that I've drawn each character separately on paper, scanned the pictures, and am now in the process of painting over each drawing. Each individual character is taking about 8 hours to paint. Once I'm done, I'll combine them all into a scene, which I also need to paint... So far I've racked up about 23 hours worth of work! It's time-consuming and lots of things have fallen by the wayside as a result, but I'm enjoying it! So I'd rather do that than NaNoWriMo, I think. 

...but I'll probably start writing anyway. lol

Well, this post has ended up pretty rambly! 

Soon I plan to post something about soup...

Pinning Inspiration #24

This week, I'd planned to write about a person for Pinning Inspiration (well, it has been a little while!)
But I'm feeling tired and non-wordy, so this week's Pinning Inspiration theme is amazing headdresses (something I've pinned a lot of, recently!)

Here goes...



This one is just plain stunning. Oh to have $200 and a place to wear it!

Marvellous Monday #34

Happy Monday! Are you all geared up and ready for the week ahead?
Whether you are or not, here is this week's Marvellous Monday, with a fresh installment of cute animals!

Repeat after me: "Awww!"

Nap Time

Lazy Last Minute Clown Ruff

Previously, I posted a tutorial for a clown/pierrot ruff. It works pretty well, but is also pretty damn time consuming—it takes a good day or more!

This one is much faster. I’m talking of less than an hour to make. Maybe only ten minutes!

It won't look as good, but this is more of a last-minute party costume piece. It is made using string and crepe paper, staples of my childhood fancy dress costumes :)

Pinning Inspiration #23

Continuing on from recent themes, this week's Pinning Inspiration looks at religious interiors.

 

Places of worship are full of beautiful decoration--and inspiration!
Religious places may make use of stained glass to depict scenes from holy texts and create shows of awe-inspiring coloured light to remind worshippers of the power of their deity.

Marvellous Monday #33

Are you having a good monday? Today, Marvellous Monday's theme is blue.

Blue can be both warm and cool: the sea on a hot summer's day...

Pinning Inspiration #22

Last week's Pinning Inspiration was about details. This week I'm looking at the opposite end of the scale: simplicity.




To me, simplicity does not mean 'complete lack of detail'. Simplicity is about finding the naturally occuring details, lines and imperfection (though 'perfection' is a matter of taste).

Marvellous Monday #32

Are you ready for another Marvellous Monday? This week, Marvellous Monday is about everything autumnal.

Though the days are becoming shorter and cooler, the autumn brings with it vibrant and warm shades of orange, red and yellow...

Costume Bits! (Tutorial Roundup)

Halloween is lurking ever closer!
Whilst I have no full costume tutorials on this blog, I do have a few posts on 'costume bits': those little accessories that finish off a costume.

Here's a quick roundup of the pieces you'll find at Unfortunately Oh!

DIY Ruff | Customised Top Hat

Witch Fingers Tiara | Jabot with Neckband

Elasticated Jabot | Square Eyepatch | No-Sew Pirate Eyepatch

Hope you find something here to help or inspire you with your Halloween preparations! :D

Pinning Inspiration #21

Do you notice the details in the things you see?
This week's Pinning Inspiration looks at just that!

I think that details can make a huge difference, whether they're on a garment, a piece of artwork, something for your home, or a part of nature. Those details could be small or intricate or flamboyant and big and colourful.

 

I love the coils of wire used in the 'window garden' picture, for example. They slightly imitate the curved leaves of the plants and add extra interest to an otherwise plain piece of wire. This is only a small added detail, but is very effective!

Marvellous Monday #31

Are you having a happy monday?
This week, Marvellous Monday returns to its roots with the same theme as the very first Marvellous Monday: pareidolia!

Happy switch is happy.

D.V.

Another book post!

This time, the book I want to write about is D.V. by Diana Vreeland

It is the autobiography of am inspirational and fashion-forward woman who can place being fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar and editor in chief of Vogue (US editions) among her accomplishments.

There’s no back-cover blurb to this, instead it’s on the back and front flap, and quite long, so here’s a small section of it:

“Peppering her glittering stories with knowing (and often outrageous) pronouncements, she ranges wide—from geishas to the incomparable art of Balenciaga, the genius of great servants, and her own reason for being absolutely certain that Chanel and the Duke of Windsor had once had “the romance of the world.”

[…]

Whatever her subject, you want her never to stop. Hers is a memoir like no other, and reading it is a pure pleasure.”

What drew me to read this book: Honestly? It featured in a couple of scenes in one of my favourite films, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.

As a result I wanted to read it, and managed to find it on Amazon Marketplace for £3.50 including postage from Pennsylvania, USA. (I then promptly forgot about it, and had a nice surprise when it landed on the doormat a few weeks later!)

The first line in this book is “I loathe nostalgia.”

An autobiography that begins with a statement like that is bound to be a good one.

Though set in a bygone era, Diana’s narrative style brings such life and colour to her anecdotes that it’s as if everything happened yesterday. The book comes across as though she is writing to you as an old friend and bringing you up to speed on some of the adventures you missed out on hearing about the first time. I enjoyed this aspect of the book; sometimes autobiographies are written in such a remote way that they seem impersonal. D.V. gives the impression that you could sit down with Diana upon your first meeting, but talk as though you’ve known each other forever.

I felt that I learnt from this book, too. The fact that Diana was a ‘lady of leisure’ until age 30 makes me feel less insecure about the fact I’ve reached my late twenties without anything much to show for myself, achievement/career-wise. (So thanks for that, Diana.)

That aside, Diana’s stories encourage us to be more daring in our own lives, to live for the moment, live in the moment and soak up all the things that happen to us! 

Some quotes:

“To this day, anything physical or strange…I can usually pass it off by saying it was a very healthy experience.”

“But I think when you’re young you should be a lot with yourself and your sufferings. Then one day you get out where the sun shines and the rain rains and the snow snows, and it all comes together.”

“But don’t think you were born too late. Everyone has that illusion. But you aren’t. The only problem is if you think too late.”

“Everything is new. At least everything is new the first time around.”

“[…] nothing was frightening to me. It was all part of the great adventure […]”

The TLDR: Autobiography wherein a nostalgia-loathing fashionista brings her bygone era back to life.

Pinning Inspiration #20

As a break from the last two decor-themed Pinning Inspiration posts, this week Pinning Inspiration focuses on India's Gulabi Gang.




You might have already heard of the Gulabi Gang through the film of the same name. On their official website, they define themselves as:

Rural women in pink saris, wielding bamboo sticks in pursuit of social justice

They are essentially a large group of pink-sari-wearing, stick-wielding, female vigilantes who aim to curb violence against women. Which is damn awesome. 

The Gulabi Gang began when Sampat Pal Devi (founder) witnessed a man beating his wife. Everybody else tried to pretend it wasn't happening, but Sampat Pal couldn't stand the sound of the woman's cries. She petitioned the man to stop, but instead he beat her too. The following day, Sampat Pal Devi returned with five other women and a big stick, and they kicked the guy's butt! 

The news of this spread quickly and women began to come forward to ask Sampat Pal Devi to make more interventions--and also to join her team. She soon realised that the group needed a uniform and a name, and so the Gulabi Gang was born, with their uniform of a distinctive pink sari.

Sampat Pal taught her 'sisters' to fight. They continue to intervene in cases of domestic abuse and also protest women's issues. They have stopped a number of child marriages, protest against dowry and female illiteracy, and have forced the police to register cases of domestic violence.

Their work is not all about beating abusive men. On their website, their mission reveals that they aim to help women improve their basic skills, become economically secure, and develop confidence to stand against abuse. So basically, they are supporting women in getting one step closer to equality.

Since the formation of the Gulabi Gang, many other centres for the sisterhood have sprung up across India.


Official Website of Sampat Pal Devi - lots more information here :)

Marvellous Monday #30

Happy Monday! Is your week looking good?

The theme for this week's Marvellous Monday is funny cats, because cats are awesome and we all need some humour in our lives!




My cat has this face on a daily basis!

Join Me

Yup, I’m writing about books again, though this time it’s a more light-hearted one!

Join Me by Danny Wallace is summarised in the tagline as “the true story of a man who started a cult by accident.”

What the blurb says:

“Bored, Danny Wallace placed a whimsical small ad in a local paper, saying simply, ‘Join Me’. Within a month he was receiving letters and e-mails from strangers all over the country, eager to sign up.

Teachers, mechanics, sales reps, vicars, schoolchildren, pensioners – all pledged allegiance to his cause. No one knew what that cause was. Least of all Danny…

Soon he was proclaimed Leader. Increasingly obsessed, and possibly power crazed, he risked losing his sanity and his loyal girlfriend. But who could deny the attraction of a global following of thousands of devoted joinees?

If only he could come up with something for everyone to do…”

(As I copied the blurb from the book, I realised it sounds a bit like Twitter!)

What drew me to read this book was that I’d previously read Are You Dave Gorman? co-written between Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace, and I found it hilarious. So of course when I happened upon Join Me, I was totally up for reading another tale of someone doing something a little off-the-wall and having an adventure as a result.

This book is comical and a little peek into someone’s spontaneity-driven life. Danny’s project comes from boredom and good intentions, and grows thanks to a few pints with a mate and an increasing number of people joining something without even knowing why! (Pack mentality, madness or insatiable curiosity?)

Join Me, which Danny’s girlfriend Hanne would categorise as a ‘stupid boy-project’ (therefore he hasn’t told her about it yet) ends up taking Danny to different countries, talking on TV and campaigning on the streets to gain more ‘joinees’. Join Me even gets its own theme tune.

This book might seem predictable when you get into the story, but the occasional surprises keep you on your toes, and it also shows the power of networking.

Spoiler (because I forgot to note down quotes): He comes up with something for everyone to do. It’s a good thing.

Read it because: it will encourage you to do good things too. (And if you buy it new, Danny gets money. Money buys beer. So essentially you’re buying the guy a beer. That’s a good thing.)

The TLDR: It’s funny, it’s mad, it’s brilliant. And true.

Elasticated Jabot

Previously I shared a tutorial for a jabot with neckband. Today’s tutorial is for a simple elastic-neck jabot, perfect for wearing with a collared shirt! Mine is messy-looking because I didn't hem ;)

You can also make this without the elastic, and attach the jabot with pins (I’ve done this before too, due to laziness!)

Once again this is easy to make and can be put together using a small off-cut of fabric.

You’ll need:

Fabric

Elastic

Thread

Note: Thin cotton works best for this. The fabric I used in this tutorial has the black stripes printed onto it so it wasn’t completely ideal.

Pinning Inspiration #19

I have a bit of a fondness for pompoms. So that is the theme for this week's Pinning Inspiration. Pompoms!

Marvellous Monday #29

Are you having a Marvellous Monday?
To brighten your day, encourage relaxation or perhaps inspire a little awe, today's theme is lakes.
I've posted about 'calm blue ocean' on a previous Marvellous Monday, but lakes can be an equally lovely sight!



So come along and enjoy these lovely photographs with me :)

Jabot with Neck Band

With Halloween at the end of October, I’m sure some of you are already thinking of spooky décor and fancy dress costumes (whether that’s for yourself or someone else!)

Today I’d like to share this tutorial for a jabot, or ‘frilly neck thingy’, attached to a simple neck band. The fastening is a press stud.

I'll be posting other jabot variations in future, so if this isn't quite for you, come back again :)

I figured this out by trial and error when I made the one in the picture (hence why the top frill is slightly wonky).

Pinning Inspiration #18

I'm feeling a little dozy as I write this, so for this week's Pinning Inspiration, let's look at bedrooms.

Marvellous Monday #28

Happy Monday! Are you having a good day?

Today's Marvellous Monday features that wonderful moment between the end of the day and the beginning of the night: sunset!

As we continue to pass through September, the days might be becoming shorter for us in the Northern Hemisphere, but the sunsets are still a sight to behold...

The Alchemist

Today I want to write about a book that you’ve probably already heard of:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

According to the front cover, it’s sold 65 million copies, so the chances are that if you haven’t heard of it, somebody you know has!

I was given a copy of this book as a gift when I visited Norway in April, though it took me until the end of June to read it.

Now I’ve read it? I wonder what took me so long.

What the blurb says:

“Dreams are made to be followed.

Life is meant to be lived.

Some books are meant to be read, loved and passed on.

The Alchemist is one of those books.

It is the story of a shepherd boy from the Spanish region of Andalusia who dreams of travelling the world in search of a treasure as desirable as any ever found. From his home he journeys to the exotic markets of North Africa and then into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him…

The Alchemist is an unforgettable fable about the essential wisdom of listening to our heart and, above all, following our dreams.”

What drew me to read this book: aside from the fact it was a gift, the main attraction was that the storyline involved travelling to Egypt! Going deeper than that, I was curious to discover what about this book had proved to be so ‘life-enhancing’ (according to The Times) to so many people.

Okay, so I can’t claim that The Alchemist has changed my life. I am still me, still spending time making jewellery, blogging and volunteering.

But it did give me things to think about. Whilst it is a translation, the messages within the story are still easy to understand.

As I’ve said with previous books, I think these things can be left up to individual interpretation, but here’s what I took away from the story:

• When our plans are delayed or seem impossible, maybe we are gaining the opportunity to learn something useful to us.
• Fear can be what stops us from reaching for our dreams.
• Our days become boring and ‘samey’ when we don’t notice all the good things that happen every day.
• Making a decision is just the beginning of things (you don’t always know where you’ll end up!)
• Achieving your dreams may not be easy. You will be tested, and you will need patience.

I think these are things we all know, in our hearts. It is reading them in a story that makes us realise them. It’s easy to forget and become lost in the mundane, it’s easy to feel disheartened when, try as you might, you don’t seem to be getting anywhere. This book is a gentle encouragement to seek out the good things and keep aiming for what we dream of.

Reading The Alchemist, the real connection came for me when I happened upon this line:

“[…] the mysterious chain that links one thing to another, the same chain that had caused him to become a shepherd, that had caused his recurring dream, that had brought him to a city near Africa […]”

The quote I noted down was longer, but contains spoilers :)
The important part is the ‘mysterious chain’ idea. A few weeks before reading this book, I was thinking about this sort of idea as I realised the long chain of events and experiences that had led me to make a really awesome friendship (I think I followed the chain back as far back as being a pre-teen, then thought ‘I have to write this down’ and lost track!)

Some more quotes:

“To the boy’s surprise, the Englishman took a chrome-plated revolver out of his bag and gave it to the men who were collecting the arms.

“Why a revolver?” he asked.

“It helped me to trust in people,” the Englishman answered.”

“In pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.”

“The battles may last for a long time, perhaps even years. There are powerful forces on both sides, and the war is important to both armies. It’s not a battle of good against evil. It’s a war between forces that are fighting for the balance of power, and, when that type of battle begins, it lasts longer tan others—because Allah is on both sides.”

“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on.”

“That makes sense,” the alchemist answered. “Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dreams, you might lose everything you’ve won.”

“The boy reached through the Soul of the World and saw that it was a part of the Soul of God. And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles.”

“The alchemist said, “No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.”

You may have noticed that the quotes I included above mention both God and Allah. I found this a likable aspect of the story: The Alchemist is written by a Catholic, but it hasn’t been written to portray Catholicism as ‘the one true path’. Rather, it is more of a spiritual story. It is moralistic.

The TLDR: An encouraging and moralistic story with spiritual themes that encourages the pursuit of dreams and aims to explain why we don’t follow them.