✪ Hocus Pocus ✪

I know Halloween isn't until Wednesday, and it's not actually that huge over here in the UK, but I just love an excuse for fancy dress and pumpkin carving.  My bro and I have become a carving tag team, I do the stencilling and my bro does the elbow work and carves the design. 

What do you think of our pumpkins this year?  Have you guys been pumpkin carving yet?

This weekend I went to a Halloween party in Hoxton Docks put on by the Kigu crew called Horrors of the Deep.  If you haven't heard of Kigu before, they are company who make amazing and cute animal onsies, the word ‘Kigu’ is short for ‘kigurumi’, which literally translates as ‘costumed animal character’ in Japanese.

As you can probably tell by the name of the party 'Horrors of the Deep' the theme was sea related, however I had been wanting to try my hand at a Day of the Dead/Sugar Skull face painting, so though keeping Halloween-y I didn't stick to the sea theme at all.  

And here is the result, I'm pretty proud of myself and love all the pretty colours - what do you guy think?

The party itself I'm afraid to say wasn't the greatest, I mean they did have everything promised, but the drink and music selection wasn't the best and the venue was pretty much empty until well past midnight.  Luckily I was with a good bunch of people and made our own fun.  Has anyone else got a Halloween party planned?

Speak Soon xxx Pin It

Red and Yellow and Pink and Blue...

I'm afraid no outfit posts from this weekend as the heavens opened and is was just impossible to get any kind of decent shot outside, but I did don the wellies.

Anyway yesterday I popped into town to get the lens I have finally settled on (Tamron 17-50mm) however much to my dismay they had run out! Booo, but I've got in on order and should be able to collect it next weekend. YAY!  So not to return home empty handed I popped into TIGER it's the most awesome shop that sells loads of random stuff from clocks to canvases to stationary, but at really cheap prices - perfect.  I happened to spy a 40 pack of A4 decorative paper for only £2, bargain, and I thought it would come in handy for all my (new) arts and crafts adventures.

As soon as I got home I couldn't wait to use them, so I decided to cover yet another one of my notebooks in this rather pretty patchwork design

I basically took 3 sheets from the book and chopped them up into little rectangles and with PVA in hand set about covering my book.  I think it looks rather cute and another simple yet stylish way to cover a dull notebook.  What do you guys think?

I also picked up a storage jar in another shop to store all my pens...

...simple yet cute, I call it my jar'o'pens.  You see I have an (unhealthy) obsession with pens and notebooks - it would be less unhealthy if I could actually draw but I can't, though I am beginning to practise more and more, maybe I'll show you guys my doodles one day.

How was everyone else's weekend? Were you out sunning yourselves or cowering from the rain?

Speak Soon xxx Pin It

The Book Of Love...

On my travels I'm going to try and keep a little journal, not a dear diary type thing but just noting the places I've been, the things I've done and what I have liked.  I decided to do this mainly because my memory is AWFUL! I went traveling for a year around Australia a couple of years ago and do you think I can remember names of places? No, so this time I'll make sure I have something to refer back to.

A couple of posts ago I showed you how to decorate a notebook with material, only this time I didn't mix the PVA with water and I didn't paint over the material with PVA.  I think it came out rather lovely juvely, with no bubbles whatsoever, so this is definitely my preferred method.  What do you guys think?

It's not particularly 'travel' inspired material, but hey, it's prettier than a plain ol' sketch book.

Anyone else got anything crafty DIY's to share?

Speak Soon xxx

Pin It

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy - Notebook cover Tutorial...

I've been on the hunt for the perfect yet affordable notebook for ages, and I just haven't found any!  So I thought I would create my own....sort of.

Turn any old notebook from this.....

To This...

In 11 simple steps...

1. Your tools - Notebook you wish to cover, material of your choice, PVA (or Mod Podge), Painting Brush, Scissors, Disposable Container, Material Chalk.

2. Measure your material to size and mark where you are going to cut with your material chalk 

3. Don't forget to leave some overhang to tack around the corners of your note book.

4. Pour a PVA (enough to paint your note book with) into you disposable container.

5. Add a splash of water - about 1/4 of your PVA and mix well

6. Paint the outside of your notebook with the mixture.

7. Place your material on top of your painted notebook and slide into place, paint over your material with the PVA/Water mixture.

8. Open up your notebook and tuck the edges in, not forgetting to snip the material by the spine.  Paint the material in place.  Do the same for the other side

9. Leave to dry for about two hours.

10. You'll be left with a bit of material overhang by the spine of your notebook, paint this with your mixture.

11. Tuck these edges into the spine of the notebook with your scissors - repeat on the other side. Leave overnight to fully dry

12. Voila! Your finished custom notebook cover.

I don't think this was too shabby for my first attempt, though I think I might try it with Spray Mount glue next time as I have a few too many air bubbles for my liking, or I might try and follow THIS tutorial instead, I found it AFTER I'd finished mine - typical!

See what I mean about the bubbles?

What have you crafty creeters been up to lately?  Got any creations to share?

Speak Soon xxx

Pin It

A splash of colour...♥

...as promised here are my two little bags I made on Sunday.

The first one is a simple draw string bag which took me a whole 20mins to make - I'm still new to this sewing machine business so my lines are not straight at all! it's so cute and can be used for anything from laundry to potpourri holders.  I made mine (slightly too big) to hold one of my plastic camera's so it doesn't get completely destroyed in my bag.  I then decided to be a little more adventurous and attempt this cute little envelope bag.  It was more complicated than I expected with my material slipping around and my knack of not being able to sew straight, but not too shabby for my first attempt I'd say - I also got a little help from my Mumma sewing the elastic on, but hey!  What do you guys think?

I also got a little creative on my nails too and gave the marble nails another crack:

Barry M - Base & Top Caot, Grey, Bluberry & Cobalt Blue

They're by no means perfect but I quite like them, and using room temprature water was a big help.

For today's outfit, I had to dust off my favourite pair of boots from last spring and they are just so cute and vibrant but unfortunately falling apart sadly :(

Cardigain, Vest Top, Jeggings & Boots - H&M, Top - Primark, Neclace - Aldo

My outfit today makes me feel so happy because it's so bright and fun, it really does lift my mood and feel like I'm embracing Spring :)  For my hair I simply scrunched it to the back of my head and clipped it with a round crocodile clip and pinned it into place with lots of pins including a cut bow detail one.

Let me know what clothes and things you are doing to welcome the warmer weather?

Speak Soon xxx

Pin It

Saturday in the Sunshine....

I had such a fabulous day yesterday, and I am so sorry I did not realise it was the bloggers day of silence for Japan :( another blog fail!

1. My day started by popping down to Shepherds bush market to pick up some material for my drawstring bags which I will be making today.  I was supposed to only get a piece of fabric but there was too much to choose from! I shall post my bag once I have finished.

2. I then wandered into central to meet a friend for lunch and we ended up in Ping Pong, now don't get me wrong the food is yummy, but I've definitely had better Dim Sum, but I do highly reccomend their Strawberry Lemonade, it was delicious!

3. They also had these cute little lights above us which reminded me of Mushroom in Mario Bros.

4. We took a stroll into Soho and popped into The Endurance for a little bevvy, but then the Rugby started and we are not massive Rugby Fans (YAY Ireland!)...

5. ...so we made our way over to the Intrepid Fox is a heavy metal pub full with goths rockers and old school metal fans, it was like being taken back to my grunge teen years, I quite liked it with all their interesting wall designs and dark red lighting, but the music was a little too heavy for me, so we took another wander...

6. ...and happened upon The Royal George, its a cute little pub tucked down a little alleyway by Superdrug on Tottenham Court Road.  I used to be a regular visitor to this pub on a Wednesday for the Ukulele Night, it's great fun in their cool little basement with wonderful patterns designs and art on the wall.  Though I have never been here on a Saturday, we were sipping our drinks upstairs when we heard the music kick off, so we took a little gander and watched the REALLY cool Rhythm and Blues band called MFC Chicken, now when we saw these guys you would not expect the deep smooth soulful voice from this skinning lad, but it was truely amazing and they were so much fun with the audience twisting the night away.

Cardigan, Dress, Ring & Necklace - Primark, Tights - M&S, Socks - Topshop, Boots - Vera Moda

I hope everyone had a glorious Saturday basking in the sunshine.

Speak Soon xxx

Pin It

The Sun is Shining, the weather is sweet....

What a glorious day!  I was woken early this morning with the sun blazing through my window and it was just the best feeling.  Currently I am still in my PJ's but I have lots to do today - I need to go and get some fabric to make a couple more bags for my camera's - you see I'm slightly obsessed with two things at the moment - Toy Camera's and Sewing and Knitting, as I mentioned before I was in the process of knitting a hat, but the sun came up and I decided to make a little draw string bag to haul my camera's around in so the don't get scratched in my bag:

So this is my first ever attempt at using a sewing machine and making a drawstring bag so there are some loose threads and wonky edges, but it's not bad hey?  An it's really got me in the mood to get creative!

I also have to say sorry I haven't been around much this week, I've been rather busy with work, but I promised to be a little better this week :)


Speak Soon xxx Pin It

Stitch and bitch...

So I popped around my lovely friend Abi's house today to do a bit of knitting, have a good ol' chin wag and enjoy good food.  She made some yummy cupcakes wile I made 7 layer dip.

Unfortunately we ate all the dip before I had time to photograph it but here's a posh pic of how it can look :)

For my recipe which I stole from my American friend its basically a layer of refried beans, a layer of salsa (not fresh - Dorito's or Old El Paso is the best) sour cream, spring onions, black olives and cheese.  You then bung it in the oven until hot throughout and the cheese is all melty and either leave it to cool and serve at room temperature, or as we did eat it piping hot....yummmmmmm

My friends cup cakes were so cute baked in little cases picked up in Ikea:

Again uber yummy!

As for the knitting, I'm in the middle of knitting a hat which I have been doing for a while and about 1/2 way through at the moment, here's how it looks so far:

Pants huh? ha ha, but imagine it finished, a lovely cosy hat with a little bobble on the top. Can you picture it? Because I can.

Abi on the other hand is much more adventerous and she's made lots of cute crocheted monsters with her own patterns which hopefully she's going to sell to the world one day!  Today she started to crochet this bad boy:

Which I've now stolen the pattern for, and this is going to be my next project as by the time I finish my hat I think it will be Summer!

For today's outfit I decided to wear something comfy to lounge around the house with:

Cardigan - Primark, Top, Vest Top, Jeggings, Necklace - H&M, Boots - Zara

Let me know what you've been up to this weekend, I love random chill out weekends.

Speak soon xxx

Pin It