and she sat with the thought until the sun went down.

Amongst all the things that suddenly cropped up today, a very nice surprise was a trip to my local library. Now don't go expecting a library of 'Beauty and the Beast' proportions. You know the part when he gives her this maaa-hoo-sive library full of books and she falls in love with him. This library is three rows of crap fiction, some alcoves of non-fiction  a row of kids, and a performing arts room that no one ever seems to use. The one saving grace of the library are the two shelves of YA books. Thank goodness for Neil Gaiman. He really has saved my weekend from being utterly boring! I picked up Coraline and The Graveyard Book, along with some Roald Dahl and a book on doll making. Can't wait to delve into the oddness! 

I've been looking at doll-making as a possible venture and have been wondering if it would be possible to use cloth to make anything quite as beautiful and delicate as the dolls below. I've tried making the more cartoonish  cloth dolls, but I kinda feel like that's all been done before. I think i'll really enjoy the challenge of trying to create something so delicate from fabric and embroidery :)

enchanteddoll.com

What did you get up to today?

xoxo

Pick me up and put me in your (paper) pocket.

You may notice a little extra special something on the left which is this way <------ if you're like me and not at all orientated with the lefts and the rights. Yay I feel pleased that I managed to tick something off my todo list today. 1. Make blog button

2. Email Clair

3. Email Gemma (before she explodes with annoyance at my inability to reply)

4. Get up to date on my blog reads

5. Make Sarah a birthday card. Suggestions of awesome birthday ideas and tutorials for birthday cards are welcome in the comments below!

6. Finish the doll I started!

7. Post tee tutorial.

There is more.

8. I'm only kidding. I wouldn't do that to you.

9. Or would I?????? Mwahahahahahaha...

Speak to you soon my little blog cats.

xoxo

EDIT: Is there something wrong with Blogger today? Yes...I think so.

Fashion Forward: The picnic

Spriiiiiiing! Can you tell i'm more than a little excited that blue skies will become more frequent? I can't wait for the extra little pep of warmth from the sun...or not...whatever. I'm just pleased that Winter is going, finally. Which means that I can go on picnics. I love going on a lovely drive with the windows down and finding a nice spot to lay out the blanket.

Florals are waaaaay in at the moment so I figured why not bring back straw hats and wicker picnic baskets with it. This is such a girlie look and actually it's so thing i'd have to plan out. I'm not THAT girl who throws on a great outfit. I fell in love with the cute tunic dress which would look great over leggings and over a pair of favourite jeans (or on it's on if you're feeling brave!) and the shoes are gorgeous too. I couldn't quite tell if they were women's sandals or made for little girlies, but even if they are not made for big old feet like ours, someone should. 

Reading British ELLE this week, it was full of florals, utility and denim. It kinda reminded me of the 90s, in a good way. BTW does anyone remember the show 'Clarissa Explains It All'? Oh yes. I loved it! I used to sit on the stairs and pretend I was talking to a camera about my family. No wonder my family think i'm odd.

Clair's hosting next month!!!

xoxo

photo cred

I really think things have got to start looking up soon. In any case I'm looking up. I've been a little distracted this week and I haven't posted all the things that I wanted to.

You see, this week someone much loved in my family passed away quite unexpectedly. My great aunt Ruby who was a ripe age of 83 died in her sleep after eating an apple and a large amount of chocolate. Her and her husband had been married for nearly 50 years and never had children. I went and sat with Sam (her husband) while the ambulance teams worked on her, but unfortunately she had already gone. Trying to find words of comfort for anyone isn't easy. It was devastating to watch. He was utterly distraught that he didn't get a chance to kiss her goodbye.

So thank you, little followers, for sticking around.

xoxo

Fashion Forward: Just as I am.

I wracked my brains to come up with a good post for this week and it kind of dawned on me that I was looking at trends that just aren't me and that i'd never wear. This is the real world after all. So here are my picks for this week, a little later than usual, but they are purely me.

Items in this set:
Adriana Plaid Tunic, $9.99
Faux Suede Moccasins, $90
Butterfly Pendant, $1,750
Lunar Sunglasses, 25 GBP
Monsoon Accessorize - Hippy Daisy Flower Bando, 8 GBP


I'm so excited that it's coming up to Spring. It means that Summer is nearly upon us and soon we can galavant about in the warm (or the cold, here in Britain). My picks are more of a summer vibe and I really think (hope) that the bohemian look is big this summer...or actually no I don't cos I want to look awesome while everyone else walks around looking like a clone! My fave out of all the things I picked this week is the sunflower headband...and the butterfly wing necklace. I looooooovvvvve butterflies, always been drawn to them, always will!


Sorry it's a bit later than usual :) My mister turned up unexpectedly last night to surprise me for Valentines. He is just so sweet <3 Anyway... Pop your FF post in the box below! Oh and don't forget to  comment and link back here in your post :)


Love you, my little jelly tots.


xoxo

I have always known I was a little monster

cred

I think she is ridculously awesome. 

xoxo

(Do you know who made the middle pic? Let me know so I can link them up.)

The automatic thrifter

It's cold and grey and horrid today, but I feel real sparky. My movement has been limited by wearing two hooded sweaters and an ultra awesome hooded scarf I got for Christmas. If you were on twitter this afternoon you'll also know that I had my jumper tucked into my jeans...trust me had it not have so flooping cold I wouldn't have! Julie quickly let me know that this was not a stylish thing to do. Seriously considering whether my status as host of Fashion Forward this month should be revoked. (Also I cut my own fringe with some blunt scissors, not the best idea i've ever had!)

I'm waiting for a nice day to take pics for the tute i'm working on, so in the mean time I went thrifting and found a cute little shop in my town that deals with house clearances. Sad, yes, but they collect some really lovely bits in there, including old sewing machines! I <3 retro machines and I want to start collecting them. Wouldn't they look awesome on a big shelving display?! I went on to some little charity shops and picked up some 70s looking cushion covers. My fave is the yellow :)

Oh and I nearly forgot this little guy. (50p!!!!)

Every little character I own has a name, so I thought I'd let you guys name him...or her. And what can I use him/her for? Leave a comment and let me know your ideas!

xoxo

EDIT: Turns out Carrie and I have owl twins :)

Thimpnegg

He wants to take over Sundays on the blog. I told him you guys aren't really into little egg shaped creatures who are exceedingly cute. I was right, wasn't I? Let me know...

xoxo

Fashion Forward: Because...I likey :)

This post will self destruct as soon as you have finished with it.

Ok. I admit it, i'm not really a spy, not do I particularly want to be one or dress like one, but I think this skirt is so awesome. So without further ado here is said skirt...

It's pretty. It's red. It has huuuuge buttons on. There is nothing about this skirt that I don't love. However, I get the feeling that if a spy wore it, she would not be a very good spy as she'd most probably be spotted straight away. According to Vogue's spring/summer 2010 review, skirts are going to be big this season and when I say big I mean miniscule. The hemlines are raising, girls! I know, know. Can they get any shorter? Apparently so.  (Although looking at their trend summary it seems like they think everything is in. Floaty, tailored, plain and prints.)

You know the drill. Box. Link. Comment. Fun. <3

xoxo

Why hello there.

I bet you weren't expecting to hear from me on this fine Saturday, were you? Well you're not. It's Thursday, but I thought I'd prepare you a little surprise before I head off for the weekend. Here are some little specials to make you feel all weekendy :)

Have a lovely weekend :)

There is another extra cute surprise on Sunday. Don't miss it. 

xoxo

P.S. If you know where these photo's come from or belong to, let me know so I can link them up. weheartit.com can be a bit vague on sources at times.

The sewing room.

Okay so I got fed up of being hemmed in in my bedroom. (Excuse the intended pun) There was only one thing for it. I invaded the dining room and it is now my craft room. I can't really do much to it though, since I put all my stuff in there while my dad was out and he came home to a bit of a shock! Woops! He never uses the room so... It was fair game!

excuse the mess!

And the newest addition to my craftyness...

The sewing machine.

(wouldn't that make a good book title)

and my writer friend Carrie sent me the cutest tape measure for Christmas!

Owl cuteness!

I've spent all today working on a tutorial for you all which hopefully should be up by tomorrow afternoon. Fingy's crossed. If it's not, it will be up on Tuesday. I have a weekend of Grandma sitting ahead of me. She's starting to get quite confused and the other day she thought I was there in the morning and then was sat waiting for me to come back until quite late. I hadn't been there in the morning and I wasn't due to be going round until tomorrow. It's quite sad really, but she is 85. I keep telling myself this! She's still got a terribly naughty sense of humour :D Any way. I've had lots of fun making things today and i'll probably be up late tonight, so hit me up on twitter if you're on there. I need the company! 

Love to the new followers <3

xoxo

Fashion Forward: Oh, the peach, the peach.

Yay! Welcome to February's FF home.

I drew a blank for an idea for this weeks picks so I threw it out to Twitter and Gemma asked me to find a way to wear this seasons trend of peaches and pale, pastel pinks. Which actually turned out to be the perfect thing for me to do; I can't wear them either. My skin is quite pale with a red tone to it, so put me within 10 feet of a pastel colour, a bucket of water has been tipped on my head and that's it...I've been washed out.  So my challenge became finding a way to stop that from happening!

The way I see it, if a colour is going to wash you out, don't wear too much! I've used the peach as a base/accent colour and made use of layering warmer/darker colours to save the day. One of my good friends, the one I always take shopping with me (she has impeccable taste!), once told me to use colour wheels to check which colours could be worn together. Yep. On the opposite side to the peachy hues are the blues and greens. If you suffer from a red toned complexion you will know that green concealer wipes out the redness. This is basically what I tried to do with these outfits. Plus I think they're really pretty :) Loving the peach and green tunic with a great ruching detail on the arms.  I hope you like them!

Peach: wear me with green & chocolate brown. by paperpocket 

Peach: Wear me with blue by paperpocket 

If you're joining in this week, you know the dealio. Pop a link to your Fashion Forward post in the boxy below and leave a comment so I know you're playing along and if you're not come and join in the fun by hopping around everyone's posts. I get so much inspiration from you all <3

xoxo