Inner City Pressure

I've been spending most of this week working then going straight out in the sun for picnics, frisbee and cider.
It was my lovely friend Sophie's Birthday last week so I drew her a card of the beautifully handsome Brett and Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords.

Work

I work in the marketing department of a land-based college in Dorset. Set in the house and grounds of an old 17th century stately home, it's an absolutely beautiful place to work. 

Here's a couple of snapshots from the other day.

HOW cute are these goslings?? It's baby animals galore here at the moment.

Scrabs

Went to our local Curiousity Centre on Saturday and picked up this super retro 1954 Scrabble board for a mere £2.50. We've become a bit Scrabble obsessed here at the flat, and this was the perfect addition. 

Not staged in the slightest. We always play Scrabble with vintage cider bottles and flowers and convenient twee statements on a spotless table...

Luck would have it that a vintage shop and tearoom, ReLoved, has opened next door. Amazing for me but super bad for my bank account. Today was the first day it opened and I popped in five minutes before it closed and came out with this little beauty. I've been looking for a glass decanter ever since I started watching Mad Men, but every nice one I've seen has been horribly expensive. I managed to snap this one up for £5! There will be many an alcoholic beverage poured out of it.

And here is today's look.

Cord shirt - Vintage market
Cardigan - Beyond Retro

Dress - Love

Shoes - Vans

Three

'Aw, what sweet tights you're wearing. My daughter used to have some just like that when she was three, which she used to wear with her teeny tiny ballet tutu' was a compliment I got from one lady at work. But do you know what? Sometimes it's nice to dress like a bit of a girly girl...even if I do resemble a ballet dancing three year old.

Cardigan - Charity shop.
Dress - Topshop. Customised with rose button.
Tights - Vintage Christian Dior.
Shoes - Gift. Originally from Office.

Selfies

 Sun + cider = tired Lizzy and blurry DIY mirror shots. I kind of like how comfortable and versatile this outfit was though. Perfect for a day at work then straight onto sitting in parks with friends in the sunshine.

Jumper - Charity shop
Shirt - Stolen from my mum. Originally from a charity shop.
Skirt - River Island
Tights - H&M
Shoes - Converse
Necklace - D.I.Y
Rings - New Look
Badge - Gift. Originally from The Black Apple

Perfect Weekend

This weekend's been utterly perfect. On Friday evening a group of us went to a screen-printing exhibition private view in the seaside town of Weymouth where we looked at some awesome art and took advantage of the free wine and canapes (blog-post to come soon), followed with a trip to the cocktail bar.

On Saturday we got up bright and early and caught a bus into Bridport where we visited a record store event and the weekly vintage fair, followed by a leisurely lunch and rowdy card games in a local cafe-bar.

Today has been about recovering from the night before, more card games, leisurely walks and I'm looking forward and ever so slightly scared to see the Evil Dead remake later.

Anyway, here's a few of the treats I picked up at the vintage fair...

A 1960's cherry cider bottle which I thought would make a cute vase.

This dates from 1972. I'm a massive Happy Families fan (lame) and this is a tree version! We attempted to play it but had trouble figuring out what the 'master', 'tree', 'fruit' and 'flower' cards were. Maybe one day, when our knowledge of trees and nature has improved...

Dating from 1962, this book is a bit of a piss-take of the Victorian era and I absolutely love it! It's so dinky and pretty and always amusing finding the answers to highly important questions such as 'To which of the two persons I am thinking about ought I to give the preference?' (answer: 'To one that appears the least interested first').

My sister is the biggest Elvis fan, so I thought I'd get her a couple of vinyls for her room. Sorry for the shadows. My ever awesome photography skills.

And finally, this is what I wore on Thursday (I forgot to take any photos this weekend) against the neat and tidy backdrop of our 'study' room.

Shirt - H&M
Dress - Camden Market. Label says Dolls
Shoes - Vans

Paper Heart

My friend Sophie made me an origami heart out of a discarded train ticket. I feel a little loved.

We took some photos in the sweet little church garden down the road from my flat. I'm not going to profess I know a lot about fashion. I know nothing about the latest trends and the majority of my clothes are from charity shops, sales and inherited off friends and family. But I love playing with different styles, getting inspiration and coming up with new combinations.  I also love the thrill of finding hidden gems in charity shops and vintage shops. So I guess this is what it is. My haphazard fashion sense. I'm also not the most photogenic girl in the world, but it's a good exercise in trying not to care.

Jumper - Inherited from a friend. Label says Full Circle
Dress - Maple (Hong Kong)
Shoes - Vintage store, original 1970's Miss Selfridge
Rings - New Look

Eeek

I've been spending the last year ummming and ahhhing about this, but today I decided enough was enough, roped my flatmate into taking pictures, and decided to blog my first outfit post. Eeeek!

Not the prettiest of backdrops, but oh wells.

Cardigan - Charity shop, originally Topshop
Dress - 1960's nightgown
Boots - Charity shop
Mood-ring - Topshop
Flower ring - My mum's from the 1970's

Fantastic Mr Fox Painting

I painted Fantastic Mr Fox for Sammie's Birthday. I prepped it and framed it up as well, but unfortunately in my rush preparing for the party I only got around to taking a crappy phone shot. Here it is though, in all it's grainy glory.

Fantastic Mr Party

My friend Sammie had a Fantastic Mr Fox Birthday party. We all made a huge effort with out costumes, with pretty much all of us sourcing outfits from various charity shops and DIY. We sewed our own animal ears and some people made masks. We decorated the flat and covered it with memorabilia and homemade posters. Our friend Sophie made a tequila rose and blueberry cheesecake from scratch. So far, so incredibly twee. Until we all got wildly drunk.

I drew a card

I drew a card for my mum, she has the same tastes as I do so a kitten in a bonnet made perfect sense.
It's a bit scrawly, but she likes it!

Fresh Air

I'll be honest, as much as I would like to say my month long absence has been due to my immense productivity and exciting projects, the truth is I've been stuck in a massive creative rut. My sketchbook of the moment is a sad, sad sight. Barely filled pages of half-arsed sketches of cats. But one piece of valuable advice I've learnt is that when you hit a dead end sometimes it's better to just stop, take a breath of fresh air and  have a look around instead of trying to power through with little to show for it.

So that's what I'm doing, taking a breath of fresh air until something inspires me to start again. It could be a day, it could be a month. I'll probably change my mind tomorrow. I'm indecisive like that. 

But that's not going to stop me from blogging. I've found that recently I've been enjoying a lot of lifestyle and fashion blogs, and for a while have been tempted to make my little space of the internet more about the things I'm doing, enjoying, and the things that make me happy. Maybe I'll even branch into style blogging, although the thought of posting my picture on here feels me with dread...

Oh and I hope you all have a lovely Valentines day! I'm going to spend it at the cinema watching the re-showing of the Moulin Rouge with two lovely ladies. Lucky me!

Happy Birthday, David Bowie

Shameless self-promotion of my Etsy shop HERE.

Bits from the sketchbook

Merry

I went up to London a few weeks ago and did some quick observations on the train.

 I also held an alcoholic teaparty for my nearest and dearest. Treats included homemade sushi, vegan cookies (for my vegan guests), mini baked potatoes with chives and cheese, and an array of drinks served in teapots including a green tea, pear and vodka cocktail, a rose tea and vodka cocktail, and a trusty teapot of Pimms! We all had a merry time drinking cocktails from teacups and playing Happy Families...until ring of fire got involved and we ended up at the local pub belting out Robbie Williams on karaoke. My kind of night!