Monday, 18 October 2010

Scavenger hunt

Tell Everyone Who tagged You: Land Girl 1980

Find and post the following items


Your Favourite YouTube Video:




A photo of something that will make people say 'awwwww' :

Continuing with the cat theme, my two not long after we'd adopted them. They hadn't been out from behind the sofa for long, so this was a great moment for us all! And yes, the big boy Socks only has one eye!

A Funny T-Shirt :



Something Geeky:

That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange aeons even death may die
iiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa



Not only do I love Lovecraft, I roleplay. Geek out.


An Image From Your Favourite Movie:

The Princess Bride

Hear this now: I will always come for you.
- But how can you be sure?
This is true love - you think this happens every day?




A Link to the Newest Blog You've Discovered:- Snoodlebug

A Picture of Something on your Wishlist:


Tag 3 other blogs:

Sunday, 17 October 2010

Vintage in Hay on Wye

 I finally made it to Hay on Wye this weekend. It was only a flying visit, as we had family to see as well. The day was beautiful, the sort of crisp and sunny day autumn is supposed to be full of. The mountains and the trees were wonderful and it's on days like these that I long to live somewhere prettier than Bristol.
The view from the road
We did our normal tour of Hay, taking in most of the vintage and antiques shops, plus a number of the bigger book shops. I took lots of pictures of pretty things, but I feel I missed a lot of the best sights, if only because I was rummaging for goodies!

 


The Olde curiosity shoppe is one of my favourites. It's jammed full of clothes, homewares, music books, fabric and crafting bits and jewellery. I love going in for a rummage!









Sage femme is my second favourite shop, and is more second hand than vintage, but the whole place is themed in a mid C20th French style, so it's full of beautiful finds from France and England, old and new, all presented in a wonderful way.




A stack of vintage veils


 Next, onto  Booths Books, the biggest bookshop in Hay and recently refurbished with a cafe and a number of sofas and chairs. Unlike a lot of Hay, the books are very well organised and alphabetised, so it's easy to find specific books, and there are 2 resident cats!

 There was a sweet shop in the back of a rather imposing antiques shop selling blankets and quilts, along with a few vintage nicknacks. Afraid I forgot to look at the name of the shop!
 Finally I went to another shop I can't remember the name of, but it's one with lots of small traders throughout. The rooms are small and packed, so it was hard to take photos but I got one of a clothes area at the back of the shop. There's always something nice in here and it's got such a huge range of items it's a good place to spend some time rummaging.

Onto what I bought then! In the last shop I bought this trunk for £12! It all works despite a little rust and I'm going to use it ti store blankets I think. It's really big so I think I got a bargain.
 I also picked up a white opera scarf for Tom (becuase we go to the opera all the time dontcha know :/ ) and a suitcase, which was another cheap find for £10!
 Finally, in Abergavenny, Tom saw this owl and bought it for me, bacause I am owl crazy. Isn't he cute? He's supposed to be a doorstop but I'm going to keep him on a shelf so that the cats don't eat him. His name is Lord Oliver Wise, which I think suits him perfectly.



Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Where is my mind?

I came across this video on YouTube yesterday. I quite like the original but it does work beautifully as a piano piece. Plus, the video, from 'The Mysterious Lady' (1928) with Greta Garbo, is perfect. What a wonderful dress she's wearing! And what amazing cinematography. Lighting, framing, acting, the works.


Winter feels like it's arrived today, and I went out well wrapped up today. I could see my own breath on the way to work this morning!
Hardly surprising, then, that any vestige of sun tan I did have has well and truly gone. Now, my skin barely changes colour, even when I spend all day sunbathing with no cream on. I've resigned myself to being pale and interesting. However, I went to look at new foundations at MAC yesterday (I thought my current one was looking a bit dark) and where I had been wearing NC25, I'm now wearing NC15, two whole shades lighter... it's positively porcelain. It's also the palest shade they do...should I embrace my inner goth and dye my hair darkest brown? Maybe I'm better off following Christina Hendrick's example? My hair is a dark auburn colour naturally and it's been most colours under the sun at one time or other. I'm not afraid of dye!
While I was in MAC, I picked up a lip primer, as recommended by Fleur in her recent tutorial. I wore it for the first time today, and I must say that it's made my lips look and feel a lot more moist and smooth (something I was finding a problem with the matte lipsticks) and I do think it's helped to keep the colour on. I did a little touch up after lunch but not as much as I might normally. I do use lipcoat and that also makes a world of difference!
So, expensive trip but I felt it was well worth it!

My mum and have agreed to do a pattern exchange. She's going to knit me a cardigan, and I'm going to sew her a pair of trousers. I already have my pattern bought from ebay, and I need to buy some wool. We're still trying to find a trouser pattern for her, but we have discovered that she fits into my 1940s trousers better than I do! So, that's what we're looking at first. I'll keep you up to date with my progress!

Best giveaway yet...

The wonderful Shona is giving away a Fleur dress on her Heyday blog.
These dresses are wonderful - they're comfy and flattering and although I already have one, I have a good friend who I could give a very generous Christmas gift to if I won!
Get over there quick!

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Needlewoman and Needlecraft 1948

I picked this magazine up the other day. Published on July 20th 1948. There's all sorts of lovely things in here, I may attempt the gloves at some point! 









Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Too tired for Tuesday

I was going to be witty and charming, and frightfully relevant, but I'm cream crackered tonight, so you can just look at the me from this morning.
In other news, I'm reading Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons on the bus every day and it's a delight. For a talented woman she's been given very limited credit!

So far, I've learnt that wearing gloves with no hat is far more elegant that wearing a hat with no gloves...will try to remember that tomorrow.

Skirt - Coast
Black top + Cardigan - Marks and Spencer
Shoes - Clarks
Scarf - Charity shop 


Monday, 4 October 2010

Only 4 days to the weekend....

So, it's Monday again, and somehow I wish I were still ill so that I didn't have to go back to school. I mean work. It certainly feels like school at the moment; tiring, pointless and painful.
However, I put my best foot forwards this morning and got out my newly de-stained jersey dress (it's been sat in my mending pile for about 2 years), put on my make up and made it in to the office barely after 10! Go me.

Dress is a very old Monsoon purchase
Cardigan - Topshop
Lacey tights - Marks and Spencer
Shoes - Clarks (and featured on Fleur de Guerre's blog today!)
Scarf - vintage
Squint - 9.15am bleugh

As a reward I had crumpets when I got in. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. My toaster looks far cleaner here than in real life!
As Fleur has posted about her vintage inspired (V.I.) spots, I thought I'd join in. She mentioned both Clarks and Zara, which are two of my favourite shops (along with Marks and Spencer, in case you hadn't noticed). I have a list of shoes I want from Clarks as long as my arm.




I may have to pay a shop a visit in the near future...
I've also spotted these beauties in Hush Puppies

Don't they make you go 'oooooooooooooooohhhhhh'?! I reckon I could wear these with just about anything. Skirts, dresses, trousers, jeans, nighties... They're going on the Christmas list though :(
I also spotted a couple of nice bits over at Zara while I was browser window-shopping.

Barring the belts (it's a bit too much hobo-chic for my tastes - fine if you're 16 and skinny, not if you're me.) the tops are really very nice. There's a definate 40s vibe on the high street this autumn and if you can sift through the 80s revival and the thigh skimming tea dresses, there are some really nice shapes and fabrics around.
I think it could be a long and costly shopping trip!

For the observant amongst you, while I've been looking at shiney things, I've failed in a spectacular fashion to do any more sewing at all. Oooops. I did assemble some Ikea shelves for my TV and DVD collection though!