OK Coral

Last week was a bit of a write off; I was under the weather for most of it and then had some kind of Edwardian fainting episode on my morning commute which meant Lotts and Lots took a backseat whilst I tried to do the basics like work.  Anyway to kick the week off on a more positive note I've rounded up some of my favourites things from over the weekend, when I not feeling great I like to keep things simple and stick to what I know will give me an instant boost; ribbon, beads, jewellery and fresh flowers  all in my best corally shades

Top image - my stash from the florist wholesalers - I'm starting to get the details for the wedding ready

Coral bracelet & jewellery bag from Cos (yes I have broken my shopping ban) 

Jewels I brought whilst in New York 

Stripey dress ( very old Oasis)

Soft coral vase and fresh Hyacinths, all wrapped up in ribbon 

I have been working on some new DIY's so pop back in the week to see what I have been creating. 

Pretty as a picture

These are just what I wanted to look at today; I've had a stinking cold since the weekend and have not been feeling particularly creative or inspired. When these images from Willow and Frank popped into my Facebook feed today, they were just the remedy my mind needed (to me they're the creative equivalent of fresh orange juice). How pretty, feminine & dreamy they are - I'd quite like to spend an afternoon in this world. For more gorgeous images like these go and visit, its a perfect site for a spot of escaping.

All images - Willow and Frank

Summer Shades

What's with this freezing weather? Just as we all get lulled into spring like temperatures it goes so cold. As a way to keep my no spending January on track I pulled together some of my favourite summer-but-can-wear-in-winter clothes. Not only has having these at the top of my t-shirt pile stopped me from having a blind panic as to what to wear in the morning but it has been curbing my shopping urges, for time being at least! 

Tops from a selection - River Island, H&M, Warehouse & Anthropologie

I normally wear dark polish in winter and light in summer - but I've gone crazy and switched it up (wild I know!) 

Polishes - Barry M, Essie, OPI & Rimmel

 Of course everything is finished off with hand-made jewels - The icey blue one is a current favourite

DIY Favourites

Hello! to all the new readers I'm delighted that you've stopped by. After the success of last weeks Prada-esques, I have been having a look through some of my old DIY's. Its been good to reflect and see how I have changed, it felt so scary to start writing but now I can't stop (ask Dan) some nights I can't sleep for all the idea whirring through my head. I have so much I want to do and share, please stick around its going to be a fun! 

Images - (L-R) Sequin Bib necklace, "Peachy" Bead Earrings

DIY Turband  (I have worn this loads)

Ribbon Bow Bracelet

All of these are quick and easy and ideal for quiet January days

January blog of the month - Mrs. Lilien

Images  - Mrs. Lilien

Following on from last weeks blog course, I have decided to introduce this as a monthly feature and share my favourites. Now I am totally obsessed with looking at blogs and I always get a thrill when I come across one which is above and beyond inspiring. Mrs. Lilien is a new find and I have become addicted to its fabulous-ness. Each post is written as a poem, the imagary and fonts are gorgeous; its escapism at its finest, it totally draws you in and makes you want to be part of Mrs. Lilien's world. The best part is that it isn't banned at work which means I get to check it daily! 

A pretty good week

Image - Mckinley Rodgers

Most weeks are normally OK or just a bit "meh" but this week has been a good one. If my stars are to be believed its because Neptune is in Pisces for the first time in 150 years which apparently means all my dreams will come true or something to that effect. 

I wanted to write down what happened as I am sure next week won't be as lucky. It started with our amazing wedding photographers Mckinley Rogers giving me a mention on their blog  (if you are looking for a wedding photographer, I can't recommend these guys enough, you'll feel like you've known them forever, they take amazingly natural photo's and if you're really lucky they'll bring their dogs too). 

The second thing that happened was I attended a blog workshop at the Apple Store in Covent Garden, hosted by the fabulous Angela Buttolph of Grazia. The workshop was great full of tips that I intend to start putting into practice asap, followed by a showing of our blogs. I was pretty petrified as there were so many professional looking blogs out there but she seemed to love it and saved it to her favourites (she didn't save anyone elses) - I did an internal squeal and harassed by best friend about it for the rest of the evening. 

Thirdly, a huge thanks to Victoria at vmac&cheese for featuring my DIY Prada-esque earrings on her Friday round up - I am hugely flattered! 

So thats been my great week, I might not get another so I am going to bask in my good fortune for another 24 hours before I have to come back to earth! 

DIY - Pradaesque rose earrings

I'm so excited to post this, I have been waiting to make these since last year and made the most of my quite weekend to put them together. They were surprisingly quick to make and have brought a much needed dose of summer to my black/grey winter wardrobe. Inspired by the below Prada advert I knew as soon as I saw them I wanted them to be mine or at least have a go at making them. I used beads I already had in my arsenal so they cost me nothing to put together - bonus! 

See tutorial below

You'll need some diamante chain, large-ish crystals, small rose beads and a selection of beading wire and    earring findings

I had pre-made my wire base (it was a circle but I squashed into a tear drop shape) If you can't make your own you should be able to pick up a tear drop shape in a bead/craft store. I cut my chain slightly larger than the length I needed and using a thin bead wire I wrapped the chain around the base. 

 I fastened by wrapping the wire tightly around the top section - make sure you don't over wrap or it will look too bulky. 

Using head pins (not shown in the top picture) I threaded and looped the head pins through my beads.

 Decide on the order you want your beads, like the picture I went for the roses at the top with the big crystals in the middle and link them all together. 

 Originally I was going to use earring hooks but these smaller earring stands looked better. Which ever you decide to use fix to top bead and you're done - go forth and be fabulous! 

 I intend to wear mine with grey and black plus a dash of leopard print for good measure. They have already made me dig out some old rings to wear with. 

Simple & Beautiful

This is a somewhat lazy post but as my shopping ban takes full effect this week I thought I'd post what I would buy if I had the cash. Tootling around the web today I came across this beauty, so simple, so elegant - gorgeous. If only I had the money and somewhere to wear it...sign! 

Dress - Acne at Net-a-Porter

Re-shuffle

As usual I'm always a bit late with things, and taking down the Christmas tree was no exception. I finally got round to taking it down yesterday; whilst I was sad to see it go its quite nice to not dodge a tree everytime I need to get into a draw or get to the plug. I decided to have a re-shuffle of the bits I normally have on my fireplace, I cleared away all the old tealight holders, picture frames etc and put back only things I loved or missed (see rhino). It looks so much better, if a little girly for Dan but I'm sure he won't notice. 

The print was a Christmas present from my sister, the birds and candle holder I collected here and there and the eggs I collected on various holidays.

 Hello! I love this little rhino brought last year in Anthropologie

I had all this stuff tucked away in cupboards, I'm feeling quite smug that I haven't brought anything just moved it around.

Some recent commissions

In the run up to Christmas I was asked by two girls at work to make necklaces for their mums (based on the necklace I made here). The requests were the same however, the colours couldn't have been more different; Sonia wanted bright and exotic and Kate wanted soft and feminine. It was great fun working at different ends of the colour spectrum and I got to use all my beads - what could be more fun? 

Exotic Vintage - Mood board & colour prep 

The finished piece - I used pinks, reds, corals, orange, amber and a touch of purple for good measure 

 Feminine with a twist - Kate wanted soft pearl colours, with a bit of Facebook stalking I added a dash of  smoke and amethyst

The finished piece - I used pearls and smokey lilacs throughout with mother of pearl to tie it all  together.

A close up of the final flowers - made using a mix of silk chiffon and beaded lace

If you have come across this blog and would like anything made, please drop me an email. I work to order so can create on request. 

Minty fresh

I'm not sure if its an overload of Christmas colours, but I'm quite enjoying fresh mint shades and icey blues at the moment. I seem to be collecting these colours all over the place. The above image is of the fancy dress costume I brought for my friend for New Years (its an original 1960's dress), the below is a little pack of mints with the most gorgeous pack and the very last image is of beads I brought before christmas ready to be made into something special. 

I just can't get enough of a vintage packet

I love these icey shades against the gold, I'm thinking of making some earrings with these. 

Make your own mini file

This is a somewhat random make but in the spirit of new years resolutions I have decided to post. In order to sort my finances I have decided to log what I spend, so I made a little receipt holder to help me keep track of my spending - its going to be a scary few months. When I first started working nearly 13 years ago I used to write down everything that I spent on a weekly basis, it kept me on track and never over spent so figured if I have done it before I can do again. 

I followed a tutorial in this book and used up existing craft supplies - you'll need a thin piece of A4 card,  6 envelopes, double sided tape, sellotape and a piece of thin ribbon

Trace round and envelope leave a 1.5cm gap, trace again and leave another 1.5cm gap, trace again but this time make the section about 4cm shorter than the envelope depth. 

Cut round the rectangular shape and fold along all lines.

Take your envelopes and stick down the flaps, open them along the top edge and stick a length of double sided on the back of each.

Stick your envelopes together forming 6 little pockets

You will then need to put double sided tape to the top and bottom of the front and back envelope. Stick onto the folded card.

Make a hole in the centre of the short flap, thread some ribbon through and fix over a tin piece of card and fix with sellotape. Wrap round your envelope twice and trim to length. 

Ta-da! Your mini file is ready to be used

It feels somewhat wrong yet so right to be so geeky!