Miss Selfridge

Miss Selfridge is one of those shops where I lust over its girly, lacey styles. Sadly I can never quite afford anything from there. The only things I do own are a couple of pairs of knickers, and a coat which got attacked by mould at the old house :(  But it's not to say that I avoid it completely. I just like going in and looking at everything and wishing <3

Here's some of my top picks from them:


What are your top picks?

Up-cycling Recyclables

In my New Year's Resolution post I said I was going to craft more to help be more creative and save money. Today I gave some empty jars a new lease of life, seeing as they would just end up in the recycle bin anyway! (don't judge my Smart price 'cos I'm skint!...)


  Jam jar became this lovely little pencil pot
Pasta sauce jar became storage for some of my buttons

All it involved was washing out the remnants and scraping off the labels in hot water. Add a bit of ribbon and viola! Useful things :)
One day I might make a post about my craft room... when it isn't a complete tip and things are more organised and hung on walls etc. Anyone who is in any way organised would have a complete fit if they saw the state of that room. I need to completely sort out my storage because I'm not even joking when I say I could start up my own haberdashery! Seems that as I can't have cats to be a crazy cat lady I've developed a serious textile problem in its place and am now a crazy textile lady!
Oh dear. Also adding stuff to Ebay so take a peek here!

My Purchases

Thought I'd post some of the things I bought when I went shopping on Monday in York.

I don't normally buy anything from Topshop. Not because there isn't anything I like but I usually find it so overpriced and the sale stuff is usually disgusting but I spotted this diamond in the rough for £15! It's by a brand called Miss Patina and will need taking up and it is also sadly hand wash only but I thought it was a pretty little thing, with a spandexy texture. The collar and the sleeve length are fantastic, and the colour is a lovely mauve/grey colour... and polka dot hearts!! Managed to get it for a mere £5 as I had been gifted some vouchers for Christmas.


I went into H&M and ended up taking back the green dress I bought which can be seen in my vlog haul a couple of entries back. I just didn't think the shape flattered. This is one of the dresses I didn't buy initially because I wasn't sure how the colour would be with my skin tone but it is a beauty. I can't believe it's only £14.99! It fits so nicely and definitely flatters! The fabric used is also so, so soft. I feel like a princess in it! It also comes in a darker antique pink colour. Yummy!


Lastly is this stunning notebook from Paperchase. I decided to treat myself to it to use for my Masters course in September. It's really thick and each of the pages has a lovely pattern on too, which I wasn't able to photograph because my phone camera likes to hide details by giving all my photos a smoothing appearance annoyingly. It was only £6 which I found very reasonable for Paperchase.

So not a bad shopping trip seeing as I only ended up spending £11 on these items in total :)

My Favourite Footwear

Figured I'd write up a post on my most loved footwear. I tend to stick to flat or low heeled boots and shoes these days because I prefer the comfort and I've seemly developed a penchant for cowboy style boots! However, back in the day you would have seen me parading around in these bad boys which I actually wore at a festival last August and they were still exceptionally comfortable despite the fact I hadn't worn them for a good 7 years!



Not the best picture, but you get the point!! New Rocks with springs in the 4" platforms.


My everyday shoes consist of these: The first boots have been pretty much worn to death and now they leak :( they were £16 from Barratts a couple of years back and are actually the second pair I've owned. The second pair are the ones I recently blogged about from Asda kids section, £16. The wedge shoes tend to be the ones I'll wear when I go on a night out because they're comfy and give a little bit of height and are from Primark a while back. Slippers are from Asda £6. The last ones are every day shoes from New Look that the boyfriend bought me for Xmas! I do have tonnes of shoes, as I do with everything... but these are my most worn (apologies for the appalling photoshop xD)

I found these lot on the Next website that I quite like the look of...

1. I love these with their cowboy style. A firm favourite!  2. These patent flatforms are lovely. I like how they're different to typical flat shoes.

3. I like the ankle strap but I'm not sure how practical it would be. Would be nicer without. I love scalloped edges!!

4. These are a lovely colour and I like the detailing. 5. Cat shoes! How can I resist? I'm still wanting some of these babies but probably in a ballerina style. 6. Dr Martens. I was actually talking to my friend the other day about needing some of these. I keep putting them off because of the price. 7. Pretty slippers with button detail! I'm a sucker for buttons xD

Hope you like them :) x

Historic Costume & Textiles

As I'm having a day of relaxation today, I thought I'd write a post on the course that I did at University, why I did it, some of the things I've done, and what I'm looking to do in the future!

From my teenage years I've had somewhat of an obsession with the Victorian era, namely the costumes that they wore, and this soon led me to develop a succinct interest in the dress and textiles of other periods within history. In college, I would often miss hitting criterion relative to achieving higher grades because all I wanted to do was to replicate costumes, and look after them, not wanting to add needless contemporary twists. For example, one absurd idea I was told to think about was to create a Victorian dress out of plastic! No thank you!


Me, aged 15 at Whitby Goth Weekend

I looked into doing costume at University but there were no courses that I could find that would allow me to just replicate so I hit a bit of a brick wall with that one, until I found out about Conservation & Restoration. I realised that this was exactly what I wanted to do, to conserve, clean and restore our history so that others could enjoy it. The thing about historic textiles compared to all other materials is that it is the fastest decaying because it is organic and so hugely prone to damage and decomposition. Baring this in mind, the conservation of textiles is not an easy task. You may even have heard horror stories about antique textiles turning to mush because some silly person has put it in the washing machine! Not good.

The course itself encompasses all materials (archaeological, metal, wooden, textile, paper, ceramic and decorative objects) with a module in science and chemistry, as it is imperative to understand the chemical processes that each object withstands in its lifetime, and also what would happen to use certain chemicals and solvents in cleaning it. It also covers history, as it is important to know where objects come from and what their uses would have been.

I could literally ramble on about my course and the subject all day, so without further ado, here are some of the things I got up to... I should also say, please be aware that I am only able to include a few photos, some not the best quality, as many of them are used in my professional portfolio, so wouldn't want them to go walkies!


The first image shows me standing next to a Victorian mourning dress that I worked so hard to repair and mount for display at our end of year exhibition. Please note, this is a very naughty photo because no one should ever stand ANY WHERE NEAR a textile, or ANY historic object with a glass of drink because accidents do happen!
The second shows me touching up a ceramic goblet with special paints to attempt to disguise the repairs that were made.
The third is taken at a conference I attended outside of University, where we were shown some of the beauties that are in storage in the York collections. Do note, that we did not touch any of these garments. The lady behind me is the technician and she is wearing cotton gloves.
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I graduated from my course in September and have had to take a year out due to my health. I did intend to carry on to do the Masters course part time here, but have since found it wiser to do a course that would not jeopardise my health quite so much. So come this September, I shall be partaking in Museum Studies. Exciting!!

Hope you like the post, and hopefully it has given you more of an insight into the backgrounds of museums and collections. I purposefully have not gone into much depth because it is a very specialist area. If you'd like to find out more, look up Object conservation :)

Anorak

Contrary to the title of the blog, I am not about to talk about a geeky yet practical type of outerwear...!

But some how I stumbled upon this brand, Anorak, who have the cutest stuff!!! For anyone who knows me, I am obsessed with deer prints and bird prints and being in black and white is even more lustworthy! So this brand are perfection.

Here are some of the things they sell:

I want all of this lovely stuff!! Some of it is very costly though. Maybe someone will treat me to a mug?? But the sleeping bag is fantastic!! Plus being cotton means even I can sleep inside it :D normal sleeping bag material plays havoc with my eczema so this would be a brilliant alternative.







This next lot is a bit bright for my liking but I still think they're all good pieces! I would definitely go for the bird coasters <3 beautiful!

Wish List : Want List

I should really treat myself today seeing as I only went and bagged myself a conditional offer for my MA at Durham University! :D so happy!! Looks like I'll be getting my uber northern accent back, much to the boyfriends dislike XD

1) Leggings are £12.99 from New Look, vair pretty!
2) Grey dress is another £12.99er from New Look. I need more basics and it's lovely.
3) Red dress is another one from New Look at £28.99 which is a bit steep for a cheapskate such as me, but it was too nice to not include.
4) Black dress with lace collar is an Asda special at only £16. Sadly they've run out of size 10s online but it has been given a solid 5 stars so it must be good!
5) This tapestry skirt is part of Primark's S/S13 stock. I believe it will be £12 :)


So, so happy that I'll be able to move my life forward :D

Falling Snow

I hate snow. Grumble.

But aside from that, I've had one of the best weekends I've had in a long while. It was much needed and thanks to brilliant company was very relaxing and generally lovely. On Sunday the boyfriend had a race in Sheffield, or rather, Rother Valley Country Park, so we decided to make the most of it and stay over in a hotel. On the Saturday, after stupid road diversions in Lincoln, we spent the day with friends in Meadowhall until 10pm when it closed. I bought quite a bit which you can refer to in my 'vlog' at the bottom of this post.

I brought a present for one of my friends who suffers from a chronic illness. I just wanted to make her happy, so I put together a little kit for her, for when it gets her down. It consisted of heart shaped hand warmers, which I stupidly didn't take a picture of but are basically this:

A mug which I tried the Sharpie DIY on, with a quote which was quite fitting after all she's been through. I then put some of her favourite sweets inside it :) Alongside this, I bought a little chest from the Lincoln Christmas Market which I filled with mini spoons that I got from an Ebay seller. For anyone who doesn't know the Spoon Theory go and have a read here. It's so helpful in explaining chronic illnesses to others, and will hopefully help you to see the joke :p


The next day I drove the boyfriend to his race. It was so cold that I opted to stay in the car and instead was distracted by taking photos of birds in trees because I have something of an obsession XD And last but not least, here is my shopping haul video. I hope you like, and please leave feedback :)

My Asda Bargains

Went to Asda yesterday and got myself some right little bargains!

First off these girls boots. Asda kids boots go up to a size 6 so you should never discount the kids section! £13! And they're so comfy. I know I'll get a lot of use out of them :)



Next up I got 2 of these men's white t-shirts in a size medium. 50p each! They will come in great for some crafts I have in mind :) - sorry they're crumpled to buggery!



Next up are these jars. They're very big in size and will also come in handy for some crafts. £1 each. I think they're usually between £1.75-£2.50 so a nice saving :)



I then bought this huge under the bed storage box for £5. Perfect for putting in gift wrap etc.




Finally. These were only 50p for the Maltesers and £1 for the Jelly Babies... so I got 2 of the former and 4 of the latter! I know it's naughty buying sweets but they've actually got decent sell-by-dates on them so as a bit of a cheapskate people will be receiving these as gifts ;D but seriously why spend the RRP on these things which is usually £1-2 for the Maltesers and £3+ for the Jelly Babies!?




Hope you're liking my cheap finds :)

Lovely Sally

Oh.My.Word.

Is all I can say about these leggings. I've been after a pair of funky ones with a design that I'd actually wear. By God are they beautiful? Now I just need some dosh. Gah. Someone buy me them? :D

Birds On a Line

Thought I'd take some pictures of my new Yumi dress that the boyfriend got me for Christmas. Sadly, I only had about 5 minutes to take photos before I had to leave the house so my face looks stupid in a lot of them so enjoy an out take and a headless shot. Oh I treat you well don't I? XD


 

Xmas Goodies!

It's a bit overdue but I thought I would share a few pictures of some of the goodies I got for Xmas.



Awesome cat phone cover, Cameo necklace, Address book, Diary


Bookmark, Books


How awesome is the bookmark?! <3


Easy feet thingy, JLO Live perfume, Awesome bedspread that will be going on tonight!, Cute salt & pepper shakers.



From top to bottom. River Island Tapestry skirt, New Look green lace dress, Dorothy Perkins baroque print leggings, DP enchanted print dress

Starting Afresh

So I've made a change to my blog layout and I'm so happy with how it's turned out :D it's pretty perfect and is everything I wanted it to be to depict my individual style.

Today has been quite a lazy day other than asking the boyfriend to take a few outfit photos of me in our garden. I'm awkward as hell but I'm sure I'll get better with more practise!








Dress: Primark, £15
Tights: Primark: £2.50?
Leather Jacket: Bershka: £50
Boots: Barratts: £16
Blackboard: One of the many treasures in my Etsy shop. I'll be adding more through the weeks :)

Running for Eczema & Radio Interview!!

*edited post*

Tomorrow morning the boyfriend and I will be talking on BBC Radio Lincolnshire about the tolls of living with severe eczema and how we endeavor to raise money for the National Eczema Society.

People don't really look at eczema as being a life changing condition. It just tends to be regarded a minor annoyance that may appear from time to time, usually in winter months or during times of stress. I want to make people aware that  eczema can be a debilitating illness and literally does take over; preventing leading what may be deemed a "normal" lifestyle as it can often make carrying out day to day activities impossible, or at best restrictive.

This picture basically sums up what a lot of people say to me when they notice I have eczema. It just shows a level of sheer ignorance on their behalf. What may work for some people, doesn't necessarily work for everyone. When I inform them that I see a dermatologist at LEAST once a month and that I'm taking medication that can cause other serious health problems because I've tried everything else they pretty much shut up.

We want to give the cause more awareness and to raise money to aid science in finding a cure. Eczema isn't always just a little patch of inflamed, itching skin in the elbow flexture, nor does it just occur in children. 1/5 children have eczema and 1/12 adults have it, but there is only a minority of us that will suffer chronically and find it debilitating.

But onto the aim of funding the cause...! My boyfriend, Shane Nicholl, who has a keen passion for running, will be partaking in various races over the course of the year where he will complete 1000km in distance. He's told me it's his little way of showing that he would literally run to the end of the earth for me to see me get better :)

To follow his efforts you can find him on Facebook or on Twitter! :)

And to sponsor his page is: http://www.justgiving.com/shanes1000km

Here is the radio interview for those who would like to listen :) Listen from 1:15 onwards!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0128s1g