Showing posts with label brooches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brooches. Show all posts

Friday, April 08, 2022

Orange cartoon!

I really want to continue to blog about Antwerp but I keep trying to email myself photos from my phone and they don't seem to come through! Not sure what to do about this!

In the meantime, an alternative post!

Today's outfit is based on a special request from Sheila to see the Cartoon bag, which I recently bought in a charity shop, in action.

I first saw this bag on the blog of a lovely girl called Florrie. She blogged at Intrinsically Florrie and showed this bag once.  It looked crazy as it looked like a 2D cartoon bag.


And here it is in action.  I've been using it as my handbag since last Saturday.
My entire outfit (except for the belt, brooches and boots) is charity-shopped.
I decided to wear my FabIndia blockprint skirt with an orange M&S sweater

I decided to take inspiration from Ann (Polyester Princess) and add a belt to create a clean line between the skirt and top- it's a stretchy Primark one

For accessories, I decided to wear 3 brooches on my jumper- originally the two little ones are from Punky Pins and the big one from LadyBird Likes.
The earrings come from Lorelai LQ and are made from drinking straws.

Sadly, the most thrilling action this outfit saw was a trip to B&Q with CBC to pick up some curtain hooks for our new curtains. And lots of hoovering and cleaning out of the utility room and washing up. Dull, dull, but necessary.
We had a lovely time on Sunday meeting CBC's French cousin, who is doing an internship in the UK for 5 months, in Clerkenwell.  That was much more thrilling!

Hope you are well!
xx


Tuesday, January 07, 2020

Outfit- We're going on a bear hunt!

I know it's not Christmas anymore, but I have ONE more outfit I didn't share!
Technically, I wore it in November though so it doesn't QUITE count as a Christmas outfit.

My orchestra puts on a concert especially aimed at children.  For the first 10 years of doing this, the wonderful Kathy Clugston from Radio 4 used to be our narrator- she's best pals with our principal Clarinet player (and she told me I was her favourite flautist!) but she moved to Belfast a couple of years ago so we had to do without her.  The main piece in the programme was Ian Stephens' We're going on a bear hunt based on Michael Rosen's story and David Benson Phillips' Playschool original version of this.  We performed it with Kathy a few years ago- there's a picture of me hugging the bear in the blog post I did.  This time, we were asked to wear All Black with sparkles. I was disappointed as this is usually my opportunity to wear my coloured posh dresses.
Still, I DID have something slightly subversive to wear.  Remember my red velvet dress I recently found in the charity shop?  Well, at the time, it was also accompanied by a Black velvet version with a white collar embroidered with snow flakes.
I decided to get away with wearing that.

To add sparkle, I wore my silver sparkly Lorelai L-Q star earrings AND to match the theme- a glittery bear brooch!


I wore this with my trusty Clarks Brogue books (this was their inaugural outing actually).

It was a fun, comfortable outfit to wear.  We went out for a meal at Nusa Dua, an Indonesian restaurant near Leicester Square after the concert so it transported well into an evening out- I hope!!

What do you think?

xx

Saturday, February 09, 2019

5 brooches #71

Hi there,

Hope you are well.
I've worn (and remembered to photograph!) a few brooches this week so I thought I'd share them.  There aren't exactly 5- there seem to be 6 but never find- the post title fits!
Let's start from the top right and go clockwise:

1.  I bought this 'Connect 4' tank top from DinoprincessChar an age ago but it always annoyed me that it didn't have a top button so I decided to use the Jazzy Lapin bee pin that my friend M gave me for Christmas in the button hole!   I added the Rosebud Casson bee pin that I won in a Instagram competition to keep it company and a Topshop star brooch from a sale a few years ago.
2.  Dressing like an art-teacher. This Seasalt paint-sample shirt was a delightful charity-shop find last year.  I added the pencil earrings our new Deputy head gave me for my birthday last year (we used to do a job share together years ago) and added the cute face brooch that our old Deputy Head gave me for Christmas this year.
3.  This WhiteStuff heart shirt just needed a simple adornment with this Lorelai Le Quillec brooch.
4.  Finally, the Joanie Clothing 'Avid Readers' jumper works with this old Fable and Black 'Drink tea and read books' badge.  I always like promoting reading!

I know some of you don't really like this style of dressing or accessorizing- that's cool, it just happens to be something I enjoy- it doesn't mean I regard anyone's dress sense as any different to mine. But, which one might be your favourite?

x

Thursday, January 31, 2019

5 brooches and friends #70

It seems an age since I have shared a brooch post or a jewellery post.  I used to do this quite frequently!  I thought I'd share 5 pics of a few brooches and items of jewellery I've been wearing.



Let's start from the top left going clockwise.

1.  I bought my Kitty in specs jumper a long time ago and I hadn't worn it for ages.  The charity-shopped Oasis blouse was the perfect colours to wear with it and I wanted to add a little pin on my collar so I added this Fat Kitty thundercloud from the No Such Disco.

2.  Not a brooch but a turquoise sparkly acrylic bow necklace from Lorelai La Quillec.  Bought this before Christmas.
3.  Before Christmas, my Tatty Devine polar bear brooch seemed a good idea for pre-Christmas.  Cats and bears?
4.  Wore my deer dress and accompanied it with the perfect set of brooches- the beautiful Middle Mist Makes deer brooch I won in an Instagram competition (her brooches are beautifully hand-felted) and two beautifully hued knitted brooches from Hazel!
5.  My festive (but I wear it all year) sequinned Robin brooch needed even more shiny bits so I added my Nickat  Online sequin necklace!


Are there any favourites here or are you a fan of the more simple touch?

x


Saturday, January 26, 2019

Everything's coming up Roses.

It seems ages since I have done a non-TARDIS Tuesday outfit post and yet it is only 10 days!

It's funny how an outfit can come together through one element. 
In this case, a pair of earrings.

I was given these pretty rose embroidered tassel earrings by my work colleague as a Christmas present and I decided to wear them to go with this red shirt.

 Then, I thought of 3 Rose brooches I had and then the outfit came together.
 I added my charity-shopped denim skirt (worn many, many times since acquisition) and leggings because I seem to prefer them to tights.  I wore my Dr Martens and then decided to add my Burgundy leg-warmers to add extra warmth!  It was a good ploy- they are very cosy!

It's funny how that occurs, isn't it?

Have you ever begun an outfit with a pair of earrings?

xx

Monday, January 14, 2019

Something beginning with S part 2...

***Before the main point, I spoke to Y this morning and she did go home and listen to Hildegard Von Bingen and said it DID help her sleep!  Hurrah!***

If you read my last post, you will see I was invited to a dress up party where the theme was 'Something beginning with S.'

Did you guess which outfit I chose?

So....I chose SPACE as my 'S' with some other Sub-categories of S within the outfit.

Stage no.1:

Go through extensive 'Novelty Tat' jewellery collection and collect anything with a sort of SPACE theme... goodness, I have a lot!


Stage no. 2: 

Fetch silvery/space footwear choices:

Silver sparkly welly boots bought in Charity shop with Mum last week.  Also grab Hush Puppies silver heels just in case feet get sweaty...

Stage no. 3:

Fetch main garment:  Galaxy space dress from Red Herring at Debenhams bought delightedly in sale from Debenhams around 3-4 years ago.

Grab charity-shopped  Silver Sparkly shoulder bag.

Fetch Sparkly gold Crown and Glory head-dress to represent the Sun as the centre of the Solar System



Stage No. 4:

Fetch garments for warmth.
Silver Sparkly Topshop jacket from charity shop and Silver sparkly leggings also from charity shop.


Stage no. 5:

Attach brooches to jacket.


Stage No. 6:

Straighten hair

Stage no. 7:

Add Sun halo and Star earrings and Space ship necklace.


Stage No. 7:

Don jacket featuring:

  • Sputnik
  • Geordie La Forge from Star Trek
  • BB8 from Star Wars
  • Saturn
  • Other Spheres.
  • Others without S




Stage no. 8:
Stand, smile and pose for the snap!


And would you like to see CBC's costume?

Yes, he is the Swimmer being attacked by a Shark!

What do you reckon?

If you were going to an S party what would your ideal costume be if you could get it/make it?  What would you costume be like me, that came from your own wardrobe?

xx

P.S.  How many S's are there in this post?



Sunday, August 26, 2018

Slightly foxed

Hi there,

Certain prints are such fun to wear.

Foxes, squirrels and other Woodland friends always make the onlooker smile.

This Run & Fly dress is a favourite for its running Fox print even if the material is slightly weird and paper-bag-like!
I wore it with my new Charity-shopped Rieker shoes. I have almost the exact same ones in black (now grey with ankle straps) which have lasted for such a long time and been a stawalt. Even though they weren't perfect condition- for £3 in the charity shop, I wanted to give them a go knowing I like the other ones so much!
Foxy accessorising too- CBC said that the two types  of fox did not go with the print but I decided to hedge my bets anyway!


Photos were taken at Frazer's tearooms in Battlesbridge.   I recommend this place to eat a nice lunch/breakfast/tea! They have a beautiful large garden to eat in.

Hope you are well.


Tuesday, July 24, 2018

TARDIS Tuesday- Bill Potts in Knock Knock- Take 2

Hi there!
I hope you are well.  I have had a LOVELY day which I will write about soon only it is TUESDAY and we all know what that means on this blog!
TARDIS Tuesday!

Today, I thought I'd have a go at cosplaying Bill Potts, the most recent Doctor Who companion (apart from the new ones announced for Jodie Whittaker!)
I've actually done this one before- sort of!

It is a briefly-featured outfit from Series 10 scary episode featuring David Suchet, Knock, Knock, in which Bill gets some housemates and moves into the ultimate spooky house!

As she goes to the Estate Agents with her pals, she sports this casual outfit.
I took these photos as I watched it last week so the quality is not great!
She's wearing a Grey vest-top with a French Fries logo, blue jeans, black belt, black cord necklace, a mustardy-coloured tied hair ribbon and some earrings featuring dangly beads, blue feathers and the hippy Peace sign.Oh and she's also wearing some flat black lace-up shoes which I couldn't get a picture of.

As I said, last time I vaguely attempted this, I saw it and thought I had items in my house that would work for it.

BUT, today was HOT and I had planned this outfit.  There was NO way I was going to be wearing jeans (and let's be honest, that's a bit of a rarity anyway!) so I decided to put my own spin on the outfit- making it a bit more girly and summery.
 It's pretty similar to the last time I began this but with more detail.
I wore a grey vest-top I bought from Lidl a few years ago when I needed a change of clothes urgently (I always find much-loved items from those moments!) and added to it the Topshop chips patch brooch which was a sale item a few years ago (it came in a pack of six).

I have this mini-denim skirt (also charity-shopped) which I thought was a nice substitute to the jeans and wore a vintage belt of my Mum's (I think!)  and wore some blue suede lace-ups from Aldi (also an emergency purchase when at my Father-in-Law's funeral day, I discovered that all I had with me were Doc Martens!)
 Detail-wise, I remembered this mustard polka dot wired hair-tie which I bought a few years ago. I love these and have a few of them. They are good for someone who is a bit rubbish at hair.  Sadly, I actually lost this today at the seaside! Goodness knows where I dropped it!

The black necklace was a bit of a problem and I was rifling through several boxes  before I found this random bit of black cord that was lurking in a hairband box.
The final touch were the earrings.  These feather earrings were a gift from the TA who used to help me with choir about 7 years ago. I added 2 Peace-sign pin badges I got with a multipack.

And that is another 'Found in the house' cosplay-slightly better executed than last time.

What do you think?
x
P.S. If you would like to watch Doctor Who, all of the New Who episodes are currently available on BBC iPlayer and can be watched there.



Wednesday, July 18, 2018

5 brooches and friends #69

Hi there!

Greetings on this hot evening.   
Last night was my school concert- it was very successful despite it being an administrative nightmare setting it up and the temperatures in that hall being very extreme- but my children played really well.

Anyway, here's a fairly simple post sharing some of the brooches and necklaces I have worn recently.

 Glitter bear (Topshop) and glitter heart (Hello Crumpet on Etsy) for a simple green t-shirt.  I find it really hard getting the bear to face upright!
This joke was a bit of a play on words:  His name is Tik Tok (from Sugar and Vice on Etsy) and there are lots of clocks behind him...

 Balloonicorn from Sparkle Happy mama.
TARDIS door sign necklace from Etsy.

Finally, 3 pins:  Unicorn from eBay, Jelly Bear from Sparkle Happy mama and Custard Cream from Nikki McWilliams.

Any favourites here?

xxx

Thursday, June 07, 2018

5 brooches and friends #68

Hi there,
It's been one of those frantic, scrabbling catch-up weeks.  Thus, I don't seem to have the brainpower for anything too thought-provoking or long-winded so I am sharing some recently worn broochage and necklaceage!  Yes, that's a word. I like to go in for a little nomenclature occasionally!

So, onto the main event:

I wore this book-themed dress on Wednesday with this Jane Austen quote pin saying, "I declare there is no enjoyment like reading,"  This is what Miss Bingley says to Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy to be provocative in Pride and Prejudice.   Accompanied by Mr Foxton and a book dress!

For the party on Saturday, I wore this necklace from Down the Rabbit Hole on Etsy!  I do like how ridiculously long it is! Worn with ice-lolly dress.

Sunday saw me wearing another fox with a cottage dress. Lots of foxes in country gardens.

On Monday, I wore Tik Tok from the World of Oz (from Sugar and Vice Jewellery) with a simple navy top and maxi skirt.

Finally, Tuesday, I wore this Fat Kitty bomb necklace with more kitties!

Any favourites here?

Hope you are well and I will try to visit anon!

xx

Monday, May 21, 2018

Style Imitating Art- Monkey trading cards

Greetings!
monkey card
Monkey trading from the Quadrupeds series (N41) for Allen and Ginter Cigarettes
Here is another round of Style Imitating Art!  The curator this week is new host, Daenel from over at Living outside the Stacks.  She chose this interesting piece of art in the form of a Cigarette trading card.  Lots of details in here to make use of for the inspiration:
Monkeys, parrots, foliage, trees, coconuts, pink vintage fonts, a yellowy background, grown, green, the texture of the palm tree- it certainly offered lots of scope.
But I was puzzling over what to wear all week.
It was only as I was putting away washing last night,that I spied this old pair of Primark Summer trousers, that I realised, I had a basis for this outfit. I last wore these for Style Imitating art about 5 years ago for Woman walking in an Exotic forest .  They had the right sort of coloured foliage in the background even if the slightly more lurid flowers were not so fitting.
I added a brown vest top and cardie (ahrgh, not very well matching in this light!) as a nod to the coconuts and monkey fur.

My accessories were all a nod to the parrots in the background:  I have my oldest brooch, the top jewelled parrot, owned since I was about 11, the earrings (also that long I think!) and the two tin brooches of Budgie and Kookaburra bought in Corbridge.

What do you think? Can you see the inspiration?  What would you have chosen from your wardrobe?

If you fancy joining in, AND PLEASE do, send your picture by tonmorrow, to Daenel livingoutsidethestacks@gmail.com.  Bev gets a very special gold shiny star for joining in NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE after my plea for people to join in. Please go and comment on her post so she keeps joining in and because her outfit is brilliant!

xx

Sunday, April 29, 2018

5 brooches and friends #67

Hi there,

Hope your evening is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

As you read this, I will be at my musical camp playing a large-scale piece for orchestra by Janacek.  I currently am doing my usual, "Hate packing!" avoidance and the time is getting later and later. Actually, I have begun packing but finishing it is always torturous!  I am praying for good weather for camping as I don't feel very good about camping in the cold with a cold! 

Anyway, it seems a rather long hiatus since my last 5 brooches post so here we are with some brooches and necklaces to share!
A Kimchi and Coconut space rocket entitled, "Fly me to the Moon" seemed a vaguely appropriate choice for this Clouds and aeroplanes dress.
 As well as the rainbow earrings, I thought I'd wear my two cute Book pin badges from Fable and Black to go with the pastel rainbow shirt.
 The same two pins accompanied my Cath Kidston book dress alongside this Bookish Owl in specs!
The Tatty Devine Macmillan pin badge I appropriated from my Mum seemed a jolly choice for this bold-checked shirt.

 Finally, no Cath Kidston dinosaur dress is complete without petite flying fox necklace and Stegosaurus felted brooch.  This brooch was actually a finger puppet I crudely sewed a broochback to when I bought it a few years ago!


Do you spy any favourites here?
Have any brooches been gracing your lapels?
xx

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Science Week outfit- Space Girl

We had Science and DT week at school this week.  On Thursday, the children were encouraged to come dressed up as something connected to Science.  A whole assortment of Doctors, Nurses, Vets, engineers and people in white lab coats turned up.  Then there was the odd robot, Rubix cube, Einstein, rockets and a few calculators and undoubtedly others I didn't get to see!

I thought about what I had and could dress up as and decided that I would come as The Universe!

The main garments which my outfit consisted of were:

A Red Herring Galaxy dress I bought for £7 in the Debenhams 70% off sale 3 years ago.
A Topshop pewter glittery jacket I bought for £6 in the Sue Ryder Charity shop last year.
Matalan pewter Glittery leggings bought from a charity shop for £3 in Hexham.

 Underneath, as the dress is sleeveless, I wore a royal blue and black stripy cotton t-shirt whose sleeves you can see poking out and a silver headband. Terrible positioning means the Chandelier cord looks like some sort of unusual head-dress!

And then we will talk about the adornments!
 I went into my brooch box to see what brooches I had with a space theme and discovered rather a lot!

Starting from the left-side,
Sputnik brooch from Kimchi and Coconut subscription box.
Geordie La Forge from Battle Born Pins- a prize in an Instagram competition.
Topshop pink Saturn and rainbow rocket brooches-

Right hand side
Two Saturn pins
Erstwilder Alien brooch
Laika the Space Dog from Kimchi and Coconut
Doctor Who badge free with Doctor Who Adventures Mag.
 And the Rocket necklace (which says "Fly me to the Moon") was the third item in the Kimchi and Coconut box.
The children loved my outfit and I am quite happy with the Science-discussion that ensued in Year 1.

So, a child asked me why the Dog had a space helmet on.
I explained that Laika the Dog was sent into Space and they asked why and if she lived. 
I went onto the Class computer to a website called Space.com and we found information on the dates and why she was sent.
Interestingly enough, it didn't explicitly say, "She Died," so we did some reading comprehension Inference and reading between the Lines, assuming that, "Eventually the power to her life-support would have run out," and "Sputnik was burnt in the Earth's Atmosphere," to mean she died.
I asked them if they thought it was fair that a Dog was sent into space and one girl horrifiedly said that she would not send her animals into space.  This prompted a discussion on how animals are used in experiments and we talked about how this isn't fair since animals can't say Yes or No.  I mentioned that people protest against Animal testing and experimentation and one particularly articulate chap (5 years old) said, "Good, someone needs to!"

They then asked questions about the first man in space and we read up on Yuri Gagarin. Apparently, they had been discussing space travel this week and knew about Neil Armstrong and his famous words but not actually about the aforementioned.  I was very pleased that my outfit had prompted such a deep discussion for 5 year olds. It was then repeated in the other year 1 class.

FYI, didn't wear the boots for school as it was rainy, wore DMs instead!  And these leggings were extremely irritating given that I spent most of the day hoiking the wretched things up as they sagged down at my waistline and left me with a rash on my thighs from them rubbing! 


Next year, it would be fun to come as something like a Micro
What do you think?

x