Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts

Thursday, March 02, 2017

5 brooches #56

Hi there,
Hope you are well.
Apologies for not posting. It's been a rather busy week with things on in the evenings and the suchlike.  I had a very busy birthday on which I had to eat my dinner on the train between staff training and orchestra rehearsal and then didn't get home till hideously late because the train I usually get did not stop at the station we had to get out at and went on for another 30 minutes before stopping and no more trains went back the other way, so we had to pay maximum fares on our oysters, pay a taxi fare, then CBC had to pay another train fare the next evening to rescue his car and hope he hadn't got a ticket. Was all rather a late disaster!

But, anyway, onto brooches...
 Here's Fat Kitty from the Nosuch Disco.
 Here he was in context with lots of other round patterns. And a lobster for good measure...
This day was a Bee day with a Primark sequin pin plus my bee pin from Rosebud Casson which I won in an Instagram competition when I explained how bees were important to me because of my Grandad. I bought this same pin for my Mum for Christmas and my sister also won one in the competition, so we all match now!...

I sincerely do!  The food I most missed when I lived in Indonesia! This came from Kate Gabrielle!

And finally, Balloon brooch from You make me Design on Etsy.  Fluttering and dancing in the breeze along with the bunting!

Any favourites here?

xx

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Advent Calendar Day 14: 5 brooches and friends #49: Christmas themed.

For today's Advent post I thought I'd share one or two Christmassy brooches I've worn in December..
 First up are the Sprout lover and Sprout hater pin badges which I won from @hannahhitchmanart on Instagram- you can find her on Etsy.  She created these wonderful pin badges which go perfectly with the Sprout shirt I bought at the Christmas fair!
 Sprout lover...
 Sprout hater...
 The next duo are technically speaking, not Christmassy, but I always think of this jumper as my 'While Shepherds watched' jumper and decided to add a Wise Men star and alien in Spaceship to the ensemble!
 This lovely Mistletoe brooch was a surprise gift from the lovely Lisa at Jumble and Jelly. She sent me two Christmassy brooches. I've worn the other one but its picture is on my tablet so I need to retrieve it! It worked so perfectly with this top!
 Here's my Punkypins Snowflake necklace up close!!! I love its irridescence!
The Penguin and toucan aren't Christmassy but the little penguin is! He was a Charitypin from last year!

More than 5 brooches but 5 pictures (if one doesn't count the Sprout pin close ups as pics!)

Have you worn any festive accessories!!

xxx

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

5 brooches #46

Evening!!


Christmas has started for me already.  I've been playing and singing Christmas songs for a week already and tommorrow (almost today), the lovely Flute quartet/trio I sometimes play in is playing at  Christmas Shopping event at our local brand new John Lewis.  An hour and half of Christmas flutes.  All evening, I've been doing an additional arrangement of In the Bleak Midwinter and In Dulci Jubilo.  It's fun!
Anyway, I digress as per usual. Shall we return to the brooches?

Having just uploaded the photos, I realise I cannot count! There appear to be more than 5. Oh well!

 Here's one from an outfit post a few weeks ago.  Dorothy brooch from Goodnight Boutique accompanied by my Tatty Devine lolly.
 This  charity-shopped Autumnal dress was jazzed up with this rosette from Accessorize a few years ago and this foxy chap from Bad Design Studio.
 Here's the glittery Topshop bear again.
Last but not least, more Topshop brooches with this star and rocket which came as a set with the Saturn brooch from a few weeks ago.

Have you worn any brooches this week or recently?  Do share if so!

xxx

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

5 brooches and friends #40

Greetings to ye!
I hope your day was enjoyable. As you read this, I shall be purchasing about 70 recorders for my Year 3's who have all sent me money to buy them their own recorders.
The moment where I hand out their recorders and they come up one at a time to fetch is one of great joy for me. To see their excitement inherent in their face as they try to play it cool and walk nonchalantly when you know that they are all super-excited is fabulous!!!

Anyway, I digress. Onto the broochery!
 This ringed beauty came from Topshop and essentially cost me 50p. I was delighted to get such a nice-looking resin brooch. It looks like Erstwilder!

 The balloon necklace comes from You Make Me design on Etsy.    The pretty sewing machine necklace came from my flute friend Lara who I helped with her first craft fair. It is so pretty!
I know you saw this yesterday. This deer came from Gloriously Glittery on Etsy also as part of my Lucky Dip.


Here's the 'And friends' part of the post. This 'Love you to the Moon and back' is from my old favourite Punky Pins and also came as part of a Lucky Dip.  So many older ladies have come up to me and said how much they love it!

These adorable Collar clips of a Bee and Daisy came from the lovely Katie who sent them as a belated birthday. I adore belated birthday presents, especially when consisting of plastic jewellery!!!
And that's your lot.
Hmmm, since it was my 40th post, maybe I should've have done a giveaway. I might wait for 50 so stay tuned as you might win something at some point!

Any favourites?

xxx

Sunday, September 04, 2016

5 brooches and friends #38

Evening, evening!

Hope that you are all well! 

I'm so sorry, this is a rather harried post as I have been away and out all weekend. We went to a wedding in Brighton and I've been helping my friend Lara at her first craft fair today.  Here's just a quick post as I feel compelled to post!

 Cloud avec bird. This cloud doesn't just have a silver lining- it is swathed in silver!
 I am SO excited to finally own this brooch! I have been in love with this Erstwilder brooch since about January (or whenever it was released which was DEFINITELY before my February birthday!). My sister finally got around to ordering me a brooch for my birthday and it was this one!!! Yay! Totally accidently teamed with a cherry dress. Twas not planned!
 Glittery teapot on Orla Kiely teacup dress!

 I absolutely fell in love with this 'I love crafty' x Pony people cat ice-lolly necklace!  SUCH a clever design!
Added this swallow brooch to my Closet London dress for the wedding on Friday as the dress is rather plain (and boring) and you can't really wear a necklace with the turned-over collar so a brooch it was!

Have you worn any brooches recently?

Do share if so!

I will come and visit asap!

xx

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The two extremes



Frantic scurrying around for most of a day, a night and a morning:
Rooms cleaned, clothes folded, bank statements sorted, floors hoovered, baths scrubbed, dressing tables polished, sheets changed, hair washed, rotten pears collected. clothes delivered to the charity shop, books donated to library,
Frenzy, movement, constant thinking, the ticking of a clock, time stampeding like entropy and finally....


Relax.

CBC returned.

Driving to pub,
Food being eaten; fields being admired.
Gardens returned to.
Jet lag finally given into and two Am bedtimes acknowledged.
Throws spread, cushions dropped and sleep upon the lawn.

The two extremes.

He is home and I am glad.


What to wear on his day home?
Something red and quirky. The first time CBC and I danced together, I wore a red dress. Not this one.
 Tea cups by Orla Kiely at People Tree and my teapot brooch from Gloriously Glittery brooch at Etsy

 We fell asleep on the grass in the cool air


Hope you are well!
xx



Saturday, August 20, 2016

The bliss of solitude

Greetings,
I know some of you are keen to hear about my cruise adventures but I have failed to prepare my posts yet about this.   I always find holiday posts quite an onerous task, especially when there are countless photos to sift through!

I've been back since Monday morning and the week has, on the whole, been largely uneventful. This has been helped by the beautiful weather.
 But honestly, despite its lack of action, it has been a great week. Just being able to have a whole week doing nothing so much. With other holidays, there is always the pressure of limited time- feeling you need to do something meaningful with it; to having interesting tales to tell; to socialise.

Yet, a simple week is often what I yearn.
 Monday was spent putting away clothes, washing and hanging clothes, watering a 12day unwatered garden.. I felt a bit bizarre - like I was still on board a swaying ship and kept bumping into things and needed to gain my balance. To be honest, I do keep getting dizzy moments still, but it's fine.

Tuesday, with glorious sunshine, was a day of gardening with extensive mowing and clearing of weeds at the end of the garden. There was also reading in the garden and watching Ugly Betty DVDs. I also made a huge vat of chickpea and vegetable stew from all the way out of date vegetables festering in my fridge which still looked ok.

Wednesday, again waking to beautiful sun, my friend L from my flute trio came over early to bring me the two crocheted orders I had commissioned from her and she stayed for about an hour for a chat too. It was really nice to have her round, chatting in the garden.  (I frantically tidied up before she came).  I don't know about you, but I find it hard to make friends in my 30's and I really like L and really would like to get to know her and her husband more.  After that, I wrote letters to penpals, read a book and watched more Ugly Betty and weeded the front garden.

Thursday, with yet more sun, I spent the day with my sister and niece- after picking apples in my garden, we went out for lunch, went blackberrying and then came home to mine. I cherish any time spent with my sister. It is so fleeting these days so this was very special to me. After she went, I watched more Ugly Betty...
 Finally, today, I woke up and attempted to post on Instagram (which is being utterly bizarre and has posted the same cucumber picture 6 times), and then headed off to school. When I arrived, I had the most wonderful surprise.  I'd asked one of the caretakers to do a couple of things for me. When I went into my room, not only had he done those perfectly but he had built me a whole load of new shelving to house the instruments (and all the additional clutter from my old room). He'd obviously worked so hard at it, for days, thought it out so well. I was so touched at his hardwork and told him so emphatically when he came in later (cringing because the other caretaker had told him I was there, just in case I wasn't happy).  I spent about 4 hours sorting out and arranging the instruments in the order I was happy with.

After this, pleased with my room, I headed off to my friends from my old church. I had loaned their daughter some of my books when she was young and they were returning them to me. It was nice to catch up with them and hear their news.  Subsequently, I headed to my family friend's house (she of whom I have talked much) to visit her.  I ended up climbing to pick fresh figs from her fig tree which was lovely and quite funny trying to reach them.

Eventually, I came home, ate more vegetable stew and watched Ugly Betty.
It's been a simple week, but one I have enjoyed

About the outfit. This was the Henry Holland dress I charityshopped a few weeks ago. It is very comfortable. I wore it with the charity-shopped Christy's vintage panama hat I bought for CBC, my Punkypins Impossible Girl necklace and Goodnight boutique Adipose brooch. Hey, you can still dress cutely, even if you are just monging in the garden!

What have you been up to this week?

xx

Friday, April 22, 2016

Fable and Black lucky dip box

I cannot resist a good lucky dip box!! I've bought them from Punkypins, Goodnight Boutique, Ladybird Likes and I've always found them really great value.  
I was looking on Etsy recently and I discovered Fable and Black who make wonderful contemporary-looking book-themed badges, brooches, cards, tote-bags, jewellery and prints. 
 They have Lucky Dip boxes which cost either £10 (for £20 worth of products) or £20 for £40 worth of products. I decided to give one of them a go and ordered.  The postage was free so it seemed a fun idea.
 When it turned up,I was super excited to open it!
 The Drink tea and Read Books is right up my street and I LOVE the Sherlock Quote 'I'm a high functioning Sociopath'.  The 'I'd rather be a mermaid' keyring  is not so much me but it is still nice!
 The next item was a book locket ring. It is very pretty even though it got a little squashed in transit.  I'm not really a ring wearer so I won't be wearing it but it is still sweet!
 Two cards with the same Tea quote and a Tolkein quote card look decently made and very bright and fun fonts.
 The C.S. Lews book marks suits me down to a tee. The little mini print is sweet.
Finally,the last item was a Tolkein quote note book. 
All the items were well made and robust with good quality materials. I'd consider buying one of these for a book-loving friend!  All in all, it was quite good value.


If you wanted to buy one, get in there quick because Fable and Black are giving you 25% off everything until the end of April (I think) with the code BDSale as it is their birthday month!!!
With the Lucky dip box being £10 normally, it's an absolute bargain at £7.50 AND free postage!!

xxx


Saturday, October 24, 2015

Ladybird likes goodie bag

I first came across Ladybird likes through another blogger.  Then I came across them when I saw Clara Oswald wearing collar-clips a mere week after I'd received some I'd  from Kate Gabrielle's Flapper Doodle shop.  I looked online to see which ones she had  (she had moon ones) and the link sent me to Ladybird likes.  I thought Zoe, who is the lady behind this company,  makes had beautiful, inspired products but since I'd just bought some round collar clips, thought no more of it.

In Totnes, I went into this quirky shop with this lovely lady who was talking to customers about how difficult it was to make money or have a job in Totnes. She was so nice and offered something for free to one of her customers and I thought she was so lovely, that I wanted to support her business, so I bought some of the Ladybird likes Bird collar clips she had stocked.

I followed Ladybird likes blog recently and saw that she was doing some special offer goodie bags on her products- four items for £25 (mystery items).  I thought this was exceedingly good value since most of her pieces start at £12,and I also knew that she'd had some incredibly bad luck with losing a large amount money through a dodgy landlord who owned her studio space so I decided to take the plunge and buy a goodie bag though I was mainly thinking of buying Christmas presents for people! I must confess, I was thinking, "I would like to keep the collar clips!".

She stated on the website that you would receive at least one brooch, one necklace and one set of collarclips.  She also said that if you mentioned any pieces you already had, she wouldn't duplicate them, so I let her know about my collar clips.


 When the parcel arrived, it was just beautiful!  The handwriting with the address was exquisitely pretty, there were jolly stickers with positive messages.  Inside, there was a lovely care package including the lovely 'instagram' postcard and some other little cards AND an adorable pink badge, saying "Love is macaroons and glitter!" (I think I'd also like one that says, "Love is watching Doctor Who for hours and allowing me to eat crisps!").  Each item was packages in a dainty paper bag sealed with spotty washi-tape and little labels saying hello!

But, I'm sure you are brimming with enthusiasm to see what was inside....

Firstly, I was surprised to see there were actually FIVE items!
 Above:
1.  Retro camera necklace- these are made out of wood and incredibly fun.
2.  Butterfly necklace- I think this one is beautiful and I'm also sorely tempted to keep it but I can think of someone who'd like it for Christmas!.
3.  Stylish lady in hat brooch:  She's wearing a hat!!! This one is really cute! Again, I feel like I'd really like to keep it! Bad!!!
4.  White bird brooch- this has a lovely texture and a vintage charm to it.



Finally, the collar clips!
These owls are very sweet and of course make me think of numerous children's stories. I'm really pleased I received these!

So, overall, what did I think?  
Well, for £25 (free P&P), I think that I did exceedingly well considering the total cost of this would be much more usually.  Five items plus The items are very well made, robust and different, so you won't be caught wearing the same Accessorize necklace as someone else and the whole package was really well thought out. Zoe Jade has gone the extra mile to make you feel special when you receive her products.

Janet at Words that can only be your own also  bought one so you could see what she got too.
If you'd like to buy your own, please go to her Etsy page


N.B. I feel a twit saying this, but of course, as it is me, this is not a sponsored post in any way,  but I want to share the love for a brilliant artist and let you know of a great bargain you too could purchase!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Another TARDIS wishlist

Only  a day till the next instalment of Doctor Who, hurrah!

As I will be busy tomorrow going to a 60th birthday party and going to London to meet a fellow blogger, I thought I'd share another TARDIS wishlist.  I wonder why I love these so but perhaps it is that the TARDIS is so iconic and well known!

I'd love to hear if you like any of these:

Do you and your loved one or a bestie share a passion for the Doctor?  Then why not buy a TARDIS half necklace pair to join up to show your love!  I love the fact that the TARDIS has hearts on.
TARDIS sweetheart necklace with crystal elements, TARDIS inspired  necklace, Tardis necklace, TARDIS heart necklace
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/191538986/tardis-sweetheart-necklace-with-crystal?ref=sr_gallery_37&ga_search_query=tardis&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery
Oooh, what a pretty scarf showing the Time vortex, the TARDIS and the seal of Rassillon and other Gallifreyan symbols. Definitely want this!
Doctor Who Infinity Scarf, FREE TARDIS Necklace, Tardis Scarf, XLong Women's Scarf, XLong infinity, Knit Jersey, Sci-Fi, Geek, Comic Con
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/179320579/doctor-who-infinity-scarf-free-tardis?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_search_query=tardis+dress&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

A TARDIS Cookie mould or plasticine mould.  I could imagine getting some craft use out of this too!
Dr Who  Tardis Cookie Cutter
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/173300352/dr-who-tardis-cookie-cutter?ref=sc_1&plkey=26425533612620b232cd7d00bbf96f215cafa9b3%3A173300352&ga_search_query=tardis&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery
A simple lapel badge showing the TARDIS instruction sign- pretty cool and simple. Add to a TARDIS blue cardie or blazer.
Doctor Who Police Public Call Box Sign // 2.25 inch Pinback Button Badge // TARDIS Pin
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/121685064/doctor-who-police-public-call-box-sign?ref=sr_gallery_14&ga_search_query=tardis+dress&ga_ref=auto3&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery 




I found yet another TARDIS skirt I like- still not my favourite but it's pretty fun!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/187413143/police-box-circle-skirt-whovian-comic?ref=sr_gallery_24&ga_search_query=tardis+skirt&ga_page=1&ga_ref=related&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery
Still fresh from my love of collar-clips, I love these TARDIS clips- I'd wear these as a brooch as well or as cardigan clips.

Awwwww,  TARDIS arm-warmers! These are funky.
TARDIS inspired Fingerless Knit Mitts
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/201724831/tardis-inspired-fingerless-knit-mitts?ref=sc_2&plkey=845f18ebb45d27a430b802c950a94d43811b56e1%3A201724831&ga_search_query=tardis&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_page=3&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery


So many cute items inspired by the Good Doctor!
Fancy any of these?
xx