Pick-me-up pictures

Hello! Happy Friday :) 

Have you got anything exciting planned for the weekend?

Thanks to a stressful few weeks I'm feeling really run down at the moment but I am determined not to start feeling sorry for myself when the world is full of so much awesome stuff (and lovely people, and delicious cake, and cosy jumpers....)

My latest issue of Ideal Home magazine turned up today, and the minute I finished work I snuggled on the sofa with the magazine and a hot chocolate, under my patchwork blanket, kicking off the weekend in my trademark crazy style. 

Normally, I try and take my time with magazines because (to me) they're a bit of a treat. I mean, £3-4 for a few pages of pictures I can probably find on tumblr or Pinterest seems like a lot. Just think how much essential Dairy Milk that could buy! So I feel like I need to really savour them to get my money's worth. Silly, I know- like a magazine version of the "who can make their sweet last the longest?" game my parents used to suggest we played in the car on family holidays; the winner was really the loser because they'd been sucking the same sweet for approximately six billion years, and lost all feeling in their tongue. Did anyone else ever play that? Didn't think so... 

But today I seemed to race through in a matter of minutes- the pictures were just so pretty! I spotted a few brands I hadn't heard of before, so I had to head over to the internet to see what else I could find on their websites. I think I'm in love...

Just look at this beautiful bedding from Bedeck:

This is the best duvet cover thing I have ever seen, but for some reason only comes in single bed size. Are circuses for children or something?!

I'm also head-over-heels for all the photographs of this beautiful wedding on Rock and Roll Bride; just look at how pretty their cakes were!

Check out these amazing embroidered pictures and papercuts from the super-talented Coral and Tusk

Elephant / Bear / (Sl)hedgehog / Narwhal

And these just made me smile:

Hope you all have fabulous fun-filled weekends! I'm going to be spending mine baking up a storm (hopefully not decorating the cupcakes with germs!) for the birthday cake commission I mentioned earlier this week. Fingers crossed I can make something vaguely resembling Peppa Pig, and not something rude. Teehee!

xxx

Current loves

Hello lovelies! 

I hope you all had fantastic weekends, despite the inclement weather. Mine was a brilliant combination of visiting the in-laws, another National Trust adventure, art exhibitions, jumper shopping, a bit of DIY and gossip over tea and cake. 

The last few weeks have been really tough, so I've been relying on lots of little treats to get me through the week without running away to join the circus. These have included:

Genmai Cha (aka Popcorn Tea)
I picked up some of this delicious loose-leaf tea during our recent holiday on the Norfolk Broads and I'm absolutely loving it. It smells like hot cereal, and tastes like savoury popcorn. It's the perfect belly-warming drink for colder weather, and a brilliant way to counteract excessive sugar indulgence induced nausea (excellent for those people unable to say "no" to a third helping of pudding... *ahem*)

Witty women
I love that the internet is full of such funny, interesting people. Reading a happy-go-lucky post or two always takes the edge off my grump. I highly recommend popping over to visit this lady, or this one, or this one if you fancy a giggle. 

This came up in my Google search for "laughing at computer". Doesn't really illustrate my point but LOOK HOW CUTE.

My famous bestie
This week the excellent Fran from Skulls and Ponies was ON THE NEWS :D She was raising awareness of the effect that over-medicating can have on people with migraines. I am super proud of her for the effort she puts into helping other migraine sufferers try to cope with their debilitating symptoms, and for saying good things on the TV. Beats me ranting like an old lady about school girls' short skirts after I was cornered by a BBC news team in Brighton last year. 

A cake commission
I'm going to be spending a lot of this weekend in the kitchen baking up a storm, as my new favourite little person is soon turning 2 and his Mum has asked me to bake his birthday cake! I've also got to bake lots of cupcakes for the grown-ups, and I've been given complete artistic freedom on the flavours and decoration. I'm very excited about creating some (hopefully!) beautiful and tasty concoctions to be the literal icing on the cake of his birthday party. 

I've also been indulging in plenty of these too...

Have you got any fail-safe ways to cheer yourself up if work/life gets tough? I'd love to hear :) 

Katie xxx

Fallin' for Autumn clothing

Although I may moan about summer being over, I'm secretly quite pleased! Autumn is actually my favourite season of all; cosy jumpers, kicking through leaves, huge mugs of hot chocolate (not that I need an excuse for hot chocolate at any time of year!). 

Mmm... autumny deliciousness

To me, autumn always seems like the perfect time to reinvent myself. I expect it goes back to the new-start, new-year feeling of September. I remember spending a lot of time choosing my new pencil case for each new year at school- thinking I could completely redefine who I was and how I was perceived, based solely on my choice of stationary. 

Whilst I no longer think I'm going to suddenly turn into Emma Stone by owning a Quicksilver rucksack, I still like the idea of creating a different, seasonal look and pretending to be someone new for a while. 

If I had that dress, I'd look like this too, right?!

That being said, there are a few staple wardrobe items I've wanted since I was a little girl, and once I've found the perfect version it becomes a key part of my wardrobe until it's falling apart at the seams! Since my teens, I've been searching for the perfect duffle coat, satchel, biker boots and cream cable-knit jumper. I guess I've always secretly wanted to be a part-time metalhead, part-time fisherman Paddington Bear :p 

Thanks to Primark's winter coat collection of 2010, I now own a duffle coat. And thanks to my friend Nathan I am the proud owner of some free(!) biker boots, that have been on a motorbike and everything (just not with my feet in them...). Some of you will probably have seen my satchel already. I've also got a classic brown one, but it's a lot less fun that polkadots!

Pretend grumpy in my duffel coat, stomping about in the snow last winter

With only the cream jumper left to find, my life is nearly complete. I know there are plenty of jumpers out there, but it's got to be the perfect one- nice and soft, made from at least some real wool, not all acrylic and scratchy, or woollen and itchy, and the pattern has to be right. Also, thanks to my freakishly long body, it's got to be long enough not to leave my hips hanging out the bottom! I feel like this year is going to be the one I finally track it down; there are so many beautiful cable-knit cream clothes out there at the moment! Fingers crossed!

Button jumper / Jumper / Hat / Socks

If you're struggling to get excited about Autumn, I suggest checking out this tumblr- gorgeous! Next, I'm going to be getting excited about warm blankets, bowls of stew, and cosy pyjama bottoms :) 

What are your favourite things about autumn? Beautiful leaves? Halloween? Colourful scarves? 

I'm feeling very excited about all of it! 

Katie xxx

Purplecakes and peaches

Morning lovelies!

I thought I'd share some pictures of my lazy Sunday brunch with you; as today's choice certainly doesn't look like standard brunch-fare! Please do not adjust your set- the photos are showing the right colours :p

Tom bought me these for our anniversary last weekend (because he is awesome), and whilst I haven't found time to bake a cake with them yet, I was still very eager to put them to use! After years of using standard supermarket food colourings (which are probably well out of date by now, as I've been using the same ones for years) and finding it frustrating that I had to use so much dye to get anything close to resembling a bright colour, I was craving something to give my baking a bit of oomph! 

So this morning I decided to experiment with the violet dye in my pancakes... 

The pancakes weren't quite as tasty as normal- but I think that might be down to the egg I used being rather old.

There's only one way to find out- I'll just have to make more pancakes! 

Katie xxx

Sweet dreams, my dear - please don't (dino)snore!

Hello lovelies! 

Happy Friday to you all :)

I was very excited about getting home from work today (if I could physically run I would've totally run home a-la Charlie Bucket!) because after finishing my latest long-term craft project on Tuesday I couldn't wait to get my teeth into a speedy, instant-gratification craft. I had the idea to do this last weekend, after looking at the few boring, plain white pillowcases amongst our bedding collection and thinking "yawn" (no pun intended. Although, as you've probably guessed, I do love a pun!)

These took me a couple of hours altogether, interspersed with dancing around to Ke$ha *ahem*. It probably could have taken me less time, but I was so excited about starting each one that I kept swapping round halfway through. 

Introducing my new not-so-boring white pillowcases:

Sweet Dreams:
I got this idea because that's what Tom says to me most nights before I fall asleep. As if I'd dream of anything else! :)

Beautiful deer:

I can't take any credit for the design of this one- it's a copy of a picture I found on folksy that I thought was just beautiful. And the best thing to do with art you think is beautiful? Put it on a pillow so you can smoosh your face into it, obviously!

Dinosnore:
I love dinosaurs EVEN MORE than I love puns. I.e. A LOT. 

To do these I used Airline shirt markers which are super easy to use as they're basically felt-tips for fabric. All you have to do is iron over the pen afterwards and it'll stay on forever. But if you really mess it up, you can wash the fabric before ironing and it'll come out in the wash. Genius!

What do you think? Would you do this to jazz up your bedding? And which one is your favourite- I'd love to know! 

Katie xxx

Completed cross-stitch

Roll up, roll up, Ladies and Gentlemen, to witness a project capable of stealing hours of your life! Totally worth it though :)

Those of you keeping an eye on my recent posts may have spotted my over-excited chattering about the FREE Emily Peacock alphabet sampler I found on the interwebs. Combine this with my current obsession with the circus, and I think you can see where this is going....

I spent the majority of my Norfolk Broads "cruising" (teehee) holiday working on this beauty. A helluva lot of hours have gone into this, and I now need to get it in a frame ASAP before I cover it in chocolate/red wine and subsequently my own tears.

Ta-da! 

Have you completed any big projects recently that you've been working on for hours? Or undertaken any Emily Peacock cross-stitch samplers? They certainly aren't for the faint-hearted!

Katie xxx

P.S. To get an idea of scale- this thing is nearly a METRE long!! Serious.

Spontaneous Presents

So, it seems after my recent whine about summer being finished, September has decided to throw a big sun-shaped curve ball. I hope you're all having a lovely weekend making the most of the weather!

Today, I would like to talk to you about spontaneous gift giving. My love of low-cost dates is equalled by my love of giving odd little presents for no specific reason. I've never met anyone who didn't like getting a funny/sweet/thoughtful/delicious little something "just because" - and these things certainly don't have to cost the earth! Whether it's a funny postcard, a stick of rock, or a leaf shaped like Benedict Cumberbatch it's always nice to know people are thinking of you even when you're not sitting opposite them with a face full of cake. 

Tom bought me a light-up rabbit lamp back in February, which was only £5 but I'd been lusting after it for ages- and it was a wonderful surprise when it turned up in the post! I think it looks adorable sat on top of our chest of drawers (which also acts as my dressing table). 

Last year, I bought Tom a bottle of his favourite whisky when I spotted it on offer in Tesco, and left it wrapped up in the kitchen with a tag saying "Happy Wednesday". It was lovely to see his big grin when he got home after a particularly difficult day at work to discover it waiting for him. 

I picked up this mug in BHS yesterday as a surprise present for my Mum. I just couldn't resist the owls' adorable little faces, and I know she's going to love it- and at £2.50 it wasn't a bank-breaking gift either. 

Spontaneous or unexpected presents can be brilliant, instantly-cheering things even when they don't cost you anything at all. I'm pretty sure my Mum got this pen for free at a medical convention- but that didn't stop me giggling when it fell out of the envelope she had posted her letter in :) The liquid even swishes around inside, so it looks like a real syringe! Teehee

Do you ever send people unexpected presents? Or have you received any thoughtful spontaneous gifts that made you smile? I'd love to know!

Katie xxx

Wakehurst Place: a mid-week date

Hello lovelies!

Happy Friday! Have you got any exciting weekend plans?

Just a quick post from me this evening- because Tom and I are off to a real ale festival with our fellow crew mates :)

On Wednesday, we decided to go to Wakehurst Place after work, for a quick wander around the gardens. Most of the specialist parts of the garden had already closed for the day, but it didn't feel like we'd wasted our time as there was still so much to see. And, as we're National Trust members, it didn't cost us anything to go in. 

The gardens were absolutely beautiful, but my favourite part was the wildlife- we saw some huge butterflies, a pheasant, adorable baby moorhens, and a few very friendly robins who were up for posing for a photo (or thirty). 

Afterwards, we went to the pretty village of Lindfield for a potter about and a pub dinner in the Red Lion; and were actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, given that it was so cheap! Two pints, two burgers with chips, and a profiterole sundae (ahem) for less than £20. We then headed home to rest our bellies and watch a movie. All in all, a cheap and cheerful date night. 

Have you tried any cheap dates recently with your mates or other half? I know the Shiny Pigeon is quite a fan! 

Katie xxx

Party Tricks

Hello m'dears!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week. 

This post has been inspired by a conversation about "party tricks" that took place on my recent holiday to Norfolk, and a subsequent sharing on twitter. I've always considered myself to be a rather party-trick-free person; partly due to focusing on the things I can't do (roll my tongue, roll my "r"s, hula-hoop... basically anything involving rolling), and partly because I think for a lot of people their "party trick" is something so normal to them that they don't consider it to be anything that others would get excited about. 

As I thought about it more (and my lovely friends gave their suggestions about "that weird thing you do with...") I discovered I actually have several "party tricks"; but had never realised they were trick-worthy! 

Introducing my party tricks. Admittedly not quite Magician-worthy, and I doubt I'll be getting a call from Mr Ripley any time soon, but they're the best I got! 

1. Eating food with just a fork*
I thought this was a relatively normal thing to do- I mean, I'm using a utensil; it's not like I eat everything with a mayonnaise jar lid or a plastic shark! - but the fact that I never, ever use a knife seems to blow people's minds. Tom actually admitted the other day he's secretly been trying to cook more and more un-fork-friendly food to see if I'll use a knife. I refuse to cave, dammit! 

Photographic evidence of the one time I've used a knife in the last billion years- Fran took this because she wanted to remember the moment forever. In my defence, I *had* to, because we were in grown-up company and the broccoli was undercooked. Stupid broccoli.

2. Shooing flies
Tom actually calls me "The Fly Whisperer" because whenever flies come into the house, I only have to point at an open window and they leave. Sometimes I don't even point, I just say "out"....

Disclaimer: This only works with regular flies. Not mosquitoes, moths, or other winged things. 

3. My "pigeon sense"
In a full embodiment of gender cliché, I am utterly hopeless at reading maps. I know how they work, but I just can't do it. However, once I've physically been someone once, I know how to find my way back. 

I jokingly call this my "pigeon sense", because my Granddad breeds racing pigeons who are able to do a similar thing. HOLY SH*T- I've just thought; maybe he secretly trained me to be the world's first Human Racing Pigeon?!? DUN DUN DUN.

4. Halving stonefruits with my hands
To be honest, I wasn't sure this one should count. I assumed other people did it too (it's not particularly difficult, once you've figured it out) but when I showed it to Fran it seemed to blow her mind. So, here goes- fourth and final trick; I can tear stonefruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, blah blah) in half with my bare hands! I know, right? Where ISN'T that going to come in useful?!

If you're struggling to think of the things you can do that other people might consider a party trick (or just want a reminder of how damn talented you are!) I'd recommend a peep at this book, and spin-off tumblr - "You Are Good At Things". 

So... what are your party tricks? Please do share! 

*Except for soup and stuff where you need a spoon. That'd just be weird.