New cushion cover

Hello!  For ages I've been wanting to make a cover for an uncovered cushion I bought ages ago.  I fight with my boyfriend over the two cushions on our couch so I decided it was time to get out the sewing machine and make my cushion cute and usable.

I had some blue fabric left over from a dress I made a couple of years ago which was just enough to make the cushion cover with.  I decided I wanted to decorate it with something cute.  I found some left over ribbons in my sewing box so I decided to make some bows in different colours to attach to the front of it.

My cushion was 16 x 16 inches so I made my front piece 17" x 17" to allow for 1/2" seam allowance around all the edges.  I decided to make an envelope design so I made the back piece 24" x 17" so that there would be an overlap when I cut the back piece in half.

Front piece

Back piece cut in half

After cutting the back piece in half so that each back piece now measured 12 x 17 inches, I folded over the cut edge of each back piece twice by 1/2 an inch to make a neat seam. I ironed, pinned and machine stitched the edge closed.

Pinned edge

Stitched edge

Then I made some bows and sewed them by hand to the front  piece of fabric through the centre of the bows.

Bows

Bows stitched to front piece of fabric

Then I put the back and the front pieces right sides together so the two back pieces were overlapping.  Then I stitched it together around the outside edges.

I turned the cover inside out and put the cushion inside it through the opening.

I think it's fun and pretty.  Now I want to make more cushion covers for the cushions that are already on our sofa using maybe buttons or more bows for decoration!

Hope you're having a great day :)

Mango clothing day

Hi there!  Well I said I would post a picture of the new jumper I bought from Mango in better light but it's been a grey couple of days so a not so bright indoor one will have to do.  It's a dark blue with black jewels which sparkle in the light and look really pretty.  I wore them with my lilac Topshop jeans.

I also wore my Mum's ring.  It's a pearl ring from a pearl she got out of an oyster she picked at an oyster farm she went to with my Dad.  It's sterling silver dipped in gold with two red gems on either side.  She got it when she was 21 so it's very precious to me.  I teamed it with some bronze and pearl bird earrings I made myself.

There you have it!  I would probably have worn the jumper with my khaki leggings but as it was -10 degrees outside I thought jeans would be a more sensible choice.

I love my Mum's ring.  It's so lovely to have something nice passed down to you to wear.  I love that it has it's own story about her going to the oyster farm to pick out the pearl.

If you like the earrings you can find some similar jewellery in my Twirlybirdie shop.  Check it out here! .

I hope you had a lovely day!

Sunday Things

I had an early start today for a Sunday.  Well, I was up at 9.30 am.  After a phone call to my Mum I decided to paint my nails.  I fancied a shiny mossy green colour.  It's called Kiwi and it's by Misslyn.  I haven't painted my nails in ages as I've been performing a lot recently and I was definitely out of practise.  Urgh!  Not the perfectly painted nails I'd been imagining.  I like this unusual earthy colour though.

When I got dressed I decided I was in a dotty mood.  I wore this grey and yellow dotty top by H&M and some old Gap 1969 jeans that I've worn to death over a year or more and definitely need replacing!

I also wore some grey pearl earrings to match my top.  They are so simple and yet slightly unusual because of the grey colour.  I'd really like to make some of these using freshwater pearls and sterling silver.  These ones are from Accessorize.  They came in a set of three colours and have been so useful as I can wear them with almost anything.

After that I went off to the shops where I ended up going in to the sale at Mango.  Big Mistake!  Two new pairs of shoes and a jumper later I was back at home.

Both these shoes were really good deals.  The khaki ankle boots have a good tread so will hopefully last me a while.  The black high heels should go with pretty much anything and were so elegant and classy looking when I tried them on in the shop!  Any excuse for a new pair of shoes.  You can still buy them on-line here for the suede ankle boots, and here for the suede slip on pumps.

It gets dark here so early it's hard to take pictures in natural lighting.  I'll try and take a picture of my new jumper during the day sometime soon.  If it wasn't Winter I'd love to try taking some outfit photos outside with my new camera.

I hope you had a lovely Sunday.  Until next time!

Bourjois Beauty Full Volume Mascara

I have two mascara's on the go at the moment.  One I already wrote a post about, the Balm's Cheater mascara.  The other one is this Bourjois Full Volume mascara.  It's definitely a thicker mascara.  I like it for evening and for performances but found it a bit heavy for day when I prefer to wear a more natural looking mascara.  I found the thicker fluid to be a bit clumpy.  You have to practise applying it so that the lashes don't clump together.  I find it best to pull the brush sideways through the lashes right and then left with different strokes as you apply to help keep them separate.

Below you can see a picture of the finished result.

There you go another mascara review.  Hope you're having a great weekend!

(Update:  I've gotten better at applying this mascara now and wearing it in the day time I've even been asked if my lashes are real or if I have individual falsies in!)

Burt's Bees Miracle Salve

I've been trying out this miracle salve that I got for Christmas.  It's proved to be very useful here in the cold winter weather.  I find that it's good to keep in my handbag as it can be used on anything; hands, hair, face and lips.  It's great for me as I need to use something on my dry skin quite frequently when it's so cold.  I also love that the ingredients sound so natural.  It's main ingredients are olive seed oil, beeswax and pumpkin seed oil.  Although I never find waxy moisturisers as absorbing as moisturising creams I prefer to use this as a sort of barrier against the cold.  It stops my skin becoming more dry if I apply it before I go out.  I've yet to try it out on my hair though although it sounds fun!

New Camera, today's outfit, ideas

Today I finally purchased my new camera!  I went for the Olympus SH-21 in the end.  I can't wait to take some pictures with it.

It was a bit warmer than usual so I got to wear my Topshop coat out instead of my longer winter one.  I wore it with one of my favourite bags from Urban Outfitters.  I also wore the blue snood my sister crotched me for winter last year.  I love hand made goodies.

I took a picture of my new mirror in better light.

I sewed some pointe shoes because I'm a dancer, although sewing shoes is one of my least favourite activities.

I also decided that I really want to go travelling.  I will have to come up with a plan.  A trip to different European cities is tempting right now.  I will have to look in to saving some money.  I need a chance to be in different places and get some perspective on things.  I can see myself travelling round with my new camera and posting on my blog ;)

Today's outfit

I was in a pastel mood this Sunday.  Perhaps to make up for the dull weather we were having.  I wore my pastel lavender shade Topshop jeans and Topshop lace jumper.  Under the jumper I was wearing an H&M striped string vest top.

Sunday things

I started my day looking at more digital camera's online.  I found the best deal seemed to be on an Olympus SH-14 that I can get in the sales here at the moment.  I went to look for it at the shop I'd seen it being sold at  online but it turns out I'll have to go to their out of town shop to buy it.  I might make a trip there tomorrow!

I took some photos with my Kodak camera on the way home.  I love the ones of the trees.  I have a thing for trees.

Back at home I cleaned out our kettle using white wine vinegar which works amazingly well.  You just put in a splash of the vinegar with enough water to reach the minimum fill level, boil and voila!  Sparkling clean!  Afterwards I usually pour out the water and boil a couple more loads of water and then pour them out to get rid of the vinegar taste and smell.

I decided to paint a pretty hand held mirror I've had for years which has been looking a bit rough lately.  I painted it pastel pink as I happen to have some lying around.  It certainly looks smarter!

Camera's

So I spent most of my free time today looking for a camera that I can afford and that won't be too much of a mark up in price to buy here.  I have a short list so far.

The Olympus VR-340, Sony DSC W690 and Panasonic Lumix SZ1  are the most affordable camera's I've found with a high number of Megapixels.  The Panasonic and Olympus have the lowest mark-up in price here compared to what I could get them for in the UK.  Looks like I'm narrowing down my list as I write!

Other than that I've been struggling with some self confidence issues.  I think right now I need to 'fake it till I make it' in terms of feeling happy and secure with myself.  I need to break through some mental barriers I've created to find peace in my heart and not listen to too many peoples critical opinions.

Maybe I'll find peace in developing my blog?

Quirky dresses

I've been selling things I no longer wear on Ebay recently.  I would like to clear out all my old things and own  only what I really love.  I have accumulated too much over the years!  I think clutter is bad for your soul in some ways.  It make me scared to move on because you always worry about what you're going to do with all your stuff.  I think there's a free spirit in me that's being suffocated by possessions.

One of the dresses I was planning to get rid of though has been growing on me as I photographed it ready for selling.  It's a cute H&M dress which I got a few years ago but it is actually pretty quirky and unusual.  My favourite items of clothing in general are cute and quirky dresses.  So maybe this one will have to stay.  I might make it a bit shorter though to change it up a bit.

It's such an unusual colour, and what a cute heart print.  I'm looking forward to wearing it in the summer now!

Travel

One thing that makes me happier than anything else is having the opportunity to travel.  I came across this quote on tumblr the other day 'it is better to see the world and own little of it, than to own the world and see little of it.'  I think this is so true.  My short holidays with my boyfriend are the free-est and happiest I have ever felt.  I have been to Lake Garda in Italy with it's stunning mountain scenery and Kefalonia in Greece for one week holidays that were absolutely wonderful.  Our next destination is going to be Halkidiki in Greece.  I'm really excited.  I think that to travel will be a life long ambition of mine.

Kefalonia

Sitting on the beach with the surf between your toes is almost enough of a reason to be alive.  If there's anything worth saving up for to me going somewhere for a holiday is the ultimate goal right now.

New Camera for blogging?

Ever since I've been trying to get myself blogging more frequently I've wanted to get myself a new decent camera to take pictures with.  I did a little research yesterday and really liked the sound of the Sony RX100, which sounds like a fantastic top range compact digital camera.  However it's still retailing for around 450 quid so I imagine I'm going to have to be on the lookout for something less pricey!

In the meantime I've been rediscovering my now quite old digital Kodak Easyshare C663.  I'm surprised to fined that despite only taking pictures of 6.1 Megapixels the results aren't that bad.  I never really took the time to find out how to use it properly and now I think with a bit of experimenting I might be able to take some acceptable quality pictures whilst I search out something newer.

I've been experimenting taking pictures of one of my favourite pastimes.... coffee!

When editing the pictures I generally find I have to warm up the colour temperature and up the brightness a bit and hey presto!  Not too bad for an oldie.

Cute winter accessories

It's still winter weather where I am and wrapping up warm and staying chic is always tricky.  I fell in love with these Mango Leather Gloves with bows on them but at the time they weren't in the sale and I couldn't justify spending the money on them.

Click here buy these Mango gloves

Luckily I managed to find a cheaper alternative in another store which still looked cute even if they don't have such a gorgeous bow on them as the Mango ones.

I lost my hat in the shops and managed to fine this cute white one with a bow on it in the sale.  I think it has a 20's feel to it.  Bow overload!

I think they go really well together with my dark green Topshop Military inspired coat.    The mango gloves are in the sale now if you want to get them.

Covered Notebook

I really wanted to a pretty notebook to write all my thoughts and ideas in.  I love the ones you can buy in the shops but didn't want to spend the money so decided to cover one I already owned in some pretty paper I had lying around the house.

I just glued it to the inside of the cover and I am really pleased with the results.  It's pink, my favourite colour and glittery.  Yay!

It goes well with this really cute pink lamp I bought a few years ago.

Herdy Mug

I got this cute Herdy mug for Christmas.  I love anything pink and the sheep print is just so cute!

It also has a matching coaster and key ring.  You can check out their other products here http://www.herdy.co.uk/.  Their tag line is 'made to make your smile',  which is always nice!.

The company donates a percentage of their products to The Herdy Fund which supports sustainable rural communities, upland fell farming and the Herdwick Sheep!

Sweet Potato and Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Tonight I made this!  It's absolutely delicious.  I found the recipe here on BBC Good Food website.

My cooking in process!

I've made it before in the vegetarian version that the website has it up as.  I'm not a vegetarian although I don't like to eat a lot of meat so tonight I made it with 200 g pork and 250 g lentils.  It was really delicious both with and without meet.  I would read the comments though as some people found the filling too runny.  I don't have a lid for my wok dish though so boiling it uncovered the whole time seemed to thicken up the filling just fine!

My sister doesn't like this as she found it too sweet.  My boyfriend and I love it though so if you like sweet potato you should give it a go!

BBC Good Food Website

My finished version!

Favourite Lipstick - Clinique

These are two of my current favourite lipsticks.  Clinique colour surge lipstick in Berry Nugget and Long Last Lipstick in Pinkberry.  Both are such nice colours.  The Berry Nugget one is great for nights out with it's darker pink colour and the Pinkberry is really great day time colour.  Both colours have a subtle shimmer to them.  I really love the sleek silver design of the lipsticks too.

Click here for Clinique Lipsticks website

Clinique Long Last Lipstick in Pinkberry

Another favourite product, Garnier BB cream

I love this!  I don't usually wear foundation on my skin preferring to occasionally use a little light powder.  When I do want a bit more cover I use this.  It's very light as far as coverage goes which suits me fine.  This is probably why they only produce two shades as the colour is very sheer.  It's affordable and moisturising which is good for me as I have dry skin which needs moisturising every time I wash it.  I like that it has SPF in it as well which I usually look for.  I enjoy using this.  I bought a second one recently as I spotted it was on offer even though I hadn't used up my first tube.

you can read more about it on the Garnier website by clicking here.