Lulu loves making things......

Dandelion Clocks...

2011-10-08T00:38:00.001-07:00

I love these 50's colours!

Puppy love...

2011-10-07T03:24:00.001-07:00

Hello Mia, welcome to London!

a garden of thoughts...

2011-06-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever."

— Alfred Lord Tennyson

Things are Rosy

2011-05-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air...

2011-04-18T14:22:00.001-07:00

These are the prettiest daffodils I have ever seen, they are a peach and coral colour and were so pretty blowing in the sunshine.

a little therapeutic knitting...

2011-04-06T08:54:00.001-07:00

Certainly can't hurt the recovery!

A very friendly kitty...

2011-03-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

When my friend Claudia and I went out for lunch today we walked past a window with a very beautiful cat sitting inside, and when we went over to say hello this cat went crazy, rubbing the glass with its face and being incredibly friendly, we wanted to reach in and give it a cuddle, it was clearly very happy to see people, and obviously I was very happy to oblige with some attention!

Guilty...

2011-03-31T00:26:00.001-07:00

"Um, no, I have no idea how your hairbrush made it from your dresser, onto the floor, out of your bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen. weird..."

the best sister award...

2011-03-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Picture layout by Pugly Pixel Premium downloads

Coming soon...

2011-03-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of redesigning my blog, I have been so inspired by the work that I have seen in the blog community recently that it has made me want to push myself and learn more about how to further customize my own... So watch this space!

The pretty bow, medallion and dotty tape are thanks to the ever brilliant Pugly Pixel, if you like them you can get them through the following links...

Tape strips : HERE

Starbursts : HERE

Ribbons : HERE

Enjoy!

Lipgloss Donuts...

2011-03-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm - glitter and sugar sprinkles!

I had my first ever full-on Krispy Kreme experience this weekend... yes, I've had them in the office and at birthdays before, but I've never been to an actual shop, it was like a small slice of America and brought back lots of nice memories of my holiday there a few years ago.

The Glamour Glaze donut

It was ridiculously exciting, mainly because they have a special limited edition sparkle Glamour Glaze donut at the moment (I will admit this is what sucked me in) and I could not get over how much it looked like someone had spread lipgloss over the top of them....why this should be appetizing I do not know, but for some reason it had a magical allure...

Me and donut, pre-devouring...

I think I had more fun choosing and photographing them then eating them, much to my companion's amusement "You're weird" he muttered as I tried to get the best light for premium glitter capture....

lulu loves...

2011-03-28T00:53:00.001-07:00

Vintage jewellery, especially lockets, I love the idea of carrying a favourite picture around with you this way...

Sunday morning naptime...

2011-03-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to view full size.... I still haven't got the hang of how to make my pics bigger, that's a challenge to master next week I think!

Here is a little photo montage of Murph's morning nap that I made this morning, I wanted to make something that could be easily constructed using an iPhone, an app and a little bit of Photoshop know-how!

I made all of the elements myself apart from the tape in the banner at the top which is a free download from the wonderful Pugly Pixel, which you can find on her brilliant blog HERE...

The app I used to take the photos is called LOMO LOMO and it was free from the iTunes app store.

Lush knot wrap design competition...

2011-03-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

Today I found out that Lush Cosmetics are having a design competition that is right up my street....

They are offering you the chance to have one of your own designs printed up and sold in their shops as one of their clever 'knot wraps'.

Photo courtesy of Lush

Knot wraps are a concept that Lush introduced in 2009, they source and sell vintage scarfs to use as an ingenious eco-friendly gift wrap using the old Japanese art of Furoshiki, which is an origami like style of wrapping fabric to contain things - click HERE for the Wikipedia explanation of this art form.

What I love about this idea is that not only is it two gifts in one, but you are also helping reduce waste and saving the environment, what a brilliant idea!

My knot-wrap around my fave vintage bag (note how Murphy muscled in on the action when he realised I wasn't paying him any attention....)

I first came across this form of present wrapping on my birthday this year, when my wonderful friend Sally presented me with a little dumpling-like bundle of a gorgeous vintage locket wrapped inside a pretty vintage scarf, I thought this was a delightful way to wrap a present and the scarf is just as treasured as the pretty locket inside it, in fact I wrapped it around the strap of my favourite vintage bag and have received many admiring glances since....

I will definitely be entering this competition, its a win-win situation, it gives me a excuse to mess about on Illustrator (I don't need much encouragement) to have fun making a new design and to hone my skills with a view to possibly winning something at the end of it, and even if I don't I have an original design to brighten up my house with!

If you would like to find out more about this competition visit the Lush website or click HERE for the details and to download the template.... Good Luck!

my new mobile site....

2011-03-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today I have set up my brand new mobile blog site, so that you can view things easily on a smart-phone should you want to browse on the go ;-)

The old blog format will stay the same but it just means that by clicking a little button it is now much easier to view posts in a mobile format (see main pic above)!

On the right hand side of the page you will see that it now says.... "Click this button for my mobile site", admittedly that is still going to be pretty small on a smart phone, but if you zoom in and hit that little button it should take you directly to the mobile site, job done!

Many thanks to Powered by Pastries for THIS fab tutorial on how to do it!

Cats in hats....

2011-03-22T15:20:00.001-07:00

Why ever not?! I find these oddly pleasing and very amusing, perhaps it's because some of them are wearing blusher....

Cupcake Couture blogging tips!

2011-03-22T09:31:00.001-07:00

The logo from the Lovely Cupcake Couture blog!

Hop on over to see my friend Nadia's wonderful Cupcake Couture blog today, she has a brilliant POST talking all about how to get the most out of your blog and sharing all her top tips and secrets, go and show her some blog-love and support and find some great new links to help you on your way!

Thanks Nadia!

Maine Coons, Parakeets and Sunbathing foxes....

2011-03-21T04:15:00.000-07:00

This is a little photo story of what happened in my garden on Saturday morning, a drama that unfolded in front of my eyes (OK, not that dramatic but it doesn't take much to entertain me)!

THE PLAYERS

The brazen kitty!

Brazen Kitty : Murphy's girlfriend, actual name unknown, no collar - sometimes comes inside our house to eat Murph's food, very friendly, also a Mainecoon!

The brave parakeet!

A Brave Parakeet : A local resident, one of many living in my area and all over parts of London, Kent and Surrey.
Click HERE for more info....

'Disney' Fox

The 'Disney' Fox : Brazen and likes digging holes in our garden, surprisingly healthy looking, also loves sunbathing on my neighbour's shed roof apparently.... nothing really to do with the story he just appeared at the end and I thought he was funny, a casual observer it seems!

THE STORY

Brazen Kitty likes to play in our garden, I like her, she's got guts - I think Murph likes her - she steals his food but she is very pretty....and she has almighty paws!

I hear a parakeet squawking in the garden, and I peer out of the window hoping that there is one in the tree, and for once there actually is and it is eating the cherry blossom (usually you just hear them and see them flocking overhead)! So I grab the camera and try and a get a clear shot of the bird, plus the weather is beautiful and the cherry tree is in full bloom so it cant hurt to record this lovely sight anyway...

I notice the Parakeet look down and see that Brazen kitty has jumped onto the roof of our shed, I say 'Hello' and she looks guilty/defiant, see above expression....

The parakeet looks more disconcerted and starts to climb higher in the tree and squawk angrily...

I realize this is because Brazen kitty has started to try and climb the tree in the hope of an exotic catch, I start to worry so tell her off in the hope she will stop, she just looks at me with contempt and wanders off, meanwhile the Parakeet has had enough and gives a final squawk before flying away!

Going, going....

Gone!

Later on I heard the Parakeets outside again and noticed that there were 4 in the tree, all happily eating blossom until my neighbour's Chocolate Labrador 'Guinness' starts barking because Murphy is on the roof taunting him (a usual hobby of his) so they flew away again!

During the initial events, Murphy is asleep across most of my bed, totally unaware of the excitement unfolding outside, SO LAZY.

Human sized cat bed.

THE END

Sunday Sushi...

2011-03-20T12:32:00.001-07:00

A real treat, thanks to my sister Jess for treating me to this lovely supper, we definitely deserved it after the long walk and Hula hoop session in Battersea park today!

Good Morning!

2011-03-19T00:19:00.001-07:00

The sun is shining and it looks like its going to be a beautiful day, I'm enjoying my favourite weekend ritual of coffee and a cuddle with the cat in bed and later I'm off to see a very good friend of mine and her gorgeous 4yr old son for lunch and play time, perfect.

I hope you all have fabulous weekend plans too! xx

It's Friday!

2011-03-18T12:21:00.001-07:00

Friday = pocket money = sweetie time!

At least it was in my childhood, enjoy the weekend everybody!

Lip attack....

2011-03-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

I am obsessed with lipstick at the moment....

Revlon - Fire & Ice

My current favourite is Revlon's classic Fire & Ice (above) which is the perfect blue red, works well on every complexion and is so popular it has been around since the 1950's.
I highly recommend it because the texture is very smooth, it doesn't dry your lips like most and the colour lasts for ages, not to mention it is great value at under £8 (I bought mine from Boots).

The original advertisement

However, one lipstick is not enough for me and today I had to feed the addiction and add to my already large collection of 6 different toned Reds and Corals (yes, highly unnecessary I know), so I decided to branch out and get myself a very bright coral-orange tone (Kiss Me by Rimmel) and a bright fuchsia pink (Shocking Pink by Rimmel) and with a free mascara to boot - hooray, no justification needed!

My two new acquisitions!

I read a great article in this weeks Stylist magazine about all the new bright tones available at the moment, this is due to the high number of Runway shows keeping the make up looks simple and concentrating on bright lips for SS11, so the selection on the high street is a lot more exciting than usual and now is the perfect time to buy them!

Lipstick suits all sorts of complexions!

I think bright lipstick is the quickest and easiest way to do your make up, all you need to do is keep the rest of the make up minimal and it should look great, be brave and try it out, it always makes me feel much more confident and polished than when I don't wear it, not to mention being great at diverting attention from other areas you might want people to notice ;-)

gloomy morning....

2011-03-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

Gloomy but beautiful I think, I always love the sight of the Battersea Power Station when I go past on the train.

A hint of Spring in London...

2011-03-11T04:27:00.001-08:00

The other day my friend Anwen and I took a lovely stroll through St James Park in our lunch hour and took in the sights of Buckingham Palace and The Mall in glorious sunshine, not to mention the spring flowers and blossom and ducks and geese in the park, it was a lovely glimpse of how pretty London can be in the Spring and Summer, and reminds me how lucky we are to work so centrally that we can see such sights in an hour!

Baking and icing....

2011-03-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

Amongst the many other wonderful birthday presents I received this year, the one that took me most by surprise was the present I received from my Dad, it was a set of beautiful icing flower cutters, but with plungers attached at the top, which means you can cut even the tiniest of flowers perfectly and pop them out with ease!

No sticking to the surface or the cutter, and the best part is if you press the flower onto your palm whilst depressing the plunger it gives you a lovely dimple in the middle which makes it perfect for placing a dragee (shiny edible bauble) in the middle, although they also look very pretty without.

Here is a cake that I made and decorated the other day, I covered the top with raspberries and lots of different sized icing flowers....

I think these would also look great on cupcakes or even cookies, and I have lots more ideas about how to use them, they are so simple to make but look so pretty and carefully crafted, a definite bonus in my opinion!

I have issues with being an adult....

2011-03-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

So, because of this I buy myself ridiculous childlike frivolities to cling to my inner child, this is my latest purchase, obviously cat-themed, a diary/agenda which I plan to fill with pictures of Murphy (who else?!) I'm pretty certain he would approve....

Happy Pancake Day..

2011-03-08T04:08:00.001-08:00

a pin bouquet....

2011-03-07T07:42:00.001-08:00

Flower headed quilting pins, I have been searching for these for SO long, and I finally found them online for next to nothing, it will be so nice not to be using blunt stubby, snaggy pins when sewing from now on....

Animated perfection....

2011-03-01T05:54:00.000-08:00

Clinic - Bubblegum from Alasdair & Jock on Vimeo.

Mini Hexagons....

2011-02-26T04:10:00.001-08:00

I had a sudden urge to create one of these this morning, continuing my current obsession with hand-stitching, this is a craft my mum used to be heavily into.

I'm afraid I don't have the patience to make a whole quilt out of these little hexagons by hand, but maybe a few of these could snazz up a very dull plain Ikea quilt I already own?

Love gingerbread....

2011-02-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

I cant get enough of gingerbread at the moment, I whipped these up yesterday morning, quick and very satisfying!

Sunday movements....

2011-02-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

Boy Sweater....

2011-02-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

I really want to cut off a grey sweatshirt and wear it as a baggy T-shirt, I have been meaning to do this for AGES but haven't yet got it done...

However when I watched THIS beautiful film the other day it inspired me to get on with it!

This is a still from the film of the main character 'Boy' and his grey cut off sweater!

The film is called 'BOY' and is set in 1980's New Zealand and is such a sweet story, I strongly recommend it if you can get your hands on it, the little boys in the film are adorable :-)

Superior frosting....

2011-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to make a huge cake with lots of layers and a perfectly finished cream frosting on the outside, however - I have never managed it and just made a lot of mess in the process...

If you have the same problem as me, do not fear, help is at hand!

This beautiful cake was made and frosted by The Whisk Kid and she has very kindly written a very comprehensive step-by-step tutorial so that you too can try and make a towering cake of frosted perfection :-)

Find the link to the tutorial : HERE

Have fun frosting!

Valentine....

2011-02-14T02:15:00.001-08:00

You can always rely on the lovely girls in your life to make Valentines day special, this is the amazing treat I had waiting for me on my desk this morning from my friend Renaya :-)

Dorothy's ruby slippers

2011-02-12T09:17:00.001-08:00

no message

Super Furry....

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Sweet Piggy...

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Yum...

2011-02-05T09:27:00.001-08:00

Delicious! The arrival of these in the canteen at work is a temptation that is hard to avoid...

Cats and Eggs....

2011-02-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

Could there be a more perfectly pitched gift for me?! Cats, cute imagery and boiled eggs are all things that I love and these have performed a hat-trick of delight!

My lovely friend Johanna gave me these gorgeous Donna Wilson Cat egg cups for my birthday and I am thrilled to bits, not only were the egg cups perfect but the packaging was also lovely, little brown cardboard boxes with cat stickers on..... so nice.

I cannot wait to have my Saturday morning boiled eggs in these lovely things!

A tate excursion....

2011-02-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday lunchtime the girls and I took an excursion to the Tate Britain gallery, which we are lucky enough to have next door to our office, this is one of our favourite ways to spend a lunch hour and we always have so much fun taking photographs and performing our own mini photoshoots!

Its the Bobbleheads!

and Goodbye!

My purrfect cat...

2011-02-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Round and round....

2011-02-02T03:09:00.001-08:00

I think I have found a new craft to get into....

Circular weaving!

Image by Nothing is New

I have been inspired by THIS post by Tricia of Bits and Bobbins, she discovered a brilliant book called Weaving without a loom by Sarita R. Rainey via THIS post on the Nothing is New blog.

I am ordering my copy now HERE on Amazon! I can think of so many different and lovely things to do with this concept, art, jewellery, accessories, endless possibilities....

Posh toast....

2011-01-31T13:53:00.001-08:00

Never has toast been so sophisticated! These luxurious preserves were one of my lovely birthday gifts from my very thoughtful friend Renaya, Lemon Curd and Raspberry Jam are my two favourite toast toppings, and this beautiful box is a winner for me too!

Thank you for brightening up my weekend breakfasts Renaya! xxx

Sunday night knitting...

2011-01-30T13:37:00.001-08:00

Working on a new project...

Rosey....

2011-01-30T02:24:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I saw these beautiful roses and just had to photograph them, they were so velvety, I would love to be able to look at these gorgeous flowers all day they made me feel so happy!

my lovely presents...

2011-01-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have been spoilt rotten this year and consider myself a very lucky girl, I have been taken out for dinner and lunch, been bought a balloon (!), been baked a cake by a lovely co-worker and been given lots of lovely presents, my girls are very good at taking note of my hints!

Here is a glimpse....

Toasty neck....

2011-01-26T00:59:00.001-08:00

I made this neck-warmer to keep my Dad nice and toasty during the winter months, he requested something that would be tighter than a snood but loose enough to be comfortable, so I found a nice 2x2 ribbed neckwarmer pattern through Ravelry which you can find here :

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/red-hot-neckwarmer

I changed it slightly so it was longer at the bottom part (extending to his chest rather than just the hollow of his neck) so that he could wear it with his favourite fleece which zips open at the neck, without there being a gap to let the breeze in!

Luckily he seems very happy with it and the only complaint is with the rather hairy yarn I used, Wendy Serenity, a lovely and soft Alpaca/wool/acrylic blend but can leave you looking a bit like you have been rolling around in the dog's basket!

The baby and the rose...

2011-01-25T01:50:00.001-08:00

This is my Dad's favourite picture of me as a little girl, it's so Seventies it almost hurts...I am 32 today, a world away from this chubby little thing :-)

my super siblings....

2011-01-21T00:27:00.001-08:00

I'm so lucky to have such super siblings, I wouldn't change them for anything :-)

BOOM! 1 hr Snood/cowl....

2011-01-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

Last night I made a Snood / Cowl for a colleague at work as a thank-you for all her help during Men's fashion week, without her support our job would have been so much harder last week and would have meant me travelling on a grueling two day trip to Milan, which I really didn't want to do!

The design for this snood was really easy and only took me 1 hour, so gratifying :)

It was inspired by *THIS* design, the Around the way Cowl from *Pickles.no* and is just garter stitch on 12mm needles, knit using Lion Brand Thick & Quick yarn (which I bought in March last year in NYC!) and I just kept knitting until it was wide enough to go around the neck, plus a bit more, and then seamed the ends together, I'm calling it the 'BOOM! - 1hr snood/cowl'.

This year I am trying to make more effort with wrapping and presenting gifts for people, so my new favourite thing to do is to use textures from a Jpeg library that my friends and I have built up over the last year, which I then alter or resize in Photoshop and then print out and use as gift-wrap, above is how I wrapped Giulia's snood to present to her today.... I hope she likes it!

Wishlist....

2011-01-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

Current faves, all reasonably priced I think (click on the prices to link to the websites).

Matroyshka measuring spoons - £5.50

Glass bell jars - Small £16, large £22

Love birds cushion (although I could definitely make this one myself for a lot less) - £69.95

Mini Patchwork pouffe (another one I could make if I put my mind to it) - £35

2011 inspiration.....Sewing

2011-01-18T06:25:00.000-08:00

I can feel the sewing urge approaching again, and this year it's earlier than usual and competing with all the knitting I am doing and have queuing up....

My amazing sister gave me 'Built By Wendy Dresses' book for xmas, and there are so many projects I want to make already!

A big slouchy canvas tote bag to replace my XL gold tote of wonder which bit the dust a while ago, this one is by Built by Wendy and is very similar to what I would like to make.

A dress like this for my best friend's wedding....

Customising some existing items of clothing that need a little revamping....

I loved this idea from Cal Patch of Hodge Podge Farm, it looks like she uses crocheted doilies as templates to create bleached out prints on jersey which she makes into leggings, I think this would look good on a plain black t-shirt or washed out black jersey items like vests, old leggings and jeans too.... I plan to try this on one of my old black cardigans to give it a new lease of life and change up the buttons too.

I'm a twit....

2011-01-18T03:16:00.000-08:00

I finally did it.

I joined Twitter.

For the good of all things creative, I do solemnly swear to make no comments regarding the boring minutiae of my daily life and make 'tweets' only about things I have made or work I admire from other creatives.

You can 'follow' me at : http://twitter.com/#!/lululovesmaking

splasher....

2011-01-17T00:42:00.001-08:00

It is raining cats and dogs this morning, I think its about time I invested in some decent rainboots, and these black ones by Fouganza from Decathlon are perfect, and at the ridiculously cheap price of £12.99 there is nothing to feel guilty about with this purchase!

No more tiptoe-ing through the puddles on wet mornings for me, I will be able to stride with confidence on my way to work...

2011 inspiration.....Crochet

2011-01-14T07:47:00.001-08:00

These pics are my idea of colour and crochet heaven.... this year I intend to :

Make a blanket of many colours...inspired by this beautiful work by Lucy of Attic24

Finish my hexagon cushion, which was also inspired by Lucy of Attic24

Make a crochet covered Ikea stool like this one by block a day blog

Make a Crochet bag like this one from the Japanese book 'Pretty colour crochet & knit goods'

My favourites of 2010....

2011-01-13T06:57:00.001-08:00

Here are some of my favourite projects from 2010, and here's to many more in 2011!

Lucky Cranes

2011-01-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying an origami revival at the moment, when I was younger I was really keen on paper folding and origami, and I had a great book that had pre-printed fold lines which made it much easier!

However, now that I'm older and a little braver I thought I would to challenge myself a bit and try to do more complicated shapes, but one that I had wanted to do for a while was the Crane, because they are so delicate and I can think of so many creative applications in which they could be used, but also because they are supposed to be lucky, as the legend below describes (although I really cant see myself doing 1000)....

"An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years. In Japan, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a person's wish come true."

found via Wikipedia : HERE

Darn good....

2011-01-12T03:50:00.001-08:00

Last night I darned my first ever sock, it is not a tidy job, in fact it is a bit of a monster, but the socks are the first pair I ever knitted and are full of mistakes too!

Despite this fact they hold a fair amount of sentimental value and I wore them around the house and in bed for a few years before they developed holes in their soles!

Bizarrely I found the process of darning the holes very therapeutic and can once again wear my monstrous socks with pride :-)

I found the tutorial on how to do THIS via the Craft:zine website, it is a collaboration with the Martha Stewart Living editors and has lots of good tips for fixing and embellishing.

Engrish tea.....

2011-01-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

Hmm, what do you suppose these mean....?

One of the Japanese girls at work brought them in, the green one says 'Herb tea for a hanggard face' (haggard maybe?!) and the purple one says 'Herb tea for a loose idea' (lets hope its only the ideas that are loose...).

Block printing....

2011-01-10T09:13:00.001-08:00

I can feel a new hobby / obsession coming on.....

Found via : http://www.flickr.com/people/klara/

Need an extra pair of hands? All you need is Liv...

2011-01-07T05:17:00.000-08:00

My lovely friend Liv has just launched her brilliant new website called :

All you need is Liv

The idea behind her new venture is to offer an extra pair of hands, as a business and lifestyle support service.

"For all those times you wish you has a PA to tie up all the loose ends....All you need is Liv."

For your home....

Personalised handmade cards / invitations

Handwritten cards / invitations

Children's party organisation

Handmade children's party decorations and party bags

Unique gift wrapping

Gift selection and purchase

Bespoke handmade cushions

Bespoke handmade personalised cotton bunting

Travel arrangements

Sourcing babysitters, stylists, dog walkers, plumbers, etc

Dinner party arrangements including centre pieces and menu planning

One of Liv's beautiful original christmas cards

For your business....

Media buying

Database management

Mail merges

Diary management

Email correspondence

Online research

Travel arrangements

Writing up minutes

Proof reading

Data collection

Receipt management

Raising invoices

Creating presentations

Client press coverage collation

Social media maintenance

Now isn't that a fabulous idea?! I know I could always do with an extra pair of hands, and now I know exactly who to call!

One of Liv's lovely handmade cushions

Making Whoopie!

2011-01-07T01:45:00.000-08:00

It was my lovely friend Anwen's birthday this week and so my friend Katey and I made her some cakes to celebrate!

I made some Whoopie Pies for the first time using THIS recipe from Bakerella's website, and a cream cheese frosting made with Philadelphia, icing sugar and butter, they didn't quite turn out as expected, so they really ought to be called Whoops Pies but never mind, it was only my first attempt.... I need to perfect the art of the smooth finish rather than the volcanic eruption!

Katey made some delicious Raspberry cupcakes with butter icing and raspberries to top them off, but by far my favourite part is that they have jam and raspberries on the inside - heavenly indeed.

Something useful...

2011-01-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

In an ever growing concern over the amount of mess in my bedroom (never helped by the mountain of clothes taking over my life) I at least want to be able to have something pretty and functional on my bed beside the other mountain of cushions and teddy bears (totally appropriate for a nearly-32yr-old of course)....

So this morning, as I absent mindedly threw my PJ's under my pillow I thought that it was high time I made myself a Pyjama case, something that can both act as a pillow/cushion but be useful at the same time!

Lo and behold, I am looking through my bloglinks this afternoon and I found this little beauty from the ever brilliant Prudent Baby......

Picture via http://Prudentbaby .com

Click HERE to go straight to the tutorial, thank you Prudent baby!

Otherwise, I think this free pattern for a Cat cushion from Amy Butler (find via her website HERE) would be another good starting point?!

Picture via http://amybutler.com

Xmas portrait....

2011-01-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

Of the kids in my family, myself included :)

Christmas pastime....

2011-01-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

Whilst at home over Christmas I managed to knit quite a few things for people, by far my favourites are the 'House Socks' that my Dad requested whilst on a trip to the local knitting shop, he chose some lovely Noro Silk Garden yarn and some contrasting charcoal merino, both of which were a pleasure to knit with and didn't take long at all, although I have come to realise that my Dad has very long feet, the socks looked like Christmas stockings when I was done with them!

He seemed very happy though, and I would definitely knit with those two yarns together again, the resulting fabric was so soft and the colours were beautiful.

Traditional christmas....

2010-12-26T02:36:00.001-08:00

In our house its a tradition to have smoked salmon and bubbles for breakfast on christmas morning, its one of the things I look forward to most :-)

What christmas traditions do you have in your family?!

merry christmas....

2010-12-25T00:26:00.001-08:00

Its a proper white christmas for once! xxx

Snowed under....

2010-12-18T03:20:00.000-08:00

I am not a happy girl :( I am snowed in again, for the second time this month, only this time I'm alone and missing my family Christmas celebration which I have been really looking forward to, it is the worst snow I have ever seen in the UK and looking through the window makes me feel like I'm living in a snow-globe!

So - in an effort to try and cheer myself up I am sharing something lovely that I found online last night that make me happy, and will hopefully spread a little cheer around :-)

I found THIS post last night on the Creature Comforts blog, and it tickled me pink, these actual Chocolate buttons are perfect for a sweet novelty gift or a wedding favour, and so easy to do!

The original TUTORIAL is from a lovely website and blog called BAKE IT PRETTY which is where I found this lovely picture and they sell all sorts of wonderfully cute molds and baking accessories and have lots of fabulous ideas on their blog too!

The vintage button mold is available HERE, and is superbly cheap at around £1 / $2 plus shipping.

They also included printable toppers to present the choccies in as shown above, what more could you want?!

Fingers crossed that the snow stops soon, so I can go home and see my family!

Baby knitting....

2010-12-08T03:32:00.000-08:00

There has been something of a baby boom around these parts recently, and so I have put my knitting needles to good use and made a few pressies for the babies, here are some pics of the finished items....

Snow Hiatus....

2010-12-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

It snowed last week.

Serious snow.

8 (!) inches in 2 days....

So as a consequence it was a slow week for blogging, I promise normal service will be resumed soon!

Brighton...Vegas of the South....

2010-11-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

Things have been HECTIC recently, I'm on the other end of a 2-week work bender and haven't had any time for anything extra-curricular lately, how depressing...

Anyway, this weekend I was able to finally get away from it all and spend some time with friends in beautiful Brighton celebrating the 30th birthday of my friend Mike, we went to the arcade on the Pier and had some fun with the amusements, and I really enjoyed the bright lurid colours of it all, the neon was just what I needed to wake me up....

Petshop friends....

2010-11-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

On our trip to the local pet shop last weekend I found a few new friends to photograph, I just wish I could have taken them all home with me!

Lava necklace....

2010-11-04T04:31:00.001-07:00

A while ago I wrote THIS post about The Ultimate DIY contest, and my proposed entry into it....

Now - obviously I did not organize myself well enough to actually send my entry in, but I did make it and have worn it several times since, so thought I might as well show the final product to justify my efforts!

Its amazing what you can do with an extra long shoe-lace, some seed beads and a needle and thread!

Cowling....

2010-11-02T09:43:00.001-07:00

The latest addition to the Lucy Knits and crochet collection....

A military style extra chunky crochet snood!

It was so easy to make, I just bought some extra chunky yarn (106 yards / 97 metres / 170g) , a 20mm crochet hook (monster size!) and just crocheted around in a circle through the back loop until the yarn ran out (or until desired length) to achieve a reversible textured snood, one side is ribbed, the other is a nice nubbled texture (as in the pics above).

endpapers....

2010-11-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

I love endpapers, to me they are the best bit of the book, and I saw a post on
Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog
today which inspired me to do a post of my own on some beautiful examples I found online.

Yellow phantom

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=955

Velveteen rabbit

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=957

Poe’s tales of mystery and imagination

illustrated by Arthur Rackham, originally published in 1935, this is a reprint from the 1970's.

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=1873

A selection of Nancy Drew book endpapers

Mama’s bank account

found by Jeffrey

http://www.goofbutton.com/2007/12/mamas_bank_account.html

Exactitudes....

2010-11-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

THIS website is fascinating, here is the blurb explaining the project.....

"Photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 16 years. Rotterdam’s heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in many cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element. "

Wim van Sinderen, Senior Curator Museum of Photography, The Hague

Red sky at night....

2010-10-30T00:49:00.001-07:00

Shepherd's delight.

The skies above London Victoria station looking amazing at dusk on my home from work the other day.

collections....

2010-10-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

My Dad collects things.

All sorts of things.

On my last visit home I took a few snaps of a couple of the collections that were on display around the house....

Crystals... (this one is a beautiful Quartz that he found when he worked in a Tin mine in Cornwall when he was a young man - my sister and I coveted this as kids).

Books and Crystals....

Books....

More books....

and Maps.

I'm a versatile blogger!

2010-10-29T02:44:00.001-07:00

I have been nominated for the versatile blogging award by the lovely Laura Lo Bear!  This is a huge compliment and has really made my day - thank you so much Laura :)

Laura's blog is one that I have started following recently and I love her blogging style and photography, I also love that I can see the world through her eyes and enjoy her outlook on life from across the pond!

I see that there are rules for accepting "The  Versatile Blogger" award:

1) Thank and link back to the lovely  friend who gave you the award.

2) Share 7 things about yourself.

3)  Pass it along to 7 blogs you have recently discovered and enjoy.

4) Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award.

So - in the spirit of this award, here are 7 things about me.....

This is a picture of my old house from the 1920s !

1- I grew up in a lovely little village in Bedfordshire (just an hour outside of London) and had a pretty idyllic childhood

2- I LOVE lipstick, my favourite colours are coral red and Pillar box red.

3- I have to do something creative every day or I get fidgety, I always need to be doing and learning something, it makes me ridiculously happy :-)

4- I work for a well known British fashion label, and have done for 8 1/2 years....yikes!

5- I love to laugh, it's an addiction.

A picture of the parrots in winter this year!

6- I currently live in a little picture postcard village in Surrey, with a duck pond and a pretty park right next to my house, I love being able to work in central London and go home to my village at night, the best of both worlds in 30 minutes, and we have parrots that live wild in the village too (seriously)!

7- I am head over heels in love with my monster Maine Coon cat Murphy (in case you hadn't already noticed)!

and here are 7 of the blogs I am passing the award onto :

Have a great weekend!!

Hypnotic handwriting....

2010-10-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Legacy of Letters from Luca Barcellona on Vimeo.

Coral wristwarmers...

2010-10-26T02:15:00.000-07:00

This is a semi-tutorial for a pair of wrist-warmers from an old sweater / cardigan, I was given a beautiful Coral pink cardigan for my birthday a couple of years ago, and it was the victim of an ink stain last xmas whilst printing my gocco cards....

Anyway - I loved the colour of it and it is the softest angora merino mix so I didn't want it to go to waste, and as it was freezing on Friday night it spurred me into action!

So - I cut 2 pieces out of one of the sleeves :

Then I turned them inside out and then flattened them out and stitched down the vertical center of each :

Then turned them right side out so that one side fits into the other and there is a double layer as below :

Et Voila!

Roasty Toasty Wrist-warmers for no extra cost!

felt tipped fabric...

2010-10-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

Photo by Valentina Frugiuele, via Ben Trovato.

Today I saw THIS post on the fabulous Outsapop blog, and it has inspired me to have a go at altering some of the plain t-shirts in my wardrobe, it also reminded me of the Ikat design I did on one of my t-shirts last summer, very easy to do!

Beautiful blues...

2010-10-25T07:42:00.001-07:00

Found via : http://www.atmgallery.com/artist/workview/1224/5865

love hearts....

2010-10-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

I love these sweets, they remind me of being little again....

Wishlist....

2010-10-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

Unearthen Crystal necklaces in bullet casings - amazing.....

http://seeunearthen.com

and available to buy HERE

Weekend stitching - part 2, the packable shopper...

2010-10-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is a little project I whipped up at the weekend, using THIS excellent tutorial from Craftster.

The beauty of it is that it folds up neatly into the little pouch that I made and fits easily into your handbag without taking up too much space, so should you come across any unexpected goodies to purchase you have the perfect bag with you for such an occasion!

I made mine out of a very strong nylon which is water-proof as well as being relatively kind to your hands, unlike the bog standard supermarket plastic version.

I would definitely recommend making one or two for yourself, I can see these being good gifts or stocking fillers....

murphy's blog....

2010-10-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

Murphy now has his own blog!

As I have a gagillion pictures of him I thought he deserved his own space....

You can find him at : http://lululovesmurphingthings.tumblr.com

or by clicking on his picture on the right hand side of this blog!

Dainty bird feeder....

2010-10-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely idea and a very clever tutorial from Cap Creations which uses a teacup and saucer to create a bird feeder for your garden, the saucer acts as the bird-seed holder and the cup as the water holder - the tutorial can be found HERE.

Weekend stitching - part 1, the iPhone case...

2010-10-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to have a go at using the leather awl tool I bought in the U.S earlier this year to make an iPhone cover (mine is shamefully bashing around uncovered in the bottom of my bag or pocket most days).

So - it was very simple to make, I measured around my iPhone, and doubled it length-wise, leaving about 3mm all the way around for seam allowance, drew the lines in pencil on the suede side and cut it out.

Then I folded it in half (end to end) and starting at the top, used the leather awl to punch holes through both thicknesses of leather at a time, about 4mm apart all the way down one side, this makes it much easier to sew through the leather as it can sometimes be very tough on your fingers and very time consuming.

Then I got some thick waxed cotton thread (top-stitching thread would do) and used a medium sized needle to start off stitching it together along the sides (I am not sure of the exact technique I used, I pretty much just made it up as I went along but the correct one to use is Saddle-stitch, which is described very well HERE).

Then I just repeated the same process on the other side, punching the holes and then stitching the sides together and thankfully it came out a perfect fit for the iPhone :)

I realised that I really love hand stitching something together like that (despite its crude artisan appearance), it took me way longer than it should but I enjoyed every minute!

cluck cluck....

2010-10-16T07:48:00.001-07:00

Just hanging out with some chickens on a Saturday morning....

rocks

2010-10-15T04:15:00.001-07:00

I dont know where this is from but I want one!

Tutorial : Basic T-shirt overhaul....

2010-10-14T03:38:00.001-07:00

Recently I was asked to think on the spot about what I could do to update a plain old grey t-shirt, one that clearly had life left in it but little lasting appeal, and how to make it interesting again.

The following post is my answer, and although it is a very basic solution to a problem that many others would have come up with, it seems to work nonetheless (and i havent seen anyone else do it yet, if there are others out there then please forgive me) this is just meant to be a quick and easy fix, and I thought it would be worth posting up here to show what else I thought could also be added to it to give different looks.

So - here is the very basic tutorial :

Now you have the basic new shape you can do lots of other things to it to snazz it up a bit, like add some military buttons and epaulettes..... here's a little how-to I knocked up for that:

and here is a close up pic

So, there it is, no points for originality but it does answer the question that was put to me and I would find it more interesting to wear than the original, especially as the military theme is so current!

Etsy love - Citrine....

2010-10-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

found via Etsy by LucyRansom

found Via Etsy : HERE

found via Etsy : HERE

dreamy....

2010-10-07T04:40:00.001-07:00

I dreamt about Candy Apples, (or Toffee Apples as we call them here) last night, and then this morning I saw this beautiful photograph by NinotchkaB on the ever lovely Poppytalk blog, they look so delicious in this picture, even though I know they are evilly sugary and never taste as good as they look!

Also, I would definitely check out more of NinotchkaB's work on her flickr page, her photography is outstanding!

sailor jerry...

2010-10-07T03:11:00.000-07:00

I'm having a Sailor Jerry moment today.

Sailor Jerry was a world renowned tattoo artist, whose real name was Norman Keith Collins, here is a little Wikipedia background on him...

"Collins was born on January 14, 1911 in Reno, Nevada. As a child, he hopped freight trains across the country and learned tattooing from a man named Tatts Thomas, who is credited for showing him how to use tattoo machines. Practicing on drifters, he later sailed the Pacific Ocean before settling in Hawaii. A big brute with a dirty mouth, he often wore plain white T-shirts that exposed his ink-sleeved arms. Mike Malone, who took over Sailor Jerry's shop after he died, described Jerry as "a class-A pirate."

I love his style of artwork and tattooing, the swallows are my favourites :-)

bunting....

2010-10-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

'Late afternoon Indigo bunting' by A Wing and a Prayer.

Found via : http://www.flickr.com/photos/14473602@N07/3552444489

This is not your average bunting post, I Googled the word to get ideas for my best friend's wedding and instead I found this beautiful little bird, also called a Bunting, I cant get over how bright he is, I love it when you see such beautiful colours in nature.

more tea?

2010-10-05T08:06:00.001-07:00

Found via :
http://www.etsy.com/listing/36658136/painted-bunting-limited-edition-print

king of my heart....

2010-10-05T03:28:00.000-07:00

book birds....

2010-10-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

I bought these beautiful birdy bookmarks (from HERE ) for some of my friends as gifts recently, I think they could also make beautiful necklaces if you just hung them on a long simple chain.