by Carla Louise | Feb 8, 2014 | carlalouise |
Since Irregular Choice released sneak preview pictures of their February unicorn shoes, a quite ridiculous number of people have pointed them out to me via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and excited texts and phone calls.
My sneaky secret was that I’d already discovered their existence on a trip down to Brighton in the summer and put my name on two pre-release lists.
I then promptly missed the calls from both boutiques who were holding pairs for me. Sad times!
And then…
Yep, they are mine! (and ironically another pair are now on their way to me – these are 7s and I want to try the 8s before I commit to keeping either pair).
I spent the day in town with Mum on Friday, and we ordered them next day delivery from Schuh. Full marks for customer service (and also for their delivery guy not thinking I was mad insisting I took delivery through the window, as the kitties were sprinting around the living room…).
Here are some more shots… I don’t think I’ve ever loved another pair of shoes more!!
The stripes are gold & black, but I think they still have more than a touch of the Night Circus about them. And the weaving is in shades of turquoise and blue. It really is as though they were made for me.
I won’t be wearing them on our snowdrop walk tomorrow, but I’ll take them for a test run as soon as I’ve decided which size I’m keeping 🙂
by Carla Louise | Jan 31, 2014 | carlalouise, Inspiration, Life Magic |
Yesterday, I was at an all-day workshop on the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator (MBTI). If you have no idea what this is, here’s a brief overview (courtesy of Wikipedia, of course). Essentially, it allows you to identify your personality and the way you approach the world, prefer to work and take in information by a series of questions and exercises, after which you get four letters which identify your type.
photo credit: c_thylacine via photopin cc
I’m not going to give you a psychology lesson, but in Myers Briggs and Jungian terms, an extravert (the “E” in the four letter type identity) derives energy from others, from being around people, and an introvert (the “I” in the letters) needs time and space away from other people to process the world and their thoughts. However, I had understood the terms previously as they are commonly used (extravert = confident and happy, introvert = shy and terrified), rather than their actual definitions.
A really key underpinning idea is that of preference. So we have an innate preference for a particular side, but can and do work to varying degrees of success in the other side’s mode.
When I first did the test, while trying to leave the London job, I tested as ENFP. Over the past two years, my preferences have shifted as my real self has come out to play, and I now usually test INFP.
I had mixed feelings about this, as I didn’t immediately identify as an introvert. However, the more I’ve learned about it, the more I’ve come to embrace the fact that I’m simply an introvert who really likes people and talking, but needs that time and space away from the world to recharge my batteries.
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by Carla Louise | Jan 27, 2014 | carlalouise |
Hello!
I haven’t abandoned Ducking Fabulous – but I have split my business activities into different sites, so each one is more relevant! So here’s a list of where to find me doing what…
Here on Ducking Fabulous, I’ll be focusing on social media for the terrified and being yourself online, via e-courses and workshops (and occasional blog posts).
My central hub and blog is now at carlalouise.com.
The Website Beautician is the new name for the hassle-free web design for non-techie creatives I used to offer over here
Stationery and slow living are the order of the day at Ink Drops. You can subscribe or order one off boxes of beautiful stationery, and join the conversation about living more deliberately.
I blog about life in your twenties at Letters From My Twenties.
And 2014 will see the launch of photography projects at Lotta Fiero Studios.
by Carla Louise | Jan 26, 2014 | carlalouise, Life Magic, Silly Kittens |
Some of you will know I’m running four workshops at this year’s Essex Book Festival, on social media and writing in the digital age. (Details here if you want to join us – tickets are selling fast!)
I know what I want to cover in the workshops, but yesterday I’d set aside some time to get the structure in place and make sure I’m not cramming too much into the hour-long sessions, so that my writers actually take in the information and can apply it.
So after getting my big flipchart pad out, I went upstairs to get some coloured pens. I came back and was greeted by this:
Luna was snoozing in the conservatory by the heater, but Clover definitely wanted to help…
I love my kitties, but I’m learning to add extra time onto everything to account for watching, laughing at and cuddling them along the way!
by Carla Louise | Jan 23, 2014 | carlalouise, Life Magic |
It is a truth universally acknowledged that all discussions, whether personal or professional, online or off, and between two people or a whole roomful, every single one is improved by cake.
photo credit: thepinkpeppercorn via photopin cc
by Carla Louise | Jan 5, 2014 | carlalouise, Life Magic |
As a friend put it earlier, “the world re-opens tomorrow”.
Though it is of course 5th January today, tomorrow marks the start of the first full week of 2014, and so feels like the proper start of the new year.
I’m heading back to my day job tomorrow after a fortnight off, and delighting in the fact that I don’t dread it. Of course the freedom of the last two weeks is my preference, but I do love what I do at the uni and it’s great to be able to head for bed and know I’ll sleep, and won’t have a lead weight in my stomach for the next fifty-one weeks.
I’ve spent a lot of time this Christmas and New Year with these two on my lap, or curled up next to me as I amble through my work. I’ve done lots of client work and lots on my own sites, including this one, but for the first time in quite some time, it hasn’t felt rushed and overwhelming.
Sleeping in late, staying in my PJs till 2pm, eating when I’m hungry rather than when society dictates I should, and staying up till 2.30am because I’m so absorbed in my work I haven’t noticed the time passing… all these are the hallmarks of the life I have lived for the past fortnight, and the life I ultimately want to live full time.
I achieve more when I can work in my natural rhythm, but like so many of us, I never have enough time away from traditional 9-5 working to get properly into my rhythm, and the kittens think all their Christmases have come at once when I want to play with the laser pointer at 3am!
Tomorrow routine starts again, which is no bad thing for me or for them – they need a better routine before they head off on their first holiday to a cattery at the beginning of February, and I need to see how my new client work fits in around my day job. All, of course, keeping BALANCE at the forefront of every plan and decision I make.
Morwhenna’s ReNEW You course starts tomorrow, and Jessy’s Snap To It photography course on the 11th, both of which I’m signed up to and very excited about.
So refreshed, invigorated, still slightly sniffly but incredibly excited for the year ahead – here’s to 2014!
by Carla Louise | Jan 1, 2014 | carlalouise, Gratitude and goals |
If you hang out in the same places online that I do, or follow some of the same people, you’ll know that having a word for the year seems to be quite a powerful thing.
But man, is it hard to choose one! I’m over-eloquent at the best of times, and narrowing down all those gorgeous words out there to just one for a whole year seemed like an impossible task.
So I decided on two, with a long list of goals and intentions to accompany them.
How did I choose? Well, I’d had a few lurking in my subconscious for some time, and I let them percolate until I settled on the ones which felt right.
Word number one is BALANCE.
photo credit: fd via photopin cc
For the last few years, my balance has been all over the place. This blog is not somewhere I want to dwell on the London job, but it became my primary focus. Since November 2012 I’ve started three businesses alongside my new (well, a year old now) day job, and I work on them in almost every spare second.
I’ve found my tribe this year, a group of other aspiring and doing entrepreneurs, and they are the most incredible source of support, encouragement and inspiration you could imagine. I’d be lost without them – and I certainly wouldn’t be writing this post.
But one of my great traits is enthusiasm. And I’m so enthusiastic about both my ventures and those of others that I’ve almost forgotten how to relax.
And so in 2014, I want to balance the work I love with some down time too. Time to sit and do nothing but cuddle my kittens, or chat to friends and family. Time to read, walk, go to the spa, and most of all not feel guilty for doing any of these things. After all, while I’m deeply connected to my businesses’ growth and success, I’m building a life, not a business empire!
My second word is ABUNDANCE. I strongly believe this is a mindset, and the more you have, the more you attract.
I also think it’s often misunderstood. By abundance, I don’t only mean money. I want to have enough money to alleviate worries when things break, go wrong or need money throwing at them. But it’s not my primary motivator. Abundance for me is plentiful love, friends and family, joyful movement when I feel I want or need it, generosity of spirit, and a whole host of other things which have no relation to money at all.
For my businesses, I wish for abundance, growth and balance too – balance between them all, success for all of them, but for none of them to become a chore. The Website Beautician is already fulfilling growth and abundance – now I just need to keep an eye on the balance part!
Do you have a word or theme for 2014?
by Carla Louise | Jan 1, 2014 | carlalouise, Life Magic |
What a year it’s been.
Much like 2014 appears to be doing, 2013 snuck up on me somewhat. The new year is only a couple of hours old, but I wanted to get my review up before my planning posts.
I saw 2013 in at Rob’s with a bunch of new friends, getting rather whimsically tipsy and generally having a wonderful time.
January saw a craft swap with some of my favourite people, lots of snow, a notice to vacate my flat, a ukulele workshop and a visit to London Edge trade show. Who knew that just a year later I’d be helping out Contrariety Rose with her stand there?!
February…
was my birthday month (I celebrated by having dinner with Mum & Gran, and heading to bed with wine and six books. Utter bliss.), and also the month in which I visited Lou’s shop for the first time, had an impromptu school reunion and modelled in a collaborative photoshoot.
March held moving house in the snow, to a little house with a spiral staircase in a riverside village full of mad creative people. I finally got my garden and couldn’t be happier! I spent the very last morning at my old flat creating memories with my best friends, taking burlesque photos for the Paper Dolls. I also had six inches chopped off my hair – eek!
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by Carla Louise | Jan 1, 2014 | Memories |
What a year it’s been.
Much like 2014 appears to be doing, 2013 snuck up on me somewhat. Tbe new year is only a couple of hours old, but I wanted to get my review up before my planning posts.
I saw 2013 in at Rob’s with a bunch of new friends, getting rather whimsically tipsy and generally having a wonderful time.
January saw a craft swap with some of my favourite people, lots of snow, a notice to vacate my flat, a ukulele workshop and a visit to London Edge trade show. Who knew that just a year later I’d be helping out Contrariety Rose with her stand there?!
February…
was my birthday month (I celebrated by having dinner with Mum & Gran, and heading to bed with wine and six books. Utter bliss.), and also the month in which I visited Lou’s shop for the first time, had an impromptu school reunion and modelled in a collaborative photoshoot.
March held moving house in the snow, to a little house with a spiral staircase in a riverside village full of mad creative people. I finally got my garden and couldn’t be happier! I spent the very last morning at my old flat creating memories with my best friends, taking burlesque photos for the Paper Dolls. I also had six inches chopped off my hair – eek!
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by Carla Louise | Dec 23, 2013 | carlalouise, Life Magic |
I’ll be honest, it feels a bit weird having a website with my name on it… but very lovely to have an umbrella site for all the exciting stuff I do!
I’m going to be starting 2014 with new websites, new(ish) kittens and feeling happier than I ever have before. 2013 was a rollercoaster but definitely had more good than bad. I cannot wait to see what 2014 brings!
xoxo,
Carla
by Carla Louise | Dec 17, 2013 | Acquired, Journal, Photography |
In no particular order – regular posting will resume on at least one of my sites in the new year!
“The best cookies in the world” according to Pinterest – one of my only Pinterest makes to date. Rob and I made one batch to eat, I made a second for my girls’ murder mystery party, and Clover-kitty successfully trashed the last batch – I found myself picking dough out of her fur while having hysterical giggles.
Ready to go swing dancing – hoping for a lindy hop class to start at uni in the new year 🙂
Burlesque cabaret night – I was stallholding rather than dancing, but it was lovely to be back in corset and frillies!
Mum and Dad’s 40th anniversary party at their house – it was really lovely to have everyone over and celebrate what seems to me a massive achievement 🙂
Luna-kitty is a very modern familiar and disdains brooms in favour of a Dyson – much faster!
Brighton outdoor ice rink with lovely Em
More or less front row seats at the Andalusian Gala evening at Olympia 
And earlier in the year, magical light on my morning ‘commute’!
And last but not least, the reason I’ve not been blogging much – my beloved kitties. They’ve been with me three weeks today and I cannot believe how quickly they’ve become the centre of my little world 🙂
by Carla Louise | Nov 18, 2013 | Photography |
I’ve barely had time to get near my own laptop for the last few weeks – but have managed to post to Instagram more than usual, so here’s a brief roundup…
This little guy appeared at my front door one morning…
I have extremely talented friends, like Chloe who drew this beauty to send in a letter
Proof that I’m a grown up – I inherited our fridge magnet collection!
Gorgeous clouds (this is the view from my new office)
Early Christmas chocolate… 
Reliving my MS-DOS youth at the library
And the library by night. 
Tea and the biggest Bourbon biscuit in the world before the Nutcracker:
Rediscovering childhood classics
Mismatched unicorn socks from the lovely Emily
Collecting rainbows – this was my third in a month!
Even in the rain, this commute knocks socks off the last one
Making paper plates pretty for my parents’ 40th anniversary celebrations
And my three best girls in the world – Harriet, Monroe and Frankie 🙂 
And now I’m going to go and melt quietly in a corner, as someone’s just informed me it’s five weeks to Christmas. Arrrrggghhh….
