by Carla Louise | Mar 8, 2013 | Uncategorized |
I can quite see why moving house is one of the top stressful things you can do in this life. Here are some photos of what I’ve been doing around the packing, admin and incompetence…
Weather for ducks… literally:
Puppy cuddles with the lovely Frankie. It’s a hard life…
Learning a bit more ukulele.
Glorious blue skies on the way to meet Becky for a celebratory lunch in Balham (and unexpectedly bumping into an old friend from school)
A conference in the Essex iLabs, where you’re encouraged to play with the toys and things provided. Like nothing I’ve ever done before!
And finally, wine to help me get through the strangely emotional final Friday night in my first flat
by Carla Louise | Feb 28, 2013 | Personal Development |
Feeling: Either overwhelmed or ridiculously excited… I don’t seem to have a middle setting, and it’s rather exhausting!
Reading:
[Interview] The Paris Letters – a project that turned into a business
[Article] Why mess can be a good thing
[Book] The Secret Supper Club, Dana Bate
[Blog post] Dance to your own beat, the Be Free Community
Eating: with other people – it’s been lovely! (And the year’s first Cadbury mini eggs. Nom nom nom).
Planning: new lines of jewellery, wholesale options and a website; things to do in the new house (decorating, cooking, creating, entertaining) and some dance routines.
Dreaming of: Not being surrounded by boxes, and being a bit bloody warmer, please – the novelty of winter is well and truly over now. If we’re talking actual dreams, I dreamed of sunglasses the night before last so we can only hope that means spring is on its way.
Coveting: Contrariety Rose’s cherry dress (yup, that’s me in the listing. I wanted to take it home!!)
Wishing: I was better at playing the ukulele and/or guitar, especially after discovering 9 year old Zoe Thomson’s guitar playing.
Working on: New fonts on the site (did you notice how much prettier they are now?) courtesy of Gemma at Jane & Philbert, and deliberately disconnecting more often, courtesy of Diane Leigh and Grace Marshall.
Celebrating: Having been 27 for a whole week today, and the launch of 15 Queen Street tonight.
Grateful for: The first shafts of sunshine, likeminded souls and my apparently innate ability to network and connect with people.
And finally tomorrow I will be: drinking hot chocolate with Rachael, finalising the packing up of the studio, making lists of the contents of the flat and working on all my websites.
On my to-do list?
– Various money-related tasks (paying bills, setting up accounts, budgeting & planning)
– House admin (let people know I’m moving, switch providers, notify of change of address, etc etc etc)
– Try and get some kind of control over my Ducking Fabulous accounts
– everything is there, but nothing is in date order and it’s making me cross
– Book next burlesque course
– Learn a bit more about Google Analytics
– Getting dates in the diary with friends who I’ve been trying and failing to see for months
So quite a good one ahead – and of course ploughing on with the web stuff at the day job. Which I love, but which occasionally makes my pea brain hurt.
by Carla Louise | Feb 20, 2013 | Objects of Desire |
I’m on something of a quest. You’ll know I’m on the move soon, and I’m so excited about having somewhere I’ve chosen by myself for the very first time. (I love the flat I’m leaving, but chose it for quite different reasons with one of my best friends when we moved in together nearly three years ago… so it’s time for a change!)
One of the things I’ve wanted for a long time is a reading nook… somewhere in my house that is in a warm spot, catches the sun when there is some, and is perfect for whiling away stretches of time with a really good book.
This is a papasan chair. I saw and fell in love with them in the Pier, years ago. They are comfy, quirky and absolutely bloody enormous. Now the Pier is no longer in business and I will finally have a conservatory, I am on the hunt for one – preferably a second hand one, as new they’re more money than I would like to spend on a chair!
In my parents’ house I love to tuck myself into the cushions on the window seats, with 11 foot high windows there’s always lots of light and sunshine and it’s really comfy.
However, in my searches for my own home I’ve come across some other gorgeous chairs for reading in.
A tub chair, like you often find on holiday, in a purple that would go with my colour scheme beautifully…
A colourful but not rounded enough (but possibly curlable-uppable-in) armchair:
And a very pretty duck egg blue chair which I think would look gorgeous but probably not be comfortable enough.
Which do you think makes the best reading chair? Do you have a reading nook or a favourite spot in the house to curl up and read?
by Carla Louise | Feb 17, 2013 | Memories |
I’ve been sorting out my filing today, and among the thousands of bits of paper (honestly, at one point I thought I might drown in the sea of paper covering my living room floor), I found the above snippets from old notebooks.
Notes from long ago to my future self, though I’m sure that’s not what I intended them to be. I distinctly remember writing the first in the first year or so I was in Essex, so 2008-ish. At the time of writing I had none of the things listed, and now I have every one and more… looking at the notes that accompanied it on colour schemes etc, my taste has changed somewhat, but I’m still astounded that I achieved it without even realising.
The second one I wrote during my unhappier moments at the old cage job – an affirmation that I would escape, and I would build a life around what I wanted to do, and love every day. And I have… I do! It’s growing every day and I can’t quite believe I’ve made it happen.
It’s another sign that you really can achieve your dreams, and also that if you write things down, you’re more likely to do them. (and it’s SUCH a good feeling to stumble across a fragment of your old self and realise how far you’ve come.)
I’ve been in a very odd, up and down kind of mood for most of this weekend – but I am going to bed a happy Carla.
by Carla Louise | Feb 14, 2013 | At Home, Projects & Challenges |
Some photos from this last week:
Feeling ~ Loved and lucky! I have been deluged by Valentines this year, all from friends. Some were sweet, some made me snort out loud and I love them even more for it. It’s a good reminder that all love is precious and should be celebrated, not just romantic love 🙂 Two posts from fellow single blogger friends I particularly loved: Bamboozle Beauty: Valentine’s Day and Adventures After Hours: A ‘singles’ guide to surviving Valentines.
Reading ~ having just finished the last book of the Wheel of Time, a book I’ve awaited for a good twelve years, I’m all cried out and emotionally spent and am sticking to non fiction for the foreseeable future. Currently, Bill Bryson’s Made In America. (For WoT fans – it was bloody brilliant and well worth the wait, but a very emotional ride.)
Eating ~ my own bodyweight in Maltesers and Bitsa Wispa. And some very nice cheese from the land of milk and bunny (I am so eay to market to…)
Planning ~ my move, the new house, housewarming parties by the dozen
Dreaming of ~ sunshine and warmth. I am thoroughly fed up with the bitter cold outside!
Coveting ~ a ticket to the Free Range Festival, silk flowers for my new house, some Moo cards for announcing the move, a teal digital radio for my new kitchen and this proper airbed
Wishing ~ moving day would get here faster, and that I was more decisive so I could choose from the photos from our shoot last week!
Working on ~ money strategies and mindfulness, and taking my own advice
Celebrating ~ the last week of being 26 – it’s my birthday next Thursday!
Grateful for ~ people who care about me, worry for me, and a magical Mum who created a presentable flat from a book and craft warehouse in the space of just one evening!
And finally tomorrow I will be ~ heading over to Mimi’s after work to meet with her and lovely Annastasia to work on some secret plans!
On my to-do list this month?
* Get packed
*Aforementioned secret plans
*Turn 27
* Paint my nails
* Reply to emails and letters
* Post various things to various people, some of which are painfully overdue
* Use up as much of my freezer contents as possible
*Decorate a bra with Show Pony at 15 Queen Street
What are you up to this week? What’s on your to do list?
by Carla Louise | Feb 7, 2013 | Photography |
The last few weeks in Instagram highlights – L-R tassels in progress, colourful table settings and ballet in the air at work; frosted spider web, delicious mango sorbet, first batch of eBay parcels from my pre-move clear out.
Happy things include 15 Queen Street and discovering the amazing creatives in my area | planning and prepping for a collaborative photoshoot with Contrariety Rose | development of Ink Drops Boxes | various happy-making side projects | fabulous Free Range Humans (the people and the book) | finding a new home | Hotel Chocolat caramel hot chocolate | bumping into Poppy’s old owner on a roundabout in a snowstorm | resurrecting the Ducks on Tour and finding original Frankie and Freddie pictures
And I have Thursday and Friday off work for the shoot 🙂
by Carla Louise | Feb 6, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Feeling: excited about the move, not quite myself due to illness
Reading: Cityboy by Geraint Anderson, and feeling even more relieved than usual that I escaped!
Eating: Bitsa Wispa, rice noodles and a whole host of random defrosted things
Planning: a more mindful life in my new home
Dreaming of: summer evenings for friends, barbecues and tealights in jars strung in the trees
Coveting: a bird table, a unicorn statue for the garden and this kitchen mixer.
Wishing: I could take my own advice on occasion, and that I’d bought a Memory of Light earlier so it could accompany this week’s long train journeys
Working on: this weekend’s photoshoot, packing up my house and Ink Drops development
Celebrating: the last few weeks of being 26, and the godawful month of January finally being over
Grateful for: the frankly incredible amount of support and offers of help I’ve had from friends and family since I announced the move, and my fabulous parents who have essentially put their lives on hold to help me out
And finally tomorrow I will be: in Reading, at an impromptu school reunion!
On my to-do list this month? Tiny things like packing and moving house – aarrrghhhh. Also eating better, moving more and trying not to dwell on things I can’t influence or change.
by Carla Louise | Feb 4, 2013 | Adventures, Memories |
A very few of you will remember that back in 2006, when I was first blogging, I had a pair of tiny rubber ducks (one green, one yellow) given to me for my birthday. Being students, we took them out drinking with us, and came back with a whole stash of photos of them on the bar, in drinks, stuck to people’s faces and occasionally in someone’s cleavage.
Frankie and Freddie having a chat on my (then cutting-edge) mobile, sometime in 2006
We named them Frankie and Freddie, and they accompanied me all over the place for most of my first and second year at university. They had their own blog, their own MySpace page and they spawned the collection I currently have – I now receive at least one or two ducks every single birthday and Christmas 🙂 A chance encounter with a very fuzzy picture of a duck on a bottle in the students’ union confirms that the green one is Freddie, so the yellow one is Frankie.
I don’t know if the fuzziness is bad light, old camera or drunkenness. Taken in Loughborough Students’ Union, so probably the latter.
Friends took photos of ducks they owned in odd places and sent them to me, and my parents even bought a duck (“Texan Cousin Duck”) on a road trip and proceeded to take photos of him everywhere – even on a police car!
I still have Frankie and Freddie, though their online homes are long gone, and while I did manage to take a few photos on my own USA road trip last year (in Tennessee and at the EYC)I’ve slacked off terribly on the travelling ducks front .
A recent conversation with a group of friends made me decide to resurrect the ducks on tour section of Ducking Fabulous – after all, what is a blog with a name like this doing without a duck or ten as mascots?!
So you’ll see I’ve added a “Ducks on Tour” tab to the navigation – which will be a nice convenient way to pull together all duck-related posts. Which will all appear in my usual blogging too 🙂
Feel free to send me your own – I’d love to see fellow adventurous ducks and what they get up to!
by Carla Louise | Feb 2, 2013 | Uncategorized |
When you have to spend a day in London to get your passport done in a hurry, you can’t stray too far from the Passport Office. So Rainbow here decided that the best thing to do would be to avoid the rain and eat as much as possible during the day 🙂
Breakfast before we went in search of the Passport Office. Looking confused at needing codes for the loos, but delighted at the tiny pot of ketchup | The Merchant, Liverpool Street Station
Reminding ourselves of where we are… | Giraffe, Victoria
Gammon and sweet potato chips – boring for some, but just how I like it | Giraffe, Victoria
Tucking into chocolate mousse crunch. Well, the day’s not complete without dessert, is it?! | Giraffe, Victoria
We pinched the Diet Coke bottle for an upcoming photoshoot, too 🙂
by Carla Louise | Jan 30, 2013 | At Home, Projects & Challenges |
I have been absent! But with good reason – if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or my other blogs (Teasets to Typewriters and Etc Collective), you’ll know I was unexpectedly served notice on my beloved flat and am now in the process of moving.
photo credit: Valeri-DBF via photopin cc
It’s… an experience! After the initial shock and sadness of being ordered to leave somewhere that’s been home for two and a half years, and the first place of my own, I’m actually quite excited.
Last Saturday the snow spoiled my plans – Rob was due to visit, I was going to London to meet the fabulous Miss Joyful, and I was intending puppy cuddles and maybe riding on Sunday afternoon. Snow put paid to all of this, so I had a lazy, snuggly kind of a day and read two books cover to cover. On checking my post at lunchtime, I found my notice to vacate, which didn’t improve my mood! In a most un-Carla fashion, I threw myself into action and by the end of Saturday had booked five viewings and had a much better idea of what I was going to do next.
By this Saturday, I’d viewed a decent number of places and fallen in love with a house in Wivenhoe. Today, I’m dropping my reference paperwork off with the estate agents, and this evening I shall continue packing.
I’ll be sad to leave, but I’m hugely excited about the new house – it has a garden, a conservatory and a spiral staircase, space for my studio and it’s fifteen minutes’ walk from work. The village is utterly gorgeous – I’ll have to do a tour when I get there. No photos yet as it wasn’t listed online… it’s a wait and see one!
I’ll try and keep up the blogging during the move!
by Carla Louise | Jan 15, 2013 | Creating, Food & Baking, Life Magic, Projects & Challenges |
January 6th saw the very first of our annual craft swaps (though I’m not sure we can wait a whole year for the next one) – organised by Mimi, the idea was that all nine of us would make enough of whatever we chose for each participant to go home with one. It ended up in January by accident, but we think we’ll keep it there as it’s so lovely to have something to look forward to after Christmas!
The edible things were long gone before I had a chance to photograph them, teehee – wonderful alcohol-infused vegan chocs from Annastasia at Midorigreen, and yummy chocolate fridge cake from Helen. The button magnets (genius!!) from Mimi also escaped my photo shoot as they’re adorning my filing cabinet/noticeboard in the studio!
My contribution? Kilner jars decoupaged with pin up ladies (Elvgren paintings, as he’s my favourite pin up artist) and filled with cutters, a tiny pot of ginger, my favourite gingerbread recipe and glitter. Of course 🙂
It was a wonderful afternoon, full of tea and giggles and happiness, and we all went home sparkling with the joy of friendship and sharing things we’d made… a rare achievement for a grey day in January, I don’t usually sparkle much straight after Christmas!
I loved seeing how everyone interpreted “make something” differently – we had no duplicates, and I was amazed all over again at the talent within this group of women I’m so proud to be part of!
I can’t for the life of me find the PDF of the gingerbread recipe – will put it up if I locate it!
by Carla Louise | Jan 14, 2013 | Adventures |
Snow. It’s on its way, in some places it’s settled, in some it’s already melting, here it’s falling gently but not even attempting to settle.
When did we stop seeing the magic of snow? When did we stop finding the particular kind of silence that comes from an overnight blanket of soft, cold white stuff so exciting, stop wanting to be the first to put our footprint in the pristine powdery coating, stop sticking our tongue out to catch snowflakes?
With the exception of one person who has a very good reason not to like snow, and one person who feels the same as I do, every single post on Facebook today that has mentioned snow has done so accompanied by moaning and negativity.
And for what? In a world that is more connected, more technologically advanced than ever before, a world where we carry our entire lives in a small touchscreen device in our back pockets or handbags, we worry that we may miss something in the [career cage] job. That someone might not be able to get hold of us for something “urgent” if we’re off sledging with our friends or children instead of being in the office, on the one or possibly two days a year that’s a possibility. That we might miss a deadline, miss spending some more time in front of a computer.
This year I want to absorb, to marvel, to appreciate – and stop my major snow whinge, which is that while it’s snowing I can’t drive my beloved Poppy. She makes me sparkle all year round – and there is something undeniably otherworldly and, yes, magical, about a world rendered almost unrecognisable by fleeting, soft, white fluff. It won’t hurt her or me to leave her parked up safely for a few days and walk – and the snow could be gone within hours.
So provided your family and friends are safe – let go of the worrying, stop the whinging, and start experiencing and enjoying the snow. Feel the powder turn to slush as you jump on it, relish the cold and the colour in your cheeks, be generous with your sledge if you have one and engage random passers by in snowball fights. You only live once, after all… and those emails will wait. I promise!
Glorious blue skies on the way to meet Becky for a celebratory lunch in Balham (and unexpectedly bumping into an old friend from school)
