Back In Time Vintage & Retro Fair, Barista Chelmsford, 22 December 2012
For those last minute presents – skip the supermarkets and high street, come and see what local businesses, craftspeople and artists have to offer 🙂
Cabaret Night: my first burlesque performance
It’s been, amazingly, a whole month since my first ever burlesque performance. Cabaret night had been excitedly planned, panicked over and squeaked about for quite some time, and then crept up on us quite suddenly!
Any of you who know me in real life or follow me on Twitter will be aware that although I’ve loved burlesque, corsets and the pin up style most of my adult life, and have danced most of my life, joining a burlesque dance course was quite a big step. A step that, once taken, I couldn’t understand why it had taken me so long – I think was born to prance about in a corset and high heels with feathers in my hair!!
I dance with some of my closest friends, and lots of lovely friends turned up to watch us dance, among them Lou and her sister, who also ran a Contrariety Rose stall on the night… 
and some of my uni girls who schlepped all the way up from Oxford, Kent and Southend… bless them! Was lovely to see them though I was far too overexcited to actually have a proper conversation!
Here are some more pics of us dancers…
And we made it into the Essex Chronicle the following week!
It was a glorious night (I also had a Ducking Fabulous stall) and I came off the stage wanting to go and do it again, preferably immediately! Definitely have the performing bug back again after so long away from the stage – and can’t wait to start classes again in January!
Discovering you can be excited for Monday morning…
As a completely fabulous, proper weekend draws to a close, I’m once again pensive. In a good way. For the first time in I genuinely can’t remember how long, I am excited for Monday. The first week of the new job mostly involved meeting people, familiarising myself with the uni’s website and eating cake. But I am looking forward to being there, to the challenge of the first tasks I have, of getting to know my (perfectly lovely!) new colleagues, of discovering the campus and the surrounding areas, of spending the evenings of this week eating good food and making stock for fairs and the fabulous Tea & Sympathy boutique.
This weekend has comprised seeing the Ruby Slippers at the V&A, eating a ridiculous amount of food, catching up with fabulous friends, catching up with fabulous family and walking around in a state of wonder that I can be this happy in normal, everyday life. Read on for more…
Guest Post: Getting Crafty with Storage – Drew Davies
Another fab guest post today – I know that many of you are crafters, thrifters or hoarders of small beautiful things… and it’s always good to share ways of keeping these collections under control. (Is it just me, or are any of the rest of you completely shocked when you actually discover how much stash you own?!)
So, over to Drew…
It’s that time of year: the last two Sundays I’ve spent the evening sewing missing buttons onto my winter coats to get myself ready for the colder weather. Luckily, I’ve tamed my sewing paraphernalia (it wasn’t always the case – I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve skewered a finger on a needle) so here are some storage tips to keep your crafty bits and bobs in order:
Button Storage
(photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosapomar/45412314/ via Photopin)
· The best way to store buttons is to have two separate systems: one for regular "common" buttons (in empty jars, for example), and one for "special" buttons (putting them onto a piece of fabric on the wall for easy reference).
· Plastic (and transparent) multi-drawered cabinets are great for buttons. Some shops like Muji offer great solutions, but they can be costly. Craft stores are a good place to look for cheaper options (hardware stores too). Clear shoeboxes can be used, as can lens cases and plastic pill organisers.
· Once you’ve sorted regular and special buttons, segregate them further by colour or material.
· A ring binder filled with business card sleeves can be useful. Most pages will hold ten or twelve buttons, and several pages can be put into a single binder and still allow it to close. Use a binder with clear plastic sleeves too (just make sure they don’t tip out from the open top end).
Sewing Tool Storage
(Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/andresrueda/3217505972/ via PhotoPin)
· Peg boards are great for tools such as scissors, rotary cutters and tape measures – taking up less of your work surfaces.
· Small baskets are great for storing sewing tools and gadgets.
· Standard plastic business card holders are good for needle holders, holding about fifteen boxes of needles, standing three across by five deep.
· A purchased scissor block (similar to a kitchen knife block) from a sewing specialty store works well, otherwise hang them on a hook. Mark your scissors "fabric only".
Storing Thread
· Thread gets brittle and breaks when it gets old and thread exposed to sunlight and heat will break down more quickly. Storing thread in airtight containers, such as Ziploc bags, will keep it from drying out as quickly.
Storing Fabric
(Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tweedledeedesigns/4776025810/ via PhotoPin)
· Open shelves are fine if you frequently use your fabric. But longer term, exposure to dust and UV radiation will degrade it. Similarly, cardboard is a bad idea for storage as it’s acidic.
· Before you organise your fabric, get rid of anything you’ll never use and then sort by colour, size and fabric content.
· Stackable clear boxes are good for shelves. For large drawers, shirt boxes keep fabrics neat and tidy. Don’t use wire hangers, since they can stain over time. Long tubes (to avoid creasing) are great if you have the space. Make sure to label any boxes or tubes clearly.
· Larger boxes are great for projects and keeping fabric and patterns stored together (supermarkets often have a cheap range of clear storage boxes).
Drew writes for Big Yellow Self Storage. For information on large storage lockers (sizes from 9 square feet – or the volume of half a phone box), perfect for long term fabric storage, see their website or blog.
Disclaimer: I am not paid or otherwise compensated for guest posts. I only accept those which I feel fit my interests and therefore those of this blog. The content of guest posts does not necessarily reflect my own views or opinions. All images from PhotoPin and link back to their original sources, used under Creative Commons licensing.
A fabulous bareMinerals make-under evening
A week or so before I left my last job, one of the lovely ladies I worked with organised a beauty and pamper evening for us, which was run by make up artists from bareMinerals.
I have always been fairly dubious about the coverage of mineral foundations, and so was excited to have a chance to try it. The format of the evening was drinks and nibbles, followed by a demonstration we would follow along with, learning to use the products on ourselves. The artists who looked after us were from the Covent Garden branch of bareMinerals – Alex, Natalie, Maridelle and Lauren. They were all lovely, really helpful and generally fab to have around.
Set up and ready to go:
Being a brush addict, this was an exciting place setting… 
The skincare range was also provided for us to use, test and try out.
For each step of the make-under (cleansing, moisturising, priming, foundation and then eyes, cheeks, contouring, lips), Alex demonstrated on Kim at the head of the table and we all followed suit, assisted by the bareMinerals girls.
Here’s me all smiley after having been colour matched for foundation –
Natalie and Charlotte applying eyeliner…]
Decision time for Mandy and Tracey, and some expert assistance for Yemisi…
A happy Becky and me, showing off our entertainingly different skintones… 
And the finished products! Me in my original liquid lipstick, and when I discovered the red one – which I have since bought, I LOVE it!
And with Kim who organised it (blonde) Tracey (short dark hair) and Alex our make up artist on far right:
It was a great night, the products were fantastic (and I will try to do a separate post on the glorious eyeliner and liquid lipstick I bought and have worn every day since), the girls were knowledgeable and helpful but not in any way pushy, and it’s all very reasonably priced. And all-natural, which is always good.
Coverage-wise, I was pleasantly surprised by the foundation – it felt light on my skin, but was easily buildable to cover problem areas. I’m not sure I’m a total convert as I do love my liquid, but would definitely consider buying one to try out on an everyday basis when my current stash runs out.
The first weekend… a photographic miscellany
My final day in London was 26th October. I was rather tearful and overwhelmed, having been entirely unexpectedly presented with a lovely card, a vintage mannequin (they know me well) and THE BIGGEST KIT KAT IN THE WORLD (you think I’m joking… look at it!! Was very touched that my director had bid on it in a charity auction for me.)
You can see the mannequin, now named Delilah, in the background of an Ink Drops promo pic here…
and the KitKat here, all three kilos of it, and better photos coming soon. My plan is to photograph it properly and then take it home for Christmas so the kids can help me eat it. With a hammer. It would be a shame not to eat it!
Caroline helped me carry all my stuff to St Paul’s station, and then I hopped on a tube, hopped on a train for the final time and headed home to shower, collect Poppy and drive up to Nottingham. Rob had promised to have celebratory cocktails at the ready, though the fact that I didn’t get there till twenty to one in the morning scuppered my plans to drink lots, lol!
On Saturday we popped to town and accidentally helped break a Guiness World Record (for the most people doing a science experiment at the same time – slime and rockets, what’s not to love?!), experimented with Shakeaway and tried not to buy the whole of Lakeland, and then went home to celebrate some more by cooking ridiculous amounts of food…
Recipes and the beginnings of chicken & tarragon pie…
We might have cheated a tiny bit with the pastry but doing a good job of pretending to be proud, no?!
Finished pie!! It was AMAZING.
(yes, extra big pic, I was proud of the pie)
And I wanted to test my new spoons mould from Lakeland… with chocolate orange…
Never miss an opportunity to pose like an idiot, me…
And just in case you’re interested, this is what four chocolate spoons look like when I’ve accidentally eaten the one I was posing with. (I’m actually quite excited about the concept of doing these in marbled chocolate to go with dessert for dinner parties…) The chocolate orange stays softer once it’s been melted and mixed, so they were very dangerously moreish pleasant when set.
It was gloriously relaxing and a lovely way to mark the end of my London adventures and start my new life… and I finished it by meeting Anna in Loughborough for dinner, and Dad unexpectedly joined us for a drink too, to break his journey.
All round lovely 😀
Blustery updates
It’s a properly blustery autumn day – windy, blowy, and this morning I popped out for breakfast and groceries and nearly drowned in the rain! (Actually, I was such a wuss I stayed in Poppy on the driveway for a good fifteen minutes before venturing to my front door with all my bags!)
Just a brief update before I start on the proper blog posts which are long overdue 🙂 This week has been a revelation – and I think in October time each year, I will take a few days if not a whole week off work, and have an autumn-clean… there is something wonderful, even to a chaotic and messy soul such as me, in knowing everything is in its place, and so it is entirely acceptable to come in, put the heating on, don a fluffy dressing gown and spend the whole evening lost in a book or crafting.
London already feels a million miles away – I have had a few calls from the old job, and some lovely emails from my friends there… I hope that carries on as it is always the people you miss most!
The studio is sorted, the fridge is stocked, my suits have been consigned to my fabric stash and new bedlinen has been bought and put on the bed to mark a new chapter.
Yes, I know, I’m making WAY too much of this new life thing – but it’s so exciting, and so utterly lovely to have time to make my flat a home, instead of just rushing through it at the speed of light.
Since I finished the old job I’ve managed to see some of my favourite people in the world, break a Guinness world record, make pie, soup and brownies, drink cocktails, put up shelves, revamp the flat and launch a company… not to mention meet with the fabulous Melissa at Tea & Sympathy who will shortly be stocking my jewellery!
Life is good – the only thing I haven’t done is ring both the Wendys in my life… so I’m off to do that now 🙂
And the winner is…
The winner of the Super Pops book is Maria Turner 😀
I gave everyone who commented (except me and the lovely Editor of Make & Craft) a number in order of comments…
and then I used random.org to generate the winner….
Which was number 11, Maria!
I shall tweet this shortly, but Maria if you could ping me an email (duckingfabulous at gmail dot com) or tweet/DM me @duckingfabulous – let me know your address and I’ll pop the book in the post for you 🙂
Thank you all for entering, and Make and Craft and Search Press for providing the book 🙂
Time, and a new way of life
I feel very strongly that this is a new phase in my life. The opportunity to work so close to home is one that I think I only truly appreciate having battled almost two years of four-hours-a-day commuting. It signifies a change in pace, and a change in attitude. To make the jump to leaving London, there is a whole mindset change. Money becomes less important, and time, though still precious, is more plentiful.
There will be more time to spend with my family, the people and also the animals that are so dear to me, and who helped me so much through the darkest times of my life, and who share these happy ones so wholeheartedly.
Time to take Bluebell for long cycle rides, Poppy for long drives, to ride Jack and Chess (maybe not simultaneously) through the fields, to photograph and record the things I didn’t even have time to see before.
Long afternoons to spend with friends, chatting, talking, just being. Time to dream and plan for a nomadic future – narrowboats and caravans, visiting friends, a gentler pace of life.
While still running my businesses and creating my portfolio life, I also want to find time to learn – through the university, evening dance classes, finally getting going on my Universal Class courses, through Free Range Humans and Escape the City (just because I’ve escaped, doesn’t mean I can’t still spend time with fabulous like minded people)…
All these things I have missed for the past five years. All these things I am so much looking forward to – and all these things and more I will be thankful for. I’ll still be busy but I am absolutely determined to make more of everyday life now I have taken the leap. I don’t want to just live for the weekends – I want every day to be worth something.
I don’t regret my time in London, I’ve met some wonderful people (you really do find absolute gems in the most unexpected places) and I’ve learned a lot, much of it also unexpected. But the time is right to move on, and I am focused on the future. I don’t think I’ll ever return to work in the City – but I will take many memories of it with me.
Make and Craft Magazine’s Book Club Book Tour: Super Pops
Welcome to the sixteenth stop on the Make and Craft Magazine Blog Tour Bus! In conjunction with Make and Craft Magazine & Search Press, I have a copy of the fabulous Super Pops by Tamsin Aston with Judith Fertig to give away!
Super Pops, by Tasmin Aston with Judith Fertig, ISBN 9781844488384, published by Search Press, £12.99.
Books? Yes please – what’s this one like inside?
It’s just as much fun as it looks, and shows you what you need, what you can create and how to create cake pops. Which have been on my must-try list for absolutely ages! Search Press says “this book will make it easy for anyone to try out a range of indulgences that are sure to impress at parties, events, or as presents” and having looked through, I’d have to agree!
My personal favourite projects were, predictably, the ducks (well, this blog is called Ducking Fabulous after all),
the horses,
and the fabulously burlesque masks!
I have been in the process of escaping the City (quitting my day job in London for one much closer to home) and rehearsing for my first ever burlesque performance in the past week and a half, so haven’t had a chance to make any of the pops in the book, but it has very clear and precise instructions, which look easy to follow and effective.
To be in with a chance of winning a copy, register as a member on Make and Craft’s website (it’s very quick and it’s free!) and then pop back here and leave a comment on this post, including your Twitter username if you have one (and your email address anyway). I will draw the winner on Sunday 14th November and announce the winner here, and contact them directly too. Good luck!
If you don’t win, Make and Craft & Search Press are offering free P&P on this book – call Search Press on 01892 510850 and quote “Make and Craft Blog Tour”.
So – you mentioned a new magazine? Tell me more!
Make and Craft is a brilliant new magazine for the crafting community, which launches TOMORROW! (12th October 2012). All kinds of craft and making are covered so there’s something for everyone, and a kids’ craft club too – with my vast number of cousins, this is extra-fab!
Their website also has a forum and a blog, so you can keep up with the latest news, and chat to other crafters. The forum has a Book Club section, for regular chatting about books. As an ex-librarian who is a craft addict, I suspect this will be the place I haunt the most 🙂
They have a brilliant launch offer running – three issues for £3, or if you go for the digital option (fab for those of you who commute), it’s just £1 for 3 issues! Subscribe here…
Excellent. And what do you do?
Teehee, hello if you’re new to my blog! I’m Carla, I’m 26 and I do… lots of things! I have just quit the City for a job closer to home which is forming the base of my portfolio career. I blog here about craft, life, inspiration, driving and thrifting. I co-own Inkdrops Boxes, the first UK stationery subscription box company, and I’m an ex-librarian with a burlesque habit. Or perhaps, after Saturday, a burlesque dancer with a book habit?
Anyway, it’s lovely to see you and there’s usually a fair bit of crafting within these pages… so dive in, say hello in a comment and let me know where you blog or tweet – I’d love to chat!
Good stuff. So remind me of all the salient details?
Of course! The book is Super Pops, and to win it you need to register at Make and Craft and then come back here and leave a comment on this post 🙂
You can follow Make and Craft via their website, www.makeandcraft.com and on Twitter @MakeAndCraft, and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/makeandcraft). Search Press, who publish all sorts of fabulous creative books, are at www.searchpress.com.
You can follow me here (www.duckingfabulous.co.uk), on Twitter @duckingfabulous and on Pinterest www.pinterest.com/duckingfabulous. You can also find Inkdrops at www.inkdrops.co.uk and @inkdropsbox. Come and say hi!
Make and Craft Issue 1 goes on sale tomorrow – squeeee! And the day after that, the blog baton is taken up by Hannah at Spans Studio – pop over and see her and which book she’s giving away!
Many thanks to Katharine and Freya at Make and Craft for letting me join the blog tour – I’m having a fabulous time seeing everyone else’s posts and catching up in the forum!
September – the month I mostly:
Smiled about cuddles with a pug puppy on the way home one night
Met lovely new people at the fabulous Sophia & Jon’s wedding (no photos, forgot my camera, but it was a gorgeous day)
Loved rehearsing for next weekend’s cabaret night with some of my favourite girls in the world
Took on a project for my Dad in exchange for which he will write off the money I still owe him for Poppy – aren’t parents brilliant?!
Met new, wonderfully like-minded people through Escape the City
Worked on business plans, proposals and prices in response to a few exciting conversations I’ve recently had
Got tickets to the Free Range Festival (run by Free Range Humans)
Tried to resist buying enormous feathered showgirl headpieces
Bounced ideas, plans and worries off my completely amazing friends and family
Entertained at home – I’d forgotten how much I love cooking for people and having friends over en masse
Rode my cousin’s new horse for the first time (she was fabulous. I am no longer riding fit!)
Saw two burlesque shows (Proud Cabaret and An Evening of Burlesque)
Went to a tea party held by a dear friend and a hen party for someone I’d never met (both were fabulous)
Got Poppy through her MOT and service on time for the first time since owning her
(technically in October, on the 1st) Quit my day job! (for another one, which I think is much more aligned with my skills and what I want out of life. And isn’t in London.)
So yes. Despite illness and a lot of emotional wrangling, September was pretty amazing. Let’s see if October lives up to it, shall we?!
Whirlwinds of change…
So as some of you will know, I finally quit my City job last week and will be starting (work!) at the University of Essex in November. This was a fairly emotional decision as while I have been immensly frustrated, tired and cross for much of my time here, I work with a great bunch of people and it will be sad to leave.
I am incredibly excited about the new position, and the joy of knowing I will no longer be commuting on the train, and instead riding my bike for 40 minutes each way, is fabulous… but after a frankly eye-opening conversation with HR about just how much will be deducted from my final month’s pay, it would appear I’m going to have to be very thrifty for a month or two until I’m settled into the new job and money has resumed making its way into my bank account!
I will of course still be doing the things I love, but will be keeping an eye on those pennies until after Christmas. I will (sadly) be taking a break from my burlesque class until January, but I will continue to practise the routines I’ve learned, and until my train ticket runs out, will pop over and see the girls before class every Wednesday anyway.
They are some of my favourite people in the ENTIRE WORLD and I have no clue what I did before I met them! (not all of them in pic below, but I’ll have some after Saturday! That’s me in the polka dots and cherry buckled corset.)
My blogging should step up a notch, and I might even get time to do the long-awaited overhaul of DF. Between now and starting the new job, there’s the official launch of Inkdrops, my first ever burlesque performance, a huge powerpoint project and some serious work to be done with Escape the City and Free Range Humans. Excellent.
Here’s to a new life – and managing to stay in touch with the fabulous people I am leaving behind in the City!
All photos link back to their original page if not my own.
I'm Carla, a quirky thirtysomething with a penchant for unicorns and glitter. I believe in magic and make-believe, and the gorgeous rebellion of making your life absolutely your own. And I'm a proud multipod!
I am a photographer and catalyst for small business owners, and a real life mermaid. I photograph people as they truly are, help women see and step into their brightest and best selves, add a sprinkling of magic to the mundane, and am a happy ambassador for stationery and slow living.
Proud to be both girly and geeky, when I’m not writing, photographing or daydreaming, you can find me dancing burlesque, riding my bicycle Bluebell, growing herbs and collecting typewriters.