by Carla Louise | Mar 15, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Just a little progress report – stock is counted, extra parts have arrived, the new logo is well underway and all my plans are quite effectively coming together for the launch of my Etsy shop š
I’m very excited to have my jewellery available for sale again after a hiatus, during which I got used to the day job and the commute, travelled a lot and generally ran around like a headless chicken.
I’m also hoping to stock some craft supplies, but more on that later – squee!
by Carla Louise | Mar 13, 2012 | carlalouise |
by Carla Louise | Mar 13, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Ok, I know, it isn’t Thursday, but I’ve had a very productive morning in the day job and decided it was time for a well-earned break. So here are some bits and pieces from around the web and the real world that have made me smile…
I’m wearing this dress today. It’s possibly the most pin up thing in my wardrobe apart from my corsets, and I LOVE it. Would never have gone for the bodycon trend until I tried it on by accident, but it does wonderful things for my curves.
My logo proofs have arrived, from the very talented Jamie at Fresh Lavender Designs. So exciting! Go and have a nose at her Etsy shop, it’s lovely!
Why I am at work, battling spreadsheets, when I could be at home with a kitten and a tortoise is beyond me…
Adding to my Pinterest boardĀ – some favourites…
*EDIT* Oops, something bad happened when I tried to embed my Pinterest favourites… *runs off to try and fix*
And adding to my Project Pin Up alter-ego’s style scrapbook – inspiration and bits and pieces that help me form and maintain her persona. I’m planning a paper scrapbook, too.
And not forgetting: rediscovering strawberry water * reading actual fiction books * dreaming and planning for Ducking Fabulous’s relaunch * lunch with my lovely manager * catching up with old friends * puppy goodness * chocolate cheesecake * finally getting to grips with my temporary phone (it’ll be gone by April!) * a sense of happiness and contentedness that has stolen over me in the last week or so.
by Carla Louise | Mar 6, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Doing my best to pretend I’m still ten years old, with biscuits and milk to break up the afternoon…
by Carla Louise | Mar 4, 2012 | Creating |
Something Iāve been meaning to try for ages, but had somehow not got around to, these were the best of my first batch of bottlecap pendants ā but there will be more,I really enjoyed making them. And have been looting bottlecaps to upcycle from all over the place.
Card and buttons or charms seem to work well, as long as there is sufficient medium to cover them ā it does shrink as it dries, which Iād not anticipated. My current favourite (a silver tree on a sparkly green background) is most definitely a second quality-wise, but has taught me a lot for the next batch.
Printed photos, however, on normal paper, do not work. I tried to make one with a photograph of Rusty McLusty, and on inspecting it this morning, the colours have run quite drastically. I will be investigating and testing better paper/ink/printing methods ā watch this space!
by Carla Louise | Mar 4, 2012 | Uncategorized |
ā¦ as Dad put it when we crossed the border, which I thought was lovely! I had cake for breakfast in honour of Sophiaās birthday, and then today was mostly about driving ā I drove across an entire state (Arkansas) in a day! It was good experience, but not the most inspiring of landscapes ābut we entertained ourselves by trying to find a Cracker Barrel to have brunch at ā the one we saw a sign for in Texas appears to have been stolen, but we found several after that š
I found the signs for Memphis and Nashville weirdly evocative.
Took a photo of Daisy near an empty truck. The trucker behind said heād be upset if I didnāt take one of her with him in his truck. So I did. Spot the duck!
Daisy with our food when we eventually found a Cracker Barrel (this was hugely entertaining at the time, but I realise probably lacks the humour in a blog postā¦)
Entering Tennessee, over the bridge.
Even with The Great Cracker Barrel Hunt, as it will ever after be known, we arrived in Memphis in good time in the evening. Our hotel, rather wonderfully, was right behind Beale Street, so we were able to park the car and mooch round the corner to Beale Street to have dinner at BB Kingās š
Dad pointed out, when I was trying to decide which boots to wear out, that it is not a cowboy town, and heās right ā Memphis has a feel all its own, and itās fantastic. Itās vibrant and noisy and full of people, and reminded me a little of Covent Garden at night, if Covent Garden had neon lights and really good blues music. And we had endless fun with Daisy lolā¦
And then, slightly randomly, we went into Hooters ā and I found the poster telling the girls how to dress bizarre ā hair must be ādown and styled glamorouslyā, and tattoos must be covered with opaque makeup and thereās quite a lot of instruction about how the tank top and hotpants should be wornā¦
Next post ā Stax Soul Museum and on to Nashville š
by Carla Louise | Mar 3, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Somehow an entire week has gone past since last weekend, and Iāve not had five seconds to sit down and write a post!
So weād done six glorious days in Texas, and now it was onto the road trip part of the road tripā¦ š
Thursday 16th February 2012 ā we left Texas for Oklahoma. This was the driving part I was most excited about as it involved leaving the interstate and driving Route 66. Well, part of it anyway! Hereās a random section of interstate with an advert for Ariat boots ā this is one of the reasons I love this part of America!
It didnāt take as long as Iād thought to get over the border and into Oklahoma City (where we were joining R66). This made me realise exactly how lucky the girl we met on the plane is (she lives six months of the year near the Oklahoma border, as a photographer. She lives the other six months of the year in the UK, as a teacher. Ok, I wouldnāt want to teach, butĀ what an awesome way to incorporate two countries you love into your life!)
Hereās the turning onto R66ā¦
And me and Daisy Duck driving itā¦
We stopped at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, on Route 66, on Mumās recommendation (from things sheād read ā sheād not been on it before either). It was a gorgeous little 50s-style diner, and it turned out to have a wonderful story behind it. The owner, Dawn, bought it almost by accident and found happiness in a small town. Pixar then discovered her, and the Rock Cafe, and she is the inspiration for the character Sally Carrera in the Disney/Pixar film Cars (http://route66news.com/2006/06/09/a-route-66-guide-to-the-cars-movie/). Which is amazing. The cafe also burned down in May 2008 (Dawnās chronicles of its rebuild here http://rockcafert66.wordpress.com/)
Hereās the cafe, outside and inside ā someone considerately parked a Boxter outside it so itās almost like Sally herself was thereā¦
(more…)
by Carla Louise | Mar 1, 2012 | Uncategorized |
How can it possibly already be Thursday again?!
Happy moments this week:
~ a perfect weekend seeing friends unexpectedly
~ finally getting a chance to test-run bottlecap pendants ā I have been meaning to do this for an embarrassingly long time
~ learning (well, remembering ā I already knew) that good friends really are infinitely precious
~ anticipating meeting this little chap next week, and the kittens at the end of the month (no photos of them yet ā they move too fast!)
~ leaving work on time twice and having a proper evening, including cooking
~ demonstrable geekiness
~ making decisions about Ducking Fabulous and Etsy ā keep your ears peeled š
~ getting my artwork up, finally ā itās all round the flat and it really feels much more like home all of a sudden š just the studio left to do!
by Carla Louise | Mar 1, 2012 | Uncategorized |
ā¦ itās just been utterly mad at work this week! Weekend job, definitelyā¦ even if itās just to get the photos up š
by Carla Louise | Feb 26, 2012 | Uncategorized |
In the Billy Bobs hall of fame with Alan Jacksonās handprints (I realise if you donāt like country music, much of my mad excitement will pass you by)
The Coors sign Mumās letting Dad have in the bar, I mean study, in their new house (we have one Coors sign already, but itās not a proper bar without at least two. And this oneās Texas-shaped).
Two of Jackās guns. I was astounded at how small and delicate the second one was. Neither of these were loaded, and it is illegal to carry your gun openly in Texas, it must be hidden, even if only by a newspaper over it on your passenger seat. I’m still not pro gun carrying, partly because of my time working in a public library (in that if some of our customers were allowed to carry guns, it would be untenable to stay working there without carrying one yourself, which is not a position I would want to be forced into), but it was interesting to hear about and see them.
A #fromwhereistand photo, in my utterly wonderful new boots
Dad and Gary at the White Elephant Saloon, and Mum with the coldest beer in Texas (that strange white stuff is icy beer thatās risen out of the glass as the temperature adjusts)
One of my favourite signs, and some boot art I REALLY want for my wall at home
At the HAI conference, Bell employees marching the hallways before the unveiling of the 525 Relentless, and the Dallas skyline enveloped in mist
A drive through cash machine ā the mind boggles
Shopping in the stockyards ā beautiful vintage boots, and look, I even found a model horse!
Me being an idiot in Cabelaās with a fish cushion, the central display of the store and an inquisitive zebra:
Dinner on Wednesday evening ā Ellen, me and Bev looking at rally photos; Walter, Bob and Dad, and all seven of us (R-L: Bob, Ellen, me, Dad, Mum, Bev, Walter ā it proved impossible to get a picture where at least one person wasnāt talking or blinking!) I believe we also declided at some point in the evening, fuelled by cocktails, that if I ever get married, Iām going to do it in a dress similar (but a different colour) to the one Iām wearing in these photos, with cowgirl boots. Excellent š
by Carla Louise | Feb 26, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Deliberately excluded from previous posts so I could give it its own, the EYC is somewhat of an institution ā itās a bar in Euless, near Fort Worth, and itās wonderful ā understated, full of friendly people and they serve proper Coors beer. You can only get Coors light in the vast majority of everywhere else, and according to Dad, Coors is much better than the light version. I donāt drink beer so couldnāt tell you! Itās a bit legendary to me, in an always-been-talked-about but Iāve always been too young to go kind of a way.
So hereās a proper Coors bottle. Complete with Daisy Duck (see what I did there? Sheāll have her own post at some stage too. Maybe even a category of her ownā¦)
A Texas-sized beer cooler. On a trailer. With Rustyās name on the side, so Daisy insisted on having a picture (I cannot believe I didnāt take a duck rallying with me. Epic, epic fail).
Dad and Ronnie Mac, an old and wonderful friend on the deck
Me with Ronnieās barbecue ā now I have to go back just to taste some. Dad was an honorary judge one year (this is a big deal in Texas, and heās an Englishman so it was an even bigger deal!) and I feel I should continue the tradition! Plus Ronnie wins a lot of barbecue competitions and Iād hate to miss out on tasty food š
They have a bar cat called Wilbur. Who is a beautiful cat and who brought us a lizard. We rescued him and put him on a tree ā he was perfectly ok, just a bit startled.
And this is the outside of the EYC as we left for the last time. Itās not in the slightest bit posh, but itās genuine, friendly and a lovely place to while away an afternoon. Kind of like your favourite pub back home!
by Carla Louise | Feb 26, 2012 | Uncategorized |
The conference was fab as ever, itās huge and a tad overwhelming (especially as this time I was working for some of it ā not wandering around picking up the best freebies from the stalls!) and on Monday I went to a lecture on Dadās behalf, as heās brilliant but not yet able to be in two places at once. Walking in was entertaining, it was a technical update on an Agusta Westland heli engine, and I was the youngest by at least 25 years, plus the only female in the room. Fortunately they send out slides by email afterwards, so I didnāt have to pretend I actually knew what was going on. Phew. An experience thoughā¦
Iāve covered mine & Mumās shopping at the mall in a previous post, although I will just say again how proud I was that I got us there and back again without Dad and didnāt kill us or get us hopelessly lost š
So Wednesday, our last day in Texas. Weād left it as a sort of spare day, so that if we needed or wanted to do anything we could without having any prior commitments. This was a precious rarity!
We decided to go and see Cabelaās, which is a hunting, fishing and camping shop ā man heaven! It also has a zoo of stuffed animals, which although Iām not usually one for heads of moose or whatever stuck to the walls, was strangely fascinating. God alone knows where they got their elephant from! I almost turned left onto the wrong side of the road ā there was just one car coming the other way, and he was in the middle, so on autopilot I headed straight towards him, oops. He looked very surprised! To my parentsā very great credit, they didnāt have hysterics, just suggested rather sharply I should perhaps try driving on the correct side of the road ā lol! Actually that ended up being my only major cock-up for the entire trip, and Iām amazed I didnāt do anything similar on the rally. (maybe I did, and have blocked it out of my memory?! But I donāt think I didā¦)
Then back to the hotel to meet Jack, an old friend of Dadās whoās happily retired, wonderfully Texan and took us to lunch at Jasonās Deli before showing us the handguns he keeps in his car. I learned more from that lunch than Iāve previously ever known about guns in my life, which I touch on briefly over at Project Pin Up. It was fantastic to meet Jack, heās someone Iāve heard lots about my entire life but never actually met. And the sun came out, and it was warm and lovely! (Cue another conversation about how my parents should retire to Texas, hehe).
Dinner in the evening was planned for 7pm, and we had the rare (possibly never before, in fact) occurrence of six friends all together, plus me, and they felt like my friends by the end of the evening! Bob and Ellen, Walter and Bev and Mum & Dad, all in one place. Amazing. Walter & Bev Iād likewise heard lots about but never met, so it was wonderful to get to know them ā Walter is originally from Germany and both he and Bev have travelled extensively, including to Romania, so we had a lovely chat š And I very much hope weāll stay in touch!
It was bittersweet, because this dinner had been planned all along to mark our last evening in Texas, but it was so fantastic to see everyone that I didnāt notice I was sad until right at the end of the evening.
Texas has been, as before, amazing. I keep saying I could live here ā itās not the idle chat of someone enjoying their holiday, when I walk through the stockyards I feel like Iāve come home, although Iāve only previously been there once. I love England and it will always be truly home, but I think Texas could certainly be home for a while, should I ever get a chance to work there in the future. (or, you know, take myself and my own business out there one dayā¦ itās not completely impossible).
