Testing
Apologies subscribers – just testing to see if this works now I’ve mapped the domain name 🙂
Blogging in cowboy boots
On the train last night, wearing cowboy boots, blogging on my laptop while listening to my ancient mp3 player. I’m so not on-trend or cool, and I love being that way 🙂
Why I’m an Unmade Bed – and proud
Having found this article completely by chance (it’s from my pre-regular-blogging days), I thought it was worth sharing. I’m most definitely an Unmade Bed, and all the happier for it. Women, she says, are either Unmade Beds (UBs) or Pristine Pillows (PPs).
We all know a PP or two, those women who never have a hair out of place, whose houses are shrines to minimalism and white leather, and who always turn up early for everything, in high heels. They don’t eat much, turn their noses up at proper alcohol and keel over in shock if they catch you eating carbs. The rest of us live our lives… we eat pasta, we drink wine, we go barefoot, we play, and we’re liberated and happy. We also scrub up pretty well when the occasion calls for it!
To demonstrate, my flat only gets properly tidied (and indeed, the bed made properly) when my parents or a man are coming to visit. My friends love me for who I am and are quite used to the organised chaos I usually live in (some of them had the mis/good fortune to live with me for a year or two) and don’t object to it. I’m anal about cleaning my kitchen, but my tidying is very much of the shove-stuff-in-wardrobe-and-shut-door variety. Only I have rails, not wardrobes, so instead I shove in boxes, put boxes in the studio and shut that door instead.
In the article, Shane also mentions handbags as another dividing line between UBs and PPs. Ohh, handbags. From mine today (and this is very much the light version, as I’ve not been home from holiday long and haven’t had a chance to clutter it up properly), I extracted the following:
hand cream, deodorant, my purse, £4.10 in change, six euros fifty in change, 90 Romania Lei, various cards, my driving licence (these were all loose at the bottom, not in my purse), a ticket to colchester zoo, a notebook, six pens, one pencil, mobile phone, mum’s camera, usb lead for my phone, earrings, sunglasses, a box of plasters, sudocrem, chewing gum, keys for my flat, keys for julia’s flat, keys for work and keys to my parents’ house, my council tax bill, various bits of printed paper, a map, socks, ibuprofen, a bag full of makeup, a random red lipstick, pro plus, my hairbrush, a glasses cleaning cloth, tissues, four hairbands, spare floozies, spare tshirt, can of diet coke, a half eaten bar of chocolate, a novel, a Homes & Antiques magazine and eleven post it notes.
And I wonder why my shoulders hurt! I’m seriously considering doing a monthly post on what’s in my handbag… I might discover some long-forgotten treasures! However, I usually have everything I need with me (actually it’s missing cross stitch, knitting or crochet – I almost always have my current small project with me) and I’ve been the go-to girl in every office I’ve ever worked in for the random things you should have in your bag but just never do… painkillers, tissues, hairbands. After 25 years of trying to be tidy, I’ve accepted that I’m a chaotic but happy kind of a person… and that’s just fine by me. Us Unmade Beds live life to the full 🙂
So which are you? An unmade bed or a pristine pillow? And what’s really in your handbag?
Subscribers – apologies
Just a quick note to anyone who’s subscribed either by email or via Google Reader – it appears the title of my blog has vanished and it comes up as ‘title unknown’. I am working on fixing this but it may take me a few days to perfect!
Lots of apologies…
This weekend I am mostly…
(found this on The Crafty Librarian, thought it was lovely so I borrowed it)
Reading: In My Sister’s Shoes by Sinead Moriarty; Gil Elvgren monograph; magazines galore; Goodbye, Jimmy Choo by Annie Sanders
Writing: Blog posts for the next week or two while my life goes mad.
Drinking: Pepsi max, as ever, water and pear cider
Listening: to smash hits radio via my TV. Yep, enormous TV and I only ever use it as a radio really. Bad squishy. And Now 79, loudly, in the car.
Buying: in theory, nothing. In practice, stuff for the house, antiques and lingerie.
Enjoying: Proper time with Jules for the first time in ages, reorganising the flat and taking the first steps towards the new me, and planning the rally which is going to be both terrifying and exhilarating.
Loving: sunshine, time with friends, my new hairbrush, rediscovering stuff I’d forgotten I owned
Quick squeee…
For going to see Harry Potter this evening! Actually can’t wait – and had better arm myself with tissues, lol!
I haven’t run away…
But I have had a mad week (and considerable difficulty adjusting to not being at CAE anymore. Honestly the best weekend I’ve ever had, I think).
Anyway, I’ll be posting all the posts I’ve been drafting this week, this weekend (wow, that was terrible grammar) 🙂 And you never know, I might even find time to schedule some for next week too!
Letters – real ones!
I had two letters this week, and a parcel – I feel so loved!
The first was a response to a ‘bon voyage’ card I’d sent to a dear friend of mine who is now in Australia and New Zealand for a month. I miss her already and she only went on Tuesday!
The second was a lovely newsy note from Chloe, who is my most regular letter writing friend. We also speak via twitter, text, forum, email, phone (and in real life when we can, although we live so far away from each other that doesn’t happen often enough!) but letters are my favourite way of being in touch 🙂
My parcel was entirely unexpected, and was from the lovely Viki to say she is thinking of me and to send me beads and a squishy pony! I am ashamed to say I was so excited to have a parcel I forgot to take a photo of it before I opened it *blush*. Photos to follow 🙂
So my plan is to write some letters today, and then find some little somethings to include when I send them. In Viki’s case, I’d quite like to also send her Christmas and birthday presents – I am such a rubbish friend when it comes to being prompt with dates!
made it home for #bbloggers!!
Aw, was a bit late but made it home for #bbloggers this evening – discussing blog layouts… the good, the bad and the ugly 🙂
Will be back with some posts after the chat and washing up!
xx
how much fun was #bbloggers?!
I feel I have to post, just to say how inspirational and useful and generally lovely it was – is the first one I’ve been around for the whole thing AND been brave enough to actually take part – and I’ve found a whole host of fabulous people in the process!
Off to have toast for dinner and then going to go and catch up on all the links and followers 😀 So exciting!
(and I’m even more chuffed because no one kicked me out for being a lifestyle rather than a devoted beauty blogger – you lot are lovely!)
Writing ~ the old-fashioned way
I spend so much time drafting blogs by hand in my lunch hours and on the train, with a pencil and paper, that I might start scanning them instead of typing my posts!
With the Etc exhibition ‘Reading Matter’ having just gone up, and my obsession with stationery and writing letters as strong as ever, I thought I’d round up some of my writing-related finds on the interweb 🙂
- Smythson stationery – I love it, it makes me happy but it’s so expensive I don’t own anywhere near as much of it as I’d like to
- Downey & Co – these guys make the MOST gorgeous invitations among many other things. One day I’m going to have the mother of all party invitations custom-made by Leo & Joe!
- The Paperie – beautiful journals, notecards, stationery in one droolworthy online shop!
- Moleskine – among my most favourite notebooks, there’s one in almost every handbag I own
I’m a bit short on photos this post, will try to add some this evening – on limited connectivity at Gran’s house and it takes *forever* to upload 🙁
I have several friends with whom I exchange regular letters as well as emailing, texting and phoning; and there really isn’t anything quite like the feeling of receiving a real handwritten letter to read on the train in the morning – instant happiness!
Another project up my sleeve for later this year is The Postcard Project, more about that in another post.
Right, off to town with Mum to add to my fabric stash 🙂
A new start…
So this will eventually (soon, actually, I hope) become Ducking Fabulous’s new blog home 🙂 I am merging the Craft Experiment and the Ducking Fabulous Diary to come under the heading of Ducking Fabulous. DF itself has sort of evolved, so from jewellery and accessories handmade with love for sale, it’s now more of a diary and showcase of all the many crafts I love to do, with not much if anything for sale right now. I am also closing and archiving Almost-Librarian.
The majority of these changes are down to starting a new job, which happened in March. I have less time on my hands, and crucially am no longer in a library (hence the archive of AL). I also no longer have time to update my shop properly and more importantly get to the post office promptly to post things. I am, however, doing more portable crafts like cross stitch, and have recently launched two exciting collaborative projects (more on those in a later post).
I’m creating as I always have done, but in a slightly different way now. So, over the couple of bank holidays my plan is to make this blog the new one. I may or may not import the old posts – sometimes I feel a fresh start may be better. This one will cover everything – crafts, friends, new projects, work, things I’ve seen, inspiration, photography, personal projects, places/shops/people/sites I’ve experienced and loved, photos I’ve taken, my petrolhead tendencies, books, reading, horses, model horses…
And I plan to do a LOT more photography, so this blog will still be wordy (wouldn’t be mine if I didn’t waffle!) but should have more visual stuff going on as well.
Hope you’ll accompany me on this next leg of my journey!
Carla xx
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.