by Carla Louise | Jul 30, 2012 | Creating |
There was a part of my weekend not connected to the Olympics, though London 2012 is assuredly a once in a lifetime kind of event.
Bluebell and I have been getting to know each other better – after our loooong ride with Emily last weekend, I’ve been much more confident this week. So much so that I took her instead of Poppy to my parents’ new house on Sunday, to help them with another stage of moving… there’s still a way to go, but they’re getting there! Was a lovely half hour ride over, and then I stayed for dinner and we put Bluebell in the back of the car and Mum drove me home. Which was also very lovely!
I went to get my eyes tested and contact lenses sorted – which was well overdue. Chose new glasses, had a catch up with the lovely Vickie who remembered me from my last visit in 2010 (this is my first ever 2 year call back – I feel normal! Used to have to go every six to twelve months to keep up with my changing eyes, and it’s wonderful, not to mention much cheaper, to visit the optician the same amount as a normal person!)
Saw the coolest corgi ever in the window of River Island…
I have also been web designing and finishing the last bits for the Polka Dot Swap (yes, I know, last minute dot com!) and will be posting the swap parcel Tuesday when I’m back in the office. Working tomorrow, but from here to avoid some Olympic madness in Stratford. Pics once it’s been received – don’t want to spoil the surprise! The new website (actually there are two) are also surprises, although watch this space!
And that was followed by a lovely cuppa, natter and chocolate cake at Mimi’s house, with Christina who I haven’t seen since I left the library. Lovely. Had my first cup of Ceylon tea and I love it – much more than normal tea!
Finished my weekend curled up with my laptop, a book, tea and chocolate biscuits, just as Sunday evenings should be.
by Carla Louise | Jul 24, 2012 | Creating |
Emboldened by the success of the first swap, and polka dots being among my favourite things EVER, I was quick to sign up for the next Popular Crafts swap. I had completely misjudged how manic July was going to be for me though (best friend’s wedding, camping weekend away, parents trying to move house…) that I haven’t finished my side of the swap yet! We have till the end of July but I was hoping to post this weekend… bad squishy!
However, I received my parcel from the delightful Jenny at The String Empire last week and it made me smile so much – arrived on exactly the day it was most needed!
Gorgeous, no? The card is painted and will be going on my wall, I adore teacups… the duck portrait is already adorning a shelf in my living room, the fish is no longer, he was yummy, and the purse is so very me, I adore it 😀 Thank you so much Jenny – I hope you like yours as much when it arrives!
by Carla Louise | Jul 22, 2012 | Creating |
Very quick post before I dash off to enjoy more of this sunshine while it lasts!
Yesterday I had a catching up sort of a day before Emily arrived and we went on a looooong bike ride to Wivenhoe. It was lovely… a little hairy in places (my cycling on the road is really not that hot!) but great fun, lovely to chat and good exercise too. (Hmm, bikes, cars, rollerskates… I’m clearly a wheels kind of a girl!) Here’s Emily, then me, posing with our empty glasses in the pub we found on the way (gigglesnort – I’m sure the other patrons thought we were nuts)
Me with Bluebell on the way home… there was a sunset, but apparently my camera didn’t like it:
Then today, I found myself in my studio with a huge box of beads and a pair of shoes I rarely wear. They now look like this and might well be my new favourites…
Today I have also discovered that Lush do makeup (squee!), my little camera has decided to work again (double squee!) and that I’m capable of empting my entire craft room to find one piece of fabric… oops!
Have a fabulous rest of the weekend! xx
by Carla Louise | Jul 22, 2012 | Creating |
Very quick post before I dash off to enjoy more of this sunshine while it lasts!
Yesterday I had a catching up sort of a day before Emily arrived and we went on a looooong bike ride to Wivenhoe. It was lovely… a little hairy in places (my cycling on the road is really not that hot!) but great fun, lovely to chat and good exercise too. (Hmm, bikes, cars, rollerskates… I’m clearly a wheels kind of a girl!) Here’s Emily, then me, posing with our empty glasses in the pub we found on the way (gigglesnort – I’m sure the other patrons thought we were nuts)
Me with Bluebell on the way home… there was a sunset, but apparently my camera didn’t like it:
Then today, I found myself in my studio with a huge box of beads and a pair of shoes I rarely wear. They now look like this and might well be my new favourites…
Today I have also discovered that Lush do makeup (squee!), my little camera has decided to work again (double squee!) and that I’m capable of empting my entire craft room to find one piece of fabric… oops!
Have a fabulous rest of the weekend! xx
by Carla Louise | Jun 10, 2012 | Creating |
I have a boudoir photoshoot coming up in a couple of weeks, and as one of the things I’ve always wanted is a photo of me on pointe, I decided this would be a good opportunity.
However, none of my corsets are ballet pink. So I embarked upon a project (see how I get craft into everything?!)
First, you make sure you have all the necessary bits and pieces in one room… ballet shoes, dye, salt, sponge brush and a waterproof covering for your table. And GLOVES. Rubber gloves.
Then you mix your dye – this was the scary part, black is quite drastic…
Then stuff your shoes with newspaper or plastic bags to protect the inside and brush the dye on, being careful to cover all the folds of satin, but not to get the shoes too wet. 
They should then look like this and you can leave them to dry.
What I had not foreseen (and after I threw the dye away, of course) was that the colour would soak in and lighten while drying. So now I have this rather lovely blueish grey colour pair of pointes, and I can’t decide whether to re-dye black, or leave them like this. Thoughts, please? (on the basis they’ll be paired with dark burgundy and turquoise/black striped corsets…)
by Carla Louise | Apr 29, 2012 | Adventures, Creating |
I’m finding it increasingly hard to believe we’re still in a drought and still have a hosepipe ban – it has done nothing but rain for days!
My weekend has been rather lovely though – went to see Mum & Dad’s new flat, including their thoroughly gorgeous blue sofas and Dad’s reading lamp – wish I could sneak that out without anyone noticing, hehe (the flat is not ready to move into yet, but it’s getting there!):
I ran around town buying last minute stuff for the next three weekends (uni reunion in Loughborough over the bank holiday, Julia’s hen do in Paris and canal boat trip with Rob and friends) including surprises for Jules and a proper waterproof jacket – lol!
(hmm – no photo, waterproofs are not flattering. But hopefully will keep me dry!)
Then saw lovely Sharon and had icecream to celebrate having tried on the bridesmaids dress and found it now does up. Yup, my weight loss worked – but after this weekend I’m now fairly convinced it doesn’t fit again, lol! Back to le diet tomorrow… sigh. Loooong phone catch up with Lou, designed my business cards which I’ll order this week and was generally very productive. Although did nearly get flattened in the car park by wind and rain (which seems a tad unfair, if you’re going to be flattened in a car park you’d expect it to be by some large and impressive vehicle, surely?!)
Today I hibernated and worked on Ducking Fabulous until the rain stopped, and then I went for coffee with Wendy with the roof down – squeee! We went to Thorntons, it was lush:
And as we left, I left the water-themed keyring I’d made for the Out of the Blue Curiosity Project (which I talked about in this post) on the table – I hope someone picks it up!
by Carla Louise | Mar 4, 2012 | Creating |
Something I’ve been meaning to try for ages, but had somehow not got around to, these were the best of my first batch of bottlecap pendants – 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 – it does shrink as it dries, which I’d 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 – watch this space!
by Carla Louise | Jan 26, 2012 | Creating |
Apologies for double post, WordPress ate my photos!
I got home about 9pm yesterday, but as I’d rather sneakily eaten on my way home, I had a bit of time to spare before bed. I was attempting to be domestic and do my filing when i came across my box of snippets and pictures from magazines… So I started making moodboards instead 🙂
Attempt three for photos…
There’s one for style I love and would like to emulate (top), one for bigger inspiration images I like for various reasons (bottom) and one which will end up more a collage of small snippets.
It was wonderfully relaxing to spend an hour or so with the pritt stick out!
by Carla Louise | Jan 14, 2012 | Creating, Memories |
I found this during a sort out of some old stuff of mine. Had almost forgotten I’d made invitations for it! My 18th celebration was an Ann Summers party with my girls and this was what they received in the post…
The back is handwritten but made me smile – I turned 18 in 2004. Doesn’t seem so very long ago…
by Carla Louise | Dec 21, 2011 | Creating |
I made these back in March, but realised when I was trying to show a friend that they don’t feature on this blog – I think I posted them on my old Blogspot version.
They just sort of happened, on a coldish evening with nothing much to do, I decided I’d have a shot at making one of my favourite pairs of shoes wearable again (the heels were so scratched and dented I couldn’t wear them to work any more).
Two of the great loves of my life - shoes and books 🙂
Because they just happened, rather than being planned, I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture. But in the months I’ve been wearing them I’ve had such a good response that I’ve started prepping two more pairs for customising, and will be adding a shoe-customising workshop to my plans for 2012 😀
by Carla Louise | Nov 27, 2011 | Collecting, Creating |
Sunday evenings are my time – after a busy week and usually an even busier weekend, I always try to spend a couple of hours reading, pottering and planning for the week ahead. I cross all the things I’ve achieved off my to-do list, add some more, write cards for any birthdays/anniversaries coming up in the next week (ok, I don’t do that yet, it’s one of those things I perpetually intend to do, lol) and generally prepare myself for the week ahead.
This week I’m struggling more than normal to get back into work mode, because I’ve had four days in a row off and I’m just not functioning in office mode. However, I have finished my Curious Christmas box to send, and am off to see Louise this weekend for a vintage tea party and much girlie fun. I also have another parcel swap to plan and create, which is muchly exciting, so I shall keep smiling over the next couple of weeks! I’ve also managed to make stuff this weekend, so my state of mind is more balanced – it’s amazing how much crafting helps me stay calm!
Here’s a quick this weekend i am mostly… roundup!
Reading: Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan, The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon and Chances by Freya North
Writing: this blog post, lists of things I’d like to stock in my shop one day, cards for people
Drinking: pepsi max, squash, rose wine
Listening: smash hits radio from the TV, sandi thom on youtube, adele and dj fresh in the car
Buying: things for the curiosity project, vintage pyrex, books, beautiful notebooks
Enjoying: four straight days off work, seeing annie, making stuff, scanning my books into library thing, planning for next weekend’s vintage tea party and the Christmas party the week after
Loving: driving with the roof down even though it’s nearly December, late night texts, my bauble wreath, crisp clean sheets, that Christmassy feeling
Have a fabulous week! 🙂 xx
by Carla Louise | Nov 27, 2011 | Creating, Photography |
Anna and I had planned to go away for a few days in September, then October, and kept getting thwarted. November arrived, the time was booked off work, but neither of us had the money (or the energy) to go away away. So we decided to crash at my flat for a few days, do some shopping, make stuff, watch DVDs, eat lots… generally have an extended relaxing weekend 🙂
We wrote to Santa while looking at Christmas decorations:
Saw a helicopter tree I desperately want to buy for my parents:
Fell in love with some tree shaped sparkly lights: 
Found some flashing tits for Anna *gigglesnort*:
And I made a wreath. Here’s me pretending it’s a halo (sure. but I can pretend!) 
We visited Sudbury and had a lovely wander round all the shops there, and I also bought some vintage Pyrex bowls (squee!), some books and chocolate from the Cadburys factory shop. Can’t be bad. Was gorgeous to see her, fab to have four days in a row off work and when I go back I shall feel refreshed and hopefully at least a little bit enthusiastic! 😀
You can follow lovely Annie on Twitter – twitter.com/AnnaZEV
