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Union Jack Swap!

I signed up, at the very last minute, to the Popular Crafts Union Jack swap a couple of months ago, and very naughtily, haven’t blogged yet! I was paired with the lovely Virginia of Virginia Creeper, and I must admit that when I first got her details through I just spent quite a lot of time gawping at the beautiful things she makes… 😀

It was my first swap, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but had a fab time making a needle case and cross stitching a Union Jack heart (in pink and baby blue!) for the card to go with my parcel, plus choosing treats. Was very excited when my parcels turned up – here are all my bits, aren’t I lucky?

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The sock cat is now proudly sitting on my bed awaiting a name, the scooter cushion on my desk, the corsage on my favourite black velvet jacket and the ribbons and sequin shapes added to my ‘for me’ craft stash 😀 Thank you Virginia!!

This weekend I have mostly been… (post contains ballet, cake and sewing… so a pretty damn good weekend!)

Rediscovering my pointe shoes…

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Makeup trial for the wedding (done by me) – this is look one, neutral eyes with sheer-ish red lips. Shocking phone photo and my glasses obscure my eyelids, I know. More of these to come before the actual wedding. Skin’s looking clearer though – Nars illuminator is magical stuff!

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Challenging myself to sew something for the Popular Crafts Union Jack swap… here’s my finished needle book 🙂 Will be posted with a treat and a cross stitched card!

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Munching the cake I bought for a friend’s BBQ that was abandoned due to rain. I suspect the diet will be back on when I’m back at work, I’m maintaining weight but there’s so much yummy food involved in this week… lol! These cakes, stocked in our local Wyevale (Colchester Stanway and Braintree) are my favourite fallbacks if I don’t have time to bake, they taste homemade!

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Sorting bookshelves and installing a ballet barre *cough perfect height clothes rail cough* in my living room – if I’m going to be ready for this burlesque cabaret in October, I need to strengthen my long-neglected dance muscles and improve my flexibility. Removing my glove with my foot is, as expected, somewhat trickier than it looks on stage! My intention is to try to do 10-15 mins of stretches and barre work each day even if I manage no other exercise. Combined with burlesque each week and hopefully cycling when my bike eventually arrives, plus skating which I do whenever I can but usually once a week, I should be trimmer, fitter and more flexible in no time. Yeah. I live in hope. But I’ll at least enjoy myself in the process!

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Also managed to paint my toenails (my feet are not fit for photographing so here are the colours I used) and ogling the Pashley Poppy on the front of this month’s Homes and Antiques. Cannot WAIT for mine (it’s the blue, rather than the pink, version) to arrive – hopefully in a little over a month. Squee!

 

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Footnote: I’m aware that wearing pointe shoes while not a trained dancer can damage your feet; I’m also aware mine should have ribbons attached for support. They’re mostly decorative and I intend to wear them for a photoshoot. I doubt I will ever again dance that level of ballet!