tin chapel

hello, remember me?

I'm hoping to do a proper post in the next day or two, but to ease me back look what I spotted on SF Girl by Bay yesterday,

This beautiful Tin Church is about two streets from where I live, I have loved the outside of it for a while - who knew it was so amazing inside!! See the full post here.

P.S I'll blog some (way too late) Christmas bits later - but Han (a hundred times more organised than me as ever) has done some lovely ones on her blog in case you haven't seen them already.

dressmaker...

A few weeks ago I was given some vintage dress patterns by some family friends. They used to belong to their mum who was a dressmaker (I believe she helped make the Queen's wedding dress!) They gave me around 80 patterns and I thought I'd share some of my favourites as well as a few of my very own finds. 

How amazing is this Kaftan!!

 This might be my next project - I really want to make my own coat!

I tweeted a while ago about the 20 week dressmaking course I'm doing. I'm on week 4 (already) and it is brilliant. Nothing to show as yet - I'm still in the practice/muslin stage of a modern Vogue pattern (though I'd start off easy), trying to get to grips with my very not standard measurements (short and busty strikes again!). But I'll post some updates when things start to look a bit more interesting!

More of around here...

My friend Wally is a brilliant photographer. He took these on his Pentax 35 mm when he (and a few more of my favourite people) came to visit a couple of weekends ago. He said he only touched up a couple of them so as I understand it this is pretty much how they came out on the film.

catching up...

We are still alive and busy settling in! 

We have a garden - I love it - although getting everything set up is proving quite the investment!

We also have a grape vine in our garden - wine making will commence this very weekend!

I love our new house; it has a dining room AND a lounge (luxury!), a garden,  a workshop at the bottom of the garden, a sewing room for little me AND a big sink and a tiled floor in the bathroom - two things our old flat did not have (think sink so small you could barely fit two hands in at once and carpeted floor *shudder*.

I still cannot decide where to hang all our pictures. so far a grand total of one picture has been put up.

We have been putting our much bigger kitchen to good use,  baking, chutney and jam making plus the husband's pasta making abound.

I love our new home town - farm shop, charity shops, junk shops and local goodness galore plus foraging a plenty and long countryside walks

I am doing a dress making course at the local adult education centre - although I appear to have bought four patterns rather than just the one needed to sew. I'm very excited by all the possibilities!

Our laptop is so buggered - I am blogging this with a 2 inch white stripe down the screen - more money to be spent!

To complete our move to the countryside we put our names down for an allotment - only 2 years to wait!

And finally I have a niece or nephew on the way!! Yay my brother knocked up Mrs Seeds and Stitches *double shudder*!! How lovely is Han's teeny tiny bump!

In the post...

 

...this thread drawing from Stephanie Toland (who I blogged about in January). She has just opened an Etsy shop selling some of her amazing work. This embroidery was a leaving work present to myself and a little something for our new home. I love it so much - the old couple bring a little tear to my eye!

The best part of moving...

is the fact that you get to decorate all over again. 

I'm beginning to gather some ideas for the new house. I am so excited about starting from scratch again, figuring out where old favourites work best and finding new favourites to fit the empty spaces. I like the slow approach to decorating a room. I find if I rush thing I quickly regret them (hello Ikea table and shelves! Have I told you today that I hate you!). So here are some of the highlights from the various pinterest boards I've been getting together...

                   

(Design*Sponge)

(Smile and Wave)

(Design*Sponge)

(The Design Files)

(Apartment Therapy)

(Design*Sponge)

 (Here's Looking at Me Kid)

 

(Modern Vintage Style by Emily Chalmers via Oh Joy)

 (oh my dear handmades)

(Here's looking at me kid)

 (The Design Files)

what's the plural of mantra?

 

(Valentina Design)

 (pinterest)

(pinterest)

Mantri?

and we're off...

It's fitting that I haven't blogged since the whiny post directly below this one. Because give it time and things will change - things will change A LOT! Next week is my last week in my job and as of the end of August we are leaving our little South East London bubble and moving to the country (well a small town but still comparatively the country!) - Kapow! Everything's going to be different!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do job wise yet (!!) but I'm hoping to find something part time leaving me some time to figure myself out for a bit and definitely more time to figure out my creative what-not. I'm insanely excited and completely overwhelmed! So in the meantime here are some pretty pictures of our flat. I really want to enjoy it as much as I can for the 5 weeks we have left here.

 

finding the words...

By March of this year I really felt like 2011 was properly kicking my arse, but now just a month later I feel like maybe 2011 is shaping me a little and even though we are only in April maybe it's a year that will leave a lasting mark on me (in a good way); one that I am still trying to figure out. I know I'm changing but I don't know how exactly - opinions are shifting, maybe I'm mellowing, in someways I'm becoming more engaged with things, in other ways I'm losing interest. I can't really put into words something more specific than that - maybe I'm still too in it to really see it.

When the husband and I decided this year would be our 'brave' year we had no idea. No idea that at times being brave could be so mundane. I had no idea that sometimes being brave means saving rather than spending. Staying rather than going. Planning rather than doing. Waiting. Patiently. I have mentioned my lack of patience before right!? The whole process is like looking in an unflattering mirror, I've discovered personality flaws I never knew I had, the sort that once you know they exist have to be dealt with because there's no way they are coming on the exciting journey you're preparing for*!

This stage of the brave year is bizarre. While we prepare ourselves, while we get ourselves to a better place we have to remember that we really are heading in the right direction. This isn't what I imagined when I talked about being brave at the end of last year - I very much meant doing big things, changing things, being scared but doing it anyway. I did not mean waiting and yet here we are and it's taken more bravery than I realised it ever would.

* I'm aware I'm making it sound as if we are moving somewhere exotic. We are not - it's only Kent**. But I lean toward being super safe, sticking to what I know, taking no risks - so it's exciting to us.

** oh and this is not how I planned on mentioning it on here - but yes we are moving out of London (hopefully) in the autumn details will inevitably follow...

apt...

I just discovered this time wasting project by Alyson Provax via le projet d'amor and other tales. I really love it - I've been doing some very focused wallowing recently and this really put it in a bit more perspective.

Hila has posted a brilliant interview with Alyson here.

oh sweet shoe joy!

It's only the third day in March and I'm already looking forward to April - Why? because April is an exciting month for shoes...

Liberty have brought back their collaboration with Nike - I loved these the first time round. I just wish my little legs looked good in trainers!!

and (and I am beside myself about this one) Swedish Hasbeens are collaborating with H&M to produce these beauties. They should only cost about £35 (which is a LOT less than  the £160+ that Swedish Hasbeens normally cost).

Roll on April!!

hmmm cake...

I'm on a bit of a weird eating plan at the moment, I'm not dieting exactly just avoiding some foods that make me feel a bit rubbish. The natural result of this is that all I can think about is CAKE! It started when I made some (blogger cliche alert) Red Velvet Cupcakes for a friend's birthday a few fridays ago, now all I want to do is eat cupcakes - except currently I'm not eating wheat, dairy or sugar (which is essentially the entire ingredients of a cupcake). So because I enjoy torturing myself (whilst tempting you) here are some I would like to make when I ease myself back onto the sugary goodness (which knowing me could be next week!!)

Margarita Cupcakes from Created by Diane

Cookies and Cream from Annie Eats

Hydrangea Cupcakes by Glorious Treats

Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes from Created by Diane

all images found via Pinterest