The Cutest News Story Ever!

I heard about this yesterday and had to share it.

This is the story of Oscar the cat who lost its back paws in an accident and has had new prosthetic paws fitted by Surrey based Orthopaedic Surgeon, Noel Fitzpatrick. To read the full story click here.

Vintage Shopping

I've got some annual leave this week and next so I've been having a nice chilled out day in the charity shops and vintage emporium. The Vintage Emporium is great - only discovered it recently through boyfriend and its like Aladins' Cave. It enormous and stretches on for miles! Well, maybe a slight exaggeration but you get the idea :) I bought a few bits - some beads to feed my addiction, a pretty necklace for my neice's bday and lovely brown maxi dress with a massive, stretchy, sequined band at the top. I'm going to take some pics in a bit to add to this. I'm really chuffed with it. I was originally going for another dress I saw, another maxi dress but black with a white embroidered design up the side but when I tried it on it was not a pretty sight - :( It had two side splits and when I put it on the splits seemed to create arrows pointing to my belly! Not really where I wanted the eye drawn to! The other dress I got is much better as its all sparkley round the top \o/
I've also been making some more jewellery for my shop. I made a monochrome beaded necklace and a brown, wooden beaded necklace. Both were made from beads that I picked up when we went to Hexton.
I also finished the top I was making. I hasn't turned out how I was hoping so I'm going to take it in a bit so its more flattering . A piccie is on its way though. The gold around the top though looks great against the yellow.

Sewing a Bit of Sunshine

I have been playing around with some fabric I bought ages ago. Its a really pretty shade of yellow and I got it from the remnants basket for about a pound. I've made a design for a simple vest top and even made myself a pattern. This is virtually unheard of for me - I usually dive in scissors first and then think about how its all going to go together.
So far so good. I've hemmed around the neckline and around the sleeves. I just need to hem the bottom and makes some straps. I've also got some cool gold ribbon that I picked up ages ago for about 20p that I want to use on the front to create a band horizontally across it. Hopefully it will come out okay. I've used a tape measure and everything so I can't say I didn't think this one through. :) I'll post some pics when its all done. I may even post a pic of me wearing it :)
I'm also going to make sure I finish this sewing project. I have got a bad habit of starting things and then putting them down when something new comes along. I've still got a shocking pink infinity dress and a tartan pair of trousers half finished in my fabric pile. I plan to get to those next so I can clear a few things off my making list.
I've also made a few new bits of jewellery for the shop. I made a necklace out of some of the beads I bought in Hexton last month and a necklace I made a few months back.
I was working this morning so to treat myself I had a little potter round the charity shops in Watford. There wasn't a great deal on offer today (which was probably good for my purse) but I did pick up a lovely strapless mint coloured dress for £3, a zip for 10p to go with some fabric I bought to make a skirt from, a mini electric whisk for frothing milk for 50p and some wine glass charms for 20p. Not bad for a days work :) The electric whisk will get a bit of a soak in some sterilising fluid and then hopefully it will be ready to go. I'm looking forward to my fist DIY latte.
I've also nearly finished The Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood - I've never seen the film and I picked up the book from Oxfam Bookshops 50p shelf about a week ago. I've had my nose stuck in it ever since. Its a brilliant read. I've got The Count of Monte Cristo lined up as my next read as I've already started that on my DS.

Teeny weeny.....

I've just put on my cool, new lollipop necklace from Violetta :) I got it as part of the tiny swap she was running on CO&K :) Its one of the best swaps I've done - I loved every second of the making and enjoyed the getting even more! My stash includes a cupcake purse, a lovely green buttoned cuff, 2 rings, a pin cushion, a tiny friend in a matchbox :) tiny buttons, tiny ball of wool and knitting needles in a tiny shoulder bag! I'm now fully equipped should the Borrowers take up residence in our flat.
For Violetta I made a tiny elephant, a ladybird magnet, dice earrings, purple sealife earrings, wire bracelet and tiny cards.
Also this week I got my business cards for my online shop :) They look really cool and I've got about 250 so I'll have plenty to leave about and put in with my swaps.
My new glasses also turned up in the post Tuesday. I got them from glasses crafter - a website that sells prescription glasses online. I was so chuffed with them - they cost just £40 which is a fraction of the cost I would have paid in one of the high street options. My prescriptions really strong and I have special lightweight lens so they don't press too hard on my nose. They used to give me headaches as a child and the special lightweight glasses in rimless frames normally cost me around £350 so I'm a very happy bunny. These are the ones I got.
Finally, I've been baking rolls again - this time a variation on the date and walnut rolls, rosemary and sea salt. They were yummy. I also made my first loaf and that came out surprisingly well too.

Mad Hatters and Red Queens

I spent yesterday dressed as Alice for an Alice in Wonderland themed Tea Party and can safely say that I have consumed somewhere near my own body weight in cake. There was so much cake! I bought biscuits but I think everyone else bought cakes. They were yummy though and I still felt stuffed until about 4 in the afternoon today. The party was at fellow CO&Ker Aimees' and for the occasion I made myself some Alice themed jewellery and an Alice band for my hair.
The Cheshire cat earrings were made from fimo and were extremely fiddly to make but I was really chuffed with how they came out. The oversized charm bracelet was made from odds and sods I had around the flat. The pocket watch was made from the old outside of a real pocket watch which I bought for about 50p ages ago at a charity shop. It had no innards though as my bf had tried to get it working and then couldn't get it back in its case so I had to make a clock face to go inside out of fimo.
Today has been spent mostly napping and catching z's. It was really warm so I didn't go out until quite late and bought myself a maxi dress for the summer from New Look. A bit naughty as I've been trying to save up for a holiday later this year but its really comfy and cool. Its shocking pink and strapless :)

The Sun has got his hat on \o/

Its been really summery today so I've been out and about getting my 10,000 lux, which is apparently what causes you to feel happy on sunny days. I had a good potter about the charity shops in Borehamwood yesterday and had some great finds. I bought a pretty, strappy summer dress for about £4 and some chinese balls (the ones which chime when you move them round in your hand). I also got a ball of some really cool purple wool - its really light and almost looks like something out of an art deco pic as its made up of two thin strands with little dots of colour every inch or so. Its really unusual and looks like it could have a lot of potential for making cool jewellery with. I also got a really pretty beaded bracelet for 99p which appears to be made from pearls and rose quartz.
Last night I also found a really cool tutorial on Mooky Chick on how to make 1940s hair dos. I had no idea how simple they are to do. The secret is apparently using foam rollers. I've had a play around with some foam strip that I had collected from some packaging ages ago. It was great fun :) I was also watching a whole load of tutorials on you tube on how to do 1940s make up. I don't know how I ended up looking at any of this stuff but it was amazingly interesting.
I've also been invited to a Alice and Wonderland themed tea party. This should be cool. I'll have to have a poke around the wardrobe and see what I can wear. I don't know if I have anything wonderlandish but I'll see what I can do :)