Re-fashioned {Fashion Forward}

I must admit that, under normal circumstances, when I create my 'collections' for Fashion Forward each week, I enjoy the element of being able to pick anything that I like - regardless of whether or not I could afford it in real life. A girl has to dream. Because, in the immortal words of Captain Sensible, "If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?"

Yet there is only so much dreaming, hoping and wishing a girl can do, right? Robbing banks (or little, old ladies) is not an option and since there was some talk amongst ourselves last week of selling organs in order to afford a little luxury, I thought I had best come up with a plan before things got ugly.

So, although I've still put together a super cute outfit for myself (one which I totally wish I had the legs for) and it's just as aspirationally expensive as usual, each of the items I've chosen can be made or re-fashioned using the tutorials I've listed below. You'll probably have all of the items you need to make these pieces lying around in your wardrobe.

Solid Pleated Tunic - Charlotte Russe, £14. Refashion, Single Pleat Tunic From Men's T-Shirt. Ruby & Ed Cashmere Legwarmers - Asos, £26. Refashion, Sweater Skirt & Legwarmers From Old Sweater. Ridge Wool Mini Skirt - Browns Fashion, £215. Refashion, Sweater Skirt & Legwarmers From Old Sweater. Suede & Elastic Sandal - Browns Fashion, £490. Refashion, DIY: Elastic Banded Pumps.

And the £332, Lanvin Pearl & Ribbon Necklace? I'll be showing you how to make one of those in a tutorial tomorrow. You'll probably have everything you need to make it lying around in your crafty stash. If you don't, I guarantee you'll be able to make it for less than the cost of a Starbucks. So, please, do come back tomorrow!

But before you head off, it's December very, very soon (!) and that means that Katherine will be hosting Fashion Forward next week. In the meantime, have fun looking at everyone else's collections while you wonder if you'd be able to replicate them with some gaffer tape and an old cardboard box.

Bead & Bokeh {My Creative Space}

Although I've now managed to resolve last week's creative space disaster, I thought it would be best for my sewing machine and I to spend a little time apart. It's still making angry, little noises when I sew at a reasonable speed and it needs some tender, loving care - but I'm just not in the mood.

So, I've been busy in My Creative Space this week, working on some beading projects instead. Strangely, although I don't have the patience to give my little Janome a good overhaul, I have the patience to work with teeny, tiny seed beads. Go figure.

Some of my projects have been works in progress for far too long; some will eventually end up as presents for family and friends over the holidays and a couple are going to make their way here as tutorials - eventually!

To join in with My Creative Space or be generally inspired by more creativity head on over to Kirsty's at Kootoyoo and say hello!

Can I Have One Please?

So, I keep finding the most adorable videos on YouTube and I'm doing my very best not to post them all the time. (Just in case my blog starts to resemble one of those forwarded e-mails full of teddies, dolphins and unicorns!)

But....just this once?

All That Is Gold... {Fashion Forward}

This week's Fashion Forward is inspired by my love/hate relationship with gold. I've never truly been a 'fan' of gold and, since my teenage years, have rather adamantly insisted that I prefer to wear silver. In fact, I have actually shuddered when I've seen people wearing what I used to refer to as gaudy gold!

But, it seems that gold has finally won me over. It may be something to do with my love of vintage - floaty dresses in soft golds, and old fashioned teacups edged in gold, both scream of sophistication. Or it might have something to do with it's warmth - silver can seem a cold metal, whereas gold, especially in interiors has a wonderful warming quality. Or it might have something to do with these gorgeous and glamourous finds that have me dreaming of dinner parties (and the odd glass of champagne!)

All That Is Gold by OPCreative. Items in this set: Beaded Dress, Spiegel.com, $179; Shoes, Marieclaire.it; Clutch, Barneys.com, $425; Watch, Calvin Klein, £270; and Hair Accessories, Brownsfashion.com, £205

Whatever the reason, it seems that to afford this little collection I'd probably need to sell a kidney so if anyone knows the secret of turning things into gold, please get in touch!

Now, Katherine and I are absolutely loving the variety that we see each and every week, so if you're playing along this week then please pop back here to leave us a link so that we can come by to leave you some love. Check out our guidelines or save yourself a sidebar button.

I've Hit A Snag! {My Creative Space}

So, there I was, happily sewing along in My Creative Space - working on my rather large 'crafty to-do list'. Unfortunately, it seems that even after a bit of a clean; a new needle; and a show of genuine affection, my sewing machine decided to have a little sulk. Obviously, it felt it was being overworked after a week or two of relative peace and quiet!

Now, I've hit my fair share of craft related snags, and even unravelled a fair few, but this is one mother of a snarl. It's all bunched up above and below the plate and I am certain this is going to require actually taking apart my machine. I am, literally, terrified.

Tonight, I don't really have the patience - funny how a sulk can rub off like that! - but tomorrow I'll have to dig out the manual, the screwdrivers and possibly a stiff drink.

*sigh*

To join in with My Creative Space, or just have a nose at more creativity head on over to Kirsty's at Kootoyoo and say hello!

What This Mark Says About Me

So, today is another All About Me Design Team Reveal. They are really, really coming around quite quickly now, especially when I spend a week or so thinking about the challenge and trying to decide between at least three or four options. I honestly have no idea how some of the AAM Followers manage to whip up their challenge layouts so quickly, but I do love the fact that there's so much scope for interpreting the themes - and I'm making a note of my other ideas so that I can come back to them another time.

This month, were talking about marks and what they say about us. It's an odd one. Some of you will probably have an immediate reaction to the challenge, some of you may need to think about it a bit like me. Your mark could be a tattoo, a scar, a mark on the wall where you measured your first child, or maybe you have a mark on the inside. It's all valid.

When I was in my late teens (*sigh*) I went with a friend to visit a palmist. My friend had always wanted to have his palm read, but I wasn't in the slightest bit interested. I sat down to have my palm read full of curiosity and a healthy helping of scepticism.

The palmist explained that, along with the shape of my hands, the small cross nestled between the lines of the heart and head indicated a natural psychic talent or an ability to understand and work with the occult. He went on to explain that I was likely to struggle between an exceptance of the occult and my natural tendency towards science and fact.

I was disappointed. I wanted him to tell me that I would travel the world; be invited to all of the best parties and would never get fat!

Still, there was some truth in his reading. Years later, I have studied religions, the occult and science - and you'll often find me reading about research that seems to cross those boundaries. I am fascinated by things like out of body experiences; parapsychology and ... um ... Derren Brown!

Head on over to All About Me to see how the rest of the DT have intepreted this one and then have a go yourself, we've got another wonderful sponsor this month!

Pale & Interesting {Flickr Favourites}

I'd had a busy day yesterday. It was full of laundry; bill sorting and business planning - just the way to start your week with a bang, right? So, when I stopped for a bit of a tea break in the afternoon I decided to have a little bit of fun scouting around Flickr by Colour

It's a great way to find new favourites.

1. Day129, 2. Fishnets Again, 3. Chairlift, 4. Untitled

If you'd like to see more sets of Flickr Favourites or share your own, head on over to Artmind to join in. Thanks so much for organising this every week Mitsy!

Everything's Coming Up Roses {Fashion Forward}

I can't tell you exactly what sparked off this week's rose inspired Fashion Forward 'Collection'. It might have been this, or this or maybe these little beauties. I'm not sure. Does it matter? Especially since I love the combination of femininity; kookiness and colour?

Coming Up Roses by OPCreative. Featuring: Dress, Tmfas.com; Flats, Endless.com, $70: Clutch, Valentino, $425; Brooch, TopShop, 25 GBP and Hairclips, Anthropologie, $18

Before I send you off to look at everyone else's Fashion Forward picks for this week, Katherine and I want to say a huge 'Thank You!' to the rather lovely Shimelle for featuring Fashion Forward in her current class, Blogging For Scrapbookers. (How awesome is that?) If you happen to be joining us from Shimelle's class (or you're finding us for the first time from somewhere else entirely) you might like to check out our guidelines or save yourself a sidebar button - and please feel free to join in by popping a link to your post in the box below!

The Best Kind Of Guest!

My week's are becoming a little bit routine of late. Not routine in a bad 'commute, work, commute' kind of way. Routine in a 'I know exactly what I should be doing' today kind of way. Somehow that's comforting. And the best bit is that right at the very end of the week, I am treated to an afternoon of crafting with one of my very bestest of friends - Cheryl.

Cheryl and I met for the first time at our local scrapbooking club and hit it off straight away. Cheryl was the one that explained to me that scrapbooking might involve a little more than I envisaged. (I turned up to my first crop with a small bag full of magazine articles and scraps of gift wrap fully expecting that that was what people used to make scrapbook pages! I was amazed at all the people arriving with carts full of product!)

Since I've pulled a muscle in my ribs (coughing really is bad for you) and missed out on Mel's banana muffins yesterday because I had to go to the doctors instead, Cheryl took pity on me and brought cupcakes with her when she arrived this afternoon. The best kind of guest or what?

Amongst the coffee, chat and chomping there wasn't an awful lot of crafting but we did manage to 'ooh and ahh' a lot over one of Cheryl's recent kit purchases; choose our papers for our December Daily/Journal Your Christmas albums; and take a few photographs. Not bad for a routine visit!

All Wrapped Up! {Flickr Favourites}

I can't believe that I've started thinking about Christmas already, but this year it looks as though I'll be hand-making the vast majority of my gifts and because I want my gifts to scream 'care and attention' not 'thrown together' that means some forward planning is necessary.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I receive a gift, nothing says care and attention like excellent wrapping. I know that some people will consider gift wrapping as a little bit of a waste - it's what's inside that counts, right? Um. No. Don't believe me? Well, take a look at these beautiful packages from my flickr favourites and maybe you'll change your mind.

1. Red Toile With Heart, 2. Red Box, 3. FAA lucky parcel swap:: red, white&silver, 4. Red & white swap with Yvonne..., 5. red parcel, 6. swap - sent, 7. Pretty Polka Dots, 8. for baby, 9. Pompom Parcels

If you'd like to see more sets of Flickr Favourites or share your own, head on over to Artmind to join in. Thanks so much for organising this every week Mitsy, I'm loving it!

Plum Pick {Fashion Forward}

Every so often, I challenge myself to wander around a store, pick out an item that I wouldn't normally dream of purchasing and try it on. Sometimes my gut instinct is perfectly right and I look hideous, but sometimes I'm surprised by how well an item compliments my skin tone; enhances my figure or makes me look completely different - and I love that! It's so good to try something new every once in a while and have a little bit of fun with fashion.

My Fashion Forward set this week is definitely a bit of fun. Normally, I wouldn't choose purple, I wouldn't choose a tee and I would never, ever have chosen those shoes - combine them with some black patterned tights and layer on some chain necklaces for a grown up, rock chick look.

Berry Beauty by OPCreative featuring Dorothy Perkins shoes

Items in this set: Tee, New Look, 14 GBP, Skirt, H&M, Boots, Dorothy Perkins, 38 GBP, Necklace, Dorothy Perkins, 12 GBP and Bracelet, ASOS, 12 GBP

As an extra challenge, I forced myself to start thinking affordable rather than aspirational (too much dreaming about unaffordable fashion can be bad for the soul) so everything that you see is available on the British highstreet and could possibly be purchased without threat of bankruptcy. Hurrah!

Katherine and I are absolutely loving all of the clothes, accessories and interiors trends that we're seeing every week, so if you're playing along this week then please pop back here to leave us a link so that we can come by to leave you some love. Check out our guidelines or save yourself a sidebar button - and don't forget to invite your friends to play along too!

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Class Winner!

You might remember that, as part of the All About Me Challenge Blog Hop, we were giving away a place on the Twelve Days of Christmas Class being hosted by Julie and Kirsty over on the Copy & Paste Blog. Well, the blog hop has officially ended and I can excitedly announce that the winner is - YTET!

To choose the winner, I listed all of the comments in a separate word document and left in only the first comment of anyone who happened to comment twice (so that everyone had the same chance of winning. Then, added up all the comments and chose a winner with the help of the Random Number Generator. You'll note that I managed to figure out how to save a screenshot!)

YTET, I'll be notifying Julie and Kirsty of your win and they'll be in touch soon. I'm sure you'll enjoy the class! Those of you who have missed out can still join the class - check out the class details.

PS: I'll be catching up with replying to comments and visiting new followers over the next day or two - we've been away this weekend and, unfortunately, there's laundry to catch up on first. Ugh!

Free To Be Me! {AAM Blog Hop}

Welcome to the First Ever All About Me Challenge Blog Hop! The All About Me Team are all revealing this month's first challenge; sharing a little bit more about themselves and, well, there's a few giveaways too! I'm a wee bit excited to be involved!

In fact, I'm still really excited to be involved in the All About Me Team at all! I am so grateful that I have had the chance to work alongside the amazing women that make up the rest of the team and inspire so many people to start scrapping about the one thing that's usually forgotten. Themselves. The idea is simple, but it's affects are quite astounding. Through scrapping about myself - my dreams, fears and emotions - I've been able to learn more about who I am, who I'm not and who I want to be. I feel more comfortable with myself. I am finally Free To Be Me!

And since so many of the team feel the same way this is our theme for the Blog Hop, we only hope that in some small way, taking part in our challenges helps you feel free to be yourself.

Now, from the serious to the ridiculous! One of the things that I am coming to love about scrapbooking is the conversations that I have with The Steve as a result of sharing my final layouts. This time around our conversation went a bit like this -

Me: What do you think of this layout?
The Steve: What was the theme?
Me: We had to do a layout based on the idea 'I Can't Live Without'.
The Steve: Oh
Me: What?
The Steve: Well, I'm just looking for me on there.
Me: I do serious layouts all the time, I wanted to do something 'fun'.
The Steve: (starting to smirk) Oh? So now I'm not fun?
Me: *sigh*

It always ends in a sigh!

Indisposable Camera - Layout Details: Most of the hard work has been done by the rather lovely handmade paper which was sent to me by the rather lovely Joyce! I've added a few scraps of paper and ribbon; some stitching and an image of my beloved Nikon D40.

Now, I know there's a lot to take in here today, but keep reading - there are prizes to be had people! Each of the All About Me Team has a questionnaire on their blogs and you can win a fabulous prize on the main site by answering questions about us so this is All About Me -

1. My Childhood Ambition - "Heal the world. Make it a better place." Okay, that's a little facetious, but it is true. All I have ever wanted to do is make the world a better place, little by little. I honestly believe that, no matter how small we may sometimes feel, we can each make a very real difference.
2. My Retreat - Books. What better way to escape from your own world than by immersing yourself in someone elses?
3. The Perfect Day - Morning sunshine; birds tweeting; pancakes; a walk in the country; a pub lunch; a village fete; hot tea and biscuits; dinner with friends; hugs before bedtime; my favourite bed; sleep.
4. My First Job - Ooh, it's not very exciting, but my first experience of working was as a Paper Girl. I had to convince my parents to let me have a go. They thought I wouldn't manage to stick the early hours and the heavy bags of papers, but I stuck with it for a year and a half before I found myself a weekend job instead. I loved the early mornings - so quiet and peaceful. It was like having the whole world all to myself!
5. My Wildest Dream - If I could have anything that I wanted - a true, 'in my wildest dreams' extravagance - it would be the opportunity to really explore Africa, working on voluntary projects; living with locals; travelling with other tourists. Oh! I could go on and on about this, so I'm going to stop. Right now.
6. If My Life Was A Musical It Would Be Called - The Procrastinator! See it today. Or possibly tomorrow..... :)
7. My Proudest Moment - It might sound really odd, but I don't think that I have one. I don't mean that there haven't been times when I've felt proud of myself but there isn't one moment that sticks out amongst the rest - only quiet, little periods of satisfaction and contentment - and I think I prefer it that way.
8. My Favourite Item Of Clothing - I have to pick one? Oh f**k! Um.....
9. I Feel Ready For The Day - Only after a cup of tea, toast and a bath.
10. I COULD Live Without - Big Brother, ironing and pigeons. Bleh. Pigeons!

Your Chance To Win!

What would a Blog Hop be without a fabulous giveaway? And, boy, have I got THE MOST FABULOUS GIVEAWAY! The cute and crafty ladies over at The Copy & Paste Project have organised a Twelve Days of Christmas Workshop full of the most amazing projects which use up your amazing crafty stash and leave you with some gorgeous goodies that you can give as gifts (or...um...keep for yourself. Not that you would. Obviously. Ahem!)

Julie and Kirsty are both fabulous instructors and have, between them, designed for Banana Frog, Scrapbook Inspirations, Quirky Kits, Gauche Alchemy, Kitschy Digitals, QTea Kits and The Creative Type. Blimey! Do you think they'll be inspiring enough?

The workshop kicks off tomorrow, November 5th and runs until November 20th. There's twelve days of downloadable instructions; access to a super secret workshop blog and a much, much more. For your chance to win a place in the class, you'll need to leave me a comment below telling me your favourite tune for Christmas crafting. That's it, nothing complicated! (But you must include your favourite tune for a chance to win, okay?)

Since, I'll be drawing the winner at the end of the Blog Hop on Saturday, 7th November, my advice is this - sign up for the class now so that you don't miss the buzz on the blog as the class starts - and, if you win, Julie and Kirsty will happily refund you!

What Now?

Phew! Did you get all that? I'd suggest getting yourself a cuppa and a biscuit or two before heading on to Janis's blog The Reluctant Scrapper for the next part of the All About Me Challenge Blog Hop. But do come back and visit again, okay?

Winter Blues {Flickr Favourites}

The weather here has been a wee bit gloomy with grey skies and blustery winds. It seems to be neither autumn nor winter. So, surprisingly I seem to be wishing for winter weather - not something that happens often! I'm craving crisp blue skies, chilly mornings where I can see my breath and snow. Oh! What I wouldn't give for a bit of snow!

And so, it seems, my cravings have influenced my choice of Flickr Favourites over the last day or so - and I've been left with some gorgeous wintery textures.

1. Delicate blu rose, 2. air, 3. Light Streaks 3 - Inverted, 4. Arctic Breaks

If you'd like to see more sets of Flickr Favourites or share your own, head on over to Artmind to join in. Thanks so much for organising this every week Mitsy!

Winners!!!

It appears that this is my 100th post! And, though most people seem to organise giveaways for their 100th post, it's snuck up on me and I seem to have a couple of giveaway winners to announce instead. (Both winners were chosen using The Random Number Generator, but could I figure out how to save the images? Um. No. So sorry!)

So, I promised a little 'something, something' to someone who participated in the first month of Fashion Forward and that someone is - Emily! Emily, please e-mail me with your postal address and I'll send this cute little kilt pin over to you - I hope you like it!

I also promised to send a customised cuff along to someone who commented on my Hallowe'en Blog Party Tutorial. And that someone is - Kylie! Kylie, I'll be in touch soon to talk to you about customising a cuff just for you!

I Feel Love! {Fashion Forward)

I've had a day to get used to it, but I still can't quite believe that it's November - and that means that I'm taking over from the lovely Katherine to host this month's Fashion Forward festivities. (Thanks so much for hosting the first month lady! You rock!)

Now, since I'm hosting for the first time, I wanted my post to be something special so I've scoured the internet looking for the latest trends, colours, themes and designers. And, um, I've have come up with absolutely nothing!

Nothing, that is, that has been able to take my mind off these -

These are Pixi Shoes by Brian Atwood and are, quite possibly, the most glorious shoes I have ever seen in my life. My love for these shoes is echoed only by the music playing on the main Brian Atwood website. I feel love, I feel love, I feeeeeel love!

These shoes are, in my opinion, the epitome of 'grown up sexy'. They ooze class and wouldn't look out of place with a slinky little pencil skirt and an immaculate white shirt for a day at the office but with their height, and semi-sadist strappiness, they hint at just a little bit of kink beneath that serious surface. I don't know about you, but that's definitely what I'm looking for in a shoe!!

If you've got a fashion find or idyllic interior that you'd like to share with the world, please play along with us this week. Just post and then pop back here to leave us a link so that we can come by to ooh and ahhh. (First timers can check out our guidelines and save themselves a sidebar button.)

One last thing. I promised to give away a little surprise to one of the lovely ladies who joined us in our first month of Fashion Forward and I'll be back later on in the day to let you know who's won and what they've won. In the meantime, there's still chance for you to enter the Hallowe'en Weekend Treat.)