hello 2015

Happy new year! I hope you all had a lovely cosy Christmas break.

I had a really lovely festive time, although I have been a bit under the weather for most of it which has left me feeling a bit sorry for myself.

2014 was a grand year though! I had lots of fun, went lots of places and put some wheels in motion for the year ahead.



Ben and I picked up this decoration at Art Junky in Brighton just before Christmas.

It reminded me of the church we saw in Reykjavik when we visited early last January. One of my favourite ever holidays.



I haven't really had the brain power to think of any clear resolutions or plans for the year ahead yet but I want to set myself a few goals so I'll give it some thought and maybe start the new year a week or so late. That's ok right?

I do have one plan though: Move house!

The best plan (with the best man).

family of four

A gaggle of geese. 50p. Sunday market.

charity shop challenge - round 2

Taking photographs of myself with the self-timer is probably the most dorky thing to do of a weekend.
This month for the charity shop challenge I found a summer dress in a Portslade charity shop for £3.50.

Cherry blossom pink.

charity shop challenge

Lucy invited me to take part in the Charity shop challenge so here is my first attempt at showcasing some of my finds.

Half charity shop challenge, half knitting project this month.

I got this purple skirt for £3 in a charity shop in Portslade a year or two ago. I'm not sure this photo does it justice though. Bad self-portraiture.

The knitted waistcoat was a skills test to practice my cable and fair isle knitting. Good practice, although I'm not so sure about the finished result.

And I'm wearing a trusty M&S thermal vest underneath. Cheating? Maybe. Warm? Yes.

treats and treasures

Treasures from the Sunday market: a thimble shelf, embroidery & free cookie cutter.
Treats from Malta: A miniature tea set from Dan.
PERFECT!

birthday. tray.

On Saturday we went on an outing to Hove Museum for Yumi's birthday. They have a great toy section and a nice art an craft exhibition on at the moment.

It was a lovely day with many biscuit breaks.

british racing green

I picked up this wonderfully clean dream of a typewriter at the Sunday market yesterday.
And I only had to part with £1.
Good times!

what treats!

Some lucky finds from a recent charity shop hunt.
A mini basket:


I might use it to take an apple and a banana to work with me.

And this letter file:


I love it very much and am now awaiting some nice post to fill it with!

sunday market

here are some nice finds from my trip to the market this weekend.
a new umbrella (£1):


some gold leaves (50p) - i'm going to make a brooch:


and a snazzy new dress (£2) which is very 80s and may only be suitable for fancy dress:



lovely stuff
x

this is my favourite thrifted item...

...it's my pigeon hat of course!


Here's my entry for this weeks 'This Is...' topic. It's a recent buy (in fact I've only recently posted about it) but I am such a fan of pigeons and have already got a lot of usage out of it (people may start calling me a crazy pigeon lady soon). But it is a great fancy dress item & makes me smile.

I picked it up for £2 at snoopers paradise in Brighton. It's really meant to be used as a hunting decoy I think but the fact that it fits perfectly on my head proves it was meant to be!

Check out more 'This Is...' entries by clicking on this lovely badge:



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finds from the weekend

On saturday I went for a wander around Brighton with a few friends and ended up picking up a variety of treats (mostly unnecessary but delightful items). Here are the highlights:

some flowers to decorate derek's my bike with


an inflatable chicken for the kitchen
don't ask what possessed me to buy this - i like the bright colours though.


a floral patch to decorate some clothing
i bought a mens cardigan from primark for £6 (i figure BIG cardigans are in at the moment) and i thought i could add some flowers. these yellow ones are especially lovely.


a new dress


and last, but definitely not least my new pigeon hat


how amazing is this??? I found it in snoopers paradise for £2. of course it's not meant to be a hat, it's a hunting decoy, but i think this is a much friendlier use for it. I've put up a picture of me modeling it here.
I bet you are all very jealous, no?

x

things that i find pleasing

this AMAZING cuckoo clock my dad brought back from switzerland for me:


flowers on my wall:


RSPB charity badges:


lucky finds in the open market:


I found this cardigan for £2. It needed a bit of fixing up as the sleeves were very wide, but I've put some elastic in now and it's looking much better. Perfect for keeping warm at an evening barbecue on the beach.
and finally...a JELLYFISH costume for my end of year party (here are some sneak peeks):




I'd just like to thank jane asher!

x

one week later

I just realised I haven't posted anything since last Monday so apologies for that. I've just had a rather pleasant weekend which included the 1st barbecue of the summer on saturday and a lot of watching one foot in the grave on dvd. (probably not everyone's idea of a good night in but we enjoyed it thoroughly!).

I forgot to take my camera out to the barbecue so don't have any summery photos to share yet, but now we've had the first I'm sure there are many more to come...

...in the meantime here are some bits & pieces from last week.

some peas in a pod I knitted a while ago.

a new basket i bought from a flea market.

some little animal heads i cut out of some wrapping paper. I think they might come in handy for decorating cards and presents.

And here are some more wreck this journal bits & bobs:


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today is sunny & nice

a silk flower i picked up at a vintage flea market.

i posted out my pay it forward packages yesterday. i hope they arrive ok.

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shopping

these two items have just been added to my shop.


they are hand painted wooden parrots that i picked up in a local flea market & transformed into brooches.
a yellow parrot & a blue one!

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thank you very kindly

as promised here are some pictures of the wonderful pay it forward packaged i received last week from sue over at sooziebee.



the package included a beautiful stitched card and framed illustration - thanks again sue. (and i'm not sure if i'll ever get around to sending the card as i think i'd rather keep it for myself!)

yesterday i went for tea with my friend eleanor and we ended up jumping on the train to Lewes to visit The Old Needlemakers, which has a vintage flea market full to the brim of lovely finds (and there was a half price sale on too!). I picked up this hair clip for 50p - how very cheap.


and here's a picture of the pile of crocheted granny squares i am gradually accumulating - soon i'll have made enough for a blanket! I'll just have to wait for winter to come around again then, as I'm pretty sure the summer is almost here - splendid.


x

flea market friday

wow! that post was my 100th to date, so now we're onto triple figures - here's to the next 100!

i went for a stroll around kemp town in the winter sunshine today and stumbled across a flea market where i found these treasures:


these beer mats were 20p each and i was very tempted to buy many more but resisted - i especially like the Dutton's Ales one because of the colours.
i also found this wonderfully illustrated record sleeve (for 50p) which i couldn't resist. i love everything about it.


i've put all these finds up in my room to brighten up the place a bit, as the walls are still quite bare at the moment (apart from this one).

i also walked home from the shops along the seafront and it was ever so nice and sunny (a good day to live by the sea).
lovely.

x