29 June 2011

How to pimp a boring shirt!

Hello again!
Today I have spent some time re-designing a much loved but very boring white shirt of mine. Such a simple process but made such a difference!
Here's the how to:
Step one:
First of all I used my trusty quick unpick to remove the boring white buttons (the ones that hadn't fallen off that is!) and marked where they should be placed using a biro- naughty but I couldn't find a more suitable marker!
Step Two:
Now its time to choose some pretty, colourful buttons to put in their place. I chose a selection of pink, purple and red buttons because I wear those colours the most often :)
Step Three:
I then carefully hand sewed the new buttons to the shirt both down the centre and on the sleeves, whilst skillfully avoiding the kitty who had decided that the shirt was a great place to nap...I swear she does this just to make my life difficult sometimes!
Step Four:
Be proud of the newly refurbished white shirt! I also shoved it in the wash with some vanish so that it would be as close to a new shirt as I could make it. I'm very pleased with the finished product and will be wearing it proudly when I go on holiday next week!

Does anyone else have any tips for revamping old, worn out clothes?
Annie x

Holiday Time!

Hello peeps,
As you may know, on Monday evening I'm off trekking around South Europe for three weeks with the OH. Starting off by flying over to portugal then working our way through Spain, along the coast of the south of France and through to Italy.
This means that my shop will be closing for that time so if there is anything you want to pick up before I close up then pop on over soon so I can catch the Saturday post!
As a little extra incentive I will be offering a free gift with every purchase until then!

                                                           Click here to buy lovely things!

Annie x

27 June 2011

Hugh ♥

Hello again,
Now as you may or may not already know, I have recently become a complete House junky. Cannot get enough of that show right now! Currently on season five and fast nearly the point of having to wait for season seven to be released on DVD (damn you lack of Sky!).
But this new obsession has come to be during a very fortunate period of time for any Hugh Laurie fan (uber yay!) as he has just released an album; "Let Them Talk". I bought the album for my mummykins for her birthday thinking it wouldn't be my sort of music and that it wouldn't be one for me to steal, but after having a listen myself, I love it. Such a raw, relaxing album to listen to. It has been slated by lots of people but I'm mad for it at the moment :) Definitely one that I would recommend (and he sings in his sexy House voice :P)
Anyways, enough fangirl type talk now. Here's a video of him singing the title song "Let Them Talk" beautifully, live... somewhere :)



So good :) What do you think?
Annie x

26 June 2011

A Lovely Sunny Sunday ♥

Hello!
Today has been a lovely hot, sunny day here in Somerset and provided the perfect backdrop for a day of happy things.
This morning I visited a wedding fair in Homewood Park, a beautiful house surrounded by amazingly pretty gardens. It is the perfect place for a fairy-tale wedding and looked lovely in the sun. We were plied with free bucks fizz and met lots of local suppliers selling a wide range of things including a lady who designs bespoke dresses for brides for incredibly affordable prices and a four piece jazz band who's music suited the venue perfectly. I came away with loadssss of information and business cards ready to share with future clients :)

This afternoon provided another fun experience as I visited the Bath V & A Antiques sale in Green Park. It was amazing and I was like a child in a sweet shop surrounded by all sorts of beautiful, vintage furniture, clothing and jewellery. So it's no surprise that I came away with a big bag of goodies including two pretty scarves, a pashmina, four cute ice cream glasses and a purdyyy teal nibbles dish. Soooo happy :)
I will be visiting again next month for sure! And I would hugely recommend the market to any other person who likes antique and vintage items. It takes place every last Sunday of the month in the Green Park Market here in Bath :)
I'm off now for Sunday dinner with the OH's family.
Toodles,
Annie x

25 June 2011

Craft Stall :)

Hello!
So, today was the day of my stall at the Midsomer Norton Medieval Family Day and it went pretty well even if I do say so myself! I sold, I met some nice people and I spent four hours listening to a barrel organ...which was...loud.
As promised I have some photos of my pretty little stall :)


I thought it looked really sweet, especially against the brick wall behind :)

What do you think? Pretty? Or need some improving? Any comments appreciated.
Annie x

23 June 2011

Today has just become a very good day :)

Yayy, after a fairly boring day of washing, writing essays for my wedding planning course and frantically stitching birdies for a sale I'm doing on saturday, my day has been made.
A few days ago I entered a competition on a fellow folksyer's blog to win a pair of her beautiful handmade earrings and I've just found out that I won :) Now as someone who never wins anything, this excites me! Hugely!

I just wanted to share my excitement and also post you peeps a link to her fantastic shop which is full of lovely things which would all make perfect gifts or treats :) http://www.folksy.com/shops/frankie
And here is a link to her fabby blog where I entered the competition :) http://trinket-box.blogspot.com/
Please go and show her shop all the love it deserves (which is lots!)


And on a totally unrelated note, I really will add a photo of my new stock tomorrow, honest! Lots of pretty birdies for you to see :)
Annie x

21 June 2011

Peter the Penguin! :)

Hello there!
Let me introduce you to the newest addition to my folksy shop: Peter the Penguin!
Peter is a handmade from eco-friendly felt that has been made using recycled plastic bottles which I think is pretty dandy! I have hand sewn his belly on and securely glued on his oversized beak and cute feet.
I love him, so I have to say I won't be too disappointed if he doesn't sell :P Even so, he costs just £1.50 if he takes your fancy :)

I have a long day tomorrow making lots of pretty stock for my stall on saturday which will be pretty fun, I have some new ideas to try out :D I might even make some finger puppets. Pictures will be added tomorrow evening when I'm done! What are you up to tomorrow?
Annie x

20 June 2011

Lego ♥

Aam, and always have been a huge lego lover. When I was little I would spend hours designing and building little models out of the stuff and I still don't have the heart to recycle or donate my stash, so I thought it was about time I did something about it :)
I did some lego themed googling and found some amazing lego creations, including some uber sweet, uber geeky ones! But none of them really seemed very relevant to me as a person. I want to make something funky and pretty...and I think the OH would be less moany about it if it had a use rather than just sitting on the side looking cool (like my collection of lego mini figures do:P).
Heres my list of ideas, which should I choose? Helpppp?
Let me know what you think :) Ima get playing around with my lego tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

On a totally un-related note, I have now replaced the peanut butter that my greedy OH used up so I can now make my peanut butter cups (YAY!) Will post them tomorrow evening!
Annie x

19 June 2011

Folksy Shop

Second post of the day, naughty naughty!
I thought now would be as good a time as any to plug my shop on Folksy.
Here I sell all the funky little accessories that I make in my spare time. I use a wide range of recycled and vintage materials in my work and do all I can to keep them planet friendly.
Pop on over and take a look for yourself. Even if you aren't keen on what I have to offer, folksy is a great site for finding great handmade work by British designers and crafters.
Happy folksying!
Anniex

8 June 2011

Let's Get Started!

Hello there,
I was planning on kicking off the new blog by making some delicious peanut butter cups to share, but, rather typically, the OH has polished off all of the peanut butter since I last looked.
SO, instead, I spent the afternoon battling a new chocolate torte recipe I found online.
In theory, it is an easy torte to make, and it is totally delicious...however it just didn't work for me today looks wise.
I would still hugely recommend trying it out, it tastes great!...and yours might turn out actually looking like torte, not just chocolate cake :P

Ingredients:
Method:

  1. First of all, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/180c and grease a 23cm spring form cake tin.
  2. Using an electric whisk, beat together the sugar and eggs for about 5 minutes until they are of a similar consistency to an old fashioned custard.
  3. Next, gently heat the butter and chocolate together over a pan of water until smooth and glossy in appearance.
  4. Using a metal spoon, fold the chocolate mix into the eggs and sugar until well combined.
  5. Carefully add the flour and almonds and mix well until totally combined.
  6. Pour into your baking tray and cook for 35 minutes until firm and a light crust has formed across the top of the torte.
  7. Leave to cool until mildly warm and turn out of tin and dust with cocoa.
  8. Eat before the OH does!

I think next time I decide to do some baking I'll stick to a recipe I know! And in a few days time I will be listing the peanut butter cups that I WILL make! 
Happy baking :) Let me know if you attempt to bake the infamous torte :)...And if you have a better torte recipe please please please share.
Annie x