Not such a relaxing weekend!

Well it's been a long weekend here in the UK and today is the last day, but I've had more time off that most, but I haven't been relaxing, far from it!!!!

I had transformed the tip and junk room that was my dining room into exactly what I want a beautiful, fully useful dining room and even though I swore and injured myself, and ached like hell, I wallpapered for the first time, hated every minute of that, I sawed and mitred corners for the edge of the floor, I painted, and did I mention I ached?

Here's the big reveal, just like on all those DIY shows....

See a previous post for what this room looked like before it's quite a transformation!

As you can see it's red and grey to fit in with my dinette set, but I was so nervous about the grey, which actually I picked up from the curtains cos the curtains matched the dinette and it's hard to take a dinette into the DIY shop to colour match ;o) However I'm really really happy with the grey I think it really works but I was aware it could have gone horribly wrong, it's a funny old colour grey....

Here are some of the close up details, below is my sideboard, with some of my favourite bits on, a coffee set which we were given for our wedding (20 years ago this year eeek!), a painting by my lovely husband, and a lamp given to us by friends in San Diego.

I had been looking for curtains to go in this room for ages, something that matched the colours and design of our dinette and I was super lucky some months ago when I found these, I think they match pretty much perfectly!

The only thing which isn't done yet is the light fitting, see below, given to us by some lovely friends, sadly it needs rewiring so that will have to wait for another day, but it's going to look amazing once that is up and it's all finished!

As if that's not enough I had another super lucky find this week! I have been looking for a cabinet to put my record player on and stereo in FOREVER, well ok maybe a year or so, I just couldn't find something that would fit in with our other stuff but be just right for what I need and be small enough to fit in the corner, but big enough to do the job, you can see why it's been a problem, oh and affordable too!!!!

Well I went out to lunch on Tuesday, and spotted a second hand furniture store down a side street not far from my work which I have never seen before but apparently has been there for about 5 months. I thought oh well I'll have a look, and there it was the ideal bit of furniture, it's not terribly exciting as a piece of furniture but I can't tell you how excited I was! So last night, I set it all up and after all the work I've done, I got drunk and danced around the living room for most of the evening!!

The first picture is of it is next to my record cabinet, fab eh?

And there she is, I need to tidy the cables, but I was slightly intoxicated when I set it all up and though it best to do that when sober ha ha!

I could now do with a loooooong weekend to recover, instead today I will rest, relax, sleep, eat, not get dressed and generally recover, who needs a gym, just decorate!!!

Hope you like it and hope you all has a fabulous break over Easter

Planning a Dining Room makeover!

I'm off work sick today, since I've worked in an office and no longer self employed I feel like I'm sick ALL the time, it drives me nuts, offices breed germs I'm convinced of it!

Anyway that's not what I'm here to talk about.....

It's Easter holidays next weekend and I've taken a couple of extra days off as I plan to tackle my dining room at long long long last. We have lived in this house over 7 years now and we have never tackled the dining room, I may add that mostly this is because we used to use it as a store room for my business for many years, so there was little point it making it nice as it was a work room.

However now is the time!

I nearly always start with a colour theme from a key piece in the room. My key piece in the dining room is my dinette set, that is the one non-negotiable item. This is the only picture I can find of it, can't believe I've never taken a proper picture!

Then I look to see if I can find some curtains that will match, I was lucky enough to stumble across these last year and snapped them up, just the right colours and will look fab with the dinette set

So now down to colours, well now I do like colour on my walls sooooo I am going to bite the bullet and go red on one wall and great on either 2 or 3 walls, eeek I know it will be bright!!

Unfortunately I need to paper the walls first, I have never papered before and I'm slightly dreading it, I would love to just get the walls skimmed with plaster and lovely and smooth, but the quote was beyond my budget so some slightly textured wallpaper to hide the lumps and bumps, then paint!

I do have a question though, I need to buy something to hang the curtains on but I have the most awkward window set up in this room - actually all my downstairs rooms! I really want to have an wooden type pole as the blind is wood but as you can see I can't hang the curtains with curtain rings as the curtains will be lower than the top of the window. AND if that's not bad enough there are some badly placed pipes too grrrr! Ideas please, here is the top of the window!

I'm going to show you some before pictures, partly cos I want you to see how much difference it will make when I'm done and partly to show those lovely people who thought my whole house must be fantastic after my last post that this is certainly not the case, we all have dodgy rooms which need work, that are in a mess!! Oh the shame!!!

 So as you can I have a LOT to do!

I am motivated by the use of red and grey in this picture.

So everyone, what do you think about my curtain rail suggestion? Bear in mind I'm in the UK, so no fancy options from the USA please I just get jealous!!

Appreciate what you have!

As a vintage collector/user of all manner of things, clothes, shoes, furniture, you name it, if it's my era and I love it, I'll be coveting it! But the problem with being a lover of these things is that despite the fact that I do try to sell things on I no longer use, I have a lot of stuff I have, live with every day but just don't appreciate.

I'm sure many of you recognise this situation, I'm sure most people who love vintage stuff suffer from this particular malady! So I was just thinking this morning, after spending the morning trawling ebay and 'watching' a load more stuff, that I really should appreciate what I have too.

Here are just a small selection of my particular favourites!

My beloved cocktail bar which has seen lots of moves, lots of different locations but I'll never part with it!

A new addition to our family, I actually got 2 of these, non-matching sadly, but super cheap for the price they normally go for and both gorgeous!

 These is my most favourite lamp, we bought it in a store in LA, we saw it, loved it but it was a little out of our normal spending range, we left it drove away and then turned round, went back and bought it. But then we had to ship it, we packed it really well to ship home to ourselves, it arrived and it was broken in two, we were so sad, but had it restored - more money! - and now it sits pride of place!

I love these little book ends!

 ooooh I really love this, my bargain of the century I think! A gold glitter bar stool, really comfy really heavy duty, just gorgeous, how much did I buy it for? £15, yep lucky eh? And that was only last year!

Another bargainous find and gorgeous, my lovely 50s coffee table.

This little lady has been with me for years, she sits on my bedside cabinet and makes me smile a lot.

I was lucky enough to buy this as a whole set many many moons ago and really do appreciate having it.

I LOVE my g plan sideboard, converted to TV cabinet! It was in very worn condition when I bought it, but again I got it at an amazing price and just treated it with love. A more stylish TV/entertainment cabinet you couldn't wish for!

 So why am I constantly searching for new things when I have so much to appreciate!

I guess it's the nature of collecting and loving these items.

So I challenge you to look around you today and appreciate the things you already have!

Vintage Earring dilemma!

I love wearing jewellery, I have a great collection of vintage earrings but they are all clip on and they hurt if I wear them for any length of time. I have bought those fabulous little see-through pads for the back of the clip on, but still if I wear them for a whole day I feel like my ears are going to fall off!

So lately I have been looking at repro brands on Etsy, especially for work, as I do like to wear earrings and I wear no jewellery to work, I don't feel like me without a quirky vintage pair of earrings!

I don't know if you've heard of these brands but I've found a couple of Etsy stores I particularly like.

First up is Luxulite and thankfully they are based in the UK. I've favourited quite a few of their items, just need to get some cash together so I can indulge. Here are some of my favourites, I really will be buying some, it's just deciding which ones!

Nautical Blue and Gold Earrings

Green Confetti Lucite Earrings - Sadly already reserved!

Green and Gold Confetti Lucite Cherry Brooch and earrings

Blue Confetti Lucite Earrings

Blue Confetti Lucite with Seahorse - I'm gutted these are reserved!

The next Etsy store I found Wavy Gravy Vintage, I only favourited a couple of pairs but I really like them and I like some of their other jewellery too.

Root Beer Confetti Lucite and Shell Earrings

Blue and Gold Drizzle Earrings

Of course I could make my own, not confetti lucite, I'm not that clever, but I have some lovely spare buttons and I remember reading this fabulous post by Tasha (see her below!) at By Gum By Golly about Making Vintage-Inspired Earrings, she's such a clever gal and I do mean to keep trying this. Perhaps I'll give it a go this weekend. If you haven't checked out her blog before, do it, it's a great interesting read and she seems like a lovely lady.

Do you suffer from clip on pain? What's your resolution? Have you found a great repro earring seller for pierced earrings? Or have you followed Tasha's lead and made your own? I'd be interested to know!

I love shoes!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you know that I love shoes! I would say what girls doesn't but I'm sure there are some who don't. I however am addicted to shoes, my budget means I can't buy like I used to but I still look a lot. I am lucky to have small feet so have always been able to buy vintage shoes pretty easily, however I know many of you struggle to find vintage shoes, but don't fear there are some amazing repro brands out there, one of them is Miss L Fire. I LOVE Miss L Fire.

They have just launched there Spring/Summer 13 collection and oh my there are some fabulous shoes in there, I think I need to do some big time saving!! You can find Miss L Fire's online store here in the meantime here are some of my personal favourites.

I think if I get anything from this collection this may be the pair for me, just stunning!

Tijuana in Red - £114.99

Now these are stunning!! Now only are they an amazing design but the very talented Miss L Fire has incorporated a vintage technology that you never seem to see any more in mule shoes, despite it being the cleverest piece of shoe design, the springolator!!! Yay well done Miss L Fire, so nice to see someone finally re-using this marvellous bit of shoe technology

Lola in Brown - £99.99

 I LOVE turquoise, I love a raffia style wedge and I love a tropical flower, there really isn't anything to not love about these, ok maybe I NEED these too ha ha!

Aloha in Turquoise - £89.99

I'm not normally a fan of polka dots but only because they seem to have been hijacked by current trend for 'vintage' without knowing what vintage is *climbing off my soapbox* but I do love these, they are fabulous, happy, cheerful and summery!

Casablanca in Red - £104.99

Despite loving wedges and heels, in reality what I wear most are flats, I have flat feet and heels hurt me for any length of time, plus I have a disabled husband who I need to be steady on my feet for in case he needs help with walking, sooooo I love and wear flats a lot. These are just fabulous and probably are the most likely pair I will buy even though I want most of the range. These are not only stylish and pretty but fabulously flat and practical, my favourite combination, flat is certainly not ugly!

Mexicali - £56.99

 All pretty shoes eh? And they have so many more to drool over, now I need to start counting my pennies!!

Better sewing here I come!

I got this fabulous book delivered this week

I'm a long term sewer/sewist/seamstress whatever but I have wanted to improve my techniques for quite some time however I didn't quite know where to start. I ordered this book hoping that it might show me something.

I follow Gertie's blog http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/ already and am always interested and inspired by her posts, her thirst for knowledge in all things sewing and her ongoing improvement!

Soooo when this landed on my doorstep I wondered if it would live up to my expectations. YES IT DID! It's absolutely fantastic, I've never been so engrossed in a sewing book.

It includes chapters on skills, preparation, essential and nice to have tools, essential techniques, stabilising and tailoring (the chapter that really gripped me!), pattern making and fitting. If that's not enough it contains some project along with patterns, now usually this I find unnecessary I buy the patterns I like and rarely do I like what is included with something like this, but these are great, I will definitely be trying several.

Has Gertie paid me? Nope. Did I get a free book? Nope. Do I genuinely love this and recommend it to all who sew, YES!

A Milestone achieved and some serious thinking!

Today I reached a weight loss milestone, I've now lost 25lbs, it feels so good I can't tell you! I'm so proud that I've tried so hard and it's working. Sometimes it's not hard at all, sometimes you just want to stuff your face with whatever is in the house, but I've resisted. I've exercised and done it the right way as I still have treats, just not as many and not as often as I used to. I still have a ways to go but I'm getting very close to some of the stuff I haven't fit for a long time and other stuff is falling off me :o)

I haven't been able to sew yet, I've been kinda tired after my op and today I went out properly for the first time since my op so I'm super tired today. I'm hoping to start some sewing tomorrow.

Now onto the serious thinking and this IS serious.

I heard some sad news this week about someone I know with regards to their health, it's a sad situation and I wish her all the best, sending the biggest most positive vibes ever. The same day I saw my friend who's Mum died very suddenly and unexpectedly a month or so ago, she wasn't ill as far as they knew and next thing she was dead. Sorry I said this was serious! As regular readers will know we've been through some life changing stuff too and you would think this would constantly make you think that life is short and stuff has to be done, but you know after a while you forget and you get bogged down with all the stuff that happens to us day to day. But the last couple of days and perhaps having time on my hands, has made me think hang on, life is passing, and I'm not necessarily using my time how I want to. I did get a bit distracted by my business failing last year and sorting out my life financially but I think it's time for a reassessment.

Do you do this often? I think it's sometimes important to stand back and think what do I want? How am I going to get it?

One of the things I want to do is sort ourselves financially so that we can start enjoying some of the things we used to love doing. My first one, a trip to California, we love California, but our finances and the increase in cost of flights and poorer exchange rate means we haven't been for a while, so I'm going to have a good think about how we can get back there! Who wouldn't want to go back here?

We'd love to go travelling more anyway and we used to travel a lot in Europe, so before we can afford a Californian dream holiday again, we're thinking some European Cities, perhaps Barcelona, we went years ago and loved it, so watch this space.

We also are awful, both of us, at appreciating the small things in life and so we're determined to do that more too.

I would also definitely like to work for myself again one day, but I'm ok working for someone else for now, however I want to make sure that is always in my mind as I don't want to let go of that dream.

Very long term plans, we would love to move to a property with more character and perhaps out of the area we are in now. Now this would be ideal but unlikely unless we win the lottery he he! Yes it's in California....

So time on my hands has made me think a bit more.

Do you lose track of your dreams sometimes with day to day living? What are your plans?

Time on my hands....

You know when you're busy and all you would like is some time on your hands, then when you have surgery and just have to sit with your leg up you think whaaaaaa I want something to do! That's my situation, sadly I don't look quite this glamorous!

I thought I would sew after my knee op - it's only keyhole so wasn't too ambitious - however I find I've been very sleepy and need to spend most of the time with my knee elevated. I am improving and down to one crutch so hopefully soon before I go back to work I'll manage some sewing.

I have had a visit from a friend today and tomorrow another friend is taking me for coffee so that should be nice.

I've managed to walk around the block today, only a small block but I did it so that is good.

Meantime I've been trawling ebay and etsy to look at all the lovely things I can't afford or searching patterns that I would like to make going forward.

If you live in the UK you'll know we haven't had a summer, if you live elsewhere, I'm letting you know the UK hasn't had a summer I've never seen so much rain! So my thoughts are turning to autumn/winter sewing.

I have never made a coat or jacket and I really fancy trying it this year. I love 50s style swing coats and good vintage ones are becoming very rare so why not try my own. I have some but don't want to over wear them for day to day, so I'm going to give it a go.

So far I've found lots of lovely ideas for jackets, including one that I did feature last year but never got round to doing.

I seem to be veering towards 40s style rain macs, mmmm I wonder why ha ha!

I love this pattern and it is for sale, I may buy this. I've never had a rain coat and considering what it's been like here lately I could do with one.

Cute and look at all those lovely colours!

Beautiful and stylish!

Have you noticed they all have hoods? Yes it's been that foul lately!

I'm more likely to try this first, it looks easy and it's a style I like anyway, so I may give it a go.

I also like this style and it seems like a nice practical style for work, it's not very exciting but it is stylish. I'm just worried about lining a coat for the first time, I imagine that to be complicated!

Colour combos? I still would like to make something with this colour combination, it's just stunning! Yellow and leopard, swoon, or green and leopard, who knows eh?

Well I am off work until at least Monday or Tuesday depending on how I feel and whether I can drive, I have some stuff to do but lots of sleeping seems to be happening too!

Hope you all have a good week.