Antler

Just a nice quick post today as I am currently playing tourist with my friend who is visiting me from Brazil, thank goodness the weather has gotten better!
Although its been going for a while I have just discovered Antler magazine, and I have to say I'm SO impressed by this online wonder!! I'm often not much of a fan of online magazines but this has some of the prettiest fashion photography I have seen in a long time. As I'm not very good at computer things I couldnt work out how to bring some of the photos over to here, so you will have to take my word for it! But if you can have a look at  'Beyond the wall of sleep' and  'Alone in India' in the Vintage issue, just stunning :)

News :)

So today I finally have a bit of time to process what has been my crazy life the last few weeks!! All good things though, but crazy!

So at the beginning of the year I was fortunate enough to go to Brazil for 3 months, it was incredible as you can imagine, the best experience of my life, it would take far too long to explain the things I saw, the beautiful people I met and the things I learnt. But I will say that a trip like that does make you reassess a lot of things. I knew when I got home that I couldn't go back to the way things had been and I needed some changes. It was a little frustrating for a while and it did make me feel restless, but I eventually narrowed it down to a change of job, that would be the ticket.

 I love crafts, and I am passionate about them, and its funny but I never thought that I would be able to translate that into actually making a living. . . . but then in the last few weeks fantastic things have happened that has led to me now teaching crafts for 2 different company's in west London, which has meant I can leave my current day job to focus on this amazingness!! As you can imagine I am VERY excited! I start in September so I'm sure you will be hearing about it on here until you will shout 'no more about the classes jess please'!!

In honour of the news I wanted to share a few of my favourite D-I-Ys from the blog universe.

This beautiful bag from ticktockvintage is so cute and a amazing up-cycle, I love being able to recycle old things, especially textiles!

This PandaPin from  A Common Thread is so cute! I love having something fun and small to knit to break up larger projects and this perfect :)

I know that Rachel from Smile and Wave made this Shot To Heart Arrow Garland for her daughters nursery but I cant resist the colours and fun of it, I want one for my room!

Last but not least is Aimee from Swellmayde. I love all of Aimees creations so please go and have a look at her gallery, so many beautiful things to make and be inspired by :)

With all of that loveliness I leave you now to go and drink tea and try and clean my room to a liveable state again!!

Hettie

I have had such a crazy week, and feel a little pooped out. But I wanted to share some happy news with you all. . .  .after a long search I have finally adopted a bike! Her name is Hettie and she. . . . . .well she needs a bit of love, some new tyres and possibly a basket :) but she will soon be glorious! I have spent far too long recently looking at Erin from calvintage tumblr bikesandbabes. So many pretty bikes and styles. . .. one day my wish is that Hettie and I will make it onto erins tumblr.

I will be back soon with my exciting news, but until then I hope you all have had a amazing weekend!

Bright eyed

Its the most beautiful sunny morning this Monday morning and its making me feel like I need to go on a adventure!! Enid Blyton style, with a picnic that MUST contain ginger beer and a cake that the housekeeper made :)
I have had some very exciting news that I will be sharing with you shortly when its all sunk in! But until then I wanted to share this amazing find with you.

Brooke Schmidt is an amazing, inspiring, incredible artist. Her work makes me want even more to go on a adventure, and find secret treasures. Its her books that I love the most, I want to be able to stare at them for hours! She says ''My narrative books include my narrative prose and poetry, often gleaned from within the framework of what is found inside the book; finding my words as part of a larger story already told, much like we do in life.''

I defy you to look at her blog and gallery on flickr and not be hooked for hours!!

Now I'm off to have a cup of tea and hunt for some treasures. Happy Monday to you all.

Song of the day

This makes me want to run around with a big smile on my face. . . . always a good thing!

Rainbow

What is it about a box of embroidery thread that makes me so excited?! I imagine its the feeling that painters get when they look at their paint pallet. . . .a sense of expectation, of things yet to be created. And also its because the colours are so pretty!! As Brits we tend to be a bit scared of colour I think. Now I love a vintage tone as much as the next girl and there are times when a nothing but a little black dress will do, but I think sometimes we can get a bit in a rut with colour.

I was in Brazil at the beginning of the year and one of the things that really stood out to me ( apart from the HEAT!) was the vibrancy of colours, in décor and in fashion.

It made me really reassess my view of colour and how I could use it.
There are some amazing inspirational people with re-guard to colour, and I thought I would share my top 3 :):

1.Kaffe Fassett - The king of the last decade when it comes to using colour, here is man who is not afraid!!!! He said on a recent TV interview that we should be 'slobs with colour' in order to see how it works for us.

 2. Coury Combs from fancy tree house- I Love how Coury makes dressing colourfully still tasteful and fun!         Whenever I read her blog it makes me want to die all of my clothes!

3. Katie from colormekatie- Speaking of fun this girl has it in spades!!!! whenever I am feeling a little bit blue I look at Katies blog, and suddenly everything is right with the world!!

So this summer its my goal to:
1. Try and be a 'slob with colour' and use more colour in my crafts.
2. Try to be braver with colour in my wardrobe and experiment more with different combos.
3. Use colour to make myself and others happy!

I will let you know how I get on as 2011 rolls on :)