Finding the Time

I am scared.

Why? Because on Monday I start a new job and will be back to a 40 hour working week. I'm not scared of that (well the usual WHAT IF EVERYONE HATES ME AND I AM COMPLETELY USELESS fears but nothing out of the ordinary). I'm scared of everything I have gained from having 5 weeks off.

Prior to my month off work, I was working part time for 3 months. Both of these things have given me one of the greatest gifts any creative person could ask for; time. I had all this lovely time for which I could frolic about in and not have the pressure of "WELL YOU ONLY HAVE 2 HOURS OF YOUR OWN FREE TIME IN WHICH TO DO SOMETHING CREATIVE, FUN AND PRODUCTIVE - GO!" thoughts (ok I'm going to stop with the caps lock now, that's kind of annoying, but you get my point). 

I've been prolific in blog writing, had the time and space to work on different types of craft projects. I could start a new project and know that it didn't matter because I'd have time to go back to the other one. I had lists and lists of nice things to do - learn to crochet, make a skirt, make gifts for friends, work on my cross stitch, try out some embroidery, bake a cake and those are just the crafty things not even mentioning all of the other lovely things I've been able to do. Obviously it's allowed me the freedom to live my life at a much slower pace, and I have enjoyed it immensely.

So this is why I'm scared. As of next week all of that disappears and the majority of my time will be spent at work meaning all of these things I love have to take a back seat. I'm scared I won't find time for them again, or if I do that they will feel rushed and I'll feel like I have to do them. Not to mention fitting in a boyfriend that lives in North London, friends, family, cooking, cleaning, buying food, making sure I use my car regularly so it doesn't die (again) and I'm not even going to mention exercise!

This is my dilemma and I'm sure it's the dilemma of most people reading this right now. Finding time for all the things we want to do, as well as the things we have to do. Not to mention time to do nothing, something that is incredibly vital to my well being.

So how do we do it? How do we find the balance between work and play? For some people maybe it's easier. Maybe a half hour sit down in front of the telly, or an evening spent at the gym is enough? Maybe a Friday night out on the town or a few beers with friends satisfies. For me, my spare time is a precious commodity; I need as much of it as I can get.

In the UK we seem to live in a work hard, play hard culture. Maybe that works for some, but for the most part I think we are just overdoing it. Maybe it's because we have to, we need the money and part time hours aren't going to pay the bills and support a family, or maybe it's because we think it's what's expected of us?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. How do you find the balance between work and your spare time?

Black and White Button Necklace

Remember I made this necklace for my Mum a while back? Well I really loved it so wanted to make a similar one for myself. I chose black and white buttons this time (from Liberty none the less darlings!!) and this was the final result:

What do you think?

Featured Artist - Yuki Snow

One of my favourite Brighton artists has to be the fantastic Yuki Snow. Her work is so utterly breathtaking and completely inspiring. Yuki combines crafting into her paintings and you can expect to see knitting, embroidery, sequins and buttons in her work! Originally from Japan, Yuki incorporates both her Japanese heritage and her current Western lifestyle in her paintings resulting in a dream-like utopia.

(All images via: Yuki Snow)

Yuki also sells a range of products available both in her online store and at Handmade in Brighton. (If you haven't checked out Handmade you really should, it's jam packed full of handmade products from all of the best Brighton artists. I absolutely adore that shop!)

These tote bags are the cutest (I also have the pleasure of owning one, as Yuki very kindly gave me one as a gift!)

Fabulous rings:

Cute little badges:

And gorgeous cards!

I cannot urge you enough to go check out her website! You can also check out her blog for all her latest news and exhibitions. 

And if you still haven't got enough of her, Yuki also runs a Manga Illustration course at Phoenix Brighton. The course runs over one weekend (1st and 2nd of October 2011) and costs £80. 

Link Love Sunday

Liberty have teamed up with Hello Kitty, and to be honest...I'm not sure I like it. For me the brand Hello Kitty is much more vibrant, and Liberty 'sophisticated'. Meshing the two just seems very odd. What do you think?

( Via: Liberty) 

My new favourite site is craftgawker. It's basically like Pinterest but specifically for crafting. It's completely addictive and has an iphone app!You can expect beautiful things like this:

( Via: Two Girls Being Crafty on Craftgawker)

Need a cupcake stand? Have some old records lying around? Then make one yourself by following this easy tutorial!

(Via: The Kitchn)

I always worry about growing old with someone and how the relationship will end up when you are in your 60s. This fantastic article calms all my fears.

These jars are stunning! Find out how to make them here:

I recently bought a necklace from this great ebay shop called Pip and Squeak. I can't recommend it highly enough! Super speedy delivery, fantastic packaging (with a friendly note too!) and such a gorgeous necklace. I love how they've used playing cards to hold the necklace:

How stunning is this Radio Times cover from the 30s?

(Via: Graphic Journey)

Accepting your curves

In the last year I've gone up two dresses sizes. This isn't a massive big deal as I'm now only a size 12 but as anyone who has suddenly gained weight will know, it can make you feel quite down. My weight gain in part is down to the medication I take for my migraines and (not surprisingly) to the pill but I'm pretty sure it's also just my body changing naturally. I'm 27 now and in the last year I feel my body has become much more womanly and I love it!

When I was a teenager I was really skinny and I absolutely hated it. I find it very odd when I see teeny tiny 16 year old girls walking around who love being thin, because when I was that age and that size I absolutely hated it. (I should add here that I'm really happy for these girls to love their bodies as long as that is their natural size and not because they are on some ridiculous diet and trying to get onto Britain's Next Top Model). I would spend hours crying over the fact that no clothes fitted me (my Mum had to take everything in), that I had no breasts (thank you padded bras) and that no boys would fancy me EVER because I looked so awful (turns out all of my ex boyfriends have loved my figure no matter what size I've been!).

So now I have the curves I always wanted, I'm trying to enjoy them and think about my 16 year old self who would have loved to have some meat on her bones.

In recent months my biggest problem has been accepting my body has changed, so this afternoon I spent 3 hours clearing out my wardrobe getting rid of anything that didn't fit. It wasn't a very nice process; but then squeezing into pairs of jeans that don't fit is never going to be (especially when several pairs wouldn't even make it past my thighs!). 3 hours later and 3 charity shop bags later and I was done. So what that I'm only left with 2 pairs of jeans? Those two pairs fit fantastically and I don't feel awful when I wear them! The great thing of course when you sort out your wardrobe is you remind yourself of all the wonderful clothes you do own; that little black dress that makes you feel amazing, and of course the shoes! Oh the shoes.

So I'm going to stop giving my body such a hard time. I don't want to become the kind of woman that obsesses over her weight. My boyfriend loves my body, he tells me often and he also tells me that he likes me having a bit of "extra" weight! So I think it's time I start loving my body; appreciating it in all it's curvy glory. My 16 year old self would love how I look in dresses (I know she'd be over the moon with the size of my boobs!) so I'm going to join her and start loving my body too.

How do you feel about your body? Do you love it or hate it?

Pretty Things

I just want to say a massive thank you for all the lovely comments I've had about my post yesterday both on here, privately and on twitter. It means a lot that I can share something so personal and be received so warmly. Today however is a short and sweet, light hearted post!

Today I was naughty and bought some pretty things.

Pretty shoes:

(Primark - £8)

Pretty rose belt:

(New Look - £4.99)

Pretty horse belt:

(Primark - £2)

Tea and Coffee Tins:

(Evolution: £3.50 each)

Sewing and Mental Health

People often ask me how I got into sewing and the answer is: because I wasn't in a good way.

Last year I was signed off work with depression and anxiety. At times the anxiety was so bad I couldn't leave the house, especially when trying to find the right type of medication to ease my everyday suffering (the irony of antidepressants is they often make you feel a lot worse before you feel better). The depression meant I found it very difficult to concentrate on anything or have the motivation to concentrate on anything, which in turn only allowed me to ruminate further.

It was my Mum who suggested getting a sewing machine. I'd dabbled with sewing when I was at school but hadn't really done much since. Mum really pushed on this one, telling me it would give me something to focus on. I wasn't convinced. How would I have the motivation to make anything? I could barely even watch television.

Despite my concerns, I bought a sewing machine (no mean feat - this meant leaving the house which at this point in my life was a complete struggle) and found an online tutorial for some simple cushion covers. A few hours later and I was done. I was over the moon with my first project.

The cushion covers were simple enough that I could stay focused, but taxing enough that it engaged me in a task. Not only was this a breakthrough in my sewing skills,but little did I know what a massive breakthrough it was for my mental health.

From there I went on to make some more complex things like appliqued cushions and a doorstop owl!

Each project I worked on allowed me to forget about the anxiety and the depression; to forget everything and to just concentrate on the task at hand. I've always had an energetic mind, so whatever I'm doing or working on my brain is whirring about in the background, chattering away. However with sewing, it allowed me to give my brain a rest and just focus on what I was working on. 

I also got a massive sense of achievement from completing a project, which gave me a much needed lift from the darkness my everyday life had become. 

In January I went back to work and started my way on the road to recovery. It wasn't easy but I'm pleased to say I got there. I certainly don't believe sewing was the magical cure for my problems; counselling, medication, and the support of family, friends and my workplace were definitely the major contributors but sewing really did help me when things were bad. 

Throughout this year my love of sewing has grown and grown, which prompted me to start this blog and start sharing my creations with like minded folk. It's lovely to see how I've improved over the months as I've chosen more taxing projects to work on. 

I was hesitant about sharing my experience on here as I was worried about what people would think of me. In particular I was worried about my career. As I've previously mentioned I'm starting a new job in September, what if one of my new work colleagues saw it? What would they think? Would I get fired? But then I stopped and realised that all of these are issues that face everyone who suffers mental health problems and that this stigma around mental health has got to stop. My past isn't going to stop me being successful and motivated in my career, and it's not going to stop me doing a bloody good job come September! There is no shame in having experienced mental health problems and as a result it has made me a stronger person. 

Over this last year I've become an avid crafter, putting my hand to anything that takes my fancy and I'm happy to say sewing is no longer just a means of survival and distraction, but is a passionate hobby. 

Link Love Sunday

Most people post their blog posts on a Friday. I personally choose not to do this as for me the end of the week is Sunday. It also means you get something to read today! :)

Tom sent me a link to this book this morning and I want it so much!

The Guardian did a selection of some of the images; this is definitely one of my favourites:

(Via The Guardian)

I love this awesome 'happy hands' necklace over at Stars n Scars:

(Via: Stars N Scars at Folksy)

I am completely in love with these felt brooches made by Mollbird. I want one so bad!

(Via: Mollbird at Folksy)

I would love to have lamps like these in my house!

(Via: OhDeeDoh)

This has to be the best craft room I've ever seen?

(Via: NaturalMindSet on Squidoo)

If like me you are forever looking for sewing patterns you'll love this link! 101 sewing tutorials for summer!

One of my favourites includes this skirt - my next make perhaps?

(Via: Crafter Hours)

Being an introvert

I've recently been toying with the idea that as I near the big 3-0 I'm becoming much more introverted. A friend of mine was the one to point this out to me after I'd been explaining how a day of socialising usually meant I required even more time to myself to feel sane again. He suggested I was either becoming more introverted as I grew older, or perhaps always had been but had been suppressing it. 


An introvert is defined as 'a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings' but is often misconstrued as meaning shy. The definition makes it sound like I must be narcissistic but that's not the case. It simply means that I enjoy my own company, exploring my own thoughts and feelings and spending time by myself. 


To some extent I've always been like this. I was an only child until the age of 15 but even then my brother never lived with me, so I've always been very good at occupying myself. The change I have noticed, is that in the past I used to love going out socialising as long as I had some time to myself. I'm finding that I am increasingly needing more and more time to myself, and if I don't get it I feel really awful mentally. 


I always used to be the kind of person that had plans nearly every day of the week, but now I find this completely overwhelming. If I can't see breaks in my diary for "me time" I completely freak out and feel almost suffocated. It means the plans I have feel like chores and just something I have to do in order to get to the me time. 


I was living like this for a while and it was just ridiculous. What was the point? I was no longer enjoying the company of my friends so why was I bothering? Once I accepted the fact that maybe I had become more introverted, and saw time for me as a necessity my mind started feeling much more calm and sane. It's hard to explain to people sometimes that you can't see them, especially if they see it as you "doing nothing" but most of my close friends are completely respectful of this and simply cherish our time together even if it is less than in the past. It is hard. It's a balancing act, but now I've come to accept this change hopefully life will be a lot more enjoyable. 


Are you introverted? What have your experiences been? I'd love to hear them. 

Handmade by Emily

I love receiving thank you notes (I'm just very into being thankful is all - that's how I was brought up!) but boy do I love receiving gifts as an added bonus!!!

The lovely Emily over at Handmade by Emily sent me this beautiful thank you card (her own work I might add) as well as some of her gorgeous hairclips and fridge magnets. Aren't they gorgeous?

If you haven't already go check out her Etsy shop. She's currently having a half price sale too!

The stress of A Level results

Today is A Level results day across the UK. It was 9 years ago I collected my A Levels and I can still remember quite clearly how traumatic it was. As a fully fledged grown up (apparently!) it's quite easy to pass judgement on our teens; claiming results don't matter and they shouldn't worry but when you are 17/18 years old you feel like your whole life depends on it.

I was always fairly smart at school. I loved learning and even though at the time I remember threatening to leave my 6th Form to go to the local tech college, I think overall I did enjoy it. I've always been creative and my A Levels reflected that; English Literature, Media Studies and Theatre Studies. Maybe some will say they are wishy washy subjects but I loved them. I didn't want to study Maths or Science. I wanted to immerse myself in the arts, read novels, plays and poetry. So that's what I did.

In my first year I did well - 2 As and a B. At this point I didn't want to go to University. I had always been pretty adamant I didn't want to go. I didn't see why I had to have a degree to get a decent job, why couldn't I just work my way up? This was how I had felt for a pretty long time but then something in me changed and I decided to apply.

To this day I have no idea why I changed my mind. I could try and justify it by saying there was a lot of pressure put on me to apply, but this would only be true of the school (they really couldn't understand why you wouldn't want to go) but definitely not true of my parents. Even now my Dad still asks me what changed my mind and I really don't know. One day I just woke up and had decided I was going to apply to do English Literature. I'd applied to Cardiff and they wanted 1 A and 2Bs which seemed like a walk in the park.

On the day of the results, I was so nervous. When I opened the envelope and saw it said 3 Bs I was devastated. I felt like the whole world had caved in. It only got worse when my head of year phoned Cardiff and they confirmed that there was no place for me there. How could I be so upset about something that I only  had wanted for such a short amount of time? No matter what the reasons I was. My second choice University was Portsmouth and I'd only chosen it as it had lower grade boundaries.

In the end I went through clearing and got a place studying Psychology at Sussex. Now half of this decision made a lot of sense. When looking at Universities I had really wanted to go to Sussex. I absolutely adored Brighton and really wanted to live there, yet it was so far away from my rural roots in Gloucestershire that I ended up choosing Cardiff ;an hour away from home on the train. Choosing Psychology however was a different story. It was simply because they didn't have any places left on the English Lit course and I thought it would be interesting. Yep that's right, I got myself 12k worth of debt over a subject I thought would be  'interesting' (talk about throwing all my morals out of the window!).

Going through clearing again made me feel like a failure. Ridiculous huh? But it was how I felt. For years I'd been working hard, working towards something, working for these grades that seemed like they were the answer, and somehow I'd not done well enough to secure myself a place at Uni.

With hindsight, I want to go back and yell at my 17 year old self and tell her that none of it matters and to stop putting so much pressure on myself. I am a driven and motivated person and I strongly believe that no matter what path I would have taken I would still have made a success of myself, in whatever shape or form that ended up being. Maybe in part I feel cross because Uni wasn't really worth it for me. It was constantly hard, more pressure I hated and I was completely glad when it was over. The only thing I enjoyed about Uni was it allowed me to move to Brighton and I know for a fact I wouldn't have had the courage to move so far away from home if I hadn't have gone to University.

So it turns out my 16 year old self was right all along. My degree simply acts as a checkbox on my CV that says 'yep she's got a brain' and probably helped me to get my first 'career' job. Now? It doesn't make any difference whatsoever. It's about the experience I've got. I have many friends who don't have degrees who have successful jobs, and are earning a decent salary too.

 I just hope the 17/18 year olds getting their results today only go to University because they have a passion for learning or because they know what career they want to do, not because they feel they have to.

How to make a simple skirt

I am pleased to announce that today I tackled making a skirt and it was a great success! I had looked at quite a few tutorials so knew roughly what I was planning, but I used mainly this one over at Dana Made it.

The skirt took about 2 1/2 hours to make and I was able to do it using some leftover fabric I had.

You will need:

- Fabric - I used a cotton, but this depends on how you want your skirt to fall. I'd recommend feeling up a lot of fabric in a fabric shop and seeing how it feels. 

- Elastic - I used a 2 inch width elastic. 1 inch would also work fine. 

Measuring Up 

Elastic

First of all measure your waist (or where you want the skirt to sit). For example I wanted mine to sit a little bit lower than my waist and this measured 28inches. Add an inch to this and cut your elastic. So mine was 29 inches. 

Fabric

Length - Measure from your waist to where you want your skirt to finish. E.g. just below the knee. Then 1.5inches to this (for the hem). Mine came to 22.5inches. 

Width - Take your waist measurement and double it. So mine came to 56 inches. 

Therefore I needed a piece of fabric that measures 56 inches by 22.5 inches. It doesn't matter if you don't have one large piece however, as you could always just sew two pieces to together. 

 Step 1

Place the right sides of the fabric together, pin and sew the seam of the side of the skirt. I did this by straight stitching first and then using a zig zag stitch over the top of it to reinforce it. 

Step 2

Iron your seam! I stupidly didn't leave much seam allowance so unfortunately mine looked a bit dodgy!

Step 3

Fold over the raw edges (about 1/4 of an inch) of both the top and bottom of your skirt and iron flat. 

Step 4

To create the waistband, fold over the top of the fabric and iron flat. This should be about 1/2 inch wider than the elastic itself. 

Step 5

Next, at the seam, add two pins about 4 inches apart. This will be where you feed through your elastic waistband. 

Step 6

Sew the waistband in place (just the fabric at this point, the elastic comes in next). Remember to leave that gap in between your pins. 

Step 7

Put a safety pin on one end of the fabric and feed it through the waistband. You'll notice the fabric starts to gather. 

Step 8

You now need to sew the elastic together. This is also a good time to check the skirt fits! Safety pin both pieces of elastic together and try the skirt on. You can then get a good idea of where you want to sew the elastic together. 

To sew the elastic together, simply pin it in place. Again I just used straight stitch and then reinforced it with a zig zag stitch in two places. Cut off any excess elastic. 

Step 9

Straight stitch the gap in your waistband

Step 10

Finally to create the hem at the bottom of the skirt simply, fold over about 1/2 inch of fabric (depending on how wide you want your hem to be), iron flat and straight stitch along. 

Step 11

Iron out any creases and you are done!

For a first attempt I was really pleased with this skirt. It's probably unlikely to be worn by me as it's quite a poofy skirt. This is due to a few factors; my choice of fabric, and the thick elasticated waist band. Next time I'll be trying the same design but with a polyester fabric to see how that works out. Let me know if you try it, as I'd love to see your results too!

Project 365

Lots of blogs I follow do something called Project 365. The idea being you post a picture every day. As I just got a new camera (and seriously am no photographer) I thought this would be a nice little project to work on. It'll make sure I use my camera, plus it's almost a bit like a diary of the year. I can look back and have something to represent it!

I'm pretty terrible at spotting good things to take photos of, so it'll be interesting to see what I choose!

Here's a round up of my first week:

My friend's crazy cat Pedro saying Hi to the fish:

Beautiful baby Rowan aged 4 weeks:

Thrifty finds by my Mum - toy patterns - 20p each! Bargain:

My Dad up the apple tree - in preparation for our blackberry and apple pie:

My new 'controversial' willow pattern mug (controversial as Sainsbury's are ripping off the original!):

New shoes. Pretty little ballet pumps:

A cute old campervan I saw parked near Queen's Park:

A teeny tiny dress crocheted from artificial hair:

(Click on any of the images to see the larger originals)