On the 6th Day of Christmas...

... this blogger gave to thee..

 ... six party frocks ...

... five gold rings!..

... four micro art forms...

... three tubby little cubbies...

... two fancy pens...

... and a lego man made of a tree.

It is the 31st of December and my iPad keeps bonging. It keeps bonging because my little sister knows what day it is and keeps sending me suggestions. She keeps sending me suggestions because it's dresses, dresses, dresses day!

So no wittering, here's six pretty (in my opinion) dresses...

'Harlow' Teal Black Lace Swing Dress from Lindy Bop, in all its beautiful lacy glory. I only discovered Lindy Bop this year and I've become completely obsessed with it's gorgeous retro inspired dress shapes and their plethora of vintage style printed fabrics they come in. While I've not worn a dress properly in years, I'd kill to wear vintage style dresses and swish about like I was Jane Russell or Grace Kelly. You can even buy petticoats to full poof out your skirt for that full retro glam look. I also love Lindy Bop all the more because their sizes run from six to twenty six, so no discrimination there for anyone! 

Every year I try and make up this list, I end up with at least half a dozen jacquard fabric dresses. This year being no exception, there were in fact fifteen on the list, but this was my favourite. I'm must drawn to that beautifully textured, woven fabric, to the point where I ignore all others. Blue Rose Jacquard Midi Prom Dress from ASOS, being a good example of this, with raised woven flowers and lovely combination of the black, blue and purple. It always looks like it's good quality, you can almost feel the weight to the fabric which always seems a little more worth the money, plus, the fact that around this time of year there are lots of metallic jacquard fabric dresses to be had, always seems very festive.

Maya Petite Star Embellished Maxi Dress from ASOS, is probably the most casual in shape of the six dresses, but those silver sequin stars make it really special. I'd probably try and wear this everyday like a crazy lady.

Polish Introduction Dress from Modcloth, is again going for that metallic equals festive mindset for me. It's Christmas/New Years, which means you can wear as much glittery, metallic, sparkly stuff as you can get your hands on right? That's the law?

That said, I'd get rid of the beaded bit on the belt, but that's just me. And I'm sure I say it every year, but damn you Modcloth for not having suppliers in the UK so I can spend all my money on everything you sell... also than you for not because I really don't have that kind of cash!

**Chi Chi London Floral Print Midi Dress from Dorothy Perkins, comes in three colours as far as I can see, an aqua, a pale pink and the silver. They're all lovely, but seeing it's Christmas and this dress is covered in pansies, I think the silver is the most wintry, though pansies and violas do flower in the winter, giving the garden a little colour so my argument is kind of negated. The silver dress does give you a pretty good opportunity to wear brightly coloured shoes though, which is lucky...

Frock and Frill Embellished Overlay Pencil Dress from ASOS, sequins and a grown up dress for our last dress. I say grown up, but that's mostly because it's a pencil dress and in my head grown ups wear pencil dresses and not so grown ups wear ones with big skirts in which to twirl in. Twirling is a good thing, at least in my book.

Now, I have to say that ASOS stepped up this year and trumped pretty much every other shop I looked at. Am I alone in being slightly impatient for the nineties fashion revival we've been doing through this year, to hurry up an end? I lived through the nineties, I survived the years of boxy tops and shapeless everything (and the shoes, we'll talk about that hideous revival tomorrow) and I have had no desire to relive it bar the grunge era of micro floral dresses, denim and Dr. Martens. Please, fashion world, could we please, please, please have longer tops and clothes that aren't entirely square?

And could we also please ditch pastels and get back to bright and jewel tones, just for a year? Pretty please with glitter on top?

Anyway, I hope you liked the dresses, does anyone have any favourites? If not they're all mine and I'm not sharing.

Merry Christmas! Part seven tomorrow...

Link || Harlow Teal Black Lace Swing Dress from Lindy Bop
Link || Blue Rose Jacquard Midi Prom Dress from ASOS
Link || Maya Petite Star Embellished Maxi Dress from ASOS
Link || Polish Introduction Dress from Modcloth
Link || **Chi Chi London Floral Print Midi Dress from Dorothy Perkins
Link || Frock and Frill Embellished Overlay Pencil Dress from ASOS

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Listening: Carol of Bells - George Winston

Monday Mood Board: Ode to...

Row 1:

Bobbin Lace Pillow by Me,

Colorful Wind by Hannah Khymych

Row 2:

Bloom: At The Farm by Marie Taillefer,

Succulents by Polly Eltes

Inspired by my great grans lace pillow (above). Last week I decide it was time to start using it and that started by removing granny grans last piece of lace, all her bobbins and recovering the pillow. All of her coverings are beneath it (bar a piece of stick on lino which was a little ragged) but I used the push-pins that were securing that to secure a piece of thick denim over the whole pillow, which I'm hoping will be nice and durable. The stretched a piece of green velvet ribbon I've been hoarding for years at the opening for the roller to keep the edge from pulling up. The roller's still granny grans red paisley pattern fabric, I can't decide what pattern to recover it with. I need to find something a little bit special, maybe a fat quarter of some pretty fabric.

For now I'm trying a slightly more elaborate lace ribbon, which after spending hours winding my bobbins with 70+ metres of mercer crochet cotton and getting half a dozen pins down, got stuck because I had to change stitches and the photo looked like one, but claimed to be another. I'll work it out, but I'm definitely confused.

Now, the sun has finally come out from behind the clouds, so I'm off to plant begonias in window boxes.

Have a nice May Day Bank Holiday!

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Listening: Mint Royal - Blue Song

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

...my blog gave to thee...

...seven pretty shoesies...

...six party dresses...

...five gold rings!..

...four collared hangers...

...three Mad Men...

...two hedgehog gloves...

...and a house to dunk into your tea.

Today's offering come courtesy of the response I had to yesterdays post, which was a bit of ooohing and ahhhing of my sisters and a couple of other lovely ladies who read my blog. Thanks my dears! The idea for today had been to post a picture of these gorgeous little cloud shaped marshmallows with a title which I realised today actually miss attributed the original source of said confectionery and then no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get to work back into a seven based rhyme. It doesn't actually matter, I'll post a picture of them another day. But instead today we have shoes to go with yesterdays dresses.

1. Been A Bad Boy Black Leather from Office - £40

2. Purple Mouse Wrap Platforms from Schuh - £29.99

3. Floral Button Alphabite Court Shoes from Irregular Choice -£69.99

4. PEACHES Suede Platform Court Shoes from ASOS - $68.96

5. Fifi 100 Satin & Lace Pumps by Christian Louboutin from Net-a-Porter - £507.50

6. Tapetastic from Irregular Choice (I have the kitten heel version) - £59.99

7. Purple Belle and Mimi Suede Platform Court Shoes from Dorothy Perkins - £45

Thought these would go suitably with most of the dresses. Though the Louboutin's are definitely out of any sensible persons price range, and I did find a similar, cheaper pair, but hey, when in the bloggersphere a girl can dream.

I do love shoes though. Despite my complete inability to walk in high heels above 2 or 3 inches, in amongst my sneakers and ballet pumps, I have a few pairs which I absolutely love. Bright purple suedette heels from H&M, which I walked back to the car barefoot last time I wore them because I'd rather have dirty wet feet than ruin them in the rain. Brown brogues which I had to buy a size too big because they were the last pair and now I have to put gel pads at the base and back to wear them. Then there are the measuring tape kitten heels from Irregular Choice, which I've had for years but only finally braved to wear for my Masters Degree Show...they are the most comfortable heels I own & gorgeous too boot, so I periodically check eBay just in case I can buy another pair and actually get to wear them more often. Though tonight I discovered they've now started making a slightly different pair which I may be tempted into.

See. Can't resist them!

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years and doesn't suffer too badly.

Merry Christmas! Part eight next year!

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Listening: Boyce Avenue & Kina Grannis - With or Without You

Artificial Bonsai

Magic Tree Image

Do you remember those magic trees from when we were kids? I loved them when I was a little and I remember buying them from this little toy shop where I live called the Cats Cradle...which closed down so long ago I half think I'm making it up. There was something so fascinating about watching these seemingly boring cardboard cut out begin to bloom ...why there's cherry blossom on something the shape of a conifer, I'll never know, but pink crystals? I'm sold.

Prior to (as my friend has termed it) snowpocalypse, which has foiled any chance of doing the other practices, I had been researching ideas for displays & came across this, an Artificial Bonsai Tree by Jennifer Chan:

Essentially it is a CAD rendered, resin structure, the leaves made of a lattice work which is integral to the way in which the rapid prototype is formed. Unlike conventional manufacturing processes, rapid prototyping produces internal and external structures simultaneously from the base up, meaning the tree is a whole form rather than sections put together. The prongs making the lattice work of leaves is technically the waste material which allows the structural support to the piece being produce, and are usually disposed of once complete.

Chan has used this to her advantage turning the lattice work into leaves, which the owner then trims into their preferred form and doesn't have to worry about their lovely, expensive bonsai suffering an untimely death.

I kind of love this and for the less green fingered of us there's no fear factor from this Droog design. It is in my mind, a kind of grown up magic tree, but it won't disintegrate over time.

Wonder if they come in pink?

via

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Listening: James Taylor - Frozen Man

Monday Mood Board: Vintage Lace

Row 1: Grace Kelly via A Girls Guide to Home Life,

Large Peony Lashes by Luna & Curious, Belgian Lace by Sigrid Reinsch

Row 2: Black Lace by *Loli-rot, The Lace Thing by Tongue in Cheek,

We Are Climbing Up Into Our Tree House by Faerie Finder

Row3: Lacemakers via ancestry.com, Lacemaking via Bobbinlacepassion.com

I've been making more lace this weekend. After having a small freak out about life, the universe and everything. Not the most fun of weekends, but I've made a length of bobbin lace out of an antique cream mercer crochet, which is a little sturdier than the thread I've been using up until now. I'm still only doing basic stitches and I've still not gone and gotten the roller cushion or extra bobbins from gran, but it is nice to know I'm carrying on a tradition from the Belgian side of the family. Scottish-Belgian lace, handmade and destined for pieces of jewellery...

...or at least that's the plan.

So for this Monday, a selection of lace inspired goodness. I particularly love the eye makeup - which reminds me of a friends masquerade party and her interpretation of a mask - and the amazing papercut eyelashes! Plus you really can't beat Grace Kelly for elegance can you?

Happy Monday!

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Listening: Cee Lo Green - Fuck You