Thursday 23 June 2011

only a pawn in their game

i had my last exam today; spanish, and it was a really weird paper but there's nothing i can do about that now. 
after my exam, my mum & i drove to hexham to have a look around the various charity shops there. it was a pretty successful trip! i bought a few things to make jewellery with, as well as some other things which took my fancy.
recently i've been thinking about using dominoes to make necklaces, and almost by chance i landed upon this set of wooden dominoes in the first charity shop we went in! clearly it was fate.
the set was only £1, and there's 28 pieces so i can get a good few necklaces out of them!
i've also been looking on ebay for some kids picture dominoes, & i found the cutest set of 101 dalmation dominoes, which are in fact shaped like dalmations! my bidding war has already started on those bad boys.
apparently the dominoes were previously owned by ben reddon. i love buying things secondhand, there's so much history to them! also, the box will come in handy as a prop when i come to take photos of the jewellery.
i found these records in the oxfam bookshop; born in the usa by bruce springsteen and all the best a double album of paul mccartney's greatest hits. they came to just under £5 all together, which i think is a pretty good deal!
i already have born in the usa digitally, but i much prefer having albums on vinyl. it seemed like a pretty fitting tribute to clarence clemons who died at the weekend to buy it today.
the paul mccartney record has loads of cute illustrations based on his songs, my favourite is the running musical instruments for band on the run (which also happens to be one of my favourite wings songs).
also, i love the gatefold sleeve with a collage of pictures of paul! i actually love him.
i picked this nail varnish up in the boots in hexham, i've been looking for a turquoisey colour to go with my dress for the ball, and i'm going to put some matching ribbons on my shoes too.
i picked up this tablemat/doily thing for 25p! it's got a couple of flower motifs that i'm going to cut out & make into necklaces.
i bought this tie with an unbelievably awesome tiny green pig print for only 50p, i think i'll probably give it to my dad for a belated father's day present. sometimes i wish i was a guy just so i could wear a succession of amazingly cool patterned ties, it would be brilliant.
i also bought this disney princess jigsaw for 50p, i couldn't resist! i've been thinking about gluing together section of the pieces to make either necklaces or brooches, which will look a bit like the piece below, what do you think?
now that i am free for the summer, i'm going to be planning this jewellery stuff like crazy! seriously can't wait to get it started, sorry if i'm driving you all insane by constantly going on about it but i'm just so excited!

Monday 20 June 2011

day by day, old joy comes back to me.

sorry that it's been a bit of a slow week blogwise, there really just hasn't been anything interesting enough to post about!
this saturday was my friend matthew's birthday, so we had a night out to the local pub (despite the ridiculous amount of rain that there was!).
matthew & i.
we all clubbed together & bought him some tshirts from topman, we were going to buy him the blondie one he's wearing in these photos, but thankfully we found out he already had it before we bought it.
matthew & i doing ridiculous faces.
joanna & me, my face is unbelievably pale here!
charlotte, kate, me, matthew, gemma & rhiannon.
i look like a total plank leaning over the table like that, paha.
charlotte, kate & me. interestingly enough, charlotte's doing that same face on our yearbook photograph.
just cannot wait for my exams to be over now, feels like this period of revision will never end. this time thursday will be such a huge relief.

Thursday 16 June 2011

la belle dame sans merci

last week i finally bit the bullet & ordered my dress for the leavers' ball! it's a 1960s inspired shift dress from dorothy perkins, and it is a lovely pale/salmony pink which means that i don't have to buy new shoes as i have some in a similar shade (which is awesome as i hate buying new shoes!). here it is in all its loveliness;
part of the reason i loved the look of this dress so much was the amazing pearl beaded peter pan-ish collar (i say ish as it's not quite a peter pan shape). at first i was a little bit worried that the beads wouldn't be totally securely attached to the dress, but in actual fact they are sewn onto netting so, fingers crossed, they should be less likely to fall off. however, it does present a slight problem of what jewellery i can wear with it, as i pretty much feel naked without a necklace, haha.
here is the full length view! i'm a little worried that the cut of the dress will make me look a little shapeless, so i will definitely be wearing heels on the night!
the original price of the dress was £50, which is more than i would normally spend on a dress, but i managed to only pay about £30 as they had a 30% discount offer, and i had a voucher code for free delivery! i'm pretty impressed with that saving, if i do say so myself.
the fabric of the sleeves is wonderfully sheer, in fact the majority of the dress is sheer, so this does raise an issue or two vis-a-vis appropriate underwear.
i am actually in love with sleeves. when i tried the dress on, i felt like i'd just stepped out of the biba changing rooms!
they have the cutest pearl buttons on the cuffs (which admittedly were a total palaver when trying on the dress!), which i couldn't see on the website so they were a nice surprise when it arrived! especially as i was actually contemplating sewing something on the cuffs myself.
love the fluted shoulders. fluted probably isn't the right word, but is the only thing that springs to mind!
the only thing i have to sort out now is what tights to wear, i kind of want to wear some patterned ones as the dress is relatively plain but i think i'll just end up wearing my white ones as that would go with the '60s look. i already have shoes so they aren't a problem, but i do want to change the colour of the ribbon ties on said shoes, at the moment i'm thinking turquoise would be the best choice, what do you think? also, i think i'm going to buy some lilac nail polish for the full pastel experience. (not that i take my clothing inspiration from my art supply cupboard or anything)
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1. i had my english literature exam today, & i think it went alright. all the extracts we were given were really long though, so it took aaages to read & analyse them! i spent way too much time reading the first two extracts, which were prose (urgh), so only left myself about 5 minutes to plan for the second section, nightmare! i only need 78 out of 120 in this exam to get an A overall, so i'm hoping i've done enough to manage that, fingers crossed!
2. i've just bought tickets for my friend jess & me to go see the kooks in november! i was completely & utterly obsessed with this band from the ages of 14 to about 16, so as you can imagine i am beyond excited to see them! we travelled to go & see them in doncaster about two years ago, but it wasn't an entirely brilliant experience as we both passed out & can barely remember anything from the gig, paha. also, it will be amazing to see them locally, especially as they're playing a pretty small venue. the countdown begins now!
3. the planning for my jewellery shop is still going strong! i stilllll cannot decide on a name, which is so annoying but i think that when i find it, i'll just know, you know? yeah, okay then. well, anyway, i'm starting to gather together some vintage-looking props for a photoshoot in the near future, just of the jewellery, no people at the minute!
4. i recently pre-ordered caitlin moran's new book how to be a woman, two copies, one for me & one for my cousin's birthday present. if you follow me on twitter, you're probably sick of me raving on about it, but i am just so excited to read it! i think she's pretty much my idol, it's so refreshing to find a feminist writer who writes about more than feminism! she's also totally hilarious.

Saturday 11 June 2011

get on your dancing shoes

"shoes must have very high heels and platforms to put women's beauty on a pedestal" - vivienne westwood.
 last night, i went to the opening of an exhibition of vivienne westwood's shoes at the bowes museum with my mum & my sister. my grandad is a member of the museum group so he got an invite, but decided it wasn't his cup of tea so gave it to us instead!
bowes museum leaflet & back of the invite.
it was a lovely evening, the bowes museum is a wonderful old building, but the new fashion & textiles gallery is surprisingly modern. the exhibition was amazing, the shoes there were incredible, although sadly i don't have any photographic evidence as cameras weren't allowed so you'll just have to take my word for it! vivienne westwood has always been one of my favourite designers (and i'm not really that into fashion so i don't have many), simply because everything she does is created with incredible skill.
some of my favourites from the collection were her toile print boot with dutch pottery patterns, the famous super elevated gillie which naomi cambell was wearing when she fell over on the catwalk & the biba shoe. also, the penis shoe made me laugh. i love that she has a sense of humour, & is always pushing boundaries within fashion. it was quite incredible as we were looking around the gallery because, as my sister said, so many elements in her work have been filtered down in the industry & you can still see their influences today, like the pirate shoe for example.
a postcard of the super elevated gillie & the front of the invitation.
the exhibition is there until july, so if you're in the area it's definitely worth a look! i find it quite funny that this exhibition has been to moscow & beirut, and will go to japan, new york & china, but i went to see it in barnard castle in county durham, bit of an obscure location.
here's what i wore, i didn't really have time to take proper outfit pictures because it's like an hour's drive & i was running late! the dress is from new look, & has a kind of cape thing going on, but i forgot to take a picture without my cardigan so you can't see it here, woops. the cardigan is from tesco & the tights are vintage. a random woman came up to me in the gallery & told me that she liked my outfit, i was pretty flattered seeing as most people there were very stylish, and loads of them appeared to be dressed head to toe in vivienne westwood!
and here is the lady herself on my wardrobe collage!

Monday 6 June 2011

johnny's in the basement, mixing up the medicine.

hello again! i've been going a little stir crazy sat in the house by myself all day doing nothing but revising, and it's starting to get a little old. 
i walked down to the village today to get my hair cut, & i actually really like it! admittedly i was a bit dubious when i first got it cut, mainly because the mousse the hairdresser used makes my hair curl like crazy & when i got home i looked like a cross between bob dylan circa 1965 & little orphan annie. but i am used to this happening with my ridiculous mop, & frankly i was just pleased to finally get it cut, seeing as i haven't had that done since february!
i also thought i'd take this opportunity to show you a few new things i've acquired lately;
please forgive my case of the bitch face, i'm chronically tired at the moment! i put it down to revising & staying up too late to read the axe murder scene in crime & punishment (dostoevsky, loving it already).
so, yeah. the cardigan i bought from tesco a couple of weeks ago, the first time i've bought clothing from there actually, and in a size 14 because that was the only size left.
i have always loved bird print, & swallow print in particular, but until now i have never actually owned anything in that print, surprisingly enough.
now, when i was getting dressed this morning, my mind went; swallows - birds - doves - peace - john lennon - i must wear my john & yoko tshirt today!
this necklace has always been one of my favourites, sort of tacky but sort of lovely at the same time.
the skirt is also new, & i haven't really posted about it on here (although i did wear it in this post). i didn't buy it however, my friend joanna gave it to me because she was having a bit of a clear out i think, & i was pretty pleased as i was actually there when she bought it & thought it was pretty nice! the pattern is pretty ethereal & awesome, & i have loads of blue things for it to go with.
cardigan - tesco, tshirt - matalan, skirt - gift, necklace - afflecks palace, hair flowers - h&m, sgt pepper badge - gift.
i totally love that my hair gets a bit more textured when it's shorter, & i thought for a bit of a change i'd put two hair flowers in instead of one. i quite like the look actually, & the colours are pretty nice together.
goodbye for now! good luck to those who have exams this week, mine start soon, eek.

Wednesday 1 June 2011

on the road

hello! i'm in a pretty good mood today because, as those of you who follow me on twitter may know, i passed my driving test today, huzzah! i'm pretty stunned actually, i thought i'd failed about halfway through, but evidently not. tomorrow i may go for a drive around on my own, just because i can.
anyway, at the weekend i went to hexham car boot fair to try & find jewellery supplies, which was very unsuccessful as the place was stupidly busy & there appeared to be nothing much on sale other than baby clothing and books. i think i will stick to charity shops in future, at least then the money goes to a good cause! on the bank holiday monday, i went to waterstones and bought a myraid of books (i love that word, myriad. sounds like some sort of mythological creature) to read over the summer, and between revising for exams.
i bought;
crime & punishment by fyodor dostoevsky. i'm slowly trying to make my way through the russian literature shelf.
submarine by joe dunthorne. because i never got to see the film, & thought i could read it while i wait for the dvd release.
frankenstein by mary shelley. partly because i've heard it's amazing, and partly because her mother was mary wollstonecraft, who was a babe.
american psycho by bret easton ellis. my teacher says he's an incredible writer, but i get the feeling this book is going to have to stay in the freezer a few times.
brighton rock by graham greene. i've heard on twitter that it's pretty darn good.
atonement by ian mcewan. because i can't be a literature student unless i've read some ian mcewan.
norwegian wood by haruki murakami. i'm not going to lie, this is mainly for the beatles reference in the title. although my dad has a copy of one of his books where the protagonist disguises himself as a sheep for two years, which i literally can't wait to read.
war & peace by leo tolstoy. again, for the russian literature thing. i actually bought this at another time though, in a second hand shop for £4.50, total bargain.
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there were a couple of other books that i wanted to buy which i couldn't find, but rather curiously my dad had copies of them at home (in the shed, where he keeps the books. i know, let's not get into this.)
on the road by jack kerouac. the blurb features a recommendation quote from bob dylan, how could i not want to read this?
slaughterhouse 5 by kurt vonnegut. it's meant to be slightly 1984-y, which is great as a loved that book.
engleby by sebastian faulks. i'm in two minds about this, as birdsong left me, i''m sorry to say, a little cold.
raise high the roof beams carpenters/seymour by jd salinger. the catcher in the rye is one of my favourite books of all time (despite the creepy mark david chapman connotations), & apparently salinger was the namesake of jerome squalor in lemony snicket's a series of unfortunate events, which i freaking loved.
all quiet on the western front by erich maria remarque. supposed to be the best book written from the first world war. i actually tried reading this a while back & got bored (awful, i know) so i'm going to try again.
the road to wigan pier by george orwell. because orwell is insanely brilliant.
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okay, hope you enjoyed the little trip around my bookshelves, goodbye for now (: