Moving at Last!

Just a really short post to say as of 3pm yesterday our contracts were exchanged! We're pretty much officially home owners now. Been quite a long wait but it's finally happened. We have a moving date of 23rd July. So all go now. Furniture to order, all the little bits to buy, utilities to sort.

It's very exciting and stressful, we just have to keep our fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

Crazy Bear and Royal Ascot

I feel I should start this by retracting my statements about solicitors from my previous post. When we went to speak to the lady she was actually very nice. However, we're now at the stage that we're all signed and ready to transfer the deposit, but our seller's seller as of last week hadn't received a formal mortgage offer. So who knows when we'll get to move. The lady we're buying from had originally wanted a moving date of 16th May, which has long since gone now. Getting a bit boring waiting for it all to happen.

On to more fun things though. Last week I stayed overnight in suite 24 at the Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield. It was a Christmas present from my boyfriend. I'll have to link a picture of the rooms as they make you sign something to say that you won't publish photos. The room was amazing, I've never been anywhere like it. The point of the Crazy Bear is that all the rooms are unique and all are ostentatiously decorated. All the rooms seem to have a big copper bath and ours filled from the ceiling which was cool. The walls and ceiling are padded material, with the back wall having jewels amongst the padding which sparkle in the light. 

There were only two negatives for me, the first would be the bathroom not having a door. I personally find this awkward. I know I'm sharing a room with the one I love and it wouldn't bother some people, but to me he doesn't need to clearly hear me peeing every time I go to the toilet. My other complaint would be the lack of double glazing. Our room was overlooking a road which seemed to have an inordinate amount of emergency vehicles passing by throughout the evening and morning. I personally don't see why if Premier Inn can guarantee you a good night sleep a posh hotel can't afford you the same luxury. 

We also ate Sunday dinner at the restaurant there. I do regret having three courses as I ended up too full after. I think the first course was a little too big as I then struggled with my main. The gravy with my roast was particularity tasty but the potatoes were slightly dry which is sad as I like roast potatoes. I really enjoyed the dessert though, it was a panna cotta which was nice but the scoop of orange sorbet on top was the best sorbet I've ever tasted. 

I think overall I would agree with what other people have said who've eaten there, that you're paying for the venue more than the food. I'd amend that though so say our waiter was really good, attentive but not overbearing.

The other exciting thing I did last week was attend the first day of Royal Ascot. It was a little last minute, the company I work for had four tickets which they had planned to use to woo some potential customers but that fell through and they didn't manage to find another use for them so staff got offered the tickets. 

The tickets were for a hospitably package so we got a three course luncheon, afternoon tea and there was a free bar. The luncheon was good. The starter was smoked salmon and crab, normally I'm not a fan of anything that tastes too fishy but I really enjoyed it. The main was lamb which is my least favourite meat (plus I'm a little fussy anyway with meat) so for me not the best course but the dessert, despite incorporating nuts, was pretty tasty, there was a quenelle of something that was very nice but I've no idea what it was.

After lunch we managed to see the Queen arrive, I got a slightly blurry picture of her. I was pleased because I guessed she'd be in pink although I'll admit I wasn't expecting it to be bright pink.

Out of the six races during the day I only won money on one of them and ended up on a loss but considering I didn't pay for the day out I think was a fair exchange. I'd never bet on the horses before so that was a new experience. 

Overall it was a lovely day, it's something I would never have done myself so I'm glad I got to experience it. Although it makes you wish that you were in the position in business that people give you posh days out to woo you.

Mushroom Appliqué

Going to see the solicitors tomorrow. I think my dislike of estate agents has been surpassed by my dislike of solicitors. Although when you speak to anyone this is not an uncommon feeling. Oh well hopefully it will all go smoothly, we're keeping our fingers crossed to get a moving date for within this month so could be all go soon.

Anyway, here is a picture I made last year to hang up in my room. It made me realise I'm not a fan of doing appliqué. It's made with felt, thread, fabric and flower beads mounted on a canvas frame.

The idea came from a book called 'Stitched Whimsy'. I was going to take a picture of the page the mushroom appliqué comes from but my parents are getting some new furniture for their study and books are everywhere so I've no idea where it is. Therefore, I've used the image from Amazon. You can see the mushroom picture on the cover at least.

I essentially just used the picture as a reference and tried to make something that looked sort of like it. Their frame is tiny though, mine was about the same size as the book. I'm not sure how they managed the machine stitching on such a tiny scale to be honest. The background fabric I found is quite sweet but even so I'm not 100% sure I'm happy with the outcome, their picture just has more charm to it I think. Possibly I would be better off making original items, as, if you have something to compare your work to then you can find more fault in it.

Lighting the Way

Lighting is so important and really can change a room. I personally like well lit rooms although my boyfriend prefers low lighting which might be a little bit of a sticking point but I'm sure we'll work out something that suits both of us.

Currently, in my bedroom I have three lights. Firstly there's my main light. The shade is pretty old, it used to be in my Grandma's living room. I'd always liked it and when she had to move into a nursing home after she had a stroke I acquired it. I really like the Deco feel to it, possibly it is genuinely from the Deco period. It's difficult to see from the photo but the horizontal stripes are translucent so when it's switched on light shines through which is pretty.

My next light which sits on one of my shelves I bought when I was living in my flat. It was to brighten up the corner of the living room. I got it from the Habitat section in Argos. I chose it because the shape was aesthetically pleasing to me. I think it's a really cute table lamp and it's a soft white light which I prefer than anything too bright.

My final light is the one I've had the longest, not sure how long but definitely over 10 years. It's my bedside lamp and came from Habitat before they closed most of their stores and Argos bought them as a company. Evidently the shape of Habitat lamps appeal to me.

I love the gentle yellow light this gives off. I think it's really warm and calming which is good for a light you use at night, you wouldn't want anything too harsh and bright. The only time I've ever had problems was back when I was at school, doing homework in bed (naughtily leaving it to last minute) and if I had to highlight anything I could never see where the yellow pen had been. Otherwise I've found it nice for reading books before I go to sleep.

An example of how a light can make a room would be the light my Mum and I picked for our spare room. We wanted to turn the spare room into a bedroom for my niece as she and my sister stay with us for half the week so my sister can go to work while my parents child mind.

Our spare room has fitted wardrobes and a navy carpet to work around. For some reason we naturally started by looking for a ceiling light and when we saw this on Amazon we knew it was the one.

We fell in love with it, a really clever design with the light being the man on the moon's head. It just fitted perfectly with what we wanted. Right from the beginning we wanted not to do anything too girly, plus we had to work with a blue carpet so this felt right. From getting the light we then themed the room around it. To brighten up the wardrobes we bought colourful star shaped wall stickers (you can see one in the background in the photo just below the man's foot) We found on Amazon star curtains, plus a fleece throw with the same pattern.

A few other bits we did was painted the frame of the mirror that was already there a shimmering light blue, found a yellow star shaped cushion we had about the place, and my mum, using the excess material from the curtains (they were too long so needed cutting down) cut out some star shapes and appliquéd them onto a plain duvet cover.

All in all from just a few little changes the room became more of a fun child appropriate room. We'd have liked to have done it up properly but simple aesthetic changes can really make a difference and all of these came about due to picking out a really cool looking light.

April's Fantasy Loot Crate

A few weeks ago I was with some friends and one mentioned something called Loot Crate. You pay a monthly subscription and they send you a box of goodies. April's theme was Fantasy so I thought, why not, I'd subscribe for a month. My box arrived today and I thought I'd share what I got.

As you can see the 'crate' is about the size of a child's shoebox. Inside the box it's decorated based on the theme and first item out is a t-shirt.

It's a Dungeons and Dragons t-shirt, needs a bit of an iron but it's pretty cool. Not for me though, I don't really wear t-shirts so this is going to the boyfriend, just hope it fits.

Princess Bride playing cards, must admit I've not seen this 1987 film but playing cards are always useful.

A bow tie with dragons and D20s on. Not 100% what use I'll put this to but can always save for dressing up, never know when you might need random items.

 

A Game of Thrones memory stick. Little bit spiky but quite cute. I've only actually seen the first two seasons of the TV series, really need to catch up at some point.

Game of Thrones magnets. It's a pity the fridge-freezer at the house we're moving into is integrated as won't be able to stick them on to that. Also a pity that my notice board in my room needs really strong magnets as it has a layer of glass in front of the magnetic part.

 

An inflatable crown. Another good one for the dressing up collection.

A Harry Potter bag tag. Makes me want to go to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour again as they added the Hogwarts Express about a month ago. My sister hasn't been and wants to go so might have to visit again some point with her.

Finally these things I believe come with every Loot Crate, a badge relating to the theme and mini magazine relating to the products in the box.

Next month's theme is Unite, which I'm not going to get as that doesn't interest me as much as Fantasy and I need to not waste money at the moment as buying a house isn't cheap. I will however keep an eye on the themes, as if there is one that sparks my interest, I'd be happy to sub again.

The Luggage

Progress with house buying is going well. We had our offer accepted and are currently dealing with mortgage brokers and solicitors. The person we are buying from wants a May exchange date but that will depend on how quickly all the legal stuff gets sorted and is out of our hands really. Quite exciting though that it's all happening.

I've finally finished making this magnet for my noticeboard. It's The Luggage from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It's made out of fimo which is a type of polymer clay that you bake in the oven.

I started it last year but have only just got round to finishing it. There are bits such as the gold boarder that I should have looked at more carefully before baking as they've got a little squashed together but it's not too bad for a simplified version I think.

My sister said it looked creepy when she saw it, I questioned her as she knows about the character and she said the character was creepy. I personally thought my magnet was cute.

Teddy Cushion

Quite a lot's happened since I last blogged. For one, my favourite author died. As I was mentioning in my last post I wanted to make Discworld bookends and the man who wrote those books was Sir Terry Pratchett. He died on 12th March and I found out whilst at work, one of my colleagues just blurted it out having read it on a news website. I was shocked, as although I knew he had Alzheimer, I don't think it was that expected as he was only 66. However, I then made the mistake of going and reading about it myself and there I saw those last Tweets that announced his death. They were so appropriate, the exact way that his death should have been announced, they made me cry. I had to rush into the toilet at work so my colleagues didn't witness me sobbing my eyes out. I've never been one to cry at the deaths of celebrities, after all it's not as if I personally know the person but those tweets just moved me. Possibly there's something about the fact he was an author which made me feel somehow closer to him. For example an actor you tend to like because of the characters they portray but you don't have much connection with them as a person but with an author they tell you stories in their own words, you go on a journey with them in your head. 

From the first Discworld book I read I became a fan and have read and re-read most of his books several times. It's sad to think that he's gone and there will be no more new books but his legacy will live on.

Onto some personal news, I'm currently in the stressful situation of putting offers on a house and waiting to hear back from the estate agent. Must admit it's all happening a little sooner in the year than I was expecting, but my boyfriend and I found somewhere we really like so are trying to secure it. I'll update when I have more concrete news.

Now onto something crafty, last year I was browsing for cushions and came across this picture on google:

This is the link for the website the image comes from: Link

I thought it was really cute so wanted to try and recreate something similar. I ordered some fluffy material online, pale brown to match my room and a creamy suede effect material for the nose. We already had some dark brown suede effect that I used for the ears and paws.

It maybe didn't go quite as well as I'd have liked. My mum helped quite a bit as the fabric was so thick, my sewing machine would have been no use, even hers struggled.The ears for some reason we thought might look better if they were not right in the corners, this was a mistake, and to try patch that up the corners had to become rounded. Also the button eyes, although I quite like the buttons I'm still not sure about the positioning. Possibly the nose/mouth part needed to be smaller like original but oh well it's these things that make him unique.

Least he's quite happy looking, like he wants to give you a hug. His current residence is on my bed and I sleep with him next to me.

Christmas Presents

Last week I got round to finishing a Christmas present my sister gave me. It was a Proggy Baby Penguin craft kit.

It was a little disappointing that the kit didn't come with the little wooden 'proggy' tool which you use to poke holes in the hessian and push the material through. It's a really rough bit of wood so I can't  imagine it would be too expensive to add it to the kit. I assume the reasoning was that if you bought multiple kits you only need one tool.

As per the kit's suggestion I added my own toy stuffing to give him a better shape. Looking at the picture I reckon theirs has got it in too.

Now I've just got to decide what to do with my finished penguin. Possibly it could become a Christmas decoration. I have plans for how I want to decorate for Christmas if I have my own house and he'd fit in with the theme.

Also for Christmas I was given this sharpener pencil pot.

I’ve always liked these when I’ve seen them in the shops so was pleased when I got it as a present. When I decorated my room last year it became less blue and more brown so this has replaced a blue plastic pencil pot holder. I like it because it's a bit more sophisticated but still funky. 

This lives on my bedside table as I'm the sort of person who can't live without a pen nearby in case I want to jot something down.

One last thing I wanted to share was actually a late Christmas present for myself. They came after Christmas as they were shipped from America but it's these dragon bookends. Maybe a little odd to buy yourself presents for Christmas but it seemed the best way to justify having them shipped from America.

 

I did have some plain black metal bookends previously but I came upon these by chance on Etsy from this seller: FePro  and really liked them because they were simple flat bookends but with a fantasy theme. 

I'd quite like to make some bookends myself with a Discworld theme but I have too many books on my shelf so I need thin bookends like these.

I like trying to replace normal looking items for these more designed pieces, it gives a bit of interest to my room and that pleases me. Why be boring?

If only I had the right place...

Sometimes when looking for inspiration and ideas to add interest to household items I find things that I really like but they're only good if you have the right place for them.

For example:

This would be a really fun piece of furniture to have, something a little different and interesting but equally I think you need to have good place to put it as it's quite a standout piece. You'd want to show it off, not just have it hidden in a dusty corner somewhere.

Potentially though you could manage to sneak it somewhere into your life. At the moment I have fitted furniture in my bedroom so there's no space but when I have a whole house to play with there might be room for a little something like this.

The tutorial of how to make the suitcase drawers is HERE

This on the other hand you really do need the right location for this:

I doubt when I move out I'll be so lucky as to have a window which this would be suitable for, after all it's not like you can really see out of the window when it's up, therefore, it's not the most practical of designs. However, if it was for a window that faced a brick wall then you don't really want to be looking out of it anyway.

You could make different ones for different seasons. Blossom for Spring, green leaves for Summer, the brown ones in the picture for Autumn, not quite sure what would be best for Winter though, maybe snowflakes.

Instructions for making the leaf curtain are HERE

2015

This year I plan on moving out of my parents house (for the second time) and I've decided to start a blog to do with home decor and general random life stuff.

When I have my own home I want to add some nice little touches here and there that bring a bit of magic, joy and nerdiness to the place. 

I like craft and making things meaning I'm forever searching the internet for fun ideas and inspiration for projects. So on this blog I'll post pics and link anything I come across that appeals to me and also things that I make myself.

I'm also hoping that keeping a record of this online will encourage me to actually finish some of my current projects and not take so long with anything new I start.

That's the introduction over with. Let's get on with 2015!