Bright and Shiny Party Frocks

I'll have one of each please...thanks very much

What a great party dress!

...and this one too...

This is like a bright and shiny t-shirt.....I showed you this some time ago and I still love it.

...or what about this one...with some bows?

I've got a couple of Chrissy things to go to, unfortunately, none will require me to "frock up" to this degree, but I can dream on can't I?

It's beginning to look a lot like........

How's your Christmas shopping going? 

Me?

I've been saving my shoe leather and getting on-line to do a lot of my Christmas purchases.

Not everyone likes the on-line shopping experience but I have to admit I love it!

I have ventured out to check what's available...but I've done most of my gift buying on eBay and Etsy and so far so good. Don't get me wrong, G and I still wander and browse and get all touchy feely with some of the items in store...but when I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for, sometimes it's just nice to surf to give you some ideas. There is a drawback with that method though...you can find you've lost a couple of hours just sitting in front of the computer...anyway...

I've bought children's clothes, personalised Christmas decorations and a few toys on-line. Strangely, I've purchased books in-store this year.

One of the Chrissy decos I bought is from the same person I purchased some personalised ID tags a couple of years ago.

Tessa from HattieRex on Etsy has some lovely items that I'm sure everyone would love to receive.

These are like the tags I bought for "G" 2 years ago...

This year I've bought a couple of large discs that will have the names of each family member on them

Here's hoping everyone likes them

You can check out Tessa's Etsy shop here

Happy shopping everyone. Just remember, don't get too stressed about it all. It's just not worth it.

I Love Lucy

I had a wonderful weekend. Sewing.  I got the machine out, put on a good CD and just went for it. I thought I'd get one of my vintage patterns sewn up...and went straight to the 1950's Lucy House Coat

It's a cross between a housecoat and dust jacket I guess.

I suppose it was even worn as a maternity jacket by Lucy herself.

I mentioned it back here... two years ago!!! Why did I wait so darn long?

My plan was to do a trial run with it first in a navy and white gingham...I try to make a sample first when I'm using a new pattern, just in case it  doesn't suit or is sized in such a way that it doesn't fit me. But having said that I always do this trial run in a fabric that I'm still happy to wear, just in case it turns out OK

...and it did!

The pattern came without instructions so I had to play around and try to remember what order each pattern piece went in, but I'm really happy with it. I'm also happy becayse it was marked a size 14, with a 32 inch bust? What's with that?

Anyway, the only thing I'd change is to make the sleeves a little longer, maybe an inch or also....and I'd also make them a little narrower.

Apart from that....success!!

Thanks Lucy.

Shoe Lasts

MONT bought these for me for Christmas a few years back ... I love them

They're old and smooth and lovely to touch

Saturday flower...inspired by Sarah

WHERE DID THAT WEEK GO???

Saturday's here already and the past 6 days are just a blur

It's been a bit of a crazy week...and it doesn't look like settling down any time soon....

Anyway, here are a couple of flowers that always make me smile and calm me down a little. (Thanks Sarah, your Friday flowers always make me feel good)

They started out as a large bunch....

But ended up in my small little milk bottles as they started to get past their best

A couple were put on top of that old chest of drawers that I rejuvenated after a neighbour discarded them.... and the rest were placed on top of the drawers I found by the side of the road that started out as old yucky yellow ones and have ended up being sparkly white. I think they're a great addition to Number 10

Thanks for dropping by.... I'm off for a quick Christmas "power-shop" with my friend "G"...we've both started our Christmas shopping and today we plan to continue with just one gift each. We figure if we can concentrate on one gift per outing we should be able to avoid the craziness that grips us each year and have much more pleasurable shopping experiences. Haa... That's the plan anyway. No guarantees it's going to work, but hey, everyone needs a plan.... and a list! Where did I put my list?

Have a great weekend

Tasty reading matter

I love reading and love nothing more than getting into bed and opening a good book. But unfortunately trying to read a novel is just too hard during the week because I tend to fall asleep before I get to the bottom of the first page.... so I turn to a nice "picture book".

I love recipe books and these two are among those I have beside the bed.

My French Vue by Shannon Bennett is terrific and the photos are lovely...not to mention the food...oh the food!

The one underneath is Gary Mehigans Comfort Food. It's picture perfect too.

Party Frocks

It's coming up to party season in this neck of the woods...

How about this ...I really like it. Just perfect for that after work break-up shin-dig

Armani Prive

Or something a little less formal perhaps?

How about this one...

Or this...

or my fav...




Tommy Hilfiger

 Oh my!

Not sure which designer's responsible for a couple of the dresses...if you know, please set me straight

Let's Partay!

A little birdy told me.....

I found this little bird tile at a discount outlet a while back.

It's supposed to hang on the wall, but the little metal bracket on the back has been placed in the wrong spot.
That's probably why it was just a dollar I guess.

It's had a few spots around the house, but right now sits on my kitchen bench so I see it every day.