'Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!''

I woke up on Saturday morning with the sun streaming through my curtains, warming up my carpet, and I felt like Spring had finally arrived. I dressed in lightweight clothes (and for the first time this year wore trousers that are not jeans- exciting or what?!) and even painted my toenails because I thought I might have the chance to wear flip-flops! However my hopes were shattered when I realised it was just because I'd left my radiator on, and it so happened to be a sunny, but still very cold day.


Ah well, it's stopped snowing, and it is possible to go outside without your heaviest winter coat (just), so spring must be on it's way!


*Bruce Springsteen- Jesse James* 
(Get it- SPRINGsteen!.. spring...no?...never mind!)

DIY detachable collar

-Print out this downloadable pattern (from Honestly...WTF) 

-Pin it onto a piece of felt (leather would also work well)

-Cut out the felt and hole punch two holes where you want to thread ribbon through to hold the pieces together

-Secure the front either by sewing them together or by using a badge- using a button would also look really good

-Thread ribbon through the hole punches, put on and tie a bow at the back!

There you go, your very own detachable collar! 

I loved my first one so much I made another, this time cutting off the scallops and sewing on lots of sequins!

Some more DIYS I've been drooling over this week:

Arrow ring
Polkadot trousers

Foam print pony dress

Deer print top (and painted heart tights)

Newspaper clutch

Satsuma Candle
Hand painted deer top

Book safe

Kitty Loafers

Have a great weekend!

A Bigger Picture

The Davis Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy, called 'A Bigger Picture', is breathtaking. Ever since I was introduced to his Hockney's work I've been in love with it.This exhibition is amazing to see  partly because of the sheer size and ambition of the largest pictures, and partly because of the freshness and modern feel of the work.

'Technology has always contributed to art. The brush itself is a piece of technology, isn't it.'

Hockney has always been smart with technology. He used Polaroid cameras to create very organised yet fractures pictures when he lives in California. Now, in his native Yorkshire, he uses his iPad to take his work to a new level. Hockney is the first artist of not to use the iPad in his work.

'The iPad is becoming a fantastic tool for me...What is really good about it is its speed. No other medium using colour is as fast, meaning you can capture quick lighting effects like nothing else.' 

Hockney manages to see patterns in everything, from the squiggles in his swimming pools in California to the geometric leaves in these iPad drawings and oil paintings. Hockney takes everyday things and makes us look at them in a new way. On leaving the exhibition you will feel as though you've just been up to lived in Yorkshire for years! 

Aside from the iPad drawings and his paintings, there is one room with a screen split into two sets of 9. Hockney went around filming landscapes around Yorkshire with 9 cameras, moving them at different times, making them almost but not quite match up, much like his Polaroids. Two films are shown together and the effect is incredible. Normally at exhibitions the rooms playing films are almost empty, but there was barely any space in this room, every person, child and adult alike, were mesmerised by the enchanting forests! Although the woods were incredibly, my person favourites were films of dancers jumping from screen to screen, with an appearance of Hockney at the end of one!

If you live in or near London then I highly reccommend that you book a ticket to this exhibition. You definitely won't regret it!

Paris or Amsterdam?

This year I'm lucky enough to have an incredibly long summer holiday as we get to leave school after our exams, leaving us with nearly double our usual length of time. So I'm planning my holiday which includes a going away with my mum to either Paris or Amsterdam! But we can't decide. They are both beautiful cities (or so I've heard). I've been to Paris many times and fall in love with it all over again each and every time, but I've never been to Amsterdam. 

Paris would mean the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the George Pompidou centre and crepes, and Amsterdam would mean the Degas museum, Anne Frank's house, cycling and pancakes!

 Have you been to one or both? Which would you recommend?

 I'd love to know!

Plum pudding

Hat- Charity shop

Collar- DIY

Dress- M&S

Lace top- Next

Cardigan- M&S

It took my grandma a while to understand why I was wearing a collar that wasn't attached to anything, and I'm still not sure she quite got it by the end of my explanation. I've been wanting to wear this collar (that I chopped off of one of my brother's shirts) for a while, but because of the striped print it didn't go with any of my clothes, so decided to paint it simple, classic black. I added it to my outfit which was based around the plum colour of these tights. They just so happened to match my cardigan and I managed to find the same colour in nail polish box! 

Since I was being so organised with my outfit I decided to tidy up a lot of art and sewing stuff that seems to have spread to every room in the house (you never know when you might want to sew sequins on something, it's good to have them to hand!) and it actually felt pretty good to be able to walk into a room and be able to see the tabletop and not have to jump over a pile of fabric!

Aside from the last scraps of homework I need to finish, I'm spending the weekend reading the Hunger Games (I'm obsessed!), watching an Alfred Hitchcock film and seeing the David Hockney exhibition. What are you up to this weekend?

p.s. To the person who asked when I'm posting about the other DIYcollar in the Camden Passage post, I'm hoping the get another one done soon with sequins and I'll share it then- sorry for the delay!

Polkadots.

Jumper- Dorothy Perkins

Top-H&M

Satchel- Camden Passage market

Jeans- Dorothy Perkins

Boots- Magnus

To me, the cure to the thought of a long day ahead is a cup of tea and very comfy clothes. I 'borrowed' this jumper from my mum's wardrobe. I saw a similar version in H&M recently but they didn't have it in a colour I liked, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found this when raiding through my mum's clothes! These jeans are my go-to trousers when I can't find the energy to dress up. The best thing about them is the stretch- I don't own a pair of non stretchy jeans as I can't bear it when they scrunch up around your knees! 

Have a wonderful rest of week!

*Catherine Feeny- The People in The Hole*

Snapshots.

Just a few snapshots of my life recently, if you'd like to take a look.
I've been...

 Taking pictures of the snow before it disappeared (which it did, very quickly)

 Drinking lots of hot chocolate

Wearing my lovely new Asos gloves

Attempting to colour co-ordinate my wardrobe

And experimenting with a friend's DSLR

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!
*First Aid Kit- When I Grow Up*

'This diamond has so many carats it's almost a turnip.'

I'm a massive jewellery fan, and especially fond of necklaces. Because of this I have boxes and jewellery stands overflowing with jewellery, which inevitably constantly gets tangled. In order to organize my necklaces, I hung them up on my wall with pins from Anthropology. I love being able to see them all at the same time to choose which one I wear. It is so much easier with them all being visible than having to search through boxes and untangle them from one another.

 Have a wonderful weekend! 

Here are some links I've loved this week:

Lauren Moffat Fall 2012

I can't wait to see this exhibition later this week

Beautiful lookbook

Brilliant band 

Stunning fabrics

Lovely links

DIY Heart tights.

 Although biting wind is very common in London, snow is not, so it's no wonder everyone of us Londoners hit by snow went crazy with excitement. Twitter went mad, you couldn't scroll down Facebook without seeing the word 'Snow', and Tumblr suddenly became the home of many profound sayings about snow! It started snowing on Saturday evening when I was at a friend's house, and walking home in it was magical. I love the crunch under your feet from the fresh layer that people haven't walked on, and the fact that it makes the sky so lovely and light.

 I thought the snow would be the perfect background for these heart tights I made the other day. I've been seeing heart elbow patches everywhere on Pinterest recently, and was inspired to make these knee patches! It couldn't be simpler, and takes no time at all (read below for instructions!). I added this red scarf I knitted late last year, many layers of thermals, vests and tshirts, and then on top this monochromatic striped dress (and then numerous cardigans and jumpers!). This panda hat seems to come out every snowday! My dad brought it back from China last year and it is a well loved item of my hat collection! Of course no snowy day would be complete without good old wellies, to which I added big warm socks.

Hat- Market stall in China

Scarf- DIY

Dress- H&M

Coat- Next

Tights- DIY

 DIY HEART TIGHTS

You need:

A pair of tights (duh)

Tailors chalk

Red felt (or any other colour you like, I just chose traditional red)

Needle and red thread

2 pieces of thick cardboard (not completely necessary, but it does make it easier)

1) Put tights on and draw a square in chalk of where you want your hearts to go

2) Take tights off and put cardboard where you drew, to stretch the tights out

3) Draw and cut out two identical heart shapes

4) Pin the hearts onto the tights and then sew alone the edges with thread matching the colour of your felt

5) Wear proudly! 

 I hope that you had fun with the snow if it came to you, and that you like my DIY!

Layers.

Trilby- Hand-me-down

Fur shrug- H&M

Jacket- Hand me down

Jumper- H&M

Top- Warehouse

Necklace- M&S

Shorts- New Look

Bag- Gift

Tights- M&S

I can never decide which season I love best. The warmth and freedom of summer is so tempting, but there is something about winter that I absolutely love. Some may see the cold as restricting style wise, but I feel that it's the opposite. Layering gives you an opportunity to mix and match in a way that you couldn't do in summer unless you were spending it in Antarctica (although some days in London would beg to disagree)! 

The weather here is so changeable layers are a must, and along with adding and subtracting layers has to come a big bag large enough to hold all the extra clothes! I love the hippy feel of this bag, with the woven stipes and chunky beads! Yesterday it was cold with spots of sun but last night it FINALLY started to snow! A few snowball fights and hot chocolates later and I feel that winter is properly here (yes I know it's February!), and I'm now ready for spring!

DIY painted pen pots

My room is a mess. I can trick my family and sometimes myself by pushing everything into a cupboard or a draw, but sometimes I have to open those draws and then realise that the room is really a mess. So one of my new years resolutions is to tidy and organize my room, and keep it tidy and organised (so much harder than you might think!). After seeing these painted glass jars on Food Coma I knew it was the perfect way to start organising.

 I decided to use them to organise my pens and pencils. To start I tested them all, threw away any old, broken ones, and sorted the rest into groups according to their colour. I made five piles, of yellows, reds, blues, browns and blacks. I then designated each pile a pot and painted the pots that colour (using acrylic paint). I let them dry overnight et voila! The first step to a tidier room! Yay!