3 August 2013

Sitting Panda

Hello lovelies!

How are you?

I'm knackered today, after waking up feeling the need for a serious clear-out of our stuff

Two weeks ago, I tackled my clothes, and ended up culling two bin-bags' worth of stuff(!). That may seem like a rather drastic wardrobe reduction, but by using my patented "pretend clear-out" technique it was a lot less scary than it sounds. 



Oh, alright then - as you asked so nicely- I'll tell you about my pretend clear-out technique. What I do is; put the bags in the loft and if I can remember/miss anything in the bag in a few months' time, I pull it back out. If I can't remember anything in the bag, it goes to the charity shop. On the majority of occasions  I can't remember anything- but I don't know if that's down to me no longer liking the clothes or just my terrible long-term memory... 

However, two bags of clothes do not a Full-On Clear Out make, so today I went from room to room, emptying cupboards and re-organising, re-homing, or bagging things for the loft. I feel incredibly lucky to own a house with so much loft space, but it's also very dangerous because it encourages us to hoard vast quantities of stuff for a rainy day; something we were very concious of when we were renting because we knew we'd have to fit all our stuff in a van. Now, our house is brimming with things I couldn't resist because they were only £2/shiny/seemed useful/from Tiger.

Anyway.... that wasn't what I was going to talk to you guys about today at all. What I wanted to tell you about was my new cushion. That's right people - hold onto your hats - it's a soft furnishings update.

My friend Holly (the Queen of Book Recommendations, who is always introducing me to brilliant new authors) recently celebrated her birthday - which seemed like the perfect excuse to buy her a wooden postcard complete with this rawesome tiger illustration by Jamie Mitchell. I love the combination of wild animal and fancy hat. It's like Whimsy and Nostalgia had one crazy night together after drinking too many cocktails made with tequila, cranberry juice and magic and then BAM! this postcard was born. 



I wanted to do something similar, but not identical to the tiger illustration; more of a tribute than a copy-cat cat design, in a similar vein to my previous Ohh-Deer-inspired DIY Aztec Pillowcase. And I don't own an orange fabric pen.

I decided to choose a monochrome critter to contrast with the rainbow-coloured Native American inspired headband, and eventually plumped for a panda; as they're much cuddlier than zebras or penguins. So here he is:


Panda and Cloud - the best of friends. 
If pandas shopped at Urban Outfitters...
I've been going a bit chevron-crazy recently (sorry, polkadots!) so when I spotted a blue and white zigzag print top for £2 in a charity shop I snapped it up to make the backing for my cushion.  


I'm pretty sure nothing says "comfortable" like a panda in a headdress. What do you think?

Katie xxx

4 comments:

  1. love it!!what pens did you use? xx

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  2. So cool! You're very good at this art thing! xx

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  3. Bloody awesome! And is it me, or do all the bloggers seems to be decluttering at the moment? Must jump on this bandwagon. My house is a blimmin tip!

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