Three Things Thursday

Hello lovelies!!

How are you? 

Well, will you look at that? I done gone and got my sparkle back! Hip Hip Hooray!!
To celebrate me escaping the doldrums, here are three things currently forming the icing on my Life Cake. Which is kinda like Birthday Cake, but you can eat it every day of the year. Mmmm.... Life Cake. 

1. Spontaneous Dance Parties
After stumbling upon this little ditty on the way to visit my folks, I practically ran up their front steps, burst threw the front door, and simultaneously cranked up my phone speakers whilst yelling "LIVING ROOM DANCE PARTY IS GO!!" Naturally, my parents joined in with gusto. Well, I had to get my quirk from somewhere...

Do it. You know you want to.

2. Good ol' home cookin'
I've been making a conscious effort of late to do more cooking from scratch. Partly to up my veg intake, as I was wobbling on the brink of scurvy, but mostly due to some serious inspiration in the Thug Kitchen cookbook I got for Christmas. Easy, healthy Mexican recipes peppered with excessive swears, you say? SIGN ME UP, BITCHES. 

3. Cirque du Frock
I'd been lusting after Joules' Circus duvet cover for literally years before I met Skye and found out she actually owned one (which pretty much sealed the deal for our friendship, obviously). So, when Skye recently mentioned she was throwing it out due to a bedroom makeover, I yelled "CAN I HAVE IT PLEASE?!?!" right in her face asked her very politely if she'd consider donating it someone with a penchant for duvet cover dresses....

A few snips later and there it was - my very own CIRCUS DRESS!! 

I love it so much I'm considering taking it to dinner on Valentine's Day. Not wearing. TAKING. 

The duvet now sadly seems to be discontinued at Joules, but I've found some on sale here if you feel like you need more unicycling bears in your life. And, let's be honest, who doesn't?!

What's been floating your boat recently? 

Katie xxx

Completed cross-stitch

Roll up, roll up, Ladies and Gentlemen, to witness a project capable of stealing hours of your life! Totally worth it though :)

Those of you keeping an eye on my recent posts may have spotted my over-excited chattering about the FREE Emily Peacock alphabet sampler I found on the interwebs. Combine this with my current obsession with the circus, and I think you can see where this is going....

I spent the majority of my Norfolk Broads "cruising" (teehee) holiday working on this beauty. A helluva lot of hours have gone into this, and I now need to get it in a frame ASAP before I cover it in chocolate/red wine and subsequently my own tears.

Ta-da! 

Have you completed any big projects recently that you've been working on for hours? Or undertaken any Emily Peacock cross-stitch samplers? They certainly aren't for the faint-hearted!

Katie xxx

P.S. To get an idea of scale- this thing is nearly a METRE long!! Serious.

Summer lovin'

Anyone else feeling a little conned that it's September already?

These are a few of my current obsessions that I'm hoping will remind me of summer even when it's growing dark, grey and gloomy outside...

1. Coconut-scented shower products
A few weeks ago, I bought alberto balsam's  coconut and lychee conditioner (which you can buy for £1 or less from pretty much any supermarket/Superdrug/pound shop), and a tube of shower 'smoothie' from the "I love..." coconut & cream range. 

These products are liked Hawaii in a bottle- I can't get enough of the fact that my hair smells like a tropical island and my skin smells like a Bounty bar. 

Ooh, talking of which, is anyone else reminded of the Dawson's Creek theme-tune when they hear the latest Bounty ad music? No? Just me then...

2. Summer dresses
Throwing on a pretty cotton dress gives that instant summer-time feeling, and a single-item outfit is always a winner when you're as lazy as me :p I particularly like dresses that can be easily adapted to winter wear with the addition of a chunky cardigan, thick tights, and winter boots. This dress is my current favourite, after I picked it up at a recent car boot sale for a bargainous 50p! Very Wizard-of-Oz, no? 

A rare photo of my face- hope you appreciate it!

3. Bountiful berries and baking cakes
Tom and I are lucky enough to have raspberry and blackberry bushes growing in our back garden- which means we're basically living The Good Life from April to October (without the dungarees). 

Several of my relatives visited us for lunch yesterday, so I thought I'd whip up an afternoon tea treat of a Victoria sponge cake crammed with fresh berries. It went down very well indeed (with a cuppa or two, obviously!); even though I was rather liberal with the potentially sneeze-inducing dusting of icing sugar.

4. Cheesy holiday snaps
I've felt like the luckiest girl in the world this summer, as I was not only able to go on a wonderful National Trust mini-break with Tom, but I also spent a week on the Norfolk Broads with Fran, our Toms, and two other ruddy awesome couples I'm proud to count amongst my friends. I'm planning to write more about our brilliant break in a later post, but wanted to share a few of my favourite pictures from the week now: 

The crew

Aaaar we be pirates

And pranksters... teehee

This deer had nothing to do with the boat- but LOOK how pretty!

We saw lots of windmills, but none so lovely as this one, with a heart made of bunting... 

...Which totally set the mood for on-board romance :)

5. Sunshine-bright vegetables
How gorgeous are these courgettes (or zucchini to my friends across the pond)?!? The brightest yellow I've ever seen, and an absolute bargain from my lovely local veg man who sells tons of tasty locally-grown goodies at the Sunday car boot in Lewes. 

And how awesome is this broccoli? Yep- broccoli(!) It's called Romanesco Broccoli and I think it tastes like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. The bright spring green perks up warm summery salads, and it's Christmas-tree shape adds a seasonal touch to wintery comfort-food dishes covered in gravy. Yum!

6. FREE Emily Peacock Cross-Stitch Circus Letter Patterns
Announcing The Most Important And Exciting Discovery of 2012; if you click on this link you will be able to download FOR FREE an alphabet and ampersand designed by Emily Peacock in her signature circus style. FOR FREE. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find them). 

When I found this page I actually did a little dance. The letters aren't quite the same as the ones Emily sells from her online shop- as she designed this set to be given away as a free gift with CrossStitcher magazine- but they are still jaw-droppingly beautiful! I've nearly finished the word I chose to cross-stitch, and will (of course) share it with you all as soon as I've snipped off the final thread. 

Emily's designs remind me of summer because they're so bright and colourful, but cross-stitching also reminds me of cosy, crafty winter evenings under my patchwork blanket in front of the TV. Maybe winter won't be so bad after all...

Have you got any fail-safe things that bring back summer memories in the depths of winter? What have been some of your favourite things from this summer? I'd love to hear!

Katie xxx

Current loves

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're all having wonderful weekends! 

Today, I thought I'd share a few of my current loves; because nothing beats the Sunday blues like a list of beautiful things :)

1. Illustrated dinner plates

Beautiful, witty, tableware involving sharks - what's not to love?! The only problem with these plates is I'd have constant indigestion due to eating my dinner as quickly as possible to look at the pretty pictures!

2. Pinterest

Since installing the "Pin It" button on my bookmarks bar, I've been pinning craft tutorials and pictures of kitchens like there's no tomorrow. 

3. Double Caramel Magnums

Until today, I didn't know these existed. I can understand why no-one wanted to tell me before- as I have now made it my life's mission to eat them all. Hardly my fault- they are so damn delicious!

4. Car Boot Bargains

Today, Fran and I spent three very enjoyable hours hunting down bargains and eating Mr Whippy ice-creams at our local car boot sale. I was very successful at haggling and picked up a dress, three tops, two books, two metal aeroplanes (part of a current craft project) and a light-up globe for £4.75! Score!

5. Solving our record storage problem

Tom and I eventually settled on the storage solution for our (very much individual) record collections; vintage-style fruit crates. The globe in the photo is my £1 car boot bargain from this morning :)

6. Being an Independant Woman aka building flatpack furniture

I spent yesterday morning putting together a flat-packed vanity unit for our bathroom. I was tempted to ring Beyonce (or 'Bey' as I call her cos we're, like, totes besties) and tell her how much of a Strong, Independant Woman I was being; then realised I was putting the furniture together using tools I had stolen from Tom's toolbox, because I don't have any tools.... Oh well, one step at a time. 

7. Photographing pretty things

Butterflies, buildings and boyfriends :)

Titchfield Abbey

"Look! A thing!"

8. Lusting after circus-themed goodies

9. Big, fancy glass jars

I have a romantic idea of my kitchen counter being covered with huge jars filled with homemade cookies. In reality, the jars would be full of cookie crumbs, and my belly would be full of cookies...

10. Devouring free e-zines
If you haven't discovered these two yet, I can't recommend them enough. They contain links to beautiful, well chosen pieces from the U.K and the U.S respectively, photographs of stunning interiors and gorgeous fashion shoots. 

An example of the beautiful layouts of Number 91 magazine

What are you really into at the moment? Have you got any favourite e-zines you would recommend? Or do you know of any ice-creams EVEN BETTER than double caramel magnums?!