I Love Laura Ashley

I love Laura Ashley! In fact I love it so much I have exhausted the Aberdeen store, so when I went down to Edinburgh last weekend I used the opportunity to visit their store, and what a pretty store it is! And no I didn't leave empty handed.....

I have become house decor bonkers at the moment and in particular wallpaper bonkers! I am collecting wallpaper samples like it is going out of fashion; I could probably wallpaper a room with all the samples I have collected! The lure of the bargain buckets in Laura Ashley isn't helping either. "Oh this batch end is only £4...............look 2 rolls for £8 great, I can wallpaper insert room here with that!" I am starting to run out of rooms. I can't resist a bargain and I'm too scared if I don't take it, it will get snatched up by some other indecisive Laura Ashley crazy  "thinking" she might use it or worse I will have to pay full price which is quite a lot more in Laura Ashley!

Yesterday marked 3 weeks exactly until we get the keys to our new house. This means its 20 days today! I am starting to feel the stress of moving, I have a massive list in my head of things to do and it keeps getting longer. In fact every time I start thinking about it I just want to run home and pack! 20 days is plenty of time to get organised...........I need to stop thinking about it before I spiral into a panic and start frantically writing lists!

So moving back to Laura Ashley! I wanted to show you some photos from the website of all the pretty things. Luckily one of the wallpapers that I really like called Nina in Eau de Nil is reduced from the expensive £32 to the slightly reduced price of £20 (I think) so I got the thumbs up to get it and hopefully our bedroom will be decorated in it!

Btw please ignore the black dots, I didn't add them in, although David thought I had as a hint to what I wanted, sadly though it's just the interactive buttons on the website not my shopping list.

I wish these were photos of my house I was showing you, not the Laura Ashley catalogue *sigh*

I want I want!



Nina Wallpaper which we plan to have in the bedroom.



I love all the duck egg blue!!!!!!

 I also wanted to show you how I am progressing with my crochet project!

So far I've managed to churn out 12 squares, still not quite sure what I am making but the latest idea is a table cloth for a coffee table.............or a big cushion cover.................or a wall hanging?????

All my 12 squares arranged so far!

Close up of multi coloured squares

My stack of squares!

That's all for this week, catch you next week with only 14 days to go until the big day (roughly) EEK!!!!!
Someone pass me a cardboard box...............

 

Clothes Clothes Clothes With A Bit Of Crochet Thrown In For Good Measure!

It's all about clothes at the moment! I seem to be on a bit of a clothes hunt and unfortunately my bank balance isn't backing me up on this one! Periodically I like to trawl through the charity shops in Aberdeen to find some "good finds", that will usually consist of old, i guess "vintage" (to use the term loosely) clothes and as we already know nick nacks, tea sets etc etc

At this moment in time I am surfing the charity shop wave and I'm having too much luck finding nice things lately I can't stop! Even the dwindling number in my account won't stop me..........well i guess it will eventually! I'm off to Edinburgh this weekend and all I can think about is vintage shops, I will literally have to drag myself to the other end of the city to stop myself, but I just can't get it out of my mind! I actually think I am some kind of money spending junkie.

These days I get so much more excitement out of buying something from a charity or vintage shop and "trying" to alter it (even better if it doesn't need altered!) than I do going to high street shops. Maybe its the fact it is so much cheaper? Maybe its the fact that there isn't a rail with 15 others on them? I just love it!

So I thought today I would share with you some of my home makes, home alterations and charity shop finds!

Lunchtime yesterday gave me the chance to get a nice handful of charity shop visits in and I picked up an old Next shirt (£4.99), a glass water jug with cherries on it (£1.99) and an old markies chanel style cardi in dogtooth(£8.95)! Good news about these is minimal altering required!

  

Last night I was beavering away in my sewing room trying to swap a zip that had broken on a top I made a couple of summers ago. Poor thing had been sitting waiting to be repaired for months no actually probably more like a year! I love this top, not just the style but the fabric. For all you fabric lovers out there you will notice its Cath Kidston's strawberry fabric very summery! Of course whenever I try and craft nothing ever happens to plan. Why should this occasion be any different?

Firstly it had been a few years since i even sewed a zip in.....................damn it I can't remember how to do it! After studying the broken zip for some time I figured it out. Hurray! Well that would be simple enough if it wasn't for the fact that whilst removing the old zip I managed to rip the top! Disaster...............using my lack of sewing knowledge and a bit of ingenuity I opted to patch it up best I could! Afterall no one will see that bit when I'm wearing a cardigan! All in all I'm very happy with how I did, all patched up, new zip in and ready to wear! Roll on summer!!!

Next project was a skirt I picked up in Barnardos a few weeks ago. I always like to think I can adapt things and this was no different. Thankfully shortening hemlines is something I can do, and I transferred this skirt into a bit more of a modern quirky looking above the knee skirt.

Before I sign off to go and play with more charity/vintage shop buys that need some TLC (believe me I have a few!) I want to quickly share with you some crafting progress!!!

First up are my granny sqaures! Yes Granny was kind to me! (Thanks granny) and with Janet's know how I have FINALLY cracked it. Take a look at these lovelies!

And not forgetting the jumper! Ok ok so its still NOT finished YET. But but but I am so very nearly close!
All ends are sewn in, shoulder seams are sewn together and the neckband is in progress (thanks mum!) so next time I'm over at my mum's she is going to help me sew it and attach the sleeves. But look this is what it look liked on my mannequin.

Oh and one more thing I already have my new knitting projects lined up! Knitted food!!! Oh yes, so useful eh? I am afraid if you come to my new house all you will be served is knitted prawns, not real ones!

Right I'm off to raid my wool supply see you all soon..........