V is for Victory

About 15 minutes ago I wrote the final words of my final assignment for the first year of my masters.  Words can't actually express how utterly relieved and totally exhausted I am.


Of course, I still need to wait to find out whether I passed them all :)


So, to celebrate, here's a tribute to some of the songs that have got me through this insanity.  I'd like to thank the people that wrote them, along with my coffee machine, my housemates for their erratic but most welcome support (read: beers and scoldings) and my bicycle Meg for stress relieving zooms around town.



I love this version of In The Mood, it's my dancing round the kitchen soundtrack!



Louis. All you need to say <3



Probably one of my favourite pieces of music. Marginally beaten by:



Just perfection. And, of course, featured in Brief Encounter, one of my favourite films!


Hope you enjoy, I'm off for a good night's sleep...
Love Jen xxxx

And I'm back...

Well.

In all honesty, the last couple of months have been insane. So many uni deadlines and work has been ridiculously busy with planning a recycled fashion show - which made me cry with pride when I saw all the young people coming off stage in their amazing charity shop and 'trashion' ensembles!  Some days I've not had time to eat, let alone craft or read or blog.  But... this time tomorrow all my uni work will be done for the year!  Today I squeezed three days' worth of work into one afternoon and am feeling immensely proud of myself :)

So why did I have so much work to do today?  That's because I played hooky yesterday and had the most amazing day out at the Ramsey 1940s weekend!

It was the best day. Ever.  There were reenactments of every kind, from military set ups to Anderson shelters to handwashing.  My friend Bob and I enjoyed cups of tea in the field refreshments tent, spent ages trying on hats (actually, I tried on hats, Bob just looked nervous everytime I asked him if he thought it would go with my dress) and wandered round having a generally wonderful time.  I could have spent so much money, there were so many beautiful dresses.  But alas, payday was a week away and if I wanted to feed the cat / myself for the next week then I had to be sensible.  I still managed to acquire a snood, the most amazing hat, beautiful gloves and a darling cherry brooch though!

Here's what I wore to wander round the day's events:

Excuse the crazy face. My mamma bear took the picture when we visited.  She's lovely, but obviously incredibly biased and does not tell me when a photo makes me look like I'm auditioning for 'Mad Woman of the Year'.

The main reason for the visit home was because we had to get changed for the evening - a 1940s hangar dance, complete with Opus One big band!  There was a professional photographer there, so we had actual proper photos taken:

 

Natural born posers, eh?  Bob's a total military geek, he's rocking the RAF uniform here :)  That's also my new hat and gloves.  Once bought, fabulous things must be worn immediately.

The evening was probably one of the best nights I've ever had. Everyone was dressed up and looked amazing, and I saw some of the best dancing I've ever seen.  Bob and I are already resolved to practice our steps before the next dance!  The band were amazing, and I got to dance to 'In the Mood', which is probably one of my favourite songs of all time.  I developed a total schoolgirl crush on a trombone player... I did get a smile, but I think that was probably through fear. Or he was laughing at the drool on my collar.  Anyway.  I think I now have a fetish for old-school US army uniforms. 

The next dance is at the end of September... I can't wait!  And, with uni out the way, I can focus on pulling together some awesome outfits.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

Love Jen xxxx

Cupcakes for Breakfast!

Last night I went for drinks with a very nice chap. Who brought me... cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, Candycake cupcakes. Which gave him at least another 150 brownie points on top of the million and forty seven I've already given him. Lol.

So this morning, I had cupcakes for breakfast!

I don't think it shows... but there were sparkles!

I bought this dress in Manchester when I accidentally ended up there the other week. It's perfect for picnics but sadly I have to go to work!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week

Jen xxxx

When I Get Sad, I Stop Being Sad and Be a Sailor Instead

Okay. I'm not actually particularly sad, but I liked the way it sounded...

I'm going out in a bit to eat lots of yummy Indian food with some people from work.  I tried on many many outfits then thought, 'sod it. I want to be a sailor.' So here it is :)

This is one of the dresses I picked up in Cambridge last month, it's so pretty!

Check also the necklace.  I saw it in topshop and absolutely HAD to buy it.  Sewing machine cuteness!

Hope everyone else is having a lovely start to the week.

Jen xxxx

Peachy Keen

There's no reason for this picture, other than I like it...

(image from here)

The world on the internet is vast and exciting.  Sadly, most of my internet use has been searching for articles to spice up my history of youth work essay... and facebook for general procrastination.  However, along the way I've found some gems as well.  Check it.

Culture. Etiquette. Style. With a tagline like that, how can you resist MIEN magazine?

When I get sad, I like to look at otters.  Otters are amazing!  The Daily Otter does exactly what it says on the tin... a new picture of an otter everyday.  (If otters aren't your thing, they have The Daily Bunny too!)

Vintage Movie Magazines is well worth a visit if you just like looking at pretty things.  My favourite cover? James Dean and Natalie Wood, no contest.

There are many reasons why you should read The Grumpy Owl.  It features robots and owls on a regular basis; Ryan (the grumpy owl) writes in a way whereby even things that don't interest you in the slightest (baseball?) seem worthy topics; there is pink suit appreciation; the use of the word flaneur; it's nice to read something that offers a little intellectual stimulation while still being utterly dapper and slightly frivolous. Yeah. Just go read.

Megan shows us exactly how to throw a clothes swapping party.  I've always wondered how you make this more than a couple of girlfriends turning up with carrier bags.  Let the planning commence!

Hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday
Jen xxxx

Summing up, and some nice things too...

Well. The past few weeks have been entirely eventful. Bag stolen. Mild nervous breakdowns thanks to the huuuuge amount of work I've been doing/avoiding. Cameron becoming prime minister. All just thoroughly too depressing.

Then! I found some beautiful dresses, started reading some lovely books and listened to Mahler's 5th Symphony on repeat. And I gave up smoking. Everything is okay again. Maybe. If I can just get some uni work done...  So let me forget about those 4,000 words that are due in next Friday and think about something else instead.

I picked up an awesome book in a charity shop in Cambridge - '1939: The Last Season' by Anne de Courcy.  It mixes stories of the final party season of the thirties with the political issues as we headed right into the middle of World War 2 (parties and politics are two of my favouritest things).  I'm not even halfway through it yet, but it's got some fantastic quotes (matched up here with some pictures, just because, well, I like pictures!)

"...for a young woman of the upper classes, adult life began with a curtsey."

(image from here)

"Two good subjects if you are stuck for conversation are ghosts and the royal family."

(image from here)

Apparently, the advertising for a car called the Lancaster really was 'At 50 m.p.h. you can knit comfortably'.  That is so my type of car! (I gave up trying to find a picture of the actual car - my car distinction extends to "it's red"...)

(image from here)

Finally, apparently my sister not only has been reading this blog but also enjoying it (thanks panda!).  So for her, here's some outfit pictures from when I felt particularly lovely over the last few weeks.

Me feeling a little Miss Marple-y. Actually, this happens quite a lot.

My hair makes me happy here :)

Yep, I liked this outfit a lot...

No outfit in this picture. Actually, no clothes except a towel. But Lilycat's just about the cutest thing ever.

Other exciting things have included some amazing acquisitions from various shopping trips to Cambridge, which will hopefully be posted as soon as I can access some passable photographic equipment, and some true visual treats.  But that's another story for another day!

Jen xxxx

Miss Marple: Style Inspiration!

Until a few weeks ago, I'd never watched or indeed read a single Agatha Christie novel.  Then, thanks to a combination of circumstances (The Moving Finger being first read in the Vintage Book Club, and discovering that Richard Armitage was in one of the adaptation...) I decided to finally sit down and watch this knitting super-detective!

And oh my. What style inspiration! Beautiful dresses, immaculate make-up and some seriously swoon-worthy chaps. Don't take my word for it, have a peek :)

Photos from the PBS website

See what I mean? I've almost worked my way through every episode, and have no idea what I'll do when they're done! Someone's recommended I try Foyle's War for some 1940s drama... any thoughts?

One final Miss Marple thought: Megan Hunter... the unlikely, scruffy, clumsy heroine of The Moving Finger.  She falls off her bike, can't darn her stockings and is generally a little bit quirky.  Love. Her.

(I can't remember where these photos are from, they were just hanging out on my laptop... if you know, pass that info to me and I'll credit them!)

And now... I have a big cup of Earl Grey, some champagne truffles and absolutely must get on with my uni work!

Jen xxxx

Jeans!

I don't much like wearing jeans.  Skinny ones are too 'scenester' for my taste, and baggy ones just too casual.  They're good for slopping round the house in, and pretty much the only time I wear them in public is when I'm working at the young people's bike project (grease on my favourite skirts? no thanks!).  Then finally, I found not one but TWO pairs of high waisted lovelies in town and my heart skipped a beat.  My wonderful mama bear treated me to them and now here they are in all their beautiful glory :)

I'm still not so good at this posing lark, and self-consciousness means they all got taken during my morning cigarette as there were guaranteed no housemates interrupting - smoking is bad kids, don't do it!

Anyway, I'm off to work (on a Saturday, this is a human rights issue I feel) and then tonight I'm going to see Lou Reed! Man, I'm so excited.  Most likely I'll spend all day planning my outfit... I think the awesome new hat has to come into it somewhere :) Hope everyone has a lovely Saturday!

Jen xxx

Peachy Keen 06.04.10

It finally feels like spring is here!

[image from here]

Did everyone have a lovely Easter? Mine started off a bit manic; the first 36 hours were spent hanging out with friends, dancing and maybe a couple too many ciders, oops.  But the last couple of days have been lovely!  I spent Sunday at Sacrewell Farm with my friend Jade, we had cream teas and bottle fed baby lambs - they were soooo cute.  Yesterday I went to visit my mama bear; we went to a big bank holiday market and charity shopping.  I managed to come back with four(!) Mrs Beeton cookbooks and the most amazing hat ever, which will probably feature soon (my hair is soooo not photographable today).  Today I've spent a few hours planting out potatoes and onions in the garden, and got very excited that my cauliflowers and chili peppers have sprouted.

Plea for help actually: does anyone know if it's okay to grow cauliflowers in containers or grow bags? My house is rented and I'm not sure how much of the garden I can dig up...

Anyway! What's been gracing the macbook screen this week?

It's a bit old, but Solanah's tutorial on doing rag curls makes it look super simple.  I'm starting to not be able to sleep with bendy rollers in my hair, so will be trying this out soon.

This has been popping up everywhere, so apologies if you've seen it before, but these bloomers are the most squeeably cute thing I've seen in a while.  Must make me a pair!

The Collette Patterns blog is a total visual treat and full of inspiration.  I've been spending far too much time reading through it the last couple of days.  Uni work? What uni work? Lol.  Check out the patterns too if you're into sewing, there's some gorgeous things.

I love this poem by Charles Bukowski... although I'm the furthest thing from a tortured artist it still greatly entertains me!  I love the bit about not forgetting your Brahms, or Bach, or beer.  (If you're not a fan of cuss words or the Bukowski-style vulgarity then don't click (: )

What inspiration have you found this week?

Jen xxxx

Peachy Keen Apologises for Its Lateness :)

mmm, period drama boys... *swoon*

[image from here]

Sometimes, my internet likes to stop working. Which makes me cry, and then I put a record on and read a book and feel much better :)

*Random side note... I listen to a lot of vinyl, and this always feels completely natural. Then yesterday, I played a CD while getting dressed for work and it felt totally old-fashioned. Weird, huh?*

Anyway! When my internet isn't breaking, this is what I've been checking out...

I found an amazing list of sewing projects. Seriously, I now have a to-sew list as long as my arm. But apparently my mamma picked up a massive batch of fabric while on holiday and is donating all the bits she isn't using for curtains to my stash... she's the best :)

I WANT THIS MUG! My cupboards are bursting with mugs though. I'm trying very hard to find a way to justify buying it other that 'But, I love it, I love it, why can't I have it?' Lol.

Despite having two jobs, a masters on the go, and some volunteering on the side, I'm still a massive procrastinator. I really have no idea how I manage to get anything done sometimes. This article has been quite helpful over the last few days in getting my ass in gear. I'm not a high-powered business woman by any means, but uni work and piles of crafting keep mounting up while I spend hours reading Jane Austen fanfic and watching Miss Marple...

And finally... I picked up in a charity shop this week a record of TS Eliot poems. So in honour of how much I'm enjoying it, rest your brain on The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. What a fab poem :)

Hope you're all having a lovely week, I'm off to bake some cakes!

Jen xxxx

Back in the game...

Phew.

So. Ofsted have gone, my overtime is diminishing and it's Easter. Bring on two weeks of no evening work AND a long weekend to boot!

To celebrate, as soon as my uni seminar was over and done with, I started knitting this. And, if I finish it quickly enough, next week will be spent making this rather awesome creation. Think I'm on a bit of a neck-tie love at the moment; I love neck scarves, but since I got my bow tattooed on the back of my neck I like showing it off, so incorporating cute ties on my sweaters is definitely appealing :) Not having any time to sit down and craft these last few weeks has been quite stressful for me... I need to be making! So there's lots bookmarked on ye faithful macbook and I can't wait. This weekend also finally saw the planting and potting of purple cauliflowers (yay!), chilli peppers and lavender so it's all finally coming together.

I repeat, phew.

On another note, does anyone else watch Lark Rise to Candleford? I watched the last episode today. And I cried. That's mostly thanks to my dear mama though, who teased me by making me think there was a sad ending for my favourite couple. But there wasn't, hurrah!

Right. I have a cup of tea, and 'Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict' waiting for me... see you tomorrow for some peachy keenness!

Jen xxxx

Another Serving of Peachy Keenness!

Oh HAI blog.

Huh? What do you mean where have I been?

Here's a fact about me: sometimes, I'm useless. Life gets on top of me (see: uni, ear infections, boys, OFSTED inspections) and I spend a week in jeans, sleeping and watching Richard Armitage on Youtube. It's not big, and it's not clever but I emerge refreshed and determined to do good things.

So! Onwards with what I've been filling my screen with.



Dorcas Lane! She's just so awesome. Just in case you haven't picked up on my love of Lark Rise to Candleford, here it is again. I want to be an independent lady with a post office and a forge. And the dress she's wearing in this picture. Oh, the dress. It's love.

Jodi from If You Never Did, You Should posted a link to an awesome campaign called The Girl Effect and I think it's something people definitely need to get behind. I'm already trying to think how I can incorporate raising awareness of it into my work. I skipped the intro video the first time round, because I'm impatient but, seriously, please watch it.

Casey is one of my favourite bloggers, she's so super-stylish and talented! Her new guide to sewing is a brilliant read; I don't know anyone else away from the internet that makes their own clothes, let alone vintage inspired so it's really great to see how other people work.

Vintage at Goodwood is a new festival starting this year. It looks AMAZING. If anyone's thinking of going, please let me know! I really want to be there, but need to convince some friends first :)

I can't remember how I stumbled across her, but I've really enjoyed reading Mary Van Note's blog. And this is possibly the best photo I've seen in a long, long time.

In other news, my mama's starting to think about moving, so I got to raid through her wardrobes. Yay! Among other treasures I found a beautiful pinafore dress. I shortened it a little bit and now it's just about my favourite thing ever. Check it out :)





I'm not so good at the posing thing... It'll come with practice :)

Well that's it for this Tuesday. I'm off for another cup of tea and then work!

Lots of love
Jen xxx

Peachy, With A Side Of Keen

...And Tuesdays are bringing together all the lovely things I've been looking at!



I look at Richard Armitage a lot, mainly because he's just beautiful...

*Ahem*

I love this tutorial on how the washing up got done in the 1940s! It's especially awesome because I've been explaining to my housemates for weeks that there's a specific order dishes should be done in, and now I know it's not just me :) (Yeah I know, OCD much?)

This is the best recipe for vanilla cupcakes! Instead of the icing though, try whisking up some buttercream, add a little rose syrup, and you have the dreamiest butterfly cakes ever.

Cut-Out-And-Keep has a lovely how-to for embroidering a deer. As I might have mentioned already, I'm really keen on embroidery at the moment and this would make the cutest decoration for a bedroom!

If, like me, you're a lover of vintage and reading then head on over to the Queens of Vintage social network and join the vintage book club! We've just finished reading 'The Moving Finger' by Agatha Christie (which was brilliant) and thinking about what to read next... I'm crossing my fingers for The Great Gatsby or Lady Chatterley's Lover.

That's it for this week! It's a bit of a short list, but after finding the washing up tutorial I've been mostly reading the rest of the Behind the Curtain blog, it's fab :) What's been occupying your screens this week?

Hope you've had a lovely Tuesday!
Jen xxxx

Mondays Stuck On Repeat

So... this past week has been a massive fail! My housemate decided that being the sharing, caring person he is, he should pass his cold onto me. Cue a Jen of Doom, horrible ear infection and several days fighting the urge to faceplant my desk and take a nap :( This also means that I haven't done anything I planned on doing; both skirt and essay are glaring at me feeling unloved.

But! It's a new week and I'm starting to feel much, much better. I even ventured out of the house to join in leaving drinks for my cake-baking, bed-building partner in crime Jade. She's going back to adventure camp where she works (I have to admit to being very jealous of her job!) and won't be home again until November. Sob! I put a fancy dress on and we actually enjoyed lashings of ginger beer and cake...

As I don't have anything else to report, have some pictures of my pretty outfit :)


I don't know if I look deep in thought here, or if it looks like I'm checking my dress for dirt...!

These are my absolute favourite shoes! I found them on a random vintage stall at Ely market... they claim to be from the 1920s. Now, I'm no fashion historian but I don't think they date back that far in any way! They are beautiful though and the only heels I can happily walk around in all day :)

I tied my scarf in a huge bow at the side of my neck. I thought it looked fab, but I don't think the Monday evening Wetherspoons audience was expecting such flounce. And it made eating custard a bit tricky...

Anyway, I hope you all are planning a lovely week. It's half term for me which means no evening work and lots of time to catch up on sewing and essays.

Jen xxxx

The beginning of a new week...

I don't know about anyone else, but on Mondays I always like to make a quick to-do list of everything I want to achieve in the week to come. As I start full-time work again in a couple of weeks there seems to be lots to do in order to tie up lots of loose ends before my crafting and relaxing time gets cut into. I've also got my first comissions for sewing projects. YAY! My friend wants a skirt for her birthday, her fiancee has asked if I can crochet him a moogle and another of my friends and her boyfriend have asked if I can make them costumes for the Bizarre Ball. Lots and lots to do indeed :)

Inspiring me a lot this week is the fashion stitcher Laura Lees. Everyone who's been a regular Topshop visitor would recognise her pretty dresses embellished with awesome embroidery. As I've been making my skirt, I started to think that embroidering something on the pockets would be uber cute (especially some of the awesome birds in my embroidery book!). I went to visit my Amyfriend this weekend, and she's lent me the most awesome Laura Lees dress which just sealed the deal for me. See her work here.

So. What have I got on my list to do this week?
- Finish my skirt! It didn't get done this weekend as I got distracted by friends and shopping. Oops.
- Start my essay on anti-oppressive practice. Neither crafty nor vintage but it must be done if I want to have a chance of finishing it before the deadline.
- Go dancing. I'm going to be brave and go along to Ceroc this week even though none of my friends think they'll be able to make it. I'm bored of the gym but am getting that restless feeling that comes after not doing an exercise for a while.

It's quite a short list this week, but the first two will probably take up most of my time. It'll be worth it in the end though.

Final thought: Hobbycraft was AWESOME. The whole centre it's part of is awesome. So awesome, in fact, that it requires its own post. More details later in the week!

Lots of love
Jen xxxx

Friday Thoughts

In the future, Friday will be a day of musing on whatever has captured my brain crafting or vintage-wise. However, I’ve been at uni all week so the only thing that has captured my brain is the philosophy of religion and the theory of youth work, which I’m sure no one wants to hear about! So here’s a quick catch up of what’s been going on this week…

As I just mentioned, I’ve been at uni for most of this week, and the days have been very long so not much crafting has been done. My brain feels like it has been beaten up! I’ve got loads of work to do so need to sit down and plan exactly when I’m going to do everything and make sure nothing gets forgotten about. I’ve also just found out today that I’ve got a new job! It’s just an extension of my youth work (extra hours and such) but it’s made me a very happy Jen indeed.

In crafting news, I’m sitting down to sew my skirt today. Just been having a fight with my bobbin but we’ve managed to work things out amicably. It’s looking good! Hopefully there’ll be photos by the end of the week ☺ It was my friend Kayla’s birthday this week too and she said she wanted a monkey. As chance would have it, the girl that was giving me a lift to uni is also a big crafter and turned up on Wednesday with instructions on how to make sock monkeys! So that’s my project for tomorrow.

One final thought for this Friday… HOBBYCRAFT OPENS TOMORROW! Yep, so exciting it needed capital letters. We have a trip planned for Sunday and I can’t wait. Expect a full report soon!

Right. I have Belle and Sebastian on iTunes, a big cup of tea and my sewing calling my name.
Lots of love
Jen xxx

Thursday is Fangirl Day!

Sooooo. In an attempt to bring more regularity and consistency into this blog, I've decided that set days will mean certain types of posts. In a bit of a homage to Gala Darling, who was one of the first blogs I ever started reading, Thursday is going to be a round up of things I've been reading / dancing to / watching / loving in a particular week. I have intense, short-lived obsessions so hopefully it won't be the same thing everytime!

Reading:

I've just started Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. It's not gripped me as much as Pride and Prejudice did so far, but that is one of my favourite movies / TV series ever, so it's kind of expected. I'm only a couple of chapters in so it should pick up :)

I've also been plodding through Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson. This book is ever so slightly weird. It's so far made up of little vignettes about the life of the people living in Lark Rise and Candleford, which makes it sound a little dreary. But all of a sudden you'll look at the clock and realise you've been completely lost in their world for a couple of hours. Deceptively gripping!

I went charity shopping today (one of my absolute favourite past times) and picked up Lady Chatterley's Lover and Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence, a collection of articles written by the editor of the New York Times in the first half of the twentieth century and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen so have a stockpile of books once the first two are finished with!

Dancing to:

Louis Armstrong, Vera Lynn, The Sonics, The Raveonettes and random songs from a collection of swing music I downloaded. My most played song at the moment is probably 'Look Out Stranger, I'm A Texas Ranger'. I've no idea who it's by, or why I love it so much but it's amazing. Go find it!

Watching:

The first series of Lark Rise to Candelford, and the new series too! Pretty outfits, cute rural life... it's my dream.

I watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for the third time this evening (my housemate hadn't seen it yet) and can honestly say it's the first time I've watched it and enjoyed it! The Harry Potter movies are always a bit of a slow grower for me as I'm such a massive fan of the books.

I've also been listening to the Terry Pratchett serialisations on BBC7; check them out on iPlayer if you're a fan, they're in perfect 20 minute segments, which suits a tea break or something to listen to while you're washing your hair!

A special mention should also go to Sherlock Holmes... what an awesome film. Oh em gee indeed.

Generally loving:

The vintage skirt pattern mentioned in my previous entry. I cut out the pattern tonight in a lovely heavy ivory silk, it's definitely a dressing up skirt! The kitty and I almost had a bit of a falling out - she has a real thing for pattern paper and always tries to nest in it while I'm pinning and cutting, and today the paper got a little ripped! Once I've started sewing I think I'll make a copy and then store the original safely away somewhere. Or knit Lilycat some little booties to avoid any more clawing mishaps...

Charity shopping: oh the amazing things you find! Along with the books already mentioned, today I found a beautiful cream silk top (pictures WILL follow, it's too good not to!), amazing post office scales that will now be used for baking purposes and a few strands of pearls to replace the ones that decide to explode in my handbag. Awesome good times.

Well I think that's it for today... I've got my bedtime cup of tea and the next episode of Lark Rise calling me.

Night all!

Jen xxxx

I am a BAD blogger

A problem often encountered by one grrl with too many projects is that some projects fall by the wayside and are left to gather dust and be forgotten. This blog suffered such a fate!

It's not because I've been gazing off at the stars though, these last however many months have been manically busy. I started a masters degree in Youth Work and Community Development, which is so much fun but a LOT of work, and also moved from my poky little flat to a lovely big house. Note to everyone: do not move house three days before Christmas. You will want to kill your new housemates before you've even unpacked! I've also been making making making! Here's a list of highlights and pictures will follow for some of them (another reason for not posting is my inability to get my act together and actually photograph my handiwork). So, in no particular order:

• Homebrewed ginger beer (one word: yum)
• A book of fake panda facts (an in-joke between my sister and I)
• Countless pairs of earrings
• A jumper
• A cardigan that has taken me 18 months to finish and looks nothing like it was supposed to
• My first dress!
• Knitted bow for my hair
• Embroidered pillow case
• Robin Hood and Jesse from Team Rocket fancy dress costumes
• Assorted soft toys as various presents for lovely friends

It's quite a collection! I've started to get quite restless if I don't have a project on the go so, hopefully, I'll start posting more regularly :)

In recent - vaguely craft-related - news, my current obsession is the 1940s and all things vintage. I've just bought a couple of vintage patterns off the supremely talented Lauren from Wearing History and will be spending my pay packet on fabric this weekend. Other treasures have included a copy of 'Modern Knitting Illustrated' from the 1940s. This book is amazing and I will try and get some pictures up because words really cannot do justice to the patterns, and also the unintentionally hilarious captions that accompany them.

Right, I think that's quite enough of a catch up to be getting on with! I'll leave you with a picture of me proudly showing off my new dress (you can't really see it, but you can see the squeeable Cath Kidston fabric) with my beautiful friend Sarah!

Bye for now (but not for long!)

Jen xxxx