Weekend Round-up: Events and Observations

I can't believe it's Sunday evening again already! Where did all the days go?

This week seems to have been non-stop, yet not a lot has happened.  Somehow I haven't found time to chronicle or photograph anything that's occurred (including my gravity defying victory rolls last night, I was so proud of those babies!).  But anyway, here's the edited highlights of my week :)

1. I started sewing the frock from the Sew and Save book.  Seriously, I cannot recommend this book enough.  It has loads of useful information on repairs and alterations, but also has a section of patterns to sew.  Because it was published for your average 1941 woman rather than super-talented seamstresses, the patterns are fairly simple but I'm still learning a lot.  However, both my sewing machines are heading to the great craft room in the sky so it looks like I'll be spending tomorrow evening hand-sewing the sleeves and the hems!  I'm off to a 40s dance next Saturday so on a tight deadline if I want to show it off :)

2. I sorted out my community placement!  As part of my Masters, I have to do a 180-hour placement in a community setting.  It's been a real struggle to find anything interesting in my town, but my supervisor had the idea of working with our local credit union.  It sounds really exciting - I'll be learning to be a debt counsellor and working with different community groups - and I can't wait to get started.

3. Yesterday, the mamma bear and my little sister came to visit and we went for shopping and food, the two things we all love!  I found the most beautiful dress in French Connection (I know, I didn't expect that!) to wear to my cousin's wedding in Malta.  And the best bit... knocked down from £185 to £35!  I'm saving it for the wedding, but will most definitely be getting a LOT of photos :)

4. Finally, I've been working my way through the 'Thin Man' movie series.  Nick and Nora Charles are my absolute favourite on-screen couple. Ever.  If you've never seen it, you should!  A perfect blend of detective story, amazing comedy and gorgeous dresses.  Here's a little preview: 

Obviously, there's been a lot of baking and gardening too, but that goes without saying these days!  I'm so looking forward to having all my evenings free (3 more weeks left!) so I have time to both do fun things and talk about them too...

Has anyone else had fabulous weekends?


Jen xxxx

Weekend Round-up

Hi everyone! Hope you've all had lovely weekends :)


I was planning on doing another Saturday Morning Cinema yesterday, but I fell asleep during both movies, oops!  So instead here's a quick round-up of what the weekend had in store for me...


1) I got up super early on Saturday and baked lots of yummy cupcakes to take home for the mamma bear and my sister:

They are so so tasty... I used this recipe for a simple vanilla cupcake and then tried lots of different flavoured buttercreams... there's some mixed with blueberries, some with rose syrup and some with a plum and cinnamon jam (they're definitely my favourites!)  Happily, they went down a storm!

2. My sister needs things to do while her beau is working away, so while we were both together I taught her to knit.  She did really well! After a couple of glasses of wine though, it got a bit silly...

What a cutie :)

3. And finally, I finished my last ever essay for my Masters!!!! Well... I still have my final placement to do, and my dissertation if I want the full award (which I do).  But it's my last 'proper' essay and that's a lovely feeling.  Can't wait to print it off and post it, I think a celebration is in order.

What fun have you been up to this weekend?

Jen xxxx

Crafty Inspiration Needed!

Me, tired and grumpy!

So since Tuesday the week went downhill rapidly... On Wednesday the doctor completely butchered me trying to replace my implant, leaving me with a rather smashing bruise and a whole lotta pain.  And work yesterday was so busy that I didn't get time to go post my essay which meant today was spent travelling to uni and back just to hand in my assignment.  I am a grumpy little bunny right now!

Normally when I'm in this mood, I get a-crafting to cheer myself up.  But I'm in the mood for instant gratification; I could carry on knitting my cardi but it won't be ready to wear in the morning, and both my sewing machines are broken so I can't whip up a skirt or pillowcase.  I need something that will bring me instant joy!

So what are your quick evening off craft favourites?  Any websites I should be perusing for information?  Any hints would be much appreciated!

Hopefully after a glass of wine and a good night's sleep, normal service will be resumed tomorrow :)

Love Jen xxxx

Fangirl Friday 11.02.11 and What's My Motivation?

Oof. Uni work is boring today! I've read and researched for almost a million hours (no exaggeration...) and must now accept that the time has come to actually start writing.  It's feeling like a real struggle, and I keep finding so many more fun things to do.  Tomorrow I'm packing my bags and going to the mamma bear house in the hope that some countryside quiet will let me focus.


So tell me... how do you get motivated when you really don't want to do something?  I need all the help I can get!


And on with the roll call of what's been distracting me from 4,000 words of youth work management theory this week :)


Reading: 
Sadly not a lot apart from textbooks!  However, some things I ordered from Amazon arrived today, so added to my must-read list are Henrietta's War: News From the Home Front 1939-42 by Joyce Dennys and Wartime Women: A Mass Observation Anthology: A Mass-observation Anthology of Women's Writings, 1937-1945 by Dorothy Sheridan.


Dancing to:
A lot of Glenn Miller, as usual!  I've discovered the amazing effect opera has on my levels of concentration, so I've also been playing a lot of The Magic Flute.  And here's my two favourite songs of the moment...



Best TV introduction ever?





Watching:
I've hardly turned my TV on in the last week or so!  But when I have, I've been mainly watching / falling asleep to series one of Land Girls  Thoroughly fluffy and enjoyable :)


Generally loving:
Any time I'm away from my uni work.  Soy vanilla lattes.  Practising my ukulele.  Writing plans.  Convincing people in the office they should cheer every time I walk in the room.  All the pictures my sister sends me of her baby bunnies.  Catching up on The Archers.  Buying tickets for more dances :)  Twitter!  I finally understand it (maybe)... find me @Nana_Jen


And that's it!  Hope everyone's got a lovely weekend planned.  In with the studying, I'll hopefully be off to watch Black Swan, finally!


Jen xxxx

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

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