i need a job, so i want to be a paperback writer

this is just going to be a quick post today, as i really can't think of much to say that wouldn't consist of incoherent rambling. hopefully i will have more to say later in the week.

a while ago (possibly for my last birthday), my mum bought me a voucher for a website which lets you customise a pair of shoes online by using different colours and/or adding pictures.

it took me a while to get round to designing my pair, as i was pretty unsure of what i wanted them to look like. in the end, i settled on a beatles picture. big surprise i know, but how could i not?

the shoes themselves look quite similar to converses & they are pretty comfy, only i need to buy some longer laces because i can barely fit the shoes on as the laces they have now make them too tight.

i left the rest of the shoes white because i wanted to be able to write things on them, although the material is a little tougher than i thought so i may have to sew onto them - challenge & a half.

i haven't worn these out yet, as i'm quite unsure what to put them with. i may take them on the art trip to london, as i need some comfortable shoes for walking (and because i have flat feet this is often difficult).

possibly one of my favourite pictures of the beatles, they were just so cute in the early years!

*

i have had this blog for about two years now, & i think it's gone through quite a few changes, both in subject matter & in appearance. i feel like my confidence has grown slightly, both on this blog and in real life. i love writing & documenting my thoughts on here, but sometimes i feel it's slightly lacking. so, i was wondering if i could ask you, my darling followers, the kind of things you enjoy reading about on here & if you have any suggestions for  me to improve or enhance the content.

what do you like to read? or, what would you like to see more of?

• outfit posts
• recent purchases (jewellery, clothing, other things)
• artwork and other projects (like dressmaking or jewellery i have made)
• text posts about my life
• inspiration (about clothing, artwork, or people i find inspirational)
• music i love
• photographs from parties, holidays, trips or gatherings with friends
• other things (if you could specify, that would be lovely)

if you would make your thoughts known in the comments, that would be greatly appreciated. if you don't wish to, that is perfectly fine & i am sorry if you find this irritating, i honestly just don't want to get stuck in a rut.

obviously i intend to keep the content as honest as possible, so if there are things suggested that i just don't think are "me", i won't write about them as i don't want anything here to be false and untrue to who i am.

hopefully this exercise will bring me inspiration, and possibly more energy for thoughts from another kook, as often i am put off from posting things in case people will find them dull.

yours sincerely, the humble writer.

thursday night your stockings needed mending

today i decided to match my accessories to that of my ghost necklace. the housewife look appears to be my default setting (slightly odd seeing as i'm a pretty ardent feminist), so why not copy from a true master?

this is irene, the ironing ghost trinket i got from a kinder egg about 10 or so years ago. i think she's pretty damn stylish, although it was perfectly by chance that i managed to copy her headscarf today! pink & spotty, i like it irene.

here is my headscarf seen a bit more clearly! (:

please excuse the ramshackle hair beneath it, the bow was redone many times today inbetween hysterical laughing fits & impromptu stretching sessions at the back of spanish class (i have a really bad back at the minute, okay).

these blurred background shots didn't quite work out as i'd hoped, but i still quite like the effect.

it's my birthday next friday, crikey.

hand in glove

for christmas, my sister bought me the most beautiful pair of driving gloves. they were pretty adorable; 1940s style in purple suede with a sweet little bow on the back of the hand. sadly, my silly little hands are not so little & would not fit inside! alas & alack i was quite heartbroken, & although we looked for a larger pair they all seemed to have disappeared in the winter sales (except, rather gallingly, for a pair in the same size i already had). my sister took them back & bought me a dress instead - which i shall hopefully debut here in the next week or so! - and i thought all was lost for those lovely gloves.

*tension builds to a crescendo*

or at least that was what i thought until on a whim i decided to peruse ebay last week & found a pair in my size! they were a fairly reasonable price so i went for it, so tada!

they are so sweet! i apologise for the discrepancy in photograph type (flash vs non flash), but i can't work out how to do macro shots without flash on. (clearly revealing myself as a non-slr-deserving photography novice here, aren't i?)

anyway, yes, close up of the bow alert! the colour is a bit darker than this in real life.

as i think i've mentioned before, mother is teaching me about sewing & clothes making, and when we were buying the fabric for the skirt i made i spotted some amazingly cute paddington bear fabric!

i want to make a pair of high waisted buttoned shorts from this, and i have some anchor buttons that i think would look lovely! depending on work & other things i'd like to get them made for before i go on the london trip at half term

i could put a really tired speech about being sorry about not posting because of coursework deadlines & driving lessons & lack of inspiration, but y'all have heard it all before so i'll avoid it. slightly contradictory that.

i'm only sleeping

everybody seems to think i'm lazy, i don't mind, i think they're crazy,

running everywhere at such a speed, 'til they find, there's no need.

please don't spoil my day, i'm miles away, and after all i'm only sleeping.

i have a lot of love for this song today, the lyrics always seem to strike a chord with me but today they seem especially relevant. today i feel an overwhelming urge to sleep for a long, long, long time (hands up if you spotted the beatles reference) and not have to worry about the consequences. today i just want to be lazy without feeling guilty.

for christmas this year i was given a new look voucher, with which i have bought a pair of shorts. not really in keeping with this wintry weather, but i've never been one to conform to seasonal clothing stereotypes. i have a strange hatred for wearing trousers & shorts are about as close as i can get.

i've been feeling a bit exasperated today (with myself, with others, with several chain stores), so i felt i would pair the shorts with my favourite beatles tshirt, as i always turn to the music of the beatles for solace.

i feel extremely british in this outfit, must be the bowler hat and the british invasion colours.

a closer look at the pattern on the shorts, blue & red cherries with navy blue or black (i literally cannot tell) polka dots;

tshirt - gift, shorts - new look, hat - topshop

the school art trip to london is in about a month's time (and two weeks after my birthday), so i am trying to plan what to wear for the trip. it has to be practical, durable, warm & easy to pack. i highly doubt i will keep to any of that criteria.

elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress

i think i need to stop beginning my blog posts with really awkward sentences. after this one, evidently.

so, yes. to the crux of the matter. (sorry, i'm fully aware this is making no sense at all. my brain appears to be highly frazzled due to large amounts of english coursework - which technically i should really be writing now, but i'm procrastinating by writing this, which shall only serve to make my brain more frazzled. alas, so the cycle continues)

for christmas (& my 18th birthday, which is in like 3 weeks, crikey and a half) my dad bought me a camera, which i totally did not expect & am still slightly bewildered by. don't get me wrong, i am unbelievably grateful for it! it is lovely, and very, very good. this makes me feel a little unworthy, & that i should be putting said camera on a high shelf in my room surrounded by candles, before which i shall sacrifice a goat every morning. 

ahem, cue obligatory camera & mirror shot;

(can we all just ignore how fat my hand is in this picture? and how messy my hair looks. thanks)

last week, my friends & i exchanged our secret santa presents, and i received some very lovely pieces of jewellery from my friend kiran!

some very sweet vintage feel brooches, in fact i'd had my eye on the paris one for quite some time! i've decided i need to buy some sort of jacket for all occasions where i can pin on & interchange all of my brooches - like joe strummer's leather jacket, except less scuffed & in a more neutral tone.

she also gave me this lovely coral ring which - horror of horrors! - was almost too small, until i realised i could put it on my little finger or wedding finger (even though that is supposedly bad luck, although seeing as i don't believe in marriage it can't very well be bad luck, can it?)

my favourite out of the gifts is the pair of earrings she gave me, which you can see here! they are little black bows with pearls hanging from them - very chanel as mother said!

my hair has started to grow out a bit, which i really like because it gets a bit more curly that way, & i can tie it up without having to use about a zillion kirby grips.

due to the earrings having a bit of a thirties vibe, i decided to pair them with my peter pan collar blouse (which i'm totally cool with being see through by the way, paha). i didn't like the bottom half of this outfit though, i think really i need to buy some all purpose high-waisted shorts, either denim or in a plain colour.

sorry if this has been a bit of a ramshackle post, i just wanted to update & i knew i wouldn't have the chance over the next few days!

confusion in her eyes that says it all, she's lost control.

over the past few weeks, some bad things have been building up between a few friends of mine & another acquaintance. sometimes i feel i should ignore them, at other times i feel the weight on my shoulders like a great boulder. i feel a dark cloud brooding over my head on occasions, & while i hate confrontation i am certain the situation calls for ill feeling to be brought out into the open, where it can then be dispersed. it seems as if we are constantly running along a knife edge; worried that one word could push us too far & we'll slip into an overwhelming sense of sadness - through no fault of our own.

it is always hard to feel like this, and hard to see your friends in the same state. it is also difficult when the reason for those emotions is a friend, or someone you thought was one.

i try to keep the dramatics & insults to a minimum, but sometimes i do wonder how somebody can be so oblivious to another's feelings, or how one comment - meaningless & flippant to the person making it - can affect and hurt another. i pride myself as a person who always tries to be tactful, & when others refuse to extend the same courtesy to me or my friends it hurts. perhaps the most astonishing thing of all is that my attempts to fix the situation(s) both on behalf of myself & for my friends were completely ignored, belittled & misconceived completely. how one person can lack such human decency to try & understand their wrongdoings shocks me slightly. something i have taught myself & constantly remind myself of is to take responsibility for my own actions & shortcomings - and i think it is not unreasonable to expect the same, or similar, from others.

attack is not, and never will be, the best form of defense.

in the absence of christmas

sorry about my absence over the past few days, i've had english & art coursework which has just been building up and i really needed to get a handle on it before i could even think of anything else. although, i have been doing a bit of panic-procrastination on tumblr & twitter.
i have some time for a quick post now, so i thought i'd update y'all on some of the presents i was so lucky to get for christmas! (i don't really think i can pull off the word y'all, can i?)

from my mum's side of the family, i got given some books about stitching designs which i cannot wait to try out! it looks like it will take quite a bit of practise though, eek.

my cousin gave me this typewriter necklace i wore in the last post, the daisy headband is from my sister (along with some beautiful gloves, which are sadly too small for my awfully huge hands!) & some vw campervan bookmarks. i also got some christmas socks & a bit of money, as well as some other little bits & bobs.

as my main present, my mum gave me this ukulele! i'm not sure if you can tell, but it's a lovely purple colour & i have decided to name him george. my aunt & uncle gave me a book of beatles songs with music for the ukulele which i can't wait to learn - although the strings need changing as these ones stretch far too much for my liking.

as you can see, i also have a harmonica! this is going to take much longer to learn properly than the ukulele, but i shall persevere!

to keep things in the christmas spirit, here are a few things i bought in the paperchase christmas sale;

some reindeer lights, a 2011 diary & some christmas cards. this stuff is just making me wistful for next christmas!