que sera sera

i have received a couple of awards recently, which i am very very grateful for!

the first comes from harlow darling over at elegantly wasted, & involves me listing my ten favourite things;
*

one; the beatles. specifically black & white photos of them from the help era.
two; planning my outfit for the midnight showing of harry potter & the deathly hallows. luna lovegood glasses & a lion hat, you shall be mine.
three. album art on all my itunes albums.
four. getting a question right on university challenge, especially in the celebrity mugshots round.
five. the thought of a trip away with all of my friends next summer.
six. flight of the conchords
seven. doing a scouse accent all day for no reason at all.
eight. drawing things with oil pastels because i am a child.
nine. vincent van gogh's self portraits.
ten. making fun of the illustrations in physics & chemistry textbooks.
apparently i have to pass this on to ten blogs, but to be frank i actually think it's better when you only give it to one or two, so i'd like to pass this on to kayla hadlington, because she's kind of amazing.
*
i also have another award from a blackbird in a cherry tree - so thank you very much also!
for this one, i have to sum up my bloggind philosophy in five words;
i write about pretty things.
& pass this on to another blog (actually ten, but you can see above for why that isn't happening), & for that i would like to choose kat from sequin buttons because she is really lovely & finds the most amaaazing things at charity shops.

brown paper packages tied up with string

- scheduled post -

i am away in london until the 9th of august.

*

last week, i was tagged by both JC & amber for a favourite things award, where i have to list some of my favourite things with some photographs. thanks to both of you, it is very much appreciated.

my favourite things right now;

reading about my favourite people in music magazines.

this is an old mojo edition about the beatles from 2006, i've been buying loads off ebay recently.

finding inspiration for art.

beautiful photographs, lovely outfits & interesting articles.

making jewellery.

i haven't done this in so long, i really miss it.

watching the rain.

i know it's summer right now & i should probably be hating on all the rain, but the truth is i actually don't like summer very much. i really prefer autumn & spring, where it's warm but not stupidly hot & everything isn't built up so much.

my new way of hanging clothes.

i just think it looks pretty, basically.

now, i think i'm supposed to pass this on to something like seven blogs, but i'm just going to pass this on to one; and that is amy at the lonely teapot

(also, because this is a scheduled post, i'll leave a comment giving the award after i get back)

the needle and the damage done

some people asked for me to post the finished version of my artwork which i posted the pictures for last week, so, erm *awkward drumroll* here it is.

oh, it's a poppy head by the way, in case you weren't sure what it was! (and the medium is oil pastel)

this really does make me feel quite awkward; i don't want people to think i'm posting this because i think i'm awesome, i did it because people asked but i am also quite proud of this. i never used to feel that i could draw or paint or do other arty things as well as the other people in my school - or even in my art class - but over this past year my confidence & my ability have really grown. i feel very comfortable drawing now, & i don't feel like the rubbish outsider in my class any more.

*

anyway, moving on.

i would like to thank both Nat Elizabeth & JC for giving me this lovely blog award;

it really means quite a huge amount to me that people even read my blog, let alone comment like these two do. and it means an even huger amount that they love this blog, as the award suggests. so thank you very very much girls!

i think i'm supposed to send these on to 15 bloggers, but personally i think that's too many & it won't be as special that way, so i'm going to pass it on to two of my favourites, Kat & Lexy. you should go visit their blogs, & those of my awarders too, as they really are all wonderful people.

i'm off to edinburgh tomorrow with my art class for a day of galleries & amazingness, so hopefully i should have some pretty pictures to share with you all soon!

*

ps. i think i should explain the title of this post as it seems a tad pessimistic. so, poppy seeds are used to make opium which (forgive me if i'm wrong) is something to do with heroin, which that song by neil young is about! phew, okay done.

it's only rock & roll

i went to the beach yesterday which was grrrrreat. i'll post a few pictures later maybe, i didn't take my camera so i'll have to steal everybody else's photos!

we did a bit of shopping in town as well, & i bought a little bit more than i meant to.

i am finally the owner of abbey road on vinyl, this makes me very very happy.

i just love this record so much, i listened to it today & it honestly just sounds better on a record player. the sound is deeper somehow, i don't know how to describe it.

i think the artwork is beautiful too. so simple, but just lovely. i love the sense of humour in it too, the girl walking past covering the oh-so-secret postcode.

continuing the music-y theme of my purchases, i also bought the laura marling NME. i don't normally buy it, but i had to seeing as laura was on the front. i actually found it really interesting reading about different musicians' takes on the music industry (apart from rihanna, seriously, just stop talking).

another spur of the moment purchase was this quite lovely straw boater from primark (yes, primark. i know, i know). i don't really like the black band it has, i think i may replace it with a more colourful ribbon because, well, i like colour. and also because it'll make it look less primark-y.

i got this rolling stones tshirt in the post yesterday, it was 99p from drink tea be content's ebay.

i really love it, it has such cute sleeves!

love the sewn on rolling stones logo!

i love the worn-ness of the tshirt, you can only really get that genuine vintage look (even if it's not vintage!) from ebay, or by thrifting. i also adorrre the obscure design.

i apologise for the image heavy post today, but i had much news to share (:

oh, and thank you to amber of error for my award, it is very very appreciated dear!

hunky dory

sundays. the days when really you just can't be bothered to do anything but laze around, listen to music or watch tv. or maybe this is just me. but anyway, today i am staving off psychology & spanish revision, & i thought now would be a good time to post about the musical tag award i was recently given by duffle coats & mittens - thank you!

i have to list 10 bands or artists in no particular order, & then answer the following questions.

1. the beatles

2. bob dylan

3. david bowie

4. the kooks

5. jimi hendrix

6. grateful dead

7. laura marling

8. bruce springsteen

9. the rolling stones

10. marvin gaye

now for the questions;

- what was the first song you heard by 6?
this is actually very difficult for me to remember! i think it was box of rain, as that is the first song off the very first album of theirs i listened to.
- what is your favourite song of 8?
i think it would have to be either thunder road, so young & in love, or rosalita (come out tonight). sorry for being so indecisive, but i really can't choose!
- what kind of impact has 1 left on your life?
oh, a huge impact! i think anybody who knows me, & in fact anyone who reads this blog, will know this. my clothing is influenced by them, my outlook on life, the art i draw, the posters on my walls - i even went to john & paul's houses in liverpool.
- what is your favourite lyric of 5?
"will the wind ever remember, the names it has blown in the past, but in its crutch, its old age & its wisdom, it whispers "no, this will be the last"" from the wind cries mary.
"angel come down from heaven yesterday, she stayed with me just long enough for afternoon tea" from the acoustic version of angel.
the whole of bold as love, i love that beautiful song. jimi is generally thought of as a guitarist more than a lyricist, but i think his words have an amazing power.
- how many times have you seen 4 live?
ha! once, but i was actually in the first aid room for most of the concert having passed out about 10 minutes in.
- what is your favourite song of 7?
rambling man, ghosts & her cover of johnny flynn's the wrote & the writ.
- is there any song of 3 that makes you sad?
no, not really. although the slower parts of changes have occasionally brought a tear to my eye.
what is your favourite song by 9?
i must confess i have only heard their eary 60s albums, but my favourites are brown sugar, dead flowers, and you can't always get what you want.
- how did you first get into 2?
well, i had always heard people talking about "bob dylan, the poet" & his reputation is widely known. i listened to a greatest hits album of his that my step-father had & i LOVED that, which led me onto listening to some of my dad's albums & i received the times they are a-changing and the free-wheelin' bob dylan for christmas. my love for his music has just grown and grown, it also helps that i have friends who love him too & that i can discuss his music with.
- how did you first get into 3?
well, my mother & father met through mutual friends at a david bowie concert so right from the start he's always been an influence, but i never really actively listened to him until i heard that the kooks' name was inspired by the song kooks on his hunky dory album - which i now own on vinyl.
- what is your favourite song by 4?
ahhh so many! i love seaside, tea & biscuits, eddie's gun and sofa song. i am a bit of an obsessive fan, so i have lots of favourites off bootleg albums too.
- how many times have you see 9 live?
never, they don't really tour massively. i would have loved to have seen them back in the 60s though.
- what is a good memory concerning 10?
i used a picture of him in a collage for the final outcome in one of my art projects, & we were presenting our work to the class (which i totally hate!) & my art teacher, who is scottish & very mad, went "oooh who's that? marvin gaye? SEXUAL HEALING!" this was a pretty hilarious, if embarrassing, moment! although it was really only embarrassing because no-one in my class had heard of him & thought that "sexual healing" was, well, my teacher's feeling towards him rather than one of his most famous songs.
- is there any song by 8 which makes you sad?
quite a few actually, bruce really knows how to tug those heartstrings. his ghost of tom joad album is all pretty sad, mary queen of arkansas, if i should fall behind and especially 4th of july, asbury park (sandy) are very emotional.
- what is your favourite song of 1?
oh my, this is serrrrriously tricky! it's just going to have to be a big list i'm afraid; here comes the sun, i saw her standing there, twist & shout, i've just seen a face, i'm looking through you, strawberry fields forever and, frankly, their entire back catalogue.
- how did you become a fan of 10?
my mum's always been a big fan of motown & soul songs & i guess it just filtered through. also, i listened to a lot of him on last.fm.
sorry for the ludicrously long answers, but i tend to go on a bit when it comes to music!
i choose to tag nothing but a vision trick, error & .

i'd like to thank the academy

i know i've been posting sporadically lately, & for this i do apologise. i've been feeling rather listless of late, with only school & exams on the horizon. but have no fear! i will be venturing out to the beach next saturday, & i have some gems arriving from ebay shortly so i shall post about those (hopefully!) in due course.

first, i'd like to say an amazingly huge thank youuuu! to the lovely people who have given me awards (:

i keep forgetting to post about them, but please don't think this is because i'm not grateful!

i received this you're so lovely award from amber at error. thank you amber!

i have to award 6 people so, here goes;

e

duffle coats & mittens

a beautiful mess
much love
thoughts from an addict
and fashion peach

i also received this award from laura at stars & shoes and from kat at fashion peach. thank you both very much, this does mean an awful lot to me :')
now i have to pass this on to 12 others;
error
a daisy chain dream
a thought is the blossom
because geography case studies suck
abbey karson blog
drink tea be content
charlotte
oh emma
in bug's drawers
jess loves fred
la petite fille avec la vie de la mode
leaves with stripes
now that my mammoth tagging session is over, i leave you with promises of posts yet to come.
& thank you from the bottom of my heart for these awards - to me it's still a surprise that people actually want to read about my silly little ramblings!