Shop Suggestions, Please
Posted on | September 24, 2010 | 18 Comments
As the title suggests, I need to get the names of UK shops, whether it be online, Cambridge, or London that sells petites sizes and more less like Anthropologie, JCrew or Ann Taylor (Loft).
Back in Missouri, I could grab clothes from Ann Taylor, without trying them on, especially pants, and they’d fit great. I love Anthropologie’s style (and that store in general, my favorite store for inspiration) although I couldn’t wear most of their long pants because I could never find a petite/short and the stuff on the sales rack can be slim pickin’ for my size. As for JCrew, their shirts fit me well. As much as I love shopping I hate clothes shopping; I hate trying things on. So when I find stores and models that fit me I stick to them.
I never buy clothes full price. I would either get them from a consignment store or on sale. I just like the stores above because they wash well and there’s ALWAYS something for me in the sales rack. I found some pants at Ann Taylor Loft for $10 once!
So far I’ve only been shopping at Boden (there’s also a US store) and learned about Joules from our neighbor friend who I think invest in that company (ha!) but I need some other suggestions (and Joules isn’t quite my style in the dress and skirt dept. although the polo and shirts + kids + wellies are cute). I’d like some dresses and skirts and for those I need to try them on because I’m all messed up in terms of fitting for those two pieces.
I tried Googling but nothing interesting came up. Thanks in advance!!!
As for the card, I made this using colors from Embellish Magazine. I also did some background stamping per their challenge request. For the background I used Versamark and then clear embossing powder. I also stamped the doily with the same stamp from WPlus9: Ever After. I LOVE this color combo. So classy don’t you think? Makes me want to get a gray pencil skirt, a white ruffly top, a yellow cardigan and black tights with some awesome almost to the knee high boots (with a bit of heels).
Materials:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up!
Stamps: WPlus9 Ever After and sentiment from Woodgrain Silhouette
Accessories: Seam binding from Etsy, doily from Walmart, flower from some craft store somewhere in the UK (I forgot where), embossing powder
Pattern paper: The flower was cut from a GCD Studio piece
Ink: Versamark and black
Some Favorite Things
Posted on | September 22, 2010 | 13 Comments
First most recent favorite thing: Potato and leek soup. I found it on AllRecipes and of course I had to tweak it just a bit:
2 good size garlic cloves chopped
2 shallots sliced
1 tsp white pepper
I also didn’t have any American bacon (pork belly and more fatty) so I used 250g (about half a pound) British bacon (from the back cut of pork which is less fatty) and I added a tbs of butter. But if you use American bacon I’d not use the extra butter.
In terms of cooking. I let the potato boil with the broth (I used cubes) as the original recipe directed but for the other portion I sauteed the bacon first for about 4-5 minutes (English bacon doesn’t get crispy), then I added the butter, garlic and shallots, and then gradually the leak until the leek was soft. I think this took 5-10 minutes. Then I dumped everything into the pot of potato and broth. Last was the cream and pepper. I let it mix for around 5 minutes.
Here’s a garlic tip. When chopping garlic use your knife to cut the rough edge off. Then put the flat side of your knife on the garlic and smash the knife (or push down hard if you’re the stronger than me) with your hand (careful not to cut yourself!). The wider the knife the better (I chop with a chef’s knife). After it’s smash just pull the rest of the skin off and use your knife to chop the already crushed garlic a bit more so that it’s finer (unless you love chunky garlic). Here’s a video that does more less of what I usually do. My friend in college taught me how to chop this way. Before this I had to painfully remove the skin first and then chop.
Oh, on the cream, hubby got double heavy cream and the recipe only requires heavy cream. I don’t know if this made a difference but goodness, the soup was DIVINE!!! Wish I took a photo of it. We were too hungry {::SMILES}.
Second most favorite thing: Baby Signing Time. Not only is this Jovie’s most favorite video series they are also teaching her how to communicate with us. While she’s getting there in speaking she’s still mostly babbling so signing has helped us quite a bit! Here’s a little sampling of the video:
If you have little ones I seriously recommend teaching them how to sign. It’s also suppose to increase their IQs too and speech. While M loves My Baby Can Talk for her first signing video (she went to Signing Time later on) Jovie doesn’t care of that much and prefers the Signing Time series. They’re both excellent though and I highly recommend them. M spoke early, at 14-mo, but she knew how to use 2-3 words in a sentence right away. Jovie, while just going bok bok (book) or mo mo (more) she can already sign using 1-2 signs at a time. On average kids don’t start putting words together until at least 18-mo. The only downside is that at 14/15-mo-old she’s already very demanding. She’d wake up asking milk, cereal AND ice cream. In the middle of the day she’ll sign bus which basically means she’d like to ride the bus that goes to Cambridge. She always tells me when there’s an airplane nearby and when she wants water or a bath. Jovie’s hand never stops talking that’s for sure!!
Third favorite thing: Just living here in the UK with the family. Life is wonderful and I’ve never been happier!!
Card info:
I made this card some months back for the Embellish call but never formally submitted it although I did email it to Ash. I dunno, after looking at it I didn’t feel like it was pub worthy. The theme was using buttons creatively and I don’t think my button usage was very creative. There’s nothing new there don’t ya think? So here it is. For the card I used Practicing Creativity’s stamps. The punch was Martha Stewart’s and the twine I got from Etsy, Annie42.
Goin’ to Argos
Posted on | May 22, 2010 | 12 Comments
I think something like Argos (this is my personal/project 365 blog, more pics and UK stories from each and everyday) is a must go if you visit the UK. I don’t think there’s anything like this in the U.S.! We made our selections last night and going to Cambridge to pick them up.
I made a card last night using my oh so romantic lighting… this was inspired by Embellish Mag: green, kraft, black, and butterfly, and WPlus9, paper-piercing:
It’s a simple card with a pop. With a bit of trimming and some dimensional tape + a bolder color you can make a simple card stand out a bit more. Oh, if you’re interested in making butterfly trails it’s really easy. Just grab a pencil, have a NICE eraser handy (I use the Steadtler Mars plastic, it’s white, or a rubber eraser — used these two since my graphic design days in college), and draw your path. Then with a piercing tool start punching holes. What’s the spacing? Eye-ball it and try to keep it consistent. Practice on a junk mail or something until you’re happy with the end result and try it on your card. Cause of my lighting situation I couldn’t really spend a lot of time/details but the colors, dimension and later the trail completed this little card. I’m old you all, need more light to see straight without getting a headache {::SMILE}.
Ok, going to Argos in Cambridge, will check out the market there too, and just have a good time. Laters!!!
Materials:
Stamps: WPlus9 Woodgrain Silhouette + Addition and Funky Foliage sentiment
Ink: SU
Tools: SU paper piercing tool
Paper: PTI
Flabby Butt and Signing
Posted on | January 27, 2010 | 12 Comments
My M said this evening:
M: Mommy, when are you going to start working out again?
Me: Why?
M: You have a flabby butt.
Me: (deep inside: AAAAAAURGGHHHHHH!!!!)Thanks, M.
So I was doing the P90x but that was short lived. I blame it on M. She puked all over my workout rug. Don’t ask me what happened. I think all the rolling around and crazy moves that I did made her sick. After she threw up she went to bed and was all better the next morning. I ended up watching the video while cleaning up M’s mess. I had to air out the room too and it was probably 0 degrees outside.
BUT, it will continue! I have the kids on a schedule this week and so far so good. If this continues I should be able to workout at around 9:30 p.m.! Of course we’ll see. My hobby might just distract me, ha!
The signing deal… my baby is growing up!! Jovie can sign “milk” and “change“. I use change instead of “diapers” because it’s harder to see the sign for diapers. She’s also understanding “bath” and “all done“. The milk sign started a few weeks ago but I wasn’t sure until a week or two ago. We have this parents as teachers program here and her mentor was here when Jovie signed milk. We’re so proud of our little peanut!! M signed when she was 6-months-old and she got “dog” at 7-months. The rest came tumbling through quickly (we watched the My Baby Can Talk video and Signing Time) and at 14-months M knew about 33 some words. M started talking at 14-months. She skipped babbling and went to talking but a few words were sometimes unclear and so M would speak and sign until she was 18-months-old. By then she was speaking in 4-5 word sentences.
We’re hoping Jovie can do at least the basics. We’ve noticed that she’s a lot slower than M in terms of development timeline. M had a few teeth at Jovie’s age while Jovie’s still toothless. M was already pulling herself up too while Jovie is still not crawling although she loves to sit up by herself and jump on her jumparoo. It’s so interesting to see how different each are. Fun fun!!
I did make a card and this one is based on the current Embellish magazine challenge: stripes and the colors kraft, purple, and brown. So ok, it’s not a traditional stripe but I’ve got some lines in there, right? I wanted to use more of the PTI stamps I got!!
Before I go I want to share this photo. I love how solemn Jovie looked. Have a nice one and more later!!!
M’s Sketch #4
Posted on | November 17, 2009 | 18 Comments
This is a sticky, scroll down for latest post! Oh, deadline is Nov. 25th by midnight CST.
Hey, M got motivated and made us another (HAAAAAAARD) sketch. Ok, it was hard for me for her, she just whipped her card right out after she did her sketch. Now, the weather has been dreary here and since I work during the day I’ve been having a hard time taking good pictures. So this will do. M was also not feeling too hot this morning. She said her tummy kind of hurts and so that’s why her face looked so sad (I cannot stand her sad face… she always gets me with it or her little pouty lips… I just want to give her whatever she asked but I always have to be tough).
Ok, so here’s the sketch…
M’s card is her usual minimalist style. She used a marker for the lines. I love her buttons. The colors are great against the dark card stock (Dawn McVey, if you’re reading this, she LOVES the card stock you gave her)!
My card… I combined M’s sketch with Embellish’s color challenge: red, yellow, blue, and green. Talk about primary colors!! I thought it’d be tough but I had fun with the colors. I actually used different shades of the four colors to make this card. I have all sorts of blue, green and yellow. The only color that’s consistent is the red and white. I think that’s the fun part of colors you can change it around a bit and still stay within the challenge requirement. Ash also wants us to add some brads. Well, I did and uhm I had to fight with my Crop-a-Dile cause I can’t remember when I used it last. I even did some dry embossing with the COD… not straight (look to the right of the stitches) but I did it.
And the prize for the little crafter this week…
And for you big crafter… This week’s sponsor is Krystal Hartley (click on her name, it’ll take you to her blog with some AWESOME freebies <– there’s a freebies link on the right!) from Sweet Shoppe Designs. Krystal’s an amazing designer and she’s got four pages of goodness in her store! Here’s a bit about her:
“Krystal has been designing digital scrapbook products for just over two years, but she has many years of paper and hybrid experience, including various design teams and published projects. She loves collecting stamps, inks, tools, and more and loves to combine them with her digital obsession to create beautiful keepsakes and gifts. Krystal lives with her husband and two kids near Dallas, TX.”
This week’s winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to her store. How sweet is that? For you paper crafters, this will be a great way to try out a digital/hybrid kit to either print for a card or use Gimp or even Photoshop to create a digital page.
Check out some of her digital stamps too:
Okie dokie, can’t wait to see what you gals create with her sketch! Do encourage your little ones to craft with you. It does the brain good AND it’ll be a nice mommy and him/her time too. Trust me {::SMILES}.
keep looking »
Haven't Subscribed?
Random Images
