Life right now according to instagram

Oh instagram. I am such a fan and I think I have converted several friends too! I am so ready though for my phone contract to finish and to upgrade to a phone with a slightly better quality camera. 

A fun instagram feature that has been added to the recent upgrade is that you can now tag photos. On your profile there is a section to see pictures you have been tagged in. I don't really know what I think about it to be honest because if I have had a photo taken of me I will tend to be following the person whose picture it is anyway. Have you used it? What do you think? 

Besides that, here is what has been happening in the last month....

Top row left to right: we bought a silly amount of chocolate for less than two pounds at the beginning of term, the sunsets this month have been wonderful, typically drinking lots of tea. 

Middle row: going on revision break walks, taking photos of blue skies as they are such a novelty and the loyalty card at the student cafe at church. 

Bottom row: blossom on the trees, eating the first ice cream of the year outside and fabric heaven. 

Top row: we got a bit bored whilst revising and decided to improve my friends hair instead, a green canopy, pretty pumps. 

Middle row: more skies, enjoying having flowers in my room and my favourite person on the way back from Church. 

Bottom row: doing a bit of crafting. I am so proud of this picture of milk being poured into my tea and the meeting of the sun and the clouds. 

Another busy month and so many fun pictures to capture it. 

A quick plug, on Monday 27th I am going to be sitting down, pouring a cuppa and sharing a bit of life again. If you would like to join me for tea please do, it would be great to see you. I will add a link like normal so we can all enjoy what you have to say! 

Project Life week 20

Week 20 sounds exciting doesn't it?! Last week never got posted and that is ok, it got made and that is the main thing.

This is what my last week looked like...

Photos:
Not a huge number of photos this week but a nice mix of instagrams and big camera photos. I like it when i get a mix. I am gutted that I forgot to include a rad photo of a cup of tea that I instagrammed at the weekend. Ah well, I'm sure it will grace the blog sooner or later! The aztec pattern is something I have been working on in quiet moments. If I get an iphone (which will hopefully be this summer with a contract renewal) I hope to get this pattern printed into an ace cover.

Journalling:
Quite a bit this week. I wrote about our walk to observatory hill on a beautiful evening, about the start of the exams and about how I have become oddly creative during the last week. I also added a few bits and pieces on several photos.

Techniques:
Nothing too out of the ordinary this week. I feel this week looks a bit flat which I'm a bit sad about but i  guess that it is swings and roundabouts. Some weeks I love it and some I don't. I did use that great watercolour brush in white to surround the feather tag photo. I like this effect a lot as it is something I would probably do in the paper version.

Anything else: 
I am really enjoying using this set of free project life cards with the cute camera motif. I'm sorry, another blurred out photo this week. This is my exam timetable. I really enjoy including details like this and know that it will be fun to look back on in coming years. Obviously it has personal details and as some of the exams haven't happened yet I guessed it was best to blur it!

So that is week 20 in a nutshell. I am loving this documentation of my life.

Fork Pom Poms

After my post yesterday in which I mentioned fork pom poms, a few of your asked what they were or wanted to see the finished product, so by popular request here is a quick tutorial ;)

Disclaimer: These are all over pinterest at the moment so I don't really have anywhere to link to but Lisa Leonard has a sweet tutorial. 

You need: 

Standard wool. I used DK weight but I think anything would work pretty well! 

A fork. 

White cotton for hanging. 

Something good on TV. 

1. Grab your fork and start wrapping the wool around it. Make sure you leave a gap at the bottom of the fork like this... 

2. Keep wrapping the wool until you are happy. Basically the more wool you wrap, the puffier the pom pom will be. 

3. Cut the end. Thread another piece of wool through the middle prong and tie in a knot... 

4. Pull the pom pom off the fork and pull that middle thread tight so it is more of a circle shape. 

5. Get your scissor and cut open all those loops. 

6. Trim your pom pom to get rid of all those straggly ends. 

7. Voila- one sweet little pom pom. I then strung them on white cotton and hung them from my mirror. I think in the summer I will string lots up and hang them like bunting. 

There are so many things you could do with these little pom poms.  They are so addictive to make though. Don't say I didn't warn you! 

Keeping it real

So life has been looking pretty good on the 'ol blog recently and most of the time it really is, but just for fun, and because I am an advocate of keeping it real, here are a few secrets of the last few weeks which will hopefully bring a smile to your face!

1. I haven't got around to posting my project life from last week. I'm not bothered. It didn't get finished until Wednesday and by that point, I had thoroughly lost interest in the last week.

2. They don't tell you when you start project life that there is a certain level of monotony about it. But the good parts of this project so outweigh this factor.

3. I walked to Tesco last week to pick up a snack I didn't need, got back only to find out that I had run out of teabags and milk- the two things I did need!

4. I am the most creative when I should be doing other things. I think I have created and had more ideas  for craft in my moments of procrastination than I ever have when I am totally free. Why is this?!

5. I spent a happy hour at the weekend making fork pom poms. I have yet to work out what to do with them. Needless to say they look pretty!

6. My poor little phone is falling apart and rather than look after the little thing better I am just becoming more envious of you i-phone users.

7. I was given two bars of chocolate this week and a bag of dried pineapple. I still have half a bar each of the chocolate left but the pineapple is all gone. I don't recognise myself any more.

8. I am about a year too late on the BBC Sherlock series and have just finished series 2. I am spending my revision breaks reading conspiracy theories and am dying for series three to be aired!

9. You know revision is going well when you refer to doing your washing as a "break". (Not as bad as a friend of mine though who was so bored of working he went and ironed all his shirts. He said it was a very happy hour and a half!)

10. I am so excited for Sian's great big swap of small things and have my swap all ready to go but haven't managed to get to the post office yet. I'm sorry Sandra, it will be on its way soon!

What little, funny, not so perfect secrets about your day to day life would you share?

Paper Feathers

Last weekend Jennifer ran one of her fantastic blog events. She set several challenges and one of them was to be inspired to be as "free as a bird". To use bird elements and to try things outside of your comfort zone.

Here is what I created....

The feathers were so easy to draw. I just searched for drawings of feathers on the web and combined several styles, smudging and changing pens when it felt right.
I also found that the more I cut into the feathers the more realistic they looked.

I have drawn a lot in the past but hadn't for quite a while so it was a bit out of my comfort zone. It is also ironic that I absolutely hate birds so to draw feathers was interesting!
I think these would add lovely texture to a scrapbook page or as a detail on a card.

Thank you for a fun challenge Jennifer.

One May evening

It has been a long day. 

I missed my connection and so my train is getting in half an hour later. It's funny the difference a seven on the clock makes to my mind. I am suddenly weary. 

Nevertheless my heart has started its little bass line as the train gets closer to my destination. 

I look down at my feet and remember him telling me that the train won't get there faster if I am pushing. 

I pick up my bag far too early and wait for too long by the doors. 

Finally we crawl into the station and stop. I pull my backpack over my shoulders and join the crowds streaming from the train. 

I fumble to get my ticket out at the barrier. I can't see him yet. And then as I round the corner he is there, a smile playing across his lips. I don't remember walking the final few feet to get to him. I am just there, his arms around me, his hands lifting the bag from my shoulders. 

We walk away from the station, talk interspersed with laughter. It is later now and I am hungry. His hand on my waist directs me into the warm Indian restaurant and we take our seats... 

I am feeling relaxed and full and sleepy. It is the most beautiful evening and we take our time strolling back to the boys house. We pass the green exterior of Maddisons ice cream parlour. He looks at me and laughs. 

There is such an array of ice cream that I am stumped at first. Finally we settle. Mango for her, white chocolate for him. As we leave I wave my phone asking for a picture. There is the sigh of long suffering as he grabs the camera. 

I stand holding two ice creams with a rucksack on my back, smilingly goofily at this special man. One May evening, him and her, the.best. 

Today I am joining in with Alexa's beautiful meme, "Simply a Moment." Do stop by her blog to read both Alexa's words and other bloggers as they record their moments. 

DIY gold painted mug

So this feels like a bit of a cheeky DIY because really it is very easy!
I needed some procrastination craft and saw some lovely gold painted porcelain all over pinterest so went to try and make my own.

You will need: 
A plain white mug. I picked mine up from the supermarket for about £2.00
A Gold paint pen or permanent marker. I used a uni paint marker in gold.
A sunny afternoon and some good music.

I decorated my mug outside just because the paint pen is quite smelly!
Really there isn't anything scientific or technical about this. I just drew what I thought would look nice- spots and geometric shapes.

The paint pen works well and gives it a nice shine. It also dried super fast.
I wanted to add some words to my mug so wrote this on one side...

and this on the other...

I also decorated the handle in stripes. So simple but it looks effective. Just experiment and play around.

I dont' really know how safe the mug would be to drink out of so I have used mine to hold flowers.

I guess if you wanted the porcelain to be useable I would bake it in the oven for an hour or so to set the paint. I didn't do this and the paint is waterproof and doesn't chip so success all round!

I think this would make such a fun gift. Flowers look lovely but you could fill it with kitchen utensils and give it as a housewarming gift or fill with sweet treats for children. And who says you have to stick with mugs? Vases, plates and butter dishes could all look sweet with a little bit of paint!