If you read Kezzie's blog (and if you don't you should) you'll know that she has a rather large collection of brooches. She's been regularly posting her collection and encouraging others to post their own.

Now my brooch collection is very small in comparison but I have been inspired to wear a few this week, they normally never get worn at all, so thank you for the inspiration Kezzie!

First up was a brooch I purchased from ASOS Marketplace ages ago. I'm rather drawn to wearing brooches pinned to a slouchy roll neck and I though that it looked really lovely.

Then I wore a red leather flower brooch, again on a roll neck (both charity shopped). I can't remember where this came from but I do know I've had it for years!

I only have a few others, so I'll save them for another post. I have one that I want to wear pinned to a woolly hat.

And I just remembered a poppy brooch I wore in November, pinned to the collar of my new clothes swap dress.



I caused all sorts of confusion by donating to the Poppy Appeal but not taking a paper poppy, I tried to explain that I had one already but it didn't seem to compute.

Do you own or wear any brooches?

I wonder how many articles and posts about the current saddle bag trend will have the exact same title? I apologise for the obviousness of it but sometimes, you just gotta.

I'm not normally a handbag lover - I like a good tote bag or a teeny tiny clutch (I'm a person of extremes) and I've generally seen handbags as a bit 'middle ground', and just a bit 'meh'.

But I'm liking the saddle bag, and am thinking that I might pop on on my Christmas wishlist (don't shout at me for mentioning the c-word, it's only 97 days away).

 






I think I can put my finger on the moment these bags piqued my interest, back in June I was reading Wearing It Today - a post about another current obsession, white dresses - and I spied a beautiful Chloe saddle bag. This is now, and forever will be, way beyond my budget but with so many lovely high street alternatives I can easily find something I like at a sensible price.

My favourite? The very first one from Next, or the very last from ASOS. What's yours?

(Day 21 of blogging everyday for 40 days)

Did you see my summertime photography scavenger hunt yesterday? And perhaps you can help me decide what colour to paint my bedroom in last Saturday's post?

Yay! My iPad sleeve arrived and as promised - here it is.


I was beginning to wonder if it would ever get here. I've obviously been spoiled by the rise of next day delivery options. I ordered this on the 19th Feb and it arrived yesterday. That's 1, 2, 3... *counts in head* 23 days!

Still, it was worth the wait. Previously I've been using a £4 knitted sleeve (delivered overnight) but it had a tendency to slip off if not handled sensitively. But, this one is fab! It's smooth and soft and really nice to handle (I keep stroking it) and it has a tab to help you extract your iPad easily. It's jolly lovely, made from cork and if iPad's ever become obsolete it'll make a jolly lovely place mat.




This is where I got it from - Pelcor. I can see myself indulging in few more cork based products. I mean, what freelance graphic designer doesn't need an A4 paper wallet made of cork?

Do you own anything made of cork?

Love

It's strange that when you start thinking about ethical brands, they start to pop up all over the place. For example, an email from Pelcor dropped into my inbox a little while ago.

Pelcor use cork. Yep, cork - a material that I wouldn't have thought of as being suitable for fashion accessories. However, cork skin is waterproof, lightweight, hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly - it's biodegradable and recyclable.

Pelcor source the cork from forests of Portuguese cork oak trees. The trees are nurtured for nine years before the thick layer of bark is harvested. This doesn't harm the tree, it continues to grow and forms another layer of cork, making it a renewable source. Cool huh?

I've picked out my favourite (purse friendly) pieces - iPhone Sleeve, iPad Sleeve and Coin Purse. They come in a variety of colours but I love the pop of the orange! I can imagine each piece being tactile and warm to touch and very, very smooth. I'm very, very tempted to dent my bank balance in their e-shop*.

What do you think? You like?

This is not a sponsored post, I just found it interesting.

* Between writing this and publishing it I gave in to temptation and ordered the iPad sleeve - I'll share my thoughts with you when it arrives.

Love

At the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to discover more ethical fashion brands. I shop second hand a lot of the time but I felt my knowledge of ethical fashion brands was somewhat lacking.

So, when I saw Ceri (a lady that could certainly teach me a great deal about ethical fashion brands) had entered the Johari Style Challenge, and I'd discovered more about them, I was keen to get involved.

Please excuse the copy and paste but here is what Johari is all about...

'Johari is an ethical fashion brand, our philosophy is simple; we passionately believe that fashion should be ethical, stylish and beautiful. Johari, which means ‘something precious’ in Swahili, makes stylish beautiful clothing and accessories. Every item is handmade in Kenya by Social Enterprise Johari Designs. 100% of the profit made by Johari and Johari Designs helps to fund the Johari Foundation’s Miale Programmes that supports children and young adults towards a better future by helping with education, vocational, social and basic needs. Buying Johari products helps to empower vulnerable young adults to build a living for themselves and their families.'

To participate all I needed to do was choose an item from their online shop, which they then sent to me, for a week, so I could style it and pop it on this here blog.


Outfit 1
With snow on the ground I decided to layer up for a daytime outfit. The dress sits nicely over skinny jeans and looks great with a long sleeve t-shirt underneath and a scarf to finish. Of course, you could easily swap the jeans for thick tights for a slightly different look, but I have to admit I was wearing tights for warmth underneath anyway!

Outfit 2
For something smarter, I added a bright cardigan, black opaques and wedges. I considered a belt but I didn't want to obscure the gorgeous Masaai face print on the front.

Outfit 3
As an evening option I opted for red hoisery, metallic sandals and a structured jacket. I think this is my favourite outfit of the three as the print gives an unusual twist to the LBD, making for an altogether more interesting outfit.

The dress arrived beautifully wrapped in tissue and a bow, inside a handmade and recycled bag.



I'm a big fan of what Johari have set out to do and the clothing range, whilst limited, is lovely. I also really like the range of accessories, in particular the Tabaka Necklace, which I think would look great with the Neema dress.


Which is your favourite piece from the collection?

Love

The Two Birds have me stumped with this weeks Inspiration Monday, so instead I thought I'd show you how I've been wearing my DIY neon necklace. I'm so pleased with it!


How would you wear a necklace like this?

I've really started to love the neon trend, which came as quite a surprise. After living through the 80's I didn't think that neon was something I would ever re-visit. I wore fluffy neon ankle socks - one pink and one yellow, and rubber bangles in huge numbers and had a scrunchie in every neon colour available *cringe*.

And yet, here I am, several years on, being lured once again by the mesmerising glow of neon.

My most recent neon purchase was a necklace found on eBay (whilst searching for 'that' H&M necklace). It had been hand painted, which triggered my inner DIY-er and had me heading off to B&Q for a can of spray paint.

I chose Rust-oleum High Glow Paint in yellow and here is what I did with it…


I chose an old, neglected necklace and asked Tinker nicely to step aside so I could photograph it.


I rather liked the contrast between the colour and texture of the wood with the utterly man made garishness of fluorescent yellow, so I decided to spray just a few of the beads. I used masking tape to mask the first few beads and sealed the rest in a bag.


I built up the colour slowly by spraying a thin coat and letting it dry before applying another. I did two coats a day until I was satisfied with the result.


I really rather like it and am currently eyeing up other potential neon projects - Tinker had better not sit still for too long...

What do you think? Have you embraced neon?
Check back soon to see how I've been wearing it.

Have a great weekend guys!

Love

My final instalment of Flying Saucer's May Challenge, albeit rather late! A bit of a long one and lots of pics of me in it (sorry - overload! I tried to keep them to a minimum).

See the others here, here and here.

21st. Something that is your favourite brand
This begs the question what is my favourite brand? Avon has to be up there, or Essie - a new discovery for me - but for sheer longevity alone I'd have to say Olay (60 years old this year and still looking fabulous). I've used their moisturisers for as long as I can remember and recently Really Ree introduced me to Olay's Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Complex. It's utterly divine, I'm already on my second pot. Read Ree's review here.

22nd. A piece of clothing or jewellry that was a gift
My Pandora bracelets. All of these charms have been given to me, the cute little giraffe was a gift from my brother after I returned from Kenya with a huge giraffe obsession (if you ever get the chance to visit the Giraffe Centre in Kenya, take it!). My absolute favourite is the little house that OH gave me after we moved into our new home lat year.



23rd. Something from your favourite store
H&M is my go-to store especially for basics, but I also love their scarves. I have a bit of a 'thing' for scarves and the majority of my collection originates from here. This is my latest addition.



24th. The item that brings all the boys to the yard
Haha! I'm really not sure what that even means (showing my age?). OH likes this outfit - does this count?



25th. A totally YOU outfit.
Jeans, bag, big-ish necklace or arm party, slouchy top, scarf or ballet flats...



26th. What's in your bag
You can check this out on What's in My Handbag. Great site - loads of fun and a great way to find new beauty products too! If you'd like to join the site click here.



27th. Inspired by your style icon
I don't think my inspiration needs any introduction here...



28th. Something everyone has now
Stumped. Nobody owns the same thing as everyone else...

29th. Face of the day
This is the kit that I use to create my everyday face. The Benefit Porefessional is a magazine freebie but I'll definitely be purchasing a full size tube in the near future. The eyeshadow palette I have had for ages (I'm a little embarrassed to show it) but I love it, well one of the colours anyway! The Bodyshop compact is for brows - the first one I have found that doesn't make my brows look orange.



30th. Pretty hair
My hair has never felt prettier than on my friend's wedding day, I was her bridesmaid and I wore frangipani in my hair.



31st. The thing you're obsessed with at the moment!
This can change on a daily basis! When I was supposed to write this post I'm certain that it would have been something different but right now I'm in love with these. I found these via A Daisy Chain Dream - thanks Laura! (And just in case anyone is interested, I'm a 5.5 and my birthday is at the end of August).


Hope you have a great weekend
Love

Whilst catching up on one of my favourite blogs, The Online Stylist, I was introduced to Boticca.

I have obviously been doing an awful lot of online browsing recently, just check back over my recent 'wishlist' posts to see what I mean. So, I'm not going to post a huge long list of the things that took my fancy, I'm just going to show you my absolute favourite and then urge you to visit the site and take a look for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Toosis three stones ring with pink quartz and purple amethyst.

Pretty yes?

I'd love to know what your favourite piece is!

Having heard murmurings about Nelly.com, on Twitter and in blog posts, I was curious to see what the buzz was all about. I started by clicking on 'New In' (a good a place as any) and was first struck by the accessories. This came as no surprise to me as I go through shopping phases and I'm currently in the thick of an accessories phase.

This isn't to say other item didn't catch my eye. I can assure you they did. They have been stored in my brain under 'for future reference'.

The accessories...

As the weather warms I start to wear bangles and bracelets more frequently. This is just a small selection of the ones that made me say "oh... that's nice"



Of course I don't need anymore bags, but that has never stopped me 'looking'. They have a fantastic range, to cover every handbag eventually (I mean, who DOESN'T need a silver clutch bag?!).



Have been and said 'hello' to Nelly yet? She is ever so lovely.

My friend's recent wedding reception had a black and white theme and, to my surprise, I had little in my wardrobe to fit the bill. I didn't want to go all black and definitely didn't want to go all in white, so I went looking for something with a bit of a pattern. Being a bit of a patternphobe I tend to stick to block colour but this rope chain print Oasis dress from Very wasn't too scary.


I've had this bag forever, I found it in a reduced bin in Warehouse for £3.00 eons ago. It's the sort of thing that comes out when something a little eveningish is required. I painted my nails with my current crush - Rimmel I love Lasting Finish Nail Polish in 270 Hot Shot - to keep my outfit from being entirely monochrome.


I wore my new Rockalily Vintage Vixen lippy (a panic purchase when I heard that Rockalily lipsticks were soon to be no more). This is just one coat which gives a subtle colour, this is my favourite brand of lippy, the colours are long lasting and vibrant - perfect for pale skin, it's super hydrating and smells like cake. I can't believe that once it's gone, it's gone!

Have you ever been to a themed wedding?

If I wasn't taking part in Frugal February I would most definitely be purchasing one of these KG, Kurt Geiger, Juliette bracelets.

*sigh*

Happy New Year!

I'm starting 2012 with a giveaway for my first 104 GFC followers, to say thank you for your support. If you don't know the story behind my 104 followers you can catch up here...

The Giveaway.





The (very simple) Rules

1. This is open to my first 104 GFC followers only.

2. Leave a comment to enter, telling me what sort of post you most enjoy reading and how I can get in contact with you in the event of you winning.

This giveaway closes at 23:59 BST 19th January 2012, the winner will be selected at random and contacted on 20th January 2012.

All prizes have been chosen and purchased by me.

Good luck and thank you for following!