much love in a tea cup

Made yesterday.
I think I'll put her on my blog banner.
*EDIT* done!

mail rocks

It's no secret that I love receiving mail, so when earlier this week the mail man delivered a huge box from Rebecca, I was so excited! I rushed out to get it as soon as I heard the doorbell, despite having *just* got out of the shower with my hair dripping wet (good timing mail man...). Fully clothed of course.
And look at all the wonderful goodies inside the box: a blank journal, a pretty tin cup, a b&w photo (isn't she clever?), and a gold belt. The journal is no longer blank as I've been filling it with writings and doodles, and I can't wait to wear the shiny belt.

And one more thing in the box - which was pretty hard to miss and was the first thing I pulled out -was this beautiful vintage cape! It's super cozy and nice to wear. I love the buttons too.
Thank you Rebecca!

blog roll!

I've been giving my blog a mini-makeover, but in the process have lost all of the blog links in my side bar! :(
I'll just have to update it all over again. So if you were in my list before, please comment here so I can add you right back.
If you weren't, but would like to swap links with me now, just let me know by commenting here also.

thanks!
xx

P.S. If anyone's interested, I also do button/banner swaps (I have them under "You Might Like" on the sidebar). Size of banners must be 150x150. I can help with the design if you don't have one. In exchange, I'll give you my Etsy banner to put on your blog.

P.P.S. Is this font colour too pale?

bows

I thrifted these sheer socks/tights (whatever they're called) yesterday. I absolutely adore the bows and the lines running at the back.
The only problem is - they won't hold up! After a few minutes of walking, they start to slide down and I find myself having to tug them up again and again. Ugh. I'm considering sewing a couple of elastic bands at the top, although I don't know how that would work out. One solution that helps hold them up is to wear them over tights, but the tights have to be sheer/light so that the bows stay visible.


Speaking of latest thrift finds, I also got these cute cards: a pack of nursery rhyme characters, and vintage playing cards with mushrooms (?) on the back. What I'll do with them, I haven't figured out yet. They're just too cute and was only $1 altogether, so was hard to resist!

5 little things

I've been tagged by the lovely Gabbi of Felinofelice to share 5 things that make me happy.
So I thought I'd use this tag as a chance to brush up on my digital drawing - which I was encouraged to do after my attempt at plain pencil and paper drawings (btw, huge THANKS to everyone for the wonderful comments on that post).
I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator ages ago, and assumed that revisiting the software would be like riding a bike - and how wrong was I.... it was HARD! But I guess having too much spare time has its perks, because I eventually finished these illustrations for my 5 things (whatcha think?).


OK, so the 5 little things that make me happy:
1. Reaching the end of a book. Preferably a good one. I don't read books as much as I'd like to, so it's really satisfying when I manage to finish one.
2. Red balloons. You can probably tell from past posts and polaroids. Plus, I just watched the 1954 French short, The Red Balloon, and absolutely loved it! I'm going to watch the newer version, the Flight of the Red Balloon, this week (just borrowed the DVD).
3. I like a good cup of tea. About to have one right now.
4. When photos turn out better than expected.
5. Cute and quirky songs are nice. This is my latest favourite:

send an owl to a muggle

On the weekend we got up early to see Harry Potter at IMAX - yay! My my, haven't those kids grown up? After the movie, we hung out at the gardens for a bit.

top - Dotti, skirt - Indonesia, belt - thrifted, flats - Rubi,
ring - vintage button ring for Leeloo (among many other new rings! do check them out at Leeloo)

Once we were done with all the picture-taking, we put this sign on the balloon and left it near a tree:

It was so windy that it blew away within seconds! It would be nice to think some kid found the balloon and had fun playing with it. It's a better thought than the balloon being stuck on a roof and then pecked and popped by a (surprised!) bird.

made by me

I did these drawings on the weekend. This is the first time I've done anything like this. I really enjoyed it though - even if I'm not always happy with the end result. I'm telling myself to spend a few minutes to draw every day of this week, in hope that I can improve.
Don't worry, I didn't ruin any good books to do this. The old book, which I got these pages from, was already falling apart. I got it for free (because it's damaged) from an op shop.
What do you think?


And here's a few more of my random polaroids. I can't believe I'm using up the film so quickly! There's only 3 films left in the camera (ack!), plus a pack of 10 in the fridge - which I do not want to open until at least Spring.
For those interested, a better look at the bottom 2 photos can be seen here and here.


and one more thing I made: meet Julie, my blue balloon puppy! I don't really know why I named it that, I just thought of it. Maybe because it's July?

Origami love

Origami Bijou makes such fun and beautiful origami-inspired jewellery. As a big fan of origami, I lust for each and every one of their designs.

More on their website.

Following the theme, here is a cute video of Papiroflexia (Spanish for "Origami"), an animated tale of a skilful paper folder who could shape the world with his hands.



I'm sorry for being slack with awards and tags lately. I really do appreciate every single one! I'm just terribly disorganized. So before I forget to do this one, thank you to handmade romance for giving me this lovely award:

Passing this right along to some oldies and newbies:
Daisychain dream
Felinofelice
In the Bellies of Trains
Resplendent Tranquility
Bits of Beauty
3 Sheets
Me, Mo and myself

pockets keep my hands warm

I've always been a bit jealous of fashion bloggers who can say their wearing their parent's old clothes. One often says it with the air of "oh, this old thing", but you know you love it. It's like the joy of vintage clothing, but with added sentimental value.


Well for once, I can say it too! See that skirt? My mum's, from around 20 years ago. I digged it up during my last visit home at the beginning of the year. I had to wait until the days got a bit cooler to wear it because it's pretty thick and long. I had thought of having it cut shorter, but it felt wrong to mess with it. Besides, I've grown to like how "swooshy" the long skirt is - kinda feels like being a ballroom dancer!
The chilly weather also means I had to wear a jacket, and my cropped jacket seemed to be the only thing that matched the outfit because it doesn't cover the skirt's waistline. Anything else made me look too frumpy for my liking.

skirt - Mum's (label says St. Michael)
dress worn as top - Indonesia
jacket - either Bardot or Miss Shop (label's been torn off)

coco and coco

I saw Coco Avant Chanel recently, and yes - it was brilliant. Enjoyed the story, witty dialogue (translated, of course), and Audrey Tautou is as charming as you'd expect her to be. Some have criticised the film for the lack of focus on fashion, but I didn't think so. After all, the film is about Coco before Chanel. It mainly takes place in her early years, long before she goes into design. Her sense of style is still raw, but the film does well in showing her fashion brilliance early on - whether it be through her critical snipes at other's impractical outfits or her spontaneous fashion DIYs (loved these scenes). She dared to be different, which sounds so cliché, but you can see it through her character as well as the outfits she chose.

Images of the film have been posted to death in the blogosphere, so here are some candid behind-the-scene shots instead.


source

And then, there's another one. Yes, another Coco Chanel film: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. What's with the sudden Chanel mania everywhere? Not that I'm complaining.
It may be less hyped than Coco Avant Chanel, but the fact that it was the closing film at Cannes this year does say something about the quality. Anna Mouglalis as Coco looks gorgeous, and those outfits are drool-worthy, non? The story takes place a little later than Coco Avant Chanel. Will be interesting to see whether it picks up where the other film left off. There's no doubt people will compare the two Cocos, but we'll have to leave most of the judging 'till we see it (please be released in Australia!).


image soure

floral friends

When I first saw these delightful flower people, it reminded me of Elsa Mora's Plant Creations (found via the Clothes Horse).
Created by Curlin Reed Sullivan of Pippingtooth Studio, each of these characters is made from a mix of fresh flowers and charming illustrations. It's so clever and whimsical, I can't help but love it! And don't they look like the sweetest people ever?



You can take them home as art prints and greeting cards, available from their website.

care for some tea ♥?

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(click on image or ♥ to go to the original image source)