That Friday Feeling!

I don't have quite the same Friday feeling today because I have to go to work tomorrow - but that's more reason than ever to plan some lovely things to do this weekend that are packed full of rest and relaxation for the times when I've escaped from the office...

A woodland wander is definitely on the 'to do list' - my go-to place if I'm feeling a bit stressed or low on energy (plus there's always the hope of spotting deer!)

I've been testing my restraint by resisting the urge to binge watch Orange is the New Black, but I'm absolutely loving Season 2 so far,so it seems quite likely that I'll fit in an episode ...or two. I have really loved getting to know some of the season 1 characters better through flashbacks, although am finding myself less and less interested in Piper's story and more interested in the other inmates.

Divergent is finished and I LOVED it. I've started Insurgent and although it hasn't got me hooked in the same way as the first instalment I'm still looking forward to some time with Tris this weekend.

Most importantly of all, it's Father's Day, so I'm looking forward to catching up with my Dad...hopefully complete with some sunshine and a BBQ!

I hope your weekend brings lots of fun times your way, wherever it takes you!

Bye for now!

 Kat xx

That Friday Feeling!

It's Friday! Friday evening is my most favourite part of the week - the weekend is stretching in front of me like a mini paradise full of lie-ins, fun times and most importantly - some good old fashioned down time (currently being spent catching up on some Youtube videos).

I have a few things I need to get done this weekend that are of the not-so-much-fun variety but I'm planning on making sure I fit in some awesomeness too!...

I'm having a big stash busting drive at the moment. To use up some of my wool I'm planning to make some of these little guys...

The pattern for these crochet cat nip mice can be found here. I'm planning on donating them to a local cat charity - I thought they could either give them to the rescue kitties, or sell them in their shop. Now I've just to work out how to make them without my cats tearing them to pieces (they go crazy for catnip!)

I'm hoping to visit Totnes - one of my favourite places to be. It's a little market town in Devon and is home to some of the best independent shops and cafes. I always feel peaceful and relaxed when I visit Totnes, so I'm looking forward to some chill out time...and vintage treasure hunting!

Yep - I'm now addicted to Divergent. It's the first book to completely draw me in for a long time, so I'm planning some time curled up with a cup of tea and my Kindle.

I'll also be working on a few cross-stitch patterns so watch this space for some geeky stitching! If you have any requests just let me know!

I hope that your weekend is a good one, whatever you may have planned!

Bye for now

Kat xx

TFI Friday!

It's that time again...have you got that Friday feeling yet?

The sun is shinning in my little part of the world and I have a weekend of sorting out my garden and catching up on a few jobs planned. True, it's nothing that thrilling, but I honestly can't wait.

Here are a few things that have been keeping me sane this week:

This youtube video from danisnotonfire...I honestly love the deep philosophy going on here about what it means to be free and follow your dreams (and I have a huge soft spot for hamsters, so that helps!)

I've also been loving catching up on Gossip Girl on Netflix. I gave up at season 5 when it was originally on TV and so decided to try again and watch it to the end. Sometime I love watching things that don't challenge me even slightly ... and Gossip Girl is one of those things. You know you love me ...xoxo

I've also started reading Divergent. I know I'm late to the game here, but I'm loving it so far and can see I'm going to need the next book in the series very soon!

What things have been keeping you sane this week?

Today is my first deviation from the Blog Every Day in May prompts - because today's prompt was to take a photo on the hour, every hour. If I had done that today it would have pretty much been lots of photos of meeting tables and paperwork - not very glamorous!

Bye for now

Kat xx

BEDM - Some TFI Friday Motivation!

*drum roll*...it's Friday!

The prompt for today is 'motivation'. I bought a little book of mindfulness and motivation recently - it's full of lots of positive and motivational quotes and 'thoughts for the day'. I've found that reading it is a really lovely way of giving myself a little boost if I'm feeling a bit worn out and kind of like I want to hide under a duvet all day (which happens more than I'd care to admit!).

I thought it might be nice to share the joy, so here are a few motivational prints found at the lovely Etsy.

I love this...and I'm absolutely guilty of doing the whole 'thinking about things too much' - time for more doing!...

Motivation Shop - Etsy

Because being awesome is important...but coffee is essential...

The Motivated Type

I love how simple this is...I think I know an office wall that would benefit from this print...

Spell and Tell

And finally a Dumbledore quote...because..ya know...Dumbledore is super wise and all that...

Eyecharts

If you have any motivational tips I'd love to hear them!

I hope your weekends are filled with lots of good things and I'll see you tomorrow!

Bye for now

Kat xx

TFI Friday!

Woop! It's Friday! For me this means two whole days of chilling, crafting and exploring woodlands (weather permitting). What will your weekend bring? Something good I hope!

I may also fit in some time to carry on trying to organise my life by sorting out the overwhelming levels of 'stuff' I seem to permanently accumulate!

Here are three things which have made this week that little bit brighter and brought some happiness my way....

Honey Badgers - oh, I'd seen the 'Honey Badgers don't give a shit' meme splashed across the internet - but it wasn't until I saw this video that I truly understood just how magical honey badgers are...seriously...not only do they not give a shit, they also seem to be mini geniuses - I can't recommend this video enough - a few days later and I'm still speechless.


Tanya Burr Make-Up - I have a sneaky suspicion that in general Tanya Burr (and her new make-up line) is aimed at a much younger generation than the one I'm a confirmed member of. That said - I love her positive approach and some of her make-up tutorials are so simple yet so effective. I've invested in a few of the lip glosses and nail polishes from Tanya's new range and they're so lovely - good quality for the price and such pretty colours. 

Tanya Burr make-up at Feel Unique

Captain America: The Winter Soldier  - I've seen this twice in the cinema now, (which is a serious record for me - these days I'm lucky if I see a film once in the cinema - I've fallen firmly into the 'I'll wait until it's on Blu-Ray' trap recently). I absolutely love this film. The story, the acting and the action all add up to a little slice of Marvel magic. If you generally like the Marvel films and haven't seen it yet then I couldn't recommend it more - Sebastian Stan is amazing, Nick Fury gets an awesome action sequence and Black Widow kicks ass - oh, and Chris Evans is on fine form....I will say no more!

I hope your week has brought some little pieces of joy your way - I'd love to hear about it if it has!

Bye for now

Kat xx

TFI Friday

It's Friday lovely people!

I've had a really lovely week as I've been on leave from work and have used it to recharge and re-organise (my house was a mess!). I still have one room left to tackle. Sadly it's the worst room - the spare room aka the 'I don't know where this random object should live and I'll therefore put it there' room.

It's also the home of my craft supplies *cue dramatic music*.

Anyway - that one tiny job aside, I feel like I've achieved a lot and feel rested. Here are a few of my favourite things from this week...

Mumford & Sons new video for 'Hopeless Wanderer' which I think I've watched on a daily basis for about 2 weeks! When you take my favourite band and then add some of my favourite comedic actors (Jason Sudekis <3) you get a video which brings the biggest smile to my face each and every time.




Bumblebees! They seem to everywhere at the moment and I love watching them fly from flower to flower with their adorable fuzziness. The only problem is that my phone seems to be getting filled with photos of them on flowers as I can't resist a quick snap when I see one (like this one...)!

I've finished watching my way through 'Orange is the New Black' - a Netflix original series, and really enjoyed (almost) every minute - great characters and acting, and I'm really interested to read the memoirs of the woman the show is based on (although appreciate the show has been dramatised!)

And last (but by no means least) I've loved spending some quiet time with these two...after observing their daily routines of sleeping, eating and playing I think that the life of a cat would suit be just fine (apart from the washing...ugh)...

Oh..and I've been loving playing around with the Beautiful Mess photo app - the little doodles are too cute.

Hope you had a good week and a lovely weekend ahead.

xx

TFI Friday!

Happy Weekend!

Another relaxing week has been had here...I think I'd forgotten what chill out time feels like...bliss! I'm feeling fully charged and ready to get back to the daily grind on Monday :)

This week has brought one all-consuming addiction with it...The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. This is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, which still remains one of my all time favourite books. I stumbled upon the first episode of this adaptation by accident on YouTube, and 100 episodes later I was smitten with the characters (don't get me started on Bing Lee) and gutted to have reached the end of the story.

It's primarily told through Lizzie's Vlogs, although a few other characters also get in on the act, and there are some cute interactions via Twitter. I genuinely enjoyed some of the changes they made to the story, but don want to spoil anything.

You can watch your way through everything in order using the links here.

Please be warned that it might be detrimental to your sleep however.

In other news I've been continuing my stash busting exercises and now have the most organised collection of earrings I've ever possessed, thanks to the joys of embroidery hoops, a vintage doily and some hessian...hurrah!

Is it sad how happy I am to be able to see my earring collection looking so organised?

My next mission is to organise my button stash...wish me luck!

Have a gorgeous weekend, time for me to start reading Pride and Prejudice for the millionth time x

Posted with Blogsy

TFI Friday!

It's Friday, lovely people! That means it's time to look forward to the weekend ahead. I have a weekend of spring cleaning ahead, and I'm trying very hard to convince myself it's going to be fun...right?

This week has been truly lovely. I've had a week off work and have done a lot of battery recharging. I had the cutest day out yesterday, involving some otters, some butterflies, a steam train and owls (pics to follow at some point soon!), and have made some amazing new discoveries in the form of a new favourite TV Show and a food-stuff!

The TV show is Portlandia, which has totally captured my heart. I love these guys and the characters they've created, and totally want to make a trip to Portland my next holiday.

And yes, I do want to put a bird on it (actually, I pretty much do that anyway).

The food-stuff (if you can call it that) is Fluff. This isn't something you can easily buy in the UK but a shop near where I live has started stocking it, and hot chocolate topped with Fluff is now one of my most favourite of treats!

 

Yum! And fat free (yes, I'm ignoring the whole calorie content factor).

I hope your week brought something happy your way. Here's to the weekend!

 

Posted with Blogsy

TFI Friday

Is it seriously Friday again? Really? I can tell I've been on holiday this week because I'm a) feeling super relaxed and b) in complete disbelief that the week has finished already!

I've had an absolutely gorgeous week, and spent most of it staying with my dad and his girlfriend in sunny Cornwall (the sun was actually shining almost the entire time...woo!).

Some of my favourite parts of the week have been...

Going to the beautiful Glendurgan Gardens in Cornwall. They were so stunning, and it was such a relaxing place to be. See the maze in the distance in this photo?

I totally conquered it. It may be meant for children but as someone with literally no sense of direction I take pride in my achievement. At the end of the gardens was this little beach...where we skimmed stones and ate ice cream...bliss

Other pieces of happiness this week have been...

Watching the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris. I literally fell in love with this film. Beautiful. As soon as I'd finished watching it, I wanted to watch it again. Oh, and then go to Paris for a long weekend.

I got my sticky mits on the complete 'Ice Cream Sundae' nail polish collection from Models Own. Lovely summer colours, can't wait to try them out. Would it be bad if I painted each finger a different colour just so I could try them all out at once?

Oooh...and I've finally finished the stitching project I've been working on for about 10 years (ok, I exaggerate ... 8 months), but more on that tomorrow.

How was your week? Hope it brought good things your way...now on to the weekend!

TFI Friday

It's Friday again already! I've had a lovely and relaxing week because I've been on holiday since Tuesday and haven't done much apart from do some serious chilling out (and feeling a lot better for it!).

Some pieces of happiness from this week have been...

My first She Said Beauty box arriving. I've really enjoyed pampering myself with all of the projects...so much fun. When it arrived I didn't think I'd be bothered by the face/ beauty products, but I totally take that back - they've all been gorgeous and my skin is feeling waaay happier. I'm going to keep up my subscription for now...nothing beats a little box of treats arriving every month!

Made in Chelsea is back on TV...I'm ashamed by how much I love this programme...the rational part of my brain knows it should hate it, but the larger and totally irrational part is soooo happy to be able to catch up with what Caggie, Spencer and Ollie have been up to!

Today we went exploring the woods near our house. I'm horrified that its taken so long, but as it turns out there are miles of beautiful forests in a valley about a 10 minute walk from our house. Here's a couple of pics from the day (and with the power of instagram colour washes!)...

New King Charles video...beautiful! Love him and still waiting impatiently for his album to be released...




And I took a massive step and actually booked myself in for a hair cut tomorrow...only 7 months too late. It's going to be such a relief to get my mane cut a bit...I'm not sure why I've been putting it off for so long :/

What has your week brought you? Happy things I hope
xxx

TFI Friday

How is it Friday again already? Craziness!

I feel like I've been pinging from one thing to another this week and I'm looking forward to a weekend of chilling out a bit. Some of my favourite things from this week have been...

30 Days of Lists starting...I'm totally loving the whole idea, and by day two I've found I love reading other people's lists as much as writing my own.



The total and complete cuteness that is 'Ninja Baby'...I watched this video waaaay too many times this week.

Finally getting a better idea of the colours I want to paint my house...thanks in part to the beautiful colours of the Crown Vintage Paint range. The quest to make over my home will continue this weekend!

                                                                           Source: Uploaded by user via Kat on Pinterest

This pin, which is still making me smile two weeks after originally re-pinning it...street kitty is adorable.

                                                                                Source: etsy.com via Kat on Pinterest

I have my swap partner for the Adventure Time swap over at Craftster , and after a day of musing pretty much know what I'm going to craft...and it should be a lot of fun to do!

Hope your week was filled with some happiness too!

TFI Friday

I find it really easy to fall into the pattern of dragging myself through Monday to Friday, willing myself to get as far as the weekend, only to blink and realise it's Monday morning again.

It's a pattern I truly have to break myself away from.

I've been working a lot more on focusing my thoughts in more positive places for the past month or so. It's not always easy, but I'm sticking with it. To help with this I'm going to use my Fridays to focus on what has been good about the week and put the stressful stuff to rest.

My favourite things about this week have been...

The fact that any time I get my photo tent out it takes precisely 2.5 seconds before Bob the cat has climbed inside and set up residence. This photo was from this week's 'photo tent sit-in strike', but I have a whole folder of them now...possibly a blog post waiting to happen!

                                                                       Source: dazzledbycarrie.tumblr.com via Kat on Pinterest

I finished crafting for The Hunger Games Swap over at Craftster. I posted the items today...I tried a couple of new crafty ideas for this swap and had so much fun with it. I'll post pics once my partner has received.

I've signed up to the '30 days of lists' for the first time. I'm so excited (I love lists)...I have a few list-based ideas floating around my head and think it should be so much fun!

Watching the new episode of Modern Family...it's fast becoming one of my favourite TV shows. I love every single person in it...although Cam, Mitchell and Gloria have special places in my heart



My King Charles love isn't dying any, and thanks to my lovely man I now have a collection of all of his singles/ EPs to play in my car (v. loudly on the way to work of course)

Sometimes it really is the small things that give the strength to survive the big ones.

Happy Weekend everyone!

TFI Friday - Time to chill

Oh my gosh I haven't been feeling very inspired this week. In fact, it has mostly involved crawling home from work and then hiding under a duvet cover.

I think I've just been a bit overwhelmed with everything that's going on this week...time for a nice relaxing weekend...hurrah!

So to start the weekend off with the mellow vibe it needs, here's a video of two of my favourite actors in the world - Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt - it may be too late for New Years Eve, but 'tis beautiful all the same :)


and my motto for next week will be...

Source: myrevelment.com via Kat on Pinterest

TFI Friday - Totally Sublime

This week's TFI is dedicated to one particular sewing site ... Sublime Stitching. I find Sublime Stitching totally inspiring for a couple of reasons. The first is that I have a sneaky suspicion that Jenny Hart, the person behind the designs might just be a creative genius. I love the style of her creations, her blog, and her overall business. If I could one day have my own business that touches on even a tiny bit of the awesomeness that is Sublime Stitching, I would be a very happy girl.

The second...the more practical side of me...is totally inspired because it was Jenny's designs that first encouraged me to try embroidery. Her instructions gave me the courage to try something new...and as it turns out I love embroidery.  For years and years I only braved cross-stitch, until these Forest Friends designs caught my eye...and I haven't looked back. I still have a loooong way to go with my embroidery skills, but I'm loving every step.

Here are my top three 'must buy' Sublime Stitching designs (it's my aim to try all of these this year)...

1. Ryan Berkley designs

2. Totally Metal

3. Beefcake beach

TFI Friday - The Elementary Pug

So I decided to carry on with using Friday's to post about things that inspire me, but each week I'm hoping to choose just one thing that inspires me at that moment for whatever reason.

So, this week's TFI is a little bit random, but hey, what more would you expect? It's been a bit of an exhausting week if I'm honest, and for the past couple of days I've struggled to see the wood for the trees. And then I saw this little guy, and that all changed...

Source: etsy.com via Kat on Pinterest

I must confess I found him on the front page on Etsy, and straight on my Pinterest he went. I've wanted a pug for a long time now and kept trying to talk myself out of it. I think I may have now decided to stop talking myself out of it (I do that with everything, you know) and make 2012 the year of the pug (yeah, that's right, the pug is replacing the dragon). The thought of being able to get a pug companion this year inspires me to keep working hard, and remember why I do it. I'm also inspired to have a sort through the boxes that haunt my loft to see it any of it is ebay-worthy to build up some savings.

Lastly I find myself inspired to put on a deer stalker, smoke a pipe and walk around London solving complex mysteries.

Weird.

TFI Friday - The Water Bear Edition

I made it to Friday...time to breath a sigh of relief and celebrate with a collection of things that make me feel happy.

This week's selection is themed around a somewhat random choice. I have only recently (last week) discovered the existence of the awesome Tardigrade (also known as Water Bears or Moss Piglets...I'm not sure which I prefer, they're both made of win), the extreme survivalist microscopic animals. They're cute in an ugly kind of way and imagine my glee when I discovered that they've captured other people's hearts as well.

Cute water bear plush by Weird Bug Lady @ Etsy

Yep, my lapel is now naked without a Tardigrade brooch.

Is that moss flavoured popcorm?

I love that the wonderful weirdness of nature can still surprise me.