Happy Holidays!

Whatever you may celebrate, I hope you have a nice break from work/study or whatever keeps you busy. I'll be at work for 5 hours tomorrow and then head off to see family and spend my christmas with the ones close to me. Perhaps I'll wear my hair like this?

If it's not too cold I'll also wear my new knitted gloves, but I doubt I'll wear the stocking I found at a fleamarket a while back, they were a bit too big and long.

By the way, I won a digital SLR in an online action last week for roughly 240 €. It should have been posted to me this morning, I'm very excited and I hope I get it before the trip to milan! I leave you now with a christmassy pin-up and wish everyone a merry christmas and a happy new year!

Change of plans

Guess where this kitten will be spending new years eve? In Milan! My bf has a long holiday over x-mas and he wanted to go somewhere...So we're taking a ryanair flight over to Milan for a (very) short stay. I'm so excited!


The camera I wanted was unfortunately sold, so now, unless another one for as good a price shows up, I'll be putting my monies towards the trip. Can't have it all!

Right, now I need to get ready for work again. This week is not that great, work from 13 to 21 every day? I have no time to do my own thing! Well, it'll be over soon. Right?

Help!!

I went to the optician today and had my eyes checked. The lady recommended I get weaker lenses since the ones I have now are almost to strong and strain my eyes. And I'll use pretty much any excuse to get rid of my 3 year old mousy brown frames. They just feel so old and not me anymore. Here's me in my old glasses, new vintage hat and a stronger makeup then what I usually wear:And then some frames I tried on in the store. Which ones suit me best?

The statement black and stripy ones which feel too strongly coloured for my face?

Black & silver?

Very thin and mousy purple?

Dark metallic red?

Or the crazy, but fun, dark metallic top half, purpley gray lower half with the weird sides? Or none of the above? I was looking for some with a bit more vintage feeling but what is in fashion now as all wide and chunky in strong colours, like the black frames which just feels too much on somebody petite like me...

Coveting cameras

Last week I got some tax money back from the government, which of course got me thinking of all the things I want to spend it on after I've paid some bills, had my eyes checked and my hair cut and so on. If there's any left...

First of all, I've been longing for a new camera since...well since I bought my last one and discovered how bad it actually was, especially when the lighting is poor. It's an old 4 megapixel canon powershot that I've had for about 3 years now, and I'm getting sick of it. So I've been searching the internet for something better, that I could still afford. But better means more expensive, so today I headed to one of those auction sites and guess what - canon 350D's and similar for around 200 euro starting price...That is, used digital slr's which I could afford! I think I'm gonna sign up and hope the bidding doesn't go too high.

What I also wouldn't mind owning are some of these retro inspired dress from H&M. But I just cannot justify spending 30 euros on something that I won't wear more than a couple of times...so I'll just have to use these as inspiration and make my own.

In fact, I am working on a dress at them moment, but I was a bit over optimistic and cut it a bit too tight over the hips...and this fabric does not stretch. That's what happens when you challenge yourself with buying a second hand piece of fabric cut to a certained size. So I'm working on a solution, perhaps a thin strip of fabric at the back? We'll see.

Another think I could start saving up for is some travelling. If I put a bit of money away every month, perhaps there would be enough for a holiday after a while? Too bad i only get 2 weeks off this summer. Oh, well. Got to get through today first.

Dressing gowns and hairdo's

Last week I found theese two dressing gowns at the fleamarket. I was pretty happy as I've look at dressing gowns before but never found any nice one that would fit me and my taste. But when it rains it pours, two in one go, both in colours I feel at home in. Even matches my pyjama bottoms!

And check out my hair! I played around with my home-made hair rat again...

As I was in my neigbouring town touring my favourite fleamarket, I couldn't help but to stop by H&M as well. Pleased with myself for only buying 3 items, all on sale, I walked out of the store only to realise that I had completely forgotten about the second floor...Which was where all the goodies were, the 50's inspired dresses, the fake fur jackets and the polka dot umbrellas. None of which I can really afford or justify buying. Because I don't really need a 30 euro dress that I will only try on in front of my mirror at home...Dreaming continues.

This is the top I did buy, to go with any waist high skirts I might decide to wear. The jeans cost me 2 € at the fleamarket, as new.

Below my failed pin-curl attempt from the other day. I took the pins out to soon, so it didn't stay curly for long. Great patience, huh?

And finally, as requested, the back of my leopard print dress. Happy december!

New Old Skirts

I've bought a couple of skirts lately that I thought I'd show you. First up is the vintage black pencil skirt I got a few weeks back but never showed you, worn here with that handbag that I got from the same place, a second hand top from England and my new cherry necklace.

It appears I'm getting slightly influenced by all the cute blogger that wear a lot of bows, I've never really been into those but look at this, on saturday I found this brown leather skirt...with a little bow on the back.

Behold the quality, or lack there of, of my crappy old camera. The skirt from the front. 1€ it cost me, how could I resist?

Now this one I really couldnt resist, the lady in the charity shop gave it to me, as she was gonna put it in the "free stuff" box anyway, and since it was a couple of sizes too big. Hope me and my friend the sewing machine can fix that one.

I also bought two pieces of fabric in dark brown and dark blue corderoy, a sarong-like thingy to go with my bikini in the summer and two champagne glasses. At the moment I'm working on turning the brown fabric into a dress, wish me luck!

Stormy weather

A few night ago the view from from my kitchen window was this calm and blue and snowy.

Last night it looked like this;

There was a bit of a storm, you see.

Enough of a storm actually, for me to be greated by this sight in the morning.

I'm fairly sure that tree was standing straight the night before...?

Anyhow, while I work up the enthusiasm to photograph my latest finds, here's a collage of pics from that time when I dressed up as Rosie the riveter. Click for larger image.

I had a good weekend even though I had to work sunday. My bf took me winter bathing again, and this time there was a bit of snow and even some thin ice further out on the water.

Coming up is two days of 5 hour evening shifts, then two days off, then 8(!) days of work in a row...Including sat & sun shifts of 9 hours each. My life still has room for improvment, to say the least. Oh well, at least I'm not working christmas eve - no wait, I am. Crap.

Secret project revealed

So here what I was working on last week, I modified the pattern for this dress which fits me really well but has this annoying cut that makes my shoulder look miles wide.

I took this massive old sweater that was a hand me down from my aunt who was young when this stuff was in fashion. (Click for a larger image) It's been in my closet for years waiting for some attention, and now the time was here.

I undid the seams and cut accordingly to the pattern everywhere but the bust area.

I used the sleves for the bust-area, folded in two, and came up with this really versatile upper part (which is why I was so excited).

The dress actually feels really comfy and quite warm on the bits it covers, and I think it will be very useful as it is so versatile. I may also use the same idea and make a few more in different colours and patterns. Someday. This is how the finished product looks, as worn to the dance in Vuokatti at the weekend:

The weekend was absolutely fabulous by the way, the spa was great, we managed to visit six (!) different types of saunas, turkish, steam, finnish, smoke and more. Of course we did some swimming too, and lying around in different bubble pools etc. And in the evening was the dance thingy where we actually made a bit of progress with our dancing skills, still a long way to go though, hah.

Sunday we went skiing, the ski tunnel closed for maintenance just as we got there, but luckily there was a few km of outdoor track as well. It was quite fun, I haven't gone skiing in years, kinda hard if you live in the south of england for a couple of years...It wasn't all joy though, my feet hurt in every uphill because of the poor technique I must have been using. Oh well. Maybe it had something to do with several hours of dancing in high heeled boots the night before?

Cherries, finds and weekend plans

My new necklace, from the childrens dept. But I liked it, and the womens jewelery were so BIG, all of it, nothing for a petite Kitten like me. And the cherries didn't cost me much either.

The other day my intuition told me I should go to the Retro recyckling centre again, kinda hoping to find a nice stool to go with my make-up table. But no, no luck on that front, but what I did find got me pretty exited anyway. First, a set of retro sewing and fabrick colouring/printing books. I was thrilled, because I had been borrowing every book in sight about fabric printing and such that I could find in the library, without actually finding any really good books on the subject. And here I am, owning these inspiration sources - six books for 2 euros! Some day I'm gonna start printing...

In the handbag section I stubled upon this beauty:

It must be vintage because it smells just like the old cameras my grandmother gave me, the material even looks similar. And the attention to detail is amazing. I'm not 100% sure I will actually use it, because again, I'm rather petite and this bag is not...Plus the details are gold coloured, I'm a silver girl. But I had to have it, come on, it was 1€! It might start to live in my bookcase so I can admire it every day...

I also found a black pencil skirt, a bit boring but possibly very useful, and it looked vintage from the way it was made and the tag.

At the moment I'm pretty exited for the weekend, my bf is taking me skiing to Vuokatti, where we will be skiing inside a skiing tunnel and on the short outside skiingtrack - short, because there is only artificial snow there this time of the year. We will also be going out dancing on saturday night, dancing as in foxtrot and waltz, not clubbing, which should be fun even though were not that good...There is also a spa there, where we'll go swimming, winter bathing and enjoying the many saunas. I can't wait!

Spotty

Tonight I feel really inspired. I've been sewing all day, and the result seems to be turning out even better than expected. However, it's not done quite yet...But here's some inspiration with a connection to my current project, unfortunately I haven't got any sources for these but anyway, can you spot the theme? :P

Kitten goes curly

Yesterday on my day off I decided to try pin-curling. I washed my hair, and stubborn as I am did not put any product in it, and with hair still damp I got to work. 25 bobby pins and half an hour later my hair looked like this:

I didn't really have a plan for how to arrance the curls, thay just ended up where ever. I have never been into using hair product so it felt a bit risky but hey, I used to braid my hair when wet when I was a kid and got waves from that, so why not give it a go. Plus I had no product to put in it in the first place.

A few hours later, after runnig around with a scarf round my head looking like rosie the riveter, I opened the curls. Some of the ends hadn't curled properly, most likely coz I hadn't had enough patience to really make sure thay were perfect...

Well of course I couldn't leave it like this, but gently combed through the curls with my fingers and shook my head a couple of times and voilá! Movie star curls. Kinda. (If you wanna see my curls up close you can click on the pictures.)

The curls did last for quite some time, even through a walk ouside in the wind, but as time passed the curls became bigger and today they look more like waves. But the result was better than anticipated, so I might try it again. Maybe even use some product to see if it makes any difference!

And now for some vintage hair inspiration! These are the sites I checked out before I got to work:

Rita SueEmpire Vintage

and Beauty is a thing of the past

Be sure to check out all the other stuff on these pages as well, lot's of inspiration! Have fun!

Another great weekend

Last friday was the preview of the musical "Oliver!" in which my 15 year old brother has one of the leading roles. I was a bit nervous but he did so well, I was really impressed. He sang, danced and acted like he'd never done anything else.

On saturday me and my bf went to my parents house to change the tires on my car. It was about time, as it had snowed quite a bit on friday. On our way back we dropped of my actor brother for his premiere (he's the one in the top hat, image from KUF) and then headed on to prepare for our evening plans, the dance gala!

We had so much fun, although we don't actually know the steps (for foxtrot) we made up our own and managed to get around the floor without crushing each others feet or anyone elses for that matter. It was great, I usually end up feeling kinda depressed and out of place every time I go out to clubs or events such as this one, (or my works x-mas party) but this time was different. I'm starting to believe that I could go anywhere with my boyfriend and enjoy it, because he's there. I'm so glad we ended up together!

This weekend was also what many call Halloween, but personally I'm a bit bothered that the rest of the world want to copy the americans and cannot stick to our own traditions. Because we do have our own holiday on the 31st of october, the all saint day, when the tradition has been to visit loved ones and relatives graves and light candles on them. But nope, I guess the younger people who perhaps dont have any graves to visit prefer to use any excuse to party...

About five years ago I did however go to a Halloween party, here pictured with my roomate at the time, who was pretty hot in that bin-liner...Wow, crazy how fast time passes. I cannot believe it 's been five years. Mad.

Maybe moving to a town wasn't such a good Idea...

...for my wallet. I am now on a shopping ban until I get my next pay, because this month I've been spending money like there's no tomorrow. Most of it on things I didn't use to when I lived in that small village. For example, My bf and I have eaten out a couple of times, been to the gym, and shopping at fleamarkets. I also put €€€'s on my new trainers (I really needed those), my new lamp, my new make-up table, that concert last week, all the food for the house-warming party...And a couple of days ago my H&M bill arrived.

So now I can only afford food. And my brother's premiere on friday. He's singing and acting in the musical "Oliver!", dress rehersal is on friday and family can come and watch. For 10 €. My brother is playing "the artful dodger" and I'm quite impressed by this as he's only 15. Also, this will be the first time I get to hear him sing! Ah, the things you miss out on when you live abroad for a few years!

Anyhow, I haven't shown you some of the things I put my hard earned €€€'s on. First up are the seamed stockings plus pretty packaging, and a nice hairflower/brouche.

Then I found this half slip which I liked the style of. Didn't think much about what I would wear with it though, but at least it was cheap! (Sorry for poor quality pic!)

This is another one of those silly things that I really like but don't actually have any use for. Yet. Two table runners, this one folded in half, which just don't go with the colours in my flat. I've been thinking about turning them into a bag or something.

I also found this 1 € blazer that actually fit. Okayish. I'm not a very big girl so finding nice clothes that look good and feel comfortable can be hard. Don't even get me started on shoes...

More from the 1€ a piece category, top and trousers. The trousers felt really comfy and I could really use a pair of plain black ones that I can either dress up or dress down according to the occasion.
During this time of non-shopping I'm trying to be creative and get some stuff done. Like shortening the black trousers. I was also going to sew myself a nice wide skirt, but as I turnes out I don't have the right fabric for it -> shopping required = problem. But I did manage to put up some hooks for my handbags in my walk-in closet! Progress...