London for the Day

As promised in my last post I am doing a post about our day trip to London. However, I am going to do another post which will be dedicated to photos of some jewellery in the British Museum.

We caught the early train and woman, man and child went to the capital.



We were so lucky with the weather as it stayed fine but was not too hot. Paul had made Mary an I Spy London guide of her own and this included such things as the statue of Boudicca. She loves the tv programme Horrible Histories and now owns the books, and a couple of audio cds. It is quite remarkable how much she has learnt from them.


On previous visits we had a delicious ice-cream in an Italian cafe in Regent Street. Look at these cakes:


Small girl child was rather anxious to get to our next stop so we only had an ice cream to eat as we walked. I chose chocolate and it was a wonderful as it looks:


We popped in to Hamleys and Mary spent some of her money.
And we had a play.


And then we walked to the British Museum. I really recommend a visit here. I know that not everyone lives in easy reach to London, and that the cost of travel can prohibit a visit. For the 3 of us it cost £40 return and that was using my network card. We walked everywhere so did not have to pay for the underground.


The collection is amazing. Due to small child tiredness we could not see everything and a return visit sans child and with child is planned for the future. I also enjoyed a visit to the shops and the restaurant where we had a refreshing much-needed cup of tea.


I think if you do plan to go then it is worth having a look at the website and see what interests you, as in one visit there is so much to see that you do not really want to rush round.

And the verdict of the child? It was a wonderful day out and the British Museum is better than Hamleys.

She certainly enjoyed taking some photos of things that interested her!

Last Few Days of Summer

With the return to school and work near approaching, it feels like we must fill our remaining days together with lots of things.

And indeed we did go to London (which I will tell about in another post). But sometimes just being together at home or in a park is enough.

And for me it is lovely to picnic in the park and watch my girl play.

Gorgeous Frocks at Horrockes

Last Friday my sister and I popped to London to the Fashion and Textile Museum.
Their current exhibition is dresses from Horrockses who made ready-to-wear dresses that were very popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

I am going to show a few photos that I took that day but if you can then it is worth going to the exhibition as the dresses are so lovely. But if you cannot make it then there is a little video here.

Vintage clothes are very popular at the moment and I would happily wear any of these dresses. I might say 'frock's - isn't that a lovely underused word?


A gorgeous little cocktail dress.



I like this photo as it shows the variety of bodice design.




I would love to own and wear the dark dress.

Below are some sketches for dresses and patterns.

Look at the gorgeous 1950s abstract patterns and colour pallette.






Slimmer skirts here.


On the way back to Waterloo station we passed a little street called Lower Marsh. There were two vintage clothing shops and one lovely knitting shop. This shot is me in Radio Days.
We had a lovely day and I maybe be inspired to try and incorporate some of the features into my own clothes.

But why oh why didn't my aunts, gran, nanny, mum, great aunts buy and save a lovely Horrockses dress just for little me?

UPDATE - I am adding a bit as I don't want you to make the same mistake. There is a sign that points the wrong way near the museum. DO NOT FOLLOW IT.
Now I knew this as I read it on the website beforehand (and actually printed out the bit and put it in my handbag) but ha ha ha completely forgot when it came to standing in front of the sign and then going the completely wrong way. Oh how we laughed. Well, maybe not at the time but much later we chortled and I think a couple of days later my sister had forgiven me.

Bug Hunting

We had a good day out today.

Mary was given a bug hunting kit by her daddy so today we decided to put it to use. First of all we went into the garden and the bug hunter Mary was very brave until I lifted up a stone and the many scurrying woodlice sent her backing off in a hurry. And I have to admit me too! But I was braver when it came to an earwig and I captured it with a special bug-catcher thing and popped it into the viewfinder pot. It was very interesting to look at it.

Then with further bug hunting explorers, namely daddy and Auntie Claire, we set out to the local museum and nearby park.

Daddy managed to capture a fly in the museum gardens. Here is a photo and I must say that I am very pleased with the way this photos turned out.



Here are the bug hunters. That isn't me. My bottom would be much much bigger. That is the svelte form of Auntie Claire.


And on the way out of the park daddy noticed I had a beetle sitting on my back. We had a good look at it and it was very beautiful with a gorgeous green iridescent colour. But I have no idea what type of beetle and the photo is not much good as the bug hunter's hands were shaking a bit as she held the pot but I like the view of her big eyes looking.


So a very good day out. We also took the I Spy Trees book and managed to spot a London Plane, a Sweet Chestnut and a Horse Chestnut.

Wordless Wednesday

Button Wednesday - Purple Treasury

I was hoping to show you some buttons that I had made but since I seem to be suffering from crafter's block or simply pure laziness I am afraid I have nothing..nothing!

But as luck has it the lovely CardsandCraft has included me in a lovely treasury on etsy. Since it is full of buttons it is perfect for me to show you today.


Click here to go to the treasury so you can have a closer look at the items and their makers/sellers. Enjoy!

For more Button Wednesday please pop over to Kraplap's P8 Buttons & Fabrics Blog.

Creative Colour Challenge - Week 1 - Sunshine Yellow

I have joined the Creative Colour Challenge as created and organised by Louise Gale.

Each week in August we will explore a different colour (and just add white or black).

The first colour was Sunshine Yellow. I was a little bit late with this one and did not do anything until last night. I played around with some simple embroidery stitches - just doing the first thing that came into my head and out of the needle - so it was doodling with thread.

I think this challenge is going to be a great way to find out about colour and texture. There were some wonderful creative projects from other people and Louise is showing some on her blog here.

Week 2 is Raspberry Red. Here I come...