Bears and Bunting

Nearly NSFW Treasure Hunt.

2011-03-04T14:43:00.004Z

Yesterday was David's birthday! And because just giving him the present would have been boring, I made a tiny treasure hunt around his flat, that led to his present. Enjoy!

(Also, sorry about the bit that nearly gets a bit NSFW. I didn't realise until after!)

Psst...it looks best in 1080p!

Incase you couldn't hear, the clues were:

I'd use this to wrap presents. And it's not the paper!

Tape.

Apparently, the more you eat of these, the more you toot!

Baked Beans. (From the song: Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot!)

When I use this I smell like sun tan lotion.

My Radox shower gel.

One of my favourite games, that features the voice of a rather handsome Irish fella.

Fallout 3. And the handsome fella is Liam Neeson.

"We all live in a yellow..."

Submarine! (Tea sub)

The last clue is hidden somewhere on my person. Hint: It's your favourite part. Well...parts!

Uhh...my boobies. Ha.

To the bedroom!

Oh and the present, incase you couldn't see it, was a Kindle. And the little parcel, was a leather case for it.

I'd been saying for ages how Kindles are destroying the book industry and how much I hate them, so he never expected me to buy him one!

So have you ever set up a treasure hunt for someone's present before?

My Milk Toof.

2011-02-24T19:29:00.002Z

My Milk Toof is one of my favourite web comics, because not only is it so adorable it hurts, but the time and effort that goes into making just one cartoon is unreal.

This is one of my favourite (Of many!) cartoons, just because Lardee is totally me in that instance.

I'm pretty sure I am actually Lardee...

And I got some good news in my Google Reader today: The book is being released next month!

Even the promo video is adorable!

Also, I'd like to say a big thank you to every one who followed my "artist's" Tumblr! I'm still getting used to it over there, but I'm enjoying the short, sharp posting. But I'm not enjoying it so much that it'll replace the blog. I promise!

Poppy Aitch.

2011-02-21T12:00:00.003Z

Uni have been encouraging us to create an online presence for ourselves as art students, and seeing as this is more of a personal blog where I can write what I fancy, I decided to start a Tumblr for the arty things.

Said Tumblr, ~~involves~~ will involve things I find inspiring, designy things and little bits and bobs of my work.

There's also a link to my portfolio...that's currently empty, so please ignore that bit.

If any of you have a Tumblr, it'd mean the world to me if you followed mine.

And also, it would look like I have a few fans of my work. Ha.

Oh and no, I'm not closing Bears and Bunting down! I'm just starting something new.

Gravy Hands.

2011-02-18T20:24:00.007Z

Whenever I go to pass the gravy to someone over the dinner table, my hands always shake like crazy and I spill it everywhere. Now, whenever my hands are a bit shaky when I'm doing something, my brothers call it "Gravy Hands".

Today, gravy hands struck again when I tried to take a photo of my new nail polish from Barry M and couldn't get a particularly good shot, so decided to make a video of the results instead. Enjoy!

Pssst...it looks best played in 720p!

The more I look at the lighting in this video, the more I think the photo looks best after all!

Wonderful days are coming.

2011-02-16T11:36:00.004Z

27 days. My bad, guys. I'm just a smidge uninspired lately. Not to mention being super lazy.

Anyway, moving on. February 10th marked three years of David and I being together! Luckily the 10th fell on a Thursday, and because I'm not needed in uni on Fridays, it meant I could get the train to his on the night and have a long weekend with him. Yay.

The top photo was on our way out for a meal on Saturday night, and the bottom one is of my gorgeous pudding! Chocolate brownie, chocolate cookie and custard. Nomnomnom. The rest of the weekend was spent being lazy, playing Xbox and watching films. It was perfect.

When we were first talking (before we'd even met!), David told me about this Korean film called Wonderful Days (It's called Sky Blue in this country for some reason) and ever since then I've wanted to see it and we finally watched it together this weekend! It also meant I could cross #52 off my list too.

The tagline at the end of the trailer is "Wonderful days are coming." and I remember watching it the first time and getting all goosebumpy thinking that wonderful days WERE coming because I was about to meet David.

Cheesy I know, but that's me!

Anyway, the film was really good, I'd definitely give it a watch, and this trailer too. See if it makes you go goosebumpy as well!

Regularly scheduled ~~programming~~ blogging will resume shortly. Hopefully. Haha.

Life is like a box of chocolates.

2011-01-20T18:16:00.003Z

I mentioned on Twitter a few days after Christmas, that Bear had bought me a Mr. Pink Diana F+. (It's actually a much brighter pink in real life. This picture shows it better) After squealing for what seemed like a year, I set about taking some photos and here are just a few from the bunch of negatives I scanned this morning.

They're not that great, because obviously it was my first play with her, but hey ho!

The first ever picture on Diana! And it's a blurry Bear.

Well, who else would I want to spend the first shot on? =3

Hey there shaky hands.

Sorry about the overlap, the scanner was playing up.

This was my first attempt at a pinhole shot, where you take off the lens and just use the teeny hole underneath it. You pull the trigger down, then trap it in there so it's constantly exposing while stuff is happening around it. (Which I thought was crazy amazing! Here's a good example)

Can you make out my brother in the chair on the right, before he got up? I see legs!

This one was actually taken on a black and white film on New Year's Eve, but when I was scanning the negative, the scanner was still set on colour, so I got this cool glowy colour around it.

And finally: I tweeted this, this afternoon as I was scanning the negatives:

And here is the offending article:

Man alive, I was absolutely howling over the keyboard! The girls next to me that were so hip it hurt, didn't seem very impressed with me breaking the silence, but I care not. Look at me! I'm Quagmire for crying out loud!

Anyway, that's half the fun of lomography, you never know what you're gonna get!

Current status of TWVP.

2011-01-14T15:38:00.003Z

Just a little status update for you all on The World View Project, because I know a few of you are worried about the location of the cameras.
Basically, from the word go, we knew it would be a long, long project because of all the international posting that was going on and the time people have the cameras for. Now, obviously, this time is increased if people keep it for longer than they should do, but I can't help other people's actions.

I don't have a lot of information on the other cameras, but I can tell you that Camera 1 is currently in China somewhere, waiting for my brother to pick it up from the post office...but he doesn't know where that is.

And if he leaves it there any longer, it'll get sent back to me and that's another 2+ weeks in posting time I'll have to wait. So I think I may buy a new camera and send it off to the next people after my brother in the list and just miss him out. He won't mind.

I hope no one is getting annoyed about the time scale of this project, because really, it's all out of my hands now, as I'm just waiting on cameras coming back to me so I can start having them printed.
I am sorry it's taking so long though, but I think things should speed up a bit for Camera 1 when I get the new camera sent out.

Please don't forget to tell me when a camera arrives to you, so I can update the map in sidebar and also tweet about it.

Thank you again to everyone who signed up and I'll leave you with a picture of some baby guinea pigs in cups.

No reason why. Well, unless you can count SQUEEEEE! ^_^ as a reason?

Welcome to the family!

2011-01-10T21:58:00.004Z

So today, I decided to get a fourth tattoo. I don't think Bear knows yet...hope he doesn't mind.

I tweeted the picture above, this afternoon and he's not mentioned anything so he can't have seen it yet.

It's a paper crane! I love it. The little wee addition to the collection!

Short and sweet post, just dropping by to let you know the haps.

But now I'm off to do the presentation that needs writing before tomorrow. Urgh..

[Edit] Bear knows now and he's not a massive fan. He doesn't like tattoos anyway, so I didn't think he would be. But he still loves me. So yay! [/Edit]

Number 340.

2011-01-01T11:43:00.002Z

I was going to try my hand at an inspirational 2011 post, but whilst perusing my Google Reader this morning, I found that 1000 Awesome Things had beat me to it, and had done it so perfectly, I had to share it with you.

Christmas photos will follow in the next few days or so, but for now, just enjoy this absolutely beautiful post.
Happy New Year, everyone.

#340: Feeling it in your bones.

Born and blasted into the world you’re a baby brain with wide eyes, chubby legs, and cloudy thoughts. Mom lifts you and picks you, eyes open and close, and fogs rise and settle. Tears stream and faces scream as your swirling brain twists and turns into thoughts…

Nothing makes sense till it does.

Nothing feels right till it does.

Chalk raps on blackboards beside times tables, language stirs sounds into sentences, and stories send you flying into faraway worlds. Book reports and homework inspections, chemistry labs and biology dissections, all fill your spinning brain with numbers and theories and thoughts…

Nothing makes sense till it does.

Nothing feels right till it does.

Teenage sleepovers and late night walks, summertime camps and suppertime talks, keep expanding your mind and your understanding of the world. First kisses and first touches, first fights and first blushes, all fill your heart with dreams, expand your brain’s book shelf, and get you thinking about a life below the surface of yourself.

Nothing makes sense till it does.

Nothing feels right till it does.

But, sometimes challenging lectures or scattering friends, confusing debates without exams at the end, can frighten your mind and scare dreams away, can frighten your life and trade tomorrows for todays. Family pressures and social graces, broken promises from trusted faces, could suddenly swirl you upside down and scatter your mind or dim your heart…

When nothing makes sense,

When nothing feels right,

When it gets scary to realize,

There are no instructions in life.

That’s when it’s time to stop, it’s time to think, it’s time to pause, it’s time to blink. When you hit the end of the year, open your eyes and look behind you. When you hit the end of the year open your eyes and look inside you.

Because today you’re right here,

And there’s so far to go,

And today there’s still fear,

But there’s only one way to know,

Feel it in your bones, feel it in your bones, feel it in your bones.

Feel your bones to move forward, feel your bones to move on, feel your bones to forget, feel your bones to carry on, just feel your bones to say you’re sorry, feel your bones to show you care, feel your bones to choose tomorrow, and feel those bones to get you there.

Because when your world sorts itself out, when your head moves aside, when your heart thumps up front, when that blood bubbles inside, well that’s when you know, that's when you see, that’s when you finally become...what you were meant to be.

So whatever you’re thinking about today, stop trying to choose and choose. Whatever you’re searching for today, just look inside for clues. Yes, whatever you’re thinking about, just stop and feel instead. Cause when you feel it in your bones you can smile and forget your head.

Nothing makes sense till it does.

Nothing feels right till it does.

Nothing makes sense till you feel it.

Nothing feels right till you know.

Poppy's (food) porn post.

2010-12-24T19:05:00.002Z

It's been baking central in our kitchen today! Well, I was making no where near as many things today as I was for my birthday, but still, a lot of baking happened this afternoon.

So, here are the treats I cooked up today for Christmas and boxing day:

Vanilla cupcakes with melted marshmallow centre and marshmallow frosting. Hi there sugar coma!

(I had these and the ones below at my 21st) Recipe taken from my friend Carla, who took it from the book: The Hummingbird Bakery.

Chocolate and coffee cupcakes with chocolate covered coffee beans inside, and coffee frosting with cappuccino chocolate sprinkles. From the book: Cupcakes by Susannah Blake.

Peppermint slice - Shortbread base, peppermint cream centre and chocolate topping. From the book: 1001 Cookies, Cupcakes and other Tempting Treats.

Brie and redcurrant jelly muffins. From the book 1001 Cookies, Cupcakes and other Tempting Treats.

Sorry about the not so amazing photography on my lovely new camera (Recently named Norah, if you'd like to know!) but I was in a rush. I'm currently in the middle of hand stitching a skirt to wear tomorrow for dinner, because I couldn't find one in town I liked! I don't own a sewing machine so it's taking a very long time...

Anyway, wish me luck with the skirt and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and spend it with all your favourite people in the world! x

Hey there lucky lady.

2010-12-21T13:12:00.005Z

Only two weeks too late, I decided to share my birthday haul with you all.

I had asked for money towards an SLR but could not believe how generous everyone was. I was taken aback! I was a very, very lucky girl and believe me, I thanked everyone like crazy.

The camera I bought with most of the money, was a Nikon D3100 and I looooove it. I've never made such a big purchase before and I felt all grown up! Obviously, I can't take a picture of it, but if you click the link above, you'll get a better view of it. (The lens does sit straight, I'm just holding the camera on an angle here)

So I had a few pennies left over and though I originally wanted to keep some to help out with my rent, my mum said it was my 21st birthday present and it was meant to be enjoyed and spent on things I would like.

So here's what I bought:

A new phone: An HTC Wildfire. I've never had such a fancy phone and I'm really enjoying playing around with all the Android apps. This was one of the funniest ones I've seen. No I didn't download it, thank you very much! Hahaha.

Clinique Anti-Blemish solutions face care range, foundation and concealer. I don't know if you've ever noticed but I have terrible skin, and Clinique is the only thing that clears it up, but I can't always buy it because it's so expensive. If anyone else is having problems with spots still, I definitely recommend Clinique; my skin is slowly but surely getting better!

Vivienne Westwood Rocking Horse Wing Platforms. Oh my god. Remember when I blogged about these shoes way back in April? Well, with the last of my money, I snapped up a glossy black pair! I just cannot believe that I own a pair of these shoes, I've wanted some for so long! When I saw them, I always thought I'd never be able to afford them and just have to admire them from afar, but now I have them and I'm all smiley.

Like I said, I was a very, VERY lucky girl this year and I really do appreciate absolutely everything that everybody gave me. I've been very fortunate this year and I'd like to say thank you to everyone that gave me anything, you're all amazing.

Anyway, I'm baking like crazy over the next few days, getting little nibbles ready, so no doubt I'll be back in the next few days with some food porn. Isn't it just the best kind of porn?!

21st: Cupcakes & Cocktails.

2010-12-09T18:27:00.013Z

So as promised, here's the picture heavy (Admittedly, not as picture heavy as it could've been) post on the Cupcakes and Cocktails party for my 21st. I had such a fantastic night and was so chuffed at how fancy everyone looked!
There isn't a photo of everyone that was there because so many people came, but just some of my favourite photos from the night. Hope you like them!

For both my brothers' 21st parties, my dad made a slideshow to play during the party, of photos of them as babies and onwards, but I didn't think he'd had time to make one because he was working in Singapore just before my party, but then low and behold, a slideshow for me popped up!

I'm pretty much brand new in this photo, like a week old maybe. I had a lot of hair.

The spread! Which consisted of:

Lavender cupcakes,

Chocca Mocha cupcakes with coffee frosting,

Cornbread cupcakes with goats cheese frosting and bacon,

Parmesan and chilli scones,

Peanut butter and banana cupcakes,

Marshmallow cupcakes with melted mallow centre,

Spring onion and courgette cupcakes,

Diabetic chocolate (For the 6 diabetics that came)

Marshmallows,

Dolly Mixtures,

Jelly Tots,

Cashew Nuts,

and Japanese cracker mix.

All cupcakes and my birthday cake made by me the day before!

We had low lighting as if you were in a smoky cocktail bar and fairy lights everywhere. (The other pictures look quite bright but because the flash was on my camera) I got the printable alphabet bunting from Ruffled and strung up the recipes for the cocktails above all the alcohol. (This picture was taken at the end of the night and that's only about a third of the alcohol we had to begin with!)

Doesn't David look just perfect in his tux? I just wanted to squeeze him when he came downstairs in it!

David and my dad, who also looked fantastic.

With my mum and my Grandma. I love this photo. I can't even remember what was so funny!

My oldest brother Graeme and his fiancé Adele. Unfortunately my other brother David couldn't make it back from Hong Kong for my birthday. *Sulk*

My Uncle Stephen and Aunty Andrea.

Uncle John and my cousin Bryoney.

My best friend, Lizzy. My other best friend Jess, couldn't make it because of all the snow.

Me, Gran, Grandma and Mum all had teeny cupcake necklaces on, to match a little bit.

My Gran doesn't look very happy, but she was! She just doesn't like photos.

Lighting the cake and finding something hilarious again!

Mum and Andrea dancing to Barry White at the end of the night. We'd been listening to Frank Sinatra and swing classics during the party, but they wanted a dance to their favourite song.

Documentation of my Martini and Cosmopolitan tasting for my 101in1001 list. LOL.

And finally, I realised there wasn't one photo of my beautiful shoes! So here they are in all their glittery glory.

All in all, I had a fantastic night and thank you again for all the birthday messages. And also, to the couple of you that were worrying about my blog absence, I'm just lazy. There's nothing to worry about here, but thank you for the concern!

Bare/Bear with me.

2010-12-03T21:51:00.002Z

I do intend to do a super picture heavy post on my 21st over the weekend (Thank you for all the happy birthday messages!) but I've just been really busy since getting back. It's coming though, I promise.

To whet your appetite, here's a picture of me upon tasting my very first martini. LOL.

I'll be back in a few days, hopefully. So I'll see you then? Cool beans.

More pennies needed.

2010-11-23T21:52:00.003Z

Holy moly. I desperately want a swish new house to lay one of these bad boys down in.

The only down side? "Price on request" Read: "Outta your price range, Poppy old chum."

In other news, it's my 21st on Sunday and my Cupcakes and Cocktails party on Saturday night, so I'll be going home on Thursday to start baking all the cupcakes and finish making decorations! (Can you tell, I'm about to burst with excitement?)

I've got a gorrrrgeous new dress and beautiful glittery shoes lined up for the event and my lovely Bear has only gone and got himself a tuxedo to wear! *Explodes with excitement*
Brace yourself for a very picture heavy post after the weekend, lovely peeps!

A little eye and finger candy.

2010-11-16T19:20:00.004Z

So you all know how much of an obsession I have with rings, right? Well imagine my delight when I found SouZou Creations on etsy, that sell handmade rings that are super intricate and amazing. And they really have to be seen to be believed.

Feast your eyes on some of my favourite picks:

Aren't they absolutely amazing?! I just can't get over how detailed and completely unique they are.

All the rings Sofia makes are gorgeous, but my favourite are the floating ones. I mean, look at that coke bottle. It's like it's actually pouring!

So which ones would you wear?
All of them? Yeah me too...

Drumroll please...

2010-11-10T16:14:00.002Z

Thank you to every one who entered my one year blogiversary giveaway, but it's now time to announce the winner!

*Drumroll*

And comment number 17 was the lovely Chloe from Chloe In Reality!
Congratulations, lovely! If you wanna send me an email with your address in, then I can get your goodies all sent out to you!

Also, if you're in the market for a little ring porn (And by ring, I mean jewellery - dirty people) check back in the next few days for a post featuring an amazing etsy shop that I can't wait to share with you all.

Bombay.

2010-11-08T13:49:00.005Z

And old friend of mine posted this music video on his Facebook and I instantly loved it.

It's quite dark in some places and is totally NSFW, but I recommend you watch it. Even if you hate the video, you can't deny how catchy that beat is!

P.S. You've still got 2 days to enter the blogiversary giveaway!

One year blogiversary giveaway!

2010-11-01T11:37:00.009Z

So as the title would suggest, today is my one year blogiversary! And to celebrate a year of blogging and meeting some fantastic people, I'm holding my very first giveaway to say thanks to you peeps!

Here's what one lucky person will be winning:

A pot of Soap & Glory body butter (I don't know anyone who doesn't like the smell of this!)

A bottle of Beauty UK nail polish in Coral Sunrise colour

A pot of Strawberries & Milkshake glossy lip balm

A spangly brooch from Primark

A white chocolate face mask

A tube of Aussie 3 Minute Miracle hair treatment

2 rings from Primark

A can of tropical dry shampoo (I love this stuff!)

4 hair clips from Primark

And a copy of The Queen's Knickers! After all, you know how much I love it.

To be in with a chance of winning:
All you have to do is follow my blog with Google Connect. However, you can also gain 3 extra entries as well, so to find out how to do so, read on below:

Mandatory entry: Follow my blog with Google Connect

Optional entries:

- Follow me on Twitter.

- Tweet about the giveaway.
- Blog about the giveaway and post the link to it.

(Please leave a seperate comment for each thing you do. So if you do all four, comment four times)

You have until November 10th 2010 to enter, when I will be picking the winner using a random number generator. And yes, the giveaway is open to international readers as well!

Good luck everyone!

Style peeping.

2010-10-27T17:32:00.003+01:00

I've not done an outfit post in a really long time, mainly because I've been feeling horrendously uninspired when it comes to getting ready on a morning. So instead, I turned to some of my favourite fashion blogs and street fashion websites for a little help.

Here are some of the looks that I loved:

This is how I wish I looked in my hooded duffel coat. However, I just look like Paddington bear on account of my short legs. And on that note, I'm out. Make sure to check back for my next post on November 1st when I'll be kicking off the giveaway!

P.S. Thanks to my housemate Steph who gave me a slice of cherry pie because I've been feeling down all day about various things.

It helped a smidgen. :3

How very charming!

2010-10-24T12:30:00.006+01:00

You guys! Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post and for sharing your own experiences with me. I wanted to post it, but I wasn't sure how you'd all react, so I'm really glad that you were all so supportive. You're the bestest readers ever!

Also, some discount codes for the jewellery shop So Charming, just happened to land in my inbox this week. It's like they were psychic and they knew I wanted to thank you some how!
So you can use the code below to get 10% off your next order. Thanks So Charming peeps!

In case you're wondering, the bunting over my bed says:

"Sweet dreams sleepy bear" Heehee!

I can't decide what I'm spending my discount code on yet. What're some of your favourite picks?

Also, I'm having a giveaway on November 1st, so make sure to come back for that!

Remind me of who I used to be.

2010-10-20T21:38:00.004+01:00

I've had this post saved for a while, waiting until I felt the time was right to share it with you. There's no juicy revelation, no massive piece of news...just a very honest post from me. It's word heavy, but if you stick with it, bravo. And it means a lot too. =]

My first year at uni was shit. Although, do understand, it was my own fault.

I struggled with the work and, in true Poppy style, didn't ask for help, seeing it as a sign of weakness. (Stupid, I know) I skived. A lot. We had no teaching time on Mondays and Fridays and I saw this as a 4 day weekend and off I went to David's. When in actuality, we were meant to be in studio working on our epic projects. Alas. I was not.

I partied hard. Maybe a smidgen too hard. Actually scratch that. Definitely too hard. A lot of money went on booze and going out when it maybe should've gone on art supplies. I'd roll in around about 4 and have a half 9 start in the morning. One time, I swaggered into my flat at 7, had a half hour sleep, then got up to go to uni.

I was stupid. What good was I too any one, sleeping in my lectures with a steaming hangover and possibly still drunk.

Now, when I talk to my mum about it, she brushes it aside and just says: "Oh well it's first year, you're meant to go a bit wild." This is true. But it was more than that:

I didn't feel myself. I felt like somebody completely different.

I lost count of the times I called David in tears complaining about how the course was shit, how I wanted to leave, how I was living with knobheads that I hated, blah blah blah. David, being his typical amazing self, just told me to calm down and it would all work out if I just (to summarise) stopped being a tit. Those weren't his exact words, but they may as well have been.

He was fantastic last year. It sounds pathetic and all boohoo, but I'm not sure I would've made it through first year without him. He is pretty amazing.

As you know, I survived and managed to pass first year. Well, I scraped a pass. But thanks to a lovely long summer with my lovely man, I'm returning to uni with a sense of purpose and dare I say it, a sense of hope.

He's encouraged me all the way, and when I needed it, given me a telling off or two, which is exactly what I needed. I honestly don't know what I'd have done without him.

I'd like to share with you the two songs that summed up my first year at uni. I really hope you listen to them and can relate to them some way too.

The first, "No, I Don't Remember" by Anna Ternheim, was the song that fitted the moment when I realised that I was turning into somebody I really disliked and knew I had to change it.

I actually still find this hard to listen to even now and the chorus still breaks my heart:

And the second, the song that, without sounding cheesy, I think maybe saved me: "Home" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. First heard on my good friend Melissa's site, it just had that WOW moment for me.

It was like it was talking about me and David and it was at that moment, that I realised just how lucky I am to have this wonderful man in my life.

Both these songs saved me in totally different ways, but so did David. And I want to thank him for that.

I don't think I ever thanked him in real life for it...so I hope you're reading, Beary!

Eager beaver!

2010-10-14T11:48:00.001+01:00

As some of may or may not know, next month is my 21st. I decided on Cupcakes and Cocktails as the theme because I wanted a smart soiree with people I love, rather than an epic party with people I don't know.

So seeing as it's less than 5 weeks away and people are coming from out of town and need to be given notice, I decided to make my invites. (Which only served in getting me more excited)

They were made by wrapping brown paper round white cards, gluing on a doyley, a yellow piece of paper and a bun case. (That's what the spotty paper is, but you can't tell because it's so stuck down) All that's on the back is our phone number and the RSVP date.

I absolutely loved making them but they were so time consuming because I chose to do everything by hand and write everthing myself as well. But I'm pretty chuffed with the way they turned out, so the aches in my hand from writing are totally worth it.

I also got some personalised stamps made from the Royal Mail website. I thought we should have some special stamps seeing as it's my 21st, so here they are:

(You probably all recognise that picture by now!)

I'm going back home today for the weekend and still need to pack up my bag before going to the train, so I'd best sign off. Bye for now, lovelies!

Love, Illustrated.

2010-10-10T19:53:00.001+01:00

My good friend Melissa over at Oh, My Darling featured me and David on her Love, Illustrated section this week! In her words: "The point of Love, Illustrated is to capture the relationship of a really awesome blogger and her partner in a personalised illustration." The illustrations are done by the wonderful Jaymie O'Callaghan and are just fantastic!

So you can imagine how touched I was when I found out that Melissa classes me in the "awesome blogger" category and jumped at the chance when she asked me to participate.

So she asked me to email a picture of me and David, along with some facts about us.

This was the picture and here are some of the facts:

We are both giant nerds.

We both love gaming.

TV + Quesadillas + Games = Our perfect night in.

Poppy says: David's chest feels like the safest place on earth.

And his gorgeous eyes make everything okay again.

David says: I love that Poppy will listen when I geek out and even if she doesn't understand what I'm talking about, she's just happy that I'm happy.

And at the top of the post, is the drawing that Jaymie did!

I love it! And she got David's lovely little face just right! So thank you once again Melissa, we both love it and I was dead chuffed you thought of us both.
Have a great week lovelies, and I'll be back in a few days!

I got Kaboodled!

2010-10-05T11:43:00.002+01:00

I was featured on Kaboodle yesterday! Well, my list 'Home Stuffs' was, in the 'What Rocks This Week' category on their blog. Apparently, I'm just that awesome at finding cute homewares, haha.

You can check out the post here and my Home Stuffs list here.

So in other news, Carla mentioned this bag yesterday from Aspire Style and I'm pretty smitten, I must say. It's probably no surprise to you at all, that I'd love this bag, given the project that I've just started and my insane love for snail mail, but still. I thought I'd share it with you!

Also, it's my one year blogiversary on November 1st, so I'm thinking of hosting my first ever giveaway. I'm so excited! So keep checking back for the details of that fella.

And finally, thank you to everyone for your updates on the cameras and their travels! They are currently spread out across the UK but I know one of them is winging its way to America today, so make sure to keep and eye on the map in my sidebar, or follow me on Twitter for updates!

God speed, brave Gertys!

2010-09-30T19:14:00.006+01:00

So today, after 2 months of planning, organising, emailing and preparing, the Gertys set off on their remarkable journey.

Unfortunately the lady at the post office said I had to take the string off because it would get caught in the sorting machine. Booooo. But once they got their stamps on, they still looked pretty smart anyway, so it's okay.

So you all should have received an email off me telling you who you will be sending your Gerty on to by now. Please tell me ASAP if you haven't received one so I can send another one your way, so we don't have a broken link along the way.

I also forgot to say in the emails about customs labels. If you are sending Gerty abroad, when you come to putting the customs label on, remember to tick the Gift box. This way, neither you nor the person on the receiving end have to pay tax on the parcel.

And finally, I know there has been a fair amount of interest in getting extra sets of prints done up and I've now decided to do it all through flickr. As you know, when the photos get developed, they're all going to be uploaded to the World View Project flickr page for you all to peruse.

But I've set it up so that you can order prints yourself directly from the flickr group and have them sent straight to you. Which is awesome, because it's so much easier and probably cheaper for you all as well.

(Special shout out goes to Courtney for reminding me that you can do that with flickr!)

Don't forget you can follow the progress of all five Gertys with the map in my sidebar on the right (Click the camera icons to see each Gerty number or click the link under the map to go to a larger version) and also by following me on Twitter, because I'll tweet everytime it arrives in a new place too.

Can't wait to see all your towns/cities!

Lift off.

2010-09-27T00:29:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post from Poppy HQ tonight to let you know where we are with The Project.

The Gertys!

I'd like to send out a massive thank you to those of you who emailed me your addresses when I asked, were super organised and just did it.You also all get another huge thank you for baring with me while I waited for those people who haven't sent me their details.

I'd love to be able to wait and include everyone who signed up, but I think it's unfair for those of you that were organised, to make you wait around for people to email me, when we could be sending Gertys out. I also don't want any of you to think that I'm not bothered about the project any more because you've not heard anything from me. That is so not the case at all. I am so excited and also so touched that so many people wanted to get involved in one of my hair brained schemes!

So basically, all I'm saying is, that I think we've waited long enough for the other people. I mean it has been 2 weeks since I sent the emails out asking for addresses. Please understand, I'm not mad at any of the people who haven't emailed me their addresses, I'm simply thinking about what is best for The Project. I promise.

I hope you all agree with this decision and still want to go on this "journey" with me.

So without further ado, when I get back from uni tomorrow night, I will be pairing you up and sending out the emails. Get ready folks, we're going on holiday!

A little something for your viewing pleasure.

2010-09-24T00:01:00.006+01:00

Before we get down to the good stuff, (Some holiday photos!) there's just a short announcement about The World View Project. No I have not forgotten about it, or even cancelled it, I'm just waiting on the last few people to email me their address.

48 of you have emailed me your deets, but I'm still waiting on the other 12 of you. The sooner you email me, the sooner I can get this bad boy rolling! After all, it's going to be a long project anyway, so email me as soon as you can, so it doesn't go on longer than it needs to, okay? Thanks peeps!

Anyway, down to business! As you know, me and Beary/David went to Majorca for a week and I've been wanting to share these snaps with you for a while. Enjoy!

^ This was the view left, right and down from our window. Oh em geez. ^

^ On the beach under the flat and on the glass bottomed boat. ^

^ Token bikini shot on the balcony and David sporting my sunglasses. ^

^ The sweeties at the Inca market and the sign that probably doesn't need explaining. ^

^ My first taste of Sangria (Loved it!) and the monastery Chopin stayed in. ^

^ Taking a dip in the sea the night before we left. ^

^ Pierce Brosnan's house! His actual house. And a patio door was open so he was probably in! ^

^ And a pretty sunset! ^

So I hope you liked the few holiday snaps I shared here. There are a few more on my Facebook profile if you'd like to peruse them there as well. Thanks for peeking at the photos and for baring with me while I've moved house. (Thanks for the messages as well, lovely peeps!) I'll be back in the next few days, hopefully kicking the project off!

I love being wrong some times.

2010-09-11T20:54:00.007+01:00

Hello lovely BAB readers, I'm super busy over the next few days moving into my new house so it's just a short and sweet post for you to say that we are back from Majorca and all fired up for the World View Project to get up and running! We had an absolutely fantastic time and the weather was just stunning.

Here is just one photo from the many that I took. (More to follow in a future post!)

Now then, onto more pressing matters, sign up for The World View Project has now closed and we managed to net a staggering 60 participants! (61 if you include me) I cannot even begin to express how happy you have all made me, I really can't. I can't believe how much the project has taken off and how many countries are now involved. I'm over the moon now, I really am.

Tomorrow or Monday, I'll be sending out an email to all the participants asking for your details and giving you some rules for the project. Please look out for this email (My emails tend to go to junk a lot because my address has the word crap in it. My bad) and reply as soon as you see it so there isn't a delay in getting the cameras out across the globe.

Also, because so many of you signed up, there are now going to be FIVE Gerty's out at once. I thought at the beginning of the project I'd only need one because I didn't think anyone would sign up.

I love being wrong some times. ^_^

I'm going with a boy!

2010-09-01T22:51:00.003+01:00

My lovely peeps. Sorry for my brief radio silence on the blog and my lack of comments on all your lovely posts, but I've been super busy the last few days. In a word, it's been crazy. In another word, it's been bloody upsetting. I don't like whinging, so just to cut a long story short, it involves me doing a lot of hard work for a bunch of people who didn't appreciate it or even say thank you for everything I did.

But enough of that, because it does have a happy ending, as me and David are going on holiday to Majorca for a week on Friday! I'm so excited; I've never been on holiday with anyone but my family. It must be serious. (Well, it's been over 2 and a half years, you'd hope we were serious!)

I keep saying to my mum, I'm going on holiday with a boy!

The last holiday I took was to Paris with my Grandma in 2008.

You can't tell, but I had really long hair then!

So I'm just letting you know, I'll be away for a week, but will check my email once at an internet cafe while we are away, and answer any pressing questions about The World View Project any of you may have.

In related news, I've got the Gerty's! I had to buy 3 because so many of you lovely people signed up! And if any more sign up while I'm away, I may even need 4. How exciting is that?!

But that's my little news bulletin for you all.
Don't forget, sign up is still open until September 10th for The World View Project and also don't forget that I love you peeps. =]

So far, so awesome. (Thanks to you!)

2010-08-27T18:45:00.006+01:00

I'm a little bit overwhelmed with the amazing response I've had so far with The World View Project, you lovely peeps. I never knew so many people thought the same way and would want to be involved. I thought I'd get a handful of people signing up, maybe 4 or 5 at best, and I've got over 30! So far! You guys are officially the best. (And special thank yous go out to Hazel, Melissa, Mariel and Cristie for blogging about the project!)

SO FAR, we have people from the following places signed up:

(The one person from China is one of my brothers!)

If at all possible, we could do with a few more from the Europe area. It's not absolutely essential, but it would be nice if we could get a broader view of Europe. So if you know anyone online/IRL that fits the bill and may be interested, spread the word!

Also, a few people have been put off signing up because they see I've already got people in America and England signed up. I've never been to America, and it's huge! So the more people that get involved, the better! And as for England, no one place is the same, so we need different views of it for the people who've never been to England.

Seriously guys, I can't begin to explain to you how happy you've made me by signing up. I was terrified it would be a massive flop and nobody would want to be involved, but you all surprised me and I can't thank you enough.

Now, roll on September so we can get this bad boy off the ground!

P.S. Sign up is still open up until September 10th!

P.P.S. If you grab a linky button from the right and blog about it, let me know so I can thank you!

The World View Project with Gerty Globetrotter.

2010-08-22T22:11:00.026+01:00

Guys, I love travelling. Who doesn't? But being at university eats up all my time and money, so alas, I cannot afford to just set off around the world, no matter how badly I want to see it all. *Sulks*

So what do I propose we do about this? Start:

The World View Project

with Gerty Globetrotter!

What is it?

It's a project combining two of my loves: Photography and snail mail.
I want to send a disposable camera/cameras out to various corners of the globe and invite YOU to take snaps of the place you live, before sending it onto the next person to do the same, somewhere else in the world. Then when it is returned to me, we'll have an album of photos from all around the world.

Now you can see the world for a fraction of the price!

Interested so far? If yes, read on!

Who is Gerty Globetrotter?

Gerty is the happy little camera character, hand drawn by me, on the envelope above. It is also the name given to the camera/cameras that will be winging its/their way towards you all!

How many photos do I need to take?

The number of photos you need to take depends on the number of people that sign up. Most cameras have around 30 exposures in them, so say 6 people signed up, you get to take 5 pictures each.

If a lot of people sign up, I'll send out two or three cameras at once, because I'd like everyone to take 2 or 3 each.

And what of?

Because it's about seeing the world through other people's snaps, the pictures should be of the town/city that you live in. One of the photos should have the name of this place in, so we all know where these photos came from. This could either be in the form of the "Welcome to..." sign or you could write your town/city name and country on a piece of paper and have it in one of the photos. You should definitely be in at least one of the shots too.

I want to see my lovely participants!

How do I know who to send the camera to next?

Like most online swaps, you will be paired up with someone by me and I will email you letting you know who you are sending the camera on to, before it even sets off from my house on its journey.

Is there anyway to tell where the camera/cameras are on their travels?

I've installed a map over on the right sidebar to keep tabs on it. Once you have received Gerty, send me an email as soon as possible, letting me know where you are in the world and I'll update the pointer on the map. (If there is more than one Gerty flying around the world, I'll have a few different pointers tracking them all on the one map)

How do I get to see the photos when the cameras get back to you?

When I have all the photos developed, I'll scan every single one and upload them to my flickr account. Or alternatively, I'm working on the details of possibly sending out sets of the prints, for a small charge, to any participants who would like them.
As I'm still ironing out some kinks in this idea, the details will follow in another post.

When do I have to sign up by?

~~You have from today up until September the 10th to sign up. (I know it's a long sign up time, but I'd like to get as many people as possible involved so we can get a wide range of snaps!)~~
And please only sign up if you are really committed to doing this. I'd hate for the camera to get lost somewhere and the swap come to a halt, because somebody wasn't really bothered about doing it in the first place. SIGN UP IS NOW CLOSED! Thank you so much to everyone who signed up!

This all sounds pretty cool beans! Where can I sign up?

~~Leave me a comment below (Make sure to include your email!) letting me know that you're interested and I'll shoot you all an email when the sign up closes with some rules and other info.~~

Help the swap grow:

I would love for the cameras to reach many far flung corners of the world, but for that to happen, I'll need your help! Bears and Bunting only has a small (but none the less fantastic) following and I'd like to get the word out.

If you would like to blog about the swap or retweet this blog post to help get the word out, I would be eternally grateful to you all. Unfortunately, I can't offer you anything in return for doing this, apart from the warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy that comes from knowing you made a nerdy British girl very happy! ^_^ (Sorry, I know that's a giant cop out!)

And here's a linky button in case you do want to blog about it :

Last but not least, have fun with it!
I want this to bring people together and to give everyone
a taste of other parts of the world.
So let's get snapping!

Chickens, bears and bums.

2010-08-21T18:54:00.005+01:00

A wee while ago, Sara posted about the reasons behind her nicknames. And seeing how people always ask what the deal is with most of mine, I thought I'd snag her post idea (with her permission!) and spill the heinz over my nicknames. And also throw in some pictures of little me for good measure.

(I'm sure you guessed, but the other people with me in the photos are my brothers and my parents)

1: Bum tongue

Nickname from my brothers with a very simple explanation. My tongue looks like a bum. Observe:

2: Bear

I originally started calling David, Bear because he is hairy. Like a bear. Then the name just passed over to me and that's his nickname for me too. (Hence the blog name)

3: Tracey

Because David has the same name as one of my brothers, my brother calls David by his middle name which is James. (Shortened to Jimmy) Then just for good measure, he started calling me Tracey, as in Emin, because I'm an art student. (I hope he's not saying I look like her!)

So to my brother, we are Tracey and Jimmy.

4: Pops

Family nickname for me, that I'm sure you realised is just a shortened version of my name. I tend not to let anyone else call me this apart from family because I like it being reserved just for loved ones!

5: Chicken/Precious

These are your text book Daddy names. Nicknames given to me by my dad when I was tiny and to be used only be him. However, he doesn't call me them that often anymore on account of me being 20 years old!

So what're some of your nickname origins? I always found these stories fascinating. Spill the heinz!

I've always had some dope ass style. ^_~

This post is so heavy...

2010-08-15T17:06:00.002+01:00

...with pictures! David and I were house sitting his dad's farm last week and decided that it would be a top notch idea to go for a picnic along in one of the fields. And, we both have awesome lunchboxes that we needed an excuse to bust out.

My Paperchase lunchbox and David's amazing limited edition Fallout lunchbox.

(Fallout 3 is my favourite game ever and I'm thinking of a way to steal this off him)

My super balanced lunch consisting of: Sandwiches, chocolate buttons, iced gems, a pot of rice pudding, olives, a pink wafer bar and some parma violets.

I took this photo specially for Melissa!

Outfit deets:

Top: Dorothy Perkins

Lace skirt: Primark

Necklace: New Look

Shoes: Primark

Hope this post wasn't too picture/couple heavy for you all. I don't often put up photos of me and David, but I do love the hairy chap and I like to share him with you lovely peeps.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Pour moi? Why thank you!

2010-08-12T15:13:00.006+01:00

Who doesn't love an award, am I right? And the lovely Maegan has bestowed one upon me. Yay me!
But before I can pass it on, I have to post seven facts about myself. So here they are:

1: My real name is actually Poppy.
So many people think it's short for something or an online pseudonym, but no. That's my full name.

2: I say hambag instead of handbag.
I don't mean to, it just happens. And saying handbag sounds dead clumsy to me now.

3: I'm studying Fine Art at uni...
but I have no talent in the drawing/painting department whatsoever.

4: I can dislocate my shoulders.
If I hold my hands behind my back, I can bring them over my head.
It's quite horrendous to look at, really!

5: I said it in a previous blog post, but I've been scared of car washes since I was little.
I just don't like how the pompoms just dangle there.

6: I have three tattoos and ten piercings.

7: I LOVE olives. Green are the best.
Stuffed with chillies, cheese, almonds, pepper whatever! I'm there.

Okelysmokes! So you know a little smidge more about me than you did five minutes ago! I now pass this award onto these seven lovelies:

- Sara @ She is Sara

- Stel @ Perfectly Indecisive

- Hazel @ Hazel Loves Design

- Jazz @ Jazz Loves You More

- Ralph @ Shybiker
- Krysten @ After 'I Do'
- Cristie @ The Citybirds Nest

So snag the award and get blogging, peeps!

I bet you thought I'd forgotten.

2010-08-10T18:51:00.003+01:00

Before I move onto the actual post, I just want to say that my parcel to Hazel finally reached Australia, so if you want to see what I got for her too, have a mosey on over!

Anyway, down to business.

At the end of this post, I said that I was using the old maps in the pictures for a really girly craft. And today, I've finally got round to sharing with you, what it was!

These are Kusudama flowers and they're so easy to make, I wanted to share them with you.

I originally found the tutorial for how to make them here, but I found the wiggly finger bit (If you watch the video, you'll know what I'm talking about) really hard to follow in just picture form, so made this video for you to enjoy.

Sorry you can see the folds on my square when I start! It was a lot easier to have the paper pre-folded and it meant the video didn't go on for too long either.
Also hope you like the song too! I always end up "beeping" along with the electronic bits.

I'm working on making some little stems for them so I can pop them in a vase and have a little arrangement on my desk, or something.

So do you think you'll be trying them? I promise, they're dead easy and if I can manage it with my clumsy sausage fingers, anyone can!

Colour me over the moon.

2010-08-06T20:18:00.003+01:00

Last month, I signed up for the Colour me happy swap, over on Nicole's blog and got paired with the lovely Hazel from Australia. You had to send a parcel of goodies, all in the other person's favourite colour, to them.

Me, indecisive as ever, couldn't decide whether I wanted pink or green, so I let Hazel choose and a few days ago, I receive my pink parcel of goodness!

Here are the unboxing photos:

Inside the lovely parcel of awesome was a notepad, some earrings, two rings (one filled with strawberry lipbalm!) and some bubbles. (She emailed me to say there was a pink packet of cupcake mix in there as well, but it would've cost $50 to send it here. So I don't blame her for taking it out!)

I actually gasped when I opened the ring, below. I was like...how can somebody I've never met, half way across the world, get me so totally right? I am in LOVE with this bad boy. I'm actually wearing it now as I type. It is amazing.

So Hazel, thank you so much for my parcel, everything is fantastic. I loved doing this exchange because it was nice to think that someone thousands of miles away, that I've never once met, was thinking about me and the things that I would like.

Just to finish this post, I'd like to leave you with something my uncle said. When he heard that I have penpals and do swaps like this, he said that if we are ever going to have world peace, it will start with us and these kind of actions.

It just really made me smile.
Bye bye lovelies!

Up, up and away!

2010-08-03T19:07:00.005+01:00

Last year, David's mum bought me one of these flying lanterns, and because I wanted to make it special when I set it off, I made it the last task on my 101 in 1001 list.

Aaaaand, last night, me and David finally got to set it off! I managed to snag a few photos of him lighting it out in the field and also a 30 second video of it taking off.

There's not a lot of footage of us setting the lantern off, because all of a sudden it just seemed to take off and I couldn't get my camera ready fast enough! Hope you like what little footage I did manage to snag, with one of my favouritest songs ever over the top.

No, I'm not telling you what I wished for. ^_~

Dear Darlings.

2010-07-30T16:26:00.003+01:00

What's this? Another post mentioning Melissa? People will talk! =P

So anyway, if you didn't already go and check out Melissa's blog, you really do need to now so that you can sign up for her Dear Darlings penpal project.

You get paired up with four other people that become your new penpals and basically...the rest is up to you. Get ready to start firing letters left right and centre! Aaaand...hello perfect use for my brand new stationery!

Oooh which one's yours?!

Here are my first batch of letters to the four lovely ladies in my group. I'll be dropping them in at the post office tomorrow and they should be winging their way to you shortly after that. Let me know when they get to you, okay?

Ohhh and also, I'm busy using the 80's map book above, for a ridiculously girly craft at the moment. So be sure to check back soon! (That sounded really...SUPER DUPER NEATO!! Umm...so uhh...yeah, come back if you want to. Or not. Whatever)

Excuse my french, but...

2010-07-28T17:50:00.018+01:00

...I bloody love roundups. They're like a quick peek at what's been happening in that certain blogger's life. You can get all the information you need, in short sharp bursts and can nosey at some pictures along the way too.
So uh...guess what today's post is? That is correct! 10 points for you. You go Glen Coco! (Don't mind me and my Mean Girls referencing. An extra 10 points to you, if you got it though)

First up, I did a guest post for the lovely Melissa over at Oh, My Darling, all about how much I love sloths! Go take a peek! (There's a bit in the video that always makes me chuckle when the sloth topples over)

Secondly, I just cannot stop looking at this picture (Is that weird?) that Teresa from Invasionista took. This woman is a make up artist from Paul Mitchell, and that's what she wore to work. I just love it.
She looks so relaxed in it and just all round cool.Whereas if I tried to wear that, I would look Hilarious, with a capital H, and look like a massive try hard. So, hats off you to, beautiful lady.

Thirdly, (With gorgeous stationery being a massive love of mine, along with statement rings) I bought some beeeeautiful Cath Kidston stationery. Actually at the price it was, I practically stole it, it was so cheap. £6.99 for 30 sheets and envelopes? Hello bargain! I actually got an extra sheet of one design in the box too! So the people I'm currently penpals with, you can look forward to these beauties winging their way to you very soon.

Fourthly, these images I snagged from Inspiration For Decoration, are probably THE best space saving ideas I've ever seen in my life. When me and David move in together, I'm secretly hoping we have a tiny flat just so we can have this set up.
They. Are. Perfect.

Fifthly, (Are these even words, now?) this song was used at the end of an episode of Futurama and I think it is the cutest little tune ever. Have a wee listen and try and tell me your heart doesn't melt when the kids start naming birdies. Chi-chi-chi-chickedy!

And sixthly...I'd like to leave you with the evidence of what happens when I get bored and Pringles tubes and pens are near-by. LOL.

Bye bye for now, sugarlumps!

The Queen's Knickers.

2010-07-22T17:17:00.011+01:00

One of my favourite books from my childhood was The Queen's Knickers by Nicholas Allan and the other day I found it on my bookshelf again. I remembered how much I loved it and I couldn't resist scanning a few of the pages for you.

It's such a peculiar little book, really. It's about exactly what you'd imagine it to be about: The Queen's Knickers! It's fantastic. When I was little, any mention of knickers or bums got me giggling. And the book still makes me smile. (And if I'm honest, so do the words knickers and bums) XD

You should definitely snag yourself a copy for the princely sum of £1.50! It's totally worth it. Look at these scans and tell me you don't agree.
So spill the heinz; what was your favourite childhood book? Did you have one that felt a little bit naughty to read? Or perhaps you had one that involved a member of the royal family's undergarments too?

Always eat your greens.

2010-07-19T20:53:00.014+01:00

Today's theme was "green" over at Poppy HQ, quite unintentionally, and I wanted to share with you my green crafts from today's adventures.

First was this pea pod necklace. I found the tutorial over at Just Something I Made, and it's been doing the rounds on various crafty blogs as well. I just love it! Mine doesn't look as neat and perfect as hers (because I'm a bit too heavy handed with a glue gun!) but I'm pretty pleased with it.
Now, enjoy the token pretending-to-use-said-prop, picture:

Second up were these peppermint creams I made for my Gran, Grandma and Beary's Dad. I literally couldn't believe how easy they were to make! Here's the recipe I used from 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and other tempting treats. (Click recipe for full size image)

They're so simple and sooooo tasty, I think they'd make great wedding favours, don't you?
Now, if only Beary would propose...^_~

Also, d'you like the new ring I'm sporting in the omnomnom picture above? I snaffled it from Primark today for a bargainacious £2! And you all know how I feel about massive rings, so I was pretty chuffed to find this little gem.

All of the above combined = a very happy Poppy today!

Yarr, there be treasure in them tharr interwebs!

2010-07-12T18:19:00.018+01:00

I think you all know how I feel about fantastic accessories by now, so I'd like to share with you some of the treasures I've found online lately. If any of you have any spare pennies, this is basically my birthday and/or Christmas wishlist, right here. ^_~

Swing necklace: Calourette
Inapprivoisée (Translated as Untamed) ring: Calourette
Wooden watch bracelet: Ooga Booga
N2 Macaroon necklace: Accessories Online
Bird ring: Calourette
Turquoise satchel: ASOS
Flower brooch: New Look
Floral rucksack: ASOS
Rabbit ring: Calourette
Love double ring: New Look
Crotte (Translated as Dung) brooch: Calourette

Yep. That's right. A dung brooch.

That's exactly my kinda humour right there. Wouldn't it just be awesome for someone to be like, oh my what an interesting brooch you have there! What is that?

A poo.
Haha. Awesome.

An owly revamp.

2010-07-08T16:19:00.023+01:00

A few weeks ago, I did a guest post for Accessories Online and it went live this morning! I'm sure you already know which accessory I chose to talk about, but here's the post if you wanna go give it a read. (You should go and comment loads so they will be like, oh Poppy's is the most popular guest post. Perhaps we should give her a job?) XD

In other news, do you like the new layout? Me and David were tinkering around with blogger and I found this template. I did a little switcharoo with a few bits and bobs and I really like it. What d'you reckon? And do you like the adjustments to the owl to make him more colour coordinated? Hehe yay for photoshop mash up skillz. =P

Oh and just as I was about to publish this post, I peeked at Accessories Online's Facebook page and look!

I don't know who you are Shibani Pushparajah and Marilyn Ralston, but thanks for liking my guest blog!

Runday Roundup.

2010-07-04T17:09:00.021+01:00

I do apologise for the title. Sunday was being very awkward and just wouldn't rhyme with the word roundup. So I made it. Here's just a small collection of stuff that been going down in Poppy Town. (Jeez, I didn't even want that to rhyme and it did!)

I've always wanted Chance to be my signature fragrance. You know, the scent that when people smell it will go, Oh that's what Poppy wears. But I just simply can't afford Chanel perfume. However, on the way back through Duty Free, coming home from one of his many business trips, my Daddio snagged me my very first bottle as a congratulations on passing my first year of uni. Yay for travelling Dad!

Look what I found! Are these not the best sounding juices ever? Move over orange and pineapple! They are so sickly sweet, but totally delicious and not to mention bargaintastic at 2 for £1!

I got bored last week so I crocheted this cover for my Smart Car. Ahem. I wish! Firstly, I wish I had a Smart Car and secondly, I wish I had the ability to crochet that well. Jesus, I've been trying to learn how to crochet and this is my attempt at a granny square:

I know, right?! That's meant to be a square. Feel free to LOL at your own free will. Anyway, I found the car of awesome here whilst cruising the interwebs the other night. Gotta give proper credits, children! ^_^

And to roundup this little roundup, because on Sundays I would occasionally do a Sunday Sounds post, here is a song from Lost In Translation that I forgot I loved so much. I dare you to listen to this and not feel so relaxed you may slip into a coma.

This comment on YouTube sums it up pretty perfectly:

"I've honestly never heard a more beautiful melody. It just weaves together so nicely, then leaves you hanging in the air at the end... and you float."

And on that whimsical and slightly dramatic note, happy floating and blogging, guys!

You know it's Summer when...

2010-06-28T12:36:00.005+01:00

Summer is very hit and miss in the UK and you can have a week of sunny weather and that be it until next year, so I generally need a sign that lets me know summer is officially here.

Never mind what the weather is doing, but when this advert for my favourite alcoholic beverage ever appears back on TV, I know we made it through another year.

Comrades, we made it. Summer. Is. HERE.

It's similar to when I say I know it's officially Christmas when I see the Coca Cola lorry appear on TV. (For the record, I'm not a massive fan of Coke, the advert just reminds me of being little)

So how do you declare that Summer has officially arrived? And UK peeps, is it just me that loves this advert long time?

P.S. Mint and Ice are bad ass; They're totally my favourites. Ice, just chillaxin' against a car, Mint just dropping in, Oh hey guys, what's the dillyoh? AWESOME.

Tag, you're it!

2010-06-19T22:42:00.013+01:00

The lovely Chloe tagged me in one of her posts the other week and I'm finally getting round to posting my response now, on account of me being lazy.

Her questions for me were:

How would you describe yourself in five words?
Nerd, clumsy, creative, noisy and I'd like to think I was pretty friendly.

What are your biggest aspirations?
I don't really have any career related aspirations at the mo, because I don't know what I want to do after uni, but someday I'd like to be living somewhere close to the sea and the city, married to Beary and with two kids scampering about. And possibly a guinea pig.

Who is your greatest role model?
I've always thought Bethany Hamilton is amazing, but I'd have to say my Daddio. He worked his way up from a general dog's body right at the bottom all the way up to being a technical director of the whole company and being in charge. And all that without going to uni! I'm not sure I know anyone else who works as hard as he does, either.

Where is your favourite place in the world?
Not wanting to brag, but I've been to so many places I actually can't pick one. So I'm going to say something dead soppy and I'm pretty sure if my brother reads this he'll be like "Is she pho realz?", but my favourite place in the world is snuggled in Beary's chest. I'm all cosy and safe and he always smells fantastic. ^_^

Who frequently appears on your music playlists?
Frank Turner, Death Cab For Cutie and Bon Iver at the moment.

What is your favourite food?
My mum's spice marinated lamb is the absolute business. You have it with naan bread and spicy rice and it's just heeeeaven.

Brains or brawn? ;)
Definitely brains. Brawn is nice to look at, but when you're 75, that's all faded and they couldn't hold a conversation in a bucket, you're not really left with a whole lot, are you?

What are you most afraid of?
It's a three-way tie between zombies, spiders and the dark. I was also TERRIFIED of drive through car washes when I was little and I'm still not happy when I drive past them. I can't explain why, but the dangly pom poms just look so damn creepy! (Finding that picture was traumatic, I tell ya, it really was!)

So I now have to tag 5 other people and they are Sara, Melissa, Stel, Sally Annie and Charlene. And your questions are:

1: What will always make you laugh without fail?

2: What does your last text message say and who was it from?
3: Do you collect anything?
4: What were you doing 3 hours ago?
5: What's the weirdest dream you've ever had?

Okeydoke, those are the details of your mission, now go forth and blog, people!

Also, while we're talking about asking questions, I got a formspring the other day, so if you wanna ask me anything else, you can do! I've currently not been asked anything, mainly because I didn't tell anyone I had an account, but also because I'm super boring, perhaps. =P

Racing for life, for the 7th time.

2010-06-14T13:17:00.005+01:00

Do you remember this post, peeps? Well yesterday was the big day! And believe it or not, I managed to do the whole 3 mile/5km race in my ball dress and heels.

The race marshals weren't so keen on me running in the heels, but I walked it instead. I know that doesn't sound like much of an achievement, but walking 3 miles in heels was just horrendous and I managed it! I don't know how the hell I thought I was going to run it...
Here's some before, during and after shots. I'll let you decide which ones are which. (There's only two blister pictures, so if you're squeamish, you may wanna scroll straight past them bad boys)

In total, I had 7 blisters! My uncle said he would sponsor me £10 a blister so I made £70 off them. I knew blisters had a good purpose! I couldn't walk all yesterday after the race. Actually couldn't walk. I was crawling everywhere, it was AGONY.

All in all, I managed to raise a massive £290 for Cancer Research with £95 online here and £195 offline. So I want to thank everyone for the sponsors, all the support and the kind words of encouragement, even though I'm pretty sure you all thought I was mad. You guys are the best. ^_^

Worse things happen at sea.

2010-06-09T21:27:00.024+01:00

Do you remember a few posts back, me raving about this bad boy? Well it briefly came back into stock and I managed to snaffle one of the popular little fellas up before they went out of stock, just two hours later!

So it arrived and I loved it. But my middle finger did not. You'd think with it being a triple ring, each ring would be slightly bigger than the last seeing as your fingers get bigger towards your middle finger, right? But they were all the same size. And so didn't fit my sausage fingers.

GUTTED.

Also...to add insult to injury, the eagle dropped off the ring when I took it off. Literally just fell off. DOUBLE GUTTED.
I glued it to another ring I had, (That's how I managed to get the picture of it on my hand!) but the eagle is too heavy for a single ring, so I took it off that ring too. But because I love that giant bad ass eagle, I decided not to get a refund and instead I'm going to drill a hole through it and make it into a pendant.

I love ASOS, but they really dropped the ball big style with the fragility of this ring. And I'm disappointed that nobody in the design department thought about finger sizes.

But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter and it's really not the end of the world. So here's an outfit post featuring a moustache. What's not to love there?

Crop top: New Look
Black vest: Primark
Skirt: New Look
Bangles: H&M
Earrings: H&M
Birds on branch ring: ASOS

So have any of you been bitterly disappointed over something you wanted so badly? Or been in a similar situation? Or just love my moustache top, long time? (I don't blame you =P) Spill the beans! Or spill the Heinz, as I like to say!

Texas pie.

2010-06-01T23:08:00.011+01:00

There's been a little radio silence for the last week because I finished my first year of uni and had to move out of my student accommodation and it was a mammoth task.
I knew there was a hefty amount to pack (I acquired a ridiculous amount of crap over this year) but I thought it would take me a day. Tops.

So on Wednesday night after my end of year assessment, me and Amy-pie decided we would go out to celebrate end of first year and to say goodbye because she's moving to Texas to do her second year abroad. Booo...

Good lord. I am just...beautiful.

So we went out, drunk a lot, (Can you tell?) danced a lot and then crashed at mine. I was like, great I will pack all day Thursday and then my dad will come get me, first thing on Friday morning.

Wake up on Thursday: Oh god I think I may be dying.

And because of an art history lecture and a thing at work after that, I didn't get back to the flat until after 9pm and didn't start packing until then.
Packing well into the wee small hours of the morning, nearly seeing the sunrise, with a steaming hangover when you should be in bed sleeping it off? Not cool.

Anywhoozle, I'm alive, a giant idiot, back to blogging and back at home now for the summer. Feels niiiiice.

I'm all excited for summer now, are you peeps? ^_^

[Oh and P.S. To those who said they would go and see The Wrestler on the strength of my last post, I really hope you like it! Let me know, yeah?]

Then you've seen me.

2010-05-25T17:56:00.014+01:00

It will take 151 seconds of your time to watch the trailer for The Wrestler, below. I literally cannot urge you to watch it enough. Even if you don't read one word I've written, just watch this:

I briefly mentioned Mickey Rourke's simply amazing performance in The Wrestler, at the end of a previous post, but I decided that this film needed its own post. So here we are.

The younger of my two older brothers, David, is really into WWE and loves all things wrestling. So when he recommended I watch this film, I assumed it would be just be about wrestling and that be that.
But I gave it a go. And I am so glad I did. It's about his fall from grace and him trying to climb back to the top, plus a heartbreaking look at the relationship with his estranged daughter. Rourke, like I said, is fantastic and the film is just beautiful.
I don't want to go on about it too much, but I could literally rave about it all day, it's that good.

AND, because it's such an amazing film, we can just ignore his manky old finger nails. This one time.

Pleeeease go and watch it. I'm really hard to please, movie-wise but this has been classed as one of my favourites for a while now. And I can't stop listening to the song by Bruce Springsteen, either. I think it's just called The Wrestler. Either way, gorgeous song.

So what d'you reckon? Will you go see it? Have you seen it? Spill the beans!

Finger candy.

2010-05-22T16:32:00.011+01:00

Thank you so much for the lovely comments regarding my work in the last post. I really felt it wasn't my best but you just made me feel like it was actually good and that I should be proud of it and myself. So thank you, lovely people. Hug? Yeah, go on then. *HUG*

Okay, down to business. On Friday I was featured on The Clothes Horse blog in Jessica's Flashback Friday series. So hello to any new readers that moseyed over this way!
And because it's a fashion website, I felt an outfit post may be appropriate for today's post. So this is my really rather nautical outfit that I wore to my exhibition. (Click for bigger picture)

Are ya' ready kids? Aye aye cap'n!

Top: Dorothy Perkins
Skirt: Primark
Shoes: Primark
Bag: Primark
Hair clip: H&M
Flower ring: Dorothy Perkins
Bird ring: ASOS

The birds on a branch ring is my absolute favourite at the moment. I'm loving massive rings lately and was stalking the almighty tripled-fingered bad boy below, for a wee while.
So I finally decided I was going to buy it...

...No large size left. And now it's sold out.

I don't think you can ever understand how gutted I was. Stupid sausage fingers...

This post may contain nuts. (And many words)

2010-05-20T17:47:00.013+01:00

So yesterday was our end of first year exhibition at uni, titled May contain Nuts. While I think it was a success, it felt like a massive anti climax after all our months of development studies and work into the final pieces, just to go along for 3 hours and that be it over.

I dunno, I'm glad it's over and out of the way, but I wasn't as blown away with it as some of the other people were on my course. Probably because me and 4 other people curated and installed the whole exhibition ourselves so we already knew what it was going to look like.

Anywhoozle, this was my piece. (Click for bigger pictures) It's a collection of 24 old photographs with captions written on rubbish found in my bin. The captions were made up stories about their lives and assumptions on what these people became.

I collect old photographs of people I don't know because I feel it's sad that these aren't important to anyone any more. I chose to write these captions on rubbish, because the photos being thrown away is as if their lives aren't even worth the paper their memories are printed on, so rubbish seemed a fitting medium.

There was a reason I chose some of the rubbish for that particular caption, but not for all of them. Some were random, some not.

For example, three of the ones I thought carefully about were: The gardening to get away from his wife on a tampon box, porn star caption on a contraception tablet pack and the LSD death caption on a toothpaste tube as it's a very domesticated and normal item, but associated with something very out of the ordinary, in this context.

The quote that Carla commented in a previous post, was perfect for the piece.

"And if these pictures have anything important to
say to future generations, it's this: I was here. I existed.
I was young, I was happy, and someone cared enough
about me in this world to take my picture."
- One Hour Photo

All my work this year has been quite safe, I feel. I was happy with this piece, but it was lacking a bit of sparkle that my work seemed to have last year.
I'm looking forward to next year and really being ambitious with my work, because I think I struggled through first year, which is not something I'm used to doing.

Anyway, assessment on Wednesday, wish me luck. I fear I may need it. =/

Truth is...I am Iron Man.

2010-05-15T15:48:00.012+01:00

I'd been bursting to see it ever since I heard it was going to be released, and on Tuesday, Me and Bear went to see Iron Man 2.
Oh. Lawdy. It was awesome. Not as good as the first one, but awesome in its own way. It was just...cool, you know?

Robert Downey Jr. was excellent (And a little bit hot?) doing his arrogant, rich, hot-guy routine, Scarlett Johansson, being Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff/Natalie Rushman was SMOKING (Don't even get me started on that beast) and Samuel L. Jackson, aka the coolest man in the world, was Nick Fury. With an eye patch. And he actually said the line: "I've got my eye on you". AWESOME.

The only thing that wasn't so awesome? Mickey Rourke's finger nails. Oh. My. God. What is up with them?! They're all massive, off coloured and puffy.
When he played Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler, I saw a couple of shots of them and I was like...wtf? Did I see that right? But in Iron Man 2, you got endless close-ups of his hands as he worked on his version of the suit, and I couldn't get away from them! Man, it was off-putting.

They don't look THAT bad in these pictures,
but by god they are.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mickey Rourke. And he was fantastic as Ivan Vanco (And purely amazing as Randy in The Wrestler, for that matter) but dude. Sort them fingers out. Has anyone else noticed his creepy old nails or is it just me?

I'm sorry, you're doing what?

2010-05-09T12:38:00.009+01:00

If you follow me on Twitter, you have me on Facebook, or you know me IRL, (Or if you're able to say yes to all three, you lucky little sausage!) you'll probably be sick of me pimping myself out, but brace yourselves, I'm about to do it again.

Because it'll be my 7th year of doing Race For Life, I'm doing something a bit different. And probably a bit crazy. I'm honestly wondering if the race marshals will allow it, haha!

So if you have any spare pennies rolling about in your pockets, and you would like to sponsor me, you can do so HERE. Please don't feel like I'm making you though. I really dislike those people who force you into it, so really, don't feel obliged to.
But if you do, ah lurrrves you. ^_^

[EDIT] My uncle just said that after seeing the shoes, he's going to give me £10 per blister after the event! Haha! [/EDIT]

Sneaky Pete.

2010-05-05T21:31:00.009+01:00

Right now, I currently have a ton of stuff I need to be doing in preparation for my end of year exhibition at uni, but I wanted to just quickly blog and show you lovely peeps something.

One of my hobbies is to collect old photos of people I don't know. It's just fascinating to me how these photos are no longer important to anybody any more and it makes me feel a little sad.
So I decided to make my exhibition piece be about these photos because I wanted to incorporate something into it that I actually cared for and could spend time with.

But when I was rifling through some of the newest additions to my collection, I came across this photo:

Seems alright at first. I was like, oh it's a woman on a chair.
HOLD UP. There's totally a camouflaged man behind her. I cannot begin to tell you how much this actually blew my mind. And it's definitely not a double exposure because he would overlap onto her more if it was.
Did you not notice him either? Or am I just blind now?

Short post I said. Jeez, rambler extroardinaire.
Promise to fill you in on my work a little more in the next few days!

(Oh and thank you for all the comments on the guinea pig debate. Still undecided, but will let you know if any more comes of it)

This is the most important question you will ever be asked.

2010-04-27T20:01:00.002+01:00

Sorry about the 9 day hiatus; I've been a poorly bear and just hadn't the energy to do anything.
And now that I'm back, I have something of immense importance to ask you: When I move out of student accommodation in summer and into a house in September...

Should I get a guinea pig? Haha! XD Our landlord says we're only allowed caged pets, so I'm thinking a little guinea pig would be a really rather awesome idea.
Before I give you both sides of the argument, here are some photos of my previous guinea pigs just to influence your decision. (I did have two albino ones before Chihiro and Sen, but I don't have photos of them on my laptop) Boooo.

I literally cannot get enough of their teeny little lips!

While they do have teeny tiny lips that are just too adorable for words and make that lovely little purr when you hold them, every other weekend I will get the train to visit Bear for a few days. Although, I am going to be living with 6 other people come September, so I could ask one of those to feed it while I was away?

Also, I'd have to pay for food, hay, sawdust and vets bills should it get ill and uhh...I don't know if you've ever seen a student's bank account but um...let's just say I see more red there than I do at Christmas.

What d'you reckon, peeps? It's not just a spur of the moment thing, I really do fancy another guinea pig, but situations are different now I'm at uni, so I just don't know.

While you're thinking, enjoy this photo of Sen when she had a poorly foot. If that teeny bandage is not the cutest thing you've ever seen, then I think there's something wrong wi' chu.

The whole kit and Kaboodle

2010-04-18T22:46:00.005+01:00

I've been a member of a website called Kaboodle for 4 years now and I absolutely love it! It's essentially a bookmarking website for all your neat shopping finds, but a bit more community based.
I have a little button in Firefox where if I see something I like on a website, I click this button, add it to my list on Kaboodle, and BAM it's saved. It's pretty cool because you can see what people have just added to their lists and you all end up sharing your cool finds. Any one else a member on there?

So anyway, I was featured in their Hot Picks list the other day! (You might have to go to the next page to see it, as they update it daily) The Snail tape dispenser I saved to one of my lists, they thought was pretty cool beans too and featured it. It's not a big deal, but I was pretty chuffed. So I decided to share some of my favourite finds. Hope you like!

Charging Station from Kikkerland

Daddy Cool scrubber from Pop Deluxe

Natalie Encarnita lapel dress from ASOS

Soft leather heeled hiker boots from ASOS

Mini gumball dispenser favours from Candles and Such

You can see the rest of my lists on my profile here and if you have a profile too, add me and we can share all our cool beans shopping finds!

Portable pillows.

2010-04-11T12:02:00.014+01:00

So this is the ASOS dress that I was waiting for in my last post. My brother says they are 'power shoulders' and David says it looks like I belong on Star Trek. Either way, I friggin' love this dress.

I wanted to be a bit different with my tights, so layered blue tights underneath black lacy tights to give this two tone effect.

Hey there giant deformo hand and squidgey hip.

Dress: ASOS
Blue tights: Peacocks
Lace tights: New Look
Earrings: Dorothy Perkins
Eyeliner: Collection 2000 in Night Fever

Hey there David's head.

I absolutely love this eyeliner. Normally, sparkly products need loads of applications to actually get a solid colour, but this went straight on and looked grand. AND it was only £3!

So I think I'm going to wear this outfit for the party instead of the other three. Although I did really appreciate all your comments on your favourite and how to tone the black dress down to make it more casual, so thank you.
Just gonna slip on some black flats and pop on blue nail polish to match my earrings and I reckon I'm good to go!

Wait, wait, wait...smart AND casual?

2010-04-07T19:55:00.009+01:00

It's my cousin's 18th birthday next weekend, and it's a bit of a clothesy minefield, on account of the dress code being smart casual. I always have a problem with this party label, because I can do lashed-up-to-the-eyeballs smart and I can do chillin'-out-maxin'-relaxin'-all-cool casual, (That's right, I just Fresh Prince'd you. That's just how I roll) but I find it hard finding a happy mix of the two.

So I wabbed these three outfits on and just wondered what you interweb peeps think? (Click for bigger picture)

Dress: Boohoo
Shoes: Peacocks

While I absolutely love this dress from Boohoo, and also love the fact that it was bargain-tastic, (Seriously, everything on there is stupidly good value) I feel that it's too fancy pants for a family party, as I wear it to go clubbing some times.

Eeey, I do love a floral top or two...

Left top: H&M

Right top: New Look
Tube skirt: New Look
Shoes: Peacocks
Studded belt: New Look
Earrings: H&M

I'm leaning more towards the left outfit, however I do have another option that is currently being sent to me from the lovely peeps over at ASOS.
I'll let you know when that dress arrives and I take some picturoons, but in the meantime, which one d'you reckon?

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away...

2010-04-02T18:28:00.013+01:00

So I actually don't think it's over the top head pieces that I love, after all. I loved the head pieces in that post, purely for the fact that they had a certain "wingy" quality to them. After finding these two pairs of equally fantastic, but equally stupid expensive, shoes last night, I realised that it's just winged accessories that I love, not specifically head wear!

Jeremy Scott Adidas Originals
Limited Edition white winged high-tops
£195

Vivienne Westwood
Rocking Horse rubber platform wedges
£120

I surprised even myself when I found myself liking the trainers. They're just so BLAH in your face, but by god alive, I really want them. (I am currently on Skype to bear and he said: "£195?! I could make those for 20 quid!")

In other news, I completed another thing on my 101in1001 list yesterday, making a grand totally of 37 completed. Yay me.

"#092: Do a 'Carve Your Own Postcard' and send it to David"

Oh my god it took hours. Actual hours. You see the bear print? An hour and a half, right there. And I stabbed my hand with the corkscrew so many times, it wasn't even funny. But hey ho.

(Also, I know a few of you have subscribed to my list and are wondering why I never update it. I actually do update it every time I complete something, but I just edit that one post, rather than write a whole new one. That's why it doesn't show up in your feeds)
Just so you know!

Bread: SRS BZNS

2010-03-30T13:23:00.004+01:00

At uni, I don't have a TV and have to rely on online catch ups for my programmes, so I miss out on all the adverts kicking around lately. First advert I see when I get home for the Easter break is this bad boy:

In Britain, we take our bread eating incredibly seriously.
I love it! And the music reminds me of Band of Brothers. It's probably supposed to though, given what the advert is meant to be simulating.

If you never watched Band of Brothers when it was on, I highly recommend you do. It was an amazing programme with beautiful music. And plus...Damian Lewis was in it.
Basically, I was sold from the word go.

Eating, posing and giving.

2010-03-30T12:30:00.014+01:00

Me and my best friend Lizzy decided that we'd meet up in town, seeing as we're both home from uni at the same time for once, and go get lunch and some drinks.

We decided that we should have a picnic, and so moseyed to M&S, and got whatever the hell we fancied. Here's what I fancied:

Melon fingers, fruit water, a pink doughnut a freeze pop and a teeny wedge of brie. How cute is that piece of cheese, though?! (That Slush Puppy was part of Lizzy's feast)

I haven't done an outfit post in a while and I really liked my outfit this day so I wanted to share it with you. Do excuse the horrible quality of the photos but I left it until late on at night to photograph my outfit and I have an aversion to flash. (It looked a lot better in person)

Why yes, I have had my hair cut again.

Purple cardigan: H&M
Floral top: H&M
Black skirt: Primark
Brown tights: Superdrug
Studded boots: Primark
Arabic necklace: Jewellers in Abu Dhabi
Dogeared wishbone necklace: Accessories Online
Flowery Necklace: H&M
Flower ring: Dorothy Perkins

Also, if you have any spare pennies kicking about, Lizzy is running the Leeds Half Marathon in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support that we both have a strong connection with, and you can sponsor her here, if you'd like to? Even £1/$1 (I'm aware of my American readers! =P) would make a difference.
I know that it's probably quite cheeky for me to ask, but if you do have any spare money, she'd be so grateful and plus, it's an amazing charity that does so much great work.

Anywhoozle, thanks for reading and if you do donate, thank you for that too (Don't feel you have to, and I do hope you don't think I'm pressuring you into it) and now onto my last post!

Three, two, one...let's jam!

2010-03-30T11:20:00.008+01:00

Yeah yeah yeah, 14 days, shut up iGoogle counter. I'll make up for it, by slamming you with three posts today, so brace yourselves, interwebs folk.

Firstly, I completely forgot, that a wee while ago I got two blog awards, one from Holly and one from Charmalade, that I managed to forget to blog about, on account of me having a memory like a sieve.

You're meant to then pass the award onto some other peeps, so I'm going to give awards to:

Melissa @ Oh, My Darling because I love her music finds.
Abi @ Beyond Vanity because of the cupcake love.
Madi @ Let It Be Madi because I like her photography.
Kathryn @ This Is My Blog because I love her art work. (And because she's my buddy)

Take whichever one you fancy, I don't really mind.
Anywhoozle, onto my next post!

Hair and foot candy.

2010-03-16T20:19:00.009Z

I generally wear some type of hair band everyday (it's a rare occasion when I don't) and am all about the hair candy but lately, I've been full on lusting after ridiculous over the top headwear, mainly these two bad-boys:

Fergie's head piece is essentially just extensions braided and then wrapped into headphones, but still, I do approve. (David calls them straw head-muffs) I don't know what it is about the "winged" look, but I do love it so. And Satine's one is so fancy pants, I can't help but love it! I could wear it clubbing, right? ...right?

And while we're on the subject of prettiness, feast your eyes upon this bona fide foot candy. I would totally wear a pair of these fellas:

These boots peeped out at London fashion week from JW Anderson. Oh. My. God. They are infact men's boots, but I think I could appreciate their beauty upon my feet more than any dude could.

Do tell interwebs folk: Do you like the above creations or is this a classic case of "Bitch be crazy!"? And there be a fair few cases of that with me...

Sunday sounds and nostalgia.

2010-03-07T13:43:00.013Z

Today's Sunday sounds come courtesy of my good friend Kathryn, who I met at CCAD. I found these videos of her and her friend Luke, on her blog and couldn't not share them with you.
Their band is fantastically named Dead People Masturbate and I can't help but think how much they sound like Kimya Dawson. LOVE.

Kathryn's little giggle fit at the end of the second video makes me realise just how much I miss her! We had some wicked awesome times at CCAD and I hope she's having just as good times in Kingston, now. (Although she'd blates be having a better time if I were there) =P

"It's like we're in a washing machine!"

Step away from TweetDeck, you douchebag...

2010-03-01T17:05:00.026Z

I was killing time before I went to work (I work for my uni in Student Recruitment as a Student Ambassador, and today I was needed for the super exciting job of packing prospectuses for posting!) and garden pea (New nickname courtesy of this post) decided to tweet this:

So I grumbled a little, seeing as I don't need reminding he lives far away from me and a 2 minute walk from the beach. And so I replied:

(The Cowboy Bebop box set being my belated anniversary and Valentines present) So I went to give him a sick burn of a reply, only to realise that my fingers are too fat to type any more and this message got sent before it was finished:

Realising that I had failed, the jig was up and I backed down:

But no! That wasn't enough for my douchebag brain and I sent that to myself. I mean really. Dear god.

And no, I don't know why tech deserved a capital...
Then as if I hadn't been enough of a retard today, I went ahead and did this little doozy and a half to my friend Carla:

If all my stupid hasn't rubbed off on you and you can all still remember how to navigate the interwebs, go check out Carla's fashion blog, messycarla.

Meanwhile, I'm going to go and play with something sufficiently un-techy.
Yes that ball of wool will suffice...
*FACEPALM*

Bit of a mash up pour vous.

2010-02-26T14:49:00.008Z

So there's nothing in particular that I'd like to speak to you lovely interwebs folk about, so instead I thought I'd share some lovely things I found in the last *Checks iGoogle counter* 11 days. (My bad, guys)

I originally found this video on A Cup Of Jo, but I loved it and wanted to post it. It's so moving and it makes me all goosebumpy.

The rest of these images were found whilst scouring Le Love one night when I couldn't sleep.

After all that loveliness, allow me to lower the tone for a second; Kanye West all of a sudden is looking fiiiiiiine. I know this isn't a new video, but me oh my 1:50 and 3:35. Yes please.

What?! It's my blog and I'll lower the tone wherever I damn well please! Boobies, pumps, willies, farts, bums, poop...

Separate vegetables are the way to my heart. ♥

2010-02-15T14:17:00.018Z

So I have two counters on my iGoogle homepage. And while I love when the top number is high, I'm not so happy when the bottom number is high as well. I've had a bit of a rough three weeks, but I lived through it, I'm better for it and I'm back to blogging. (And buying clothes? Well, it has been 26 days. That's an unholy amount of time. I'm sure I deserve a treat by now)

So yesterday was Valentine's Day as I'm sure you're all aware, but the 10th, was also mine and Bear's second anniversary. Seeing as I didn't see him during the week though, we just celebrated yesterday. (BOOYAH! Another one off me list) Instead of going out, we decided to stay in and eat M&S food (I always feel fancy pants and grown up eating M&S food!) and get dressed up. Yeah that last part was my idea. Obvies. Beary even put a tie on!

We don't scrub up half bad, do we? I've also got some food porn up ahead too. To start we had smoked salmon mousse parcels, then steak with peppercorn sauce, chips and vegetables and a luuuuussssh melt in the middle chocolate pudding. (Sorry about picture quality. I was too hungry and excitable to hold still for very long and get good shots)

Spot of improvisation, I wabbed my pashmina over the table as a table cloth, for a bit of mystique. Heh. I also took a picture of the vegetables. The photo just sums up our relationship, really. David knows I don't like much veg apart from broccoli. So he got tiny little individual bags of peas for him and broccoli for me. He's so cute. ^_^

Today's forecast: Painfully deafening with a smidge of embarrassment.

2010-01-25T17:15:00.016Z

In July 2008, me and Bear went to see Death Cab For Cutie in Manchester. I was stupidly excited because they're my favourite band and I had only wanted to see them live since...forever. I screamed at every song and got goosebumps when ever my favourites came up, including I Will Follow You Into The Dark. When the lovely Ben started playing the opening to it, I was like: OHEMGEEZ, bear pass me your camera!
So I started to film it.
And to sing.
And sing some more.
Very. VERY. Loudly.

Tone deaf, much? XP

Lately I've really needed cheering up, and remembering I had this video and watching it again, has really done the trick. It brings back memories of good times with me and bear and reminds me that sometimes, you've just got to sing like nobody else in the world is listening.
Life's too bloody short.
Take care, peeps. x

[EDIT] While I was waiting for my video to process over at Vimeo, I scrolled down only to see these adverts under my video. I actually burst out laughing. Many, many lulz. XD [/EDIT]

Targeted advertising, FTW.

Holy fu-

2010-01-18T17:24:00.007Z

Personally, I don't like posting twice in one day but this angered me and I had to share it.

Lately, I've been really wanting to watch Cowboy Bebop. It's my all time favourite anime series. It's just fantastic and has an awesome mix of jazz for the majority of the soundtrack.
And it's the only anime I'm happy to watch with an English dub. I generally prefer to watch them in the language they were intended to be watched in, but this one is so well done and if you watch it with subtitles instead of the dub, you lose a lot of the humour it's become famous for.
And also, if I'm totally honest, I have a bit of a nerd crush on Spike. I know, I know, he's not real...but he's so damn cool.

That's actually a (really cheesy) trailer for the movie that was just like an extended episode. I couldn't get a good clip of my favourite episode, but I thought this was a good representation of the show, really.

Anyway, I don't actually own the series on DVD, (It's #94 on my list) so I was cruising YouTube looking for some episodes on there, only to find some disgusting news. They're only gonna be making a live action movie of it. AND. Get this: Keanu-chuffing-Reeves is going to be Spike.
Not a happy bunny.

I'm not one to judge before I see something...but I'd put good money on this being horrendously shit. That's a photoshopped image but can you imagine?! Ugh. He looks way too nerdy and not nearly ask cool as my dear sweet Spike...

Antoni & Alison & Crocodile & Moustache

2010-01-18T16:11:00.009Z

How ridiculously cute are these jumpers from Antoni & Alison? I really wish they weren't £190 each, otherwise all three would totally be in my life right now...

The middle jumper has a bit of a French vibe to it, so I put on this top today in its honour. It says Croc Monsieur on! ^_^

Hairband: Dorothy Perkins
Earrings: H&M
Blazer: New Look
Top: New Look
Skirt: Primark
Brogues: (That you can't see) ASOS

Just a small town girl...

2010-01-13T18:26:00.006Z

So I watched Glee today and although some people have been billing it as a "grown up High School Musical", which should have put me off all together, I thought it was great. I've been needing a new programme to watch while FlashForward isn't on for a little while over here and I think I may have found it. Any other Glee fans?

Monday was the first time everyone was back in Sunderland after Christmas, and with Monday being our student night up here, basically everybody was out. And it was awesome. I'm not going to go on about it because I'm sure you must think that all I do is go out, but I will show you these pictures of me and my friend Martin:

This one is now my new favourite picture. It's kind of a "had to be there" story as to why I'm laughing so hard at that face but it basically captures our friendship in one photo. I love it.

Do you remember in the last post when I said that the shit goes off whenever Bulletproof comes on in a club? This is visual proof. We are so damn cool. XD

This time baby, I'll be bulletproof

2010-01-10T12:49:00.007Z

Today's song for Sunday Sounds is Bulletproof by La Roux. I love it. I don't know what it is about this song, but whenever it comes on in a club when I'm out, the shit. goes. off.

In other news, I finally got round to putting my 101 in 1001 list up. I gave it it's own blog, so the post wouldn't get lost on this one. *Points to the sidebar*
Anyway, enjoy La Roux while I go do some art. Back in uni on Tuesday and my sketchbook is looking horrendously sparse. =/

Much love for cupcakes. And bears.

2010-01-06T23:54:00.018Z

Hello internets, welcome to 2010! (I'm fully aware that we are now 6 days into it) Did you have a good New Year? Mine was full of friends, family, booze, pubs and bars. To sum up! Here're just two pictures from a fantabulous night:

In other news, I found this nifty little project started by Anna from Much Love, where you have to take a picture of something with a heart on it, write something that you love, and she'll compile them all and post them as a big love collage! So here's my submission: My lavender flavour heart shaped cupcakes. (Which were, incidentally, a little bit gorgeous and I nearly nommed them all)

The obvious choice would be to write that I love bear, and I do. With all my heart. He's really rather lovely. But I also really love crafts and generally being creative. When I produce something, whether it be art, something for my room, a present for bear, whatever, it's so rewarding to me. It's like: I made that. ^_^

Christmas cool beans

2009-12-29T13:07:00.019Z

Hello internet! *Waves* Have you all had a fantastical Christmas? Mine was full of all kinds of awesome. And here's one of the reasons why:

For a while now, I've absolutely LOVED Kate Wilson's drawings and my lovely boyfriend only contacted her and got a custom drawing done for me! You should've seen my face when I opened it. And the noise I made could only be heard by dogs. He also got me this print and this print to go with it. Two of my favs. ^_^

Because David has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I call him my sleepy bear. So here he is, being all sleepy and beary, complete with the teeny bird next to him. It's so cute, I can't stop looking at it! Thank you bear and thank you Kate!

So apart from awesome presents off bear, my parents bought me some purple leather gloves, a printer (So I can stop hassling the girl that lives above me to do us a quick favour and print these million pictures) and a gold Dogeared wishbone necklace. I've wanted one for ages and not been able to afford one, so I was pretty happy. Here I am on Christmas Day, with my mum, sporting said necklace.

I also got a Clocky Alarm Clock off David's parents. It jumps off the table and rolls away so you have to get out of bed and find it to make it shut up. It is so loud, I can't even begin to explain the volume. No more missing uni for me, then. I think they know me too well. (Skip to 0:25 to hear the info and watch it in action)

In other news, my oldest brother Graeme proposed to his girlfriend Adele, on Christmas Eve! Here they are. Everyone's pretty chuffed and mum's all excited about buying a ridiculously large hat for the occasion. Congratulations!

So how were all your Christmases? And what're you all doing for New Years Eve?

Sunday sounds and Saturday sex! =O

2009-12-20T17:55:00.012Z

Ahoyhoy interwebz travellers. Because I love moseying over to other people's blogs and listening to their favourite songs at the moment, (Mainly Melissa's because the amount of time she's posted a song by a band I love has been uncanny) I've decided to do a Sunday Sounds section, where on Sundays, I'll post a song I'm currently loving long time, for you to enjoy.
So here is this Sunday's tune, Title and Registration by Death Cab For Cutie:

Putting aside the fact that Death Cab are one of my favourite bands EVER, look at Ben Gibbard's lovely little face when he sings. It always makes me smile.

In other news, bear pointed me in the direction of newlywedsontjob, on Twitter. If you're on Twitter as well, follow this account! It's hilarious! A couple got married and made their best man promise not to play any pranks on them on the big day. He was loyal to his word and didn't trick them once at the wedding.
However, when they were away on honeymoon, he rigged their bed so that whenever they *wink wink nudge nudge* how's ya father, it tweets when they start and when they finish!
Here's last night's tweet:

"They’re off the job! #6 – Action concluded at 21.31GMT. Duration: 58m.21 s. Frenzy Index: 8 (scary). Judge’s Comment: "Sat Night Fever!""

I was howling when I read it! Seriously, get on over there and follow this account like the other 20,884 of us! XD

Birthdays and biznizz

2009-12-05T17:13:00.011Z

So I'm now 20 years old. It would appear I'm no longer a teenager anymore. Just waiting for my skin to realise and stop being spotty "teenage skin". You hear that, skin?! *Shakes fist*

I'm not going to go on too much about my birthday week, but it was pretty damn, epic.
Basically I partied all week, danced until my feet were mutilated, dressed ridiculously summery considering it was November and nearly died of over exposure on a night, ate so much cake I thought I'd explode and drank until I went blind. Well...I didn't go blind. But you know.

Seeing as I was having such a primo time, I managed to forget to take any photos during the week. I did get some on my actual birthday when we had a flat party, then went into town. But even those weren't taken by me! Anyway, if you wanna have a mosey at them, they're on my Facebook. *Points below right*

Here's one messycarla took of me when I bumped into her in the toilet of Blu Bambu, one of the clubs here in Sunderland. I started rambling some nonsense apparently, and then she snapped this delightful photo of us. That face is basically the face that sums up the entire week. AWESOME.

In other news, I've been having a conflict of feelings over one of my favourite songs being rehashed by some...fella.

So Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap, has been a favourite of mine for years. I can't embed it like the others, on account of that function being disabled for this video, but here's the link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32uLBL9o-Pc

Now here's Jason Derulo's version:

The thing is, it's a grower! And I really didn't want it to be. The more I listen to it and the more it's played in clubs on nights out, I'm getting to like it. =/

And just to throw another one into the mix, here's a remix of it. Which I do really like.

I dunno, it seems to have a really awesome edge to it. I didn't ever imagine it could be a remix, but hell, it works.

What's your favourite? What do you reckon? Or should I say: Mmmm whatcha sayyy?

Viruses, fusion food, cobblers and testicles.

2009-11-24T20:17:00.001Z

WARNING: Word heavy post up ahead, yo.

It was all a bit touch and go this week, with Bertha. (Oh I'll get this outta the way now, before I start naming stuff and you're all like...who the hell are all these people?: Bertha is my laptop, Percy my mp3 player, Steve my camera and Flaps my DS Lite. We good?)

David came down to stay for a few days with me which was lovely as always. It had been a long day so he decided to have a nap for a few hours. Being in a rare mood where I wanted to do work, I decided I'd do the work from the HUGE pile of books I lugged home from uni. That'll keep me occupied for a few hours at least, I thought.
Half an hour. I beasted through it all in 30 minutes. So I decided I wanted to catch up on America's Next Top Model and set about looking for a site that would let me watch it.

This is the part of the story that makes me quite angry at myself. I'm generally ultra careful when I'm beetling about online, but I managed to go to a site that was not as sound as it looked and it gave me a whammy and a half of a virus that eventually meant that Bertha wouldn't even boot up.
I set about in Safe mode trying to save all my photos on my flat mate's Safestick but we didn't have an external hard drive for my massive music collection to fit on. I accepted the loss and prepared myself for if it all had to be wiped.

But then! Bear woke up and did some fantastical computer trickery and a squillion million virus scans and she seemed fixed. Awesome. I went to make us dinner. Not too long later, he wanders into the kitchen with "some bad news, Poppy". She wasn't fixed and now she's doubley broken.
To cut down this epic story a bit, David declared we needed a Windows XP CD which I did not bring with me to uni. I rang everyone. Actually everyone until we finally got one from Lee, the Malaysian guy who lives upstairs, but it didn't work. However, Simon had gone home for the weekend and promised to bring me one back.

We'd normally watch an episode of House, Castle or Dollhouse with dinner, but with a broken Bertha and no TV that idea was off. Eventually Simon returned and I did a repair install on her and everything was okay. But it took 2 days to get her sorted and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't cope well with an internet/laptop blackout.

Aaanywho epic (and probably epically boring to you) story is over! It's my birthday this coming Saturday and because I'm having a flat party and then going into town with them all on the night, my parents came up this weekend just gone, to take me and David out for my birthday meal. And to bring up presents. ^_^ We went to Asiana, the Fusion restaurant just up the hill from the flat. I can see it from my window and the view the restaurant boasts is basically the same view from my bedroom window. It was absolutely delicious. I really wanna go back again but I want to keep it as a special place you go for treats.

Just to break up this absolute slab of writing, here's a picture of me and David in my room about to go to Asiana. (My face looks the way it does because my Dad had just said something to make me laugh. You know like when you say cheese? Well my Dad said cobbler. Or testicle. I really can't remember which. It was one of the two. Needless to say, it wasn't cheese, so it caught me off guard)

I know it's not an outfit post, but here's the deets for those that are bothered:

Top: Primark
Skirt: Primark
Tights: Superdrug
Earrings: H&M
Bracelet: New Look
Ring: Dorothy Perkins
Shoes: Boutique in Montmartre, Paris

Tageroony.

2009-11-24T15:06:00.012Z

I was tagged by Cristina in a post. So here are my answers! Not tagging anybody, just snag it if you want to do it. Nice idea I think; making you look at the niceness rather than focus on the bad...ness? Ha. I swear I make more words up by the day.

Rules: List three things you’re good at, three things you like about your life, three things you like about your personality and three things you like about your looks. Then challenge five people to do the same.

Three things I'm good at:
1: Being creative. Crafts, art etc.
2: Planning surprises.
3: Eating cake.

Three things I like about my life:
1: I've been lucky enough to find the male version of me. =]
2: I've been smart enough to learn from my mistakes that have made me a better person.
3: I am a giant nerd.

Three things I like about my personality:
1: I'm easygoing.
2: My sense of humour. (Though I realise that not everybody loves this)
3: I'm a 70 year old woman trapped in a 19 year old's body.

Three things I like about my looks:
1: I have a really skinny waist.
2: My height. 5ft8 seems like a decent height. Tall, but not giraffe like.
3: My glasses! You would not believe what conversation starters they are. I love 'em.

Masking tape is an artist's best friend.

2009-11-17T18:48:00.010Z

So I totally had something way more important (and interesting) to post until I wandered into my studio at uni, only to find this little beauty on the floor and realised that I must share it with you immediately.

A scrunched up piece of masking tape that just happened to have paint blobs on it in the right places to make it look like a little cat with teeny tiny paws! (You see it too, right?) When I rather excitedly asked the girl who works near me, "Can you see the cat?!" she replied "No but I see a dog from this angle".

And low and behold, from upside down it looks like a dog with its tongue out! ^_^

Yeah maybe I should actually start doing some work. And you know...like, get a degree and stuff.

Schoolgirl sailor chic, ahoy.

2009-11-11T16:34:00.013Z

I follow a good hunk of blogs that do daily outfit posts and I thought, aye I'll pop a few on here too. Not because I think of myself as some fashion maverick, but because it makes me think about what I'm wearing and I like to make an effort every now and again.

Top: Dorothy Perkins

Skirt: Primark
Sneaks: Dorothy Perkins
Watch: Ted Baker
Bangles: Accessorize
Earrings: ASOS

I didn't have a lot of time to get dressed this morning because I spent forever trying to decide whether my soya milk had gone off or not, (Seriously...how the hell can you tell with that stuff? It's already yellow!) so this was the outfit that got put together.

Didn't mean for me to look like a sailor/schoolgirl, but hey ho, that's what came out.
And I do appologise for the quality of the photos. On account of the epic soya milk saga, I had to wait until I got home from uni tonight to take the pictures, but by then it was dark. So I'll just have to make do with flash...

Anyway...I'm a hungry bear. So I'm kitchen bound. Tata for now!

I bet you didn't know Gene Simmons lived in Sunderland.

2009-11-07T19:27:00.006Z

I know that I'm seven days behind with this fella, but this Halloween was that first one I had at uni, so I didn't want to let it go by unnoticed and had a bit of a crazy wicked awesome night.

So as the title would suggest, I went as Gene Simmons from KISS. A quick image search will bring up him in his trademark leather and metal outfit, but seeing as Topshop aren't exactly pioneering the bondage look this A/W, I donned a black dress with studded shoulders. I thought the studs would be a little nod in the direction of his metal...attire.

My flatmate was the queen of hearts and my course buddy Martin...well, he raided a cupboard at the hospital and rocked up to the party looking like that. XD

Oh and when reapplying my black lipstick in the toilet, a woman asked to borrow my lippy, then proceeded to write on my chest. Being a smidgen drunk, I let her, but my god was that stuff hard to shift the next day! And I don't even know what she was trying to write! (However the big word just under my neck was one of my friends writing his surname)
All in all, my night was pretty cool beans.

Hello interwebs! Guess who's back.

2009-11-01T22:46:00.012Z

Well hi there. Those of you who know me from previous blogs will have read countless posts like this before, but I swear, I don't plan on disappearing off into the internet ether again.
I made this blog just as a place for me to put everything. From nerdy little trinkets and gorgeous stationery to outfit posts and topical debate, I want this blog to be a bit of a mash up of everything.
Why Bears and Bunting? There isn't a massive story behind it, I just love making bunting and bear is the nickname me and my boyfriend, David have for eachother. That's it. I just liked how it sounded together.
So while I've been MIA for so long, I've been building up a pretty varied RSS feed. Go and take a peek at some of the blogs I linked over yonder, they're pretty cool. My brother's blog is a hoot. He recently moved to Hong Kong and he writes about his exploits over there, in a way that just has me in stitches. Maybe it's just our Yorkshire sense of humour, but whatever it is, you should take a peek.
Anyway, enough pimping out of my brother. (The other brother might be getting jealous!)
It's nice to be back, peeps. =]