Pretty Purse ★

short but sweet post today . . .

so i FINALLY finished the little purse i've been making!!!

now let me start by pointing out that when i say 'purse' i do not mean a 'handbag' type purse, i mean a little purse you'd keep your keys, spare change or camera/ipod/cosmetics in

would you like to see it?!

of course you would . . .

tah-dah!!!

there you go

like i told you, it's very cute and girly and super duper pretty

it was entirely hand stitched (by me) using some pretty pink fabric i've had since last Summer (it was for the picture book pages i made), a pink zip, lots of embellishments and heaps of pink embroidery floss

it's lined as well using the same heart patterned fabric so it's surprisingly sturdy + it's about the size of a postcard

the back is kind of plain though, it just has some ribbon and ric-rac although you can also see the little crystal beads + glass seed beads i added to the zipper here as well

i used the lovely little iron on patches i got from the 'Just Enough' haberdashery shop in Laxey (more about that here - Just Enough)

i ironed the patches on but have also stitched them as well so they'll never come off + i sewed the two little pink gingham bows on as well + a line of mini ric-rac (it's that pink wibbly wobbly stuff along the bottom)

i added a lovely little french knot + chain stitched flower and a curly wurly line of dashed stitches curling across the purse + some diddy sequins and seed beads, et voila . . .

one kawaii inspired pretty pink purse

do you like it???

i have a few ideas for other purses similar to this one so who knows, maybe they'll be up for sale in my little etsy shop soon . . .

* * *

in other news,

you may have noticed the slightly new look for the blog

i realized that some readers couldn't actually see the illustration themed background i'd made for the blog so i thought some nice red roses would do instead since everyone will be able to see them regardless of the screen they're reading this on

the fonts changed as well obviously, 

not 100% sure if i'll be keeping this font yet, can you all read it ok?

it may look a little scratchy but i chose it because (believe it or not . . .) it's very similar to my own handwriting

let me know any thoughts on it all anyways, you know they're always greatly appreciated

nothing more to report for now 

so i guess that's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕ xX

Little Cupcakes ★

so today after spilling water on my new copy of Elle magazine + running around playing hide and seek, little miss Sienna helped me bake some cupcakes

we cheated by using some cupcake mixes but it was still fun to crack some eggs and stir up the ingredients

it was also the first time we'd both gotten to test out or new funky aprons, here's Sienna modeling her cute little cupcake one

because she doesn't like icing on cakes, Sienna decorated her 12 using chocolate sauce and tiny little chocolate mini eggs

she did a smashing job dripping the sauce everywhere + used up all of the little eggs to create her chocolaty easter cakes

they looked very pretty when they were all done

then of course it was my turn to do some decorating

my cakes were made using a Disney Princess kit (we bought it for Sienna but of course... she doesn't like icing)

Sienna left me to it and practiced playing skittles over the other side of the kitchen...

while i shakily and messily coated the cakes in gloopy icing and the cute little fondant decorations

they're not perfect (far from it in fact...) but it doesn't matter what they look like... 

it's what they taste like that's important!

Sienna ate most of her chocolatey creations and boxed up the rest to take home

she let 'Fumbo' (aka Dumbo) try one first though...

* * *

in other news...

i got a nice message on twitter last night off someone asking if it was ok to do a mini feature of my work on their blog

my answer was... OF COURSE!!!

it's always nice when someone likes your work enough to want to mention it on their blog so i was more than happy to let Danielle post 2 of my pieces on her gorgeous blog 'Dusty Rocket'

her own artwork is amazing so i think i'm going to ask her if she'll let me do a little feature on her work one day as well

check out the original blog post/feature about my work here - Dusty Rocket

and check out Danielle's awesome website here - Danielle Parker Portfolio

* * *

not much else to report, i'm still working on the little kawaii purse i've been sewing since last Thursday

i WILL finish it... eventually!

i'll post pictures when it's done i promise!

ok i'm heading off to play some 'Pikmin' now on my new Gamecube

that's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕ xX

things that begin with 'S' ★

sunshine, strawberries, scrumptious, sweets, sauce, sprinkles, social, stalls, super stuff and Sienna

all things that begin with 'S'

(it will all become clear don't worry!) 

right so today i went to the 'on your doorstep' exhibition at the Villa Marina with my mum + my little cousin Sienna to have a skeet at all the lovely Manx things on display

one of the main things i was excited to see was the 'Cupcake Creations' stall

i've visited their website lots of times before + spoken to them on Twitter (@CCIOM) but it was nice to actually meet Sarah and see all the yummy cupcakes for real

here's Sarah posing with one of her 'cupcake creations'

the display was amazing and the cupcakes looked truly scrumptious, they had a DIY cupcake decorating option as well and since little Miss Sienna is so fussy with cakes, i let her pick her own toppings

in the end she went with heaps of chocolate sauce, chocolate mini eggs, smarties and a mini jammy dodger...

i picked one too only mine was covered in vanilla frosting tinted with pink and covered in glittery bits

i can tell you now that it was indeed... delicious!!!

for more info about these tasty little freshly baked homemade cupcakes for every occasion, check out the Cupcake Creations website here - IOM Cupcake Creations

i should point out as well that Sienna actually ate all of hers, to the point where she was licking the crumbs and sauce off the cake case!

oh i'll show you my nails as well, in keeping with the little strawberry necklace i made last week, i painted my nails to match...

so what else? well to be honest i didn't get the chance to take many photos of the exhibition stalls, the place was absolutely packed and it was tricky making your way around all of the displays let alone snapping photos of them all!

i did manage to get a photo of the Groudle Glen Railway stall though, and Alex (or 'the train man' as Sienna calls him) pulled his very best model pose while i took a quick shot of the display

we'll probably be taking Sienna to the Easter trains next month which should be super fun as always, 

in case you'd like to book yourself some tickets or find out more about getting involved with the railway, here's the website - GGR

and for my previous posts about the charming little Groudle Glen Railway check out these links - Super Duper Train Times & Super Sunday #4

* * *

one of the other main reasons i actually left the house today was to meet my friend Joseph at the villa because he had a truly awesome amazing and ruddy fantastical present for me!!!

since i'm not much of a 'gamer' anymore he's given me my very own purple gamecube to play on and even managed to get me a copy of my favourite old gamecuve game 'Pikmin'

i can't even begin to tell you how excited i am to be playing this again! this used to be my favourite game console and game to play on and i can't believe he has given me this!!!!

thank you thank you thank you!!!

Joseph... you are a star!

* * *

it's been a really super day to be honest, i've met with quite a few lovely new friends and caught up with lots of old ones + i saw my big sister Nikki for a bit as well which was nice

i guess i should actually bother to leave the house more if i want to catch up with people like i did today!

i got to pop in and see the new David Maddrell exhibition at the Sayle Gallery as well. big thanks to Joseph for coming with me since i don't really like to visit the gallery by myself (don't ask). and of course for carting the awesome gamecube all the way down into town for me!

* * *

oh i thought i'd share these pics of Sienna's doodles for you all to see, 

she got this great notebook from the Manx National Heritage stall and it didn't take her long to start sketching away in it

these two show a giraffe with a shark on it's head and a picture of me scared of the 'shiraffe'

and these two are both drawings of me

she's clearly inherited my artistic skills!

* * *

and that's it, enjoy the rest of your weekend wherever you are

nothing else to say, 

that's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕

Ballaglass Glen ★

so this afternoon it was soooooo sunny and bright outside i decided to head out to the Glen behind my house

the Isle of Man has lots of gorgeous national Glens but Ballaglass Glen has always been special to me mainly because i live so very close to it!

it was lovely out so i had a nice stroll along the public footpath, i also stopped to say hi to the horse that lives in the field next to the Glen footpath (i call him Ted but i have no idea what his real name is)

it took me about ten minutes to walk to the entrance of the glen and although i normally make a day (or an afternoon) of it i only stayed for an hour today

it was so ruddy muddy in the Glen there isn't much call for any glamour so it was a glasses day today

i mean... just look at all that mud!!!

i ramble on a lot so you know what, here are the photos i took while i was in there so you can see for yourself how absolutely gorgeous it is in the Glen...

after that i just followed the electric railway tracks back to the footpath and made my merry little way home

t'was indeed a rather super duper day ◕‿◕

* * *

in other news, here's what i've been working on yesterday + today

ooooh what's it gonna be????

wait and see...

and also...

and last but not least i'd like you to meet the other Cupcake Princess...

more about her soon!

* * *

all for today i think, 

tomorrow i'm heading to the 'on your doorstep' exhibition at the villa marina in Douglas so photos of that to follow

until next time

that's all folks...

★ ◕‿◕ xX