Some Sunshine

A while ago when the weather was rainy and grey I bought some sunny yellow fabric from John Lewis to cheer myself up, not really sure what I planned to do with it but there you go..

Well then a couple of evenings ago I was trying to find something other than work to do so decided this was exactly the right time to do something with my little bit of sunshine. As I only had a 1x1m piece I had left myself few options other than a cushion cover. Luckily enough I have plenty of cushions looking for clothing.

So firstly I measured my cushion and then measured that out on the fabric leaving a good 1cm extra at each edge.

I then marked and pined the line I needed to sew allowing for a zip to be added at one end. After pinning I then simply sewed along my markings removing pins as I went (commonly stabbing myself in the process).

After sewing the edges and adding the zip, which was a bit of a bugger (I think I should have added it earlier but hey ho) I then stood back and admired my work...

Aren't I all domestic? Now what else can I do other than write that article due in a week...

A Week of Colour

So in an attempt to make up for the lack of summer sunshine here in Yorkshire I have been painting my nails pretty colours and wanted to share the summeryness - I said it so it's a word.

Excuse the bad paint job, I'm not a steady painter.

Days 1-4...

Royal blue for the queens jubilee 

Aqua blue as it's starting to feel a bit like Atlantis here with all the rain

Neon pink for a bit of disco on a grey day

A bit of classic red, you can never go wrong.

This week I also went to see Hotchip live and they were AWESOME.

For the gig I decided to go all bows and hearts, I rock a lot of bows and hearts...

I also went to see a couple of local bands, 6Needles, the Mudcat blues Trio and Goatleaf who were absolutely brilliant but now I am pretty much completely deaf...

I hope the sun is shining where you are!

Chances

The only time you run out of chances is when you stop taking them...

Flickr

Flickr

Flickr

And On The Cello, I mean Beatboxing, No Wait...

Beautiful, clever and interesting...

Makes playing the cello look effortless and cool, le sigh...

Introducing Mstr Morrison

This is a very talented guy, this took my breath away

Merry Christmas

We are currently manically baking mince pies, wrapping presents and writing cards.

I'm feeling pretty stressed rather than Christmasey so to help me, and any out there also still wrapping, here is a video collage of my all time favourite Christmas movie- it literally still has me laughing until I cry. 
 

 Merry Christmas!!

 

Generosity at Christmas

So I have done a couple of posts about what to buy people this season but I want to also put forward a nice alternative - charity.

This year we decided that instead of sending cards to all our family and friends who are based abroad, we would send a charity e-card and make a donation. For our charity we chose Shelter who help people in need of housing.

I chose this charity because last winter we had a homeless guy sleeping on our steps at work. The cleaner was really horrible about it, saying he had promised to be gone by 6am each day but had overslept (obviously his alarm clock mustn't have gone off). He had frost bite and was in terrible shape and when I rang around trying to find him support and guidance I was surprised to find so little. It was a case of 'we can give him breakfast but we close by 12' or 'we can only take him for a night or two'. It was all stop gap measures and little actual support. Everyday I see a particular hostel with people drinking outside and I think there are people who really need those beds. It may be harsh but I think if you want a bed in a shelter then they need to put their foot down and say you can't sit getting drunk on our steps.

Anyway, backing away from the rant, there are lots of charitable pressies at Christmas.

Oxfam have the unwrapped range which is a way of giving someone a token of a charitable gift. For example a fridge magnet which states that you donated £5 towards school books for an African child - my sister got us this a couple of years ago.

The Eve Brook Scholarship does amazing work providing financial support to young people who have been in the care system and wish to persue careers through education. It is small charities like this that often get overlooked as they aren't there on every high street or putting flyers through your door and it is these charities who are helping people on your doorstep.

So please, this Christmas instead of rushing to your local highstreet consider making one of your gifts a charitable donation, afterall think what your money gets you. £6 to Oxfam will buy a health check in a poor community, you'd be hard pushed to even find a paperback book for £6 and even then it's one read and done.