Pretty Green

Bone China

2011-03-29T23:00:00.003+01:00

Random out of the blue blog to say aren't these teacups from Habitat yum?
Went on a shopping trip the other day and had to hold myself back from buying the whole set plus matching apron.
Think I might be secretly addicted to crockery....

As usual plenty of uni work, blah blah blah.
After 20 May I will be free as a bird and will return to looking after this little blog properly.

Vintage Shoes for Modern Women

2011-02-15T23:52:00.005Z

With dissertations looming I don't really have much time for crafting at the moment apart from the odd order here and there. You can't get more ecofriendly than reusing clothes though, so I decided pretty green could take a little jaunt into the world of vintage while I'm snowed under.

I am always frustrated when I walk into a vintage shop and see rows and rows of cute shoes, but nothing in my size. By today's standards my feet are a fairly average sized, but the quality made elegant shoes of the past only seem to come in 'dainty'. Whenever I do see larger sized nice vintage shoes I can't help but snap them up right away. Unfortunately I only have one pair of feet and so these two finds will be taking pride of place in my etsy shop so other taller vintage lovers can benefit...

Comfortable, but Chic Woven Leather Lace-Ups
Size 41/8
buy here

Italian-Made Real Leather Suede Courts
Size 40/7
buy here

Finally Caught up with Christmas!

2011-01-29T11:24:00.006Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR one and all!
Post-Christmas exam stress means I'm only just moving from Halloween to Christmas...

I'm afraid this is turning into a very photography heavy blog at the moment (if you can call a blog with an average of one post a month 'heavy'), but playing with my Diana Mini is about all I have time for in the way of crafty pursuits this year. Roll on the end of my degree!

So here we go, some Diana Mini assisted photos of my Christmas in Strasbourg. My family have never spent Christmas abroad before or in snow so it was quite a special one. We were also with my boyfriend's family so doubly special!

Before Christmas we also had lots of snow in London, which is a bit of a rarity. Unfortunately the novelty wore off pretty quick and I think I had a bit of a snow overdose.
One year I made the mistake of telling a friend I really liked praline chocolate just before my birthday, being thoughtful and lovely she gave me a meter long bar of praline chocolate. My love of praline dissapeared at about 45cm. I have never be able to eat praline since, and I fear the same has happened with my enjoyment of snow.
I can still enjoy pretty pictures of snow however, safe in the knowledge that I can leave the house without 5 layers of waterproofing and be able travel where ever I wish!

Christmas already? I'm still on Halloween!

2010-12-28T21:46:00.002Z

Happy Christmas one and all! I hope you had a wonderful day.

Unfortunately this post won't be particularly festive as I'm waiting for the bank holidays to be over so I can get my christmassy photos developed.

In the meanwhile here's my last batch of Diana Mini photos from Halloween.
I finally got a flash which has rocked my Diana world.
Being able to take photos indoors and with colour gels opened up a whole host of spooky possibilities...

Are your ears cold? I may be able to help!

2010-12-18T09:00:00.006Z

stockholm street style

chictopia

hel looks

I really should be working right now (why do I get given deadlines so close to Christmas?!) but instead I am looking at winter street style inspiration...
and apparently I love headbands!

Because of all this work I am getting very lazy about my general personal appearance. This tends to involve scraping all my hair up on top of my head and with the freezing temperatures my ears get unbelieveably cold.
This was why I started making my headbands with little buttons so I can pop them round my exposed ears without messing up my coiffure!

pretty green shop

I made some extras and put them on sale in my etsy shop, but as I am feeling especially sorry for everybody's cold ears right now I have decided to give
a very special offer of free postage
to any of my lovely blog readers who buy a headband this weekend.
Just quote 'blog offer' in the comments section and I will refund your postage!

On Tuesday I will be off to France to celebrate Christmas
and my etsy shop will be on its festive holidays so get in there before Monday!

Boo!

2010-11-22T20:57:00.005Z

Well hello there! It's been a while...
We finally found a beautiful new house next to a lovely park (the novelty of waking up to greenery in central London still hasn't worn off) and then spent 2 months and far far too many angry phone calls trying to sort out our Internet connection. As of last week, I am at last back in the 21st century and in touch with the rest of the world. Time to dust away my blog cobwebs and get back up to date with all your posts!
Looking at my previous inspirational interior design post I realise I've been pretty lazy decorating my new place. I blame the stresses of my final year at university. I'm definitely going to head to a carboot sale this weekend and try and get some more junk to nail to my walls though . Anyone know any good boot sales in London?

Unfortunately this isn't my new abode (I wish!)
I spotted this amazing house in East London and fell in love.

Room for Improvement

2010-09-08T00:11:00.004+01:00

I'm in house-hunting hell at the moment. We've fallen in love with many a victorian terrace and had our hearts broken several times by estate agents, landlords and current tenants. Fingers crossed we have now found the house of our dreams and will be starting a stable relationship soon.

In the mean time I have been indulging in some serious interior design lusting. Here's some inspiration I hope to incorporate into my new London pad:

design sponge

Looks like I'm attracted to subdued tones and collections of things on walls!

Unfortunately I am very naughty and don't seem to have noted down where I got most of these from. If these are your photos (or you know whose they are) please let me know and give me a good telling off for being lazy when I save pictures to my computer.

Honey I'm Home

2010-08-28T14:08:00.005+01:00

The time has come for my gallivanting to end. I am now firmly stuck in Great Britain and more specifically London for the foreseeable future. After a year or so of living abroad I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it does mean that I will have more time and more importantly all the materials necessary to get back to my pretty green ways with gusto.

Below you can see photos of my final trip this year to France. We stayed in a tiny chalet in a remote location up the Alps which has been in my boyfriend's family since it was used by farmers to take their sheep out for pastor in the summer.

we climbed up one of those mountains in the distance.

the mountain I climbed up against my better judgement

The chalet had no running water, electricity or heating. The rest of France was enjoying 30 degree heat, we were in bed with 3 feather duvets in a room with no glass in the windows. Freezing, but exciting to feel like I was going back in time!
To keep ourselves occupied we cooked, played cards, walked up mountains and I decorated an old wooden chest used to store firewood.

I went for an eggshell blue wash and some decoupage.

look at that old stove!

Off Again

2010-08-02T15:10:00.003+01:00

Yes apparently I am unable to stay in one country for longer than two weeks...
I'm off to France for a couple of weeks of camping, beach and mountain fun.
When I come back I really will get on to posting all the projects I've been working on since I've been reunited with my sewing machine.
In the mean time here are some black and white prints from my Diana Mini taken during my last weeks in Italy.

Adventures in Bunting

2010-07-31T18:52:00.004+01:00

I made some summer time bunting to pass a sunny afternoon.
These cardboard 'bunts' (I've decided this is the technical term for the triangley bits) came from a magazine, but they would be so easy to make again.

I trapped the triangles between a piece of folded over ribbon and sewed down the whole thing.

It feels a bit naughty sewing over anything which isn't fabric, paper in particular.
I have no idea why, but I find it very satisfying!

The bunting went up in the garden
and has now found its way into the kitchen to avoid the inevitable English rain.

It's been a while

2010-07-29T15:23:00.006+01:00

Oh hello much neglected blog!
I've been a bit distracted moving my life from Italy back to England and then getting over the stress with a holiday.
We went to the Croatian coast and had a wonderfully relaxing time as you can see from the photos above.
Normal service will now resume...

More Diana Mini Prints

2010-06-29T17:14:00.004+01:00

Recent photos from my Diana Mini
Barcelona, Lucca, Lyon and Bologna

I'm Free!

2010-06-18T14:28:00.004+01:00

My nightmare day jam packed with exams, waiting and stressing took place yesterday and I am now finally free to enjoy my summer and my last two weeks living abroad!

How have you all been? My Google Reader is overflowing with blog posts to catch up on and I can't wait to indulge.

I can also get down to showing you all the little bits of crafting that have slipped through my studying net. I knew I had no time to work on items for pretty green so everything I made was for yours truly. Ironically this means that despite being really busy, I have actually made more things for myself this last month than in the last couple of years!

First up in my projects was a case to protect my ipod, which had been getting battered around at the bottom of my handbag.

I made the outside using recycled plastic bags which have been fused together to make a waterproof and getting-battered-about-in-my-handbag-proof material.
It was the first time I used a sew-on clasp frame. I like the added detail of the visible stitching.
I packed in plenty of fleecy material between the plastic bag material and the lining to give my ipod a cosy home.

Right that's all for now.
Off to pick up some new prints from my Diana Mini and then I will begin my big blog catch-up!

a bird in the hand

2010-06-12T10:23:00.002+01:00

I finished one of my exams and decided to treat myself to a spot of blogging. There are so many things stored up to show you all, but until I am free from revising I will have to make do with just this one.

It is one of my favourites though.

I saw this cute little bird in a shop in France and thought he would look brilliant perched on my hand all day so I transformed him into this ring.
Whenever I wear it I feel like I'm in a disney film

Shh I shouldn't be here...

2010-06-03T11:42:00.004+01:00

I should be revising for my exams (fingers crossed that this time they won't be cancelled, although I can't believe I am actually hoping to take an exam!) however I desperately need a break so I'm sneaking over here to tell you about Folksy's interview with Laura, the woman behind She Draws.

While reading her interesting and useful interview I also spied this beautiful necklace! A perfect end of exam treat i think...

Don't forget to check out the lingerie inspired rings in my etsy ($) and folksy (£) shops which were made in collaboration with She Draws. (one of which was featured on this lovely blog)

Finally I would like to say welcome to all my new followers, I can't quite believe there are almost 200 of you! Sorry for being so boring and silent at the moment, I can't wait to show you the things I've been creating once these exams are over...

She Draws Collaboration

2010-05-27T18:42:00.006+01:00

A long time ago, when I wasn't separated from my sewing machine by thousands of miles and was up to my eye balls in knicker-making,

I posted some little doodles I'd drawn of underwear designs on this blog.

Laura from she draws spotted these drawings and suggested making jewellery from them. I, of course, leapt at the chance (have you seen her amazing shop..?) and sent her some scraps of the vintage material I use to make my upcycled knickers.

Being the clever person that she is, Laura worked away with my little drawings and fabric and came up with this fantastic collection of rings.

I want to keep them all, but that wouldn't be fair.
I promise they will be making their way to my online shops tonight
and at only £7/$10.50 they are a bargain not to be missed!

Collections

2010-05-23T14:18:00.002+01:00

Turns out hunting down things that look the same and arranging them on my desk, à la nath from le petit oiseau, is just as good a procrastination activity as messing around with my hair.

As I was tidying away my freshly washed laundry, I was struck by how nice all the pastel colours looked together.
I am clearly a lace and floral fan!

This button collection came from a wonderful friend of my mother's. They are all vintage and the large green ones at the bottom are from the twenties!

I can't wait to use them. Can you recommend any good projects using buttons?

watercolours

2010-05-20T13:29:00.004+01:00

I went back to Lyon to visit Pierre for a while (hence the distinct lack of posts) and was introduced to the fine art of watercolours. I found it a really soothing activity and will hopefully be doing lots more. I liked how painting the face was a bit like putting make up on.

The only thing I didn't like was trying to scan in this picture. The colours aren't right at all and the real thing is much softer. Any tips please??

2010-05-08T14:04:00.004+01:00

A few of my recent Diana Mini prints

My exam was cancelled so I will have to wait another month before I can take it. This is very frustrating, but it does mean I now have time to make things and hopefully this blog will become a little more interesting!

My pretty green goods have been featured by a few lovely people on the internet recently.
My upcycled mirror is in TheLittleRooster's etsy treasury and Gracie's Garden Bazaar showcased my silk lingerie set.

In other news, Vincent and Lorenzo posted a new parody on their P&P blog (find out more here). This time it's a video and the attention to detail is breathtaking. I highly recommend watching their video and the original at the same time. It takes a bit of time to sych them up, but it is definitely worth the effort.

Screenprinting and Exams

2010-05-05T20:08:00.003+01:00

I'm currently revising and therefore my posting is taking a back seat.
In the mean time check out this video my brother made.
He's recently got into screen-printing in a big way and here you can see the whole process.

how I like to spend my evenings

2010-05-01T12:17:00.012+01:00

...tying paper bags into my hair.

As previously mentioned my favourite way to pass my 'free' time (i.e. avoid work) is to mess around with my hair.
I stumbled upon this brilliant way of making extreme curls at the same time as recycling old paper bags.
Then spent way too long playing with my new afro.

Diana Scavenger Hunt

2010-04-24T17:31:00.010+01:00

1. something blue

2. circles

3. a number

4. something beginning with T (trampoline)

4½. more trampoline beginning with T

5. look up

6. self portrait

7. something sweet

8. clouds

9. a furry creature

10. sparkly shiny things

11. look down

12. morning hair

Here is my (rather belated) entry to Rose's Diana Scavenger Hunt.

I cycled across town in the rain twice to get these photos as they weren't ready the first time (hence the belatedness).
However it was worth the hassles because it's my best film yet with the Diana Mini.
All of the photos came out and I even got 3 bonus frames on my 24 roll, I love it when that happens!
I will definitely be using this developing place again. The pictures were massive, they did white borders instead of black on the square pictures (which were centered!!) and I got a free album to put them in, all without asking!

I think I'm going to get to work on that desk organiser tomorrow so anymore material opinions would be great...

Plans for an Organised Desk

2010-04-23T22:20:00.003+01:00

About a month ago I bought a desk organiser with two ideas in mind:
1. to organise my desk
2. to decoupage it

I think this picture proves that I failed on both accounts...

My main dilemma is that I'm not sure what to cover the organiser with and, as it's boring and not very pretty, I have no desire to organise it.
Maybe you could help.

These are the three potential covering materials I'm trying to choose between. Which one do you think would work best?

In order to take photos for this post I moved my desk under my window. I think it's the best thing I did this week! The view is spectacular and may encourage me to spend more time at my desk working (ha).

It's All Happening

2010-04-12T20:31:00.006+01:00

Here's a few things that have happened in the last couple of weeks, which are potentially worth blogging about...

I've just got back from my Easter trip home to England. I indulged in lots of sofa lounging and TV watching. Coming back to work and reality is a bit of a shock.

On my return I found a letter from Svenja of svenja mag with my prize from her giveaway: these funny little cardboard children. I have put them on my wall to keep my Caitlin Shearer girls happy.

While I was home I wanted to make the most out of being reunited with my sewing machine. Unfortunately all my pretty green patterns are in France (travelling around so much is brilliant, but having 3 different houses/wardrobes/general piles of stuff is getting very frustrating!) so I just had to make things for myself (not all bad then...). I now have a pair of denim shorts, a stripy jumpsuit and a lacy sun dress. All of them were adapting items I already owned which is very good because with the aformentioned three overflowing wardrobes I really shouldn't be buying anymore clothes!

One purchase I did allow myself was the DVD of Almost Famous found on a charity shop adventure with Kat from sparkle.smile.dance (hence the title of this post). I have watched my VHS version so many times that the tape has started to make a funny noise. I decided it was time to bring my love for this film into the modern age (and also I can watch all the DVD extras at last!)

My other indulgence in England was a very overdue haircut. Bad experiences in France and my poor Italian skills have kept me away from the hairdressers for months and so I went for the snip with pictures of these beautiful ladies in my hand.

unfortunately I don't remember where the photos are from,
if you know please contact me!

Last but not least, me and my Diana Mini have been out on a scavenger hunt organised by Rose of R's Adventure I'm halfway through my film and keeping my eye out for somethingblue, fancy numbers, and things beginning with T... Only got until Wednesday so I better get snapping!

Fabric Covered Mirror

2010-04-06T19:33:00.005+01:00

As usual I forgot to take in progress shots, but here is my newest addition to the Pretty Green collection.
It's finally another homeware piece. These are definitely my favourite things to make at the moment, but with all my travelling they are quite hard to work on.
In the past I have always used magazines to decoupage with. As all my paper supplies were in France and Italy I had to be a bit more creative with the materials I had in England. I am now in love with fabric decoupage. I decided I wanted to finish this off like a quality upholstery project so used some ornate cream trimming around all the seams. I was also determined to get those bevelled edges and mouldings perfect, fiddly but very satisfying work.

It is on sale in my Etsy ($) and Folksy (£) shops.

Blog exclusive:
Any UK customers should make their purchase before this weekend to benefit from a reduced postage cost of £5!
please refer to the blog at checkout to get £5 postage refunded

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T14:59:00.003+01:00

I'm back home in England to visit my family for Easter.
This is the lovely Easter tree my Mum made.
Below is a taster of something I've been working on, which I will be revealing very soon.
Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend.

New Buttons Ready To Roll

2010-03-28T17:02:00.007+01:00

Thank you all so much for your help and encouraging comments regarding my blog buttons.
I've decided to go for the first and last as these were the ones most people seemed to like (they are also my favourites too!)

Find more information about my blog buttons here

If you put one of these up on your site please let me know, I would love to see them in their new home!

p.s. should anyone have been very quick to read this post I sorted out the technical problems by just thinking a little bit longer! Always the way.

New Blog Buttons

2010-03-25T13:31:00.001Z

New designs for blog buttons.
Need to choose two, but can't decide.
Which do you prefer?

Illustration

2010-03-24T20:50:00.003Z

Occasionally I like to have a little draw. Often when I should be concentrating on other things. This is a little sketch I did when coming up with headband ideas. Unfortunately the colouring pencils didn't scan very well. Me and my scanner are having relationship issues.
Come back tomorrow to see the blog buttons I have been working on using this lady and some more of my procrastination doodles.

Textiles Museum

2010-03-23T18:00:00.000Z

Here's a little belated post about my trip to a textiles museum in Bourgoin, a little town in France where Pierre's parents live.
Unfortunately we arrived quite late and they were turning off all the lights before we'd got to the end of the exhibition (nice subtle hint). However I would love to go back and finish looking around, the fabrics were so inspiring. I was mind-blowing realising how much work went into each of these intricate designs before everything was industrialised.

New Kisslock Upcycled Purse

2010-03-21T11:26:00.004Z

Slightly more awake today, here is the new purse I promised yesterday. The exterior is made from fused plastic bags. I was so excited when I found this great bag with Victorian style illustrations. I will definitely be using it a lot more in the future. I machine embroidered a cameo and appliqued a doily I found on an intense thrift store expedition to go along with the Victorian theme. The lining material is one of my favourites in my stash.

I left my homemade light box in England so I tried to be a bit more creative for these photos. Do you prefer the simplicity of the light box photos or are these ones okay?

The purse is for sale in my etsy ($) & folksy (£) shops.

too tired for a title

2010-03-20T18:18:00.004Z

I went to visit Pierre in France this week and was finally reunited with a sewing machine. I've been wanting to make some coin purses using plastic bag fabric ever since Olly from Wollies commissioned me to make her one last summer. I decided it was the perfect time to make some more.

As I've just got back from a 12 hour overnight coach journey (turns out Lyon and Bologna, while geographically rather close, are a nightmare transport-wise) I will wait until tomorrow, when it hopefully won't take me an hour to write 3 sentences, to reveal what I made.
In the meantime here are some in progress shots, which I remembered to take for once...

Unfortunately, I had to use this cute fabric for the padding, but next time I get my hands on a sewing machine it will be taking pride of place on another purse ...

Le Petit Echo Malade

2010-03-07T09:07:00.002Z

Vincent and Lorenzo who I wrote about the other day have created a gem. For anyone who reads fashion blogs, likes crafts or just wants a good laugh you must head over to their new blog Le Petit Echo Malade.

It's in French, but all you need to do is click on the links at the top of each post and then appreciate their playful, michel gondry-esque (favourite materials include cardboard, toilet paper and kitchen foil) remakes of some of the biggest fashion blogs on the internet.

Le blog de Betty

Le Petit Echo Malade

That's Pretty Neet

2010-03-03T21:13:00.006Z

The new issue of Neet is out!
It's always exciting to see what and who will be in this bible of Independant fashion,
but this time was more exciting than ever...
because I'm in it!

Well not me exactly, but my handiwork.

Turn to page 50 to see some pretty green underwear hanging out (literally) with great designs from the wonderful Hopeless, whose blog you really must check out.

Here is a selection of my favourite bits of the magazine.
I love how unlike print magazines you can just click on anything that interests you and be whisked away to their website.
What was your favourite bit in this month's issue?

Diana Mini

2010-02-28T13:22:00.004Z

Some photos from my first reel of Diana Mini film.
It's a really fun and pretty good looking lomography camera.

Most of the pictures were taken on a trip to Venice to see the carnival. The costumes were inspired! The homemade ones were of course my favourites.

Headbands Galore

2010-02-27T14:00:00.005Z

Introducing Marjolein the gorgeous new model for my handmade headbands.

This final picture is yours truly looking a tad less magnificent than Marjolein.

I have a new selection of these ear-warming and hair-style friendly accessories up for sale at www.prettygreen.etsy.com
(click the links on the right for shops in £ or €)

I can't decide whether to order wool for more headbands (with other colours). I think they would still be useful in the transition from winter to spring when it can still get quite windy. What's the weather like near you? Do you think I should continue to make these headbands? If so what colours do you like best?

The Queen of Hearts

2010-02-23T17:36:00.005Z

It was after watching this animation, by Vincent Pianina and his flatmate Lorenzo Papace, that me and Pierre were inspired to have a go at our own stop motion animation. Vincent went to the same art school as Pierre and his blog is well worth a visit.

Vincent (left) and Lorenzo (right) working on their animation

The video is for Ödland, Lorenzo's band, and their style is as good as their music! Next time I go to Lyon I'm hoping to get to see their incredible apartment. You can see some sneaky peeks on Lorenzo's blog as well as more photos of the making of their video.

This is what I mean about good style...

...and a beautiful apartment!

all photos from Lorenzo's blog

Birthday Animation

2010-02-23T17:08:00.005Z

This is a little stop motion animation me and Pierre made when he came to visit me in Bologna. The figures are made out of plasticine. I made the little caterpillar (his furry back is made from the wool from my current knitting project!)
It was our first go at this kind of thing and we had loads of fun making it.
My Dad had his birthday last week so this was a little surprise for him!

Bolognese

2010-02-19T12:50:00.004Z

As promised here are some pictures of my new room in Bologna. Now I'm a bit more settled I hope to be able to get creating again very soon...

On the right is one of my treasured Caitlin Shearer prints

Featuring my new Diana Mini, getting my first roll on prints back on Monday.
Can't wait!

Free postcards make a good headboard replacement

My wonderful new market find lounging on my bed. It has a little horse on it!

Look at that view!

lace and frills

2010-02-15T12:57:00.000Z

This is the last underwear set I made before my ongoing sewing machine dramas began and I think it has to be my favourite!

As ever I used upcycled materials. This time I got creative with some net curtains, which is not as uncomfortable as it sounds. And I would know because this set is for me. I've been making underwear for other people for about a year now and I decided it was time to treat myself.

When I finally manage to get a working sewing machine again I will be making some of these sets to sell. I was thinking of maybe making sets with different coloured trims if the lace is popular. What colours would you like to see?

If all this ribbon and lace has got you wanting some handmade lingerie right now my exclusive silk set is still available.

Greetings from Bologna

2010-02-07T13:11:00.003Z

Well I have moved! I'm now in sunny (but cold!) Italy and have found a flat with the most beautiful views.
Still slightly in chaos so the next few posts will be left over happenings from France, but I promise some new and exciting material soon.

This is a little order I posted off just before I left France. I got the chance to slip in one of my new labels I made to go with the earwarming headbands.

Potato Man

2010-01-15T14:00:00.004Z

Moving from France was very stressful so to cheer me (and hopefully you) up here's a picture of a potato we found the other day. I felt a bit sorry that he only had one arm so I gave him a prosthetic spoon.

(normal posting will be resumed as soon as possible)

Also I hope you like the new blog layout, I guessed and cobbled together some html and was far too excited when it worked. Any tips or if you're not a fan let me know!

Knitted Boyfriend Blazer

2010-01-15T13:59:00.005Z

As promised here is my current knitting project. In hopefully not too much more time it should look like this...

It's from the Phildar Hiver 1 catalogue. The only things I've knitted myself which I actually wear have all come from Phildar patterns. The style and fit are modern and they seem to be inspired by current trends. The catalogues look more like fashion magazines.

I'm moving from France to Italy this weekend to continue my year studying abroad. I'll be senza home and therefore senza internet for at least a week so I'll be disappearing for a while. I may fit in another post before I go, but just in case here's a goodbye to my life in France and hello to Bologna, pizza and pasta. Maybe I'll post some pictures of our beautiful French appartment tomorrow as a packing distraction...

My new best friend the Snood

2010-01-15T13:57:00.005Z

There have been far too many pictures of me on this blog recently. I apologise as here is another one, but this time it's slightly unavoidable as just showing you a tube of wool would have been rather boring. You can also see a sliver of Pierre and an attractive building site.

This is my new favourite item of clothing and has been protecting me against all the snow and chills we've been having. I knit it up quickly, then undid it all because I underestimated how much bigger it would be off the needles and then knit it up again on a 7 hour car journey!

Next time I'll show you what I'm knitting at the moment. I love having free time again to make things for ME!

Hairspray and Kirby Grips

2010-01-13T21:12:00.004Z

Bow Comb handmade by Hopelessly Devoted
Jumper handknitted by me from a Phildar pattern

My favourite procrastination activity is spending an unnecessary amount of time teasing my hair into over complicated hairstyles or watching videos on youtube of people telling me how. I had an essay to hand in last week and clearly curling, twisting, pinning, spraying and combing my hair to perfection was a much more productive way to pass my time.

Now my hair has finally grown out I can try loads of the hair tutorials I've been saving up. If any of you are interested here are some of my favourites:

Heidi plaits
Make a bow with your hair!
Pin curls
Pin up hair styles

I also made this adorable, cheap and very easy hair bow using StrawberryKoi's recent tutorial:

chalet with your cuppa?

2010-01-09T17:14:00.011Z

Over Christmas I made these little biscuit chalets. I realised after I started that I might have bitten off more than I could chew (excuse the pun), but after being a bit more patient and taking my time over each step I managed to create four little houses!

from not martha

This is what they were meant to look like. So neat and perfect and pleasing. I printed out the pattern on not martha, but I must have got the scale wrong and they came out way too big to perch on the side of my mug.
I was a bit dissapointed, but used them to decorate the house instead before nibbling on them in front of Christmas films.

decorating the dining table

I used crushed almonds to decorate the roof because I think they look a bit like roof slates. Now the christmas tree is down I have some candy canes I could crush up like the little chalet in the photo above.

I really want to try these again, but mug sized. I think it would just be amazing to invite someone around for tea and then present them with a little house on their mug! Do you think it's too christmassy to make the rest of the year?

Spoilt Rotten

2010-01-08T12:28:00.005Z

Happy 2010!
The last month was full of deadlines, work and travelling so unfortunately pretty green had to take a back seat. However I now have 2 weeks of complete and utter un-guilty freedom until I move to Italy for another semester studying abroad.
Hopefully my daily blogging will return!

I came back from my Christmas and New Year trip to England to find some amazing and unexpected presents in my postbox.

This one came from the delightful Maria of LuluLetty...

My bag broke the day before I came back to France so this beautiful tote has been a lifesaver!

This amazing parcel was from my wonderful friend Marta, she sent me some handmade knickers she found which are also made from upcycled materials.

While in England I was spoilt with sewing related treats

How cute is this little owl tape measure?
I was so excited when I spied these Cath Kidson florals as I was unwrapping my christmas presents.
I feel like I really need to get this sewing box now!

They both came in handy with my last headband order.
Now that I have more time on my hands I will be ordering wool in new colours for the headbands. Any colour requests, let me know by the beginning of next week.

I also ordered this adorable little lomo camera with my Christmas money, but unfortunately it arrived at my parents' just after I left. I'm going to have to wait till the end of January to play around with it. Any Diani owners who have some tips I'm all ears...

I hope you all had a good festive period.

Christmas Chalet Ornament and Tutorial

2009-12-15T23:19:00.005Z

My first ever tutorial is available today on herlittleplace.
I'm so excited about this project and it couldn't have appeared on a nicer blog.
I put together the instructions to make this little christmassy chalet ornament which can be made out of upcycled materials.
Go check it out and then make one yourself and then send me a picture of your beautiful little chalet on your christmas tree.

I tried making a little hole in the bottom of mine and popping a fairy light through to make it look like the house is lit up.
If anyone makes a whole string of them to hang on their christmas lights I will send you a special surprise because I would just love to see what that would look like, but haven't got the time to make so many!

Festive Home

2009-12-13T13:14:00.007Z

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated!
I managed to pursuade a lovely american friend to help me pick one from the local christmas market. Several hours later I had just about managed to pick one and we dragged it home via the metro. We decorated it to the tune of cheesy christmas tunes accompagnied by home made mulled wine.
Very un-french, but just what was needed.
I wish I had finished work and could justify such festiveness every day.

The 8th December in Lyon is a Festival of Lights.
Everyone puts little tea lights on their window ledges and there are lots of light shows in town.
I thought the little lights outside everyone's windows looked really sweet so I joined in!

While I was taking photos of the Christmas tree I got a bit carried away and started photographing everything. So here's a little look into our French living room...

and here's a sneaky peek at a project I've been working on.
All will be revealed in the week...

new upcycled lingerie set for sale

2009-12-05T21:40:00.003Z

At last... My first underwear set is available to buy in my etsy and folksy shops.
I think it's my most luxurious lingerie yet as it's 100% silk. As usual the materials are very environmentally friendly (upcycled from a cushion cover and fabric samples), but the set is as delicate and pretty as frivilous underwear should be!
I'd love to know whether you agree...

keep your hair happy and your head toasty

2009-11-30T22:01:00.005Z

Another ridiculously short post to say that I have put up more headband colours for sale. I hope I'll be able to make proper listings for each colour soon, but time is not my friend. Also the weather has been so miserable that nice photos wouldn't even be an option anyway!

Poor excuses I know, but I hope you'll trust me that the new wool and new colours are looking good. Head on over to a wonderful illustrator and lovely customer who has written about her new pretty green headband if you're not convinced...

Choose from:

Grey
Red
Lime Green
Chocolate
Plum
Petrol Blue

The headband/earwarmer/hairprotectors can be bought on etsy $22 and folksy £15.

Lions and Tigers and Bears.. Oh My!

2009-11-26T17:52:00.006Z

Sorry I'm being a rubbish blogger and crafter at the moment. I suddenly have a load of 'real' work and a bit more of a social life here in France so I'm going to be fairly busy until after Christmas.
I do have time just to direct you towards a great blog where you can find a little drawing I did... The blog is a collection of lots of different peoples' pictures of bears and is run by the wonderful Lizz Lunney
(I seriously recommend you check out her incredible handmade gifts)

I will hopefully return soon with some finished headbands and new underwear sets!

Well Hello There!

2009-11-18T10:50:00.004Z

I've been a bit useless these last few weeks. Life sort of got in the way. Above is the picture I would have entered for Meet me at Mikes' My Place and Your's project. It's where I blog and work from and where I haven't been enough recently.

However I can't dissapear any longer because I have 103 followers! This is just incredible and wonderful and lovely. And has definitely done something for my motivation.

I love my followers as much as I love marmite!
found here

I've always thought I would do something special if I ever reached 100 followers. Unfortunately grand surprises aren't really in my capacities right now, but having this many people reading my blog I would love to take the opportunity to know who you all are!

from bleubird vintage

Please comment below and tell me a bit about yourself:
how did you find your way here?
what do you do in your non internety life?
where are you from?
do you come here often (that one sounds a bit more like a chat up line!) etc etc.

Sometimes when I'm blogging I forget that I'm not just writing into the void so it's nice to know who actually reads this stuff. I don't expect to be nosey without you being able to have a nose back, so if there's anything you'd like to ask me please go ahead!

from ffffound

Headband Offer - Edited: Now even better!

2009-11-04T11:00:00.003Z

...for even less!

My wool arrived this morning from my new supplier. It's lovely warm 100% wool, but there's one little problem:
I started crocheting up a new earwarmer, but the ball was dissapearing at a worrying rate! It turns out the wool is a lot shorter than the previous make I was using.

What this means is that I'm going to have to order some more. However I had a think and decided why not turn this little problem into a nice deal for my lovely blog readers...

If you order a headband from me now, before I order the wool, not only will you be able to choose your colour, I will also give you over 20% discount. ~~This will make one £12 instead of £15.~~ Thanks to supplier discount now even cheaper!
£10 instead of £13.

Like the sound of that? Here's what you have to do...

Choose your headband(s) colour(s) from the swatches on this website
Send me an email to pretty-green-message@hotmail.co.uk
Make the subject line 'headband offer'. Tell me the colour code(s) you have chosen, your name and address and your paypal account email address. (If you don't have a paypal account let me know and I will help you set one up, it's very easy) Also if you want a snug fit give me the measurement around your hairline in cm (from base of neck up to forehead and back down again).
I will reply with a quote for postage and if you agree I will bill you using paypal. If you are using a currency other than £ paypal will make the conversion for you.

The offer will close on Tuesday 10th at midday (GMT+1) when I will be making the order. At least send me an email telling me what you wany by this date, it doesn't matter if payment takes a bit longer. I will endeavour to make all the headbands and send them out by the end of November. If the order is particularly urgent please let me know.

Now that it's getting a bit chillier (at least where I live) I'm wearing my headband all the time. I also think lots of people will be getting them for christmas presents (but shhh!)

The Return of the Skull Scarf

2009-11-01T11:58:00.003Z

I finished the interesting bit of my skull scarf. Fairly happy with its resemblance to the original drawing. Now I'm onto the boring back and forth of the body of the scarf. It may end up very short depending on my patience... Also I'm a bit sad because the sides are curly in. Hopefully some blocking and, if absolutely necessary, lining will fix this.

First Ever What I Wore Today

2009-10-31T12:40:00.004Z

I don't really draw very often. For some reason it scares me a lot more than my crafty pursuits. Pierre on the other hand is a wonderful illustrator and is always encouraging me to get in touch with my inner artiste (not sure how far 'in' you have to go before you realise it's not there!). The other day he got out his box of watercolours and showed me how to use them properly.

I've been looking at Gemma Correll's What I Wore flickr group for a while as it's full of wonderfulness. Today I thought I'd make my own contribution. For some reason the skin came out a bit grey on the scan, but it probably isn't too far off it's actual colour that day! Click the image to be able to read the text if it's too small.

Show and Tell

2009-10-30T12:23:00.003Z

The lovely James from Bleubird Vintage set up a wonderful show and tell on her blog... and I'm in it! To take part you had to take a picture of yourself with something you love. I chose this little crocheted giraffe:

My loved item is a little stuffed giraffe. It's the first thing I crocheted without a pattern and I based it on a drawing I did when me and my boyfriend were first together of a very happy giraffe. It made him laugh so I botched a crocheted version for a handmade present! It means a lot to me because it was quite an achievement in my crochet life, it reminds me of Pierre and it still makes me laugh.

Skull Scarf

2009-10-28T09:31:00.003Z

I've been far too rambly in my recent posts so here's something short and sweet:
A scarf I'm working on for my boyfriend based on this little skull picture he drew.
I'm making up the intarsia as I go along! Probably a very unwise choice, but I like to think I'm sketching in wool.

Covert Candy Giveaway Winner

2009-10-26T17:13:00.000Z

I drew the winner for the Covert Candy giveaway last night and it turns out the winner is a lovely friend of mine:
martalucysummer

Just in case this seems like favouritism here is the results from Random.org (didn't know how to put it in a pretty box like I've seen other people do, if someone could tell me for next time?)

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-10-25 18:52:17 UTC

Marta is the perfect person to win this prize because she is wonderfully ecofriendly and is brilliant at picking up second hand clothes and making them look great. She is also pretty green's number one customer, so far she has bought 4 pairs of knickers. Here is the last pair I made for a friend of hers using Marta's unwanted fabric. She hasn't seen them yet so it will be another surprise:

Thank you so much to everyone who commented and gave such useful advice. As you helped me out so much I will also giveaway a crochAID set to one commenter chosen from this post and the original covertcandy post.

I have a little bit of feedback in response to your advice and questions:

Danielle suggested calling it croshAID. I had thought of this myself as a possible solution. What do people think of this?
MJ asked how the patch would be fixed. The set comes with a darning needle and thread already attached. You just need to do one little stitch on each of the outside bumps and finish off with a knot on the inside of your garment. I would include instructions. Do you think this would be ok for non-sewers?
Zo asked whether the patches could cover a rip on a shirt. If the fabric wasn't fraying too much you could definitely just place one of these on top. If the tear was a bit more drastic you could do a few stitches in a thread which matches the shirt to roughly bind the rip and then place the patch over the top to cover it all up.

So there we go... a few more questions, but as I mentioned above if you comment here I will also enter you in to a crochAID (or croshAID!) giveaway. I'm not sure of the deadline yet as it depends on when the sets are ready for sale (this also depends on your further helpful comments!) so for now it is open ended...

to upcycle or not to upcycle

2009-10-25T16:45:00.008Z

I read a really interesting post on one of my new favourite blogs today. This blog follows Gretchen and her mission to improve her seamstressing whilst following all the projects from Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing. In this post she was discussing the idea of repurposing unwanted materials in the forties compared with nowadays. Some of her comments got me thinking about Pretty Green and what I wanted to achieve with it. Something I don't think I've ever fully discussed on this blog.

Gretchen showed this make do and mend inspired pattern from the forties, which shows you how to make the blouse and sweater illustrated from an old shirt and dress. Although she liked this vintage idea she had some misgivings about modern repurposing projects:

"I hesitate to admit this, as I fear I'm gaining a reputation as a major snob. But some of the refashioning projects on various "hip" crafting websites seem so slapdash to me. Why bother turning an old shirt into something different but low quality? It just seems like the idea is "take this old thing and cut it up and throw some fabric paint on it and ta-da! Green sewing!"
... I don't understand the idea of refashioning for refashioning's sake, and that's what some of the green trend seems to be about to me. "

Although I have nothing against other people refashioning for refashioning's sake, I must say this summed up feelings I've had in the past and that is what reminded me of the beginnings of Pretty Green...

I have always been interested by the idea of upcycling and looking at everyday objects in another way. To me the idea of being able to recycle materials yourself seems very satisfying and I love things which go against the throw away culture that seems to be popular at the moment. I would therefore hunt out these sorts of projects online and, while I found them very inspiring, I often felt that I would never actually use them. It was the process which appeared more important and interesting than the finished item itself. This didn't seem right to me, in order for an upcycled item to be ecologically worthwhile and justify the time spent making it, I felt it needed to be better than it was before.

This became a bit of a challenge, could I use unwanted materials to make something which
a) looks better than the original item
b) makes it useful again
c) if possible is as good as something you could buy brand new?
I felt that this would truly make upcycling ecological. I tried out a few projects and realised that people were willing to part with money for them. There was born Pretty Green, items which try to be green but also pretty and practical.

Recently I have been very focused on making upcycled underwear because of the number of orders I've had and I realised that both my shop and this blog seem to be very lingerie-related. I will definitely be keeping this up as I love making them, but here are some other upcycled projects that I hope to find some time to work on very soon:

Fashion Magazine Homewares:

I have loads of homeware items I have been collecting to cover in these 1920s fashion magazines, I just haven't had the time to work on them! I sorted out the magazines the other day because some are still in a good condition and I definitely would not want to decoupage with those.

Plastic Bag Purses and Wallets:

There is a big pile of plastic bag fabric which I prepared waiting to be transformed into more purses and wallets. I like how thanks to the plastic bags these purses are waterproof and don't get so dirty in your pocket or handbag. Seriously good upcycling I think... this product wouldn't be as useful if I didn't use recycled materials!

Crockery Cake Stands

I have piles and piles of chipped or mismatched plates waiting to be transformed into cake/jewellery/clutter stands. I just don't see how I would be able to sell these unless I have a stand at a craft fair. I don't think they would post very well!

and of course my Upcycling Lingerie Service:

I would love to know what you think of the upcycling part of Pretty Green. Have I managed to fulfil my challenge? Are the items well made enough with enough attention to detail? Do they look worse for being made out of recycled materials? (Honest answers are very much encouraged and appreciated)

Warm Ears and Happy Hair

2009-10-22T18:20:00.005+01:00

This is a custom hair protecting ear warmer for the lovely lady behind p'tit book, Helene.
She is a wonderfully creative person so I thought these little scissors which I found in a little old lady's button box at a craft fair last year would be perfect! Rummaging through my supplies finding the bits I want to use my favourite part of making anything.

Now that the weather has turned frosty where I am I decided to get back into making these earwarmers (my most important motivation was the earache I got from the ferocious wind we've been having!). I bought some lovely 100% wool the other day so when it arrives I will be crocheting away for the benefit of your ears and hair.

I probably should explain the hair part of the equation. I often wear my hair in a high bun at the moment (blame bad hair cut) and wearing a hat at the same time just looks ridiculous. I realised that what really bothers me with the cold is my ears and so I came up with this headband which keeps me warm and, thanks to the buttons, I can wrap it round my head thus avoiding hat hair or a cone head! If that rambling description made you more confused, hopefully this little diagram will clear things up:
I still have one headband left in my shops so if you too are experiencing desperate hat problems never fear, if you're quick you won't need to wait for the postman to deliver me my wool...

Just click here if you like dollars, here if you're happier with pounds or here if the euro is more your thing!

In the unlikely event that my finely detailed and life-like drawings above do not give you a clear enough idea of what the earwarmers look like on, here are some pictures of one I sold recently:

Dilemma and a Prize

2009-10-18T13:03:00.010+01:00

This is a project I have been working on continuing on my theme of eco-friendly products which make unwanted materials look prettier:

I am such a messy eater and I constantly spill stuff all over me. Most of the time the stains come out in the wash, but recently some particularly oily stains just won't budge and I've had to delegate a couple of my favourite dresses to the "can no longer be worn when other people are around" pile. Then I came up with this idea... It's a little crochet patch which adds a pretty embellishment to your clothes whilst secretly covering up an unsightly stain or tear. Now my clothes are respectable enough to be brought out in public and no one knows about my appalling table manners (except anyone reading this haha)

I felt all proud of myself when I came up with the punny name of crochAID. (It's crocheted and it's like first aid/a band aid for your clothes) but on reflection it might not be read liked crocheted and may well be read like crotch aid. Seeing as I'm not in the business of helping out peoples' crotches I wanted your help.

In return for your honest opinions on crochAID, I have a wonderful prize for one lucky commenter...

As my clothing patch is designed to prevent clothes being thrown away unnecessarily, it seemed appropriate that the winner should benefit from a site which supports sustainable fashion.

Covert Candy explains their idea much better than I could:

"The clothes we want are lying in other people's wardrobes not being worn, and the clothes we no longer wear may be exactly what someone else is looking for.

CovertCandy does something about this situation by providing a trading platform so you can swap clothes you don't want - earning yourself credits. These credits can then be used to buy clothes from other users. Meaning you get clothes for free!"

I know a lot of the people who follow this blog are fashion connoisseurs and I would seriously love a bit of access into your wardrobes. Regardless of the prize you should set up an account as the more fashion forward users, the more interesting the site becomes! If nothing being put up for clothes-swapidge takes your fancy for the moment, Covert Candy also has a selection of vintage clothing for sale.

So on to the knitty gritty....
I have £25 worth of Covert Candy credits to give away to one randomly picked person who comments below telling me what they think of crochAID, crocheted first aid patches for your clothes. Any opinions are great, what you think of the name/packaging/idea and any alternatives if you're not a fan... (please let me know exactly what you think, I won't be hurt I promise!) Most important of all though is whether you 'got' the name and whether you think others will.
I will pick the winner in exactly a week's time (Sunday 25 October midday GMT+1).

Good luck and thank you for your help!

Edit 25/10: The competition is now closed thank you very much for your advice... I will announce the winner tomorrow

Pretty Green packages tied up with string

2009-10-15T23:14:00.002+01:00

I've had a very frustrating day of wishing I was back in London... Finding a hairdresser in a town you don't know is hard enough, but in another country it's a nightmare. I was charged a ridiculous amount of money for poor service and a poor cut. I tried to buy some wool for some wintery crafts I'm working on and found it impossible to get anyone to serve me. I know it's not France's fault, but I do wish I was in more familiar surroundings.

Pretty ribbons and supplies are always comforting though and since I've practically been living at the post office these last few days I thought I'd show you some pictures of my packaging and supplies.

Little Woolly Hats

2009-10-13T23:42:00.005+01:00

My postman is a bit of a naughty one and he keeps not telling me when I have parcels waiting for me at the post office. Unfortunately this meant that I only just found out I won a knitting competition run by Innocent Smoothies. I received a lovely set of Rowan yarn with the needles shown above.

The competition was being run for their Big Knit campaign where people send in little hats they have knitted which are then put on innocent smoothies bottles as a little bonus gift. Some of the money from these special bottles goes to a charity to help elderly people in winter.

The deadline for hats is this Friday (16th October) so I had to knit pretty quick. I only managed to make six, but I hope it will help out a bit. Anyone in the UK should still have time to knit a few up so check out their instruction page (with patterns for every level of expertise) and get out those needles! Send me pictures if you do make any, I would love to see.

The pink yarn I won was sooo soft

As I'm sending the hats from France I made a couple of tiny berets too!

Last year I was lucky enough to be invited to the Innocent AGM. It was an amazing day with lots of yummy smoothies and cake! I actually asked a question about the little hats during their Q&A. You can see the film below (excuse my croaky post-cold voice!)

Miss Narcissus

2009-10-13T09:55:00.003+01:00

Dolce and Gabbana SS10 Collection via Miss Narcissus

Image by Kelsey Genna via Miss Narcissus

I promise I will be showing some of my own work very soon! (Need to find some photo editing time and wait for a few orders to reach their new owners... don't want to spoil any surprises!)

In the mean time you should check out this lingerie blog I found. It's one of the nicest (and least sleaziest) I've seen in a while, but surprisingly it doesn't seem to be very well known.
All you lingerie lovers out there should definitely check it out...
www.miss-narcissus.com

Added bonus she even wrote a post about Pretty Green! I couldn't have described my upcycling service better ...
http://www.miss-narcissus.com/2009/09/make-do-and-mend.html

Handmade Christmas

2009-10-11T18:34:00.006+01:00

I made these little robin ornaments for all my flatmates last christmas from a pattern by Roman Sock (see blog links on the right...)

I spotted this tiny snowman on the lake in our local park last year!

Yes it feels wrong writing about Christmas in October, but this year I have decided to try and have an entirely handmade christmas and that means a bit of planning!
I won't be making everything myself, but anything I buy will be from other small scale handmade sellers.
Ever since I started selling and buying on sites such as Etsy and Folksy I have been overwhelmed by the lovely feeling of human contact and warmth. I have never liked the consumerism of the high street and it's throw away culture, but I do like purchasing pretty things! Finally I have a way to get a longlasting good feeling when I shop and not just a quick buzz at the till.

For this reason I also took the handmade pledge:

Click on the banner here to show your support for handmade too!

Now i just need to start researching my potential present purchases. If you know of any shops with good gift ideas let me know. Men are always the hardest to buy for so anything guy friendly would be great! Also any good gift tutorials for the presents I will be making myself, send them my way!

Electric Camel

2009-10-10T18:40:00.007+01:00

via flickr

We're at Pierre's parents' this weekend to celebrate his Dad's birthday. On our way over here I was reminded of the funny electricty pylons in France. Whenever I take the train I always think they look like a herd of giant sleepy camels!

There are other ones which look like rabbits, they're my favourite (yes it appears I have a favourite pylon!), but I couldn't find any photos of these. You'll just have to take a trip to France to see the land of giant rabbits and camels for yourself!

Ooo I found a photo at the last minute... bet you were getting really upset about missing out on a power line that looks a little bit like a japanese picture of a rabbit. Thank goodness I'm here.

via flickr

Right, after that slightly absurd interlude, I will be back when I have my own computer with pictures and details of lots of new and exciting pretty green projects!

Blog Button

2009-10-07T15:23:00.007+01:00

I finally worked out a bit of html and have a little code all ready for you to use to put a pretty green button on your blog...

<a href="http://pretty-green-blog.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" width="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_azNCEYoBJRA/SsyoPd6y-CI/AAAAAAAAAc0/g5pAV6TQUyE/S220/advert.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://pretty-green-blog.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" width="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_azNCEYoBJRA/SsylCuulS7I/AAAAAAAAAcs/1OZ5myUmYy4/S150/squareish+ad+copy.jpg"/></a>

If you need a different size please email me or comment below

You will also see that thanks to afformentioned html skills I have tidied up my blog button list. For the time being I am only putting buttons up of blogs I personally know and follow. That way I know what I'm recommending! If you happen to know that I read your blog frequently and you have a button, but I haven't put it up please let me know.

That said, if anyone adds my button from a blog I don't know then you are truly ever so lovely and I imagine I will be frequently reading your blog in no time!

Garage Knickers

2009-10-06T00:00:00.008+01:00

I sold my last pair of 'ready made' knickers this weekend
My boyfriend is in a garage band and was touring with a brilliant Italian group called Movie Star Junkies.

They stayed at our flat after their gig in Lyon and after seeing all my crafty bits all over the place the lead-singer asked what sort of things I made. I showed him my pretty green stuff and he bought this pair of knickers for his girlfriend!
My online shops are now looking emptier than ever. I really hope I'll get a bit of time this week to work on a few half finished projects and pump back a bit of life into pretty green!

Both bands had more shows around France this weekend and I went along for the ride... hence the lack of posts. The Movie Star Junkies are amazing live... if you ever have the chance to see them go go go!

The lead singer of Movie Star Junkies puts on a brilliant performance. See the video below for the makeshift drumkit he made on another night.

We slept in this flat in Paris. We didn't realise until the next morning that the building looks completely flat!

Flyer

2009-09-20T18:28:00.009+01:00

Sorry I've been a bit absent recently... France Telecom didn't keep their 15 day promise with the internet. Having to catch up as and when I can nick a bit of wifi. I have 419 unread posts on Google Reader!

This is one of the things I've been working on... a flyer for my first craft fair (I won't actually be there in person, but nifty thrifty is kindly selling my wares). I now feel like a photoshop pro, but it's taken me such a long time.

Hopefully our little internet box will stop flashing an angry red light soon and I will be back to my one a day posts (I was so impressed at how I was keeping that up. France Telecom really do have a lot to answer for!) Looking forward to being able to catch up with all your blogs very soon.

Warm and Fuzzy

2009-09-12T14:11:00.002+01:00

Lots of exciting things seem to be happening at the moment...

I've got 3 custom orders and finally a sewing machine arriving
I've been asked to participate in a few craft fairs thanks to Nifty Thrifty
I was awarded a blog award by Girl Whimsy
My family are arriving this afternoon to stay for a week
and most importantly... It's my birthday tomorrow!

Bras for Sale

2009-09-10T18:00:00.002+01:00

Look at me go... A blog post a day!

I have put up listings for my handmade bras on Folksy and Etsy.

I followed the same ecological principle as for my Custom Upcycled Knickers...

Send me your fabric/clothes/bedding that you no longer use and I'll make sure it gets loved again by transforming it into a custom bra.

See my listings for more details.

Sleepy Cat Ipod Cosy

2009-09-09T12:02:00.005+01:00

It was my mum's birthday last week and I needed a present which would post easily now that I'm in France. I heard she was getting an ipod (she's more technically up to date than I am now!) so I thought a little cosy to protect it on the move would be a nice thing to make. We have two grey cats at home who she spoils so I used them as inspiration.

For once I actually remembered to take some in progress shots...

As usual all the materials were upcycled. The spotty lining was given to me by a lovely friend Marta who was having a sort through her fabric stash. The grey felt comes from a jumper which was accidentally put on a hot wash.

The spotty patch became a pocket for headphones

Oh yes that is a hand-sewn button hole you see before you! In fact I ended up hand sewing everything because seams with the felt would have been too chunky. It was a very satisfying little project and thanks to the lack of sewing machine I could work on it outside in the sun!

J'aime bien Heln

2009-09-08T16:05:00.002+01:00

Please allow me to introduce to you a wonderful French illustrator and crafter: Heln

Anatomy of a Genius. What a wondeful title.

This little bird tweets when you press it's stomach. How cute!

She went to art school with my boyfriend and I only recently found out she makes these wonderful toys. Check out her blog which has cooking, illustration, decoration and crafty delights! There is also a section where you can buy her felt toys. A lady of many talents!

I'm a very naughty girl

2009-09-01T10:15:00.003+01:00

A while ago, when I was running my giveaways, Maria from lululetty gave me this blog award and I'm afraid it got a bit lost and forgotten about. Thank you so much Maria, I think you are awesome too. While I hang my head in shame I will tell you ten random facts about me and let you know the ten lovely ladies I will be passing the award on to.

I hate staying in all day. If I have to go back to bed not having left the house it makes me feel claustrophobic.
I can speak fluent French
Secretly I want to direct a film. I have done absolutely nothing towards making this happen though.
I play the piano and I'm learning to play the cello
I sucked my thumb until I was far too old for it to be acceptable and then one day I just stopped.
Any food which has been grilled is good food. Especially if there's cheese on top. In France they call this a gratin. I cannot resist and will keep on eating until there's nothing left.
I never understand how people writing the blogs I follow have such interesting lives and yet keep up with things on the internet. I find my computer is like a blackhole and I can easily spend a day on it without realising.
I often wonder why I am doing my degree course. I hope one day it will become obvious.
Berlin is the most vibrant and inspiring city I have visited. I want to live there when I have graduated.
My father used to be an actor, he has been in films such as Monty Python's Meaning of Life and the recent Count of Monte Cristo.

... not sure you wanted to know all that, but them's the rules!

I am passing the award on to:

Laura @ glueandglitter

Hayley @ heidi and seek

Ines @ cinnamon eve

Tania @ n i n o n

Nath @ le petit oiseau

Caitlin @ pink bedroom

Gillian @ I Heart Crafts

Kate @ little doodles

Nicola @ nicola ticola ponders

Olly @ the Wollies blog

I'm sure many of you have already received this award, but I do genuinely think you are awesome people who have made blogging really fun for me and it's a nice chance to let you know!

I made a Bra!

2009-08-29T13:56:00.005+01:00

I have finally done it... I got round to drafting a bra pattern. This is a basic shell of the style I will use. I can't wait to get some blue ribbon to add a big bow to the middle of this one. I will be keeping it for myself (something I rarely get to do) and I may even make myself some matching knickers!
I have decided to reduce the price of knickers to £15 and bras will be £30. (It may take a while for my shops to reflect this... see below)

Moving to France is getting more complicated everyday. We haven't been able to stay in the flat yet due to moldy carpet issues, we're currently residing at my boyfriend's parents. This is meaning that all hopes of stocking up my shop have gone out of the window and I'm having to concentrate just on custom orders.

Therefore if anyone would like anything, be it a bra, a purse, some knickers etc etc you're going to have to put in an order if you want to get on my to do list!

Ginger Love

2009-08-26T11:12:00.004+01:00

I have just found my new muse!

I know I don't normally post fashion stuff, which is odd considering the amount of time I spend reading fashion blogs. This is my newest find and my current obsession: Elinkan

all photos from http://elinkan.blogg.se/

I recently started dyeing my hair a copper colour (a rare treat to see my face which is much happier hiding behind a computer screen) and have been desperately trying to grow it out after a very traumatic favour for a hairdressing show (i'm talking shaven bits and a purple fringe... not really my style!). This girl has single-handedly made me consider chopping it all off again!

Not only is she beautiful, but her style is wonderful too! I've been scouring the internet for spotty tights for weeks and the picture above has confirmed that they are wonderful.

If you haven't been already check out her blog straight away!

Bonjour... I'm still here!

2009-08-24T20:53:00.004+01:00

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28511362

Mademoiselle Francine Sautepont by Ninon

Sorry I've been a bit absent...

I'm moving to France for 6 months and this week has been the big move.

Ironically I've had the most custom orders that I've ever had so it looks like it's going to remain stress city till at least the end of the week.

While I'm being a busy person check out the wonderful Ninon and her super amazing creations - a french inspired one of which can be seen above.

I was also featured on the front page of Folksy next to the wonderful glue and glitter:

By the by, does anyone know whether I am still allowed to sell on Folksy while I'm based in France?

And the other winner is...

2009-08-16T18:27:00.004+01:00

Time to announce the winner of this tote bag.

Once again I went for the traditional names out of a hat

Congratulations to Glitterysah! This upcycled creation will be on it's way to you tomorrow...

Thank you so much to everyone who entered both draws and told me about what you like.

It's really helped me know what to focus on making next.

And now I really really must pack... I'm leaving for France on Wednesday for 6 months. I have a suitcase that I can fit inside, but it's worryingly empty at the moment...

And the winner is...

2009-08-15T15:04:00.004+01:00

The time has come to announce the winner of these upcycled knickers...

I went the old-fashioned route of a tombola style drawing names out of a hat.

Here are all the names written out and cut up

I folded them up and put them in a hat...

And drew out the winner.... (drumroll please)

Meelzy of Meelzy and Leila.... Congratulations! This pair of Pretty Green knickers will be on their way to you in Switzerland (so maybe I should say felicitations)!

If you are now feeling a bit of knicker jealousy, fear not! You still have time to enter my other giveaway to win a lingerie-themed tote bag.

Last chance to win handmade goodies!

2009-08-14T23:11:00.005+01:00

My upcycled giveaways finish this weekend so enter now while you still can!

Win a pair of handmade knickers here...

and/or

A handmade tote bag here...

Giveaways are open to anyone anywhere so get commenting, blogging and tweeting!

These giveaways are now closed, thank you to everyone who entered and posted such helpful comments.

Wedding Knickers are Go!

2009-08-11T19:21:00.003+01:00

I finally finished and sent off my custom order! It was six pairs of knickers for a bride-to-be to give to her grown-up flower girls. The theme of the wedding was pink and tartan and the knickers were based around this theme. They were all made out of upcycled materials with interesting pink prints - mostly pillow cases.

Here you can see my favourite of the lot - for the bride herself. I adjusted my fit on the knickers for this order and I'm really really happy with it. I also drafted patterns for different sizes so I will be able to cater to everybodies knickery needs! I can't wait to get sewing for my online shops.

I'm currently staying with friends as I'm doing a weeks internship as a fashion buyer (very exciting!) and stupidly didn't bring my camera usb lead with me. Therefore I won't be able to show pictures of the knickers all finished and packed up until the end of the week...

In the mean time, don't forget to enter my giveaways if you haven't already done so. You can win a pair of knickers and/or a tote bag.

Day Two of My Weekend of Giveaways

2009-08-09T12:44:00.003+01:00

Thank you for all your entries yesterday! The Knickers Giveaway will stay open until Saturday so you can carry on entering...

Today you can

Win this handmade Tote Bag
It is upcycled from pillowcases and curtains and would be perfect as a shopper or for storing your beautiful lingerie.

How to Enter:

I've almost finished my custom order so I'm going to have time to finally stock up my shop!
I need you to tell me what to put in it...
Take a look at my shop and the items that have been sold,
then comment below and tell me what you would like to see more of.

You can also get bonus entries if you follow me here or on twitter.If you are already following me then thank you very much, you can get bonus entries by tweeting or blogging about this giveaway.
In both cases just comment below to let me know so I can add you to the draw again.

If you entered into yesterday's giveaway, have no fear you still have a chance to win the bag too. Just give me a bit more help knowing what to focus on making for the shop or tweet/blog about today's giveaway (just let me know below).

The winner will be announced in a week,
so you have until midday of Sunday 16 August (GMT) to enter

(I will post anywhere so everyone is free to join in!)

Day One of My Weekend of Giveaways

2009-08-08T10:39:00.010+01:00

Win a pair of Pretty Green Knickers

Today and tomorrow I will be giving away an upcycled present...

Today you can win this pair of knickers, upcycled from a satin shirt.

Size Small

UK 6-10

EU 34-38

US 4-8

If ruffley knickers aren't your thing or the sizes aren't right don't despair, tomorrow's giveaway is for you!

How to Enter:

I've almost finished my custom order so I'm going to have time to finally stock up my shop!

I need you to tell me what to put in it...

Take a look at my shop and the items that have been sold,

then comment below and tell me what you would like to see more of.

You can also get bonus entries if you follow me here or on twitter.

If you are already following me then thank you very much, you can get bonus entries by tweeting or blogging about this giveaway.

In both cases just comment below to let me know so I can add you to the draw again.

The winner will be announced in a week,

so you have until midday of Saturday 15 (GMT) to enter

This giveaway is now over... thank you so much to all who entered for your helpful comments.

pierre ferrero

2009-08-06T11:36:00.006+01:00

Due to a horrible injury my boyfriend has had time to sort out his illustration blog (with etsy shop to follow).

It's in French, but the images are well worth a look and I will hopefully be translating for him soon...

http://pierreferrero.canalblog.com

I also have an exciting surprise coming up soon which involves potential presents for you! Check back later today (or maybe tomorrow if I'm being lazy) for more details.

Craftwerk - My Saturday Part Two

2009-08-02T18:21:00.000+01:00

After my losing my gritting virginity (it's somehow very satisfying covering up something metal and boring with a bit of my knitting, this is definitely not the end of my graffiti career) I popped up north to Euston and visited the Craftwerk fair.

If I had been more organised I would have had a stall there, but as usual I asked too late and everything had gone. It was really nice to put a face to the blogs I read and great to see other people whose work I hadn't seen before.

Since starting to sell my own items, I feel way more tempted to buy other people's things. I appreciate much more the amount of work and imagination which goes into each piece and the lovely feeling you get from buying directly from the crafter. I therefore did not leave empty handed...

The girl with the glasses and the packet of badges are from Anke Weckmann, I have been reading her blog for a while so it was fun to see her in person (although I wasn't sure what to say without sounding like a stalker!). The other badge was from someone whose work I have never seen before mmmbiscuits, but I am now a big fan! Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to the owner of the earrings, but they were so charming and very reasonably priced so I had to have them....

I now want to do a stall more than ever. It's much nicer to see people face-to-face than over the internet.

Gritting the Tunnel - My Saturday Part One

2009-08-02T12:41:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely time in London yesterday full of creative fun.

It started off in Leake street with some gritting (graffiti knitting).

I heard about the day through the I Knit London newsletter and thought it would be fun to go as my brother graffities there all the time. Finally our, seemingly very distant, worlds would collide!

I knitted up this little cosy for a railing and managed to pursuade him to do some knitting themed graffiti. He was one of the only people painting and all the gritters seemed very pleased that he had chosen to honour their craft in paint (I know I felt very special to have my name tagged on his piece). He may even be painting the I Knit shop shutters!

All the gritting was incredible. I particularly liked the knitted Banksy style rat and this lacey bit of crochet.

Part two of my crafty Saturday to follow...

Hello New Blog

2009-08-02T12:38:00.000+01:00

I decided that having the alias of with my own fair hands and pretty green was making me feel rather confused and multiple personalitied.
So I decided to take the plunge and change my blog address.
All the old posts and comments are here so feel free to forget all about myownfairhands and add pretty-green-blog.blogspot.com to whatever blog follower you use!

What I'm Working On

2009-07-29T19:27:00.000+01:00

More upcycled knickers for my custom order... 2 down 4 to go.

I invested in a beautiful padded coathanger to display my creations on. It's made my photographic life so much easier and I feel the photos do the knickers justice at last.

Toast and Champagne

2009-07-26T13:44:00.000+01:00

It's my friend's birthday today. I'm taking her to Bob Bob Ricard for toast and champagne. I made her this upcycled plate to tell her about our trip...

In other news...

You can now
Follow my blog with bloglovin

At Last! Something New...

2009-07-21T21:17:00.000+01:00

It's been a while! I feel a bit like I'm wading through treacle at the moment. Everything seems so much more work than usual and I don't seem to be satisfied with anything. I have at last got a new pair of knickers ready for listing. I decided to make these knickers extra special so I have made a little matching pouch to keep them in...

The pouch's lining matches the knickers and the illustration is original and hand-drawn.

If you have suggestions for improvements for anything (photography, banners, products, names...) hit me with them, you will make me really very happy. I'm a bit lost at the moment so any guidance will help me get back on track.

Upcycled Purse

2009-07-07T10:59:00.000+01:00

As seen in the last post, here is the purse I made for my friend Olly from Wollies.

It's made from plastic bags and vintage pillowcases. A nice bit of eco-friendly craft.

I'll be making some more of these purses soon. If you are interested in owning one let me know!

I'm off to Ireland for a few days and I'm fairly sure I won't have internet access. So have a good week and I will finally show you those new knickers when I'm back!

Let there be light (so you can see some things the postman brought me)

2009-07-06T19:42:00.000+01:00

I woke up this morning to a day I had dedicated to photograph-taking, only to find that the week of lovely sun was over. Some lovely people on twitter (I really do have to eat my words, twitter is brilliant) pointed me in the right direction for creating a light-box. A Blue-Peter style hour later and I was the proud owner of a handmade mini-studio.

So here are the results... a few things I received in the post recently:

Some labels to make my Pretty Green items prettier and more professional.

A beautiful haircomb by Hopelessly Devoted. I've been wearing it everyday since!

And here you can see the fruits of my labour. I need to get a lamp which will stand a few more watts, but otherwise I'm very happy. You can also see a sneek-peek of my next post!

I'm a Twit(terer)

2009-07-01T13:23:00.000+01:00

I have finally caved in and signed up to twitter! I was a little bit fed up with hearing about the site that I'd sort of avoided it in a very small one-(wo)man boycott. However I'm having to eat my words because I have now jumped on the band wagon and, once I get the hang of it, I will be twittering away.

I would be very happy if you decide to follow me: http://twitter.com/pretty_green

I mainly decided to give it a go because I don't want to clutter this blog up too much. I want to spend a bit of time over every post and make sure they're all on track. However, with twitter I get the feeling you can twitter all over the place about everything and anything. I'm finally going to be able to share all the things I find in my moments of internet procrastination!

If you have twitter please leave me your link in the comments. I would love to have some more people to follow.

I have a new pair of knickers to show you and a new idea i'm pretty proud of. I just need to take some more photos. In the mean time here is a sneak preview...

Pink and Tartan

2009-06-30T14:32:00.000+01:00

It's funny how everything is always extremes. Nothing to do or everything to do. At the moment I'm in everything to do mode. But this is good. I don't like being bored!
A lovely lady contacted me via Folksy to ask whether I could make some knickers for her to give to her flower girls as presents. The theme of the wedding is Pink and Tartan which she wanted me to incorporate into the designs.

It was fun finding materials for a brief. Normally I just go for anything that catches my eye or that has the right quality for a floaty pair of knickers. The restriction on colours and the necessity to include tartan actually made me feel more creative. It's a shame, but I think I thrive on boundaries!

These are the sketches and fabric samplings I sent to the bride-to-be to show her what I was planning. I'm a bit dissapointed with the scans of the fabric as I don't think they do the prints any favours, but it was nice to do a bit of drawing for a change.

I'm in France at the moment looking for some where to live, as I'm going to be moving here in August for a few months. We finally found a beautiful appartment and signed the extensive amounts of paperwork today. I'm already mentally decorating it. The 1900 architecture goes really well with my furniture and style. I'm back in England tomorrow and excited about getting sewing!

(also I'm very proud of myself, I actually made all my pictures the same size... sort of)

Custom Knicker Upcycling Service

2009-06-20T15:00:00.000+01:00

Thanks to a lovely comment from Laura @ Glue & Glitter I was inspired to start my own

**Custom Knicker Upcycling Service**

Here's the idea...

If you have:

a favourite dress with a massive stain

a tshirt which doesn't fit anymore

a curtain which is missing it's pair

a charity shop bargain with an amazing print, but no idea what to do with it

or any other piece of much loved fabric lying aroung which no longer has a use... don't throw it away unnecessarily.

Send it to me and I'll give it a new life by transforming it into a custom-made pair of knickers!

Visit my folksy or etsy shops for more details!

Celia Birtwell Inspired Knickers

2009-06-19T21:01:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine had a very sweet dress which was unfortunately very tight and falling apart. As I had been shamefully disorganised and forgotten her birthday I told her I'd make her a pair of knickers out of the dress as a belated present. Upcycling material which is no longer being used into something pretty at its best! When I showed my flatmate she said they reminded her of Celia Birtwell's style and now I can't look at them without thinking the same thing.

I want...

2009-06-16T10:02:00.000+01:00

Isn't this Teacups print by fellow Londoner Hennie Haworth beautiful!? I've never really bought any serious artwork before so even though £90 is very reasonable I still need a bit of time to get used to the idea of spending that sort of money. I'm just going to have to stare at it longingly a little longer.

Glue and Glitter

2009-06-10T20:19:00.000+01:00

I recently made my first proper etsy purchase. I had bought several supplies, but never something indulgent and beautiful for myself. This is the necklace that I bought. It made me giggle and I love the little chain for the receiver. I think I might have the etsy bug... I loved the personal touch to buying something which you knew someone had spent time over. It's like buying yourself a present!

It's made by the wonderful Laura @ Glue and Glitter. Laura also tagged me on her blog to answer some questions about myself. As I recently listed my favourite things for the Kreativ Blogger post I won't bore you with too much more information about myself, but thank you very much Laura for thinking of me! Instead I shall just give a 'Best Of' of the answers I would have given - you can guess the questions...

Cats

Neither tea or coffee... I'm not good with caffeine.

Big clumpy purple patent DocMartins

Bonfires

Biting my nails

German

The street cleaning machine

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-01T17:06:00.000+01:00

I'm moving out of my lovely East London home at the end of the week so I'm in the process of packing everything up. As I was putting things in boxes I realised there are quite a few handmade things dotted around my room which I have never blogged about. It also occured to me that it would be a shame not to document my little home before it exists no more! I think I've mentioned before that I love interior design so here's a bit of mine...

A medicine cabinet I found in an antiques shop which was that horrible bathroom shade of pink. I sanded it down and gave it a distressed white finish. The little owls and their tree were made for me by a lovely Finnish lady.

A cake stand made from junk shop crockery. This is what it looked like after I had taken everything off it...

...and here's what it looks like normally.

I'm planning on making another cake stand soon, either for my new flat or to sell. Here are the pieces ready to be assembled on the left. On the right you can see my collection of broken china. I'm still a bit in denial that these beautiful plates and mugs are gone forever so I've kept the pieces in the hope of finding a project I can use them in. Any ideas?

You may have seen this is the edge of earlier pictures. I liked this french mackerel tin in an odd kind of way. As you can see from many of the photos I have a strange attraction to empty tins and bottles, they're really useful for putting flowers and candles in. I had a few rose candles I'd bought which were too pretty to burn, so I stuck the tin to the wall and used it as a little shelf!

At the bottom of my full cake stand you can see this collar. I crocheted it using this pattern. It's really useful for prettying up a boring top or dress.

My bed. I bought this bedspread at a market the other day for £4! I love the colours and mixture of prints. I also made the two floral cushions from ikea fabric. Next to them you can see nounou my boyfriend's bear (now everyone knows he's a little boy at heart! sorry Pierre if you're reading this). Also that is my signed Nouvelle Vague poster, a prized possession.

My blue themed bedside table. That alarm clock gives me a heart attack every morning!

Here's a close up of the little alcove shelves. The observant amongst you will have noticed that I had already started tidying this when I took the picture of my bed.

This has been the most useful and space-saving piece of furniture ever. Coat rack, shelving, cubby holes, jewellery holder... It's got it all! On the left is my Rob Ryan papercut. I've been following his work for years and when my boyfriend bought me this I was so happy.

On my grey blazer here you can just about see the little Russian doll brooch I bought from my friend Olly. Check out her Wollies here, they are beautiful labours of love.

My most recent find. A beautiful lamp for £2 from Deptford Market. Took a while to clean and I'm trying to decide on a lampshade, but I love it!

Well there we go, bye bye little home. It's been lovely living in such a vibrant area. I'm going to miss having so many amazing creative designers and vintage shops on my doorstop. Here are a few of my favourite neighbours should you ever be in Bethnal Green:

Shelf for work from inspiring designers : http://www.helpyourshelf.co.uk/

Beyond Retro for the best selection of vintage clothes: http://www.beyondretro.com/

Traditional and useful homewares, walking past this shop everyday makes me smile: http://www.labourandwait.co.uk/

Beautiful displayed jewellery from Comfort Station: http://www.comfortstation.co.uk/