Etsy Update

I know it's been ages since I last blogged, apologies it's been a busy few months, I got into a relationship with a wonderful man (4 months and still going strong) :) I also left Next on Friday after 4 years and am starting a new job on Monday as an office assistant, I get a week off for Christmas for the first time since 2006, can't wait!

Anyway I just thought I'd let everyone know that I've listed all my etsy items on my ebay this week with reduced prices. So grab yourself a bargain, handknitted hats and headbands would make wonderful Christmas presents or as a great winter warmer for yourself.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/jennie24507/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
Here's the link if you want to check them out (otherwise just go on advanced search - search by seller  and search jennie24507)

Hope everyone is well
Ttyl
Jennifer x

Song Sunday

Just a couple songs that i have been listening to this week, hope you enjoy them :)





Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather this weekend!

Song Sunday

I'm in a really crappy mood today, I just can't switch off and stop thinking about certain things that are making me feel terrible. This is probably not helped by these songs but i can't help but listen to them.




I hope everyone else is having a great weekend :)

Ttyl
Jennifer x

Etsy Store Now Open

I had been thinking about opening an etsy store for a while and i finally got round to it today.

It took me ages to come up with this banner, I had to teach myself to use Adobe Illustrator (not the easiest thing to do when you've never even seen the program before). Just looking at it now the colours remind me of chocolate caramel fudge :)

The name was actually suggested by a polyvore user. I thought it was perfect as I love owls and it sounded like a cute and cozy name which was exactly what i wanted.

I've been knitting accessories since March and I even filled a whole compartment of my suitcase with yarn coming back from Australia. They have such a big range of yarns over there compared to what I've seen over here.

I will be selling knitted hats, earwarmers and headbands, I may add to this list in the future.

I've only added a few items at the moment but I will add more throughout the week.

The link is in the right hand column if you wanted to have a look :)

Ttyl

Jennifer x

Good things come in fours.

Something a little bit different for the blog today. My first film reviews :) I am a massive film fan and was thouroughly impessed by the films i saw this week after not having been to the cinema in six months!
So here goes...
I have just got back from the cinema, (the second time this week i must add). I have to say the films i saw were fantastic.
On Wednesday I saw X-Men:First Class, I know I'm a bit of a geek. I wasn't expecting much from this film as its the fourth in the series of films but they picked a great cast.

To be honest I had read nothing about the film beforehand, all i knew about it was that it was a prequel and starred James McAvoy as Charles Xavier. I loved the fact it was set in the 60s and the clothes were gorgeous, Mystiques costume and make up was exceptionately flawless. Janurary Jones looked amazing, I think she's definately got the look of a 60s girl down after starring in Mad Men. I know Erik (Magneto) becomes the villain in the later films but i couldn't help but like the character in this film. He was portrayed very well by Michael Fassbender and I thought the freindship between him and Charles was heartwarming.

I was quite impressed by Nicholas Hoults performance as Beast he has definately grown up and I found I could take him a lot more seriously as an actor after this role as i had been disappointed by his perfomance in Skins previously.I loved the scenes featuring Raven aka Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence) they showed that there was so much more to her, that she's fun and not just wanting to kill people and told you how amd why she became one of Magneto's henchmen, Although i did secretly hope she would end up with Beast as they seemed to have chemistry.
I enjoyed the film thoroughly and am very much hoping they will release a sequel soon to tie up the story lines that left me hanging such as what happened to all the first X-men between this film and the first.
Overall I'd give this film a 5/5 I'd highly recommend it and I wouldn't say it was necessary to watch the previous films to enjoy this one.

Today I have just got back from watching Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides.

 Having seen the previous three films in the cinema, I couldn't wait for the fourth to be released on dvd and insisted that I see it on the big screen.
I enjoyed this film, although a few moments were quite predictable and  at one point i did think :enough with all the sword fights, get on with the story!
Johnny Depp didn't seem as mad as he had in the previous three films (especially the last one), I think there was a distinct lack of rum in this film.

I adored the storyline between Philip and Syrena and longed to see more of them. I think Astrid Berges-Frisbey did very well considering she had to learn English for the role and I can't wait to see Sam Clafin's performance in Snow White and the Huntsman.
Sitting here thinking about it i can only seem to think of more critisisms of the film and am not sure what I liked about it, I'm still hoping they do a fifth film as there were storylines left hanging but i don't know if that would be a good choice as the story may go downhill and I know there are many bad reviews on this film. All i can say is that it was worth the money and it was an enjoyable 137mins so I'd give it a 3/5.

I hope you enjoy this post and didn't get too bored with me waffling on.
If you've seen either of these films i would love to know what you thought of them.
And here's a parting question for the X-Men fans, if you could be any character who would you be??

Ttyl.
Jennifer x

Thrifty Finds

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and didn't get to sick of chocolate.
As i mentioned in my last post, ive been going round a ton of Op shops while ive been in Australia, ive found some wonderful items, some need a bit of altering (removing shoulder pads, shortening a hemline) but that won't take to long.


My thrifting haul

=

3 bags

2 pairs Levis Jeans

1 pair of high-waisted jean shorts
A vintage jacket
2 blouses
A midi dress
A high-waisted pleated skirt
1 pair of 2mm knitting needles and a stitch holder
1 ball of yarn
A vintage ring box

 The white Glomesh bag is my most expensive op shop purchase at $20. It's an original from the 60s/70s and still has its tag on, it was originally marked up at $30 but that was to expensive for me so i asked if they would accept $20 which they agreed to. I saw quite a few glomesh bags at the vintage fair i went to and in vintage shops but i haven't seen many under $38 and none in such great condition so $20 was a bit of a bargain :)


Camel vinyl snakeskin -$2 Good Sammy's, Joondalup
Black braided-$2 Good Sammy's, Mandurah
Vintage Glomesh bag - $20 Zoila's, Mandurah



Levi's
587s (Top pair) - $10 Salvo's, Gateways
Signature straight leg - $8 Salvo's, Ocean Keys

I love the print on this dress it looks like buttons but the holes make up flowers, it's a size too big but it's got a corset style tie on the back so i can adjust it to fit properly and the gathering it creates looks really pretty. I'm not a fan of shoulder pads so shall be removing them and also want to take up the hem to make it a knee length dress as the midi style dosen't really suit me. It was originally marked up at $15 but i wanted to purchase the polka dot blouse ($10) as well, so i asked if the lady would accept $20 for both which she agreed to as i had helped her size a couple of kids handknitted jumpers that had been donated. She even offered me a job and we had a short conversation about the royal wedding.


Button print midi dress -$10 Red Cross, Mandurah

Again I'll be removing the shoulder pads from this jacket as well as the dress, i rolled up the sleeves to make it a bit more modern and im planning on replacing the buttons with some gold ones from the 1960s that i picked up at a vintage fair.

Plaid blazer -$6 Salvo's, Osbourne Park



High-waisted jean shorts - $1 Zoila's, Mandurah

Grey blouse - $5 Salvo's, Wangara
Black polka dot blouse -$10 Red Cross, Mandurah
High-waisted pleated skirt - $3 Zoila's, Mandurah
Pair of 2mm knitting needles and a stitch holder -$2 Good Sammy's, Mandurah
1 ball of yarn-$1 Salvo's, Gateways
Vintage ring box- free :) Good Sammy's, Mandurah

While I've been here i've found it much easier to haggle with people over the prices of items and it's surprisingly easy, i think most of the shops expect it here, I think it would be a bit frowned upon in the UK. For example my dad was buying an item in a department store, it was in perfect condition, not faulty in any way and he managed to get 15% off the price, just by asking if they could reduce it!!
Another example was today when i went to a vintage shop in Fremantle, i found a gorgeous 80s dress on the sale rail for $25 (will show in my next post), i tried it on and noticed the seam was coming apart slightly, it was easily repairable so i asked if she would drop the price to $20, not only did she say yes but she repaired the dress for me there and then!
I must have saved quite a few dollars just by asking if stores would reduce the price, even if its just $3 or $5 a time, every cent counts :)

I'm off to do some more thrifting tomorrow at one of the biggest op shops near Perth (and all the ones surrounding it). Can't wait!

Ttyl
Jennifer x

P.S. Not sure how I'm going to fit everything in my case when i fly home on Saturday :-s

Australia!

I didnt post last Sunday (10th) as i was on my way to Perth, Australia, just a short 17hours on planes, I don't even mean that in a bad way, I love to fly and ive never found the food to be bad, the second plane was pretty much empty so I could actually spread out and sleep across 2 seats and have a little extra leg room.

Its surprisingly hot where i am and we've only had two showers and one was at night so not bad weather like I was expecting after all (last year it poured down with rain and we only had 3 hot days out of the two weeks I was here)

On tuesday i went to Herdsman Lake, it was a warm day and the views were lovely.



Slightly worrying seeing a sign like this right next to a kids playarea :-s

On wednesday we went to Bells Rapids in Swan Valley, it was such a dry summer and its hardly rained so the whole river had dried up, it just seemed like a rocky desert, it was boiling hot that day but we had a picnic and the dog enjoyed running round and exploring.

 

I loved this tree, all its roots were above the ground and i just loved the look of it against the bright blue sky in this photo.

A very small lizard who didnt want to have his picture taken, i had to lean over the edge of the bridge to take this lol.

The rest of the time I've done a lot of shopping and dragged my dad round a ton of Op shops (australian charity shops) they are so big compared to the English ones they're more like the American thrift stores.

Will add some pics in my next post of the treasures I've found :)
Hope everyone had a good weekend
Ttyl
Jennifer x

Song Monday??

My posts are a bit mixed up but here are some songs i have discovered this week that I am loving :)



I recommended this to a friend saying it sounded like a remixed version of Vampire Weekend, well its no wonder as it turns out the band is a side project of VWs lead singer which i didn't know :-s



This song is the free download of the week on itunes at the moment, its so catchy and sounds so summery.



I'm in love with this song!! It's my song for the summer, I don't think my life would be the same without it, everytime I hear it I start dancing (even if it is 4 in the morning!) It's so catchy, I highly recommend downloading it :)

Ttyl
Jennifer x

Song Sunday

I didn't manage to do a blog post last week as the charger for my laptop broke and had to wait 2 weeks for a replacement, so much for 4 working days!
Here are my favourite songs this week :)


These two songs are currently on the playlist where i work, ive been listening to them all week since i downloaded them :)


This song is the free download of the week on itunes in the uk, i think its pretty cool, i'll be checking out the rest of their music today and see if its any good.

This has to be my favourite song this week, i just love the sound! :)

Ttyl,
Jennifer x

Song Sunday

I know its technically Monday already but i haven't gone to sleep yet so its really still Sunday :)
So these are my favourite songs this week.

First up is Let Me Take You Out by Class Actress. I think it was recommended to me by itunes genius, i love the melody of it and it just sounds really summery to me, i could imagine listening to this out walking on a warm summer evening :)

Next up is If You Wanna by The Vaccines, this is just a really catchy song that has a kind of modernised 70s/80s sound.

I'm not too keen on this video but its the only one i can find for this song. It's Knocked up by Lykke Li vs Kings of Leon, I came across it by accident when i was looking for the original Kings of Leon version, but i like Lykke Li so thought i'd give it a listen, now i can't decide which version i most prefer!

Last up is my absolute favourite song this week, i've had it on repeat so much! Its the RAC remix of Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. I love everything about it, its such a happy song. I heard it in a thifting video and decided to check it out, so glad i did, enjoy!

Ttyl
Jennifer x

Song Sunday

Its been a long time since i've blogged as ive been a bit disheartened but i'm going to try and blog at least once a week from now on. So lets get to it.
This week i'm going to post about music by some friends and an aquaintance of mine. I may be buyest but i love their music and would like to share it with you.
So first up is the band Swing Youth, I went to their EP launch at The Wheelbarrow in Camden, last Sunday with a couple of friends.
The band consists of two pairs of brothers from London who describe their music as new wave, pop, postpunk.
It was a good night, the band always have so much energy and its rather funny when the bassist jumps around so much he ends up knocking several things over (microphone stand about 3 times and knocked a trellis covered with fairylights off a window). Here are a few photos from the gig :)




 





































I am particularly proud of this image as Jimmy(bassist) jumped and he was mid air when i took the photo :)

Here are a few of my favourite songs by them:

Their EP is out now and available for free download at http://www.swingyouth.bandcamp.com/

Next up is George Frakes a folk singer from London, I've met him a few times and heard him play guitar while at a friends house but never knew what a great singer he was until heard his songs last night. I think he'll go far as a musician.
Here's a video of him performing Ghost of a Girl, the title track from his EP.

My favourite songs are Rhythm and Blues and Sleep.




All his songs are available to listen to and download on his webpage: http://www.reverbnation.com/georgefrakes

Hope you enjoy this post.
Ttyl
Jennifer x