Wordless Wednesday: My summer project to improve my wire wrapping skills

What do you think?  Early days yet!

Handmade and the high street 2: Summer flowers and maxi dresses

The current vogue for maxi dresses and flower patterns has me drooling.  Soon it might even be warm enough to wear them!  Here's a selection of high street and handmade items to prove once again that the two go really well together.




I was spoilt for choice searching floral maxi dresses online, but this one from John Lewis with its really dramatic neckline and muted colours really took my eye.  Love the butterflies too.











This Paul Smith handbag from House of Fraser would be perfect with the dress (floral prints together are so cool!)  I think the bag is currently sold out but clicking on the image will take you to a selection of Paul Smith bags including similar floral ones.










You need a lovely pair of sandals to go with these, so to carry on the floral theme, here are some gorgeous ones from Roberto Vianni at Debenhams:

Don't they have a great gladiator feel about them too?  I still have a pair of beloved gladiators from Office, which must be about five years old now.  I think they've lasted so well because I can't walk outdoors in them so they have, ironically, lived in a drawer in my office!!


Here comes the handmade bit, and a shameless plug for my handmade jewellery this time.  Mookaite (or moukite or mookite) must be my favourite gemstone at the moment and it's been a big seller for me.  The contrasting deep reds and mustard yellows are the reason behind that, I think - you wouldn't think they'd go together, but they do.  Here's my take on this summer's trend - a long tassle necklace dangling from a central flower charm, matching earrings and a bag charm for that lovely handbag.  Simples, as the meerkats say :-)

Hope you've enjoyed this taste of handmade and the high street again.  Many thanks to John Lewis, House of Fraser and Debenhams for permission to reproduce their product images.  Do let me know what your favourite item is.

Spam getting so silly

Is it me, or are hoax emails getting very silly these days? I'm sure that people trying to get your personal and bank account details used to be much more sophisticated in their methods. Or perhaps it's just the folk spamming me who don't put a lot of effort in! Someone's told them I can be daft sometimes and they've really taken that message to heart. Well, I may be a little crazy most of the time, but not gullible enough to fall for most of these scams.

So just for the record, scammers please note the following.

I have no bank accounts in any other country, so I'm not going to respond to anything in French, German or any other language warning me that my account is about to be closed unless I reactivate it by clicking the link.
Nor am I interested in posing as a beneficiary of anyone I don't know who has died without making a will or leaving any family. You may well be right, for all I know, in stating that this is legal in the Netherlands, but I'm pretty sure it counts as fraud in the UK and prison food holds no attraction for me.

Being a lifelong liberal, the prospect of helping the Gadaffi family protect their assets in the UK, even for the substantial portion of the spoils that was offered, is just offensive to me. Similarly, the problems the super-rich encounter moving money around the world leave me cold and I'd rather help them pay more tax than launder their assets, thanks.

And finally, I know the world is becoming more informal all the time - heck, I spend as much time on Facebook as the next crafty woman - but if you're asking for my bank account details but only tell me your first name, then, call me old-fashioned, but I'm going to be quite suspicious right from the start. And if you really are the CEO of a major international bank, you should really get someone to run your emails through a spell check before they are sent. There is no 'j' in 'urgently'.

Do keep sending the messages, though. Some of them are really quite funny. I like a good LOL!