Source

Never mind the last two, let's plough on.

Johnnie B top, Zara jeans, M&S belt, Jigsaw shoes, Own Garden Fence

Well that killed 20 mins this afternoon :o)

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Handmade by me!

I was feeling quite proud of myself last week that I seemed to have stepped up the old blogging a bit and then Mothers Day threw me a curve ball on Monday. A seemingly harmless chat in the school playground resulted in me spending the last few nights sewing 21 of these padded heart thingies to be sold at the Mother's Day afternoon tea which is being held tomorrow at school. The children can bring in £1 to buy their mums a present and they will also be serving us drinks and biscuits. So not much blogging going on chez Sue's but lots of sewing of padded hearts instead.

I confess, I've never made one of these things before and now look - I've made 21 of them! By the way, I didn't pick the colour scheme - I was handed purple and pink gingham fabric and a bag of stuffing and off I went. Didn't I do well? Feel free to clap.

A couple of things I learnt along the way - I can't machine stitch round a curve so I had to do a lot of hand sewing to get them just so. And another thing is - a chopstick is good after you've sewed up the hearts to prod out the edges. Not too sharp so it won't go through your seams - just incase you come over all Sewing Bee.

And because we had no lavender to put inside them, I popped them all in a bag overnight with a Jo Malone drawer liner sachet to fragrance them a little. Ingenious! I do hope the mums like Lime Basil & Mandarin! 

And because I've been pottering away at home, this is what I've been pottering around in ....

Tesco shell top, Uniqlo cashmere cardigan, Zara scarf, Zara jeans, Costco/Kirkland Uggy Boots

I broke out the Tesco ivory shell top today (first time) but I couldn't ditch the grey habit and went with the old faithful Uniqlo grey cardi. This cardi is a hardworking piece and credit to it, it doesn't pill. I pulled on a few other cardigans to try but somehow this one just feels right when I pull it on. And an old Zara scarf which is a bit of a favourite. I had my friend L2 come round the other day and offloaded about ten scarves on to her and she enquired about this one. Not on your nelly, mate. And did anyone notice anything about my Uggy slippers? The old grey ones have been officially ditched and binned. They gave me 18 months good service of pretty constant wear with a slight reprieve in the summer but I had to finally call time on them. But no fear - I had my backups ready and waiting in chocolate brown suede. 

School run time meant the slippers were swapped for black ballet pumps - can't beat a pair of ballet pumps for ease and quickness and the old Mango jacket was dug out.

Matalan Ballet Pumps, Mango Coat/Jacket

So just a quick post to keep me ticking over and to show you my lovely hearts - can you tell I'm rather proud of my efforts?

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Ganni sweatshirt

That's the problem with taking your own photos in the mirror but it's still better than a small person taking blurry headless shots shouting "how many more times mummeeeeee?" and me shouting back "Till you get it right son, till you get it right!" Anyway, I need to get that tripod out again and get to grips with the timer function on the camera. You get a 10 second delay during which you have to run to your designated spot, decrumple yourself and strike a pose. Thinking about it - from what I can remember, it was hard work and the success rate was verging on 0.5%. Let's stick with the mirror or I will never blog again.

I actually bought this Ganni sweatshirt a little while back and squirrelled it away. And dragged it out recently as the weather got progressively warmer. I don't know about you but even with a heattech underneath, cotton sweatshirts are not that warm and I am super nesh. A super nesh squirrel. That's me.

I wore it down to London for the bloggy meet and teamed it with black jeans and the Office Namesake boots. When in doubt, go black.

And I dragged it out again this week to see what else other than boyfriend jeans I might want to wear it with when the weather warms up a fraction. I settled on the old Maison Scotch chinos. I love Maison Scotch for their quirky detailing like dandelion buttons and embroidered stars on this pair that I have. I've not bought much of theirs in the last year or so but I do rate their chinos and their finishes. This pair is on that slightly darker side of beige which makes them more wearable than some of the lighter finishes around. 

Ganni Sweatshirt, Maison Scotch Chinos, M&S Shoes

They seem to go well with the leopard heels which I wore last week. I love how fun they are as they make me come over all girly which you just have to do every now and then. 

Then I tried the Topshop Newark sandals .....

These sandals can be a killer on the old legs when worn with a skirt or a dress - I am no Kate Bosworth who has a pair of these (seen here) but she also has killer pins. But with chinos like this, they look a whole lot better. This is one of those pairs of sandals where I love them and hate them in equal measure but I won't get rid of them. They edge up the look a little by about 1% in my eyes.

And then we have slobsville look. I had to put the Birkies in didn't I?

And that's what I'm probably going to end up doing the school run in when the weather warms up. Because real life dictates comfort and the ability to keep up with two sprintathon boys. And we can't do that in clippy cloppy leopard shoes with gold heels can we now?

Which just goes to prove the power behind a pair of shoes and what a difference they can make to your whole outfit, your whole experience and your whole day. 

I guess that explains my love for shoes then ..... and gives me licence to buy more :o)

Birko Flor upper

Another thing to bear in mind - when you're ordering, some places offer two width fittings. The slim/narrow fit is for regular folks including myself despite the fact that I tend to think of myself as having fat feet. I think this is what most stores sell. Their "regular" fitting is for those who are sturdy of foot. Heiffer feet. For all the info you could possibly want on Birkenstock, just head here.

Gap sweatshirt, Zara jeans, Birkenstock Arizonas.

Anyone joining me? Or have you already got yours? And if you have - what do you think of them?

Grey Uniqlo Cardi, Marant Etoile Blouse, Hobbs NW3 Bag

The raspberry coloured Marant top that I was so happy scoring but somehow never got round to wearing. Would it surprise you awfully that this is the first time I wore it properly for a full day? Umm it's only been about 6 months since I got it. I've tried it on a few times with different things and had it on for about 30 mins and then changed out of it again. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because I like it and I don't want to spoil it? Anyway, it's been officially christened now and is now a "normal" item i.e. worn. And then I pulled on the old faithful grey Uniqlo cardi as it was warm but not that warm!

I also instinctively reached for my Office Namesake boots and then put them back in the wardrobe and pulled out these leopard shoes instead. This is another one of those items which I have only worn once for 20 mins ... in the back garden.

M&S Leopard Shoes, New Look Jeans

And then I took a step back and thought "hmmm - quite girly, a little bit mismatched but too late to change now" and headed out of the door for the school run.

Anyway, it was quite interesting to lay off the old faithfuls and reach for something a little unexpected. I got two compliments about the gold heels which I know I wouldn't have got if I'd stuck to my regular boots. 

What was the last thing you wore which you got complimented on?

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