Projects, projects and more projects...

So as I mentioned before in my Bat Fit kick off post I'm aiming to get back into crafting this year, as it's something I really enjoy and find relaxing,  and since having my daughter and not finding as much time I have really missed it. So heres a few of the projects I'm wanting to finish this year! 

First, the doll house. I always wanted a doll house when I was little, and never had a real one. I used to make cardboard ones with wall paper samples and sticky-back lino stuff, proper Blue Peter style (apologies if only UK readers get that cheesy reference... haha.) But a couple of months ago in the second hand shop near to where we live I saw a lovely looking georgian style doll house in the window, and my other half Rob actually bought her for me for Christmas.  I couldn't believe it. Life long childhood dream accomplished! Theres something wonderful about actually achieving things we dream of as children... hmm maybe I will write a whole other post about that!

And here she is :) a bit of a fixer-upper I admit, first off I hate yellow, and the windows and door are plastic and faded. The interior decor is very dated and the right side of the front face is wonky and needs adjusting. So far I have washed and dusted, and bought this little front door:

I'm excited to be thinking about colours and decor and can't wait to collect more bits. I think it's going to take a long time but a long term project is fine for now.

As I mentioned before,  I also have a little project I've been working on for my daughter's bedroom. Well. When she actually has a bedroom that is. But anyway, I have been a bit obsessed with the idea of bunting just lately and found some plain white bunting in Hobbycraft a little while ago that gave me a little zap of inspiration.  I had some cute black and white fabric hanging about that I was meaning to make more bow accessories with, but it was perfectly sized for bunting letters. So I traced and cut the letters to spell out Reegan's name on the bunting.

 I originally wanted to hand stitch every letter because it would look cute, but nearly three months on and I still haven't finished the first letter. I've decided it's just not realistic to continue, and have ordered some iron on adhesive instead.  Hopefully as soon as that arrives I can trace the letters and finish off.

I'm trying not to be too ambitious by over loading myself, but my mum bought me a jewelry making tool kit for Christmas and I have alot of other materials I've collected in our wardrobe. Whilst I'm not imminently going to be using it it's nice to know I have it ready when I need a new project.  I've have a couple of bracelets that need mending, and I've been wanting to make a headchain for ages. Possibly even a choker or two with all the ribbon and lace I have lying around. I suppose I'll get around to it all eventually,  I'm just looking forward to having our own place so that I can at least have one corner of the living room dedicated to a crafting desk where I can organise my things and leave out projects I have on the go.

Anybody else have more than one project on the go? Have you seen anything through from start to finish yet this new year?

Bat fit 2015!!

Happy new year everyone! Hoping you all had a wonderful holiday season that brought you and your kin much joy and happiness.  This year has gone very fast for me, and our first Christmas as a family with our daughter was a very special one. I feel very blessed indeed. Reegan even managed to wake up before midnight for the New Year's celebrations which was pretty cool. We had a quiet little shindig at home with a few friends, with lots of food and lots of booze (although not much booze for me sadly, still breastfeeding you see) and I made my famously enormous paella for us.

But anyway, at nearly five months post partum it's definitely time for me to kick things up a notch and set myself some goals (and take some real exercise). I had put on a bit of weight before I fell pregnant anyway, so by the end of my pregnancy I had around 14 kilos (30 ish pounds) to loose. I lost the first 12 kilos in two months after giving birth, which I put down partly to breastfeeding,  partly to walking everywhere as I don't drive and also the fact that I began motherhood on an empty stomach because I was very sick during my labour. Plus you don't get much opportunity to sit around eating after having a baby.  Unless you ask people for help and to fetch you things, which I am not good at because one of my worst traits is my stubborn pride and inability to ask for help even when I need it. Maybe thats another thing to work on this year...

This year's bat fit theme is nourishment, and I'm feeling very excited and optimistic to be finally joining the Professor and everyone else on this journey. As I mentioned before I am breastfeeding,  so I have to eat well in order to keep my baby strong and healthy. When she is six months old I will be starting on solid foods, and I'm planning baby led weaning (letting them eat exactly what you eat - no purees or spoon feeding) so it's even more important to be eating well as a family.

To tell the truth I have also been feeling a tad burned out lately, Reegan has just gotten over her first cold and it's messed her sleeping patterns up terribly.  So with feeling tired and also having a clingy baby has meant I haven't spent alot of time for myself at all the past couple of months. I recently just restarted a sewing project for Reegan, just some bunting with her name on it, and I realised then how much I miss crafting and how much better I feel just taking a little bit of time to create. As well as crafting I like to read and cook, and visit museums and historic sites, soaking up the atmosphere and learning new things. Ironic as it is because when I was actually in education I hated it and couldn't wait to escape it. This year I'm going to be taking more time for things I enjoy, whether alone or with my family,  as to be the best mother I can be I must first take care to nourish myself.

5000 page views!

Woop woop!  Five thousand page views! After blogging for just over a year now I didn't think anybody would want to read,  let alone follow aswell so thanks everybody for reading along. I truly love writing,  and reading everyone elses posts too. The blogging community is so warm and welcoming, especially for such a misfit like me! I feel I belong with you guys :')

I'm sorry I don't have much else interesting to say, as I'm sofa bound at the moment. Poor Reegan has a terrible cold and conjunctivitis too, so she wants lots of cuddles from her mama and just wants to sleep on me a lot. Hopefully with Christmas coming up I can whip up some nice festive posts.  Thanks for reading and love to you all!

Gothic Beauty cover girl look

So I had another burst of inspiration from Gothic Beauty Magazine. I love the glossy cover shoots that showcase amazing hair and makeup looks, and a GB covergirl is much better style to aspire to than your average Cosmo one. Boring! When I'm feeling in a bit of a rut with my makeup routine it's nice to have good ideas right in front of me, thanks to my little stash of GB mags. This time around I used issue 42 for inspiration:

Property of Gothic Beauty Magazine

For me the look is always about the eyes! I love the depth of colour here, the cateye shape gives the soft blending a dramatic edge. Not to mention the tiny silver stars that give a lovely finishing touch. Now personally I don't shave my eyebrows (although the frustration that plucking can bring does leave me very tempted sometimes), so obviously they are a nice optional extra if you do happen to shave yours, and really bring the look together. Luckily though,  I did have some silver stars lying around from a nail accesory kit, and now I've used them once I want to use them all the time because they are so pretty. So here's what I ended up with, and I'll list what I used below:

The look I did ended up a lot more red than the original, probably because I used my Love+ Sugarpill eyeshadow, which is a bloodred pressed matt shadow. I also used a light red bronze in the inner corners and Sugarpill's Bulletproof matt black on the outer corners. I lined my top lids with black liquid eyeliner and the bottoms with my black twist-up pencil, not forgetting to line the upper and lower waterlines to blend in my false lashes. The lashes I used are by Eyelure and are my absolute favourites at the moment they go nicely with a cateye look and are the perfect medium length and thickness for me. I used a rose red lipstick on my lips, my current favourite L'Oréal foundation and a touch of red/brown blusher to contour my cheeks. I only actually used the star gems underneath my eyes, as they're quite big and uncomfortable to wear on the upper lids. And as you can see from the pictures, my hair is looking rather blue. So I took another photo with the flash to show you guys how truly green it is now!  I found my ideal shade of green in Apple Green from Directions hair dye.

I originally dyed it green right before Halloween, so even people I know were asking if I had it this colour especially, and now with Christmas coming up people are still asking if it's some sort of seasonal special! Eyeroll! I suppose if you live like its Halloween everyday you could say that ;D

November homework assignment: my furry and not so furry babies

It seems our dear Professor is just too good at setting homework assignments! As most of you will know, this year I have embarked upon the hardest and most amazing journey of my life. My daughter Reegan was born in August and at almost four months old now she is growing fast!

Before I had my human baby though, I had my fur baby Inca, our soppy brown Doberman. Inca is actually Rob's dog, she was just under a year old when I first met him,  so almost fully grown but still entirely puppyish in her behaviour.  When I moved in with them and Inca and I spent most days together we got very close and eventually she simply became 'my' dog. I never had a dog before so for me Inca is very special.  She needs alot of loving from everyone,  but the guard dog in her makes her very loyal and protective. And she is absolutely obsessed with food. She will eat literally anything (including things she shouldn't.  I once found Rob's razor chewed up and thought she had swallowed the blade and I cried my eyes out on the phone to Rob for ten whole minutes before I found the metal part and realised she wasn't going to die). Before I found out I was pregnant her behaviour had started to change, and suddenly it was like she had grown up. (Except when she tore up the sofas when we lived in the caravan. I was mad but affectionately put it down to nesting instincts once I found out we were having a baby.) My whole pregnancy she was even more needy with me and would just sit with me as if to guard me.

Guarding her mama

Sunbathing in the garden, her favourite pass time second only to eating!

She loves our baby girl, and is always wanting to sniff and lick her. I hope when Reegan is older they will be very close.

Reegan is almost four months old now, and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed and how she has grown into this amazing little person. She has started rolling over onto her sides and really wants to move and do other things. She loves being sang to and likes to clap her hands and be bounced up and down. I remember the first time she laughed I was so surprised I cried with happiness. She really is my favourite little person and being her mama is the best job in the world. I can't wait for her to be bigger and doing more things for herself,  but at the same time I have to treasure every moment because she grows so fast!

Mummy makeup and "keeping it goth"

In my last post about makeup, I spoke about how life changes affect makeup habits and expressed hopes that as I settled down into motherhood I could adapt and find more time for myself, and wear as much makeup as I used to. I always make sure my nails are freshly painted once a week, and wear makeup as often as I can. It really does make a difference in feeling good about yourself, and I even managed to get a babysitter whilst my mum did my hair for me last week!

Behold! green hair  and makeup to match!

 I finally got the chance to bleach my roots! About time really, as it has been about a year now and I had at least four inches of regrowth. I've also been wanting to go green for such a long time now, and although at the moment it's rather patchy and yellow in places, its a work in progress and will probably take a little while of colour build up to get it where I want it to be. It was a perfect excuse to experiment with my green eyeshadow too. I'm lucky  because Reegan was taking a really long nap at the time. But when she isn't taking long naps I need something quick and easy because I can't spend too long blending and fussing with colours.

Like I have said before, a little bit of lipstick can really help when you are pressed for time and still want to look nice (and gothy...). But often I end up smudging it, or the wind blows and my hair gets stuck to my lips, not to mention having to reapply throughout the day. I recently discovered matt lipsticks though, and they are just what i needed. Specifically, MUA's velvet lip laquer (the affordable choice, in red and in purple) and Lime Crime's Velvetine in Black velvet (a little pricier, but worth it for THE blackest matt lipstick... simply superior in my opinion and a little more modern than the shiny black lipped goth stereotype. Plus its great to support indie brands that are cruelty free). They paint on like a lip gloss and dry completely touch proof,  the wear time is impressive and so very practical for the busy lady.

The Velvitines smell like cupcakes... mmmmmm!

Swatches of the MUA velvet laquers, it took about 24 hours of hand washes for them to fully come off.

Personally, I have a preference for false eyelashes, and having had a lot of practice applying them I can do it pretty quickly these days. But when a friend reccomended lash fibres to me I had to jump on the trend-wagon and get some for myself. The idea is a set including a "runny" formula mascara and a bottle of lash fibres, which I can only describe as a bottle of tiny hairs. You curl your own lashes and then then coat them fully with the mascara. Before it dries you tilt your head forwards and brush on the fibres before applying more mascara, and repeat as many times as you wish. The idea is great, but not all that time saving for me, and you have to be very careful not to get the fibres everywhere, if they get in your eyes or nose they itch like mad! Not to mention when stuck to the skin they make you look strangely hairy... However I do find this method useful on less fussy days when I wear only eyeshadow and mascara, like here (just bronze eyeshadow on the upper lid and lashline, finished with mascara):

I also recently tried out Barry M's black pencil eyeliner, both on the waterline and lash line it works well, and I even used it to colour the lids completely before patting black eyeshadow on top to set. Another quick one that works well with a huge pair of falsies and looks like you really made an effort.

Coloured-in eyes with MUA's lip laquer 

As long as I've taken a minute or two to exfoliate my face and apply at least two layers of moisturiser,  I find I can easily manage foundation now too. I'll be saving the rest of my BB cream for the summer or days when my skin is dry and I still want to wear makeup. I bought L'Oreal's Infallible 24H foundation about six months ago on a whim and actually have found that its perfect for me. I don't have to wear a primer with it (more layers equals more dryness for me...) and it is literally THE palest highstreet foundation EVER. Even paler than Rimmel London makes. The coverage is nicely full and it really really lasts. It's a shame it isn't a cruelty free brand because its so hard to find something that ticks every box.

Anybody have any speedy makeup tips or products they love when pressed for time?

October homework assignment: Halloween at home

It seems that the lovely Professor has chosen another theme that suits me just perfectly. Being as I just had a baby ten weeks ago, I haven't been on many nights out lately, so I can tell you all about my homely celebrations. I was eating a toffee apple the other day, and because it's something I only do once a year at this very time, it got me thinking about other seasonal habits I have that I always associate with Halloween, my favourite holiday. I'm not going out this year because my other half is a bouncer and therefore working,  plus I have no babysitter, if I can't spend the night woth Rob then I didn't really see the point in doing anything at all. I also can't decorate because we still live with his parents and there is no space for anything. Ever. So heres my little "Halloween checklist" of things I wanted to do in the week leading up to Halloween.

• Eat a toffee apple. Something I always remember doing as a child, as soon as they came on sale in the shops I would be begging my mum to let me have one and scoff it down in the car on the way home. 
• Carve a pumpkin.

Not all that original but this mama doesn't do sculpture for a reason.

• Watch as many halloween films as I can in one week. Well, my favourites at least.
• Bake something Halloweeny.

Chocolate and orange cupcakes. It's also my other half's birthday today so they're sort of for him.

• Try an orange eyeshadow. I had a bright orange eyeshadow sitting unused in my Sleek Matt palette and decided now was the perfect time to experiment. In all honesty, I don't actually like orange that much and feel as though it's a bit of a difficult colour to pull off, so I took to Pintrest for some inspiration and this is what I came up with:

• Go halloween shopping. I managed to score some cool leggings in Primark, but was disappointed that all they had in this year was leggings and t-shirts because I got a really cute ghostie jumper last year.

• Put Reegan in her Halloween outfit. I shall replace my urge to decorate the home by decorating my child. Ha!

This is only one of her spooky oufits because she has a couple. The bib says: "my first spooky halloween"

Hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween this year! I felt very productive indeed!