tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14103326994650861242024-03-14T03:10:15.320+00:00My Busy Craft LifeTrying to combine my two favourite hobbies of running and sewing in my free time, read all about my latest projects here!MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.comBlogger646125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-31128329308763488162018-08-22T22:00:00.000+01:002018-08-22T22:00:09.970+01:00My Neighbor Totoro Project #2: CatbusHello again!<br />
So last time I showed you how I made Totoro. I ended up making yet another doll / pillow from the same movie for the same friend! I think this was a present for a combination of life events, and I knew she would love this. This time, I made Catbus! (if you don't know what Catbus looks like, please Google it as there are so many references out there! Or better yet: watch the movie, you will love it!)<br />
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Again, I went shopping for fabric... at least this time I knew what I needed, the wool was just perfect, I just had to find the right colours. Catbus has various shades of brown and a bright yellow. The brown was easy but I couldn't find yellow anywhere... In the end I opted for yellow felt which worked as well. Not the tiny squares of craft felt, no the proper felt on a roll. It seemed stronger, and the colour was perfect.<br />
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Sadly this time there was no tutorial, but I did find a pillow on ebay that served as inspiration for this project. Ok, I mostly copied it... Mostly because I had no idea where to start on making a catbus. Would I make it with all the legs like an actual cat, or more flat but with the legs just dangly? This inspiration came just right. And this is it, the result:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e3ToQFrt9bA/W2_zTgwcbVI/AAAAAAAAgoI/_8dW8KU1GfI4rGY9nkKu_liUxoRpGU62QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1076" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e3ToQFrt9bA/W2_zTgwcbVI/AAAAAAAAgoI/_8dW8KU1GfI4rGY9nkKu_liUxoRpGU62QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1561.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I must say that I absolutely love how this came out! </div>
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I still had some cream wool leftover from Totoro so I could use that, and I just used some pink craft felt for the nose. Don't you just love this enormous smile??</div>
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Here you see the yellow felt as the windows. These were so easy to sew on, fairly square without any funny curves or anything.</div>
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The legs turned out a tad too long IMHO. I think the bottom beige piece should have been a bit shorter. Oops... It's basically a rectangle made out of three long pieces of beige-brown-beige, then I sewed on the dividing lines and stuffed with fibrefill. Same for the tail. </div>
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You can't see the back, which is a good thing as I actually ran out of fabric. Unwilling to go back to the shop for what would have been a FQ, I used another brown wool I had leftover. Close enough in colour of not in softness, it did the trick. Its the bottom anyway so you can't really see this.</div>
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My friend loved it :) This time she knew when I would give it to her, so no reaction photos, but she really liked it so I'm happy!!</div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-67759894228399265382018-08-18T18:00:00.000+01:002018-08-18T18:00:18.396+01:00My Neighbor Totoro Project #1: TotoroHi again my avid followers!<br />
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It's time for some projects with NEW fabrics!! Well, this project has actually been done a few years ago, but I did go shopping for it especially and I'm really proud of how it came out, so yay!<br />
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Way back when (not THAT long ago, although right now it feels like it... ), I discovered that my friend and colleague was a huge fan of the movie My Neighbor Totoro. So I wanted to make her a proper big Totoro, as I knew she'd been looking for one but those things are expensive! I mean £100 and upwards if you want a nice one.<br />
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Off to the shop I went in search for the perfect fabric, and I came across this fake wool fabric. I'm sure there is a proper name for it, but this stuff is great. It feels as soft as proper wool fabric but it's machine washable. Perfect for a doll. Really, doll is so not the right word for this, more like: stuffed animal I guess? Let's just call it what it is: Totoro! I found the perfect shades of dark grey and cream fabrics, ordered a ton of fibrefill online, and used some black wool scraps for the eyes and the nose.<br />
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I found this great tutorial on how to make a small doll <b><a href="http://totorosociety.com/totoro-plush-diy-tutorial/" target="_blank">here</a></b>. All I had to do was upscale it <strike>a bit</strike> a lot. I didn't take any photos of the process unfortunately, but here is the end result:<br />
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I just love how he came out! The ears wouldn't stand up at first, but with some positioning it worked. It's completely stuffed with fibrefill, so it's more like a giant pillow I guess. It's not as wonky as it looks in the photo, but this was the morning that I would bring it to the office and I was in a hurry...</div>
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The back, including tail of course (how else is he going to balance!)</div>
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Closeup of the details. I'm still a little bummed that the mouth stitch was not closer, but it was too late to worry about that now.</div>
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The arrival. This was so epic, it was fantastic. You have to click to enlarge this image so you can see my friend's reaction. I'd come in and stashed Totoro quickly under my desk (in a bag so she wouldn't see), and when she left her desk to get coffee, I put him on her chair. Her reaction was priceless!!! </div>
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Of course I had to get a piccie as well :)</div>
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Making this for my friend was so much fun! She knew it was coming but had no idea that it was done when I brought it in. Remembering this still brings a smile to my face :D And then I made another Totoro project... stay tuned for that one!</div>
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<br />MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-91080293401225849082018-08-15T19:00:00.000+01:002018-08-15T19:00:03.028+01:00#MakeYourStash Willa the Witch Fabric DollHello again!<br />
I'll admit it, I'm actually pre-blogging this while I remember to share some more creations with you ;) Otherwise life will get in the way again! Kudos to all of you who do this regularly and still manage to keep up with work/chores/hobbies/etc.<br />
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Many, many years ago, I bought a few fabric panels on ebay with doll templates. One of them I made in 2010, and while I was convinced I blogged about this at the time, I cannot find the post so I probably didn't... Ooops... In any case, that doll has been sitting in my sewing corner for many years, while her sister has just been folded up in my stash. Not anymore! I finally took her out and completed another project. Now that I have more supplies like different colours of yarn for hair etc, I actually like the new doll better!<br />
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So without further ado, let me introduce you to Willa the Witch:<br />
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Isn't she just the cutest? </div>
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I tried taking photos in the few days where we actually had no sun, so that probably wasn't too clever, but with some editing they came out ok. The fabric is still quite dark so it was not easy to capture her properly. I might have to add another photo later ;)</div>
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The one thing that put me off making this doll for so long was the 3D nose, which I now actually really like. It really adds something to the doll, especially withe the messy hair and the bog bow on the hat :)</div>
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And for those of you who are curious about her sister, this is her:</div>
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To my great embarrassment, I cannot remember her name anymore, and Google is of no help. But in any case, this was the first doll I made out of a doll panel in 2010. I only had black wool for the hair, so sadly no other choice. Purple hair or so would have been so cool though! </div>
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Now that I finished both dolls, I'm rather tempted to find another fabric panel with a witch doll to make. I really shouldn't as they do tend to take up quite a bit of space... But at least it's one more project finished! I also had a panel for a vest of some sort, but it turned out you had to sew that onto a tshirt and that just made it way too 80s for me (yes there is such a thing as TOO 80s, LOL) and I gave it to a friend who will no doubt cut it up and use the fabric in one of his many quilts.<br />
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I just love how I'm rediscovering things I kind of forgot I had... I also got rid of a lot of bits that I knew I was never going to use. My local council recycles textiles which is great, so I can keep it out of landfill :) Ok, am going to leave you to it, and see what I can make next!MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-49814648073355285272018-08-12T08:26:00.003+01:002018-08-12T08:26:56.592+01:00#MakeYourStash Striped Jersey Layer Mini SkirtHi again everyone!!<br />
This weekly blogging has not really happened as of late, so sorry about that! Lots of things happening here, some things crazier than other. Last week I was in hospital with kidney stones! There is something I was not expecting at all... Feeling much better now, so hoping it stays that way and I can take up the activity that is life again :)<br />
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Back to business: sewing!! My stash has actually dwindled a bit with all the recent projects, and there are even more to come. Although I have to admit that I also went shopping for more fabric not too long ago... but this is another #makeyourstash post, so let me show you what I made with bits of jersey. I just love jersey...<br />
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Over the years, despite not having an overlocker or having ever sewn with jersey, I managed to gather quite a bit... and somehow ALL of it is striped. One can only wear so much striped jersey, and after the grey striped <a href="http://mybusycraftlife.blogspot.com/2018/06/makeyourstash-blackgrey-striped-jersey.html" target="_blank">jersey maxidress</a>, I wasn't sure what else to make. So I checked my stash and thought I'd see if I could combine the various stripes, and this is the result:<br />
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Using a simple a-line pattern, Ilayered up the various jerseys with the stripes going in different directions, sewed the sides up, and added a waistband. It would have been more flowing and cuter if I'd not sewn the sides on all the layers but only the bottom one, but by the time I'd discovered that it was all done and I really didn't want to take everything out again. I overlocked the edges before sewing all the pieces together,</div>
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I just love this skirt, it's so comfortable! I actually ended up wearing it over white leggings when it gets colder, which also looks very cute.</div>
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I'm not sure how well it would work with a printed top as it might take away from the details of the skirt, but the plain top works as well. </div>
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This shows, even with rather small pieces you can still make something nice. Now I just have to find something for the remaining 8 yards of grey striped jersey ;) Don't get me wrong, this skirt has its flaws, but none that are too obvious so unless I point them out (which I won't!) no one is going to notice and I have another comfy yet cute skirt added to my wardrobe!</div>
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Stay tuned for more finished projects!!</div>
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<br />MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-36226668781361536202018-06-05T20:00:00.000+01:002018-06-05T20:00:11.225+01:00#MakeYourStash Black/Grey Striped Jersey Maxi DressHi again!<br />
Many many moons ago, about 12 years ago actually, I visited San Francisco. While there, I thought it would be a great idea to go the largest (or that's what my guide book said anyway) flea market in San Jose. Because that would be so easy to get to without a car ;)<br />
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A few hours later, I made it there though and had a stroll through the market in the insane heat. I remember buying an enormous bag of chili peppers, and of course: some fabric. I found this fabulous black and grey striped jersey for only $1 a yard! At the time, I really only made big poofy dresses and even though I had never sewn with jersey, I thought this would be perfect for a big poofy dress. So I bought 10 yards, as you do.... Once I'd bought the fabric I headed the long wayback to SF as this fabric was heavy, schlepped it back home to the UK after the holiday, where it has been in my stash ever since. Making a big poofy dress with jersey was really not a great idea really, and it would be a few years before my overlocker would arrive in my life.<br />
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Fast forward a few years, and I had this gorgeous maxi dress in a striped purple stretchy fabric which was slowly nearing the end of its life. This was the perfect time to recreate it! Enter the stripey jersey :) I don't have a photo of the purple dress to hand at the moment, but I basically made the same on in the jersey. I didn't sew in a neckband though, at the time that I made this I didn't know how, and I quite liked that the straps would be thinner without it.<br />
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I used the stripes the same way as the original design, with them meeting for the front bust piece, horizontal for the back, and vertical stripes for the skirt. The stripes are much narrower than the original, but the result now has a rather Tim Burton effect :)<br />
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It's so comfy!! Yes comfort is important, especially if wanting to be practical. I just love jersey, you can do anything with it really. So I now still have about 8 yards left of this fabric... I mean how many clothing items can/should a person on in the same stripey fabric? ;) Some if this may have to be passed on... But at least I made something with it :) One down, a LOT more to go...MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-67065462519261124422018-06-01T16:00:00.001+01:002018-06-01T16:00:26.471+01:00#MakeYourStash Blue Linen Summer Dress - Butterick B5836Hello again my loyal readers!<br />
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Of course the minute I write about blogging weekly, I then don't actually get around to blogging weekly. Oops! But then again the weather has been improving, which also meant I could finally take my new dress on its first outing :)<br />
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I bought this amazing blue linen fabric at one of the medieval festivals with every intention of making a nice medieval dress from it. Many many years ago... it just never happened. Of course I bought like way too much fabric, I think I have about 4 meters of it. The fabric was quite stuff and for some reason I took great offense when even washing and extra fabric softener didn't help very much. So it was in the stash for a loooong time. Until one day, I found the PERFECT pattern for it!<br />
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I just happened to come across this pattern and it was ideal. I may have been biased as the picture on the pattern pretty much showed the finished dress already ;)<br />
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You may have noticed I don't usually sew a lot of 'normal' clothes, but with a 'normal life' looming, and an impending big number birthday, I figured I should probably adjust to society a little more and have some neutral clothes instead of just wearing geeky shirts all the time. And I absolutely love how this came out!<br />
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The pattern was very straight forward, and the dress does not have a seam around the waist, which is great for average-sized people like me. The gathered neckline and ruffles give it a cute feminine touch, and the linen makes it so very comfortable to wear.<br />
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This is the result!</div>
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It makes me feel very tall and elegant...</div>
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...while still being quirky at the same time.</div>
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I think this dress will be worn a lot over the summer</div>
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Definitely thumbs up for this result! I love it!</div>
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I may make a shorter version of this as well in a cotton blend fabric or so. Not the other dress in the pattern, but just this one with a shorter skirt. Although maybe I'll make the other option as well ;)</div>
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One more fabric used out of my stash, and even though I still have about 2 meters of this left, a friend of mine loved it so I might pass it on to her to use. Or make a matching bag, I don't know yet. I'll keep you posted ;) It'll probably take a while as I have many other fabrics to get through, but who knows what the future holds for this blue linen? ;)</div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-85572377080507512882018-05-12T21:00:00.000+01:002018-05-12T23:23:36.188+01:00#MakeYourStash - Seventies Jersey Maxi SkirtHello again everyone!<br />
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It's becoming tradition to blog on Saturday evening ;) Well, as far as you can call three weeks in a tow a tradition anyway...<br />
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In today's #MakeYourStash challenge, I made a super easy maxi skirt. I received this fabric from a friend who had a stash of original 70s fabric lying around and was having a clear out, so I could take my pick. So many great fabrics!! Some shocking ones also, don't get me wrong. These were the seventies after all. Of course I just had to pick this fabric with the giant purple flowers! So this fbric was in my friend's stash for many many years, and possibly in someone else's before then... Have you ever noticed that unused fabric travels between friends? That is so cool! It then took me at least 2 years to decide on what to make with this... It had to be the perfect item as I love the colours of this fabric so much! It's this super fake stretchy material, not unlike jersey, but obviously from 40-50 years ago so it feel really fake (if that makes sense). I wouldn't wear this as a dress, but it works great as a skirt so that is what it would become.<br />
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For inspiration I spent some time on Pinterest. I don't remember which one I used exactly, but if you search for 'jersey maxi skirt' you'll get a ton of results, many of them with really straight forward instructions. I just cut an A-line front and back, and added a waistband. The fabric was quite stretchy so I didn't need a zip. I just used the fabric itself and did not ad elastic. I figured it would be good enough, and luckily it worked as I only have a teeny tiny bit of fabric left!<br />
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Of course I rushed outside in the nice weather and took some photos to show you:<br />
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The skirt is so comfortable! And I realised afterwards that I have tops in all colours to match ;)</div>
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My attempt of being all artsy with my photos LOL</div>
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One more project done, now I can relax and prepare for the next one!</div>
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I absolutely adore this fabric. It's a super 70s print, and not everyone I know loves it as much, but the colours just make me happy. Another friend gave me a good tip a little while back for my overlocker (serger for my American readers), as I didn't use it very much as I hated to re-thread it so often to match the colours. She advised to use grey thread as it disappears in most colours. I tried it out and she was right! I now only use grey thread, and most of the time it really blends in! It's much friendlier for lighter colours than a strong white, and it's easier to handle with darker colours. So I hope this might help some of you in using your overlocker more :)</div>
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What do you think of my new skirt? Let me know in the comments, and then it's off to my next challenge! Have a great weekend everyone!</div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-45203889628631678752018-05-05T10:36:00.001+01:002018-05-05T10:36:41.908+01:00#MakeYourStash - Iron CaddyGood morning my lovely readers¬<br />
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It's the bank holiday weekend and the weather is turning out wonderful! I'll get to take more photos of my creations in the sun :)<br />
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Today I wanted to show you the other project I made for which I had bought the Insulbrite in the first place. That's a hard thing to find here in the UK if not online, so when I happened to find it at one of the sewing shows I was delighted.<br />
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I found <a href="http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/easy-peasy-travel-iron-caddy.html" target="_blank">this tutorial</a> on Pinterest a while back, and as I normally store my iron in its original box which apparently is not a good thing, I thought this would make a wonderful storage for it. I remember thinking at the time: why would this be a travel caddy? Who travels with their iron?? It turns out: I do! Well, I don't travel with it meaning I leave the house, but I do move it around the house so in a way it travels a bit.<br />
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A while back, a friend visited my in good ol' London and we went fabric shopping. We both crushed on this purple button fabric, so we both had to get some. She bought a few meters of the fabric alone, I bought some of the button and also some matching polka dots. I think I got a meter of each, although I can't be sure. It's been a couple of years! So when I looked through my stash for fabric for this project, this was the obvious choice :) I'll let you read the original tutorial on the link above, but here is my result:<br />
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The inside with the Insultbrite.</div>
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The outside showing the lovely button fabric. This is where I learned that when using bias binding to always do the inside first. It's not super obvious but it would have looked better if I'd done that...</div>
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Just enough room for my iron</div>
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I ended up using a scrap from another project to put over the iron to protect it from dust as my iron seems to be taller than average. </div>
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The caddy has a few flaws, but all in all am very pleased with how it came out, and I can now happily carry my iron through the house and it looks much nicer than the box! </div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-52236423301057338012018-04-30T10:21:00.000+01:002018-04-30T10:21:16.888+01:00#MakeYourStash - Ghastlies Apron and Kitchen SetHello again everyone!<br />
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This idea of blogging more didn't really happen yet as my last post was already over a month ago. Time flies when you're making things! I'm also realising that I'm starting every post with the same sentence in a way so let's not focus on delays with blogging anymore. Instead let's focus on all the cool stuff I made!<br />
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On a friend's blog I found this challenge: '<a href="http://timetosew.uk/introducing-makeyourstash/" target="_blank">Make Your Stash</a>'. It even has its own hashtag! How cool is that? The challenge ran until today actually so I'm a little late to jump on the bandwagon, but let just extend it for this blog's sake. Mostly because I've been flying through my stash! Which simultaneously is a great thing as I'm using up fabric that's been lying around and therefore creating space, and a bad thing as new items take away space. I can't win!<br />
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Last week our annual 3 days of summer arrived in London. We had a minor heatwave (really bad for the marathon but lovely for everyone else), and since then the weather has again plummeted to 5C. I think our summer is over really ;) It also meant that I could use the weather to take looots of pictures of my creations. A bit of a nicer background than the wall really.<br />
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But first let me start with this gorgeous kitchen set I made with some Ghastlies fabric I had n my stash. Oh my this takes me back. This is actually the fun bit as each really old piece has its own story. Many years ago, and I have to check my blog for this one, I received what I like to call the '<a href="http://mybusycraftlife.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/halloweening-coolest-table-set-ever.html" target="_blank">coolest table set ever</a>' from a reader in the US. I have since sent her something back, and we're still in touch of course. When I visited Salem in 2012, I bought some more Ghastlies fabric to make an apron to match the table set. Because nothing says 'I'm a fab chef' as much as matching your table wear LOL. Needless to say, I hadn't actually gotten around to making the apron yet, and time happily ticked by. So finally, during the cold winter months, I sat down and made lots of things with my 1 yard of Ghastlies fabric. It's amazing how much you can get out of one yard!<br />
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First, of course I made the apron:<br />
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I used a plain black polycotton for the lining, and pink Ghastlies matching fabric for the straps and the frills.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Nj48vzw4AQ/WubbSVu_65I/AAAAAAAAggE/iY1YjOj7aEgGEx2O_4fsgSgIWAjW6ou3wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="769" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Nj48vzw4AQ/WubbSVu_65I/AAAAAAAAggE/iY1YjOj7aEgGEx2O_4fsgSgIWAjW6ou3wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3846.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rvQpN9z493k/WubbSW7mQ8I/AAAAAAAAggI/kdFz1R6_UTwpT_oI1yu6IDxeQOV8o6-uwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="769" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rvQpN9z493k/WubbSW7mQ8I/AAAAAAAAggI/kdFz1R6_UTwpT_oI1yu6IDxeQOV8o6-uwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3858.JPG" width="250" /></a></div>
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I used a very basic pattern of an old apron I had, so it doesn't have the usual round frilly edge, but it came out quite well nonetheless.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VJJpfv7tCn0/WubbS4weGEI/AAAAAAAAggQ/EJ72VaukuxYTiiws6Fp2X8AF9KvhVBv6QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="769" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VJJpfv7tCn0/WubbS4weGEI/AAAAAAAAggQ/EJ72VaukuxYTiiws6Fp2X8AF9KvhVBv6QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3865.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I had enough to add a pocket. You know, to carry my phone so I can Instagram my creations ;)</div>
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I had some fabric left, and it turned out that it was just enough for an oven mitt! It all came together as I had some Insulbrite leftover from another project (post to follow) and that was also just enough. Couple that with some leftover complimentary fabric from my yoga bag from many years ago for the inside, together with bias binding from my stash and we have all the ingredients needed for a lovely oven mitt: </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_rGo-D2hW2c/WubbRj5lHCI/AAAAAAAAgf4/0fA4eWV_ZIsIS292HCYxaSj7mQjfzeWugCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="1534" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_rGo-D2hW2c/WubbRj5lHCI/AAAAAAAAgf4/0fA4eWV_ZIsIS292HCYxaSj7mQjfzeWugCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3765.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yes this is what oven mitts look like in the UK ;) They're great as the inside of your arms are protected as well, very handy when taking pies out of the oven!</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PmTP_nXHHtE/WubbRq5VklI/AAAAAAAAgf0/vo_21oKcnNYfK_VAyzNcdLlLF_xSKkkwQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PmTP_nXHHtE/WubbRq5VklI/AAAAAAAAgf0/vo_21oKcnNYfK_VAyzNcdLlLF_xSKkkwQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3759.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
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I still had a tiny bit of fabric left, so I made a tiny mitt as well. I use this mostly to hold the pan handle when I stir or fry stuff in my cast iron.</div>
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I even had enough for a matching inside</div>
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I just love my new kitchen set! And I really used ALL the fabric, never had a project that did that...</div>
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Isn't it cute?</div>
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Of course I put it straight to the test. I had already finished baking by the time the photo was taken, but I just had to get all the items into the shot ;) </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GY4izcweXo8/WubbTInnFpI/AAAAAAAAggY/LgprBePlt6cAb0JmaRVMgcbSXOx426qrQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GY4izcweXo8/WubbTInnFpI/AAAAAAAAggY/LgprBePlt6cAb0JmaRVMgcbSXOx426qrQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3868.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
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Clearly the new apron is having a great effect on my baking :) This pavlova was divine!</div>
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That is some of my fabric used up, I have many more metres of fabric to go... more on that soon. Have a great day everyone and keep crafting!</div>
<br />MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-36978846087561981842018-03-25T20:35:00.000+01:002018-03-25T20:35:06.835+01:00Haunted House Cross Stitch is FINISHED!Hi everyone!<br />
It's finally done! OK, it was done a little while
ago (in 2016 to be exact as I've just discovered on my Facebook memories), but it took a long time to find the right frame so now I can
finally display my beautiful Haunted House Cross Stitch :)<br />
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This is it, hanging in my hallway.</div>
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This
project took my about 4 years, although I didn't work on it every day
so I can't actually tell you how many hours are in this. Let me give you
some closeups:</div>
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I
was so pleased when it was done! This was taken at the craft group,
most of this cross stitch was done here so it was only fitting to have
the grand unveiling here too</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dybjCLXNpIU/WqVwblNQt1I/AAAAAAAAgaU/uF50kE5tJBMCwBViz922qO8riGXpIvQ4wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0908_marked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dybjCLXNpIU/WqVwblNQt1I/AAAAAAAAgaU/uF50kE5tJBMCwBViz922qO8riGXpIvQ4wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0908_marked.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I
found a frame in Walthamstow and getting it home is a whole story on
its own, but I think it's perfect! It is just the right amount of ol and
creepy. </div>
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The next project is already underway, so hopefully soon I'll be able to post an update on that too!</div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-1522356360070322772018-03-17T20:19:00.000+00:002018-03-17T20:19:03.439+00:00Cupcake Pincushion TutorialHello everyone!<br />
<br />
I always want to make tutorials and when I'm doing a project, I get so engrossed that I forget to take photos. Oops... This time I think I managed, even if it was over several versions of the same project. This cupcake pincushion does require some prep work, so let's get started!<br />
<br />
<u>The prep:</u><br />
Before you can start assembling your cupcake, you need to create the following:<br />
<ul>
<li>Empty jar: ok so you'll technically not assemble the jar, but you do need one on hand. I use the jars from lumpfish caviar as they are the perfect size. Just eat the caviar (this sounds much more expensive than it is, we have this on special occasions and a jar is maybe £1.99) and clean the jar well.</li>
<li>Knitted base: knit a rectangle using only knit stitch so you get the ribbing long and wide enough to cover the sides of your jar. I haven't added exact measurements as I assume that you might use a different jar. The rectangle should be about 4mm wider than the jar to cover any overlapping and sewing seams. The rectangle should be in the colour you want your base to be in. You won't see really it in the end, but I like to match it just in case. </li>
<li>Knitted cord: I used a knitting nancy, but you can finger knit or use proper knitting needles if you want. This will be your frosting, so make sure you choose a colour that you like as this will the main part of the cupcake. The length will again depend on how high you want your cupcake to be, mine is usually about a meter I think (very rough estimate). If it's too short, you can add another one later, if it's too long it will have extra icing so don't worry if it doesn't exactly matches.</li>
</ul>
Once you have all of the above, you can start assemblong your cupcake. You'll need the below materials. The photo shows most of the materials, I forgot a few, so the complete list is below: <br />
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<ul>
<li>scissors</li>
<li>knitted cord</li>
<li>felt for your fruit, I chose a strawberry so I needed red and green felt</li>
<li>a 3/4 circle in the same colour as your frosting, you'll probably see a bit of this, so try to match this as close as you can. I didn't use felt here, but a scrap of wool that I had from a different project. </li>
<li>felt rectangle in the same colour as your 'cupcake liner' knitted base. Again, I had a scrap of wool that worked as well.</li>
<li>felt circle for the base of your cupcake (not pictured) </li>
<li>low glass jar </li>
<li>knitted rectangle for your base</li>
<li>various beads for your fruit if you need any, and for sprinkles</li>
<li>about 15cm satin ribbon, this will be your cream </li>
<li>matching thread</li>
<li>fiberfill</li>
</ul>
<u>The assembly:</u><br />
Now we can finally start assembling!<br />
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Attach your felt rectangle to your felt circle, this will be your base: <br />
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I like to turn it over afterwards, but it doesn't matter if you do or not as these seems will be hidden later:<br />
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Place your jar into the base:<br />
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Use the 3/4 circle to make your frosting base. Turn and stitch so that it will be large enough to cover your jar and high enough to make for a nice dome:<br />
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Stitch the frosting base onto the cake base, fill with fiberfill once you have stitch about 3/4 of the cupcake closed. Make sure it's filled comfortably, stitch closed:<br />
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Take your knitting rectangle and place it around the cupcake base. The top and bottom will be a bit longer than the original jar. Use the side that shows the best ribbing, replicating a cupcake liner. Stitch the ends together:<br />
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Turn the cupcake over and stitch the edges of the knitted base onto the felt bottom. Clearly this was one of those where I forgot to take a photo and took one when making a different cupcake:<br />
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You should now have a good base to start stitching your frosting:<br />
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Place your knitted cord onto the base roughly where you can feel the screw of the jar. That is where your frosting will start. It's much easier to start from the bottom and work your way up as any errors can be corrected without having to undo a lot of stitching. Once you have sewn on one end, we can start making the frosting. <span style="color: red;">DO NOT DO THIS</span>: do not just hld the cord straight and stitch, the result will be a very boring cupcake:<br />
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<b>DO THIS</b> instead: as you stitch, twist the cord to get a real frosting look. I'm left handed, so your cord may face the other way, but keep twisting as you loop higher and higher up the base:<br />
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Stitch the cord onto the base first, twisting as you go. This is where you'll see if your cord is long enough. If it is: wonderful! If it's not, dont panic. You can either make another one in the same colour, or if you notice it on time, you can make one in another colour and make a two-colour swirl. Once you have stitched the cord onto the base, it's time to stitch the cords together. If you don't do this, you will see the base much more like so: <br />
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So stitch the cords together, and you'll end up with a lovely even frosting:<br />
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Take your ribbon, and you can either burn the ends to prevent fraying or deal with that while you stich the ends together. I normally burn the ends first, and then stitch the ends together after:<br />
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Gather one side of the ribbon to make a yoyo-type circle, this will be your squirt of cream:<br />
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Attach the cream to the top of the cupcake:<br />
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Now for the fruit. I wanted to make a strawberry, so I cut some red felt a little larger than 1/4 circle:<br />
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Attach the two flat sides, trim the top if needed: <br />
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Fill with fiberfill, gather the top and stitched closed (sorry I don't have a photo of this). For the strawberry leaves, cut some green felt to size: <br />
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Cover the gather part of the strawberry with the leaves, stitch. Add tiny clear/white beads to the strawberry to get the seed effect: <br />
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Your strawberry is done! As I ended up making a cherry for the brown/white cupcake, and the new cupcake was purple and pink, I had to add another fruit, so I made a blueberry as well. For this I used a large and a small circle of navy felt, and a small circle of purple felt:<br />
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I used a book for this, but let me describe what I did here. I cut a small cross into the centre of the large circle and placed the purple circle on top of the cross. Then I stitched along the edge of the large circle, and pulled the thread so the circle would gather into a tiny ball. Stuff the ball with fiberfill, stitch closed. The use the small navy circle to cover the gathers and stitch:<br />
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I'm very proud of my blueberry! I never made a blueberry before! Once you have ann your fruits done, sew the fruit onto the squirt of cream:<br />
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Now choose your sprinkles, and sew these willy-nilly onto the frosting. The size of your 'sprinkles' is completely up to you. I have some cupcakes where the frosting is just one colour and I've used tiny bead sprinkles, but for this one I wanted to use bigger ones as I think the tiny ones would get lots in the swirls too much. You can either sew one, bind, cut the thread and start again, or you can do what I like to do and that is just to keep going until I'm out of thread. Don't sew on too many as you want to leave some room for your pins as well, but I like the odd sprinkle so that even when there are no pins in the cupcake, it still looks like a proper cupcake:<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oLUbEngHN40/WqUS9WQvvkI/AAAAAAAAgW4/m1TLGl5TQc4Nn14XwjFOywAU_mI8ACM3ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4252_marked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1024" height="310" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oLUbEngHN40/WqUS9WQvvkI/AAAAAAAAgW4/m1TLGl5TQc4Nn14XwjFOywAU_mI8ACM3ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4252_marked.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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I normally don't add anything to the base as usually the base is not the same as the frosting colour, but in this case it was so I added a blue ribbon to offset all the purple: </div>
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Taadaa, your cupcake pincushion is finished! It can now be used for lots of sewing, and will look great in your sewing area :) The thing I love about these (apart from how cute they look of course) is that they're easy to carry and because of the glass base they don't fall over easily. And if it does ever fall, the glass jar is so well protected with the fiberfill, wool, and felt, that it won't break easily.<br />
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For anyone who was curious whatever happened to the brown/white cupcake that I started the tutorial with, I did finish it, but it became a chocolate/cherry cupcake as opposed to the strawberry one: <br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OL9J9Olp-kU/WqUS2xVuW0I/AAAAAAAAgV0/1pGQFWcdNAIZmW0EjjNWQd72hPGn4oEsgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4123_marked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="818" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OL9J9Olp-kU/WqUS2xVuW0I/AAAAAAAAgV0/1pGQFWcdNAIZmW0EjjNWQd72hPGn4oEsgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4123_marked.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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Again, I didn't have enough cording to cover the whole top with white, so I quickly made another pink cord to swirl it up. I also made a felt cherry for the top:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cTueTT_jPJ0/WqUS3Upi15I/AAAAAAAAgV8/GMH4HMnUkoQOgVENlXGimO69EYIPelX5gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4129_marked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="979" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cTueTT_jPJ0/WqUS3Upi15I/AAAAAAAAgV8/GMH4HMnUkoQOgVENlXGimO69EYIPelX5gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4129_marked.jpg" width="305" /></a> </div>
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Last but not least, I made a strawberry/vanilla cupcake, with a striped cupcake sleeve, yellow vanilla frosting, pink strawberry squirt of cream, strawberry on top, and bright pink sprinkles: <br />
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I really love this one as well. I think I have too many at this point!<br />
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I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I would love to see your creations if you end up making one of these :)</div>
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Thanks for reading and take care!</div>
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<br />MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-91859412235545045092018-03-11T20:23:00.000+00:002018-03-11T20:23:31.910+00:00The Great Oscar Dinner 2018<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hi everyone! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think I've said this many many times already, but oh my it has been a long time since my last post! A good number of years in fact. Running has kind of taken over my life, along with long hours at work, but fear not! Some things have changed and I surely have not been sitting still :) I have many posts lined up to show you my fabulous new creations (and fabulous new failures as well LOL) so I do hope to be blogging a lot more again from now on. I've also changed the layout of the blog a bit, what do you think?</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Originally, I had a different post lined up for my "I'm back" post, but it's already been a week and I have not yet shown anyone my food creations for the Oscar Party of 2018. Well, it wasn't really a party this time, both myself and the bf are currently injured so it was a nice evening on the sofa with nice food, so let's call it the Great Oscar Dinner of 2018 instead ;)</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For anyone who needs a reminder of who was nominated, here are the nominees for Best Picture:</span></span></span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get Out</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Shape of Water </span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dunkirk</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Darkest Hour</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Phantom Thread</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lady Bird</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Post</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Call Me By Your Name</span></span></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last few years the Oscar Dinner has been happening even though I have nt blogged about it really, but the effort around it has become more practical as opposed to grand, I guess. All the nominees are still represented, but I just don't have to spend quite as much time in the kitchen. This year, for example, the prep took me a few hours which is so much better than the few days it took me in previous years! Also, we moved a little while ago and most of my decorations were given away so I didn't even have the fancy name cards for the dishes. So are you hungry yet? Let's get this dinner started!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>The Apperitif:</u></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Get Out</b>: "iced tea", a really nice <a href="http://www.somethingedible.com/index.php/recipes/card/bourbon_whiskey_tea" target="_blank">bourbon-based iced tea</a>. After all, this movie is all about deceit and misdirection. The word I found for it while looking for recipes was "Trompe L'Oeil"</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Shape of Water</b>: <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2362635/deviled-eggs" target="_blank">devilled eggs</a>, how could I make anything other than eggs to represent this movie? It was the first I'd made these, and while I did add way too much pepper it was actually not bad. So less pepper next time ;)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Three Billboards</b>: I was really stuck for this one. The only thing the internet showed me was a cheese board with three cheeses! More research then took me to specialty foods of Missouri, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that (according to the Internet anyway), sliced meats are traditional there. Lots of French charcuterie was had as a result.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>The Starter:</u> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-GFgW-0azc/WqT7izvYROI/AAAAAAAAgSI/KQQkkOeb8yg8_dU_6N5XjKS1kq8HnazNwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-GFgW-0azc/WqT7izvYROI/AAAAAAAAgSI/KQQkkOeb8yg8_dU_6N5XjKS1kq8HnazNwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4500.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <b>Dunkirk</b>: fish cakes. This may seem like a bit of a cop out, but I couldn't make moules frites as we were having something else for the main course, so I had to think of something 'fishy'. Yes it was an easy way out, yet so delicious!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Main Course:</span></span></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QcJmLsSzXuc/WqT7i0F5cHI/AAAAAAAAgSM/TbSrJtLlQDQj-WNJ61TUCFielo94iRBcwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QcJmLsSzXuc/WqT7i0F5cHI/AAAAAAAAgSM/TbSrJtLlQDQj-WNJ61TUCFielo94iRBcwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4501.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <b>Lady Bird</b>: spatchcock. This was the most obvious one. Not having seen the movie yet, this decision was based partially on Internet research showing a Thanksgiving dinner featuring in the movie, as well as just the word 'bird' in the title, and as there was no way I was going to cook a turkey for two people this was the best solution. Tiny bird anyone?</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Darkest Hour</b>: <a href="http://wallflowerkitchen.com/balsamic-roasted-new-potatoes-asparagus/" target="_blank">roast potatoes</a>. The breakfast scene in the movie is great, yet not exactly suitable for dinner (no, we're not having brinner! LOL). The most British thing I could think of for dinner were roast potatoes, which worked out perfectly with the rest of the dish.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Phantom Thread</b>: <a href="http://wallflowerkitchen.com/balsamic-roasted-new-potatoes-asparagus/" target="_blank">aparagus</a>. This was a tough one. Again, not having seen the movie, I needed some inspiration. The asparagu scene stood out from everything else I read, and again that worked really well with the overal dish. I actually ended up roasting the potatoes with the asparagus in the same pan, saving even more time!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>The Side Dish:</u> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xau_DKbgwI0/WqT7jUx3jFI/AAAAAAAAgSQ/MyaW0jKF0mQiZUl8R_CDQsCvzz4AyGw9gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xau_DKbgwI0/WqT7jUx3jFI/AAAAAAAAgSQ/MyaW0jKF0mQiZUl8R_CDQsCvzz4AyGw9gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4502.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Post</b>: <a href="http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/vietnamese-zoodle-salad-with-fragrant-herbs-and-roasted-peanuts" target="_blank">Vietnamese salad</a>. This dish actually came up when I looked for recipes for 'Get Out', but as the back story of the movie is all about the Vietnam war, I thought it could also work for the Post. Philly Cheese Steak was just not going to happen with the list of dishes I already had. This was the worst of the recipes though, and we hardly ate it. I heated it up the next day to use in a stir fry which was not too bad, but I don't think I'll be making this again.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>The Dessert:</u></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yIdKSoVBUrQ/WqT7jqd9ZMI/AAAAAAAAgSU/lCCZFdNKU4MshFkNz6K9OBok8qwetLFwACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yIdKSoVBUrQ/WqT7jqd9ZMI/AAAAAAAAgSU/lCCZFdNKU4MshFkNz6K9OBok8qwetLFwACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4503.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Call Me By Your Name</b>: <a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bourbon-glazed-peaches-yogurt" target="_blank">bourbon-glazed peaches</a>. I might as well use more bourbon as I had to buy some for the cocktail for 'Get Out' anyway, and the movie has one scene involving a peach (very 'American Pie), so this recipe was ideal. I served the warm peaches with ice cream instead of yogurt. There was supposed to be lots of bourbon glaze, but I think the peaches were not yet ripe enough as the result was just a bourbon soaked peach really. Need to try this one again.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all not a bad dinner, I think! It didn't take ages and all movies were represented quite well. I've linked all the recipes above if you want to try some of these yourself. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks for reading and take care!</span></span></span></span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-37334608854186111862016-01-01T18:49:00.001+00:002016-01-01T18:49:49.357+00:00Running Through 2015 - 250K - I did it!<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Happy New Year everyone! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's been a while and much has been achieved in the last 6 months, best of all: I've completed my 2015 running challenge!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WcceuP6EJyg/VobFVbA44JI/AAAAAAAAf6U/0bvW_rfir2w/s1600/runningthrough2015-medal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WcceuP6EJyg/VobFVbA44JI/AAAAAAAAf6U/0bvW_rfir2w/s320/runningthrough2015-medal.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is what this challenge has achieved! Apart from a healthier body,
mind, and life, 250K in event distance also gave me bling. Whoohoo! And a
lot of event tshirts...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As the challenge is now done, I didn't want to blog about each run separately, so here are the highlights since the Sumo Run in June:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJWfC3mlEPE/VobFTApygLI/AAAAAAAAf58/t9B32BYAA1s/s1600/runningthrough2015-4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJWfC3mlEPE/VobFTApygLI/AAAAAAAAf58/t9B32BYAA1s/s320/runningthrough2015-4.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 5K in Hyde Park, was going for 10 but had to stop at 5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yt2tsCnki4I/VobFTf4q_2I/AAAAAAAAf50/kusS514ndMk/s1600/runningthrough2015-5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yt2tsCnki4I/VobFTf4q_2I/AAAAAAAAf50/kusS514ndMk/s320/runningthrough2015-5.JPG" width="228" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hyde Park 10K, his was a difficult one but met a running buddy and we got each other through</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uwbqth9gnUU/VobFTkFQroI/AAAAAAAAf54/Ff3XDgub5SA/s1600/runningthrough2015-6.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uwbqth9gnUU/VobFTkFQroI/AAAAAAAAf54/Ff3XDgub5SA/s320/runningthrough2015-6.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Clapham Common 5K, they had to resend me the medal as they handed out the ones with the wrong date on it (as am doing a challenge, the date had to match of course)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WeNwXx3OcZM/VobFSemjT8I/AAAAAAAAf5g/bZxiDBAnAUI/s1600/runningthrough2015-16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WeNwXx3OcZM/VobFSemjT8I/AAAAAAAAf5g/bZxiDBAnAUI/s320/runningthrough2015-16.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spitfire 10K, run organised by the RAF Museum. The route wasn't the greatest (it had part of it along the freeway) but the medal and the venue was amazing! And yes, this is a real Spitfire in the background :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DswxoPdIK0M/VobFSlqjDXI/AAAAAAAAf5k/rarVtvzgZzQ/s1600/runningthrough2015-17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DswxoPdIK0M/VobFSlqjDXI/AAAAAAAAf5k/rarVtvzgZzQ/s320/runningthrough2015-17.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Run to the Beat 10K, much better than expected! Got a voucher as otherwise too expensive, but good fun and a lovely route</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pn446-SGZCs/VobFTyb-l3I/AAAAAAAAf6M/ZnOEUdQTd_o/s1600/runningthrough2015-7.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pn446-SGZCs/VobFTyb-l3I/AAAAAAAAf6M/ZnOEUdQTd_o/s320/runningthrough2015-7.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Run to H.E.L.L. virtual run on holiday. Did a 6K which felt much longer in that heat... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g0U9MEzPDHc/VobFUM7gTfI/AAAAAAAAf6I/Ds_TRg_W3Hw/s1600/runningthrough2015-8.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g0U9MEzPDHc/VobFUM7gTfI/AAAAAAAAf6I/Ds_TRg_W3Hw/s320/runningthrough2015-8.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Run with the Girls 10K in Hyde Park, all in pink as of course girly, even the medal was pink! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My first (and only) international run! City Run 5K in the Netherlands. All the other runs started too late, but it was great fun and very flat so had an excellent PB!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Richmond Riverside 10K, I class this a trail run as there wasn't really a road to speak of. Not bad but I was really struggling. Still finished in under and hour though!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Greenwich Park 5K, there is an enormous hill that is just a killer. So glad I only did 5K here!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvRDPya52xc/VobFPy8i42I/AAAAAAAAf5E/5ZDWa54rysQ/s1600/runningthrough2015-10.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvRDPya52xc/VobFPy8i42I/AAAAAAAAf5E/5ZDWa54rysQ/s320/runningthrough2015-10.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Halloween Big Fun Run 5K, the costume stayed intact and it was really foggy to add to the creepy atmosphere :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Trick or Treat Run 5K on the same day at the other end of London. That was rushing! Note to self, never do that again... I think I would have enjoyed just one long run more than two short ones with travelling! Costume remained intact for entire day though which is rather amazing :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> After Adoption 10K where I paced my friend J. Great fun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Santa Dash 10K, 1700 Santas running, now that's fun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Reindeer Run 10K, everyone got these antlers (didn't stay on for long) got a PB and didn't even realise it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Olympic Park 10K, last minute entry and had 2 PBs! The weather was grim but the medal was aamzing :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Greenwich Park 10K, yes now had to do the hill 3 times... came in just under an hour and it was a struggle. Evil hill! But I did it!!! I finished the challenge! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z1HMq9cATPw/VobFP2z0AuI/AAAAAAAAf5M/-AiWrQCRG7w/s1600/250K.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z1HMq9cATPw/VobFP2z0AuI/AAAAAAAAf5M/-AiWrQCRG7w/s320/250K.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is what 250K in official events looks like...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WcceuP6EJyg/VobFVbA44JI/AAAAAAAAf6U/0bvW_rfir2w/s1600/runningthrough2015-medal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WcceuP6EJyg/VobFVbA44JI/AAAAAAAAf6U/0bvW_rfir2w/s320/runningthrough2015-medal.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...and this is what it is in medals! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcx8yumeda8/VobFVCJV5jI/AAAAAAAAf6Y/N3cWZwPqNwM/s1600/runningthrough2015-happynewyear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcx8yumeda8/VobFVCJV5jI/AAAAAAAAf6Y/N3cWZwPqNwM/s320/runningthrough2015-happynewyear.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Had one last run to finish the year off. I now need to get ready for my next challenge: 1000 miles in 1 year! I'll post about that on my page though, and go back to posting crafting stuff here :) Until then, I'll laze a bit more today. Tomorrow the new challenge starts!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Happy New Year!</b></span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-9931511260478620462015-06-29T22:58:00.001+01:002015-06-29T22:58:52.624+01:00Running - Jedi Challenge<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hi everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Who would have thought that I actually had 7 runs to blog about? It sure has been a busy few weeks... With all those runs, the total amount of kilometers I've run in events has increased exponentially, and I was closing in on 100K. With my next running event not scheduled until mid July, I really wanted to hit this amazing milestone before the end of June. So I turned to the net, and lo' and behold, I found some awesome virtual races. Some of them were too expensive for my liking or didn't have a nice medal, until I found the perfect organisation called <a href="http://virtualnerdruns.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Virtual Nerd Runs</a>. They have decent prices and are a very friendly bunch. And best of all, they have nerdy medals!! When I saw their Jedi Challenge, I knew I just had to do that one. I signed up, and not even two weeks later, my medal was in the mail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uR7epn3yyXk/VZG7bjK9UMI/AAAAAAAAfu4/1bb_Q2EJanI/s1600/IMG_3569.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uR7epn3yyXk/VZG7bjK9UMI/AAAAAAAAfu4/1bb_Q2EJanI/s320/IMG_3569.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Jedi Challenge was basically anything 5K and up, so I needed to run 8.5K to hit my total of 100K :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Once the medal arrived, I had to complete the run asap of course, you can't just have a medal sitting around, especially a cool one like one from the Jedi Challenge! As I was busy that weekend, it would have to be a run after work. The weather has been improving and as there was no official event so no spectators etc, I had a lovely run along the canal and through Notting Hill suburbia. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFHR6nhdoH4/VZG7bY4DdjI/AAAAAAAAfvA/x0Z0MfaTfE8/s1600/IMG_3570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFHR6nhdoH4/VZG7bY4DdjI/AAAAAAAAfvA/x0Z0MfaTfE8/s320/IMG_3570.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The canal is lovely as a route, and now I know mostly which exists lead to which tube stations in case I really have to stop which is always handy. I spent a good 10 mins at the 5K mark taking pics of the medal LOL, I just hope no one was watching!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MA2qB3EfBGI/VZG7cZj1MfI/AAAAAAAAfu0/9ygUbO9IuCI/s1600/nottinghillgraffiti.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MA2qB3EfBGI/VZG7cZj1MfI/AAAAAAAAfu0/9ygUbO9IuCI/s320/nottinghillgraffiti.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After I turned away from the canal and into suburbia, I got a little lost. I thought I had chosen the longer route while in fact I found a short cut, oops... I did, however, find this fantastic wall in Notting Hill. Usually these murals are blocked by market stalls, but with an empty road that evening I could see everything. They were amazing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qFjyusz9Ac/VZG7cDW9pdI/AAAAAAAAfuw/CXPKweJhZGw/s1600/IMG_3580.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qFjyusz9Ac/VZG7cDW9pdI/AAAAAAAAfuw/CXPKweJhZGw/s320/IMG_3580.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As I was going through suburbia, I really had to slow down with all the traffic lights etc. Having to stop for directions didn't help either. But it was really nice to have a run where I wasn't going for a PB but was just going for distance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is by far the coolest medal I have EVER gotten :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-znPEgBaBwY8/VZG7b_if93I/AAAAAAAAfus/owbbECx76Qk/s1600/IMG_3576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-znPEgBaBwY8/VZG7b_if93I/AAAAAAAAfus/owbbECx76Qk/s320/IMG_3576.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had to run in style of course, so I wear my Darth Vader cookie tshirt on the run. It was a really nice one, and I arrived at yoga very pleased and was able to show the medal off to everyone (yes I am 5 sometimes). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Right now, 4 days later, my toes are still recovering from running nearly 30K in less than a week. I;m not in pain or anything, just wondering exactly how many black toenails are bad for you ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Technically we're way past the 6 month mark as I started my '<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BubblestheClown2015" target="_blank">Running Through 2015</a>' event in December, but it's still a great feeling to have run 100K so far :) And this is only events where I have received a medal or a tshirt, so this total contains no in-between runs. I'm rather chuffed with myself here :) I am raising money with this event also, so if you like to share in my joy in having accomplished this, please donate to the MS Society by using my <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/Bubbles-the-Clown-2015" target="_blank">Justgiving</a> <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/Bubbles-the-Clown-2015" target="_blank">page</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Not to worry, I also have some crafty stuff to post shortly! You can't really run ALL the time, am not Forest Gump ;)</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-19391325604199738462015-06-28T09:23:00.000+01:002015-06-28T09:23:00.073+01:00Running - Runthrough Brixton 10K<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Good morning !</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As mentioned yesterday, I did two 10K in 2 days last week. For some of
you this might not be a lot but I was a tad worried on how and if I was
going to survive this. My original idea was to take it easy on the
Saturday and really give it my all on the Sunday. I am so glad it turned
out the other way around! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Here the weather also held off, it was just windier than the Saturday race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'd never been to Brixton and was so worried about being late that I didn't sleep very well and turned up waaaay early. They were still setting up! At least I made it though without getting lost anywhere :) Music was allowed this time, something I took full advantage of, and off went at around 9.30am, three laps of the park, up and down the hills. It's a nice park though and had it been my only run of the weekend, I would have enjoyed it a little more than I did this time as my toes slowly started screaming at me... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sybUHucfOnY/VY9J8bghNqI/AAAAAAAAftw/5lTPOJizoA8/s1600/runthrough01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sybUHucfOnY/VY9J8bghNqI/AAAAAAAAftw/5lTPOJizoA8/s320/runthrough01.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I came in at 1:03:00, I was so pleased! Not bad at all for the 2nd race of the weekend! Yes, I could have been a little faster if it wasn't for the last hill (not a fan of hills when running) but you can't hope for 2 PBs in the same weekend ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CCTjEg3eqws/VY9J8MT0CoI/AAAAAAAAft4/YhOLmKxmm44/s1600/IMG_8697.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CCTjEg3eqws/VY9J8MT0CoI/AAAAAAAAft4/YhOLmKxmm44/s320/IMG_8697.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Obligatory 'thumbs up' picture ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The medal was cute, I love that the girl runner is wearing purple trousers :) And did you notice that Saturday's number was 263 and Sunday's number was 326? Good omen? I like to think so!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One more quick selfie and off to yoga for some much needed stretching...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-57I8Wez_bOs/VY9J7jK4OII/AAAAAAAAftk/fWWPf5IpNyU/s1600/IMG_3533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-57I8Wez_bOs/VY9J7jK4OII/AAAAAAAAftk/fWWPf5IpNyU/s320/IMG_3533.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...and for our weekly post-yoga brunch where I ate these wonderful pancakes :) well deserved!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Needless to say I spent the rest of the afternoon on the sofa recovering. I wasn't in too bad a shape, most my feet really. When I tallied the official events so far (that's anything with either a t-shirt or a medal), I got really close to 100K so I just had to get there in style. And I found the best way to do that... more tomorrow!!</span>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-68095886123560435322015-06-27T22:08:00.002+01:002015-06-27T22:10:34.186+01:00Running - Osterley Park 10K<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hi again!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">These runs are a great way to discover new parks in London :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Time for the Osterley Park 10K! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Osterley Park 10K was held last Saturday. I was really nervous as I had very smartly signed up for two 10K runs that weekend and I really wasn't sure if I could manage two. The day itself started alright, rain was on the programme, but hopefully that would hold off for a while, and the race was only about 30 mins travel away so if I could survive today with energy for tomorrow, this would be a wonderful race. Only hickup, no head phones allowed. The City Mile didn't allow headphones but that was only a mile. The last time I ran 10K without headphones was at the half marathon and I wasn't doing too well with that (although that could have something to do with the terribly weather and severe knee pain at the time). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There were quite a few runners (I forgot how many exactly) and they slowly started pouring in for registration and the likes. As the crowds gathered, my spirits lifted and I was ready to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The park was gorgeous! I was in the first group to head to the starting line, in the back you can see the masses gathering also. The route ran past the lake, through the gardens, and partially over the payment along the main road. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I didn't take any pictures along the route as I was having this interesting tempo and I just didnt have the time. As I don't like trails too much (am too clumsy), I took it easy on those roads and as soon as we hit the pavement or a 'normal' road, I would speed up and therefore making up for lost time. There were pacers in the race and at some point I ended up between two pacing groups so it was really quiet, you don't really notice that you're in a race actually... until you hear the stampede behind you of the next pacer group. Trust me when I say that is quite scary! Because at this point you're a little tired and even though you're having a very even split, this group will pass you no matter what. So I tried to keep up for a bit until I had a chance to let them pass. Interesting experience really... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As I tried to race to the end (and was taking what I thought were giant steps), one of the spectators shouted 'go on 263!', and then suddenly I realised: I'M 263! So I ran, and sped across the finish line :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the end I had a new PB of 1:00:47!! I was so pleased :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Someone posted a video on Youtube about the run as well (you can see what I mean with 'what I thought were giant steps' LOL), check it out:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Saturday's race down, Sunday's to go... more on that tomorrow!</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-84192889468432326832015-06-26T07:43:00.000+01:002015-06-26T07:43:00.045+01:00Running - Amba City Mile 2015<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">....and we're back! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">To continue to busy running month of June, I ran the Amba City Mile on 13 June. It's a fairly new race and only in it's second year. It's free to enter and only a mile. Last year this was my first run after my injury so it was the perfect distance. This year it was one of many runs in June and even though it was short, I was a little concerned about the time I would put down. This definitely had something to do with the weather as it was cold and rainy. And it's June!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">At least this year I wasn't in the last group :) That totally cheered me up already. There is nothing wrong with being in the last group of course, being in an earlier one just means I must be getting a bit faster and I'll take that anytime. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xw4VEA2h8Ow/VYuhaGMOZII/AAAAAAAAfsg/033k2e4upy4/s1600/IMG_8675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xw4VEA2h8Ow/VYuhaGMOZII/AAAAAAAAfsg/033k2e4upy4/s320/IMG_8675.JPG" width="249" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My wave was at 10.40 so I headed off to the starting point just outside St. Pauls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I didn't take any pictures along the way, it's only a mile and it's a business district so there is not much time or much to see really... They didn't allow headphones so it was a music-less mile and sadly I 'crashed' at the same point I did last year, just before the bend in the road heading to the finish line. It's such a boring stretch... I was going really well and was convinced I could finish in under 8 minutes. Until that point... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the end I finished in 08:08 which is still not bad. Oh those 8 seconds! On the plus side, I was 48 seconds faster than last year and that is an amazing difference :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There was no time to make it to yoga class, and after I had waited 45 mins to collect my bag (it was a bit of a drama, this is one point they have to improve on!) I went to Bea's of Bloomsbury to get some cupcakes. I hardly ever venture into the area and they're the best cupcakes in town so with the finish line being just outside there, it was a must :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The times are getting better, the runs are getting better... I'm far from finished yet as I try to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BubblestheClown2015" target="_blank">Run Through 2015</a>. More to come!</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-40952814712289464802015-06-25T08:00:00.000+01:002015-06-25T08:00:01.440+01:00Running - Colour Run 2015<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Good morning!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I told you I had some fun runs lined up as well? It was time for the Colour Run earlier this month, the first run of June which turned out to have a LOT of runs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The weather was perfect again (shock!) and it was actually great fun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I was so glad I had changed my tshirt for this event, it was much more comfortable that way and still covered enough not to have too much colour everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lining up near the start line, it was really busy! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Nearly time to start the run! I was all set in white, ready to be coloured up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Just passed the pink station, I ran through the middle so I got out relatively unscathed ;) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Oh it was busy alright! The finish line can be seen in the back there...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The tutu doesn't hold the colour so I'm normally fairly clean when I come out. And this year there were no crazy friends going nuts with the powder LOL </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The usual colour bursts were happening at the after party, I hung out for a bit to take some pics and went home afterwards, Time for food after all, this race was late afternoon so I was starving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I did have a hilarious comment in the tube. I came prepared this year by carrying an empty plastic bag in my running belt, stripping off the top layer of my outfit (I wore 2 layers) and then using that to get rid of any colour on my shoes and face. So when I got into the tube I was really clean and tidy. More runners came in and I heard someone whispering: 'she is so clean!'. It was so funny! It's just good planning really... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">June is a busy running month, with some great achievements so far :) More to come soon!</span>MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-7743634881628673952015-06-24T07:30:00.000+01:002015-06-24T07:30:02.188+01:00Running - Bupa 10K<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hello again :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After I had completed the Hyde Park 5K, I was confident in running the Bupa 10K the next week. It was to be run during the bank holiday and I'd signed up for it a while back, you have to plan most of these as they sell out so fast! Just image, a few years back I would have never run, let alone on a bank holiday when you can actually sleep in! The Bupa 10K is one of few runs where you can run along the Mall, and I always wanted to do that :) Since I didn't get into the London Marathon (and probably a good thing that I didn't!), this was my chance. So with the recent injury free 5K under my belt, I was ready to go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Charity shirt on (I finally remembered to wear it now that it has been improved!), let's do this!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We arrived well on time, the weather was beyond perfect. So far so good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eCs6ROOxesk/VYnKCZSDRMI/AAAAAAAAfqk/ZPjAua16V4k/s1600/bupa10k04.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eCs6ROOxesk/VYnKCZSDRMI/AAAAAAAAfqk/ZPjAua16V4k/s320/bupa10k04.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This was taken on the way to the corrals, that's Buckingham Palace in the back! I was in the middle section of the third corral, so plenty of time to get there...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mW0VuoAteRc/VYnKCrtG9FI/AAAAAAAAfqo/J68TVo0jJE8/s1600/bupa10k05.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mW0VuoAteRc/VYnKCrtG9FI/AAAAAAAAfqo/J68TVo0jJE8/s320/bupa10k05.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And off we went!! Along the Mall (yay!) and under the Amiralty Arch... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dZs-C3IG8t4/VYnKBnBXyxI/AAAAAAAAfqU/g2_YxuDoFU8/s1600/bupa10k02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dZs-C3IG8t4/VYnKBnBXyxI/AAAAAAAAfqU/g2_YxuDoFU8/s320/bupa10k02.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All along St Pauls and many other London landmarks, even Big Ben! I just love this picture :) I took weeks deciding if I should get the event photos, and I am so glad I did. This is London at its best!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWd76g-B7XM/VYnKDOC4SiI/AAAAAAAAfq4/XEoMwrBhcDQ/s1600/bupa10k06.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWd76g-B7XM/VYnKDOC4SiI/AAAAAAAAfq4/XEoMwrBhcDQ/s320/bupa10k06.jpg" width="216" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Around St. James Park and with the finish (and lots of people) in sight, I decided to go for it. Someone caught me sprinting to the end, clearly eager to finish with a good time...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VF2FksyMahk/VYnKBpKvkVI/AAAAAAAAfqY/Kl8QEEKB9o8/s1600/bupa10k01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VF2FksyMahk/VYnKBpKvkVI/AAAAAAAAfqY/Kl8QEEKB9o8/s320/bupa10k01.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And over the finish line I go in a personal best of 01:01:29 :) I was so pleased!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There was a medal of course, and a very cool tshirt (yes which will also be girlyfied)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pkHdUmpQ8VU/VYnKB6irX5I/AAAAAAAAfqc/N4xiwnyOJ3k/s1600/BUPA10Kbigben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pkHdUmpQ8VU/VYnKB6irX5I/AAAAAAAAfqc/N4xiwnyOJ3k/s320/BUPA10Kbigben.jpg" width="320" /> </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">These are some photos I took with my actual camera before, during and after the run. I absolutely loved running this race, and with a PB to boot the day just couldn't get any better :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We went for a lovely big lunch after this, it was a lovely Sunday. This running thing is way addictive! But you can't only have serious runs, I also had a few fun ones lined up... more on that tomorrow!</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-16975650467898456682015-06-23T07:57:00.001+01:002015-06-23T07:57:08.475+01:00Running - Runthrough Hyde Park 5K<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Good morning everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I haven't posted about any running events in a while, but that doesn't mean that I haven't done any! In fact, I've done quite a few :) I wanted to have like a 'running week' with all my running posts back to back, which was actually supposed to start this weekend so I'm a little bit behind. No matter, we'll just start today :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h3xbGHujEHI/VYj_u4g69zI/AAAAAAAAfps/5A9wC5CJErc/s1600/RUNTHROUGHHP5K-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h3xbGHujEHI/VYj_u4g69zI/AAAAAAAAfps/5A9wC5CJErc/s320/RUNTHROUGHHP5K-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I ran this 5K in Hyde Park on 17 May. A friend of mine was visiting London and she had booked a flight home at 7am on Sunday morning, which meant having either getting up super early, or going to bed really late. I chose the latter so was in bed at around 2am I think. With a run looming at 9am the next day, that is quite late let me tell you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wYVcHLaoWeY/VYj_smiTtDI/AAAAAAAAfqI/xo79O1oIlP0/s1600/IMG_8562.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wYVcHLaoWeY/VYj_smiTtDI/AAAAAAAAfqI/xo79O1oIlP0/s320/IMG_8562.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I went anyway, and just look at the lovely weather we had :) It was the first run in the sun of the year!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hM5UKfylAJY/VYj_sqPcmNI/AAAAAAAAfpQ/hdV6lNPI6zM/s1600/IMG_8568.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hM5UKfylAJY/VYj_sqPcmNI/AAAAAAAAfpQ/hdV6lNPI6zM/s320/IMG_8568.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was REALLY sunny! I kept my jacket as it was still a bit windy, but just not having any rain was so nice!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CwoWUoVHPuY/VYj_spZC0MI/AAAAAAAAfqA/7z8mmeV1asM/s1600/IMG_8573.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CwoWUoVHPuY/VYj_spZC0MI/AAAAAAAAfqA/7z8mmeV1asM/s320/IMG_8573.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The run went through Hyde Park (as the name already tells you), and you could either do one loop for 5K or two loops for 10K.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYDf2uP-MLs/VYj_tc7d7iI/AAAAAAAAfpY/b7UEA00nVU8/s1600/IMG_8575.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYDf2uP-MLs/VYj_tc7d7iI/AAAAAAAAfpY/b7UEA00nVU8/s320/IMG_8575.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I was checking to see if I would be able to run a 10K race the week after, so I only did one loop as I didn't want to overdo it and ruin my chances for the next race. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUggZyd-VXw/VYj_tqCtAZI/AAAAAAAAfp4/xmXZlpXFOi8/s1600/IMG_8577.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUggZyd-VXw/VYj_tqCtAZI/AAAAAAAAfp4/xmXZlpXFOi8/s320/IMG_8577.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Obligatory mid-run selfie, I was SO enjoying running in the sun! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-90-NgIUgFA0/VYj_t9fno8I/AAAAAAAAfp8/e-mO5BR_mMM/s1600/IMG_8579.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-90-NgIUgFA0/VYj_t9fno8I/AAAAAAAAfp8/e-mO5BR_mMM/s320/IMG_8579.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We passed the lake, it was a gorgeous view. Imagine being there on Sunday morning, it's really quiet then. Except for the occasional early-bird (see photo) it's virtually empty. That and us crazy runners hihi... The picture is a bit wobbly, I was running after all!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h3xbGHujEHI/VYj_u4g69zI/AAAAAAAAfps/5A9wC5CJErc/s1600/RUNTHROUGHHP5K-02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h3xbGHujEHI/VYj_u4g69zI/AAAAAAAAfps/5A9wC5CJErc/s320/RUNTHROUGHHP5K-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I crossed the finish line in just over 30mins, I was gutted! I really wanted to finish is under 30mins, but there was a tiny incline in the road just before the finish and I just hit that mental wall. Oops... I sure had fun though and am so happy I went to this! I managed to get a good time on hardly any sleep so I was impressed with that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5xkR0KYTiBc/VYj_vEGWjCI/AAAAAAAAfp0/R4eqrOGhrjY/s1600/RUNTHROUGHHP5K-time.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="45" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5xkR0KYTiBc/VYj_vEGWjCI/AAAAAAAAfp0/R4eqrOGhrjY/s320/RUNTHROUGHHP5K-time.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The official finishing time: 00:30:29. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Check out the tube station on the way back, it was a ghost town! Very freaky... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The rest of the day was just like any other normal Sunday, I think I even made it to yoga! I had survived the run without injuries so I was ready for the next one. It was going to be a great one, so more on that later! </span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-77984217765216116432015-06-19T17:23:00.000+01:002015-06-19T17:23:00.421+01:00Running T-shirt Beautifications<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hi everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's not technically upcycling as these are not in fact old or broken so I think it's more 'beautification'. </span>I've been doing a LOT of runs recently (more on that later), and you know how some of them give you a shirt well in advance to wear for the event? I usually leave it too late to make changed, but this time I really wanted to make an effort with one of the shirts. Another one I wanted to amend was my standard MS Society tshirt, that I try to wear when I don't have an event shirt to wear. I really had to change it as the only reason I didn't wear it at the half marathon was because it was just too heavy and annoying for such a distance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Let's start off with the MS Society tshirt. I forgot to take a 'before' photo, but if you've read my blog for a while, you may have seen the shirt worn at several events. It's just never really comfy so I just really wanted to change it. I used the same idea as the last post I wrote, and turned it into a vest. I overlocked the edges with black thread, and added some ribbons to the slits in the bottom I made to give it some more room around the hips. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lPXWPf53aHQ/VX2oN3ZlS0I/AAAAAAAAfnU/4bTnnvpoNiM/s1600/IMG_3395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lPXWPf53aHQ/VX2oN3ZlS0I/AAAAAAAAfnU/4bTnnvpoNiM/s320/IMG_3395.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is the end result. Just click on the image to enlarge it. It's not the official vest, you only get those when you run the marathon, but it definitely comes a close second and it has cute details now :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Another race that is on the list is the Color Run, held in Wembley. Here they sent a normal tshirt as well, and I really wanted to change that too. I think I have enough vests for a while, so I used another option of 'girly-fying' as I had done <a href="http://mybusycraftlife.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/hrc-t-shirt-makeover.html" target="_blank">with this one a while back</a>. I just put the other girlyfied shirt onto this one, pinned around it, and sewed it up to make it tighter. I also cut the neckline into a boat cut to make it more comfortable. I didn't use the shirring for the sleeves, that was mainly because I'd cut too much off and there was no more room to do that. The good thing was that this fabric naturally rolled so that gave a really cute effect. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XtcQUzakN4g/VX2oN7ZH4VI/AAAAAAAAfnQ/Ini-wVQH5-8/s1600/IMG_3479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XtcQUzakN4g/VX2oN7ZH4VI/AAAAAAAAfnQ/Ini-wVQH5-8/s320/IMG_3479.JPG" width="255" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I looked so much better! And I think I will also wear this outside of the run as it is super comfy material. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So if you plan in advance and take the time to make some quick changes, your running shirts can become amazing! I'll be posting on where I wore these soon so I hope you'll keep checking for any new posts! :)</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-67387065446436657682015-06-17T16:58:00.000+01:002015-06-17T16:58:00.307+01:00Quick Overlocker T-shirt Upcycling<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hello again!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This post has been a while in the making... Just before Easter I treated myself to an overlocker. My first ever! Months of researching and doubting, do I need one, would I use it, etc etc... Then it arrived, and it took another few months for me to actually start using it. But once I'd started, the end was nowhere in sight ;) I had projects lined up that would have taken ages with the normal machine and would have come out nowhere as nice, so yay for my shiny new overlocker :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgtA_furbfk/VX2hdf9jrtI/AAAAAAAAfmo/HsvZPOE_nS0/s1600/JANOMEOVERLOCKER.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgtA_furbfk/VX2hdf9jrtI/AAAAAAAAfmo/HsvZPOE_nS0/s320/JANOMEOVERLOCKER.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I loved the look of this one so I tried it at one of the shows and my decision was made. The previous model was purple, such a shame they changed that ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0lfSsHp20Y/VX2hcFNIfVI/AAAAAAAAfmY/v6unDWim2b4/s1600/IMG_7945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0lfSsHp20Y/VX2hcFNIfVI/AAAAAAAAfmY/v6unDWim2b4/s320/IMG_7945.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When I bought a stack of tshirts for my family's Christmas presents, there was a rack of damaged shirts also. Of course I had to have a peek :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f8tJKhmZCHg/VX2hcN3TaMI/AAAAAAAAfmU/OHiqd7P8ebs/s1600/IMG_7946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f8tJKhmZCHg/VX2hcN3TaMI/AAAAAAAAfmU/OHiqd7P8ebs/s320/IMG_7946.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I found this one that I had my eye on for a while now, but as it was a proper tshirt I never bought it. The man from the stall knows me (I buy presents from him all the time) so he offered it to me for free with my purchases. So sweet! It only had a small hole near the sleeve, something I could easily fix if I in fact wanted a normal tshirt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A good few months back I bought a great top and I wanted more like it, but with cooler prints. No time like this one to test out the new overlocker and see if my creation would resemble the original. I used the original thread in the machine, it was white so very handy, and copied the top. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The tshirt was a bit smaller but it still came out well. I have a feeling this will be worn a lot in summer and/or at yoga ;) And it has R2D2! Nothing can look bad then ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FR5PJyNba0/VX2hcoKko7I/AAAAAAAAfm8/YKOvqDOeHis/s1600/IMG_8136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FR5PJyNba0/VX2hcoKko7I/AAAAAAAAfm8/YKOvqDOeHis/s320/IMG_8136.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had another 'proper' tshirt from the Colour the Coast run last year, which I've never worn since. So I did the same to this tshirt. Funny detail: one of the spools with the white thread ran out just after I'd finished the inside of the top. It was after all the thread that came with the machine and they never supply complete spools. No matter, as it was a 'Colour the Coast' top, I didn't think using another colour would be an issue. As the lettering was kind of pinkish purple, I replaced the empty white spool with normal purple sewing thread (I hadn't looked into buying overlocker thread yet, and it really worked! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The purple gives the top just that extra highlight :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am very pleased I invested in my overlocker. Yes you can do lots of things without it, but some things are just so much quicker and look so much better with one. This is also slowly turning into another Mending Week with all these upcycling projects am going through! Yes, in the end it is still a top, only a different kind so not sure if it really is upcycling as such. These projects are so much fun, and they're quick and easy so the instant gratification that all crafters need is right there. The best thing is: it's re-using, repurposing, and not throwing stuff away and that is the best part:)</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-15299796859866805302015-06-16T17:44:00.000+01:002015-06-16T17:44:00.319+01:00Tourist Tuesday - Shaun in the City<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Heyhey!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I once did the Easter Egg trail in London, and since then there have been many more. There was the Olympic Mascot trail, the Paddington Bear trail, the London Bus trail, and most recently the Shaun the Sheep trail. Alas, I have only seen a few of each due to lack of time (and too much sport? hihi). When I was in town the other day with a friend we just stumbled onto some of the Shaun statues and I just had to share them with you, they were amazing! It was much to late to start the trail, but the ones we did find were just great :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">'Paradise Bunch' - outside the Cath Kidston store of course</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lGqW_i2muVs/VX2tC54K99I/AAAAAAAAfnw/eD7FyRqinPI/s1600/IMG_3344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lGqW_i2muVs/VX2tC54K99I/AAAAAAAAfnw/eD7FyRqinPI/s320/IMG_3344.JPG" width="250" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">'The Pearly King' - loved this one! So very British :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Br-Ewe-Nel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">'To Sheep Perchance To Dream' - just outside the Globe of course</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">'Sheep Shape & Bristol Fashion'</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KUNY6JaZmlI/VX2tDXGxMbI/AAAAAAAAfn8/1Yt8eLQFS40/s1600/IMG_3365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KUNY6JaZmlI/VX2tDXGxMbI/AAAAAAAAfn8/1Yt8eLQFS40/s320/IMG_3365.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The 'Chelsea Pen-Shaun-er'</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GdVaKWkwcSw/VX2tD1F469I/AAAAAAAAfoE/wIK2YJJbuYs/s1600/IMG_3366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GdVaKWkwcSw/VX2tD1F469I/AAAAAAAAfoE/wIK2YJJbuYs/s320/IMG_3366.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This one is 'A Capital View', it's the Gherkin! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It even had artwork on both sides, def loved this one :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Doing these trails is always great fun. There is only one I'm sad to have missed, and that was one called 'Candy Baa'. a sheep all with dessert print. It was outside Covent Garden and we just didn't make it there. Oh well, maybe when the next trail comes along I will have some time to go on it?</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-72976519779082402622015-06-14T16:30:00.000+01:002015-06-14T16:30:27.960+01:00Upcycled Yoga Top<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hi all!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have not been sitting still :) I made this fantastic yoga top out of three tops I had lying around and which ended up in my 'to amend' stash. One night, the inspiration fairy visited and this is a gorgeous result:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'm so pleased with it!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOz9L0Wd3D0/VX2bRjFcx4I/AAAAAAAAflI/EnTlH68C3nI/s1600/IMG_8249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LOz9L0Wd3D0/VX2bRjFcx4I/AAAAAAAAflI/EnTlH68C3nI/s320/IMG_8249.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This was how it all started. One black top that I got at a sample sale for the bf a long time ago. He didn't wear it anymore and the fabric was just too gorgeous to bin/give to charity, two crop tops from Primark that I got on sale once for £1. I really thought I would wear those and I might have... once or twice... ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f1wXtz6U69I/VX2bR0QzQjI/AAAAAAAAflM/iFoXt3WBsi4/s1600/IMG_8269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f1wXtz6U69I/VX2bR0QzQjI/AAAAAAAAflM/iFoXt3WBsi4/s320/IMG_8269.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I sliced the two crop tops diagonally, wove them together to create a new harlequin-like design, and pinned the lot together. Then the project kind of halted for a while as the sewing bit was very unappealing. In the end I did get back to it and zigzagged the lot together. That was such a lot of work! I don't have any pics of the process, I think I just wanted it to be done tbh. The insides don't look great as I wasn't exactly accurate when I 'sliced' the fabric, but the outside looks cool :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zkxMhkqsYaA/VX2bRyLUoBI/AAAAAAAAflQ/kw9M8gBj4pw/s1600/IMG_8361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zkxMhkqsYaA/VX2bRyLUoBI/AAAAAAAAflQ/kw9M8gBj4pw/s320/IMG_8361.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Once the zigzagging was done, I sewed the front and back together. Then I sewed the top onto the bottom part of the black top, and used the overlocked to hem the lot. I still had fabric left from the crop top sleeves so I braided that and used it as a detail on one of the shoulders. Originally, I wanted to make a cross-strap but the back of the top was too high for that. This works perfectly as one side was really high that the shoulders actually matched as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A4v9TArIn_k/VX2bSGC0V3I/AAAAAAAAfl8/pY2Ec9YG7yY/s1600/IMG_8364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A4v9TArIn_k/VX2bSGC0V3I/AAAAAAAAfl8/pY2Ec9YG7yY/s320/IMG_8364.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I used the cutoff of the neckline from where I used the overlocker to add this detail on the side. I also used another braid to finish the look.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YMRDqbSjBOM/VX2bSWCj7JI/AAAAAAAAflU/NtfS383tZDE/s1600/IMG_8365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YMRDqbSjBOM/VX2bSWCj7JI/AAAAAAAAflU/NtfS383tZDE/s320/IMG_8365.JPG" width="221" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Tiny oops, the braids were not supposed to be on the same side of the top. I only realised once it was all put together. Not that that takes away any of the effect I think :) The above picture is of the back, it's nice and high so great for yoga.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gLIUwxGsK30/VX2bScRq6rI/AAAAAAAAflc/eJAh1QX7cUo/s1600/IMG_8366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gLIUwxGsK30/VX2bScRq6rI/AAAAAAAAflc/eJAh1QX7cUo/s320/IMG_8366.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is the front of the top, I really love how it came out :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ciP0IP_xgcE/VX2bTGWYtaI/AAAAAAAAflo/uZUTl2Wja8Y/s1600/yoga-top02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ciP0IP_xgcE/VX2bTGWYtaI/AAAAAAAAflo/uZUTl2Wja8Y/s320/yoga-top02.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lovely girl at yoga took some pics to see the top 'in action'. I love how I used the bottom of the black top. I only cut it off just below where the sleeves began, so it's nice and long and doesn't travel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_1Y6f2C0sQ/VX2bSvrYdCI/AAAAAAAAflg/xqien0EX6f8/s1600/yoga-top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_1Y6f2C0sQ/VX2bSvrYdCI/AAAAAAAAflg/xqien0EX6f8/s320/yoga-top.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Did I mention how much I love this top? It's so comfortable! I have a feeling I will be wearing this outside of yoga also ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Yay one more project done, a few more like these please and I'll have some great things for summer! Good thing summer seems to be late this year so I have some more time ;)</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410332699465086124.post-43437807650916501822015-06-09T07:36:00.001+01:002015-06-09T07:38:42.061+01:00Emergency Chocolate Gift<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Good morning everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wow it has been a while since I last posted... again! Time is just running away with me and especially now that the weather is finally improving there are just too many fun things going on :) My blogging backlog is growing and growing, so let's try if I can't get that cleared up anytime soon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I found this really funny gift idea via Pinterest, it was just ideal for my very best friend who can sometimes have a bit of a sweet tooth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RKzUoVbUgiM/VXaH_571MpI/AAAAAAAAfko/UOi59SVU_SY/s1600/IMG_8259.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RKzUoVbUgiM/VXaH_571MpI/AAAAAAAAfko/UOi59SVU_SY/s320/IMG_8259.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The original tutorial can be found <a href="http://30minutecrafts.com/2014/08/emergency-chocolate-craft-case-emergency-break-glass.html" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It took some time to find a deep frame and, believe it or not, even longer to find M&Ms. Usually they're in all the poundshops but for some reason what I needed them: nothing. When I finally found some they only had the peanut ones (which are the best anyway, they just don't look as nice but they would have to do). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bllkbs_fjyU/VXaH_8_8MNI/AAAAAAAAfkg/bOYBreQpmkM/s1600/IMG_8245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bllkbs_fjyU/VXaH_8_8MNI/AAAAAAAAfkg/bOYBreQpmkM/s320/IMG_8245.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As is usual with my project, the first try failed. It looked nice, but I had written on the outside of the glass instead of the inside. And the text was a bit too low. Not to worry, I now had a template to use for the inside of the glass. Luckily, when I finally did find frames, I bought 2 of them!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nzLJrQ0TTiE/VXaIAHD6ZLI/AAAAAAAAfkk/WGfc6WoF38g/s1600/IMG_8261.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nzLJrQ0TTiE/VXaIAHD6ZLI/AAAAAAAAfkk/WGfc6WoF38g/s320/IMG_8261.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Much better :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RKzUoVbUgiM/VXaH_571MpI/AAAAAAAAfko/UOi59SVU_SY/s1600/IMG_8259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RKzUoVbUgiM/VXaH_571MpI/AAAAAAAAfko/UOi59SVU_SY/s320/IMG_8259.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I sent it over to my friend who absolutely loved it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So a big thank you goes out to the <a href="http://30minutecrafts.com/2014/08/emergency-chocolate-craft-case-emergency-break-glass.html" target="_blank">30 Minute Craft blog</a> for this tutorial, it was such fun to make :)</span></div>
MJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07222590953178799156noreply@blogger.com0