Giraffe Bracelet

A couple of snaps from my iphone of my new giraffe bracelet from Forever 21. The first Forever 21 shop has opened in England at it happens to be in Birmingham. They seem to have some good stuff, although I find the three floors quite overwhelming.

I was in two minds (no pun intented for the two headed bangle ; )) whether to buy this but I was completely drawn to it . . . perhaps because I already own something similar shown here .

Le Tourbillon de la Vie

A little something for the weekend. I'm going to Leicester to see my family and make chutney. I hope you have a nice weekend whatever you've planned. x

I Have News

I really must do some outfit posts . . .but between the darker evenings and uni work it is quite tricky to get dressed up and find someone to take the pics. However I do have news . . . I have bought a ukulele. Seriously after taking up a new hobby of photography do I need anymore ways of putting off doing my research project?

Anyway this is a little something I came across when looking for this. She goes under the name of Scampi and has a facebook fan page. Pretty cool.



When I get that good I will show you, promise!

Mike Oldfield - In Dulci Jubilo

You're probably going to hate me for this but I promise it's a one off until December (or late November . . .). Every year my group of friends and I go out for a Christmas dinner and this evening my housemate has been organising the invitations and I've been picking my three courses. This has resulted in an overly festive feeling and I had to share one of my favourite carols in my favourite version. Apologies in advance and feel free to be bah humbug etc . . . 

Come on who doesn't love a bit of recorder and electric guitar? ; )

Staying on subject, I really want to do a post about Christmas Jumpers (think Scandinavian knits) do you have one and care to share it? I know you do. Don't be shy email it to me at magpiesneststyle@gmail.com

I will of course be showing mine . . .

The Jumper with a Story - Vintage Find Part 1

I suspect much of my vintage items are not officially 'vintage' despite being bought in those kind of shops and are more like second hand. Never mind, I bought them because I like them and want to wear them. However this bat wing gem I KNOW to be vintage (sorry Mum) because there is a great little story to go with it. 

I was shopping on Brick Lane and went into a small shop that I forget the name of. Downstairs everything was £10, so I trot on down and the first thing I see is this jumper. I have to have it. I mean I really HAVE to have it. So I run towards it grab it, try it on, love it. But why? the bat wing? no, the 80's grey and red combo? no. Simply because my Mum has exactly the same jumper but in blue and grey from the 80's. And because like most daughters, I look up to my mother and as a child wanted to dress just like her with her 90's power suits, high heels, glamorous make-up and elegant long nails. 

 I was so thrilled to find this that I called her up straight after to tell her. She  then tried to salvage her jumper because she uses hers to dye her hair (always has done since I can remember - terrible I know but I guess she never thought I might want to wear it). At some point I will post a picture of us both in our jumpers. Haha mum and daughter outfits ; )

Incidentally, I have never managed to match her long nails. That by the way never chip the nail polish - how does she do that?

Rocky Road for Bonfire Night

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent

To blow up the King and Parli'ment.

Three-score barrels of powder below

To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'd

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

And what should we do with him? Burn him!

Rocky Road is most certainly not traditional Bonfire Night food like black toffee or parkin but it is  easy to make and very moreish. My friend Helen has a reputation for making legendary Rocky Road for our work social events and she has kindly given me the recipe. Since the garden is too small for a bonfire and we are just having fireworks and sparklers, there will be no traditional baked potato's wrapped in foil and cooked on the fire. However it is nice to have something to snack on whilst enjoying the festivities and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to have a go at Helen's recipe.

If you are interested in the traditions of Bonfire Night have a look here , otherwise scroll down for the full Rocky Road recipe . . . . 

Ingredients  

200g dark chocolate

125g butter

3tbsp golden syrup

100g marsh mallows (mini or cut up large ones)

200g rich tea biscuits (or plain biscuits)

1. Melt the chocolate, butter and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat. Stirring constantly.
2. Spread melted mixture over a large sheet of baking paper.
3. Sprinkle over the broken biscuits and marsh mallows.
4. Roll the mixture up into a sausage shape and put in the fridge until set.
5. Cut up into bite size amounts and put into fairy cake cases.

 

Tips: I found the rolling up part quite messy, you could just as easily mix the melted and hard ingredients in a bowl and then spread into a tray to set. I also didn't end up using all the biscuits as it looked too much and I think the marsh mallows are the best bit!

Beirut

So I've been away on holiday and then came down ill so I haven't posted in a while. Here is a very short post. I wanted to share my current favourite track of the moment: Nantes by Beirut from their The Flying Club Cup album. I know why I like it of course, because it has that Eastern folk sound (as I harked on about here ).

I can't get enough of this - it's so hypnotic.

Cornmeal and Cheddar Biscuits

A while ago I got inspired to make some cornbread, which incidentally turned into a cake as I misread how much sugar to put in. . .  The price of cornmeal (polenta flour) can be quite pricey if bought from a health shop so when I saw a huge 1.5 kg bag in Asda for cheap I got over excited and bought it.

No problem you may say but now I have a huge bag of polenta in my cupboard. So what to do? 

It seems that cornmeal is quite popular in the southern states of America and I came across this recipe from Cooks.com. I have amended the recipe to include more cornmeal/ polenta, some cheese and black pepper. 

As you can see they don't look at all like biscuits and are like a scone or cheese straw in texture.

The amended recipe is as follows . . . I have stuck with the American measuring system of cups.

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. yellow cornmeal

2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. grated cheese ( I used mature Cheddar)

Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

3/4 c. milk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat the oven at 200 C.

Combine all the dry ingredients (including the cheese) in a large mixing bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in a jug. Pour the wet mix into the dry and stir until just mixed. You may need to add more milk if the mixture is too dry. Mine became a stodgy batter and worked fine.

Using a table spoon heap the mixture onto a greased baking sheet and flatten the top with the back of the spoon. 

The mixture made 16 biscuits. Bake for 12 minutes at 200 C. Put on a wire rack to cool.

I really like the idea of savoury biscuits. Some variations on this could be to substitute the pepper for chilli (chilli sauce of flakes), dried herbs or garlic. 

Enjoy! xx

Oxfam, Denim and Mariama

As I said here, an interesting project came about because of the photos I took at the Handmade Birmingham markets. I was asked by Mariama to take photos of her window display in collaboration with Oxfam Nottingham Boutique. I think the following photographs describe it better than my words . . .

 

Have a look at Mariama's website  - she does a variety of textiles in bold prints. I especially love her cushions and lavender bags.

I also have to say how impressed I was with the selection of vintage clothing on offer at Oxfam Nottingham Boutique and it didn't have the distinctive smell of a vintage shop! Huge hoorah! Whilst I was there I tried on a lovely 70's dress but sadly it was too big . . . I definitely will be going back though. If you're ever near it's certainly worth a look - and it's for charity too. Thumbs up all round.

Handmade in Birmingham

It's funny how life can turn out. If Sara hadn't gone to the COWshop and met Francine and then in turn got involved with Handmade Birmingham AND if I hadn't started this blog which in turn led me to buy my SLR camera then the following wouldn't have happened . . .

I pop along to the Handmade Market again on the 2nd of October to take a few photos for Sara and Birdieblue. Whilst I'm there I get involved taking photos of the other stalls for the Handmade Brum website. This was great fun for me and also got me involved in another exciting project combining Mariama, some denim and Oxfam (more to come on that soon . . . )

So what about this Handmade Birmingham Market? These weekend market is really a well organized and thought out venture by Francine that fills a gap in the Birmingham City Centre. Birmingham is a great City for mainstream shopping and yes there is the Custard Factory for more creative/ retro/ vintage shopping but that's about it (please correct me if I'm wrong). The Handmade Birmingham market offers consumers good value for money on unique, creative and handmade (duh!) items from cards to jewellery to fashion to cakes  . . . . to name a few . . . 

It also allows these businesses a place to sell their ware's without the constraint of having a stall weekly or with huge overheads. Thus allowing new or well established businesses the flexibility and ensuring the market has a variety of stalls each week.

Yep it sounds like a hard sell. It's not, nor does it need to be. Pop along yourself to the outside stalls next to St Martins Church in the Bullring or visit the links above for more info. Now for less chat and more pictures . . .

 Francine - organiser of Handmade Birmingham

 

Birdieblue - Millinery and textiles by Sara

Paperbean 

 

Thank you to Francine for the photo. Please visit Handmade Birmingham to see the stall holders featured here and at the weekend markets.

Checks and Sequins

Glorious sunshine in Birmingham begged for a little Sunday shopping and cupcake eating on the steps outside St Martins church. Here is Jude working her Mum's skirt from 90's with a sequin vest. I was actually rocking an Oliver Twist look but sadly didn't think to 'snap' myself.

The cupcakes are from Handmade Birmingham.

I also bought a 1970's (I think) dress from the Vintage Indie Market which I will show you soon. Infact it is whizzing around in my washing machine as we speak . . .

Buckles and Bows

A friend I used to do Irish dancing with has recently started a blog called  sock my shoe . It got me inspired to dress up my buckled brogues. The socks are from good old M&S and I think the plum colour compliments the tan leather nicely. For more sock and shoe inspiration check out Sarah's blog in the link above.

The Peg Leg Trouser

Is this another look that's better suited to tall people? Not sure i could carry it off being short . . . however Jude is definitely tall enough to pull this off. Very elegant.

Quick Post

Yesterday I popped down to Handmade in Birmingham to take photos for Sara who will have a website very soon. I happily ended up taking photos of all the stalls. The photos will appear on their website soon and I will write a proper blog post about them too (when I get a photo of Francine who organises the market). The reason for the quick post is because I was snapped taking photos and I was wearing my new favourite outfit: a skirt I picked up at the Saturday Flea in the Custard factory last weekend that in my mind goes really well with this old shirt. Have a look here.

Apocalyptica

When I discover new music, I tend to obsess over one or two tracks from an album and listen to it almost constantly. Am I the only person to do this? 

I'm always predominately drawn melancholic sounds. My latest obsession is 'Nothing Else Matters' by Apocalyptica which I discovered when I watched this.

Making Madeleines

I have been wanting to make madeleines for ages. To me they look so pretty in their shell shapes and are a much more grown up version of a fairy cake. I used a Waitrose recipe found here. The only thing I changed was to add 1/3 of a tsp of baking powder. 

In France you can by an array of fancy baking tins and moulds in the supermarket but of course this being England I had to buy mine off Amazon. Infact in France they have a vast choice of anything cooking related in the supermarkets that would put Lakeland Plastics to shame. They may just be over the Channel but seemingly have very different attitudes to food. I mean where are the traditional bakeries in England? My local one is the French Café down the road. Nuff said.

Festival Hats

Some festival hats spotted at the folk festival. I was going to put The Destroyers (mentioned here ) in a separate post but they're wearing hats so why not just pop them in here . . . My favourite is the boater hat and flower shown below. I always find it hard to pull of hats. What do you think? Are you a hat wearer?

Folk Festival

On the way down. Friday night.

Shelling peas for a tasty snack.

Knuckle duster - glamourous one though . . .

The balloon that escaped. The children were loving chasing it. Forget a lost children tent - just release a balloon and follow!

Two more folk related posts to follow. One on festival hats and one on the musicians. Then I promise I will give the folk thing a break . . .

Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny

I've been tweeting about the Moseley Folk Festival a bit this weekend and I have a few snaps to share. However I havn't sorted through them yet so as a treat I want to share with you a couple of videos found on youtube of one of the artists; Beth Jeans Houghton and her band 'The Hooves of Destiny'. She was sporting a fantastic beehive and blonde streak. Aside from the beehive was a lovely voice and great music.





Definitely a quirky sense of style. If you're interested in more from Beth Jeans Houghton check out her MySpace or read this.

Rabbit Trainers

Today I went to Ruth's for a cuppa and as I was leaving I saw these beauties.

"Why!" I exclaimed "who are those rabbit trainers? They're amazing . . ."

" Oh those, well yeah they belong to an ex housemate. He thinks they're too worn out, you can have them if you want."

So here we are. I took them just to photograph and share. Dedicated or skanky? Ha, well regardless of that they are a size 7 if you want them . . .
 

Café Francais

So back to work today for the first time in five weeks. As a treat my friends and I went to our local French Café, Maison Mayci. I say a treat but actally we are there a fair bit. There used to only be one on Poplar Road in Kings Heath but now another has opened in Moseley. Both a stones throw from my house so I really am spoilt for choice. 

They do a great goats cheese salad (my favourite).

and of course wonderful coffee . . .

Faux Fur

This year for my winter coat I'm looking at buying a fur one. Not much around at the moment but these are my top 3 so far.       

Topshop

River Island

Warehouse

               I tried on the one from River Island and                 
               it was so cosy, perfect for bracing the cold in  
               in the winter months. I really like the fur too - 
               quite unusual!


               Which is your favourite? 


              
               

Finally the Fish Skirt in all it's Glory

Hoorah! I finished making the fish skirt I mentioned here. Bad news though it's too big. Yes I should have tried it on before sewing the waistband. Maybe I'll try and alter it . . . .but summer is about over and I realy wanted to show you my efforts. Thankfully Jude not only agreed to model it but also for me to dress her up in how I envisaged 'Tribal Tie Dye'.

Street Style 3 - Girl with Umbrella

Did a double take in Kings Heath yesterday when spotted this girl who reminded me so much of Louise of Pandora fame. Perfect ensemble for a dreary rainy Monday - nothing beats a belted mac. Thank you for letting me take a photo!

Other news . . . looking at buying a new camera to improve the quality of photos. Bear with me and watch this space . . .

Street Style 2

I am a sucker for a peep toe and I love these cut out shoe boots. The loose fitting blouse tucked into the skirt provides an elegant silhouette. I didn't catch her name or clothes details as I was dressed as a bee and having too much fun (if you think I'm joking look at Danger Mouse and She-Ra from the rest of the party in the background). I'm trying to get better at providing some Brummy street style on the blog but I am rather shy and concerned people might think I'm some weirdo . . . I'm getting over that though . . . .

So then lady with the pretty shoes. If you do check in on the blog and want to leave the outfit details then that would be super. Thank you for letting me take the photo!

Russian Dolls

Yesterday was areally fun day. Sara and I went shopping round the Custard Factory in Birmingham. We popped into the Creative Open Workshop and I got to meet Francine (I hope I've spelt that right) who runs it. She has a great style and hopefully, I'll be able to take some snaps and show you because I really couldn't describe it.

After we went into The Birmingham Bead Shop just to browse . . .ahem buy several beads to make a necklace. I saw these Russian doll ceramic beads and just had to have one in each colour. 

 Close up of a doll.

There were some other enamel looking beads that didn't escape either . . .