Vintage Twenty

Colouring In for Adults!

2010-09-08T12:20:00.000+01:00

Hands up who liked colouring in as a kid? I did! It was great, you could create beautiful looking art without all the stress of actually drawing it! It was really relaxing too. Sadly one cant continue this hobby into adulthood.... or can you?

Thanks to Dover Colouring Books (pictured left), we can!

Dover does the most amazing collection of colouring books- everything from fashion to nature to landscapes! Really detailed drawings and beautiful subject matter. This is not your average colouring in book, this is a colouring book you will not be embarassed to purchase (though it seems you can only get them through amazon which takes the embarassment out of it anyway)

Ok so some might say its not all that creative given the pictures are already drawn. But heck, I'm not trying to be a serious artiste here, i'm just trying to have fun with creativity, and to relax. If colouring in helps me to do that, then why not?

The only problem i have now is deciding which one to colour first...

Motivation Motovation Motivation....

2010-09-06T13:01:00.000+01:00

Its been over a week since I left my job. As much as I enjoy waking up and not having to go to work, I'm not enjoying the lack of structure to my day! Im very suprised at how irritable and well, bored I've become.

Its not helped being in a bit of a no-mans land, what with the move planned for this Friday. All my drive and excitedness about being a lady of leisure, free to pursue whatever i wish to has officially worn thin. Its also not helping that my h2b has quit his job also and so we are stuck with each other, in a tiny narrowboat, all day. Dont get me wrong, I love my h2b but being indoors with him all day (we used to work together but this is so different from that!) is driving me nuts!

I feel like I cant do the things i want to do as he's well........ there. All the time. He's moaning at me, the classic 'You're the one who wanted to quit, why aren't you doing anything? You're driving me nuts with your moping.......' Hence why I've left him to his own devices and come out to the local library for this post. Enough moaning. Its time to take the bull by the horns. I'm an adult, I' m responsible for myself. If I'm bored, only I can change it. I'm going to devise a schedule of sorts. I'm a type A sort of person, so this should work quite well. I'm going to make it an arty looking schedule though, given that I'm trying to be more creative.

Wish me luck.

The Big Move and Macaroons...!

2010-09-01T19:04:00.001+01:00

Its official- I'm moving!

We hadn't planned on moving until October but alas, all change and now we're moving September 10th.

In terms of how this fits into my new found artiste lifestyle, I'm glad that there will be 100 miles+ between my new life and my old one. I'm reinventing myself on numerous levels, which as anyone who has ever done this will tell you, is pretty difficut when surrounded by the same old places, people. I'm at that stage in life where I'm no longer really in touch with any of my school friends, but I havent made any new ones either. Its been just me and my fiancee for the best part of two years! I'll be glad for a chance of fresh surroundings, new people, the chance to make some new friends. It will certainly enrich my artistic endeavours.

Moving aside, I'm feeling tres inspired by The Great British Bake Off on BBC2 right now! I adore baking, but I havent really experimented with it for a while. I've pretty much only made 3 or 4 different recipes in as many years. Seeing the bakers passion for what they do, and the fact they are all amateurs and do it simply for the love of it has made me decide to bake something I have never done before but always wanted to- macaroons. Forget cupcakes, macaroons are the chicest sweet snack around, I predict they will really take off next year!

Pics and post to follow...!

So many books, so much time...

2010-08-27T12:36:00.000+01:00

So one of my 'to do's' is to read books that everyone else on the planet seems to have read. When i was younger I used to get through books like most kids got through sweets. However I didnt really read a variety. For example, I've never read Dr Seuss, or most of the classic authors such as Dickens.

My Fiancee is possibly the most well read man on the planet and has inadvertently made me feel slightly ashamed of my lack of culture! I'm going to compile a list of books I would like to read (which will not include Dr Seuss, the whole concept seems a bit ridiculous to me) and aim to read 2 a month minimum. They wont all be 'classics', after all, this is my list!

The List (The start of it anyway)

1. Madame Bovary
2. The Count of Monte Cristo
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
4. Eat, Pray, Love
5. The Handmaid's Tale
6. Tom Jones
7. 1984
8. The Secret

More to follow.....

2010-08-26T10:13:00.000+01:00

Inspiration: Grace Kelly

Today I'm looking for some inspiration. I can't remember the last time I felt remotely inspired so it was a breath of fresh air to come across the Grace Kelly exhibition on the V & A website. I had no idea they had an exhibition devoted to her, and for the first time in a long time i felt inspired!

So what is it about Grace Kelly that enthralls me and many other women around the world? Well for me its both her style and her demeanour. She's so ladylike, so well dressed, so elegant. In a world of mini skirts and crop tops, her legacy is a breath of fresh air. I love those calf length skirts, the shirt dresses, the crisp blouses! The simple pearls and gloves. Beautiful.

So I've decided that Ms.Kelly is going to be my inspiration for one of my goals, 'To create a capsule wardrobe'. I'm going to hit the shops to find my own Grace Kelly style pieces, though i think i'll give the gloves a miss. After all, I want a look inspired by her, not to copy!

What I plan to buy:

1. A crisp white blouse.
2. A shift dress.
3. High waisted trousers.
4. A pretty neck/hair scarf.
5. A pencil skirt.
6. A slightly more full skirt.
7. Strand of pearls (not the real thing unfortunately, too expensive.)
8. A pale satin dress.

Now of course I'll be buying these things over a period of time but still, I'm excited to be taking a step towards one of my goals. Wish me luck!

2010-08-25T10:14:00.008+01:00

The Plan......or not.

Ok so I've quit my job and in a couple of days I'm officially unemployed. Now comes the fun part- what am i going to do? For so long I've been unable to answer that question. You know how conversations often turn to notions of the future? When the notorious 'five year plan' question crops up? Thats enough to make me break out in a cold sweat. I dont have a five year plan.

I hate the very notion, the rigidity of it all. We've become a nation obsessed with planning- just look at the rise in life coaching, self help books. Its not enough to live day to day, one must plan for the next five years. And if you're a woman, well good luck because you are certainly going to need it. In my opinion far too many women worry about that dreadful cliche of 'Having it All'. I dont understand why any sane woman would let herself be pressurised into achieving the unachievable of having a top notch career, being a full time mother and living said dream in the leafy suburbs. R-e-l-a-x girls, it's going to be all right.

Rant aside, I decided that rather than a plan, I'm just going to brainstorm. What do I want to do? What can I do now with this much time on my hands that I couldn't before? Lets get those forgotten dreams, even if they seem unobtainable, out of the dusty cupboard and lay them out for all to see. So here goes!

1.Write a novel
2. Write poetry
3. Improve my drawing skills
4. Learn to paint
5. Learn to use a sewing machine
6. Master the art of crochet
7. Learn to use a potters wheel
8. Do my Trinity Certificate
9. Dye my hair a different colour
10. Learn Herbology
11. Practice and live by the principles of Wicca
12. Create a capsule wardrobe
13. Read all the books which everyone else on the planet seems to have read and I haven't!
14. Improve my French
15. Eat healthier
16. Start a business

More to follow.....

2010-08-24T12:25:00.000+01:00

This book is going to be my bible for the next six months. I have quit my City Job in order to pursue health, happiness and creativity.

Here's Why.

This time last year was a pretty bad time in my life. I'd just been kicked out of my live-in voluntary job for having a relationship with another volunteer (who is now my fiancee). I was thus unemployed, depressed and in debt up to my eyeballs. September came and I was fortunate enough to secure a full time fairly well paid job in London. I moved back home and my fiancee moved back in with his family (a hundred or so miles away) so that we could get rid of the overpriced flat we had been staying in and start making some money.

I started my job. Getting up at 5.30am every morning to get to work for 8.30am and not returning until 6.30pm. Not fun. Had to be done though, I had a mountain of debt growing by the day. I went every day, came home every night. I was miserable.

Come January, things got worse. I was officialy diagnosed as Bipolar. I tried all sorts of medications, nothing helped. Didn't help that my fiancee hates tablets as a treatment for depression and mental illness which made me feel i was somehow weak for taking them. Dont get me wrong, he never told me to stop taking them, he's been incredibly supportive. Things went from bad to worse. The only good thing was the fact we had now moved back in together, and i had had my debt written off with a Debt Relief Order.

To the world I had it all. Great job in the achingly trendy SoHo, a wonderful fiancee, a great place. On the inside, i was dying. I hated my life. Hated my job. Hated it all. Still, I bumbled along playing the ever nice fiancee/daughter/employee.

A month ago, I cracked. Walked out of work. Thats when i knew i had to quit. Nothing was worth this. Absolutely nothing. I didnt care about the stigma of being unemployed, or people thinking I was nuts giving up a job in this economy. I just had to get out of there. It's the best thing I have done. Certainly the best decision I have made in a while.

So now, I have the time I need. No pressure, no work. Time for me. To figure out who I am, what I want. Time for therapy, for medication. Yes, it's selfish. Yes I've put my fiancee under a lot of pressure to be a sole provider. Ultimately though, health and happiness must come first.