Microscope Monday.

Last summer we went camping to a place called Burnham Deepdale in Doris. Just down the road from the campsite there was a shop full of binoculars and other exciting bits of equipment. I was entranced when I saw the digital microscopes, they were amazing. So when Christmas rattled around I remembered the lovely holiday we had in Deepdale and the microscopes! I am still getting to grips with my little microscope but it is a lot of fun and I can't wait to figure out all the time lapse settings on it. So here are the first few pictures that I have taken... can you guess what they might be from?

These are all from butterfly wings! I couldn't believe just how beautiful they are, especially the iridescent flecks scattered around. 

Hope you enjoyed the first Microscope Monday! 

Much Love,
Kirst xXx

Christmas Adventures in Birmingham & The Central Library.

I fancied a little adventure yesterday so Ed and I decided to go to Birmingham, as it is only about an hour away. It was such a lovely afternoon! We got there, had a spot of lunch at Wagamama and then had a peruse around the Bull Ring. We then had a wonder through the Christmas market, as the light was fading all the lights sparkled away and the festive spirit crackled through the crowds.

Once we had exhausted the Christmas market I had an idea to go and see the new Central Library. I fired up Googlemaps and traced our way through the crowds to find it. I was quite intrigued to see what this place was going to be like after its well publicised price tag of £189 million. My initial reaction, when I saw this in the media, was that it was a complete indulgence in this day and age of spending cuts and frugality. With many libraries closing never to be opened again, wouldn't it be better to have sprinkled this money around and kept the little ones open?  

On walking inside this building it became very difficult for me to keep my reservations. This building is awe inspiring, the space is light, airy and immense. Exploring the Central Library is like endeavouring through a book depository that has been swirled around Syd Mead's psyche. It is nothing short of breathtaking. When I had escalated to the top I saw this bullet shaped glass lift that transported me to the roof top garden. The view in the wintery darkness of the sprawling, illuminated Birmingham is humbling, quietning and beautiful. Whilst leaving your legs a little jelly like because it is so high up! 

I really think that this building was worth the cost, to have such an inspired public space that is free and full of books is a wonderful legacy. In such a place you can become anything and anyone. It doesn't matter how much money you have or what class you grew up in, when you are inside these walls the world is at your feet. 

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmasy weekend <3

Much Love.

Kirst xXx 

Christmas at Calke Abbey.

Ed and I had a little Christmas adventure to Calke Abbey this afternoon. We went to go and have a peruse around the craft fair originally but nothing really tickled our fancy there. But fortunately parts of the house were decorated all ready for Christmas so we couldn't resist going to have a look around to warm up the festive cockles. 

The Christmas tree was absolutely beautiful, it was decorated with ornaments that have been handed down the Harpur-Crewe family for many generations. There were some vintage ornaments from the 40s to die for! And the fairy on top of the tree was over 100 years old, she wasn't looking too bad for her age either.

Calke Abbey is probably my favourite National Trust property (that I have been to so far), and one of the reasons for this is the sheer amount of taxidermy that is crammed into this property. There is so many unusual, exotic creatures, bones, shells, oddities. I could easily spend all day here just looking in awe at the eccentric collection. 

All the Christmas decorations made Calke really atmospheric today, it was almost eerie in places. You could imagine all the Christmas' that this property would have seen and the plethora of emotions that would have been housed within these walls. It was really nice to go to a place that nudged you to think about Christmas in a way that wasn't all about present buying and hectic panic.   

If you get a little spare time over the coming Christmas weekends I would highly recommend going to Calke Abbey for a festive experience that with warm up the heart of the most ardent bah humbug.

Hope you have had lots of festive fun this weekend <3

Much Love.

Kirst xXx

Xmas Stitching...

I picked up some Xmas cards today. They are rather lovely but I developed a stitching itch this evening and couldn't resist giving one of the cards a little bit of a festive make over. The  card is pretty good quality (for my standards), it is quite thick and sturdy which made the stitching a bit easier. But when I put my tree on the front it was a tugging match to get the thread through the card and the foil decoration.

It is so easy to yule pimp your cards as long as you keep to one rule, keep it minimal! I am the queen of over complicating designs but I have found that if you try to do too much detail, too close together the card will get those veins from where you have bend the card too much, and you don't want your holes too close together because they are likely to rip in between.

Once you have decided what your embroidered touches are going to be, put your card on a thick cushion and poke your needle through to create your holes. When all your holes are stabbed through start stitching like you normally would using the holes to guide your stitches. It is like a stitchy dot-to-dot. Because this is thick card I found it a bit tough to pull the needle through, but I found if I pulled the needle through nearly all of the way and then turned it like a clock hand would turn, it eased the hole a little bit bigger so I could safely get the thread through. 

I was a total rebel stitching these cards because I knotted the thread AND didn't worry about the backs of the stitches on show!!! I like leaving them peeking around the back of the card, I think it adds a gorgeous homemade touch. I am over the moon with how this card turned out, I think it just adds that personal hint that makes Xmas just that little piece more special. 

Hope you are surviving this festive season without too much stress <3

Pearls & Swine - Not Very Christmas 2012 Range.

I am very excited to feature my favourite pieces of the Pearls & Swine  Not Very Christmas 2012 Range. I have been an admirer of Bink's work for a really long time and I always enjoy seeing her kooky work pop up on my facebook news feed. What I love about this range is the fact that even though there are flavours of Christmas in these pieces you can wear them all year round. Most of my wardrobe is made of up of items that I can wear any time of year with little tweaks. So I think that these are gorgeous little investments, especially if you want something that will make you the centre of attention not only in the clambering festive season, but all year round. 

Tropicana.
Model: Jennifer Dickinson Model

MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA

Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Odyssey
Model: Isobella
MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA
Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Return To Innocence.
Model: Jennifer Dickinson Model

MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA

Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Dreamtime Dolly.
Model: Jennifer Dickinson Model

MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA

Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Sacred Heart.

Model: Isobella

MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA
Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Wonderland.

Model: Jennifer Dickinson Model

MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA

Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Edgar's Raven.
Model:Isobella
MUA: Jane Armstrong MUA
Photographer: Ellie Victoria Gale Photographer

Hope these have got you in a wonderfully, glittery, eccentric Christmas mood and if you have that festive soiree hurtling your way, you now know where to go for all your lavish head adorning needs.

My Mum's Christmas Magic Knitting Needles.

My wonderful mother has been extremely busy knitting away at some beautiful Christmas decorations this year! She knitted a Santa and friends to raffle at the charity that I volunteer for and I feel in love with his little friends so much I persuaded her to make some and turn them into Christmas decorations. They are just so adorable! She knitted a whole bunch so I could put some on Etsy for her (but I think I will steal a few to put up on Frasier the Christmas Tree as well hehe).

I can't actually choose a favourite out of this delightful trio and I can't wait to see what they look like on the tree. There are also some little angels waiting patiently to be photographed so I better get round to it in the next few days as Christmas is fast approaching. 

If you have fallen in love with these little guys as much as I have then there are a select few for sale on my Etsy shop Craft Cacophony. Snap them up quick so they can spread their Christmas cheer into your household <3

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I woke up late today, because we had a VERY hectic busy day in London yesterday, and one of the first things Ed had to say to me was "When can we go and get a Christmas tree?".  Ed loves having a Christmas tree soooo much, we didn't bother last year as we were in the process of buying our flat and we weren't sure when our moving date was going to be. So this year Ed wanted to have a Christmas tree early in December to make up for it.  

This was the tree that Ed fell in love with, it is a Fraser Fir so we named it Frasier. It is a lovely, little compact tree grown in a pot which means that we can put it on the allotment after the festive season is over and hopefully Frasier will be with us for next Christmas as well.  

We managed to get it into the car without making too much of a mess by removing the parcel shelf.

Ed managed to find some of our decorations from two years ago. We thought we had more! We only had one tiny strip of lights and a few baubles. 

Here he is in pride of place in the window, ready to be decorated properly so all the other Christmas trees don't laugh at him! 

Hope you have had a great (slightly festive) weekend <3