Under African Skies

It's lovely to have pennies in my pocket but why is it that when you have got some dollar, you can't see anything to spend your money on. I turn into such a frugal little creature and can never seem to find anything I like and when I do, I have to question myself up to 10 times for a couple of days as it gathers dust in the online shop's basket. 

This weekend I have my boyfriend's uncle's 40th birthday to attend after work so I wanted to treat myself to something new. Feeling vibrant colours and through my appreciation of lady-like lengths and shapes I discovered this beautiful skirt on ASOS.

It is a part of their ASOS Africa range and I am just so damn excited for it to arrive. Always inspired by Natalie Joos, I know I needed to branch out and be a bit more adventurous with clashing prints and colours so I am still on the search for a suitable top half of the outfit. Any ideas?

I fear that I will end up with a simple, plain t-shirt up top but I don't feel discouraged by that having been inspired by this image from Lucy Laucht I discovered via Pinterest.

Pretty, pretty. 

Dr. Martens x Liberty

I've had a pair of Dr. Martens for well over four/five years now and I've always been keen to get another pair. You can't go wrong with a pair of chunky footwear in my books, it always looks very Nineties with a girlier outfit. 

In recent times, I've been more inclined to the actual shoes themselves, resembling something of a school child I like to envision, paired with some little socks. My boyfriend told me off once and said I shouldn't need more than one pair but alas I feel I do and have just sat and waited for the right moment. 

That moment, I believe, has finally arrived. Well, it will do come June as Dr. Martens has teamed up with Liberty to create a range of boots, shoes and satchels. Yippee I hear you cry. I definitely did at least. I always love the clashing of the tough and rebellious with florals, beauty and nature.

Annoyingly I'm not currently at home or on my own laptop so I am unable to be a whizz with some photos but to actually go and view the items click here. 

I've got my eye on the '1461' 3-hole shoes in the primary coloured floral.

Perfect for summer days.

Spoilt for choice.

So a while back I wrote a post about wanting to make my own clothes. I got a lot of responses that agreed with me on how hard it was and how everybody wishes they could do the same. Still wanting to give it a go though, I plan on sewing myself a shift dress and have therefore been searching around for a nice bit of material to use. 

I am very much into patterns at the moment and I always like something a bit whimsical. I spent Sunday morning searching through Spoon Flower, an excellent site which allows people to put their own patterns, art, prints up to allow them to be sold as fabric.

I came across beautiful ikat prints, little foxes, sketched knickers and green chevron's. 

There were so many to choose from, I don't know where to start. I am thinking that I should initially buy a cheap piece of cotton to test I am able to do it before I invest in some of this lovely fabric and ruin it. 

There's more below to show you just how much wonderful choice I have found myself facing.

Little tomatoes, harlequin diamonds, paintbrush strokes and watercolour eyes. 

Wishlisting in a new direction.

It's taken me from Saturday to Monday to go from basics to full on vibrant colours. A few bits I collected from around the web today were peacefully sitting on my desktop, not enough to make a fulfilling post but they sat their patiently. 

I was very good today and despite Wednesday being my submission deadline for my freelance writing I work on each week, I got it all completed and submitted by lunchtime (Go me!). I finished up a few other pieces on my to-do list and I then found myself with nothing to do. What do you do when you've checked off everything on your check list? You go window shopping online in anticipation of payday. This is what led me to have a few items laying around on my home screen, that was until I decided to have a browse on Anthropologie. Always so refreshing, shying away from fashion's current trends the site left my computer completely cluttered and a wishlist exploding with colour. Basics are definitely absent in this post. 

My favourite prints this season are definitely lush green leaves and ferns, strangely insects - something I have never paid an interest in but now I just can't get enough and finally, graphic checks. Besides from the last, it's all very nature focused and quite often in a repetitive form. 

So without further ado, from top left:

1. Botanical pencil skirt, the perfect camouflage for Spring's new life. 

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2. Thinking about socks and sandalled shoes, slithering through the seasons in these python capped beauties.

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3. A long lost Monki discovery which I stumbled on via Pinterest and is no longer in existence. Neutrals and neon, always enjoyable. 

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4. Another appearance from the fluorescent, in the form of sheer baroque lace. I'm thinking a simple white t-shirt with a bright pink heel?

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5. Anthology magazine because you can't get more inspirational than interior design. Especially when it looks like tidy clutter.

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6. Mirrored Monki Bag. 

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7. Introduced to Brian Vanden Brink's photography through Liebemarlene and her beautifully chronicled memories of Illinois. Influenced by the deserted and decaying and natures relationship with architecture when it is free to roam. When possible, I enjoy collecting photography books to lose myself in and this book makes me wonder how people could possibly leave these charming structures behind.

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8. This Beetle book which I discovered via Anthropologie (of course), has left me even more head over heels for the little mites and I found my searching on Etsy for brooches and framed creatures. 

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9. More inspiring interiors, this time from modern California circa 1930-65.

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10. Powder pink and snakeskin heels. 

Repeat after me.

Dress: River Island

Still fawning over repeated patterns and prints.