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. 

Midweek inspiration.

It amazes me how quickly time flies by lately, the weeks flash by in the blink of an eye and you soon find yourself welcoming April, Easter and Spring. It only seemed like yesterday we were all in the spirit of Noel.

It feels strange, the last two days I've worn my hair up in a ponytail, I never wear my hair in a ponytail. 

Tiger, tiger, burning bright.

Today I woke beside the sun and travelled to London for an interview with Zara. 

Besides from the interview I had a feast fit for a king, visited William Blake and Daniel DeFoe's graves, caught sight of a Banksy (which had infact been graffitied on - graffiti on graffiti...the mind boggles) and a Shepard Fairey (my favourite street artist) and read Ghost World in the Barbican. 

Instagram: pickletreat

While my guitar gently weeps.

Image via Morphine Sky

I have never learnt to play the guitar but throughout my life I always find myself going through phases, wanting to learn something new, take up a new hobby. I took piano lessons for seven years and creativity runs through my blood, passed down through my family but my attention doesn't stick around long enough and always distracts me to something else, a new interest and longing to try something else. Painting, drawing, horse riding, javelin, astronomy and even rock collecting/geology are a few of the phases I have gone through at one stage or another in my life, some quite laughable. 

Yesterday I can happily say I added a new leisurely pursuit to this list, filmmaking. I had dug out my video camera the day before and decided I needed to start carrying it on me, filming as much around me as I could. 

I am quite keen to work on the editing stage after working on a film for a project whilst at university. I am not saying I think I am going to become a pro, I am not even sure how long this hobby will hold out for unfortunately. I am quite happy to be an amateur contentedly collecting memories. 

Besides there is no harm in giving something a go even if I don't turn out to be the best at it, I can only wait and see.

Holly Hobbie.

'Creativity takes courage' so said Matisse, and I am going to follow in the shadow of his words and be courageous with my creativity, alongside my mother, for a little business venture. As I mentioned in a previous post, my mum and I are thinking of opening an Etsy shop something I have wanted to do for a while now. I won't reveal what we have planned yet as I wouldn't want to curse it for it is only a seed we have sown within the last week. It is so exciting, I have been spending my lost days planning, the creativity in my veins pumps quicker by the day. 

I find the aspect of planning all very exciting but when you have sat there all morning flirting with future plans and you know nothing can progress that day, it can get a bit tedious and I found myself caught in a daze. Quick to close down my laptop before I turned into a zombie I dug out some watercolours, a pad and a pencil and began to draw. It had been a longtime since I had been creative through this kind of medium, I had forgotten how enjoyable and relaxing it is. A lost day became less lonely once I welded a paintbrush to my hand and was transfixed by colours flooding the paper. 

I hope this is something I keep on pursuing as a hobby, as I have a habit of going through 'phases'. To make sure it is something I keep on with, I have found the perfect little watercolour travel set, if only my birthday or Christmas was near as it would be top of my list + a nice shiny new sketchbook, both to pop into my bag wherever I go, like Picasso once said, 'painting is just another way of keeping a diary'.

Practice makes perfect.