An unexpected holiday

I was planning to stay near home this weekend and party with some friends, but I have been given the chance to have a free weekend in London instead!

I'm going to a club night my cousin runs in Camden tonight called Ultimate Power (80's power ballads anyone?) and Slimelight again on Saturday =]. Also going to go shopping in Camden markets and maybe even get my ear's pierced! Yes I know 22 is a bit on the late side for my first piercing (how many goth points do I loose ? =P) but I used to get a lot of ear infections and so I never wanted to risk making them worse. My ears have been somewhat better in the last 6 months so I'm going to give it a go. Also to say that I am phobic of blood and needles...is a slight under-statement. I'm hoping to find somewhere willing to get 2 piercers (one on each ear) to do them at the same time, so that I can't back out after the pain of the first one! I think it'll be worth it. I'm sick of the world being full of pretty earrings I can't wear!

I have put my camera in my case so I promise lots of pictures, although maybe not any of the piercing process because I don't think anyone needs to see me fainted on the floor of a piercing parlour =P

I'll return to blogging on Monday to announce the winner of the give-away (so there's still time to comment if you'd like to enter!) and share stories from my weekend away! I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Didn't I see you in the last Lord of the Rings film?

The title of this post is actually a question I used to get asked a lot when the LOTR films had just come out. I was young enough then that people assumed I might grew taller, so I suppose so I did resemble a baby elf. In reality I never grew and so I'm actually more hobbit-y in proportion!

Sometimes though I like to dress like a fairy or an elf anyway =]

I've had this hoody for a while; my friend Norma gave it to me and I really like a lot of things about it; especially the hood. It had a heavy zip on it though which pulled the lightweight knit fabric somewhat out of shape. I've been wondering what to do with it for ages, yesterday I decided to remove the zip and just have a single hook and eye fastening, and gather the excess fabric at the back.

What I'm wearing:
Hoody: From Norma =]
Dress: 3.50 from a charity shop
Tights: Primark
Necklace: Present from Gabby =]

Don't forget to comment on my give-away post before next Monday to be in with a chance of winning!

First Cemetery Dreams give-away!

I've been meaning to do this for a while, I was going to do a give-away when I reached 50 followers but I got a bit distracted with other things, not to mention the identity theft fiasco, so now I have 59 followers. More people to enter the give-away I guess =]

I am giving away a sock owl I've made. I'd like you all to meet Dreamer the Cemetery Owl:

This little fellow is made from a brand new sock and some felt with buttons for eyes. He stands on his own because his feet are weighted (with magnets).

He will be winging his way to one of your homes, with other gifts (which will depend on the winners location, because for instance I couldn't send chocolate fangs to a country with strict food import laws).

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is comment on this post in the next week. Then I will put all of your names into my top hat and pick a winner =]

Too many pictures, too little time.

You'll be pleased to know though that my blog has stopped getting hits from the dating site; I think my post must have warned the person off because when I got home from work to investigate I couldn't find anything related to me on the site. Phew! I still think watermarking is worthwhile though to avoid problems in the future.

I've been going through every picture I have ever uploaded to this blog and adding watermarks to everything. There are almost 150 pictures... Most of them are of me, when did I get so vain? Understandably this is taking a bit of time and changing over all of the pictures will do too. I  think I'll aim to re-do the pictures from one month every week because It's driving me crazy, my laptop is so slow that I wasted 6 hours yesterday water-marking. I'm just putting 'Cemetery Dreams' on everything at the moment, because I'm hoping to start using tumblr as well so didn't want to put my blogspot url.

In the meantime here's an outfit that I came across in my pictures whilst I was looking for blog images. I don't think I ever posted it here (I've only gotten to May with my image re-doing so far so I'm not sure). It's just a causual steampunk outfit. I took the pictures because I had a request from Brass Goggles for a close-up of how I made the jeans into pirate trousers.

I'm also currently preparing a surprise for you all which will be posted tomorrow so watch this space =]

Identity theft?

I was going to blog today but I've discovered that my blog is getting hits from an adult dating site... a very much not safe for work site...with 'sex pic of the day' and other such features!
I need to investigate but I suspect that someone is impersonating me or using my pictures!
I'm pretty upset because this is the sort of thing I never want to be associated with, and could possibly be damaging to my future and career.

Instead of blogging today I'm going to go through all my pictures and watermark them as a security measure.
I'll also probably organise some other things like my post labels whilst I'm going through my posts.

To be honest I'm a little at a loss as to why anyone would want to pretend to be me on a dating site, then link to a blog where I have pictures with my boyfriend....
I'm also befuddled as to why anyone would think pretending to be me would be a good way to attract people on the internet...

Sorry for this guys. I'll be back by the end of the week, with a pleasant suprise for you all =]

Project uber-frill complete

I have finished the top I started altering earlier in the week.

First I did the second shoulder and lace around the neckline.
Then I  gathered the shoulders so it wouldn't keep slipping and added buttons, purely for decoration. I also added a ton more lace; this time to the bottom of the top.

Finally I had to solve the issue of it being rather too wide. My first two plans failed to materialise (I couldn't find eyelet tape, or even a tool for setting the eyelets myself) so the solution was actually my 3rd idea, but I love the way it turned out.

(Please excuse my hair; I plaited it at 8 o'clock this morning and then just left it... busy working and sewing and my utter lack of make-up, it's been one of those days!)

The holes for the lacing are actually the strip of buttonholes from 2 kids school shirts! I brought age 5-6 because that was the largest size available on the 2 for 3 quid offer and luckily they are just long enough =]. I zip zagged the raw edge but left it looking frayed because I quite like the effect.

I am going away this weekend, to visit my mum in Filey so I won't have internet access again until Monday. Have a good weekend everyone and please let me know what you think of my t-shirt alteration attempt!

Unlocking the craft box

OK so there isn't actually a lock on my box of craft supplies, In fact I have many boxes and bags of random crafting stuff scattered all over my room, hiding in corners, under the bed and in all the cupboards... My name is Phoenix and I'm a craftaholic hoarder =P

The title of the post is actually inspired by the design on this T-shirt and the fact I've not had time to make anything for ages:

I found the t-shirt in the men's department at Primark for 3 quid and really liked the print.
It's way too big and my days of wearing men's baggy clothes are well and truly over so I brought it with the intention of altering it somehow.

It's been sitting in my wardrobe untouched for a month or so waiting for inspiration (which actually isn't very long compared to some of the projects I've been putting off...for like 2 years) but last night I finally decided what I wanted to do with it.

Here's a sneak peek:

I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the week to show you all. Although getting it completely finished does involve some luck and craft supplies I currently can't find anywhere =[ but at the very least I will have more progress to show!

Little House on the Prairie

I promised you all these pictures a long time ago and I'm sorry for the delay. They were taken my my lovely friend Pip, and she's been super busy so she only just edited them for me.

I got this dress from a vintage shop a long time ago, it was a complete bargain, but never wore it because I wanted to add lace trim and black ribbon to it. I don't feel that cream suits my complexion very well; because I have a yellow undertone to my skin. I hoped that the black border would prevent this effect; I'm not sure how well it worked though! I hand stitched all the trim, which was a mistake because the skirt needed 7m of lace! It doesn't look big enough to have edges that long!

The dress made me want to run around the park and frolic in a meadow, so here I am!

What I'm wearing:
Vintage Dress: Well actually it was originally a theatrical costume so I have no idea how old it is; 10 quid in Top Banana (my local vintage shop)
Cape: Phaze. I got it in a tattoo parlour/alternative store when I was on Holiday in Weymouth 2007. I think it was 20 quid.
Victorian boots: Schuh many years ago. They are the most expensive shoes I own, but also the best 80 quid I ever spent.
Parasol: Vintage. 17th birthday present from my mum.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog for the rest of this week; I've got some big deadlines with my uni work. So if you don't hear from me it's because I'm up to my eyeballs in books about dead things again!

Monthly Theme from Sophistique Noir: Bows

I was really excited when I found out the theme for this month, but I've had a pretty scatter-brained day so my contribution is only small, another goth in the office outfit:

What I'm wearing:
Blouse: H&M
Pinifore dress: Miss Selfridge
Bow: From a lolita dress I brought for graduation