Chocolate fangs

Inspired by Miss Eva's tutorials for Sugar skulls and Bloody brain skull ice cubes I have made some chocolate fangs =]

I made these using an ice cube tray I got from Poundland.

I simply melted white chocolate and poured it into the teeth, then set it in the fridge. I repeated the process with milk chocolate and Ta-Dah!

Next time I will stir the chocolate to remove air bubbles; the teeth are a little deformed!

Dublin's fair city

I'm sorry that it's taken a couple of days but here are some photos from my trip to Ireland.

This is a picture I took through the window of the coach on the way to the hotel. Thought it was amusingly appropriate! (Sorry about the over-editing, it was the only way I could get the letters to show clearly).

We went to Trinity College, which was beautiful and the Book of Kells was amazing but I could't take pictures there (vellum and flash photography is a bad combination)

The next day I went to Glasnevin Cemetery, which was completely wonderful. It's so good to see how well the cemtery is being cared for; a huge restoration project is underway and the museum is very informative.

Here is it in all it's glory:

We also went on a couple of day trips out of the city, the best took one took us into the Wicklow Mountains.

Whilst there we visited Glendalough which was quite possibly the most magical place I've ever visited; the crumbling ruins and forest of headstones framed by purple mountains.

I really had a great time and I'm looking forward to going back to Dublin again next year.

The Emerald Isle awaits...

I'm flying to Dublin tomorrow to spend a week with my mum exploring.

I don't know if I will have internet access while I'm away so there may not be any blog updates this week.
However when I get back I promise there will be more beautiful cemetery pictures of Glasnevin Cemetery.

I'm currently packing...
I managed to get my top hat in my case (which looks like a pink and black leather trunk on wheels) by filling it with underwear and cushioning round it with tights. Goth holiday dilemmas eh?

Of the return of Subculture and ageing

Today (Ok, yesterday because it's now after midnight) I turned 22.
I'm not really very good at celebrating birthdays but I spent today with family and that was perfect.

I did however go out clubbing on Saturday because my favourite clubnight Subculture has returned to its original and rightful home. With the same old crowd and the same mix of music. I've been going to it since I was 14 (because they used to do an under 18's night called Teenculture too) and it feels like home. In fact I spent half my teenage years in that venue at gig's and clubnights.

This made me a very happy bunny, as you can see:

And then the shots kicked in:

Can't quite believe I'm voluntarily posting that one, but it does give you an idea of my sheer joy at being back in the grottiest club in B'ham dancing to old favourite tunes blasted out at an insanely loud volume. Also I was playing the top hat drinking game.1 top hat insult from a stanger = 1 shot, insult type influences the choice of shot e.g. slash comment means JD or tequila from a dirty glass (I assume that all glasses in that venue are less than hygienic, if the carpet is anything to go by...), Alice in Wonderland = something brightly coloured and suspicious looking, I went for blackcurrant aftershock etc etc.

Also I'm rather proud of the outfit. I think it's rather like the ringmaster of a burlesque circus as envisaged by Tim Burton. There aren't any good pictures of it but the dress was made out of many layers of ruffley netting with spots on it. Yay ruffles!

Top hat: Clothes show
Jacket: Early Birthday present from my mum (once again showing how awesome she is)
Dress: 3 quid in a charity shop, originally H&M
Necklace: Present from my friend Natalie, who makes beautiful jewellery (Tillie'sTrinkets). She's on the left in the photo below.
Hair: Dyed with Colour Crazy Vermillion Red. My entire bathroom is now faintly orange...

What do you guys think, good hair colour? Any suggestions of non-peroxide, non-ammonia dyes that might be better are greatly appreciated.

Return to civilisation...

I have been staying with my Mum in Filey, a little seaside town in Yorkshire.

Unfortunately this meant I just spent a week without internet.

I'm still traumatised.

I hope to recover from the shock of living in the dark ages (seriously I had forgotten how hard it is to write an essay without google!) and get back to blogging soon.

In the meantime here is a picture of Filey I took last summer when the weather was better!

Life, Love, Hair and Hats

Heya, first let me apologise for not updating for a while- I've been extremely busy and all over the place physically and emotionally.

Hats:
I meant to upload these pictures over a week ago, because I want opinions.
I love top hats:

But I also resently brought this hat; its basically a slightly modern style bowler hat, from H&M. What do you guys think? Does it suit me? Please ignore how odd my feet look in this picture.

Some happy news:

I've cut my hair. I'm donating it to Little Princess Trust to make wigs for children with cancer.

Before:

After:

Please excuse the lack of makeup- I was worried that having 22cm of my hair cut off might cause me to weep...
So my hair is now shorter than it's been since I was 3 and I've dyed it dark auburn (pictures to follow when I get the dye off my neck...)

The Bad news:

I don't want to dwell on my personal shit, because that's not what this blog should be about, but I thought I should mention it anyway.

My boyfriend of 2 years broke up with me yesterday. It's a bit of a shock because we've been so happy, but just lately he's not been himself. A friend thinks he may be suffering from clinical depression. Whatever the cause, he doesn't want to spend time with people any more, and thinks it's unfair on me to have to wait around for him to be sociable again. He won't get help, he's content to live in his room and be a hermit outside of work. He's convinced that's the real him and he has to force himself to be sociable at all. I love him, he loves me. I always thought that would be enough, but it doesn't seem to be for him anymore. I can't help but feel it's my fault, that I've done something wrong (again; this isn't the first relationship I've had that disintegrated after 2 years due to mental health issues; maybe I send men insane? At least the last one let me help him through stuff for 18 months, this time my help is not wanted AT ALL)

I'm just mentioning this in case the heart-break, crying, feeling numb etc get it the way of me posting, or all my posts are mopey for the forseeable future.

At least it's sunny today, and I'm spending the evening with good friends.

Uncovering the past at Highgate

Last week I volunteered at Highgate Cemetery. I was all prepared to spend the day clearing brambles or laying turf just for the priveledge of spending some time in my favourite place in London. As it turned out I was even luckier than that; I got to do a little digging...

Highgate cemetery opened in 1839 and is probably the most famous of the 'Magnificent 7' Victorian cemeteries around London. In its heyday, Highgate was the place to be buried for the rich and famous; residents include George Elliot, the Rosetti family, Michael Faraday, The Dickens family (except Charles himself who is in Westminster Abbey) and many more. The cemetery was closed in the 1970's when the company who ran it went bankrupt. It was taken over by a voluntary organisation; the Friends of Highgate Cemetery who are slowly working to restore the cemetery to it's former glory, whilst being sensitive to it's value as a nature reserve.

There is an original map of the cemetery showing the name and location of every grave. However due to extreme age, parts of the map have crumbled. The Friends of Highgate are working to re-map these areas. I got to spend the day clearing the ivy and the soil from the tombs which had been buried by years of leaf fall since its closure.

It was one of the most fascinating and rewarding days I've had in a long time. Revealing the names on the stones and learning a bit about their stories. The first name I wiped soil from was Mr James Faquhar Skeffington (what a brilliant name!) he was only 12 when he died.

I'm hoping to return to the cemetery a lot this year; because it is the focus of my Master's thesis. Hopefully I'll take many more photos, but I thought you all might like to see a few pictures of this wonderful, atmospheric cemetery. A true hidden gem of London.

For more images check out the offical picture gallery