Doing a happy dance

I'm not sure why, truth be told, but I look purdy happy and dancey here, right? Maybe it's cause I'm wearing pink leopard print shoes and that shizzle just makes me wanna dance! They're shoes #66 in my challenge to wear ALL of my shoes (ridic sized collection) in a year.

Now, about the challenge. I really must get a wriggle on and see what I've not worn yet because if I don't use it, I lose it! Well, sell it or give it to charity. The things is, over the last year, my shoe collection has changed a lot. Part way through the year, I realised there were some pairs I was never going to wear so I just got rid of them. I've bought goodness knows how many extra pairs (it's a habit). There have also been a few 'deaths' in the shoe collection. It's certainly been an interesting year in the shoe-drobe. Anyway, I shall endeavour to pull out some kind of summary in the very close future in preparation for it all coming to an end!

Here are this post's shoes in slightly closer up glory. If you look closely at the toe next to my big toe on my left foot, you can just about make out the plaster I have airbrushed off. I also airbrushed some nasty cuts on my right foot - I'm not that vain but I didn't want to subject you to the yuk of it! These pics are in fact ones I took ages ago and, if I remember correctly, my feet took a beating in my first flip-flop outing of the year. Much rubbing happened and, voila, the skin was gone! Bloody flip flops - so weird how you can have pairs you wear all the time and they're grand then one day, a much loved and worn pair just takes the skin off ya! Ouch!

Shoes: Primark - about £4

One thing that hasn't injured me (but has dyed my finger bright green - cheap metal) is my awesome owl ring, which you can nearly make out in the outfit shot - here he is in all his awesome glory. I friggin' love this ring!

Have a lovely Tuesday evening!

Lady Luck Rules OK. OK!?

Yay! The sun shone today and it didn't rain at all! (well, it's not yet 6pm so there's still time) And I headed up town for a talk by Lady Luck Rules OK's Leona Baker at the Hannah Zakari shop on Candlemaker Row. 

For such an exciting event, only gold lurex, leopard print and a silly 'ooh' face would possibly doodle-doo. Plus, holy-mary-mutha-of-tha-baby-jebus it's got freakin' cold of late and so today was finally the day that I re-busted out my ye-olde-faithful frilly bosom-ed knitted gold lurex dress. Much like leopard print, I believe gold lurex to be a staple wardrobe neutral and this dress is warm, comfy, sparkly and hides absolutely every degree of bloating. Plus, it has ruffles! If anyone knows anyone out there who has the black version and wants shot of it, I'll buy it (it's from H&M)! For anyone who hasn't had them rammed down their throat already (sorry), the boots are Clarks from schuh.

So, back to the day's events! For anyone who didn't come across Lady Luck Rules OK while it was still going, firstly, you can read about the company here, secondly, sad times for you! The brand brought us some of the cutest and kookiest pieces of the, er, noughties (sorry, forgive my momentary twat-sounding-ness there - I hate the phrase noughties.) and some of my absolute favourite pieces of jewellery came from the site. In fact, I'm geeked up enough that I got married in an awesome personalised LLROK necklace, so there's a bit of smooshy sentimental value in the brand for me too. Aw! (Brace yourselves, you're about to get a wee swatch [that's a Scottish word for 'look' BTW. As in "Geez a swatch ae yer new dress" which means "Ooh, may I please have a look at your new dress? Splendid"] of Mr Scribbler)

Picture by Nick Mailer www.fotonick.co.uk

Ooh, look at the pretty necklace!

Sadly, having decided she wasn't feeling the love for her subject anymore, Leona (who started the LLROK after success selling re-worked vintage pieces at London's Portobello market and, amazingly, didn't have a design, jewellery or business background pre market selling.) made the brave decision, late in 2009, to bring Lady Luck Rules OK to an end (it closed up after Valentine's day 2010). Here's a coupla sheets of some of their early designs:

Forgive the picture quality. Being the toppermost awesome blogger amateur that I am my camera battery was dead this morning so the pics are from my phone. Hopefully you get the gist of their early designs, which were bold and colourful and, at the risk of sounding twee, just a bit 'different' from other things out there at the time. Something I think remained true of the brand throughout it's time, in spite of the imitators.

So, being the apparent LLROK geek that I am, when I heard about Leona's talks I decided to go along for a few reasons. Firstly, out of sheer nosiness! I was curious to know what went into one of my favourite brands - more about how it came about, how it grew and why it ended. Secondly, for inspiration. Like many people, the idea of building a business by myself for myself has always appealed - I'm, er, just waiting for the right inspiration to strike. Hmm - we'll see. But I figured the talk really might throw up some valuable info and it did - there were loads of helpful tips and tidbits (what Leona feels she did right and wrong, advice on copyright and legals, trade fairs, PR and much more) in there for anyone looking to start up any kind of business, not just something craft based. Thirdly, I've dabbled in the odd crafty thing here and there (just for myself and friends) and I was really curious to understand a bit more of the 'making' side of the business and that aspect of the talk was fantastically interesting. I'm not gonna give away all the tips and secrets but it was really amazing to hear about how the various items were sourced and made and it was a great reminder that, in business, you can never overestimate the value of a bit of lateral thinking! Another thing I really took from today was a sense of possibility. The fact that Leona developed such a successful business without having any kind of background in the field just goes to show that with a bit of determination and imagination, you can do whatever you want. Unless you're a tone deaf weirdy type and your ambition is to win the X Factor. Reality check peeps.

Here's a wee bit more of the back-catalogue (the owl is one of my absolute favourite pieces!) and, excitingly, a picture of our hands making our own necklaces! Ooh!

And the finished article:

So all that remains to be said is that today was well worthwhile - interesting, entertaining and really, really informative too. I'm just excited to see what Leona does next. Whatever it is, I don't doubt she'll make a success of it.

Legs 11 - Call of the Wild

Sounds a bit like the title of some kind of cheesy porno. Tee, hee! (Actually that might not be a bad idea...)

Shoes #11 in the Great Shoe Wearing Challenge (ha, as if it's a challenge to have to wear shoes every day - who do I think I am?) are Clarks Originals from schuh. I first saw these shoes a few months back and from that moment until they arrived in store I coveted the ass off them. And then they were mine!!

I've always liked Clarks Originals (more so on yummy indie boys) but never really though they were 'me'. Someone at Clarks must've realised this and thought, 'what can we do to reel her in?' (because it's the sole aim of every company to have me like their stuff), at which point a creative genius said 'let's make a hairy leopard print desert boot'. And, thus I was won.

Here they are in all their hairy glory (I am so not averse to a pair of hairy shoes. Did you see the Louboutins with the 'tail'? I think they were maybe for Christopher Kane. Amazing. I'm also ok with a bald shoe as it goes)


As you may (if you've read this recently) or may not know, I've had a filthy, dirty, stinking cold of late and, as a result, I'm dressing for snuggly comfort, rather than for trying to look like a goddess of any sort. I'm also hiding my snot ridden, rudolph nosed face, not because I think I'm fabulous and you don't deserve to see my face but because I think I think you're fabulous and shouldn't be subjected to it. Therefore, the boot outfit runs as follows:

Awesome hairy leopard print boots: Clarks Originals at schuh, £79.99
T-dress: Uniqlo
Black leggings: oh, who the hell knows?
Gold Lurex cardi (which we all know I favour): either Topshop or Primark (I have one from each and I'm not sure which it is.)
Gold Lurex socks (oh yes you better believe it!): Can't remember actually - soz...
Beautiful gold mirrored horeshoe necklace: Lady Luck Rules ok

Final Thought: Will there be a bitchy uncomfortable vibe between Chezza and all the lady x-factor judges?

Four. Fore. For. 90 to go...

Sunday, Sunday here again. And the plan for this one was a BBQ. And then the heavens opened. Fun times. Anyway, I decided to go casual and crack out pair of shoes number 4 - some scabby old Converse from schuh. Converse trainers are ace. Why? Simple: They're a classic and they get better with age (tell that to my white ones that are now a delicious shade of grey and falling apart from the inside and out...)

I chucked this pair on with my slobby jeans, a cute navy and red polka dot top with frill detail (George at Asda!) and my faithful gold lurex cardi. I'm a sucker for a gold necklace and this cutie is from the, sadly no more, Lady Luck Rules OK. Mr Little Scribbler got me it - aww!

Off to drink my tea and psyche myself up for BNTM...

Uh-huh, it's shoes number 2! 92 to go...

I did a bad. I got so excited by other stuff yesterday that I didn't post pair of shoes number 2 in my shoe based challenge. Bad, naughty! So here they are:

Dear Miss Selfridge, I'm here to gives thanks for these McFreakin' awesome shoes. Here's the credit roll:
Pink Suede
Concealed Platform
Chunky Heel (for quirk rather than tack)
Adorable black n white polka dot rosette
Peep Toe (right now anything that shows the leopard toes is a winner)

And here's the proof of me wearing them (if you didn't see me tottering around the office/streets of Edinburgh looking smug about my beautiful shoes). They're joined by uniqlo t dress and patterned leggings (I like these leggings cos they've got a bit more interest to them than plain black but they don't look entirely hideous on my chubby wee legs), gold lurex (have I ever mentioned that I LOVE lurex? Gift me with it and I'll love you...) cardi from either Toppers or Primarni, and a purdy pink perspex star necklace from Punky Pins. Once again, demonstrating my appreciation of the slouchy look. Can you tell I'm not an ironer?