Following on from my recent wedding posts on my Something Blue and Something New, today I've written about my Something Old! I've mentioned before that the old rhyme "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" took a while to return to my head. This led to a small amount of panic on my part when I realised I'd forgotten it, but in the end my something old was the easiest choice, as I went for my beautiful engagement ring. 

Big hand, little hand, engagement ring!

Me and my now-husband had quite a time finding it. He was living in Leigh-on-Sea at the time, so during one of my weekend visits to see him we decided to book out a Saturday morning to go ring shopping. There’s two very nice jewellers in Leigh itself, and if they failed then we could get the train to Southend and continue our search there. My OH had originally considered getting a ring custom made and had researched stones for it, but in the end he was so worried about getting the “wrong” ring that he insisted he needed my help.

The shops we visited in Leigh had some very nice rings, but nothing that really jumped out at me. So we went on to Southend, and spent a good few hours wandering around. We visited the big chain shops, we popped in to little pawn shops and independent jewellers. There were plenty of nice rings, but none that I could really see as being my engagement ring.

I think we were at the point of giving up and trying again somewhere else at some other weekend when we went down a side road and found another shop. As we stood looking in the window one particular ring jumped out at me. It was labelled as an “antique”, and looked so pretty in the window that I had to go in and try it on. My main fear was that it would be too small, as I’d read online that it’s quite difficult to increase ring size, but happily it fit fine (slightly too big, as I’d later find out, but I’d rather have the size reduced than increased!)

I’ve since worked out that the ring probably dates from the 1920s as I’ve found similar ones on Etsy marked as such. When I eventually took it to a jeweller in Cambridge they asked me if it was a family heirloom as they thought it was an old ring (it also turned out that some of the stones were damaged, so I have to be careful with it!), and although I don’t know the history of it, it was lovely to have a genuinely old ring as my “something old” to wear down the aisle!

Small Business Saturday

Us British are starting to develop a trend of copying the Americans. However today we're copying something that I actually agree with, Small Business Saturday. It's a chance for small businesses to highlight themselves and encourage shoppers to consider alternatives to large supermarkets and branded stores.

Firstly just to remind everyone (since this is my blog) I have three shops on Etsy, The Bibliophile which sells vintage books, Creative Classics which sells ancient history themed badges and postcards, and Creative History which is more badges but with more medieval themes.

So, shameless self-promotion set aside, I thought I'd highlight some of the UK-based Etsy shops I've been buying from recently.

Pale Aqua Sea Glass Earrings by thestrandline

The first shop is thestrandline which sells the loveliest jewellery. Maureen Gilbertson lives in Northumberland and sources her sea glass from walks along the Northumberland coast. I recently purchased something from her and not only was it dispatched quickly but she also took great care to wrap it in bubblewrap and put it in a padded envelope. It came in a lovely blue giftbox secured with a silver ribbon, and I have no doubt that the person I bought it for will love it. If you're looking for something a little unusual but still pretty and tasteful then I cannot recommend this shop enough.

Washi Tape - Green Selection by JoandFlo

I must admit I think I'm becoming a bit of a washi tape addict at the moment. Maybe it's because it's so much prettier than normal sellotape. Or perhaps it's because JoeandFlo are so awesome to buy from. Don't let the fact that they have 14 listings fool you, each one gives you multiple tape choices. Most of the tapes are £1.60 each (except for some of the more elaborate ones) and the postage charges are very reasonable. You have a very wide variety of tapes to choose from, and at the moment they're also featuring Christmas tapes if you want to give a different style to your Christmas wrapping.

The two above are shops that I've bought things from recently, but there are plenty of other UK shops on Etsy that have some awesome products which would make great Christmas presents. GingerDuckSoap sells handmade soaps and candles, Pouch is a mixture of handsewn goodies and vintage accessories, BreadAndJam has printed mugs and tote bags and OfLifeAndLemons does prints and cards.

Have a lovely Small Business Saturday everyone!

Orchids

I'm probably the only person in London that occasionally has to move a large washing up bowl, stuffed with orchids in their pots, out of the shower and on to the bathroom floor so that I can have a wash XD

One of my housemates likes to grow orchids, and they do look lovely on the bathroom windowsill as he's got whites, purples and yellows so we have a nice mixture of colours. They don't need to be watered frequently but you do need to give them a nice long soak on occasion, so every so often they can be found in a big bowl in the shower tray.

Orchid Necklace by ElizabethSMurray

I stumbled on this shop while looking at orchids on Etsy and I loved it so much I had to feature it! Every piece is made with stamped silver and polymer clay inlays. The details are incredible, such as getting the right shade of blue on the kingfisher, or the little purple speckles on the petal of the orchid above.

Have a nice evening everyone!

Melbourne

Today is the day that the city of Melbourne in Australia was founded! Since I frequently celebrate the anniversaries of American states I thought it was only fair to balance it out with something Australian.

Porcelain Blue Pattern Earrings by MyBlossomCouture

It was hard to choose a shop to feature, but in the end I went for this lovely jewellery shop. There's lots of lovely earrings, as well as necklaces and some pretty hairpins.

Have a nice evening everyone!

Storms

I was woken up just before 6:30 this morning by a rumble of thunder overhead. This rumble was soon joined by another, and then another, until a bloody great crash went off above my head, and then got quieter again as it moved on.

It was also accompanied by a few minutes of heavy rain, which was lovely for the plants but doesn't appear to have done much, the grass is still looking very unhappy. Right now I'm watching a storm radar on Netweather to see if there's anything approaching my little corner of London.

Stormy Night Necklace by DesignsbyZoZo

Turns out there's quite a few "storm" items on Etsy but this one caught my eye because of the awesome silver cloud and crystal raindrops!

Have a nice evening everyone!

Saxophone

Once again I was on Wikipedia (I don't have it set as my homepage, I swear!) when I saw that on this day in 1846, Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone (my head is currently doing Homer Simpson impressions, I keep reading it as "saxomophone").

Saxophone Earrings by twopennylane

Naturally I then had to go and search for saxophones on Etsy and found this awesome earrings. I really wish my sisters could play the saxophone as I would then have an excuse to buy these XD

And now to celebrate I insist that everyone goes and listens to Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street so you can all enjoy the saxophone bit in it!

Have a nice evening everyone :)

Cheesecake

One of the most delicious desserts in the world has to be cheesecake. My first meal when I visited New York included baked New York cheesecake for pudding. When I'm feel very low and need to cheer myself up, I buy a slice of cheesecake to eat after dinner.

I actually have quite a bit of it in my fridge as I bought some during my weekend shop on Saturday and then when I saw a friend later the same day they had also bought me some cheesecake, so it looks like I won't need to buy any chocolate this week!

New York Cheesecake Earrings by GiraffesKiss

These earrings look good enough to eat, as does the rest of this Etsy shop! There's sweet and savoury miniatures in this shop, in the form of earrings, bracelets and necklaces. I don't know if I'd wear a cheesecake-themed necklace, but browsing through the photos has certainly made me hungry!

Have a nice evening everyone.

Cambridge shop

I'm back in Hertfordshire for the weekend.

My parents live very close to the Hertforshire-Cambridgeshire border. Unfortunately you can't search for "Hertfordshire" as a location on Etsy, but you can search for shops in the city of Cambridge itself!

Bluebell Blossom Earrings by lazygiraffe

This shop is based in Cambridge and has lots of pretty, delicate pieces of jewellery. There's some lovely stacking rings with necklaces and earrings.

I would write more but I'm tired.

Have a nice evening all!

Vintage Ring

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you've all had a decent start to the week!

Last night I decided to have a look through vintage rings on Etsy. I used to have a pretty vintage ring with a tiny piece of turquoise in the middle and some lovely embellishment around the edge, but I lost it a few years ago, an unfortunate side-effect of moving multiple times during my university years.

I knew I wouldn't find exactly the same ring on Etsy, not unless I was incredibly lucky (or unlucky depending on your point of view). But I did find some very pretty alternatives, including this lovely piece;

Vintage Silver Turkish Ring by sadeFinds

Isn't it pretty? I'm seriously tempted to buy it but the listing says it's a size 7 and I have no idea if that would be too big or too small for my fingers. I also have no idea when I would actually wear it as I don't normally wear rings XD There's more vintage jewellery in this shop, so have a look and see if there's anything that catches your eye.

Have a nice evening everyone!

London Marathon

Last year, when I had only been living in London for a few weeks, I went to see the London Marathon with a bunch of people supporting the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Some of my readers may remember this charity from the sponsored walk I did back in August, for those that don't know the MNDA is my favourite charity and I do what I can to help out when possible.

Last weekend was the Marathon again and so I donned one of my MND Association t-shirts and headed to Limehouse in the docklands to cheer loudly for all the runners and then cheer extra loudly for the MNDA runners. I clapped so hard that my hands hurt on Monday, cheered so loudly that my throat was still sore on Monday, and the supporter group also had a DJ with them so I was still a little deaf on Monday as well. But it was well worth it and if any of the MNDA runners are reading this I want you to know I am in total awe of you. I can barely run 26 yards let alone 26 miles.

Hence also why this post is on a Tuesday instead of a Sunday, by the time I got back to my flat I was a bit too dazed to write anything.

The MND Association's colours are blue and orange, and so to celebrate my favourite charity and the amazing people that work for it, support it, and fundraise for it by running a marathon, I bring to you some blue and orange items!

Blue and Orange Wedding by JulianaWJewelry

ZigZag Lap Quilt by becauseimme

Feather Fascinator by MaddieLus

Blue and Orange Necklace by Karismabykarajewelry

Have a good week everyone!

The Zodiac

After my post about Little Brother and Dad's birthdays last week I realised that me and my siblings cover each of the elements in the western zodiac, air, earth, fire and water. I actually find this quite a fun coincidence, so today we're having a look at star signs!

Subway Art- Aquarius by PaperBleu

Doing these in date order, first of all is Youngest Little Sister! Her birthday in January puts her in Aquarius, which is an Air sign. Out of that list above I'd say she's definitely friendly and thoughful, and quite intellectual as well. She's the first out of me and my siblings to be put in the top class for maths!

I am an Aries by blushface

As you might have guessed from my post last week, my brother is an Aries and therefore a fire sign. I'm not sure about energetic, he seems to spend most of his weekends sleeping, but he's pretty enthusiastic about cars and QPR, and generally thinks he's good at everything so that's the confidence sorted XD

Virgo Cell Phone Charm by loveyourathlete

Eldest Little Sister is a September baby, one of the earth signs. They tend to get stressed easily, and they like things to be neat and organised, which is VERY much how Eldest Little Sister is, to the point of borderline OCD. She also has a way of finding small things to do for people, like clearing the table for our Mum after dinner or sharing her chocolate with me, another Virgo trait :)

Scorpio Hammered Pendant by PointyKitty

And then last but not least there's me, the Scorpio, one of the water signs. Scorpios are often given a bad reputation for being unforgiving (true) and stubborn (also true) but we're not so bad. The keepers of both promises and secrets. And we're passionate, you've all seen me rant about the football XD

So there we have it, the four signs of my siblings and me, air, fire, earth and water!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Autumn Part 2

I have a cold, so today I'm curled up in bed with lots of tissues and lots of tea. But even though I've got the first illness of the season I'm still celebrating the fact that it's autumn!

Glass magnets by TrendyTilesbyTara

The cute designs make these magnets thoroughly adorable. I must admit I never think of an owl as an "autumn" animal but the colours are perfect and make it fit in with the rest of the theme.

Autumn Leaf by TCaponePhoto

Let's face it, this photo sums up autumn perfectly! A fallen leaf in red and orange, is there anything else that could sum up a season so well?

Autumn Fall Colours by accessorarti

I love pearl charm braclets, and this one is so full of the colours of autumn that I had to include it! I especially like the little leaf charms you can see peeking between the pearls.

Autumn Leaves Book and Box by PhoenixFinery

And finally a lovely origami book and a beautiful box. The paper colours suit the theme well and the gold glitter used to embellish the leaves makes them stand out beautifully.


I'm going to go and dose myself up with lots of tea! Have a nice weekend everyone!