isabel marant x H&M

photos from vogue.com

You knew it was coming...An addition to the sea of blog posts about Isabel Marant x H&M. I'm desperately trying to think of money-earning strategies, short of robbing a bank, ready for the 14th of November. Whilst I perhaps won't be camping outside the nearest H&M through the early hours - come on guys, it's a school day - I definitely will be emptying my piggy bank (am I the only person that still has one of these?) in haste. And so the internal debate starts: is it really worth buying plain white t-shirts, trackies and sweatshirts just because they're designed by Isabel Marant? Basics aside, my favourite pieces are depicted above, though sadly I might have to constrain myself to just that gorgeous black lacy dress. And a belt. And perhaps a skirt. I guess I'll have to go without phone credit for the next few months.

P.S. Would anyone be interested in seeing 'a week in outfits' for next week? Mine, obviously. This may exclude the weekends since I spend them in highly unattractive jersey-based stretch garments.

embroidered pouch

ignore the scrawl, it was a good idea in my head

Another DIY for you - and one I'm quite proud of, if I do say so myself. I decided to take inspiration from some ethnic style embroidered clutches I'd seen on Pinterest (here and here) and embroidered my own design onto some of the gorgeous pink raw silk I purchased a while ago. I then stitched the embroidered piece onto some canvas - actually a canvas tote bag I got from a local craft shop for about a euro and then cut up - and sewed it into a little purse. You too can recreate such a pouch with the help of the easy-to-follow tutorial I used, found here.

Me being me, I forgot to take photos during crafting - but however much I'd like to give the illusion that the process was effortless, truth is I spent countless evenings hunched over my embroidery hoop like a little old lady, cursing as I sewed the fabric to my trousers and stabbed myself repeatedly with the needle (by accident, I hasten to add)...Far from snapshot-worthy!

the raw ingredients (I chose a different kind of polka dot print in the end)

polka dot lining

check those sexy french knots

greece #2

If one picture is worth a thousand words, then surely 9 must be worth 9000 (can you tell I'm doing A level Maths?)

greece #1

Late last night I returned from lovely Corfu. Most of the relaxing holiday consisted of making the superhuman effort of moving from lilo to sunbed and back again (in fact I was so lazy that at one point I was heard to say "I want to turn onto my back, but I can't be bothered" - you can tell how chilled out I was). Despite this extreme physical exertion, somehow I still manage to feel tired today. I feel this might have something to do with the fact that my body is having to adjust to a temperature half of what it was in Greece and it may perhaps also be my subconscious avoidance strategy for trying to avoid the stack of maths work glaring at me from my desk as I remain firmly planted in my comfy bed in a sweatshirt and fluffy socks (yesterday I was wearing a bikini! I can't cope!)

Anyway, enough of the wallowing (it could be worse - I don't start back at school for a week yet): here are the first lot of photos of my trip, a small selection of silly, blurry iPod snaps to whet your appetite...

beautiful beaches

view from the balcony/me walking on water

more scenic views

sand and shorts/shadow/blue sky selfie

harbour at agios stefanos/finally found a coke with my name on it....in Greek (made my holiday)

arm party/hotdog or leg?/sunbathing

at aqualand waterpark/reddest watermelon ever