Let's Get Physical...

In the last couple of weeks I've added some new fun pieces to my ever growing gym wardrobe which I wanted to share with you and do a little mini post on, If you know me in 'real life' you'll know I'm not really a gym person. I don't enjoy being sweaty. I'm not sure I actually know how to run and I consider 'burpee' a curse word. But it turns out that after the age of about 24-ish, i think it was, you can't just keep eating and never exercising. Devastating really as one thing I do love is eating. So whether I like it or not I'm going to need to exercise and keep exercising. Turns out tho the more you do it the more you kind of do like it (*not burpees.), my trick has been to find exercise that I love rather than drag myself to a gym or class that I dread going. I tend to do 2-3 classes a week which are either Ballet Barre (A cardio workout using Ballet moves) or Pilates/Yoga (best exercise ever). Now if you've never had a go at either of those classes you might be mistaken into thinking they are 'easy' classes. They aren't. Just ask the lads who do thai boxing at the same gym who have tried coming along, but they are more my kinda class. If your not a typical gym person (or if you are and you fancy something different) I would definitely suggest giving them a go! If your local let me know and I'll pass on the details, you can come along and help peal me off the floor at the end... 

  

Anyway back to the clothes, Gym clothes can be scary. They aren't flattering and you can feel like you don't look great in them until your a gym pro and how do you become a gym pro when you don't want to wear the clothes to go to the gym in the first place? its a vicious circle, right. Well for me I just make them fun. I know an all black outfit would be more slimming but when I'm doing a 'downward dog' and the blood is rushing to my head I like to look upside-down at the brightly coloured bottoms, smile and remember it will be over in an hour. 

So my first outfit is mostly Nike (trainers, leggings and sports bra) I brought the bra and leggings from a local Nike outlet so unfortunately can't give you the links but here are similar ones for the bra here and the bottoms here both on asos. 

The vest is from Deliciously Ella, A picture of it came up on my suggestions page on instagram and I loved the wording on it! It arrived quickly and while I love the style but I would want to say to anyone who is thinking of buying it that the quality is that of a small business selling printed tops, its not the same as if Nike or a larger brand had made it. There are other slogans available and I think there was other colours too? I went for a medium and they are a generous fit as it says online. Including postage it was just over £25 and you can find them here.

Now these leggings I LOVE, they just make me smile. Again I actually saw these on Instagram, I follow an illustrator called @hollysharpe_drawings and shes collaborated with a company called Society 6 who have made several of her designs into these fabulous leggings, it was a tough choice to pick one but I went for these as they went with my tops! keeping it simple. You can see her collection of gym leggings here. 

While on the Society6 website I searched for 'Leopard print leggings' and found these ones, as they had a free P&P offer that weekend I thought I'd make the most of my order and get these too. you can buy them here. The website itself is American? (I'm pretty sure). So everything was in US dollars but a google converter got the price spot on in pounds. I was really pleased there was no customs charges either! (I might have just been lucky on this one, as it does vary with other items I've brought online from both Australia and the USA) and they arrived about a week later! 

Both tops shown here are from H&M (I love their gym wear) I brought these at the beginning of the year, they have washed amazingly and are still going strong. They also do this vest in black if you want to tone down your outfit too! 

Hope this has inspired you to 'get physical' as Olivia Newton John would sing (and is singing round and round in my head through this whole blog).

Thanks for reading! Sophie x 

Home Sweet Home...

One year ago, moving into our first home. 

Whenever I've asked you lovely lot what you'd like to see a blog about, interiors always gets mentioned, which I love that you love. I know I post a lot of little peaks of how I've decorated on Instagram (@prettylittlepoppet) and today we are celebrating one year of living in our little home so when could be better to take you 'through the keyhole' for a little mooch!

So I'll start by saying I accidentally say 'I' a lot when talking about our home (managed to not say 'my home' there phew) but I was lucky enough that my boyfriend didn't/doesn't really care when it comes to decorating and interior design (yay!) He said as long as he could choose the TV he was happy. So obviously I was very happy too. A TV is just a TV right?

Here's some of my favourite inspiration I looked at when decorating... (images via Pinterest)

I love the different prints in this room, the cushions, rug, throw  are all perfect in my opinion. I also really like the bedside tables and matching lamps. Oh and the headboard too- to me a headboard is a must.

I love how light and airy this room looks, the windows obviously help with this but the light colours and glass table really add to this. I love the miss matching cushions  and the idea of books out on display. It looks gorgeous but lived in!

I LOVE this as an office! It looks tidy but like you actually use it too. the curtains and rug are both fabulous! And I really like the bright coloured walls with the white furniture. 

 Even before we started looking for a place to buy I had boards after boards on Pinterest of anything and everything home related! I had every room planned out, which not surprisingly changed when we actually began looking and everywhere was half the size of my dream Pinterest house, but the style stayed the same. I especially love both Moroccan and Indian pieces- if you can point me in the direction of a Moroccan wedding blanket that doesn't cost the earth then I'll love you forever! 

 I guess the way I'd describe my style is 'Boho Glam' or that's the nice way I'd like everyone to describe it anyway. Our home is laid back and quite a beachy feel but still quite thought through and put together with sparkly bits to finish. Bright colours, mismatching prints and lots of interesting bits and pieces (or knick knacks as your Nan would call them). If I like it I'll find a place for it, I'm not precious about it not sticking to a theme, the theme is just us. We/I want our home to just represent our interests and tastes, unfortunately that's also why we have a bloomin' great big superhero canvas in the hallway (I had to let him have something).

Paints by Crown (clockwise) Cool Aqua, Sunnydaze and Dusted Fondant.

Space wise we had to go for chests of draws instead of bedside tables, we brought these from idea to match the wardrobes but added new draw knobs (from Tkmaxx) I couldnt get enough of any one type so each draw is different but the two chests match each other. They look so much better than the plain black ones that came with them!

Bedding and cushions from H&M, Sequin heart cushion from Next Home.

Pineapple lamp from House of Fraser, Jewellery box from Debenhams, Love candle from H&M,
candle holders from The Range, Bracelet by Samantha Wills.  

So I could talk and talk about our home and interior design in general all day long but I'm sure no one wants to read a ten page blog post so I'll try and stick to the basics, the things I get asked about and just a bunch of pictures. One of the questions I get asked the most is actually what colour we used on our bedroom walls, its 'Cool Aqua' by crown, having googled a little beforehand I read that blue was the most relaxing colour for a bedroom and well I'm a sucker for anything like that (I'd feng shui everywhere if I could), this is actually also why I went for Yellow in our second bedroom which is my work studio, this was the second most relaxing colour on the list, that and the fact that I LOVE yellow! I blame Carol Smiley and 90's TV show 'changing rooms' for my bright orange and yellow bedroom growing up. 

These picture frames and shelf brackets were all spray painted, they were originally black ones from Ikea.
The cake quote is a greeting card I loved and framed- it can be a lot cheaper buying cards than printed quotes.

Frames and Eiffel tower lamp all from Tkmaxx (I wasn't joking when I said everything was from there).

Rug from Next Home, Moroccan Pouffe from Joss & Main, The draws were second hand, All baskets/boxes are from Tkmaxx.

Colour's are such a big thing for me, I went for what I'd call bright pastels as I wanted them to be fresh in the Summer but warm in the Winter. Although our home is nowhere near 'perfect' I wanted it to look like the ones I loved so much on the internet, to me there is no point wishing you had something without trying to make it happen, if it's awful you can always get the white paint out afterwards. 

Rug from Debenhams.

Cushions from H&M and Joss & Main, Magazine rack upcycled from Ebay.

Centre Cushions by Matthew Williamson, Back cushion from H&M.

 The second question I get asked a LOT on Instagram is where our gorgeous living room rug was from, it was from Debenhams (you can buy it here.) and is the most beautiful rug I've ever seen! It was one of the more expensive things we brought but it was worth it as we didn't have to replace any carpets when we moved in but it really finished off the room. At the time I brought quite a few cushions from the Matthew Williamson range (also at Debenhams) that matched it perfectly but through the year I like to switch them over just to give the room a fresh look without redecorating (seasonal cushions, sad I know). By picking a neutral colour for the walls and a grey settee we can get away with matching pretty much any colour's with it. (My personal favourites at the moment are creams and limes for Spring/Summer and Plums and gold's for Autumn/Winter.)  

Rug from Ikea, All other items from Tkmaxx.

'Please Remove Your Jimmy Choos' sign from Ebay UK.

Shopping wise Tkmaxx has to be my favourite for home pieces, whenever I post photos of the things we've brought everyone's always shocked that they are from there so I don't know if my local ones are particularly good for home ware but half our house is from there (including our bar cart, Eiffel tower table lamp, you are my sunshine frame, all of which you may have already seen on Instagram). All of the bedding we've brought so far has been from H&M online as well as a lot of our cushions and a few bits such as candles etc. Other shops that favourite pieces have come from are Joss & Main, Next, The Range and George Home (just click on them for their websites.)

Any particular items I've missed feel free to ask about I could just go on for hours...

Upcyled chair from second hand shop, You can just about see our curtain ties here- they were brought from a local market (not advertised as curtain ties but easy enough to tie into them) and cost about £3 each!

Ikea chair painted in 'Honey Daze' by Crown. 

Fur rug from Ikea,  'Believe' cushion from Dunelm Mill.Map cushion handmade by Pretty Little Poppet, available to order £15.

My favourite item has to be the wicker peacock chair, I have wanted one for so long! I actually had one of my lovely customers tip me off about this particular one as she had seen it for sale at a local recycling shop- these are amazing places to find items to upcycle yourself, this one I spray painted white as a base coat and painted it 'Honey Fever' by Crown. I did the same to a pair of wicker chairs we brought from ikea to use in my studio room to link the two rooms too. I've done a few upcycling projects so might do a blog on those or some easy 'how to' blog's in the future, I've been meaning to paint the gorgeous cream chest of draws we got second hand so I might use those as a project to blog on? 

Retro phone from Next Home, Sunshine frame and bowl both from Tkmaxx.

Coffee table books are the perfect way to add character to your home and show who you are at a glance,
pick ones that are personal to you- they make great conversation starters! 

Lastly 'where do I get my inspiration?' This is probably the trickiest question I've been asked as I honestly just throw things together, hope for the best and change it if it's terrible! But the 3 hours a day I spend on Pinterest probably helps get it all floating around in my head, I think this week I might start a PLP Pinterest account so I can share more interior ideas with you all? I also love reading interior magazines, I've totally swapped fashion mags for these this past year. My favourites are these two monthly mags, being the cheaper ones out there to buy it also means that everything featured is usually from high street shops and totally affordable. 

My really simple quick tips for if your decorating or

restyling a room would be... 

1. Start by choosing three colour's, picking just three base colour's for a room helps to blend a room and keep things together if your not confident enough to clash. So for example you could have blue, cream and gold but your blues don't have to match! Having different shades of a colour gives you way more freedom when buying items.

2. Choose large mirrors or artwork, Fill empty wall spaces (especially above settees or in hallways) with large pieces rather than small frames that will look lost on the wall. Mirrors obviously make spaces look larger while a painting or canvas can tie together your colour scheme or link together the different rooms in your house- Don't be afraid to get the paint out and try and make your own artwork! Just keep it simple, something abstract and colourful rather than an exact replica of a Van Gogh. If painting really isn't your thing you could just cover a canvas in some wallpaper which you can pick up a small sample piece of for free from most shops.

3. Clear the clutter, Get rid of those piles of DVD's and last weeks TV mag, you'll instantly be able to see what spaces you have to work with in the room. If you need these things to hand invest in some nice boxes or an ottoman so they are at least hidden away and take five minutes in the morning to pop them in their place as well as fluff the cushions and make the bed, you'll feel better all day for it. 

Hope you've enjoyed seeing around our home, I'll leave you with a few more photos, feel free to ask about any individual items I may have missed, I can always tweet the links to you if they are still online, Thanks for reading! Sophie x

Custom wardrobes from Ikea, I'd 100% recommend these!- they hold so much!
I've just little stick on clear hooks (from Wilkinsons) to hold all my jewellery and keep it tucked away and tidy. 

6ft 'Shabby Chic' Mirror from Amazon UK. Shell fairy lights from Next Home. 

Back cushions from H&M, centre cushion handmade by Pretty Little Poppet, £15.

Turquoise Buddha statue from Tkmaxx.

Moroccan Lamp from The Range, Bronze Tortoise from George Home, tealight holder from Next Home.
The large glass candle is a old Yankee Candle- cleaned out and I now pop in the smaller taster one.   

Place mat from H&M, Polka dot kettle- Next Home, plate and tea bag holder- George Home. 

This Weeks Shopping Picks...

Welcome back to my second blog post, I had intended for this one to focus on interior design and how we have decorated our home but I think I've got the blogging bug now and wanted to get straight back into it! With it being our one year house anniversary (is that a thing?) on Sunday I'll save that post for then! So post two, I thought I'd share a few of the things I've been buying in the last couple of weeks with links to where you can buy them, who doesn't love a good old shopping post?

First up is this gorgeous dress I picked up this week in my local Topshop, you can buy it online here. The print really drew me to it but the design is different (in a good way) and I think it's a great one to dress down with tan gladiator sandals and a top knot for the daytime or  dress up with glam hair and heels for a casual party. What makes it different is the cut out sides which does show me how much I need a tan at the moment as I'm pretty much matching the dress, they make the style more fun and the thing I love the most.. the shape, it's extremely flattering for girlies (like me) who are pear shaped, with it flaring out your waist skimming your hips perfectly. 

These jeans that I posted last night on Instagram(@prettylittlepoppet) were part of a little asos spree I might have had when I was getting a bit excited for our holiday to California later in the year, I think I owned some white jeans about 10 years ago and as someone who doesn't really suit jeans at the best of times swore I wouldn't buy anymore again.. but then I saw these and the tribal embroidery down the sides made me fall in love! All I could imagine was wearing them with a grey vest, a straw trilby and some summery heels (which will actually end up being flat sandals) They are by 'Liquor & Poker' on asos (available here). 

Ok so I know I look like I should be at Coachella in this picture but in real life I won't be wearing them together (as much as I'd like to). The crocheted backless tie top by 'Kiss the Sky' (available here) I just love but will be wearing on the beach with some mis-matching bikini bottoms as I still don't reeeeally like wearing bikinis, it's just perfect for the summer and with the high neck is super flattering for smaller chested ladies. The bell bottoms are by Rat & Boa (available here.) I've been searching for some of these for San Francisco (again holiday outfits all planned out in my head) I'm not 100% sold one these as the fit isn't the greatest on me, I went for the 'large' (size 10-12) and while they fit on the legs it's a bit loose around the hips as you can see, so I'm still deciding if this is the pair for me... As much as you might think of your mom in the 70's (or dad too) when you think of flares they are actually the most flattering shape you can wear as they even out the silhouette of your hips and make you look smaller, they just take some confidence (or a shot of tequila) to be able to wear them. If your not brave enough for printed bells try some flared or boot cut jeans. 

Lastly I seem to have gone a bit bag mad in the last few weeks, At the top is a gorgeous paisley print make up bag by Ted Baker ordered from house of Fraser (available here) This is the larger version, I did buy the smaller one without realising but that's more of a handbag size so swiftly swapped it and this one's more of an overnight toiletries size. In the Middle is a gorgeous little bag from Primark! at £3 it is just amazing and I'm unsure on whether it's actually a makeup bag but its big enough to fit my phone, money and lipstick in so to me it's a new summer clutch bag. 

And finally to round up my shopping post is a new brand to me that I found through asos called 'Star Mela' their boho bags are simply gorgeous! It looks like this one might have sold out on asos at the moment but they have more bags on their website here.

I hope you've enjoyed having a mooch through my latest buys and if you'd like to see more of these sorts of posts on here just let me know... it's a great excuse for me to go shopping! 

Sophie x

So here it is.........finally

So here it is (finally) my shiny new blog! Except it's not actually shiny at the moment as I only decided last week that today (15.5.15) would be the PERFECT date for my first post! After a couple of really busy weeks at work, it's now past 9pm on the 15th and I'm rushing to still make this date! So for now there's no pretty design but next time you check back with me there will be! (I promise). We're all settled into our (now not so) new home and having decorated nearly as much as I can without starting again I'm ready for a new challenge/hobby so here we go! Bare with me as I type like I talk (fast and not always making sense). 

If you know me from Instagram (@prettylittlepoppet) you might have wondered 'what does she actually do??' (other than shop and eat) and if you know me from Facebook then you'll know a bit about Pretty Little Poppet but maybe not how it started? So for those of you who don't know Pretty Little Poppet is the 'brand' name of clothing I design and make. Everything is handmade by myself from our small spare room (my boyfriend and I moved in together coming up to a year ago) So without sounding too much like an advert for myself here's a little more about PLP...
(you're more than welcome to skim read this part)

Once upon a time.... quite a long time ago now actually, I studied art/textiles at A-level and afterwards went straight to uni to study Fashion design (specialising in costume design during my final year), after leaving uni 'Pretty Little Poppet' just came about really it was never planned as a business or full time job. I came up with the name to go with a small stall I had at a 'Help for Haiti' charity event I had planned where I was selling suede plaited bracelets and Paris themed necklaces using Eiffel Tower charms I'd brought back from a trip to Paris. I found a lot of genuine vintage 1950's-1990's fabrics at home leftover from my Mom's dressmaking days and with her help I would make myself clothing. Over the summer friends and friends of friends would ask me to make them outfits too. I put it on Facebook so people could easily contact me and the rest as they say is history! I started part time while working and soon became full time. While I was part time I would do local vintage fairs which are a great way to start and get your name out there as well as being fun (often more than a bit stressful too but mostly fun- they always have someone selling cakes!)
If you're considering doing some sort of similar work or are maybe at school/uni yourself I'd recommend doing as much work experience as possible, however big or small - it's the best way to learn and it's even made me realise whether I liked a job or not, I've taken part in several catwalk shows/competitions to showcase some of my work locally, interned with Zandra Rhodes at her London studios preparing for Paris fashion week and I've had some great opportunities selling through other lovely local businesses in Birmingham and online in both the UK and USA. As I've mentioned it is just me so at the moment I can't expand too much but in the future who knows!.....

Other than being self employed and spending far to many hours of my work day in my pyjamas, I'm an English girl, never living far from home but always dreaming of California. I love the sound of seagulls and the feel of sand between my toes. I've become obsessed with interior design since moving and I have a not so secret shopping problem. Handbags are my weakness.
They'll no doubt be a lot of clothes/shopping related posts so here are a few of my (many) favourite brands, Spell Designs,Samantha Wills, WILDFOX (check me out learning how to link things!) If I could only ever wear these guys again I'd be happy!- I'm a sharer and like to let everyone know where everything is from so if you like something- just ask!  I love yoga and more recently I've started Ballet Barre (or Booty Bar) classes which sadly I'm not as good at as I am in my head, I still have to force myself to exercise, I wish it came more naturally to me than it does (that goes for blog writing too). I get over excited about most things and there's nothing I love more than a themed party (or a new Pinterest board). I'm easily distracted by shiny things... 

Sorry this is such a long one! This is probably everything there is to know! My next post will be more photo based and I'll be posting about clothes, make up, home interiors and anything else you'd like to read!- please feel free to let me know and the blog will look a lot prettier soon too! Thanks for reading, Sophie x