So Long, Farewell…

Hey,

…for a little while at least.  Just a quick post this one, to let you know that I won’t be very active online for the foreseeable future.  I have some unbearable family drama that is playing out around me right now, and as a result, my emotions are to say the least, frazzled and worn down.  So, I feel that currently, my attentions are  needed elsewhere other than cyberspace.  I don’t really want to share the whole horrid mess with the world, but the people who I need to know, do so, and that’s good enough for now – and I promise you, that I am and will be, ok.

Wonderland Boutique and all that she entails, shall be business as usual – I honestly think the distraction may save me - and though I may not tweet, blog or comment for a while, rest assured I shall remain an avid reader of all of your wonderful adventures and stories and hope to back in the flow of things again, sooner rather than later.

Much love to my customers, followers and friends.

Amy at WB x.

Wishing and Hoping

Hey,

Well this was going to be a thoroughly miserable, pour-your-heart-out kinda post, due to having a rather emotional time of it this weekend; but you’ll be thankful that I’ve thought better of it though, and have instead decided to share with you my wishlist!  I’m forever scouring the internet for treats and lovely things and have a wealth of beauties to show you.  It’s true to say that from this little lot, my tastes are somewhat eclectic – show me anyone else who pairs vintage-style headbands with harajuku dolls?!

THIS YEARS GIRL - "Merry Go Round" Print

SEONNA HONG - "All Others" Print

PORTOBELLO - Karma Bird Lariat

KITSCHTIQUE - Bow Brooch

TOVICORRE - ipod Case PLAY - Dexter Bobblehead

AMAZON - Tick Tock Gwen Doll

MISSMACAU - Korean Amy Card Case

BOOK DEPOSITORY - Alice in Wonderland

DOLLYDAGGER - Highschool Hellcats Tee

PLASTICLAND - Birdcage Letter & Photo Holder

Amazon - Who Killed Amanda Palmer Book

TOTALLY FUNKY - Apple Handbag

 Amy at WB x

Welcome to Wonderland

Hey,

Well it’s been a while!  My supposed mini leave of absence turned into an age and it’s been forever since my last post – so first things first, I must introduce to the world (or more accurately, to the 3 people who actually read this blog!) my new baby nephew Alfie:

He was born on October 5th and weighed in (I always wonder why people want to know baby weights – it’s the last thing on my mind when being told of a birth, but I still feel compelled to ask about it!) at a rather whopping 10lb 2!  He’s an absolute dream, has the bluest of eyes and a mass of soft blonde hair.  His older brother Harry, is not too sure about sharing his home with a baby, but aside from the occaisonal dirty look he does warrant a fleeting kiss or cry of “baby!” every so often too.  They’ll be little playmates in no time at all.

In other less cute news, I’m having a rather large sale at Wonderland Boutique!  For 1 week only from Novmber 1st to the 8th, I’m offering free worldwide shipping on everything in stock!  This is my attempt at creating the pre-Christmas rush that never seems to materialise on Etsy and which, after a shockingly slow October, would rather like to boost my little Wonderland somewhat.  Though I have somehow managed to complete all of my own Christmas shopping and it’s only just turned November which I think warrants a “yey me!”  I find it the most stressful thing to do and would rather spend the Christmas period enjoying the festivities and company of those I love instead of fretting over the money I have to spend and the queues I have to die in - so I have list after list of ideas for various people and just give myself a few days in which to research the best options and then I attack the shops in person and online, and this year it’s all done and dusted (save for the usual sundries of gift wrap, bows, bags etc) in very good time indeed!  So, if you’re not as organised as me and are beginning your seasonal shop, why not check out Wonderland Boutique for that great modern Clutch, fun useful Make-up Bag, or cute stocking filler Coin Purse and take advantage of my free worldwide shipping:

Clutch Bag - HEART OF GLASS

Make Up Bag - WOODLAND DREAMS

Coin Purse - IN BLOOM

Amy at WB x

New, new…and a bit more new!

Hey,

I’ve been trying to write this blog post all week but I’ve been so busy that it was verging on ridiculous!  So, lots to report with newness aplenty, so first things first – the store is filled with lots of lovely new designs:

Clutch Bag - MOON RISE

 

Make Up Bag - MATRYOSHKA MOMENTS

 

Coin Purse - FRENCH RIDE

 

There’s lots of Clutches, Make Up Bags and Coin Purses all newly listed, as well as some de-stash items from my fabric cupboard – it was heaving, so really long overdue for a clear-out!

This brings me on to my next bit of new – my new nephew!  He’s not quite here yet but it’s only 2 weeks and counting, hence my mass of Wonderland-shaped productivity of late.  I wanted to get the shop stocked with goodies before his arrival so that I’m free for lots of cuddles once he’s born - not to mention the fact that I’ll be looking after his older brother for a week whilst his Mum’s recovering from the birth and my brother from the shock!  Needless to say a week as a faux-parent to a toddler would make sewing  a little bit difficult!

My final bit of new involves a story of pratfalls, slapstick and tears – I’ve had to get a new sewing machine!  This is devestating for me as not only had I not planned to bruise my already poorly bank balance by shelling out for a replacement, but I just loved my old machine.  It was a bit of a beast, far noiser than it needed to be and had the most tempremental bobbin casing ever, but it’s loss has made me appreciate it and all it’s little quirks all the more.  It made sure that it’s loss was felt though, as I was essentially attacked by my sewing machine during it’s final throes…

I’d been sewing solidly for about a week – filling up the store, making presents and finishing up all those little home alterations that I’d put on the backburner.  I think that all this effort made it just give up the ghost, and mid curtain lining it gave out a horrible death rattle and I heard a snap, a bit of a wheeze and the wheel turned no more.  So, for the next 2 hours I tried to fix it (not actually knowing what was wrong, so for all I know, I was killing it more!) but to no avail.  I found myself sitting there, sobbing in my pyjamas (it was morning still, don’t judge me) as my hands were covered in machine oil, scratched from messing with the needle and shuttle and I had the worst sore throat known to man – true, this last one isn’t the machine’s fault, but it wasn’t making me feel any better.  Frustrated and annoyed, I swore at it under my breath and stomped off – it must have heard me as I then rather balletically trip over the power wire and fall head first onto the coffee table.  To quote Moss from The It Crowd, I think I was slightly concussed and soon developed a beast of bruise across most of my forehead in a rather fetching shade of purple. 

I’ve since had to venture into Boots for some industrial concealer for my sewing machine related injury (a new contender for my wierdest sentence ever?!)  as I’m off out tonight for a fabulous birthday dinner for my lovely friend Emma, as a bunch of us take over a wonderful Mexican restaurant – and I’m not altogether sure that the assitant believes my story of violent domestic machinery as the cause of my glowing brow!

So, all the newness is ago – the new machine is in it’s box waiting to be let loose and the store is full of new goodies for you to peruse.  I may be online a bit sporadically for a while as I prepare for the arrival of the new little man in my life and I’ll be sure to introduce you all to Alfie when he debuts….

Amy at WB x.

Busy Doing Nothing

Hey,

Well I seem to have somehow managed to spend/waste the entire weekend doing nothing.  I appear to have become permanently attached to my desk chair/itunes whilst attempting to work on ideas for Wonderland Boutique.  I have been a raft of indecision all weekend – from the small (do I want hot chocolate or water to drink) to the middling (do I head to a gig on Saturday) to the monumental (do I grow my hair or not – seriously, this was a huge decision for me!)  The latter was answered when my friend/hairdresser told me that I’d basically cooked my hair by insisting on using my straighteners even after I’d applied product – which apparently boils down to me burning hairspray and was into my already drier-than-the-Sahara hair.  Ooops.  So I now have a slightly-shorter-than-usual version of my usual haircut, which I happen to love, emo fringe n’all!

So, indecision and inactivity aside, I think that to clarify my stagnant thought processes, I need to re-organise my approach to Wonderland Boutique – both metaphorically and literally.  The former will hopefully see me expand the reach of my brand, by approaching some independent boutiques who may *gulp* want to look at stocking my little wares, as well as taking the inspiration I am constantly scribbling down by developing strongly branded collections within my store.  Until now, I have always just used fabrics that appealed to me and I’ve found the prints to be a bit of a mish-mash on occasion.  So, I think it would provide some cohesion if I concentrate on developing a seasonal or cyclical range of collections – ranging from florals, to vintage-inspired prints, to kitsch fabrics, to a pleated and embellished range of pieces.  Any suggestions or comments on any of this would be greatly appreciated – do you think that collections are the way to go, or do you prefer the rather scattered and whimsied approach that I’ve previously adopted?

The literal re-organisation of  Wonderland Boutique will fall down to going through my ever-increasing collection of fabrics, threads, ribbons and the like and storing it like I’ve never stored before!  New boxes, dividers, containers (not just an excuse to buy cutesy apple-shaped pincushions and the like, I promise!) and all manner of storage solutions are calling me – clear workspace equals a clear mind after all, and hopefully a more lucid approach will invigorate my love of my own piece of Wonderland.

Amy at WB x

Oh, and here’s a random Juliette & the Licks video, for no other reason than because I just adore Juliette Lewis – she seems to illustrate the rather fractured state of mind I find myself in currently, she’s my kind of crazy!

Win a Piece of Wonderland

Hey,

I have a little bit of delicous Wonderland Boutique-shaped news to share with you all!  I somewhat oddly, owe it all to Twitter, but I’m about to have some of my designs stocked in an actual boutique!  The lovely Aimee of I am…Boutique got in touch with me recently and a few tweets later, we’re in the middle of working out a wholesale deal!  I am beyond excited to be doing this, it’s always been a bit of a dream of mine to have my creations for sale in an actual bricks and mortar store, and soon enough that’s going to come true.  I’m honestly so thrilled about it, as I’ve never had much faith in my little corner of Etsy before now, but fingers crossed this much-needed boost will inspire me to enhance my store and my brand and take Wonderland Boutique just as far as I can take her.  So, come Christmas, if you’re in the Prestwick area and you have a hankering for a Clutch Bag or Coin Purse – then just head over to I am… and snap up a piece of Wonderland!

As part of our little endeavour, Aimee and I have joined forces on a fabulous giveaway of some Wonderland Boutique goodies!  There is a Clutch Bag and matching Coin Purse up for grabs over at her wonderful blog Things a Boutique Owner Sees, both are  in my trademark polka dot print and have ribbon trim and buttons galore:

WONDERLAND BOUTIQUE AND I AM... GIVEAWAY

 All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning, is head on over to the Wonderland Boutique blog post and leave a comment there – it is as easy as that!  However, if you really love them and want extra entries then Tweet about the giveaway if you are on Twitter and post a link to this post on your own blog – each gets one more entry into the giveaway!  The giveaway is open worldwide and will close on 28th July 2009.

Good luck!

Amy at WB x

Gimme Five

Hey,

I’ve been a bit blog-lite of late so I must apologise (I know you’re all rooted by your screens to read my latest banal offering – so here it is!)  I think I’ve been too busy reading other peoples and generally looking at the joy that is on the interweb – I blame Claira, I really do – she’s all about the lovely links that are designed to distract!  Also, Wonderland Boutique seems to have kicked up a gear as I’ve been asked by a fellow Etsian to make the Clutches for her bridesmaids at her upcoming wedding!  I’m so excited, not to mention honoured and a little bit terrified (huge gulp) but it’s been lots of fun working closely with someone else picking out fabrics and deciding on trim colours together – even though the time difference on Etsy can result in what I am now calling ‘convo-tennis’.  I shall let you know how it all goes, and post some lovely pictures when these lovely bags are all ready to wing their way to some special nuptials.

Oooh, and a quick pat on the proverbial back for the wonder that is exercise.  If you’ve ever had the (mis)fortune to stumble upon my Twitter updates, then I’m sure you would see that I tweet mostly about gnomes, food, gnomes – and the horrific notion of exercise.  Before, during and after undertaking it, I usually think I will die, am dying, have died.  It does not come easily to me – I’ve never been a runner (I’d rather miss the bus than shame myself by legging after it) or someone who buys trainers to train in, so when I decided to try the possible lowest of the exercise low (home workout dvds) I never thought I’d stick at it.  Any regular followers of this blog will know, that over the past year I’ve lost a lot of weight due to some rather huge and poo-shaped emotional upheaval.  A hellish way to go about it, but a silver-lining none-the-less.  I was determined to lose more though and to keep the weight off (a good tip for doing this, is to get rid – either via Ebay or charity shops – all the clothes that are too big for you!) so exercise dvds were my answer.  With their help, and the boring inevitability of healthy(ish) eating, I’ve gone down 4 dress sizes and am now on my way to 5.  This is a huge achievement for me and it’s been a real incentive to get through the rougher, darker times.  So exercise, my love – I shall never complain about you again!

Anyway, on to the actual point of this post (yes, I do have them sometimes!)  One of my recent internet-shaped discoveries seems to be the appearance of lists.  It’s all about naming your top 5 this, or your 5 least favourite that.  It’s inspired me to compile a few 5-flavoured lists of my own.  So here’s my five – gimme yours….

 

5 FAVOURITE FILMS:

* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

* Pan’s Labyrinth

* Some Like it Hot

* Tale of Two Sisters

* The Hauting (the original one – no room for CZJ in my lists!)

 

5 FAVOURITE BOOKS:

* Wise Children

* Alice in Wonderland

* Fragile Things

* London Fields

* Mrs Dalloway

 

5 FAVOURITE MUSICIANS:

* The Killers

* No Doubt

* Volbeat

* Bat For Lashes

* Ladytron

 

5 FAVOURITE ARTISTS:

* Seonna Hong

* Tara McPherson

* Jason

* Yoshitomo Nara

* Roy Lichtenstein

 

5 POINT PLAN FOR MY FUTURE:

* Move out into my own wonderful place

* Find work in a field I really feel I belong in

* Get  Wonderland Boutique stocked in an actual boutique

* Be appreciative of the people I do have 

* Make a difference and be different

 

Amy at WB x

How John Cusack Ruined My Life (and saved it again)

Hey,

That might be a slight exaggeration – so let’s just say he probably aided in raising my expectations to an unrealistic level!  I’m talking about life, love and everything here people.  Big old hefty sigh.  I’ve always been a huge film fan, and for as long as I can remember, horror has been where my filmic heart lies – though I’ve always had a sneaky adoration for the romantic, though only those that embody the quirky and alernative ethos’ that I hold dear in all aspects of my life, perhaps detrimentally so.

I wasn’t going to blog about this as I didn’t think it deservered the effort it would demand of my fingertips, but it’s become a bit unavoidable.  A few weeks ago it was a year since my world fell apart.  I had been dreading this twisted anniversary of sorts, envisioning that the memories of people who were no longer (thankfully so) in my life, would be unbearable ones.  Actually though – as so often is the case – the build-up itself was so much worse.  I made sure I was busy on the actual day and spent it with some wonderful friends at dinner and then a gig.  So it was all drama and tear-free, but it inevitably got me to thinking about myself, my life and my relationships – past, present and in all forms.

I find that I am no longer as shut-down and terrified of emotion as the toll of last year had made me.  I had taken to recoiling from any feelings – good or bad – as I thought I couldn’t handle the prospect of devastation and betrayal ever again, so to me, feeling nothing was preferable to the prospect of pain.  Now though, I think that I could handle anything.  I don’t want to ever feel so broken again, who the hell does, but I think that the whole experience has taught me to like myself again.  I was so encased in it all that I lost sight of who I was and could be – and maybe best of all, I’ve started to trust in who I am once again, and accept that that is good enough - I am good enough for myself, and for whoever else moves in and out of my life.

So, to John Cusack :

I think maybe he and his counterparts in the movies I saw when an impressionable young thing, warped my mind into thinking that life would deal me such an exciting, loving and perfect experience.  Say Anything has a lot to answer for!  I know , it’s a bit of a paper-thin theory, but I caught this movie on TV recently, after not seeing it for years, and I’d forgotten how much I loved it – Marty McFly was the only competition for my affections after Lloyd Dobbler!  Now though, as I used to laugh off the improbably perfect endings of such films, I find myself wanting to believe in them again.  That premise, of wanting to believe in good things happening to good people – of happening to me – the idea of karma and finding your place in the world, is a wonderful one.  So now, I feel that one day someone may hold a boom-box aloft under my window,  may whisper for me to “meet them in Montauk“- or even bring me flours….

But also, if they don’t – then that’s ok too as I now have belief in myself, and hope in the possibilities of love, life and everything.  This is something that has been missing for me, and if it had to take a year of absolute hell for me to realise that actually, I’m ok and that I deserve to be seen, heard and known – then it was worth it.

Amy at WB x

Got it Covered

Hey,

Just a quick post to give myself a bit of a pat on the back really as I had my first attempt at making cushion covers today, and I’m a bit pleased with how they turned out!  They’re only a simple envelope design (no zips as they’re destined for a toddler’s room and I’m sure he’d somehow manage to cause some sort of mischief with them) and I managed to whip 3 of them up in no time at all.

They’re covered in an adorable car-print Japanese cotton, and backed with some co-ordinating navy polycotton.  Amazed at how easy they were, I’m now scouring Etsy for some fabrics for myself so that I can cover a few of my own cushions, whose print I’ve tired of – hmmm, perhaps something in gnomes….

Amy at WB x

(Super) Size Me

Hey,

This is a rather random post (but hey – what’s new?!) in my desperate attempt to see if any of you lovelies out there know what the sizing is like on D.I.E. (Denim is Everything) women’s stuff?  I’ve gotten myself all excited because the B-Movie horror style top that I was raving about on here a while ago is now available direct from their website:

but try as I might, I can’t seem to find a size guide on their page nor on any of their other outlets.  ‘Tis very annoying!  I’m thinking in all honest I would be a Large, but it seems quite loose-fitting and I don’t want it to look like I’m wearing a guy’s tee, so if anyone knows what this brand’s sizing is like then I will love you forever (and maybe even a bit longer!) 

In other news, I bought some new sunglasses today for the princely sum of £2 from Primark (where else for that price?!) and they are incredibly retro, very Jackie-O in shape and style (they have to be, it’s the only shape that remotely suits me – my face is weird) so all I need now is some actual sun!  Oh and I am staying in this weekend – I feel the need to share this as lately, it’s become a rareity for me to do so!  I think my purse (and my liver) deserve a bit of a rest, so instead my stomach and my eyes will be bearing the brunt as I eat a lot of cake and watch an insane amount of TV.  All a bit perfect.

Okies, here’s a shiny video of my current favourite song, just for being so nice as to read this admittedly prosaic post!

Oh and just to try and further stem off the waves of banality, here’s an unbearably topical anti-piracy spoof courtesy of the heaven that is The IT Crowd:

Amy at WB x