October 10, 2022

What Happy Loves this Week

 

(love this fascinator)

I thought I would show you what I am in Love with this week...well we all do it don't we! Got a spare 5 minutes? let's go shopping online to see what might tempt our hard earnt cash! Well these are the things that I have been looking at this week so I thought I would share with you and perhaps you could let me know your favourites too!

I haven't liked hardly any of the latest Cath Kidston designs over the last few years... for me it's gone all Pete Tong [wrong] lol! New designers haven't helped much either. The prints and styles look more like Laura Ashley and I think they are trying too hard to be 'on trend' which doesn't fit in with the ethos of Cath's individual look...I know she no longer owns the Company and that's probably the reason why! but I can't see this brand lasting much longer...So with all that said I wasn't able to ignore the re-release of the old Antique Rose Wallpaper [featured above] Yes I went and purchased 6 rolls of the stuff...I love it in this Navy...thing is though I bought it at the start of the year and still haven't got around to hanging it in my bedroom! [sigh!]

You can't beat a black and white monoprint and just look at this wonderful apron from marimekko! This famous poppy pattern Unikko was born in 1964 in a time when the design house’s collections featured mostly abstract prints. Designer Maija Isola wanted to create something interesting from this organic theme and designed an entire range of floral prints. Today, the iconic flower represents creativity...and I just love it. Having to go elsewhere for my floral prints these days, I couldn't think of a better brand [apart from Orla Kiely shhhh!] the only thing is, I would never want to get it dirty! Another piece of clothing to hang along a coat hook! lol!

Isn't this tattoo incredible!...and if I told you it was a temporary tattoo would you believe me? Ideal for a special occassion, a night out with the gals or to try before you go the whole hog and get yourself tattoo'ed for Life!...This shop on Etsy has been a favourite of mine for a while and I just had to share with all of you...please go check her out...

Now this is something so cute and special...This Company lets you send a picture to them and then they create a custom portrait for which you can personalise yourself, there is a watercolour option [like the picture above] or there is a Disney option, plus some other styles. After you have made your choices they send the file to you via email so that you can print in any size you want! How clever is that...The designs are gorgeous...I will definitely be purchasing a print like the one above of Freddy and I especially as we have just celebrated our 35 year Wedding Anniversary! Congrats to us Eh!

P.S...I have updated and reposted this post. It was originally written in October 2014, but nothing was relevant to today! so I have updated it with my favourite buys of today, some comments might still be from 2014!

What kinds of things have you been buying online lately?

Do let us know…

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April 16, 2019

My Happy Fashion Style

My Happy Fashion Style.  

I have learnt over the years what suits me and what doesn’t…for a long time I was covering myself up in oversized lagenlook linen and although I love that look, I also like to have my own individual style too and dress in a vintage way but with a modern twist…vintage dresses, overalls and aprons with turned up jeans and Dr Martens is the look I like and have been known to go out of my way, trawling websites and the country to find my individual look.

Love this look…trousers, long tunic dress and this has a long jacket,
but this is where I would add a shorter one!

The Vintage side of Things

Being plus size hasn’t helped much with the vintage side of things, as vintage clothes were a lot smaller back in the day than they are now, but over the years I have managed to carve a style for myself that I like and feel comfortable with… I also love the 1940’s and 1950’s and bright colours…so combining the layering technique, mixing together a bit of vintage with a bit of modern is totally me!

I think as you get older and accept yourself for who you are, finding the right clothes and styles becomes a lot easier…I never kid myself about my size, I am a size 24 and have been for about 10 years now, However I hide it well…and lots of people have told me that I don’t look that size…might be because of my height, I am 5ft 9in…but in any case, I know now, at my ripe old age, finally!, what I am doing!

Shift dresses are my favourite because my problem area is my stomach…I don’t like wearing tops that are too short either, (unless they are layered over a long shift dress) I like them to at least cover my hips and if I am honest…I actually prefer them to be longer than that!  I always buy bigger clothes than what I am, especially if it is a top or a dress…I like it to have plenty of room rather than be all clingy and uncomfortable.

Click Here to find one of my favourite places on the internet for plus size fashion.

I love linen and cotton and try to buy clothes in those materials especially for the spring and summer months, the rest of the year I don’t mind a bit of man made fabric, especially Lyocell… that is lovely and silky soft, a very comfortable material to wear indeedy!

What is Lagenlook?
Layering your Clothes

I have also learnt the art of layering, I love to wear leggings or wide trousers (can also be done with a skirt, but I am not a skirt person!) teamed together with a dress or long tunic and a short top over the top!  I often see really short tops in the shops and see  young ladies wearing them with a skirt or trousers and they look really cute, but if you are on the bigger side or a bit older, the best way to wear them is with this layering technique…

Model no. 1

I feel this model is missing her skirt/trousers.  This is the perfect layering style, wearing a shorter jumper
like this is perfect if only she had remembered her wide linen trousers!

Model No. 2

Well she is missing her middle layer! as well as Model No 3 and 4

Model No 5

For me she needs her trousers and another shorter jacket or jumper…

yes you can also layer in 4 levels depending on how cold it is! and you can strip off during the day as it warms up!

The look above is really cute (and so is the little doggy), ok so she is wearing an apron, but it looks good! see what I mean! Someone get her some shoes!

This is where your Doc Martens can come in handy.

So just remember whatever age you are or however large , tall or small you are, this style always looks cool and will take you through from day into evening.  You can mix it up with vintage pieces and modern shift dresses, jeans and cardigans! try and steer clear of any black…go bold with colour that will make you feel like an eclectic chick all day long…

I also love Beyond Retro which is a Vintage Shop in the East End of London, but now they have a website! and a Plus Size section, How Cool! Click on the Beyond Retro Logo if you ‘fancy a Butchers’ lol! (cockney Rhyming slang for ‘Have a Look’)

All these pictures are from my Happy To Wear Board on Pinterest If you want to check them out and get more of an idea of the types of styles I like
CLICK HERE and also HERE

Bye for Now,

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August 16, 2017

Happy's New Garden Part 2

Happy’s New Garden Part 2

So this year I knew I wanted to landscape the garden, so I bought tools especially for the job…Yes I had been overdosing on gardening programs and I had a few tools to get on my list…So armed with a spade, a fork and an edge cutter [all bought from the Boot fairs that we go too] I decided to get cracking! I marked a line out with some string all the way to the bottom of the garden and rather than do it like they say…I thought I would improvise and stick old knives intermittently down the garden twisting the string around each knife so it was taught! Haha! I thought…there’s the right way…and the bodged Happy way!

So armed with my edge trimmer cutter whatever the blooming thing was called I dug it into the lawn along the line that I had marked out!…well needless to say! It didn’t really work with croc’s on…so I went and put some boots on to give it some real welly!…Now you would think that an 18 stone woman! [and that is being polite to myself lol!] wearing Dr Marten boots would be enough to dig an edge along the garden wouldn’t you!…but no! My lawn was having none of it!… we had had a few weeks of sun, so I was telling myself that the ground was probably too hard…not that I am a weakling lol!

I had to do something about it as I had been accumulating a lot of plants on the patio…that is my new No.1 best thing to do these days…hunt for bargain plants…so here they are [above] & [below] getting a bit crowded!

So we decided to hire a lawn cutter…Yes you heard! One of those big Bad Boy machines that runs on petrol…I must admit I was very scared about it, as it was me who was going to have to use it!…We asked Darryl if he would be able to come and help me.  You see I needed someone a tad stronger than me [who couldn’t even cut an edge with Dr Marten’s on EeK] to roll up the lawn and carry it to the the corners of the garden…wich later on I decided to move …but that is another story!…and luckily he was happy to help!

We decided to hire the cutter for a long weekend as I wasn’t sure how to use it, so I thought best to hire it over a few days just in case there were any problems…we were waiting nearly all day for it to turn up and decided to ring HSS Hire for details on when they were going to be delivering it…Well blooming lucky we did! as they had no recollection of us ordering it…even though they had taken the money from my account! Grrrr!

I nearly burst a blood vessel trying to sort it all out, but they did and said they had another that they could send us straight away! Phew! Thank Heavens for that! Heart Attack Averted!

Here we are, just before we marked the garden design out with a trusty old knife and some string to get the curves…no expense spared lol!

…And here is ‘The Beast’…once I got the hang of it…it became my new best friend…It was hard work, but not as back breaking as trying to do it myself…I got most of it done in one day with little finishing off bits the day after…Darryl was a really good help and did all the manual work of moving heavy lawn where I wanted it moved…He also helped Freddy to build the raised bed in the middle of the garden…you can just see where we decided to have it behind ‘The Beast’!

And again above…as it’s all starting to take shape…

I decided to make another large bed over this side too. Although I had bought a lot of plants, I was a bit unsure as to whether I would have enough to fill the large areas that I had cut! But it’s all trial and error with gardening, I have learnt that since…and it is my new love, I find it so rewarding, planting little plants, looking after them and watching them grow into big mature lovelies…it’s just the best isn’t it!

And here it is…the finished garden…’The Beast’ had gone back to HSS Hire, which I am sure the neighbours were grateful as it did make such a loud noise when fired up and I did fire it up alot! Yes you can see our old headboard in our new raised bed HahaHa…we had nowhere for it and thought ‘what the hell’ lol! But that’s just the way we roll! 😉

Now for the fun to start…where shall we put all those plants…and what colour should we paint that fence?

Make sure you subscribe to my blog as part 3 is coming soon! and if you want to catch up with part 1 come and read all about it HERE

Bye for now my lovelies.

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March 16, 2016

5 Things Happy Loves - March

Here I will be sharing with you people that have helped me out and things that I have loved and feel that I shouldn't keep a secret!...afterall, these days we need a nod from a friend about a service or something we like...a recommendation is a help when we are choosing what we need and if I can help you at all in some way, with what I like and have loved...well it's gotta be worth something surely!

WooWee! That's a lot of somethings! but hopefully you get my drift!

1. ISAK - Design for the Modern Home.

I sooooo love this website and have been meaning to share it with you for ages.  I love the Blossom and Bill prints and have been wanting to buy one for ages as it reminds me of Freddy and I!...But just lately they have introduced so many more designs to their collection...I just love it all.

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March 05, 2015

Loving the work of - JENNI SPARKS

 I am loving the work of Jenni Sparks…I have been looking for a radical timeless piece of art for a while now, I intend on decorating my spare bedroom, making it into a guest/craft room and this

hand drawn map of Paris is just the piece I need to hang on the wall in there!

Her attention to detail is phenomenal…Freddy and I have been to Paris many times, we love the place…we are totally in love with France, so this was definitely the art work for me!

Jenni has had many commissions, from designing album covers to working with magazines…She is off on her travels at the moment, probably to get more inspirations for her work, but in the meantime if you want to purchase one of her prints for yourself head over HERE

She has drawn many other maps too, even one of London!

…and check out this adorable caravan piece!

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August 16, 2014

SWING'S THE THING

I am so glad that ‘Swing’ has a big following these days…I remember when I was a young girl, my Mum and Dad used to go to lots of Dance’s at the Royal British legion near to where we lived…I used to tag along with them if they couldn’t get a babysitter and if I was tired they would make me up a bed of coats along an array of chairs where I would try to sleep, as they were having such fun dancing the night away!

It wasn’t disco dancing that they were doing, but more of the Ballroom and Latin dancing that you see on ‘Strictly Ballroom’ just like swing, needing two people to do the dance and therefore having fun in a group enviroment…I love the idea of this kind of dancing…it just seems more social, learning the dances from beginning to end and feeling the music, jiving away…

When i was about 8 years old, I joined a Ballroom dance club, I was very shy back then…my Mum had taken me to ballet and tap lessons, but they really weren’t for me, especially the ballet! that leotard PHEW! my puppy fat did not do that justice at all! he he Blush!

Anyway I won medals for my Ballroom and Latin dancing and i still remember some of the dances today!…I can’t do such high kicks like I used too, but I still love jigging around the front room embarrassing the kids 😉

But what pleases me is that in the last few years swing has been enjoying a revival…especially with new artists like Parov Stelar bringing the music up to date and TV shows like Boardwalk Empire giving prohibition-era fashion a fresh lease of life….it is now drawing in the young (and not so young…ME!) crowds of London with its decadent allure…

Although I love dance music, a good ‘ole boogie around the dance floor is as good as a workout at the gym and really good for embarrassing yourself if you are a little tipsy 😉 But I just can’t help falling head over heels in love for this Swing Revival…it brings dressing up on a Saturday night back…putting on your gladrags..a bow tie, a suit…a pretty dress, a red lipstick, I feel that is what is missing from today’s society.

 OH YES SWING IS THE NEW THING
Go and join a class today and take your whole family,
Have fun and tell us all about it 😉
Have you been taken over by the new dance craze?

and if so…where did you learn?

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January 30, 2013

Artist of the Week - SpoonerZ

I am so in Love with this lady on ETSY…and she is my Artist of the Week.

I love something a bit different and look at this lovely spoon garland…

what a wonderful idea and very reasonable indeedy
Made by SpoonerZ Her stuff is absolutely refreshing to the eye…do check her out…

I have gotta have the H one!
aren’t they soooooo divine!

 

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December 24, 2012

A Few of my Favourite Things

Here I have taken pictures of some of my favourite things around my home…

One of them is my cute Airedale Terrier wooden door stop…isn’t he just soooo cute!

 My Antique bowls and my colourful collection of modern cookware…it is always a pleasure to rustle something up in the Happy Kitchen!

My 1960’s musical manicure set…everyone is on strict instructions to replace all the items if they are to use them 😉

  My New red microwave…a bargain at only £49.00!…
well it was until the ‘blooming’ handle fell off lol

…and my red spotty plates…I have had these for years, but have only just found them again in the garage…perfect for Festive Dinners 😉

and even though I love our Green caravan, I also love this one too… I will definitely be decorating her in the spring…she needs a little care and attention and I am itching to get her painted 🙂

What are your favourite things in your home at the moment?

 

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