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I’m a girl who loves her crafts. This is a well-known fact. But there’s one thing I wish I could do and that’s draw. I’ve recently developed a passion for illustrations and I’ve maybe spent a little too long scrolling through Etsy looking at some awesome prints. My current favourite has got to be Pop Pop Portraits.

Husband dearest if you’re reading this, your wife thinks that a couple’s portrait by the seriously talented Helena would be the most perfect first anniversary gift. Plus it goes rather well with the tradition of receiving paper, don’t you think? I’m letting you know now so you have some time to save the pennies.

Luckily for me, creative juices run throughout my whole family and my sister is one talented sista. These are some of her drawings. They decorated my hen party invites, our cake table notice and of course our wedding invitations. Which were just so so cool. I’ve asked her to draw me something for my Christmas present and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. Having more artwork around our house is one of my aims for next year. More of which to come next week.

ps. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Yanks out there, including my Papa who’s currently in LA. I hope you all had a lovely lovely day x

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So it turns out that seeing your husband holding and talking to his baby nephew can knock you for six. One day that boy will be an awesome Papa. And I love him even more for that.

ps. Harry Potter rocked. In fact, I just got back from seeing it a second time. That's just the way I roll people.

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Things to smile about this week:
1. Going to see Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows: Part 1 tomorrow. That’s right people. My name is Nell and I’m a Harry Potter nut. A serious nut in fact. Luckily I have a partner in crime in this passion. My Mum. We’ve both read all the books about 6 times, we stood in line at midnight to buy them and I booked our tickets to see the film about 2 months ago. I can’t tell you how excited I am.

2. The prospect of getting to meet our newest nephew on Sunday. We’re heading off on a little day trip with B’s parents so I’ve been busy knitting up some treats for him.

3. Seeing the Coca Cola “Holidays are Coming” advert on Tuesday evening. Yes, I know it only reflects the commercial side of Christmas, but I can’t help but freak out when I see it. A text conversation ensued between my sister and I exclaiming how awesome it was. Thank goodness there’s someone else out there as lame as me.

4. Receiving two lovely emails from the two lovely ladies who received my letters at the beginning of the week. They made my day, proving this letter writing malarkey is totally worth it.

5. And it may be a bit soppy but you know what, the royal engagement made me smile too. B’s far more cynical about the whole thing and thinks it’s only been announced to butter everyone up before yet another week of budget cut announcements, but I can’t help it. It’s the old romantic in me. Plus I can’t get over how big and bouncy Kate’s hair is. Sod being the future Queen of England, I just want her hairdresser please.

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So my little blog has won an award. The Versatile Blogger award, from the lovely Kellie. I'm not entirely sure what the award name means but a prize is a prize, right, so I'm taking it. I'm to link back to the person who awarded it to me, divulge seven things about myself, and pass it on to seven great blogs I follow (letting them know via a comment).

So here we go...

1. B is the only boy I’ve ever kissed and was my first boyfriend. I was the geekiest (so we all know that bit’s still true), most naïve girl ever and then I met B. He was a bad influence. But the two years at sixth form were some of the most fun of our lives. Even if my grades did plummet.

2. I hate cheese. I can just about tolerate a small amount on pizza and lasagne, but my worst nightmare is a grated cheese sandwich. Hello pukesville. This is tough when you’re married to the world’s biggest cheese lover.

3. My Dad is a Costume Designer so I’ve spent many a fun time in wardrobe departments around the world and found myself in some pretty random situations. I once had a conversation with Tom Hanks in the middle of a marshy field; when B and I were visiting my Dad in Berlin we ended up clubbing with Jackie Chan and his entourage and my sis, bro and I once went to a cinema in Prague with Bruce Willis.

4. I have an irrational fear that one day an insect or creature will get caught in my hair. This has led to a serious phobia of anything that flies or jumps. Birds, moths, grasshoppers, frogs. They all freak me out. Give me a spider any day.

5. I can’t eat dairy. Oak milk is my savour. Although I am partial to a soy hot chocolate.

6. When I was a kid, the other children in my class used to call us The Adams Family because we were a bit different to all of them. I think they meant it as an insult but we took it as a complement. My Mum installed in us the belief that unique and different is best. Plus, man oh man, we loved that movie.

7. My favourite colour is green. My favourite shade changes everyday.

I'm passing this on to:

Smallesthings
Fast Times in Munchen
Pocketful of Pretty
Crowley Party
Rose & Crown
Me, Myself & Jeff
A Mountain Bride

Pictures taken on Sunday when my sis and I took the boys to the park. It gets dark here at 4.30 now. And Ty's just in a t-shirt because he was running round like a crazy person for about half an hour before this was taken. Just in case you were thinking I was a terrible Auntie!!

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On Saturday we headed out for our birthday meal with my Dad and his lovely girlfriend Dee, who paid for our lunch as a treat. Awesome. I had the most yummy chicken salad with new potatoes, hard boiled egg, avocado and dough sticks. I’m drooling as I type this, it was so good. I also bought a little cake and we sang Happy Birthday very loudly.

So happy birthday for yesterday to my awesome Papa. You always make us laugh and are the least grown-up grown-up I know. Your accents are the best ever and no-one holds a fake pipe like you do. Thank you for being so generous on our big day and for giving the best Father of the Bride speech in the history of weddings. We always have hilarious adventures when we’re with you and you are hands down the most stylish Dad around.

We love you so much Pops xxx

Apologies for the blurry picture by the way. My camera is on the verge of death and only focuses when it feels like it. I have been a busy little saver however and will soon be purchasing my dream camera. More on that to come.

Fabric~ YAY

(me practicing with a wig I already have heheh)

I bought vinyl. I'm a bit worried. I've heard it kind of gets tricky making outfits out of Vinyl material but I think I am up to the challenge. I like challenges---sort of.

So I abused JoAnn's sale and bought 5 different types of fabric for the price of $24! I still need fabric for my Rikku and Sheik costumes but I got some to work on Rikku's outfit. I had NO luck with finding a good stretchy blue for Sheik. I might have to start over and get new fabric for the whole body suit part so I can find the right blues together. ;__; Siiiiigh I bought that bolt at Wal-Mart risking this issue and it happened. Oh well, you learn from your mistakes!

I'm super excited to work on all my costumes but even MORE excited to see my fiance this Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh I have someone to help me with my props whenever I run into a random problem at home. ^-^; Yeah, I don't know..I'm so excited though. He's like my best friend, which is good I guess considering I'll be marrying him. :] We both like to work on things alone..so when we're in the room working on stuff it's kind of quiet and relaxing. We get a lot done. So he won't be too much of a distraction... Maaaaybe at first since I haven't seen him in 7 months lol but...yeah. I'm just excited.

In any case. I can't wait to get more RIkku progress done but until he arrives I'm going to keep the room clean ;__; Yeah..I don't feel good right now, my tummy is acting up so I'm going to go now.

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Things to smile about this week:

1. The knitting bag my Grandma made me. Isn’t she clever? It fits everything in perfectly and looks so pretty. I tied this lovely vintage hanky to the handle to finish it off. I’ve been wondering what to do with that for ages.

2. Going out for a family lunch tomorrow. It’s my Dad’s birthday on Sunday so we’re taking him out for pizza. There will also be chocolate cake. Oh yeah.

3. The late afternoon sun shining on the trees. How can that not make you smile?

4. These awesome little mugs I found in the charity shop. For 50p each.

5. Writing two letters and sending one mammoth email as part of my pre-New Year resolution. Go me.