Painting Progress

I'm still waiting for the paint to dry and it's been three days. Lame! But here is the start of the painting process for my friend's bday gift so far. I'm wondering if I should start on my next one. I'm not sure if I'm going to try painting a massive tiger's head (my fav animal) or if I'm gonna try something with lace throughout (I've wanted to try this for quite sometime). I guess we'll have to see what I'm in the mood for.

Painting and Purchases: The Two P's

I've been working on a present for one of my bestest friend's Mary. It's really quite an undertaking because I decided to make her a painting. Oil painting in particular is a pretty new hobby for me that I started after Christmas. Actually, I haven't painted in two months because I never had time to go pick up more painting supplies or had the extra money for it. I've always loved drawing though and oil painting was something I've always wanted to try. I think it's also because I wanted to take art in highschool and university but never got the opportunity. I was a complete band/choir/musical geek and for some reason you could never take art and music...too many courses in the arts I guess).

Here is the beginning. Mary's only instructions are that she wanted an M on the painting and more blues and greys to be used.



I've also been trying to mix the perfect colours for it. I'm still a bit undecided as you can see.



This pattern isn't something people usually try with oil paints but I really wanted to try it out and see if I could make it look nice. I made the pattern and stencils I used for tracing based on some wallpaper I saw in the Palace of Versailles in France that I fell in love with. Of course it's not exactly the same though. A lot less detail is included so far. We will have to see! It might be too detailed for me to paint with oil colours. Note that the stencils are also just the outline of the pattern as I may try to include more detail throughout. I also included clovers at the bottom because she loves them.

As for purchases, my McQueen scarf came in the mail! I love it :D I wore it to go see Sex and the City 2 :D I know that the movie keeps getting ragged on. I mean I do wish there was a bit more to it but it was still fun to see and it reminded me of how much I miss that show! Samantha was absolutely hilarious and the outfits were awesome, albeit they were like costumes most of the time, but as Sarah Jessica Parker said in her interview for the movie, "Let's not pretend we care about authenticity. We want the fashion!" It did make me want a Halston Heritage dress by the end of it though haha. Hello, subliminal messages :P



Don't the girls look excellent at the London Premiere. SJP shown sporting McQueen as a dedication to him and a fun hat/fascinator because it is London after all. Doesn't Kristin Davis look absolutely stunning in her vintage piece?! Nicely done ladies.

photo courtesy of Wire Image

More clutches!

So I was surfing around the net and I found some clutches that I thought I should share. I'm trying not to buy any more clutches or handbags at the moment since I looked at all my clothes and possessions I have here in the UK and I already think it's going to be impossible to get everything back to Canada when I move again.
Ah well, a girl can dream can't she?

Kara Ross Red Prunella Snake Clutch
579 pounds on Asos.com


Lulu Guinness Sequin Union Jack Clutch
275 pounds on Asos.com


Asos Croc Effect Tuck Lock Clutch
18 pounds on Asos.com


Chainmail Envelope Clutch
25 pounds at Accessorize
(I quite like this chainmail envelope clutch although my boyfriend said he didn't. Ah well what does he know :P)

Summer, summer, summer time! Time to sit back and unwind.

Lately, I've been loving all feminine silhouettes. Flowers and bright colours galore for summer!



However, I am really digging the abstract flower look as well from designers such as Erdem. I've always been a fan of bright colours. As a korean teacher said to me once, "wow michelle. You're really not afraid to wear bright colours all the time". Maybe she was just being polite and thought my colour palette was horrible but I don't dress to please other people. I dress the way I feel and to express myself. Or maybe I'm simply making up for the fact that all I wore in highschool was black and dark blue. If only I had loads of money right now I would buy up these dresses in a second.

Photos courtesy of the Erdem website
Photo courtesy of Vogue.

I am really looking forward to seeing the Prada print collection in stores. Why? because they're an answer to my print obsession without being too short! I tried on this beautiful flowered dress the other day but it was just too short on me. That's why I'm loving the old school length and the full skirts. It's way sexier and more mature than short skirts in my opinion, which I'm sure we will see loads of in the summer time.

Last purchases before shopping hiatus

So don't mind that I'm completely out of shape but I've added some neutrals to my wardrobe. I LOVE this coat. My boyfriend's mom actually bought it for me which I can't believe. I mentioned how much I liked it while we were shopping and next thing I know she was just handing me a bag. I'm not sure if you can see it too well in the picture but it's a textured cotton and I love the piping.

I'm on the hunt for a nice wrap or v neck dress. Something simple that I can just throw on and that looks good for summer. Either in a bright colour or some sort of patterned dress. I did check out the DVF site after Aileen from PrettyCupcake talked about how she ordered a dress from there. I hadn't checked out DVF's stuff in quite some time and was pleased to see the summer dresses on there.

I really need to work on my legs though. I have HORRIBLE chubby stubby legs that just don't look good in dresses. But as I'm 25 now (and I've been living in England where people wear whatever they like without worrying about it) I'm sucking it up and I'm just going to wear what I want! Why can't chubby girls enjoy dresses too even if they have chubby knees?

Hopefully someone will just drag me to some yoga classes when I get back to Canada or I'll get back into swimming when I'm not working! haha

New Wardrobe and Accessory Additions

Bought this dress from Karen Millen. I just fell in love with the colour! And I bought this large blue ring from Swarovski. I don't know why I'm going through a big bling stage at the moment but it looks so much nicer than the picture. I also got the green ring from a little shop called Past Times for only 20 pound so I figured why not!

By the way, I went through Harrods to see Oscar De La Renta. Oh my god he is amazing. His clothes are so beautiful in person! The pictures of these two don't do these dresses justice at all!

London Calling

Oh how I love London. I love exploring London. It would take you FOREVER to visit all the areas, streets, and shops. The people sometimes can be really pushy and rude but it's one of the busiest cities in the world so what can you expect really? Oh the shopping though! Spent hours in Harrods, had tea at Fortnum and Mason, and walked up and down Bond Street and all the shopping arcades until my legs screamed of exhaustion. Did some tourist stuff with my aunt such as the London Eye, visiting the Crown Jewels, and taking a riverboat cruise along the Thames. All in all it was a good week.