My addiction

My name is Sarah and I am addicted to Pinterest.

Since my last blog I have been whiling away hours creating moods and themes for each of the rooms in my new flat. It is hugely moreish, but also really helpful as my plans for each room are starting to take shape.

The lounge in particular, I have been agonising over for a while but I think I have cracked it with these beautiful Ritchie sofas from Made.com (A.K.A Mecca!) and an amazing coloured "bubble rug" courtesy of my parents.

I am planning on using the multi-coloured rug to create a fun and funky feel and then use the sofas to define the two key tones in the room - grey and pink. I absolutely love this suite - the coloured buttons add a real element of fun and the fabric looks pretty hard-wearing which will be good with the cats.

I had a little bit more interiors-porn today too, in the form of ReStore - a beautiful little shop in Dartington, Totnes that specialises in upcycling donated pieces. I found myself looking for a  real life Pin It button for these little beauties...

Needless to say, I will certainly be coming back when I have done the space planning for my flat.

So far, I am trying to fight the temptation to buy anything for my new place. I am scared to jinx it and so keep telling myself to wait until I have exchanged. However, I have started a rather sad spreadsheet which has links and costs for all the items I would like, so that I can budget and digitally stash the bits and pieces I am after. Organisational winning! :)

I did invest in one little gem today as it is not strictly speaking for my new flat. I bought a wonderful little book called Sew La Tea Do by Pip Lincolne. I have had my eye on it for a while as I have read great reviews. It includes a collection of patterns for some ace projects, including a tunic dress, cushions and bean bag and a wrap skirt. Really excited to get started on them!

Chorlton Arts Festival - Part One

Last night I visited the World Peace Cafe to attend an event entitled "The Art of Meditation" as part of the Chorlton Arts Festival.

As a complete novice to meditation, it is safe to say I was a little apprehensive about going along. But I was absolutely blown away.

I must admit the offer of a free drink and slice of cake as well as a talk and mediation session, left my Western mind looking for the catch...

However, it didn't take long to see that I had stumbled across something really special!

The Kadampa meditation centre offers sessions throughout the week and the teachers and volunteers were all extremely helpful and welcoming.

The World Peace Cafe operates out of the same centre and has a similar ethos of calm and kindness. It's a vegetarian cafe that uses only organic, fairtrade and locally sourced ingredients with all profits dedicated to building world peace. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to visit a cafe with a conscience!

The session itself was fantastic and mindfulness meditation is something I am so excited to learn more about. The meditation room was simply beautiful (a former artist studio) and the taster session was a real breath of fresh air.

I left the session feeling so much calmer and at peace with myself. As our teacher said, people have been practising meditation for over 2000 years, so there must be something to it!

I feel very privileged that I will soon have this place on my doorstep and will look forward to going back.

All things bright and beautiful

So the birthday fairy also bought me a few other little gems...literally!

Eclectic Eccentricity has to be my absolute favourite place to buy jewellery. It is a great brand that draws inspiration from weird and wacky places and creates some truly beautiful pieces.

Each items tells a little story and I love the personality and scarcity value of the jewellery. Safe to say, I would buy almost all of their treasures if money allowed. So, when I got given some birthday money, I treated myself to not one, not two, but THREE new necklaces, all of which I am utterly smitten with...oops.

As you can see, until I exchange contracts and can start buying accessories for my flat,  I am just buying them for myself!

The other little wonder that appeared on my doorstep this week is Bright Bazaar - a book I have been hankering after for a long time.

I love the Bright Bazaar blog and this beautiful coffee table hardback did not disappoint.

The book gives basic tips on using bright colours (as the name would suggest) and then goes on to suggest come great combinations, as well as the secrets of choosing a palette for each room in the home.

Author Will Taylor, a self-confessed "gentleman hooked on hue",  gives a great little guided tour through bold and bright interior decor and his "colour cocktails" make amazing mood boards as they are.

Definitely worth a read and a give his blog a follow too!

Out and about on Beech Road

Today I had a wonderful visit from my best friend James and took him to see Chorlton Village - I think it is safe to say he was a fan!

We had a lovely brunch at The Laundrette and then wandered down the street exploring the shops and cafes that Beech Road has to offer.

My favourites so far are the stylish clothes and accessories at Nood, the stylish interiors shop Loop and the gorgeous Creative Recycling Gallery. This lovely little place is a not-for-profit organisation and they run a series of craft activities including paper quilting, glass recycling and even glass fusing. No doubt I will be getting involved with some of these courses ASAP!

They also offer a range of beautiful prints, including this one, which I have my eye on already for the new flat...

After experiencing the sites and sounds of Beech road, we had a fresh fruit milkshake at On The Corner - the perfect end to a Chorlton day.

We also picked up some information about the Chorlton Arts Festival which is taking place next weekend. Should be a great way of finding out more about the place...I will keep you posted.

Cheers for now :)

Sew sew

For my birthday this year, my parents bought me a gorgeous purple sewing machine from John Lewis.

It is a pretty little thing and hope it will be just what I need to get me started.

Now whilst I am embarking on my crafty mission, I should issue a disclaimer: I have never sewn before. So I really am starting at the very beginning...

Anyhoo, I got some fabric from Busy Bee Arts and Craft centre in Kingsbridge last time we were down in Devon, and a little starter kit from Hobbycraft and I was away.

My first project was a tote bag and I followed a simple YouTube tutorial from Stitched Up and just about managed to keep up.

The hardest thing was working out how to thread the needle and the bobbins. I also got a little confused with which way round my stitching should go to give the outside of the bag a neat finish.

The finished product looks like a bag but it is certainly not perfectly formed. It all adds to it's character though :)

So here it is, my first sewing creation...

I have a flat...

...Or an offer accepted on one anyway.

It is a gorgeous split-level top-floor flat in the heart of Chorlton Village and I could not be more excited about moving in.

I am planning on designing and fitting out the interior myself, being as creative and crafty as I can along the way.

As such, I thought now would be a great time to start writing a blog about my adventures.

So, here's to an exciting new start!

Introductions

Hi, I’m Sarah.

Writer, singer, feminist and cat lover. This is my personal blog about my new adventure living in Chorlton.

I will be sharing all things interiors, crafty and music related and sharing lots of photos along the way.

WARNING: I will probably also share way too many pictures of my cats...

BOO