50% Off Sale in My Etsy Shop

It's that time of the month...no not that one! Rather it's when all of my bills have arrived at the same time, in an effort to surmount this mountain of costly paperwork I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop. I've never done this before, but it seems like a good idea to help boost sales. Instead of changing all of my prices and lsiting descriptions I'm offering a coupon code to you guys here for being such loyal readers.

Just enter the code 'crazysale' when you are at the checkout and you will receive 50% off. I'm only running this offer for a week so get in there quick!

Pop over here to go shopping! I have cards, wine charms, badges, and mirrors!!

Note: this offer only applies to my etsy items, it does not apply to my real life market sales.

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What I'm Wearing: Check Shirtdress

This is a bit more casual and sloppy look than my normal outfit posts, but I was quite hungover and I just wanted to wear something really comfy. Also wearing the headscarf meant I didn't have to wash my hair, this made for a pretty good 'feeling delicate' outfit. I know it's not the most flattering shaped shirt in the world but I'm not always concerned with the idea that I should look like the slimmest version of myself at all times. There is a really great article that discusses this pressure to always look 'your best', often times at the expense of self expression or feeling comfortable. I like dressing the way I want, on some days that might be a waist hugging dress, other times it's my knee length Beno jumper with clompy boots, what's important to me is feeling happy in my own skin and having fun with my clothes.

I got the shirt for only €5 in a mad 'everything is a fiver' sale in The 'Design Outlet' on William street. They also had jeans for only €10 that I very nearly bought, but after reading this article on how to get great pair of jeans I didn't give into the temptation of the bargain. When I was really honest with myself I could see that they were nice on the ass and legs but the waist was way too low for my shape, I never would have been comfortable in them. 

Runners- fake converse from Pennies €8

Sunglasses- Pennies €3

Shirt- The design outlet €5

Belt-Pennies €3

Nail varnish-L'Oreal (602) free from my friend Casha 

Ring- from the Milk Market, it crazily only cost €1!!

Head Scarf- free, I made it from a scrap of fabric and I made the button clips myself

Earrings- free to me as I made them, but I normally charge €10  

Whole outfit only €20( or €30 if I was to buy the earrings from myself??!)

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Glasses, n' Hats, and Bargains, Oh My!

I caught the bargain bug earlier in the week on my pound shop shopping spree. I was wandering down Cruises Street when I bumped into my friend Dee who works in Claire's Accessories, in a super nice moment she shortened her lunch break to accompany me on a little browse around their sale. You can get 10 items for €10, how could I pass up an offer like that??! At first glance I thought I wasn't going to see enough that I liked but after a bit of rummaging and trying on every hat in the shop I found lots of hidden goodies.

It's kinda embarrassing to admit that I bought hipster glasses but I fell in love with these so I bought them, and a little part of me died on the inside. I do actually need to get real glasses quite badly, I just need to save up a few quid and make an appointment. I'll ask if I can get lenses put into these frames, apparently that's something that they can do. I lost my large brown sunglasses last year, I already have a great pair of duck egg ones but they don't suit brown clothes so I needed a new pair. These are large and fabulous but don't have any bling on them, which I really dispise.

I also got these two hats, they are not the normal style that I go for but I thought I could risk being adventurous at that price. The larger brown hat will go really well with a floaty Summer dress. I'm not so thrilled about the monstrous bobble on the beige one, but I can replace it with something much nicer very easily.

On top of all that I picked up some plain hair bands(10 in total), I've been meaning to order a bunch online for ages as I want to make button hair bands. I also got a pair of laces black tights(you can never have to many pairs of tights!) and two bottles of crackle nail polish. I've never tried using them before, but I've gotten into painting my nails lately so I thought I would give it a bash, they are lovely shades of cerulean blue and lime green.

As I said I got all this for €10, the sale price would have been about €40 but Dee said that the total original price would have been over €90!!

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What I'm Wearing: 90's Flashback

After my marathon of watching My So Called Life I put together this homage to the Angela Chase look (I'm not really young enough or brave enough to dress like Rayanne Graff). I picked up these denim shorts on sale in A-Wear for only a fiver, they are somewhere between nice and old lady, but they are in fashion so I kinda get away with it. As soon as I put them on with some black tights I knew they had to go with my Docs, hence the MSCL outfit.

At heart I'm still a grunge girl so this aesthetic might be making a reappearance in the near future. It brought back memories of watching my video of Singles repeatedly, making mix tapes for my friends(and drawing artwork for them), saving up my pocket money so I could buy posters, docs, new cds, and books. I was one of those teenagers that hung around Central Bank near Temple Bar every Saturday, it seems like a million years ago, I suppose it kinda was. 

Shoes: Free, I did a swap with a friend

Shorts: A-Wear €5 on sale

Vest: Dunnes €2

Top: Pennies €7

Belt: Free with some trousers

Necklace: a 30th birthday present from a friend

Bag: tweed satchel Pennies €4

Ring: button ring made by me €5

Jacket: checker jacket charity shop €10

Hat: Claire's Accessories €2

Outfit Total: €35

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Beating the Recession One Shopping Trip at a Time

I'm a big fan of pound shops(I know we got rid of punts years ago but I just can't bring myself to call them euro stores, it's wrong!). Back when I was in college I had a love affair with Mary's of Limerick, then they closed their doors forever and the bargain hunters cried for it's loss. Then we got the €2 Store, where everything is, you guessed it, €2; my thrifty love affair was rekindled. Then when Dealz (where everything is only €1.49) opened William St got an even bigger boost in becoming a bargain hunters Mecca. From there it kinda snowballed, with loads of tacky homeware shop popping up, add into the mix 4 charity shops and it now one of my favourite shopping streets. Although there is the a really dodgy bus stop that seems to attract very scary people, I usually cross the street at that point(which gives me a good excuse to go into Awear).


On Sunday I popping in to get some tape, but due to my chronic hungover stage I went a little mad and got loads of other stuff too; there is nothing like a bit of low budget retail therapy to make a girl feel better!!


My booty:
100 sheets of sticker paper
24 sheets of canvas paper
4 sheets of magnetic paper
10 laminating pouches
4 rolls of cellotape
19 padded envelopes of various sizes
sesame oil
terry's orange chocolate(it's not terry's it's mine!!)
36 large stickers(perfect for card making)
I save the best til last....
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters unabridged on audio book (only €1.49 wtf???)


Total: €31.23


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My News; The Story of the Vintage Suitcase

Do you remember 'My News' from school, this is mine for today.

Imagine the scene; dressed in a multitude of layers to guard against the igloo that is the Milk Market I step out in the beaming sunshine after finishing a long day at work. Instead of being and smart and heading home after the market I do 'a little browsing' in the charity shops. I got a couple of books, but I was good and reminded myself to only buy what I could carry. Then I saw this beautiful vintage suitcase, '€5' you say 'bargain!' I say, 'I'll have that' I say. So I did. It should have ended there, but no there are two more charity shops on the way home. When I purchased more books the lovely lady behind the counter asks if I want a bag, and with glee I answered 'no, it's ok, I just bought a suitcase I'll pop them in there'. As they say rinse and repeat for the next shop. In my head I think I'm only around the corner so I'll be fine, but it's a very long street before I get to that corner.

Under that beaming sun my black coat feels like ski wear in the Sahara, all I can manage is to shuffle ten meters, stop, swap hands, and continue shuffling, stop, swap.... I look like a snail carrying it's shell beside itself, or rather an upwardly mobile slug who hasn't quite figures out the logistics of it all yet. At this stage it's not an option to peel off some layers, because A) I would have to carry them too and B)I'm sweating like a pig at this stage so the less people can see of me the better. After what feels like a Chariots of Fire like effort I make it to my door, I imagined that there should have been some sort of applause, but there wasn't. As soon as the door closes behind me I start to strip until I'm standing in my front-room in my underwear savouring the cold tiles under my tired feet. If I was the kind of person who had cold beers in the fridge* I would have drank it then and there in my bra and knickers, but I don't, so I didn't. 

Really the case will be worth what I feel was a heroic effort. Ideally I would like one of these footrests(I know this is a cat bed, but essentially it's the same thing right?) to be made from it, but it will probably live in my studio doing nothing in particular for a while until I muster motivation.

That was my day, how was yours?

*It's not that I object to beer, it's just that I have one of those miniscule fridges that are in every rented property in Ireland; much to the horror of any Americans I know.  

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Budget Shopping Spree

I love a good pound shop shopping spree. Look at the haul I got in town yesterday.

I got:
Pink box for my shelves in my studio: €4.50
3 rolls of gaffer tape for my Halloween costume(I'll be blogging about that next week): €2 each
Two 4 packs of double sided tape for card making: €2 per pack
12 sheets of photo paper which I use for card making: €2
12 sheets of printable canvas paper(no idea what I'll use it for but it sound intriguing): €2
Blue tack to hang more pictures on my walls: €1
5 Sticks of glue for card making: €2
Hip flask to bring to the wedding tomorrow in my handbag: €2
2 packs of colourful clips which I'll make into these: €1.50 per pack

Wonderful sense of coming home as a successful recession busting hunter gatherer: €Priceless

Magnet Paper Polaroid Project

I love taking a wander through the pound shops( I still can't make myself call them eurostores!!), and seeing the array of weird and wonderful tat that is for sale. Sadly the glory days of Mary's of Limerick are gone, but we have the €2 Store, and a few other cheap as chips household shops on William St. The other day I stumbled upon this great magnetic paper. You get 2 sheets for €2, which is a pretty good deal if what your printing is small.
Ages ago I saw a link to a tutorial on how to make little wooden polaroid magnets, I loved them but I knew I would never go through all that work. When I found these sheets that project popped back into my head. I googled the dimensions of a polaroid and set up my template on photoshop. I added an outline of shadow around the edge that would go over the images. I looked up some kitsch and quirky images on Getty Images and within an hour I came up with this nice selection of pictures. I used the paper in my domestic printer, and then chopped them up with my scissors. I love the results! They are not a very strong magnet though so I don't think I'll be selling them. I may include them free with my online orders....or just stick all of them on my fridge and then smile! John came up with a good idea of somehow incorporating them into my handmade cards, that people get a card, but then a magnet that they can put on their fridge too...interesting, I'll have to figure it out.

Words of Warning...Shop Around

I know people always say shop around but I just came accross a crazy difference in prices today. I'm getting the paper inserts for the wedding invitations printed today, I got a quote off one printer of 150 euro (about $200), which thank god I had the sense to say no to. I went to another guy and he is going exactly the same job for 40 euro( about $55)...that is totally insane. I've worked with both places before and they both have really high quality, and good service, so it's not like I'll be getting a lesser product. How can people justify this!!

Madness I tells ya.

Recessionista Fashionista!

I really shouldn't be spending more money but I went into A-Wear yesterday on my way home...'just to have a look'...and I came out with two pairs of pants and two dresses!! I have never in my life done that strange thing of buying two of the exact same garment but there is a first for everything. I bought two pairs of black harem pants, I've been looking for a good pair for AGES and these are lovely cos they are fitted at the waist like suit pants, and they tie in a bow at the calves, which is a look far more forgiving on me. They were only 5 euro, and I figured I would wear one pair to death so it seemed to make sense in my head. I also got a great denim dress that buttons up the front with cute pockets, and then strapless knee lenght dress made out of grundgy check...oh so very Pearl Jam. I figure this dress was also only 5 quid, and I'll customise it with some denim and make it look a bit more Miss Westwood. I usually wouldn't go for this style of dress, being a DD cup, but it looked surprisingly good. Not a bad shopping spree for only 25 squids?!?

Another notch on the recessionista bedpost me thinks.

I'm in LOVE

Yey I'm back to Limerick! As promised,I have photos of my wonderful bounty. I spent a whopping 235 euro in the Woolen Mills on ribbon,thread buttons and trimmings, but they are essential supplies that will keep me going(and inspired) for a good while. Here are a few snapshots of my goodies.



I also went to Shebeen Chic on Georges St, it's a bar and restaurant that has all recycled and reclaimed furniture(and everything is for sale/swap). On Saturday afternoons you can bring in bags of clothes, shoes,accessories and trade them in.I love this idea! Because I get lots of donations of clothes from people I am often left with lots of clothing, that for various reasons, I can't use. So I brought a bag of these extras to the shop. I wasn't expecting to get that much in return, but shockingly I came out with my bag full of wonderful finds. Here are a few examples but I got loads more. The black coat is even a Ben Sherman, even better is that if I had nothing to swap I could have bought it for 1 euro!! I will definitely be making more trips to Dublin to get supplies.