I know it’s been pretty quiet around here for a little while. Lots of stuff has happened in my personal life over the last 3 months and to be honest I took a break from a lot of social media because I wanted to and needed to. I’ve been reassessing a lot of things in life and I took the time out to make new friends, spend time with old ones and my family and go to a festival (Bestival – it was AMAZING!).

But now, I’m back. I don’t know how often I’ll be blogging but I want to try and make it worth your while reading when I do. My blog posts will probably be a little more personal too – it’s time people got to know me. The person behind the blog. I know, I’m actually a real-life person who writes this blog! Haha.

So what am I going to try and blog about? I want to write about gay rights, music, crafts, fashion, mental health, knitting, pretty things that I think are pretty and want to share, and so much more! I just hope that you’ll find it all interesting and will keep on reading my little ol’ blog!

Okay, I’m heading off for this evening but I’ll be back soon with a few outfit posts and maybe a few knitting posts too!

xx Crafty Love from this Crafty Fox xx

NUMBER 3!  Giselle! Woo hoo! And this was Giselle’s outfit…..

I can’t decide which one outfit I’d wear the gingham bow tie with… it’s a toss up between:
• with an oversize shirt, pencil skirt and ankle cowboy boots for work (kind of look like a 50s waitress)
• adding a bit of colour to my brown ’70s shirt-dress with equestrian motifs printed all over it

Failing that, I’d probably wear it in my hair with whatever happens to be clean and near the front of the wardrobe most days!

Well done and congratulations! If you can email me your full name and address to jaqueline(@)craftyfoxes.co.uk, I will send that onto Shauna and Stephen and your new bow tie will wing it’s way to you as soon as possible!

Sorry it’s taken me a week longer to announce it. There have been a couple of things going on that unfortunately got in the way of any blogging but it’s service as usual again!

Be back soon!

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

One year on and they’ve had 7 collections of  FORAGE bow ties (with number 8 out in August), all of which have sold out or are currently very close to selling out. And more recently, Shauna and Stephen created their first collection of sumptuous Ladies Bow Ties which I coveted and then finally got my hands on. I chose the KATRINA Multi Colour Gingham and every time I’ve worn it have received nothing but love for it…..and impressed gasps when they realise I’ve tied it myself and it’s NOT a clip-on!

(Me in my KATRINA bow tie, looking particularly badass! Haha, but it seriously is my new favourite accesory and I wore it out to dinner with a friend/potential date this week…fingers crossed it has magic dating powers!)

Now here comes the really exciting part…as part of the celebrations for FORAGE’s First Birthday, I’m giving away one of the sold out Ladies Bow Ties! The JENNA Pink Gingham bow tie, pictured at the very top of this post, is one of my favourites and one of you, my lucky readers, has the chance to win win win! And this is the LAST ONE! After this is sent to you, there are no more JENNA bow ties left to buy anywhere.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment in the comments section on here with your name and email and the outfit you would wear your new bow tie with. My favourite new outfit with my bow tie is a black shirt and black skirt/skinny black trousers so the bow tie really pops! This giveaway will be open until end of day 29th July and the winner will be chosen at random just after midnight. Good luck!

And to Shauna and Stephen and FORAGE Bow Ties,

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

(Images credited – click for link to credited photographer/source)

When Quadrille Publishing offered their Twitter followers a chance to procure a review copy of a soon-to-be-released craft book “Everything Alice”, I, being the crafty fox that I am, jumped at the chance and before you could shout “Off with their heads!” had my very own copy ready to be thoroughly leafed through and drooled over.

As far as ideas go, stylist and illustrator, Hannah Read-Baldrey, and art-director and designer, Christine Leech, hit on the perfect idea – a craft and recipe book based around Alice in Wonderland. This book could very easily have been a god-send when I was at university due to the amount of Alice in Wondlerand themed parties I was invited to! Saying that, I’m quite sure there will be many more Alice themed parties to come in my life, knowing my friends!

In terms of the projects inside the book, I’m not kidding when I said the book would be drooled over (okay, maybe not literally but you know what I mean.) Every single craft project Christine and Hannah have come up with is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Never before have I wanted to make everything in a craft book! From easy things you can do with small children, like the dress-up dolls, to more complicated projects like the Everything Alice puppet theatre below (which I would say is just as perfect for a fun adult evening party in the summer as it is a children’s birthday party), there really is something for everyone to make and enjoy making!

In my humble opinion, you should definitely invest in this book. My sister has already told me she wants this book (I did lend it to her and got it back, thankfully) and I might just surprise her with a copy at some point but shhhhhh, don’t tell her I said so! Hehe. I’m sad I didn’t get to go to the launch party a couple of weeks ago but will definitely be creating my own Wonderland soon…any excuse for a party, huh?

Be sure to look back here on Friday, I have a super special giveaway that I’m sure you won’t want to miss out on!

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

*Pictures taken from Everything Alice and Domestic Sluttery

1. Please wait here until you are useful. Thank you. #graffiti #eastlondon, 2. New Marc by Marc Jacobs glasses and newly oranged hair!, 3. Kola Colour Filters for all my photography devices! Sweet!, 4. Royal Opera House, London. Watching amazing ballet right now!, 5. New Dress & New Cardi = Perfect Ballet Outfit. Royal Opera House, here I come!, 6. Coffee and Peppermint Tea in Bristol., 7. Ducky Jnr – the baby duck I rescued after he/she fell off a roof opposite my house and took to the vet., 8. Pretty Painted Shop Window., 9. I have new Hasbeens! Thanks mamma!, 10. Coolest bathroom ever., 11. Pretty Dress. Maybe On Payday…., 12. I heart Swedish Hasbeens., 13. Big Ass Poppies!!

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

I saw a girl wearing the pair on the left on the bus I was on today and had to ask her where they were from. Her answer of Prada almost broke my heart (£££) but I couldn’t help but fall in LOVE with them. She looked all kinds of awesome too!

 These are my current shoe love. Swedish Hasbeens wedges for H&M. They are THE most comfortable shoes I have ever worn (although the blisters on my heel/ankle would say differently). But a little more wear and they will be the most comfortable heels/platforms I own. My mama has also amazingly bought me the pair on the right (I will be paying her back) after she found the pair in my size in Birmingham (where I used to live). I anticipate comfiness again and look forward to them arriving in the post! This is also my embracing of my Scandinavian roots – my dad’s dads side of the family are Danish originally.

Every girl needs a pair of disco flats and these gold lamé leather beauties from Newbark are just the pair to keep your feet happy! At £295 they are a pricey pair but definitely an invesment if you can afford them!

A relatively unknown label (to me anyway) is Paloma Barceló and these mint green Natalia suede espadrille wedges are absolutely divine! Less pricey at £185. The label has been going since 1960 though, so these Spaniards obviously know what they’re doing when it comes to shoes!! I love how these shoes remind me of mint choc-chip and pistaschio ice-cream. Perfect summer shoes, don’t you think?

And finally, if it’s a pair of statement heels you’re after, Lanvin has got it right on the money with these hot pink and splash of gold babies! I’m willing to bet that if you wore these shoes out, girls would be jealous of you and guys would be staring at the killer figure you would be cutting in them! Now, if I only had a spare £640 to spend on these (yeah, that’s more than a months rent for most people, including myself!!)….

I’ll just leave you all to continue drooling, like I am. Until next time…

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

…to go out dancing, I’d want to have this red vintage purse from Bucket Tree in my clutches

…buy an heirloom, it would be this gold and black diamond fox neckalce from Rust

…have a child, he or she would wear this awesome cardigan from Antik Batik

…get married, I would wear one of these dresses from Saja

…own my first house, it would look like this one

…and would have this on the wall

…and would put this on my kitchen table

…and would have this over my knees as I sat watching DVDs or listening to vinyl records

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

Here are a few of my personal favourites!!!

Franco and Teresa – he was such a suave old Italian man!! We loved him!

Chris and Lauren – very sweet couple!!

Gabriella and Simone made Andy a very happy man!!

This weekend has been such a lovely one – full of love and laughs and happiness! A big thank you goes out to everyone who decided to kiss for us as well! They are brilliant and if we could give prizes to everyone we would! So go and choose your favourite to help make our choosing of the winner a bit easier!

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

PS. Sorry for the lack of posts here – I’m coming back soon. Just a few more tweaks and things will be ready to start again! Thank you for sticking around!! xxx

A subscription to Frankie Magazine too keep me in the loop with the Australian crafty and fashion scenes…

Issue 8 of Uppercase Magazine and a subscription if it could be arranged…

This gorgeous print from Pretty Little Thieves…. (Side Note: If anyone can find headphones like the ones she’s wearing, I will love you forever!!)

Any of these gorgeous one of a kind headbands from Ban.Do’s Black Label – I think all of these ones have sold which is a shame but hopefully next time!

I can’t believe that in just over 2 weeks I’ll be 25. I know it’s not a big age, like 30, 40, 50 or 60 but it’s one of those birthday’s that you want to remember as you’ve finally got to the finish line of that first quarter of your life (if you live to 100 that is!!)

There are a few exciting things going on around here and on the Wednesday Knit blog soon, so keep your eyes peeled over the coming days for a few announcements and a return to your regular blogging schedule!!

xx Crafty Love from the Crafty Fox xx

…but how much can one state take? Right after the devastating floods that affected my hometown of Rockhampton and the cities of Brisbane, Towoomba and others where I have friends and family living, Cyclone Yasi decides to strike Far North Queensland including the cities of Innisfail, Cairns and Townsville where I have another load of friends and family living! Thank whoever you want that they all got through these disasters with no major injury but they are all suffering from the after effects – no power and damage to their houses and other belongings.

They aren’t the only ones though and many others have lost not only their houses and livelihoods but loved ones also. The damage caused will take a long time to resolve but we in the blogging community can help. Please, if you can, donate a small amount of money to the Queensland Disaster Relief Appeal - it really will make a difference to many people. In Innisfail, the banana and sugar cane crops have been completely devastated. This industry provides a huge amount of work to residents, some of whom are my family! Donations will help to get the farms back in some working order, ready to get the new crops growing and ready to sell again!

The one thing that makes this very real for me is that I know these places. I’ve lived in some of them. I’ve visited others many times. I’ve experienced the tropical storms that have been affecting my home state. Us Queenslanders are tough, but sometimes we need a helping hand. And right now, we need more than one! So please help if you can. It will truly be appreciated and put to good use!

xx Crafty Love from a Crafty Fox xx