the record collector

Ever since I was a little girl my Dad has visited record stores, fairs, flea markets and festivals collecting records and music memorabilia.

Americana has always been the cornerstone of my memory and sense of home...even in leafy suburban South London where I grew up.

In every house we've ever owned my dad has had what we all call his 'music room'~ a room where he proudly displays his thousands of records, vinyl, tapes and concert merchandise.

That's Willie Nelson's cowboy hat above which my dad caught when he threw it into the crowd at a show in the eighties.

Some of my earliest and most cherished memories are of flipping through row upon row of dusty vinyl stacked in boxes in our local mom n' pop new and used record shop near where I grew up. I'm sure that store is probably long gone by now.

To me there's no one cooler than my old man. With his music room and hippy heart and clock in the shape of his favourite state in all of America.

God bless 'im!

x

dark chocolate + avocado pudding

As promised here is a recipe that, I swear to you, you want to try!

Especially if you are one of those people (like myself) who love combining flavours...

I'm talking to the lovers of chocolate with sea salt and mixing peanut butter and banana in to your oatmeal. You need to try this pudding!

As usual, I discovered this dream blend of coconut milk, dark chocolate and avocados via Pinterest.

Do you pin? I'm semi-obsessed with it. Must be because I'm not working right now and have the time but these days I've been feeling a lot like this>>>

Can anyone relate to this? hehe!!

Anyway!

To the recipe ^.^

This recipe is not only delicious but also very good for you!

Dark chocolate is loaded with anti-oxidants and is good for your heart and brain while coconut milk is full of healthy fats that won't clog your arteries and avocados are a super-food with a wealth of health benefits, including being a great skin beautifier.

Bottom line is~ you can enjoy this smooth and creamy and deliciously chocolately pudding without having to feel 'the guilt' afterwards. AND, it's incredibly easy to make. All you need is 5 minutes and a blender.

Ingredients// 

~ 200 ml coconut milk

~ 4 ripe avocados {remove skins + stone}

~ 4 tbsp low fat cocoa powder

~ 4 tbsps honey, to sweeten

~ 1 large bar of good quality dark chocolate

~ 2 tsps vanilla extract

~ pinch of sea salt

Method//

Blend. Done.

See, I told you it was easy!

Please, enjoy!

x

⋙⋙⋙currently⋙⋙⋙

⋙⋙⋙ reading⋙⋙⋙

I've been scavenging through old keepsake boxes, pulling out and reading through old letters from friends past and present. Reminiscing over old travel photos and more journals I kept during different travelling trips.

I'm so happy I kept these journals as they have brought back such beautiful memories that I hadn't remembered in years and years. It's a lot of fun to view the world through 23 year old Louise's eyes again ^.~

⋙⋙⋙ planning⋙⋙⋙

The wonderful folks at Wholeport sent me these magnificent feathers and an embroidery hoop last month.
I'm planning on fashioning a dreamctacher out of these beauties.
Keep your eye out for a DIY post very soon!

⋙⋙⋙ watching⋙⋙⋙

Lot's of antiques and wildlife shows with my parents and B-horror movies at night.
'Nude Nuns with Big Guns'.
I an't even kidding.

⋙⋙⋙ eating⋙⋙⋙

I posted yesterday about my clean eating regime and I'm still loving every bite, every nut, every berry, lots of green tea...and hot buttered toast with jam, of course!

⋙⋙⋙ writing⋙⋙⋙

No big surprises here, I'm still hooked on my letter writing and I get so excited when a new reader contacts me for a mail swap!

⋙⋙⋙ listening⋙⋙⋙

I'm hooked on Phosphorescent's new album Muchacho, particularly 'Song for Zula' is just heavenly. 

But I do always come back to this tried and true track 'Wolves' from 2007~ the lyrics are just so perfect. 

⋙⋙⋙ learning⋙⋙⋙

{{source}}

The truth

P.S// don't forget Stars in Jars has a new Facebook page~ let's be friends!

.. ▻▻▻◈◅◅◅ ..

mail swaps

My love for all things sealed inside an envelope and found hidden inside letterboxes is no secret around these parts and today I wanted to give you a little peek inside one of my received envelopes ^^

I had the sweetest gift waiting for me in my mail box last week... a package swap from the beautiful Nicole from Gypsy in Jasper.

Nicole is from the Canadian Rockies and she put together the loveliest little treasures for me to discover in her package including stickers, cute woven bracelets, a scarf, wooden beads and this adorable crochet envelope that she hand-made herself.

Everything was so thoughtful and put together with love and attention, right down to the sweet message inside the card.

Thank you so much Nicole, I was delighted with every last thing and can't wait to send a treasure or two over to your part of the world!

If you are interested in taking part in snail mail or package swaps with me see this post for how to get in touch.

I love connecting with people the world over through this little internet pocket I have or through all things handwritten and lovely!

Also, why don't you pop over to Abhaya today where I am guest posting for Sondra while she gypsy steps her way around India (lucky thing). 

You can discover my second Korean love beside the paper goods...cute cosmetics!

a sponsored post: DIY cupid's arrows

The happiest of Valentine's Days to all of you gorgeous people ♥ 

The old lady who lives inside me who loves to stitch and sew and make things with little glass beads rocked a little faster back n forth in her rocking chair when the lovely people at online craft supply store Wholeport offered to send me a parcel of goodies to craft with ^^

Among other pretty little doo-dads they sent me this lovely packet of masking stickers~ this is basically the sticker version of the Japanese washi tape that has been taking the crafting world by storm.

I've been wanting to use washi tape in a DIY post for a while now and the love-heart decoration on these gave me the inspiration to make these sweet-as-can-be Valentine's cupid arrows to give to your sweetheart on Valentine's day.

Behold the materials:
~ feathers (I searched high and low for craft feathers but they are apparently a rarity in Korea , so I made do with this feather printable)
~ washi tape/decorative sticker strips from Wholeport
~ bamboo sticks
~ craft wood chips (I sifted through untill I found some that resembled the shape of arrow heads)

Step 1:

Take a strip of decorative tape and carefully wrap it around one end of your bamboo stick. Repeat until you have an assortment of decorated sticks.

Step 2:

Gather together a sprig of  3 or 4 feathers.

Or in my case if you are using the feather printable, cut out a bunch of feathers.

Step 3:

Use invisible tape to attach your feathers to the decorated end of your bamboo stick.

Step 4:

Using a glue gun apply a small amount of hot glue to the bare end of your bamboo stick and attach your wood chip.

And you are DONE!

You can give your Valentine an arrow along with their card or, like me, use them as a wall decoration!

Lemon squeezy.

A special thank you to the wonderful folks at Wholeport craft suppliers for sponsoring this post. 

Check their site out for cute and extremely affordable crafting treats~ I have my eye on their beautiful selection of beads and feathers ^^

DIY// craft paper envelopes

Raise your hand if you are a stationary fiend.

I'm more than a little obsessed with pretty paper goods and rarely leave a craft/stationary store without a bag of loot in tow.

I found this darling how-to on Pinterest on how to make your own envelopes using wallpaper samples.

I happen to have a box of craft papers which have been sitting on the shelf all sad and lonely since Christmas.

Now they have been transformed into these beautiful envelopes just singing for a handwritten letter to be slipped inside and mailed across the seven seas.

This tutorial is so quick and easy these things practically make themselves.

Ready? Let's go...

The supplies: 

~ craft paper/wrapping paper/wallpaper samples or any pretty patterned paper you have to hand

~an ordinary envelope

~scissors

~pencil

First, open out your envelope, lay it on the back side of your craft paper and use it as a template to trace around with a pencil.

Cut out your template shape with scissors to get an envelope shape.

Fold each corner at the edges.

Use glue to stick together the bottom and each of the two side flaps.

That's it! You are done!

See I told you it was super easy ^^

Decorate with pretty stamps and labels and fill with love notes and pen pal letters and poems and cards and anything else that people love getting in the mail!

paper & woodland

Today was an early rise, pancakes for breakfast, back in bed till afternoon kind of a day.

I ventured out only once to make a run to the stationary store and discovered the world outside had turned into an ice rink overnight.

The freezing temperatures here have magicked the ground into glass while the glare of the low winter sun reflecting off the snow covered mountains created a supernaturally bright light.

Like a blinking little hedgehog I scurried back to the warmth of the apartment and spent my afternoon making these delightful paper craft house pets. 

They were one of my Christmas presents sent from a friend back home and I think they look just fine guarding our little floor garden. 

^^

Tonight Dallas and I are off for a mini date of Korean gamjatang and The Hobbit.

Enjoy your Sunday evening dears!

merry and bright

{{1//2//3//4}}

Gift wrapping is one of my favorite things to do. I love to gild the lily so to speak.

I think this goes way back in my memory to when my Mother would bring out her big box of endless papers and ribbons and bows and we would sit cross-legged on the living room floor each Christmas wrapping gifts surrounded by paper and scissors and odds and ends.

This year I don't have my Mom's big box of Christmas goodies so I've had to be more resourceful in my wrapping. I've been using brown paper, newspaper and old maps as wrapping paper and then tying the gifts up in twine. I love the clean and timeless look this gives them.

When it came to the gift tags I hopped online to see if there were any nice, free and printable Christmas tags available that I could download and use.

Turns out there is enough to fill Santa's sack.

Here is a round up of my favorite, beautifully illustrated, printable stickers and gifts tags by some very talented and artistic bloggers:

1. Oana Befort

2. Kelli Murray Art

3. Laura Birney

4. Swoon!

I hope you're all having a great week leading up to Christmas. Dallas and I are hosting another fancy pot luck dinner again this Saturday, this time for a Christmas dinner. We'll be giving Secret Santa gifts to each other so I've already been putting these lovely freebies to good use ^^

Happy gifting!

monday morning ear candy

This weekend I took my cue from all the winter woodland hedgehogs, badgers and doormice and retreated snug and warm into my burrow apartment for almost the entire two days.

This morning I was forced out blinking and shivering for work again. How rude!

Although we do have a glorious work-free day on Wednesday to look forward to as it will be election day here in Korea.

I put the final touches to my parents Christmas presents ready to be shipped to Ireland today (don't worry  neither of them read my blog so I'm not ruining any surprises!)

I wrapped my Mom's present in brown paper and twine and used diy rubber stamps to print a Christmas tree design onto the paper~ a lovely and simple idea from Patchwork Cactus.

Aren't Dad's the peskiest people in the world to buy decent gifts for?

Last year I returned home for Christmas after four months of travelling and thrilled him with a traditional Native American headdress I bought for him in Thailand as he loves anything related to that subject.

This year I thought it would be nice to frame a photo we took of him wearing his gift last year and pegged them onto string along with other pictures of us and the family.

Here is a beautiful little collection of tunes Dallas put together last night just for you!

Please press play, relax and enjoy your day!

Thanks for visiting ^^

                                                        

the crafty little christmas tree

I've been the busiest of bees the past week. 

I've been putting all sorts of grand Christmas schemes into action, making big messes in the apartment and starting new yule tide traditions with the beau.

This will be our third Christmas as a couple but our first living together and I'm not sure poor ol' Dallas knew what Christmas prepping does to this gal!

Happy for days.

I picked up this plastic tree for less than ten dollars and I knew I wanted to decorate my first ever Christmas tree using only found objects, nature and crafty odds and ends.

This is the result. Think Santa will approve?

 Mamma Gillanders would certainly approve of my decorating efforts~ she has filled my Christmases with colors and warmth and delicious smells since my memories began. 
Now here I am, arms wavering as I try to follow behind in her well-trodden footsteps.  I wonder what 10 year old Louise would think of grown-up Louise's first efforts at dinner and decorating? 

Sure there were bugs crawling out of the pine cones when I washed them before painting and the tree itself has a tendency to topple over if you so much as breath on it. But it's ours, and if a christmas tree's only job is to cheer up a room and give the 10 year old inside you a warm christmas-y, santa is coming kinda feeling when you look at it, well it's doing it's job just swell.

Happy Christmas!

in a pinch christmas card DIY

Last night was dedicated to all things christmas card making and I have the white scissor marks on my fingers and tiny scraps of colored paper over the floor to prove it!

It finally clicked in my brain that November is somehow inexplicably halfway over and the season to be jolly is almost upon us.

This quick and easy card and envelope DIY is perfect for those in a penny pinch (like me) who also want to create a more personalized card for their loved ones.

The supplies are minimial:

~ card stock

~ scissors

~ gold star stickers

~ decorative masking tape (you can also use ribbon or cut up bits of wrapping/magazine paper)

First step is to fold your card stock in half to make the card template.

Cut a trunk shape out of light brown paper and glue to the front of your card.

Start cutting and sticking your decorative tape in a diagonal shape and taper them upward to the top of  your tree trunk.

Sip on hot cocoa and marshmallows all the while to really set the tone ~.^

Finally, top your christmas tree with a festive gold star.

I also made little hand-sewn envelopes to place my cards in ^^

These are so simple to make~ Cut two equal sized squares of brown paper and stitch around three corners of them using brown thread, leaving the fourth corner open to create a pocket to slip your card inside.

Easy!

There you have it! Charming little homemade Christmas cards on the fly for a gal in a pinch.

Now, to the shopping!