I've been awarded the Liebster blog award!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I was awarded the Liebster blog award by Mary Jane of Paper Blossom stationary.  This is an award given to blogs with fewer than 200 followers, with the intention of helping fledgling bloggers off to a good start or to help raise the profile of more established bloggers struggling to have their voice heard.  You can see MJ's original post on the award over here.

Source: blog.craftzine.com via Amy on Pinterest

I love blog awards, they really reflect what a supportive, creative community the blogging world really is.  Craft bloggers seem an especially nice bunch, so far I've seen very little spamming or flaming out there as I peruse my blogroll of a morning (unlike Livejournal back in the day, sheesh...).  Of course you're always going to get the odd bad apple, but on the whole I find the online crafting community to be super lovely.  I'd love to one day meet up with some of the folk whose blogs I so admire, especially Zoe, Tilly, Karen and Debi (who actually resides here in Edinburgh!).  Ooo, and Kate Davies, another Edinburgh resident!

Source: purlbee.com via Amy on Pinterest

But, since none of these fine folks need help with their blogs, without further ado I wish to award my Liebster award to the following peops:

♥ Quidam Ela - Aberdeen zoology graduate turned Publishing Admin turned card maker, Elaine is a hot-shot dog trainer and is currently working on the biggest craft project of them all, a babchick!

♥ Mindless Receptacle - authored by the same Elaine as above, but more focused on her drawings and hilarious, laugh out loud stories about the nightmares of renting and general thoughts on life.

♥ Connecting Love Carolyn - a lovely feel-good blog about life, the universe and everything from my lovely friend Carolyn (another Aberdeen graduate, there's a theme building here...).

♥ Stinging Needle - a knitting blog from another vet student turned craft genius, Imogene.  Imo is my go-to girl whenever I'm stuck with a knitting project, she's only been knitting a couple of years but has already churned out several majorly impressive projects, including this amazing reindeer jumper

Once you've been awarded the...award, you pass it on to another 5 bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers.  And so the cycle of nice continues.  I know I've only given it to 4 bloggers, but going through my blogroll I realised that these were the only blogs that had fewer than 200 followers.  Hopefully some nice person out there will have handed it out to 6 people to make up!

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Amy on Pinterest

And because lets face it, no one reads blogs for the words, I've included some of my not-so-recent Pinterest finds.  I haven't properly been on Pinterest in weeks now, exams got in the way.  I'm ready to get back on that hoss now though!  I've already been experimenting with some new beauty regimes from Emma's everyday styling routine ♥

Break from blogging...

Hello all! Apologies for another long hiatus from the blogosphere, I'm finding it hard to find time to blog at the moment. Uni is taking up a lot of time and when I'm not studying, I'm finding my motivation to blog is dropping right off. I love the process of reading blogs and crafting and sharing my creations with everyone, but when it becomes a chore I guess that's the time to call it quits.

I've not quite decided whether now is the time to close up the blog, I still enjoy it after all, but final year has made me realise that I'm probably not going to be able to make blogging a long-term thing in the future. Uni is more like a proper job now, I'm out from 8am until 6pm and when I get home the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer. In the past I've had the odd afternoon off during the week to take photos or write blog posts but now I don't have them I find my free time is taken up with studying, relaxing, or getting those boring chores done that you don't get the chance to do during the week. I imagine this is how next year is going to be when I (touch wood) have a job, so I'm thinking that I might be better off closing down the blog now and focusing on passing my finals.

Source: None via Second on Pinterest

I can always reopen it again in the future, I'm not going to remove it altogether, and I'll still be doing my Etsy shop when I get the chance. I'll still be reading blogs too, but I'll be able to enjoy blogs for what they are, rather than feeling guilty for not getting my own one sorted. I've always felt like I'm not doing my best with the blog anyway, my photos are pretty rubbish and my content and frequency of posting aren't as good as some of the more well-established blogs. There's part of me that's OK with that but then the perfectionist part of me hates not being able to do it to the best of my ability. I'm still going to craft but my priority is vet school and once I graduate my priorities will be work, hobbies, Andrew, pets, friends and family (in no particular order!). Blogging just won't be high enough in that priority list to justify keeping it going.

So for the moment dear people, goodbye. I might still update from time to time, but I think the next few months will be a good test of whether the blog is worth keeping in the future. Now that I've announced my feelings officially I feel relieved and less guilty already. I'll still be reading all of you though, so keep those posts comin'!

29th April 2011

29th April 2011. What a day. My brother's 22nd birthday, Andrew's Mum's birthday. And, obviously, the Royal Wedding day. I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about the Royal Wedding but since I'm an English girl living in Scotland (or a Scottish girl visiting England, depending on how I feel about my nationality that day) with a home counties accent and a love of weddings, it was only natural for me to get ridiculously over excited, put up Union Flag bunting and hold a tea party.

Here are some of my favourite Royal Wedding related items off Pinterest.

The cover of Vogue in 1947, after Queen Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Phillip. From The Bride's Cafe, via Pinterest.



Westminster Abbey illustrated tea towel from Helena Carrington on Etsy. Would look great framed I think!



Royal wedding cross stitch sampler from Bugs and Fishes. So cute!

Tutorial links

Well, between Andrew's folks visiting and being away this weekend to visit my Grandad, it's been a quiet week on the blogging front. It's also been a quiet week on the studying front and since exams are just over 3 weeks away now, I predict a quiet few weeks for blogging.

Apologies everyone, I'll be back on form in the New Year I promise and obviously updating as much as I can over the next few weeks and then the holidays. If you're new to my little corner of the blogosphere though, please don't let it put you off!

I've been contemplating making a tutorial for a tote bag for a while now, I've got my method sorted and although it's probably not that different from other ways of doing it, I was thinking a tutorial might be handy for some people. I know I would have loved a decent understandable tutorial back in the day when I was trying to work it out for myself!

Since I don't have time at the moment, watch this space. But in the meantime, here are some other adorable tutorials from other creative blogs, possibly good Christmas present ideas?

Make your own reusable fabric napkins with Tasia of Sewaholic. Perfect for the Christmas dinner table and as she points out herself, very environmentally friendly!



Make this gorgeous Pin-up brooch holder with Mena of The Sew Weekly. A great way to organise and display your brooches!



I'll definitely be knocking up some of these Reusable tea bags from Lillyella in the new year. I love loose tea but I hate the tea leaves that invariably end up in the bottom of your mug. Perfectly practical and pretty solution!

Blog hiatus

Apologies dear readers, but as you've probably already gathered, Second Fiddle blog is having a wee break.

Between my broken computer (I've got the new one picked out but I can't order it until I get back from down south) and heading off to the British Equine Veterinary Association conference (or 'Pony Fest 2010' as I like to think of it), I won't be back blogging until the 20th of September.

In the meantime though, enjoy this cute sleeping foal.



Awww...♥

I'm back!

Hello everyone, I'm back!

Apologies for the long delay in posting, those who read me already know that I sometimes can't post for long periods because of uni work or placements. Those who are hopefully here via Oranges and Apples, please don't be put off by the large gaps in my blog, I've got lots of exciting things to post about in the next few weeks, once I get my flat and life sorted after being away!



In the meantime, check out the marvellous 500th post giveaway over on Oranges and Apples, one of my vintage scarves is part of the prize!

The Sew Weekly

I have so many things to take photos of to show you all, but I'm in the depths of studying for my summer exams at the moment and so never remember to take photos until it's too dark. I need to show you how my cardigan is getting along (almost finished, just waiting on the buttons arriving in the post!), how Windowsill Farm is doing now the warm weather is finally here, my first attempt at making essential oil with homegrown herbs (using a recipe from The Virgin Gardener, a completely marvelous book) and my next knitting project (just ordered the needles off Ebay, so excited to start!).

In the meantime though, here's a blog I've recently got pretty into. It's called The Sew Weekly and is all about the lovely Mena, sewing herself one dress a week in an attempt to have a fully homemade wardrobe by the end of 2010. It's a really inspiring blog if you're into sewing and clothes making, reading it is really encouraging me to continue learning to make my own clothes. So far I only have 2 dresses to my name, but I've got a whole load of projects lined up in my head to keep me busy over the summer.



In the 'About' section, Mena talks about the slow clothes movement, her love of vintage styles and the pride that comes with wearing something you made with your own two hands. Your clothes are ultimately the first thing that people see and judge you with, rightly or wrongly, so I really like the idea that my clothes stand for more than just who I am, but say something about my principles as well. I don't mean t-shirts with 'Ban the Bomb' emblazoned across the front (although obviously there's a place for them as well), I mean clothes that make a statement in a much more subtle way. Clothes that say 'I disagree with sweatshops', 'I am keeping traditional skills alive', 'I disagree with consumerism and the way we treat our planet' and 'I want clothes that look good on ME, not just size 0 models'.

And obviously I want to look good doing it!

Still more giveaway fun!

Whilst waiting for an ebay auction to end tonight (nothing exciting, just a new filofax. But brown leather, yum!) I wasted time browsing blogs. And stumbled upon this gem of the blogosphere, The Brocantess. Her writing style is lovely and she's all about flea markets and thrifting, just my kind of blog.



She's doing a massive French vintage giveaway over on her blog so I thought I'd have a crack at entering (though with currently 140 other entrants, I don't think I stand much chance!).

So here we are Ms. Brocantess, consider SecondFiddle entered! Hmm...maybe that's a poor choice of words...

Nordic Craft

So, the studying continues, I feel like my head might explode and I'm walking around with a giant rubber band round my chest, squeezing my breath out of me. Still, first 2 on Wednesday and last 1 on Friday, then it's off to St Andrews with the boy for a weekend of relaxation. I can't wait!

In the meantime though, here's my latest craft blog find, Nordic Craft, from the very talented Karin. I especially love this quilted collage she's done, definately taking inspiration from that when I move in with Andrew next year.



Along the lines of little quilted things (I love quilting and little = awesome, if I can finish it in a night then I'm automatically in love), I found this rather adorable quilted post card from Merry Mayhem on Etsy. Holy cow man, it's super awesome!