Festive Top Ten Guest Post: Create*Loves

I am really enjoying posting these Festive Top Tens, not only is it great to see what everyone wishes for but I am learning so much about blogging in the process ( I am still such a new-kid).

Today's list comes from Holly Neufield, better known for her blog Create*Loves, she lives a creative life in many ways: raising children, making things, posting cool DIYs. She is also a Red Velvet girl, part of a company inspired by vintage fashion and going from strength to strength. Here are all 5 girls: Elsie, Holly, Rachel, Emma and Katie.

Luckily for me shares it all with the world through her blog and Twitter.

Here are a few random facts about Holly (care of her blog):

 - Anberlin is my favorite band.

- I can't wear high heels.
- I have had every hair color under the sun.
- I love baking cupcakes.
- I used to work at Tim Hortons.
- I hate the phrase "Keep your fork."
- I like salt on my watermelon.
- right now, my drink at Starbucks is a Tall Non-Fat Extra Drizzle Caramel Macchiato

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1. Chantilly Lace Cuff in Black - Stella & Dot
2. Blythe Doll - Phoebe Maybe
3. Wilfred Free Knit Cardigan - Aritzia
4. Back to Baking by Anna Olsen
5. Lola Throws a Party Dress - The Velvet Bird

6. Vintage French floral teacups & saucers - Etsy
7. Forever Banner - Nice Etsy
8. Marc Jacobs Oh Lola perfume - Sephora
9. Glitter Bug Heels - Modcloth
10. Cake Stands - Shop Sweet Lulu

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How much do I love that cardigan!?

A lot.

And that is the second par of glitter shoes from the Festive Listees.

Right then, off to make some things myself. Are you making anything fun for Christmas?

Me x

Today's top ten comes from Elycia, who blogs about creativity, making things (the coolest DIYs and vintage fashion. She has amazing style, and the most luscious hair colours that make me wish I wasn't a teacher and could have purple or pink hair!

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Hi I'm elycia from the blog ♥elycia. I am a vintage loving, cat lady living in a cute house on a quiet street with my husband and our two sweet little kitties. Here are a few items that are on my Christmas wish list! 1. A Holga camera

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I have a Diana but I would love to add a Holga to my collection. Film photography is so fun! 2. A pretty dress from Vanilla and Lace

I love them all, so beautiful. 3. A custom drawing of Ivan, myself and the kitties by Danny Brito!

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I love Danny's style and I think he would do a great job on my little family. 4. Some of these adorable big eyed "Pity Kitty" pieces.

via, via, via

I recently found one of these at a thrift store and I think they are just so adorable! 5. South Park Blind Box toys

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I am addicted to these blind box toys. I really want some more South Park ones in my stocking ;) 6. Some more tights from We Love Colors

Best tights ever! I could do with one of each colour. 7. This beautiful 'hello' necklace from Joanna Rutter

8. An Instax wide

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My Instax mini is possibly my favourite camera. I think I would love this wider version just as much!

9. This adorable cat dress.

ModCloth

10. A pretty, pretty bow from Red Velvet.

♥elycia

Festive Top Ten Guest Post: Elise Blaha

I am so excited/ nervous to be hosting my first EVER guest post on this blog. I have long talked about the blogs I love to read (the list grows every day). The people who have agreed to feature on this blog over the coming week are some of my favorites. I will post a different guest blogger every day, to get us (me) in the Christmas spirit and give us (me) a little insight into their wishlists for the Festive season. I hope you enjoy reading tham as much as I have.

First to answer the call to send on a top ten Christmas List was Lovely Elise (or EliseBlaha) here she is, hiding below. She writes a blog on creating beautiful things and running a small business.

I now want everything on her list.

Here is Elise's wishlist in the order she sent it to me:
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Here are ten things I'd love for Christmas! :)

Pjs from Land's End canvas

Art by Lulie Wallace

West Elm hand towels

Kate Spade glitter pumps

Pangea Organics face lotion

Pangea Organics body lotion

Handmade chevron bracelet

Handmade star charm necklace

Handmade poster print

Handmade solid gold stacking ring

elise

Ok, so maybe I can't buy any of those things. But if I could choose one above all, I would go for the print. What's on your wishlist this Christmas?

Me x

Cambodia - that's all for now (hic!)

This is the final post from my Cambodia trip photographs. I want to move my blog on to Christmas and things I am making for the festive season (feeling ever so slightly Christmassy!) Plus I have a really exciting Christmas blog coming up next week featuring some bloggers you may know, my first guest-post...eep!

I love food. This is a problem for me in some ways, and why I am on the Weight Watchers program (lost two stone so far - let's forget I put on 5 and a half pounds in one week in Cambodia - I blame the beer entirely!) I wish I could just be all virtuous with food and only eat the quality foods I love, but the fact is I will eat practically anything and often too much of it.
I was intrigued by Cambodian food, and wanted to get straight to the nitty gritty of it, so persuaded my group to eat street-food on our first night. We had had a lot of beer before hand, so they were up for it.

Bun Lay was very keen to encourage us to eat as many traditional dishes as possibly, it was ridiculously cheap and we filled the table with food. Best looking food went to my impressive Amok Curry - pictured above in it's coconut container.

Street food that I wasn't brave enough to try looked like this and was plentiful. Some tongues look pretty scarey enough, maybe it's better if you can't see them whole. Who knows what I will try next year?

After a long 'conversation' involving some sort of sign language, I was able to get myself a Diet Coke - amazing! I fully prepared myself to say goodbye to such things.

And ice-cream...like, really yummy ice-cream. Surprised.

Surprise again by the delicious (understatement) breakfast at My Home Inn in Siem Reap. How was I to know (the guidebooks failed to mention it - twits), that Siem Reap still hangs on to some traditions and FOODS from French Colonnial times, such as baguettes for breakfast, with butter. At My Home they served this with super-strength coffee and gorgeous veg-filled omlettes. Even now I am craving that breakfast. When I get my sketchbook scanned in I will post a really nice page based on this photo. Something called 'Morning Glory', a vegetable that tasted everything like Spring Onion was prevelant in lots of dishes. It is delicious. I can see it waving at me in that omlette....soon!

By far one of THE most delicious meals I have ever eaten was this simple veg-filled noodle soup. I have made this at home since, as it really is simple. This is my version: rice noodles, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, spring onions. A coconut milk and curry powder soup made with chicken stick, ginger and lime as well as chilli and soy sauce...mmmm!
The original was eaten at Beng Mealea Camp, cooked by the lovely ladies there.

This might have something too do with the weight gain, beer and chocolate cake in Phnom Penh.

I found these supermarket foods so intriguing. Such care taken with preparation. I wanted to eat it all!

This was the inside of the Old Market in Siem Reap. Again, I want to eat everything!

Except this.
No....even this.

Of course we had plenty of posh food too. The Blue Pumpkin is a chain of resturants and cafe's all over Cambodia. If you fancy a treat for very little dollar, this is my recommendation. Four of us ate like Khmer Kings for $15 U.S each with two bottles of wine too. Bargain is not the word. Well....maybe it is.

So goodbye for now Cambodia and my lovely new friends: Anth, Bun Lay, Kate and Sarah. See you all soon x x

Cambodia Take Three: Not-So-Tiny Temple

Or...'Its time for temples'. This was my second choice of a post title.

Cambodia has an impressive heritage, and major cultural and historical signifigance (everything I say here sounds like a cheesily written understatement). In reality it is seeping in tradition and monuments, the people themselves are part of that. They have had so much cultural identity wiped out during the wars, and Khmer Rouge leadership; Cambodians are now taking that back, rediscovering their own identity. They love to share it!
As Anth showed us around, I got a very strong sense that this is a place that won't stay untouched for very long at all. Cambodians are so sociable, open, friendly and hungry for their country to grow...its only a matter of time until the quaint and beautiful Siem Reap becomes a mega-tourist destinantion.
There already a lot of Ex-Pats setting up business there, and so much building going on. Everyone falls in love with a place like that at once, and the Temples of Angkor are a massive draw for Siem Reap.

We visited Ta Prohm, Angkor Wat, Terrace of Elephants and Bayon. It's a bit geeky but I have added a map so you can see just how massive the site is. We saw lots of construction work going on there, as time has not been a good friends to the temples, and during years of civil unrest and neglect, the jungle has reclaimed a lot of the buildings.

I was so excited to visit them...

This is the view of Angkor Wat that Bun Lay shared with us, and Anth argued was a waste of time.

:Shrines:

I loved all the shrines I came accross, some Hindu, some Buddhist; they are all so bright and glowing with warm colours and feelings. I burned incense at Angkor Wat at a Buddha shrine and had another bracelet good-luck blessing by a monk too. I felt very open to it, I am quite open to all spiritual experiences...my Mum would say I always have been.

I loved these shrines from both a spiritual and artistic point of view, as I have long been inspired by collections of objects: accidental still-life set ups. Actually this reminds me, when I was at Art School and going through my 'Eastern Spirituality' phase, I made some shrines like the one at the top. I was fascinated with the idea of devotion.

:Views Through:

Another artistic obsession for me. Anything rustic, rusted; any doorway, window, opening...I'm on it with my camera. For me this was the best part of the visit to the temples: sooo many 'views through'. I was snapping like crazy. The light was terrible so I have messed around with these images, let's say A LOT. I wanted to do the scene/ compsition justice and processing them (for me) brings out some of the emotional experience too. These and the many others I took will become Textile work in the future.

I took hundreds of photographs on this visit. As Bun Lay showed us around he told us all the tales, in his 'storyteller' way, of thie times that these walls were covered in beautiful pristine plaster, and painted or covered in silver and gold. I was captivated by the surfaces, imagining the times of the Khmer Kings and the great commanding city of Angkor which used to be the strongest nation in South East Asia.



And a final view through...to me x