A couple of weekends ago, me and Lucy ventured east to Broadway Market - it is really good, great place for stumbling upon bits and pieces for your home, plenty of stalls after stalls graced with delicious food and also the odd bit of clothing thrown in. The sun was out and it felt like spring was beginning to bloom! After a bit of pottering about we found ourselves dining on pad thai and a beer in a dark, good old english pub with oak panels, mix-match paintings and candles.....ah.....felt good after our looooonnnggggg run we had done just hours before. 

Pub + Bunting + Daffodils = <3

Got myself a beautifully decorated cigar box for £1. Bargain.

Once done at Broadway we hopped on a bus to London Bridge, fought the crowds at Borough Market and then ambled back home along the river.

After running in the morning for pretty much the distance of a half - marathon and spendin g the rest of the day walking we felt it was definitely time for a well deserved tea and cake break. Yum.

During the weekend I couldn't help feeling it was the calm before the storm and that once Monday arrived my world would become a chaotic whirlwind of costume work. Why? Over the past week at Wimbledon we have been working on a collaborative project, interpreting some of the designs from our previous design work for a show in the theatre this Friday. However, by some miracle all is seeming to be going swimmingly for me and my group?!? It has been really fun and have definitely learnt A LOT about making seeing as I am normally on the designing side. But my group has been really great, working extremely hard and are productive with a capital P! 

For the majority of the project I have been in dye heaven with Lucy P doing everything from dyeing our coat material to pattern painting and applied decoration, but have also attempted to muck in on the construction side of things too.....

Jenna looking hot in the our  calico breeches -  I made one of the legs ha.

Making the lining for the coat - also the fabric me and Lucy dyed which looks remarkably like a youth hostel bed sheet?

Tacking in the CF and waistline ready for sewing.....

Jenna, our resident model, showing the result.

This meant rather than my premonition of frantically scrambling around working night and day did not materialize- instead we were able to have a weekend pretty much at leisure.....well apart from about 10 hours of fraying Sunday.....! Fair to say I got up to some pretty cool stuff including a Victorian Feast and Afternoon Tea with unlimited champers. Yep.

The Menu from our feast! And yes that does say ox heart.

It was created by a chef, an artist and a set designer and the company is called 'The Art of Dining' the whole thing was an amazing experience.  We stumbled off a non-descript street in Hackney and were transported into a Victorian dining room full of  candles, quill feathers,  old books, chicken feet and brains in jars, threadbare rugs and finished off with a roaring fire on which birds sat in bell jars. The food was delicious and the presentation of the cocktails was really fun - jam jars, Alice in Wonderland-esque bottles. Ah. An amazing night.

Lucy looks so happy and content.....ha. Afternoon tea was so nice. In the Marriot Hotel's Old Library Room over looking the Thames and Westminster - I could very happily have stayed in that armchair forever. We didn't realise our offer included 'free flowing champagne.' We were there for 5 hours. 

Delicious scones and cakes.

My happy place. Oh and yes that is a whole jar of clotted cream.

My two favourite beverages I think!

All in all a lovely weekend.

Well, this week I have felt rather like a Grandma - but hey nothing new there! This week we have had to make a rather dashing period shirt a la Mr Darcy, which has thankfully made for a rather chilled week in the life of a costume student - I even had a day off today! Shock! So what did I do? Baked of course! Living up to my Grandma reputation once again.....

Lucy baked the sponge of these mini - lemon cakes and I finished them off with the berries and cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Chocolate brownie pot with TWO types of cream cheese frosting.

Full scale lemon cake. Woo.

I also made flapjack and brownies.....may have got slightly carried away.....

.....Having slightly more time on my hands also means I can waste time sketching strangers on public transport. It may be weird but it is one of my favourite past times!

After celebrating meeting our deadline by having a few bevvies Friday, I journeyed off to Paris early Saturday with Lucy. It was lovely to get out of London and mindlessly chill for the day, this morning however our alarm failed to go off so our journey to the station was extremely manic and much more touch and go then either of us would have wanted!!!.....

Sacre Coeur.
We had a leisurely day, wandering the streets with frequent pit stops ranging from steak to macaroons. 

View from Sacre Coeur.

We winded our way down through to Montmarte, then onto Opera  where we  took a rather yummy break.....

MACAROONS.....sooooo good, salted caramel and rose with vanilla tea. However, the was a mouse running about Lauderee!!! Felt like something out of the 18th century, especially beacause everyone else was so blase!

Doodles from the train journey.

We went straight to the largest antique market in the world, unfortunately we were frozen so didn't stay as lon as we could, but did find these beautiful old photos.....

Dating from the beginning of the 19th century, they caught my attention as I have recently been learning about the era in lectures at uni, so as well as being fun, pretty images they are also a useful visual reference for my fashion and style notes.

Sketch from one of the photos - 19th century women dressed in mid - 18th century costume. 

I also bought this lovely old journal 'La Mode' which similarly illustrates what I have just learnt from my studies! There was such a massive pile of them, and all so exquisite but my poor student income meant I had to pick just one!

Ohhhhh myyyyyyy GOOOOODDDDD since Christmas our course has been streeeeesssssfulllll, we have designed the costumes for the 18th Century farce 'The Busy Body' by Susanna Centlivre, made a petticoat and bum roll AND done an in depth sketchbook of the 17th and 18th Centuries - bane of my life!

Alongside all this work my very patient sister Lucy and a brilliant visit from my friends from home have kept me sane!

Costume designs.....

The odd page from my research sketchbook - result of a load of earl grey, Gavin and Stacey box set and Eddie Izzard.....

Blimey I am tired, alongside the work I had social fun times! Seeing my friends from home was sooooo lovely and an excuse to bake and drink!

And tomorrow I am off to Paris!