PIN-WORTHY

Here's something a little bit fun for a Bank Holiday Monday! Do you have Pinterest? I've been an avid pinner on and off for quite a few years now and recently reorganise all of my boards to be a bit more cohesive. Do you follow me?

Apart from the fact that it's an amazing way to gather inspiration and ideas (and it's changing all the time in what we use it for - my colleague suggested it as a tool for searching for interesting e-mail subject lines!?), I love seeing what people have re-pinned from my boards, whether they're photos from my blog or re-pinning practically a whole board - this always happens with GOOD HAIR! It's fun to see the things that people are still re-pinning even a good few years after I first pinned them myself; it's a perfect way to jog your memory about things you had forgotten about.

Here are a couple of favourites and recent re-discoveries:


 
Since I added a PIN button feature to my blog, it's been fun to check in and see what people are pinning straight from the blog. If you are curious to see what people pin from your site, you can check using this URL:

http://pinterest.com/source/yourURL without http:// or www

Here are a few favourites people have pinned from Sprunting!:

You can find all of these pins and more via my Pinterest account.

CRANTOCK BEACH AT DUSK

Crantock Beach, where my parents have a flat, sits right on the Atlantic Ocean, nearly at the very end of the country. It's a breathtaking spot to take in the open ocean, and it's so windy that the weather can change in an instant. I took these photos with my DSLR when we went down the other weekend. 

The amazing thing about this beach is that the tides differ over an hour every day! I took these photos at roughly the same time on both days, around 6pm, and while on the first day we could make it down onto the sand, the sky was grey and there wasn't anything spectacular to see, though the glassy rock pools are captivating whatever the weather. On the second night, there was the most gorgeous peachy sunset, but the tide was in so high we would have had to walk round the long way to get down to the beach. Annoyingly, the first day had both soft pink skies and low tide at 6pm, but I forgot to take my camera!

MUCH LOVED

Mark Nixon's collection of Much Loved bears arrived in the post this week and really struck a chord with me. The beautifully shot images of teddy bears (and bunnies and more!) that have been cuddled within an inch of their lives really struck a chord with me, as did the sweet descriptions that accompany them. I've had my yellow bunny Gund since I was born - she has been across the world with me, on airplanes with me, to the doctor with me (not for a while, mind you) and her loveworn details are testament to my affection for her. Long live the teddy!

#1DAY12PICS: may

It's a bank holiday this weekend which means things got a little lazy on Saturday, when Michelle scheduled the third round of her fun #1day12pics photo challenge (see my March entry here). It was a classic hangover Saturday where I didn't get out of bed until late morning, scarfed my brunch without thought for a picture and drove back from my friend's house to take a nap and eat Thai food in front of the TV. Yesterday was another day altogether, though, so I'm much happier to share it here! The morning light (and the previous night's 9pm bedtime) had me up bright and early - I even pottered about on the balcony de-potting dead plants before Sunday morning bootcamp. Then it was off in the car to IKEA, where we fit an inordinate amount of stuff in the car and I spent a late night eating ice cream and trying to put it all together before writing up this blog post and collapsing into freshly changed sheets to watch this.

If you'd like to follow me, I'm on bloglovin.

PROJECTEO

If you like instagram, you're going to love this post! I first heard about Projecteo on the Skunk Boy blog; I ordered one straight away and it just arrived this weekend. It looks like a little toy but it's actually a teeny tiny, fully-operable projector! The projector costs $25.99 and a wheel of 8 pictures (uploaded via instagram) is $8.99 which is about £22. Once you've bought the projector, you can keep creating and purchasing individual wheels to store and share your favourite memories. I loaded mine with 8 pictures from our holiday to Thailand last year and it was so fun to show my boyfriend the slideshow under the covers (I couldn't wait for it to get dark before trying it out). Plus, shipping to the UK is free, so you can keep ordering without worrying about postage prices (scroll to the end of the post to find out how to avoid customs charges). I think they would make such sweet gifts and I can't wait to order more wheels!

Here's a code for $5 off your purchase (and a $5 credit for me, too!): FRIEND0B4C

A (long) note about customs, duties and how to avoid them
Once upon a time, I learnt the hard way about import charges when I ordered a dress from the US and was slapped with a hefty bill. Now, I always carefully check the fine print when ordering things from the States to see what hidden charges I can expect. Projecteo point out on their website that some of their UK customers were getting charged: here's how to get around it.

1. Import duty
Orders with a value of £135 and over will incur import duty, which is a percentage of the value of the product. You can work out what your charge will be using this calculator. Orders under £135 will not incur an import duty charge so if a website offers free shipping to the UK, it's worth splitting large orders into two (or more!) separate purchases, if you can.

2. VAT charges
I thought I'd bypassed any additional charges because my order was only of a $35 value, but I didn't know about VAT.  The VAT itself was only £4, which I was happy to pay, but the Royal Mail handling fee was £8, taking the charge up to £12 and half the value of the total order! Not cool. Orders with a value of over £15 will have a VAT charge added to them, which needs to be paid before they will deliver your package - the price of the Projecteo itself is just over £15, so it will be an unavoidable cost, but in the future, you can purchase 2 wheels at a time without any hidden extras. I hope that helps!

#1DAY12PICS: kuala lumpur

Michelle announced a fun new photography project this this month called #1DAY12PICS and I was so excited to take part, as I've signed up for her previous challenges but this one seemed a lot more doable for me. It fell on March 13th, which was perfect as I was still away on holiday, making for some more (hopefully) exciting pics than your average Thursday in the office. I loved how everyone interpreted the challenge differently on instagram, like Anna who posted her day in black and white, and I'm already thinking up a theme I could do for the next one in April.

10:30 – sleeping in is definitely a holiday luxury I got used to last week. First thing after waking, I grabbed a glass of water and went straight out the back to see Imbi, the new puppy. My grandma and mum found her running wild at the Imbi market carpark and brought her home. It took two baths to reveal the beautiful sandy colour of her coat. She’s used to sleeping under cars, so her regular napping spot is underneath the washing machine!

11:25 – an early lunch at my favourite noodle house, ChanMeng Kee. I requested lunch here nearly every day and by the end of the week my grandma suggested we just leave me there. 

12:50 – dropping my grandma home before heading out for a couple of errands. I've always loved this yellow wall by the drive.

13:20 – checking out Sasana Kijang, the museum of the national Bank Negara, where my mum will be having an exhibition in October. It's a government building, meaning you have to cover your shoulders (Malaysia is a Muslim country). I forgot and had to wait in the car!

14:10 – a quick stop at Central Market to check out souvenirs. I didn't buy anything, but it's always a fun place to wander around (and there's air conditioning). 

15:00 – it's such a pleasure to come home to a yellow house!

15:05 – a coconut bun is one of my favourites; sometimes breakfast and lunch get a bit muddle up around here!

15:30 – helping to prep these crazy long beans for tonight's dinner.

16:00 – time to relax a bit and read a book. I picked up a Norwegian murder mystery called 1220 at Siem Reap airport. The cover said it was a 'Scandi phenomenon' but I can't find the link on Amazon..

19:30 – I took this picture of the palm trees in the garden after dinner. It looks like sunset, but the flare is actually the neighbour's security lamp.

20:00 – sweet Imbi trying to sneak into the house.

21:00 – giving thanks for dinner in the pantry shrine.

91 MAGAZINE: issue 8

Hooray! The new 91 Magazine is out now! And I've contributed 2 features; one is a home tour interview with the lovely Aileen of At Home in Love and the second is an interiors feature on copper, that I styled and shot with Freya. I've been contributing to 91 Magazine for a couple of years now and the experience is so valuable. I'm a fashion copywriter by day, but I've always written for brands and writing features for a magazine helps me to figure out what my own tone of voice should be. I'm still growing and I don't think I've got it just yet, but I'm so grateful to Caroline for the opportunity to test the waters.



It was so fun to shoot at my house with Freya and so comforting to work with a friend. I'm still a beginner when it comes to styling and it's nice to feel that I can take my time without feeling like I might be scrutinised! Actually, I met Michelle for the first time in person when we got together to shoot my first feature in 2012 (!).

Issue 8 is available to buy for £2, or you can pay £7 to subscribe for the whole year. Each issue is packed with interesting home features, vintage shopping tips and doable DIY projects; I think a subscription would make a really lovely gift.

p.s. you can find my styling tips and a step-by-step guide (with template) for my hanging diamonds garland in the full feature here.

{images by Freya}