a year without buying clothes

If anyone remembers, a year ago I started out my year by making

"to not buy clothing - everything needs to be handmade or if necessary thrifted"

one of my new years resolutions. 

Surprisingly it went really well. For eleven months all I bought was four items of underwear and nothing else, than the weather got freezing over here in the UK and I caved and bought three heat tech pairs of leggings, a jumper, a skirt and a long sleeved shirt. 

But even buying these few items was hard. The amount of times I went into shops, picked something out and put it back again because I decided that I really didn't need it or that it wasn't perfect enough! 

Still, new clothes still found other ways into my wardrobe. My friend Lisa gave me one of her dresses when she cleared out her closet and made me a wooly hat for my birthday. My friend Ruth gave me a stripy top she didn't like on herself, but fit me perfectly and my friend Zoe payed me in garments when I helped out and made accessories for her. Winning!

In addition to that I made a pair of shorts, a skirt and a top that can also be worn as a skirt. All fabric used was already in my fabric boxes and shorts and top were made with naturally dyed and printed cotton fabric. In the summer I decided that the shorts will fit my mum way better and gave them to her. It's all a big cycle and I wish we could have a clothes swap again. It is one of the easiest things to do and everyone ends up leaving happy with new and fun things to fill their wardrobe. When my friend Birgit came to visit after the summer, I let her go through my stash of clothes put aside for the next swap. 

Clothes fill up landfills as we go through them so quickly now that fashion is changing every other month. At some point you realise that you can live with a lot less, get pretty creative and actually use what fills your wardrobe rather than forgetting half of the items you keep in there. 

I'm planning on sticking to everything I've learnt last year. Should the necessity to buy something come up, there will be questions:

• Do I really need it - as in really, really. you'd be surprised how many times you'll put it back
• Do I like it and does it fit me - cut, fabric, colours, etc
• What can I wear it with - can I layer it and make it work in different seasons
• How well is it made - this kills it most of the time as I usually inspect seems, buttons, etc

Going into overcrowded shops and being pushed around by the crowds on busy shopping streets or malls, to be honest I haven't missed a thing. The only time I was really bummed out to be missing is when Marc Jacobs had 70% off haha

Here's to a creative 2013 and creating less waste!

2012 review

Life is a whirlwind, a roller coaster, an adventure... call it what you may, but it is definitely exciting.
As always there were ups and downs but the ups wouldn't be there without the downs in your life and character is built in the down periods and struggles of life. Yup I said it!
Lots of photos to sum it all up. Enjoy...

winter

 The year started off in Snowmanland!

 a trip to Scotland brought a reunion with YT 02/03!

 hang outs with the girls

a belated birthday bash.

 love the tour life, mostly because I get to see friends in far away places. 2 of my favs!

 team My Glorious

spring

 a visit to Spleen HQ

 EheG hang outs

 special birthday present for a special girl

 city trip with my dear Claudia

 lots of Salzburg time

 a birthday party in traditional attire

 more natural printing and dyeing

a reunion with old friends

summer

 two Aussies in Austria :)

 adventures in jam making

 maybe the funnest weekend of the year. all hail Austrofred!

 we tried to take family pics

 lazy summer days

 lazy summer nights

 Salzburg festival fun

 successful blueberry picking morning haha

 work shenanigans

 tried to surf!

 we said good bye EheG. a sad moment

 more festspiel fun

 new friends

 countless nights on the roof terrace

one last MG concert for me... terribly miss being on the road with those guys!

fall

 spoilt rotten in September when I got to see these three...

 and these lovely college friends.

 barbecues with old friends

 we cycled to Bratislava

I moved back to my beloved London

 Simon came to stay!!!!!

 walking the common with Lee

 Matthias turned up for a day

 Zoe Boomer workshop fun

winter

 my parents came to stay

and because I'm not spoilt enough already four of my besties came for a long weekend of leisure! Biggest Christmas present ever :)

If you made it this far - a-mah-zing! Looking through all these pics makes me one of the happiest people on the planet. There are thousands more I could have put on here.20 Life is unbelievable. Thankful for the journey God put me on all these years ago. So thankful my heart could burst!
Good bye 2012, you were good to me x

Kony 2012

Anybody remember watching the documentary "Invisible Children"? It tore my heart out learning about the kids in northern Uganda and child soldiers and the evil that came in the form of the LRA. Thanks to the Colour Sisterhood and their partnering with Watoto I've been a tiny tiny part in supporting the rescuing of child soldiers. World changers everywhere and God's mighty hand in all of it! You should hear the stories these peoples have to tell, the miracles they see in the midst of all this horror. Unbelievable is an understatement...
Anyway, Invisible Children made another film, to support the arrest of Joseph Kony!
It's a very important topic and honestly it's been way too long (26 years!!!) that Kony has abducted children and turned them into child soldiers. So please watch it, share it and let's get this man arrested and all the kids freed and most importantly taken care of - it's a long way of recovery for those kids.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

new years resolutions

On the last day of the year I sat down to write a list of resolutions for 2012.
I've been doing it for the last couple of years and it's not necessarily things I have to do, but tasks and challenges to inspire me in the year ahead. So much potential that could be unlocked in one year.
My two favourite ones are...

to run a half marathon 

to not buy clothing this year - everything needs to be handmade or if necessary thrifted (I draw the line at underwear haha)

Anyone else got any good resolutions for this year?? 

2012 - a blank canvas

untouched

free from all experience

just a truck load of expectation

twenty twelve, I like you already

can't wait to fill you with a thousand colours

Happy New Year x