2011 Round-Up

January 
Hogmanay Pugh-style. I donned my turquoise wig, fake Gareth Pugh wedges, Zana Bayne wings and a whole lotta leather to bring in the New Year. This here wee blog also celebrated her first birthday.

February
Celebrating the end of my 20s at our Labyrinth inspired ball and my first ever MAC make-over. Got spoiled rotten on Valentine's Day!

March
Experimented with long extensions before going from black to ginger.

April
Experimented with curls, blue and black lipstick. Still obsessed with Gareth Pugh. Won a beautiful Sak Label necklace from Wobblin Betty and met a whole host of wonderful gals at the Scottish Ballet Blogger Meet-Up.

May
Discovered Loreal Majicontrast and finally achieved ORANGE (and my most popular post ever...). Endured hours 6 and 7 under the needle to complete my peacock backpiece. Got a kiss from the world's number one rock star - Mr Robin Guy *squeal*

June
Mental month at work - resulting in quiet month for blogging. Went for hot chocolate delights with my brother and his fiance to celebrate their respective birthdays and wore one of my favourite summer outfits.

July
July started out badly. We lost our wee cat, Lydia. She was the happiest, wonkiest wee creature and we still miss her wet nose kisses and her pneumatic purr.

The rest of the month was all about the HAIR... I flirted with the Fauxhawk, crushed on other bloggers, rocked out to some 'quality' hair metal and began dabbling with the top knot. July ended on a happier note -  by getting tattooed with my 2 besties x

August
Back to a slower pace of life in August... Was treated to a wonderful hot stone massage courtesy of the lovely ladies at Zen Lifestyle in Edinburgh and jetted off to sunny Tenerife for a week's holibags. Got prickly heat which sucked, but also got to pet a monkey - pet a freakin' monkey!!!

September
Discovered the naughty but terribly nice, Age of Reason scarves (Mr G blew me away on Christmas morning by sneaking in an extra wee pressie - the Bondage Doll scarf!! Outfit post will follow in 2012). Chopped my fringe after a nail biting blog comp selected "long hair, short fringe". Went to visit my wee mammy for the Largs Viking Festival fireworks display.

October
FINALLY got my eyes tested and snapped up 2 bargain pairs of specs from Glasses Direct - highly recommended! Won a fantastic ring from Bad Passion. Rocked some trademark leopard print and vintage Jaeger to Glasgow's best fashion event, In The Company of Wolves. Made a life-changing decision to retrain as a florist...

November
Another month of highs and lows. November started out with an early birthday surprise from the gorgeous Miss Spinal Lou - the little minx only booked me in to have my ears pierced! Just in time for party of the year - our pals' 'This is NOT a wedding party', party!

Things turned sour shortly afterwards when my Grandad passed away. But all lows must surely be followed by a high  - a lovely, long-overdue family reunion.

December
Made the decision to call it a day with the orange hair and revert back to my trusty old black bob. Dabbled in cosmetic surgery, took part in my very first official Floristry class and generally had a good time this month. For those hardcore fashionistas out there, check out Mr G's wonderful 'Spinning Bird Kick's Editorials of the Year.' 

Plans for 2012?
Out with the old and in with the new: New hair, new career, new flat and new skills - driving and saving! Can't wait to read all about everyone's plans for 2012. Also looking forward to discovering new blogs, so, if you follow me and I haven't checked out your blog yet, leave me a wee comment below....

...and that about wraps things up nicely for 2011.

I wish you all the best for the New Year!
Love Lisa x

Merry Christmas

Ho ho ho!! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope Santa is good to you.
We're off to the 'shire this afternoon for Christmas with my folks and then, weather permitting, we'll be crossing the Clyde to the good ole isle of Bute to catch up with the in-laws.

Eat, drink and be merry xxx

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

So, I'm finally back at work (boo) after my nasty throat/cough/sinus mutation virus. Spending two whole days in the flat gave me lots of time to think and plan - one of my most favourite hobbies! Planning and list-making. My love of all things Art Deco has once again reared it's decadent head. I've been creeping all over Tumblr sites such as Maudelynn's Menagerie, FY1920s, So You Think You Can See and my favourite, the Sydney Flapper  searching out inspiration for my new/old hairdo. I adore my orange hair, but it just refuses to hold the colour and after a week it's a piss yellow shade - which I hate. I also hate the cut, or lack thereof. I trawled through old photos from a couple of years ago and I've fallen madly in love with my old Louise Brooks bob...

Las Vegas, October 2009

Vegas, October 2009, eating - again...

My wedding day, 3rd October 2008

I don't want to do anything too spur of the moment (just incase it's the illness making me mental), so I've invested in some Feria hairdye that's a nice copper shade. Will switch to this over the Christmas period and then get it bobbed at the end of January. If I'm still not happy I'll go back to black after that.

What's your favourite style decade? I'm 70% 20s, 10% 30s and 20% 80s.

Christmas Flower Class

I'm off work today with a raging sore throat and chesty cough, which has left me with only a croak of a voice. I'm feeling sorry for myself but I'm sure Mr G is enjoying the peace and quiet. I'm sat at the computer nursing my 3rd cup of tea and swigging from a bottle of glycerin honey and lemon. In an attempt to cheer myself up, I've decided to post some photos of my first foray into floristry...

On Thursday evening I toddled along to Roots and Fruits Flower Shop (a well-known and well-loved Glasgow institution) for florist Di's Christmas Class. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks and Di didn't disappoint. I was welcomed with a glass of Prosecco and mountains of Ferrero Rocher - Christmas is definitely coming! After a lovely chat we got to work on our table displays...

We learned how to bend hosta leaves and willow before adding the finishing touches - beautiful white roses and orchids (I can't remember the variety - bad Lisa!)

After another one (or 2!) glasses of bubbly, we moved on to our door wreaths. Di showed us a few 'tricks of the trade' (no, I'm not telling!) as we nestled red apples, cinnamon sticks, pine cones, dried green chrysanthemums, walnuts and dried apple amongst the fir. It looked and smelled good enough to eat!

The wreath is now proudly displayed on our front door and (after I've freshened up the roses) the table display will travel to Largs with me for Christmas day.
I start my Flower Arranging taster course in just over a month. *excited*

Christmas Tache

The Tall Ship's Christmas Lunch.

What is wrong with this photo?

Benefit's Benefits

Benefit was the brand I 'graduated' to after I moved on from goth favourite Spectacular and good old 'get it down the local Superdrug' Rimmel. I had just turned 18, moved out of home and into my first student flat in Glasgow. I had the choice of Bad Gal eyeliner or eat for the week. Obviously the eyeliner won that contest. From there I flirted with most of their products - Benetint, High Beam, Play Sticks etc on and off for about 6 or 7 years. Then I discovered Nars, MAC, Origins and Aveda. I side-stepped Benefit's 'quirky' packaging and was drawn to the darkside.

I hadn't stopped at the Benefit counter again until about 6 months ago. I was on the hunt for a new blusher to match my new hair colour and was once again pulled in. I ended up walking away with a beautifully packaged little box of Bella Bamba. It sparkles and it smells delicious! Said box of delights was down to its last few pink crumbs last week. Faced with dabbing my brush into the dark depths of the make-up bag to collect any dust that remains was filling me with dread. There was nothing else for it. Although I had promised to save money for Christmas pressies, make-up's a necessity, isn't it?

Imagine the squeals of delight when I popped my Boots card into the reader only to discover that I was entitled to a tester of Benefit's new wonder-product, Porefessional! Having suffered from a ridiculously oily t-zone since puberty, Porefessional was gonna have it's work cut out on this face of grease. I gave it a test run on Sunday, but forgot to rub it right into the bits at the side of my nose, so that wasn't so good. However, I used a sensible amount this morning* (about 7.30am), applied MAC Studio Fix over the top and I haven't had to powder my nose once!! It's now 5pm. Normally, I'd pat a good wad of translucent No.7 powder over the Studio Fix before I leave the house at 8am. Powder again after lunch, tea break and then again at 5 before I leave work. Porefessional is Da Bomb!! I can't recommend it enough for any fellow greasers out there. Not sure if the Boots offer is still on, but for £23.50 a tube, this stuff is well worth it.
*wrote this post yesterday

Toaty Wee Tree

This is Evil Edna, the fairy at the top of our toaty* wee Christmas tree. We didn't bother with a tree last year - it takes up too much space, but Mr G agreed to move things around a bit and we made room for a tiny little 3 foot fir at the fireplace.

*Scottish Slang "something small"

These toaty wee photos are bugging the hell out of me - although I resize to 600 pixels wide, Blogger seems to have shrunk them all down. Can anyone help me fix the problem? *edit* Fixed the problem! If anyone else needs help, see here or email me x

Shiny Disco Balls

The new telly on 'Christmas Mode' to set the scene...

... Our nativity cats. 'Cat people' always receive cat ornaments as presents, hence our Motley Crue of moggies. Someone pointed out on Facebook that they looked like a nativity set with baby Jesus as a mouse/dinner.

Shop Local

After a rather productive day in the house on Saturday (cleaning, constructing and moving stuff around), I decided to hit a few craft/vintage fairs that were happening on Sunday on the southside of Glasgow.

vintage sheepskin coat // black leggings from Topshop // ASOS black polo neck // H&M mustard sleeves // really old necklace - from H&M? // Sara Berman patent bag // KG boots

Sara Berman bag, Kenneth Jay Lane bee ring and 'Lex', my Alexander McQueen keyring (gift from Mr G)

First up (and literally 2 minutes from my flat) we have Whims-icle Affairs, promising, arts and crafts, pre-worn, vintage and designer clothing. Kirsty wrote a fantastic blog about the last one in November and I felt I'd really missed out, so there was no way I was gonna miss this one! I stood for about 5 minutes literally pawing a fantastic 1980s dogtooth dress but I was mainly shopping for wee extra Christmas add-ons for folk, NOT myself, so even though it was only £18, I gingerly stepped away and moved on down the hill to fair number 2, the Afternoon Twee.

I have 'borrowed' this photo of the Afternoon Twee set-up from their facebook page. I need a new phone so I can take half decent photos on the go! This was my third visit to this one. First one was amazing, second was poor and this one was back right back up there again.

I picked up both of these beautiful wee vintage teacup sets for my Nana's Christmas. The candle is 'Cranberry Marmalade' - delicious! Really kicking myself for not picking one up for myself... Set was a bargain £6, candle was a little pricey at £10, but I couldn't pass up the Japanese style pattern.

Special wee treat for Mr G's afternoon snack - a mini Baileys cake and a cointreau one for me. The girl had an orgasmic selection of Christmassy chocolatety indulgences. £1 a pop - no bad!

And finally, I'd like to introduce to the new ladies in my life. These are original 1920s photos of girls of the Folie Bergere. The first stand I reached had literally stacks and stacks of cutouts from vintage fashion magazines and dress-making patterns. I had a fantastic conversation with the wee man who owned the collection and came away feeling like I'd made an amazing discovery. He's expecting a delivery of some very special items on 15th December which he will have on sale at the next Twee in January. That's all I'm gonna say right now. If you're local, I'll be the one sitting outside waiting for them to open the doors!

I've also asked him to search for original photos of tattooed ladies from the 1880s-1930s. This is gonna be my new obsession and collection. Prepping for our new (imaginary) flat!

After a lovely wee afternoon at the fairs, I popped into Pierrot and Coco. A truly whimsicle boutique hidden up the side of the local Co-op. It's a bit like shopping inside the Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Beautiful surreal jewellery by the likes of Tilly Bloom is encased inside bell jars while cardboard stag heads peer down at you. What a treat! You can have a peek at their Christmas treats here, but unfortunately for those of you who don't live locally, you'll have to wait until the New Year for the opening of the online store - sorry!

BTW, what's going on with Blogger photo resizing?? All my portrait photos have been shrunk from 600 pixels to 400, but landscape are fine. Anyone else having the same problem? Anyone able to help?? *edit* Fixed the problem! If anyone else is having problems, see here or email me x

Vampire Facelift Anyone?

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to go along to the Sculpta Cosmetic Clinic in Glasgow for their pre-Christmas open evening. Although I'm covered in tattoos and have loved changing my appearance since the age of 12, the very thought of cosmetic surgery leaves me feeling a little queasy...

So why did I go along? Curiosity. That and the promise of free booze and nibbles ;-)

I went along with my birthday twin, Angela, (who's a total nip/tuck fan). We were made to feel very welcome on arrival and offered a choice of wine and sandwiches. We opted for white, and a wee cheeky tortilla wrap. The schedule for the evening included an introduction by the clinical lead, Dr Ahmed, followed by live demonstrations of dermal fillers and a 'vampire' face-lift! (More on these later...)

Next, we were invited for a tour of the clinic, having a nosey at the various treatment rooms, including one operating theatre. Only partial sedation is used onsite, apparently for bigger ops, such as a boob job, they have a contract with the private Nuffield hospital. All a bit intimidating for me - looked very similar to my private dentist's practice and the whole thing was starting to make me feel a little uneasy... but still REALLY fascinated at the same time!

Microdermabrasion
After the tour a very lovely clinician called Susan offered me a free microdermabrasion trial. I was already onto glass number 2 of the old vino, so I was feeling brave and hopped up onto the bed. For those of you unfamiliar (as I was!) with the treatment, it's like a cross between your dad's sanding machine and the dentist's hoover. Sounds much scarier than it actually was. Susan went to work on my chin, cheeks and nose. After about 15 mins (remember this was only a wee trial, not the full treatment) my face felt a little warm, but that could have been the wine, and silky smooth. Susan unscrewed the machine to show me all the icky dead skin she's managed to remove - how satisfying!

Dermal Fillers
Next up, a rather brave lady became Dr Ahmed's guinea pig for the live demonstration of dermal fillers. This particular treatment was something Angela had been considering for ages, so we paid close attention. First, Dr Ahmed drew lines (in biro!?!) all down the lady's left cheek, explaining that he was going to replace all the natural collegen that had been lost through the aging process. The result would be a nice natural plump cheek and less visible lines - ya dancer! Next, we were led downstairs to one of the treatment rooms where Dr Ahmed got to work filling a GIANT needle with the filler. I think everyone in the room gasped a little at the length of it. It must have been about the length of my index finger. From here he proceeded to push said instrument of torture right along the biro lines on the lady's face. It took AGES and straight away her cheek began to ooze blood, swell up and bruise. The room was really hot and after 2 glasses of wine, both Angela and I had to get some fresh air before he had even finished the treatment. It was every bit as scary as I had envisaged and actually more invasive than I had previously thought. I think even Angela is having second thoughts...

'Vampire' Facelift
You'd think we'd had enough by this point, wouldn't you? But how could we leave before witnessing a 'vampire' facelift??! This procedure was doubley intriguing for me. Obviously, the inner goth was awakened at the very mention of a vampire, but also because the procedure doesn't involve injecting any foreign bodies into the skin. Known professionally as PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), a vampire facelift involves the doctor taking blood from the patient, spinning it around to separate the plasma and then injecting your own plasma back into your skin. Susan, my microdermabrasion nurse, was desperate to have this done even though, in her own words, "you look a little bit like a frog for a few days afterwards". Apparently it is the only procedure which lifts the eyelids and attacks the fine lines just under the eyes. We plucked up the courage to have a quick peek at this one before we left. I was glad to see that the needle looked a little shorter, but the whole concept of having someone jabbing about my eye with any kind of needle gives me the willies...

Unfortunately, both procedures can take up to 2 weeks to settle and therefore we didn't get to see the final results - only the nasty, painful, gorey bits. Not sure the 'open evening' had the desired effect on many of us. It seemed like the majority of the audience chose to wince and look at one another rather then watch what was going on in the chair.

Angela asked me yesterday if I was now a convert after my fancy facial scrub experience. I have to say, I am not. My skin felt good yesterday, but not any visibly better after I'd applied moisturiser and it's back to being dry again today. Not worth the £95 it would have cost me had a I paid the full price. And dermal fillers? Yikes! That's one needle I won't be going under.

Your Thoughts?
What are your thoughts on cosmetic surgery? Would you go under the needle? the knife? Have you already done so? I'd love to hear your thoughts and stories.

Shoe Lust

Jeffrey Campbell Security Boots

Not a huge Lita fan, but I'd mow a sista down for a pair of these babies!

Tattoo Inspired Christmas Cards

Are you all ready for Christmas? I've bought metres of wrapping paper and some presents, but still a long way off from 'prepared'. Every year I debate with myself about whether or not to send cards and every year it comes down to the same thing - can I actually find any that I like enough to handwrite and post all over the country? Having been through all the usual styles - Vogue, Victoria and Albert Museum, Japanese etc, I'm bored with everything on offer. So, I went on the hunt for tattoo inspired cards and found a link to Crankbunny's Etsy site via Needles and Sins. What delights! But I'm way too late to buy them. Expect a shit card from me this year and one of these babies next year!

 Carnival People - Miss Suzy and Sir Craig wish you Merry Christmas!

You can even personalise each card by choosing which object you'd like each of the characters to carry.

Crankbunny has loads of other unique and quirky items on their site including these beautiful jointed paper puppets, Golden Ticket scratch off cards and my favourite of all, the Tell-Tale Heart scratch off card:

"Lady Pamella Mam is a special lady from Victorian times long ago. With a penchant for the finer more silky and exotic things in life, Pamy knows the best way to show off her tattoos is in her favorite fancy sparkle dress!"

"Someone may be a truly lucky winner with this card! The Golden Ticket is a lucky scratch off card that reveals a secret customizable message."