My new website

Hi all, it has been such a long time since I posted here (a year in fact). But without going into all the usual excuses, I'm here to tell you I've moved site!

Come check me out at www.leeshsmalls.com. It's fairly new, but promises to have a better direction and more "put together" feel than before.

I'm still working out the kinks, but I do look forward to hearing from you and hope you continue to follow for more info on vintage treats and general lifestyle hacks.

After a while, this site is likely to cease to exist, so please do bookmark the new site so you can continue to find your favourite posts and pages. ^_^

2015 Update

Hi all,

How is the new year shaping up for you? I am doing pretty marvellous. After a lovely Christmas & New Year getaway I am rejuvenated and excited to handle all that comes my way this year.

So what’s new? Well I bought some new bits of washi tape and stickers recently as my filo was dying a creative death by the last quarter of the year gone. Still working the Chameleon Pocket, I hope to show you a few pages in the upcoming posts.

My wedding filo (The A5 Adelphi in red, I don’t think I’ve mentioned the poor gal on here) has for obvious reasons been retired and after never really getting over the loss of my Luxe I persuaded the Mother for a trade!

So the Lady Luxe is back in business everybody. What for? What use does she have? Well, it’s mainly the Mother’s handwritten family cooking recipes that are somewhat sentimental now that I’ve moved out. But there are plans for some serious workings as a general life goals and projects organiser. Details will be posted as soon as I figure them out myself.

Beyond the general day to day goings on, I have begun yet another project, why I don’t know because I never finish them. But this involves story writing. I love telling stories, often turning my day into a comedy over an email to a friend. So the Husband suggested I channel the creativity into a real effort and well I thought go on then! It is a very fresh project in the planning stages, but if I progress along enough perhaps I can share some extracts with you. Likewise if any of you have embarked on ever writing a short story or novel, what tips do you have and what pitfalls did you encounter along the way if any?

For now here’s a picture of my smoosh face cat Shai (like pie) who’s become a cocky blighter as he “tear’s up” Instagram. Twat. Okay so its not that hard to be more popular than me but he doesn't have to rub his paw in it!

 

 

 

 

Hope you’re having a good one, and smile. Friday’s lurking just behind the clouds!

Mundane Monday 22

Between the HR induction meetings, piles of email and papers waiting for me to sort through the week and staring out the window onto this gloomy raining morning/afternoon, it is only normal that I took to the internet to find some quotes to help me think about anything other than work.

There are as you may have guessed (from my shameless bragging) two main things in my life right now. My marriage and my Work.

The work side, well, I think I’ve got it covered, I know who to ask when I don’t know something and I know what goals I have to achieve by the end of my training. I know how to push myself and I definitely know the gaps in my knowledge and how to fill them.

My marriage? Mergh not so much.. There are no goals, no plans, sometimes I’m not exactly sure whether to communicate thoughts and whether the Husband is the best person to direct them to. Isn’t that awful?

For the mean time I’ve taken to mind maps and reading up on articles because I need a sense of direction in every area of my life. Communication keeps coming up everywhere but I think it’s also equally important to choose someone that you are going to spend the rest of your life with you understands your communication.

And that’s where Rumi comes in:

“Be with those who support your being”
                                               Rumi, Persian Poet.

I think this quote should be plastered around a lot more next to marriage articles who all explain that “communication is the key” sure I can communicate myself to a goat, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to understand my being.

Surely one’s time is better spent communicating yourself to those who know you, who understand the way you think, the way you talk, who are less likely to mistake you sarcasm for fact.

And that’s when I start to feel a little better, that although I don’t have a marriage plan (yet) and no clear direction (yet) I am with someone who just gets me. Who understands what I mean when I’m quiet and who hears in between the words when I’m talking.

If you are smiling right know thinking of that person who knows your bring pretty well, consider yourself lucky. That right there is better than any life plan, well in my opinion.

Happy Monday!

Mundane Monday 21

Good morning all,

How are you? I am currently suffering from a really bad episode of “why is it Monday, omg I hate you why” syndrome.

The reason for it is my sleep. I confess, I am a light sleeper and it is ruining my life. Ever since I got married and moved into North London away from my slightly Herts. " LOTR shire-like" suburb I’ve been suffering real bad.

Whether it is the outside noises of people fighting or having a chat at 2am outside your window or the sounds of the house, people waking, cooking at 6am (why?) and all sorts. Either way it’s just impossible to sleep like a dead log and I really miss waking up in my comfortable snow white like trance to dancing cats and singing birds and my tropical ''sounds of the rainforest'' alarm.

I know. I can't believe a person like me exsists too. I am truly impossible.

Today’s quote is actually steeped in wisdom and deeper meaning however, I read it and laughed, feeling like I wanted to add “Leesh” to the list.

The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool: these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep.

Chanakya

Hope you had a more restful sleep and are much better equipped to tackle this Monday morning than me.

The Good and the Bad

Hello my beautiful people!

Let's not beat around the bush.. The good news? I'm still alive and my passion for blogging, my blog, my readers and all your blogs hath not diminished. Not at all, I very much intend to pick myself up maybe redefine here and there and continue posting.

The bad news? The wedding is taking up too much time to continue blogging right now. Hence the silence that may continue until the end of Aug.

The wedding is only a month a way and things are picking up now. The best part however is we have just booked our honeymoon! *jumps up and down on the bed*

I am so so so excited! We're going to the Maldives and if you lend me your ear you'll soon realise it's all I can talk about. After a dreary start to June here I am looking forward to starting married life on a secluded island.

For now I leave you with all my love and well wishes. Psst.. do you want to see a peek of the venue?

Oh go on then!





Our love!

Photo Friday 15

Oh Poo! I'm in a rut.

I'm very disappointed in myself in that I haven't been consistent at all with this blog this year. So much so that I missed my 1 year blog anniversary!

WHAT?!

Poor Leesh Poor!

Anyway, I'm taking some time to help me better figure out what the theme of this blog is. It seems to have lost its way a little and I'm stuck in a creative rut.

So here's a little idea of the sort of inspiration around me today as I try hard to sketch out a blog plan and life plan, while continuing the wedding plan. And this little orange furball is happy to just roll around showing off how perfect his eat sleep poop regime is!

Very jealous!

Hope you all have a lovely and productive weekend.

Mundane Monday 20

Good Afternoon!

Is it already the second week of February 2014?

What the heck am I doing with my life! Evidently not a lot save for painting my nails and toesies this decadent red colour and googling late night images of those glamorous years past where a corset and girdle were donned just to pop down to the post office. *sigh*

But alas, I am too lazy. So much so that I write to you now here with my oversized tortoiseshell glasses, covered in leopard print from my pyjama’s to my slippers and even the leopard turban that is on my head currently trying to stop those pin curls from escaping. Not very glamorous at all. *slurps from her oversized coffee mug*

So unfortunately, I need some help from you all this Monday as I don’t even have the inspiration to inspire myself. No quotes from me today I’m afraid, just a little picture of what I hope to inspire my readers into thinking I look like when I laze in bed typing away.

But I know I’m not fooling anyone!

What's in my Filo Week 1

Buongiorno!

How are you all? My gosh its been ages since I've posted about my beloved filo. It was sad to hear that paperlovestory will no longer be doing those lovely week round ups where you can peep into everyone's creative organisers here, however I will try my best to keep up my lil weeks however boring and un-stickered they may be!

For the new year I've decided to rename this feature "What's in my filo." Below are the pages from last week and the weeks before from the beginning of the year.

I have been using those lovely sticky notes from the books I picked up from TK MAXX along with some sharpie highlighters to add colour. Looking back though, I think I need to get some more stickers and I really want to dabble in washi tape!


This week I am in full swing in my fitness lifestyle change playing squash twice a week and soon start on the pilates and toning.

Went for a taupe coloured theme

Its also Chinese New Year! I love Chinese new year the food is so yum yum! My beloved neighbour who is like a second grandma will be having her new year party this weekend which will be a lovely end of week treat.

Hope your week is going well and all your goals are on target for already the second month of the new year!

Feel free to leave me a comment with a link to your blog letting me know what's in your filo? ^_^

Mundane Monday 19

Hello my dearies, how are you coping this Monday? 

I must confess, Mondays are hard for me, I really get the blues but it helps on days like today when the sun is shining and you forget for a moment that its around 0 -1 degrees outside!

The Fiancé and I are finally starting our wedding fitness regimes today after eating as much junk as we could over the last week. He's very good with the whole gym junkie, running, cardio, HIT things, I on the other hand much rather prefer watching people exercise than joining in and don't want to go anywhere near a gym. (I had a little stint with my local in the run up to the engagement party but that was short lived.) 

Anyway, in preparation of our commitment to fitness we were discussing how we want to make a concious decision and incorporate this fitness into a sort of lifestyle change rather than crash dieting and weight loss for the wedding which will ensure we're fully bloated again by the honeymoon!

To help us we've decided to play squash together or tennis/badminton just once a week as a sort of fun activity and a twist on date night. I have found various youtube videos that incorporate a lot of dance moves and feel good music to convince myself I'm just having a good time and not exercising. The Fiancé is starting this thing called T25 a 60 day program similar to Insanity (a programme he completed for the engagement party). It simply translates to TORTURE for me. 

So he's doing a 60 day torture programme while I prance about in my living room for 30mins a day. ^_^

If any of you have successfully incorporated fitness in to your lifestyle please feel free to share your tips and motivation. For those starting out like myself let me know what sort of activities you do to help you look good and more importantly FEEL good. Its all about feeling good for me, the rest seems to fall into place after that. 

I know its an age old saying below, but really take a moment today and think about it. Learn to see your body as your kingdom, the best retreat for your soul and work with it, cause when you've spruced it up how you want, your soul will thank you millions!

I know, I know easier said than done right!

Mundane Monday 18 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year lovelies! 

How are you settling in? Have you made any resolutions? Still sticking to them?

Know that you are not alone, I too am trying to straighten out my resolutions and find practical ways to actually see them through to the next year.

I have got off to a lazy start, one of those drift along for a few weeks and realise I'm already in into the third week of the year! WTF

But last night as I stared at my ceiling like I've done on every night before suddenly it hit me. Architecture. 

Yep, its about being an architect. I'm so caught up with who I want to be what I want to do that I never really get anywhere because its all too much and I get overwhelmed and give up before I've started. 

What I am good at is dreaming. I often have multiple dreams a night (so sexy I know ha!) I can dream in colour, see myself third person (sometimes lucid) and over the last six months even smell! See I deal with real life by how I've already dealt with it in dream life. 

And when my dreams lack my inspiration lack, my motivation disappears and I go two months without posting anything on my beloved blog. 

So today's new year quote is by me :)

"Be the Architect of your dreams."

~ Leesh Smalls

Go to sleep and dream your life. Create it like an architect from the foundations and beams that hold the structure through to the finishing touches of colour schemes and furniture. 

If your going to an interview tomorrow, dream about it go through it visualise it and let your subconscious help you achieve your dreams when your awake. 

I know this might sound a bit hippy but just give it ago, imagination is the best drug to be on and it is so good for you. 

Here's to making your dreams come true and making sure this year unlike the years before, we can begin to live in the castles we've always dreamt of!

Photo Friday 14

Happy Halloween my lovelies!

Did you trick or treat last night? Have any ghostly encounters?

Last night I went to Ham House in Richmond, London. Britains most haunted house for a night of fun including ghost tours, a private spooky seance and lots of treats and gory props with which to have fun.

The night was hosted by Amy Grimehouse a great company that have done many one off halloween events in and around London including one at the V&A last year. This year the theme was Hammer House of Horror who were behind some of the best horror films including Dracula.

 It was truly a different kind of Halloween, a far cry from the trick or treating when I was younger or the sex infused costumes of my uni years. Oh no this was the Best. Halloween. Ever!

I was a little girl again being amazed and yet terrified around every corner. We went on a late night tour of the house were we were shown the rooms and stairways that were most haunted by the Duchess who resided there.

I won't go too much into the history in case you decide to visit or research yourself. But it is said that the smell of her rose perfume still lingers the air when she haunts. Well I smelt it. Oh yes I did! But alas I didn't see the Duchess, although my Beau swears he saw her King Charles Spaniel, another frequent haunter!

A truly unique and thrilling experience. Even if you are not taken back by anything ghostly I promise this house will still thrill you, the eerie nature in which everything has still been kept and the cold dark empty feel as you walk through unlit corridors and tight stairways will make even the strongest a bit nervy.

Go check it out! You might even see a ghost..

Courtesy of  http://www.london-attractions.info/ham-house.htm

My Filofax Week (week 43)

Hello my beautiful bloggers! How are you? Here's my week from last week. Very very minimalistic with a few budgie stickers from a big box I bought from Paperchase. 

Have any of you in the UK been hit by the storms? Here in the shire we've had a few trees blown over and the trains never need much of an excuse to stall and delay but I'd say we were pretty lucky. The rain didn't half keep me up at night though!

This week I am looking forward to Halloween! Oh I'm so so excited, its the first Halloween I'm completely throwing myself and the Fiancé into with regard to costumes. With only a few days to go I still have to decide on an outfit though I know there will be lots of make up and artificial blood everywhere.

The weekend will see the gorgeous fireworks and celebrations of the Hindu festival of Diwali, which is always a beautiful colourful affair with delicious sweets! And I'm looking forward to an extra treat of more fireworks over guy fawkes.

But for now its all about sh*tting my pants googling horrifying pictures for inspiration, oh an shopping tommorrow for some Halloween make up cause of course its completely different to my normal make up ;)

Happy Halloweenies xx

My Filofax Week (Catch up)

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks in my diary. The first one I've gone for a gothic dark theme with little girl stickers from paperchase a lovely lace sticker border from hobbycraft and those wonderful post it notes by Santoro's Gor Juss

The pics are a bit hazy, apologies.

The week following I decided to spruce it up a little with a hello kitt attack and some butterfly washi tape. 

I think I've realised I need a lot more washi tape so I'll fit that in with some online shopping this week ^_^

Mundane Monday 17

A new Monday, a new week, a new day. Is it really as simple as that? You know the aged old quote that everyday is a new day. Everyday is a day you can be that new person, the better person. 

Is it really that easy? I had a bit of a personal awakening this weekend. Realised that without any real guidance in my life my moral compass is so incredibly distorted that I can't live with myself being this way and hurting those I love so much. 

But with hurt already caused is it really that easy to wake up and decide to be a better person? The best solution is to never break a persons trust in the first place and its really not that hard, just requires a brain. But if its too late then you have to start from rock bottom and be prepared to work hard at whatever it is the other person needs to be able to trust you again. 

So let's take a moment this week to show those people we love that their trust in us is worth it and not misplaced. For those of you who are working on re-building trust be prepared to put aside your ego and pride, an injustice was done and the path to absolution is not without penance.

Mundane Monday 16

Have you ever been in a position where one of your close mates finds the girl/guy of their dreams and in being in the whole honeymoon phase turns into a complete jackass?

I like the quote below cause it reminds me that sometimes, just cause people have been in your life for a long time doesn’t mean they have to continue playing such an important part with your mental and emotional wellbeing if they are no long interested in your friendship.

But do you think the quote can stretch to people and relationships?

I’ve always thought it a bit selfish when I read quotes about dropping friends that aren’t good to you. However the older I get the more I realise that I can’t stand to be around them any longer, friends that once seemed so caring and always full of advice through older eyes seem selfish and controlling. Unfortunately I think the situation is worse when your friend becomes bad by marrying someone that's no good for them.

What are you supposed to do when you can't be a good friend to them? Hope that love continues to blind you I guess and ignore it which inevitably leads to the downfall of your friendship with them.

Hey Ho, here’s another great quote from an unknown author.

Courtesy of Google images

My Filofax Week (week 39)

This week my Lil Sis started uni! Oh its only a day or two since she left and the house is already a little quiet. We went up north to settle her in check out her room and halls. I’m a lil jealous as I know this week will see the stupidest fresher’s parties and fairs full of freebies, ah to be a perpetual student!

I also popped into Mrs Moores Vintage Fair in Rickmansworth on Sunday which was great. They hold a fair every few months and it was nice to see some new traders. The weekend was a bit of a vintage affair all round as I popped into a few vintage shops up north in between buying last minute forgottens for the Lil Sis.

I’ll have to have a separate post on my buys later in the week!

On Wednesday the cheeky Fiancé took the care to write in a little surprise for me. It was only a trip up to Manchester to see United play against Liverpool (and go on to knock them out the Carling Cup, go on my boys). Even better we were four rows from the front, the best seats I've ever had at the Theatre of Dreams, oh that Beau of mine he's a keeper! 

D.I.Y Engagement Party Invitations

Forgive me for the surge of all things wedding. I’m so surrounded by it, its all I think about! WARNING: picture heavy.

Today I’d like to show you a quick tutorial of how I made my own D.I.Y invites for my engagement. The theme of the party was all things peacock, but it was more a subtle colour scheme than everyone dress up your tail feathers. I wanted to incorporate that in the invites so as to spread the word while still being simple, timeless and elegant, a lot like me you see! *sighs*

Things I used:

1.       Tri – fold wardrobe blank cards and envelopes in ivory from Hobbycraft.
2.       Blue & Green ribbon
3.     Peacock feather stamp and clear stamp block from Hobbycraft
4.    Coloured ink pads 
5.      Computer/Printer
6.       Wax seal
7.      Postable wax (this is a flexible kind that is less likely to crumble in the post)
8.        Glue stick

The idea

There is a huge range of cardstock in hobbycraft but I fell in love with the tri-fold wardrobe ones. I had a lovely idea of turning them horizontal and opening them up much like a scroll which would fit in with the Fiancé and my love for all things historical ( I think we’ve been watching too many Game of Thrones episodes) while allowing me to fit the multiple jargon needed on the invite.

The beginning

Once I had the image in mind I set out to type up the invite on word. I decided to have my sister as the hostess which I thought better implied frivolity and a big emphasis on PARTY.

I then went on an internet search to find the perfect font. I love the whole Edwardian script style but knew half of my relatives wouldn’t be able to read it. Some great sites for downloading free fonts are:

1001 Free Fonts

Fontspace

Snippet and Ink (my favourite from which I used Champagne & Limousines)

I had toyed with the idea of printing them on card and sticking them to the tri fold but after some trial and error we found it best to just print straight onto the card.

Once you have your invite wording sorted, find a suitable font. I found having the address and R.S.V.P a different simple font from the invite helped create a more professional feel.

Make sure you go to Page layout – Size – A6 Card (or whatever your size is) so that you work from a realistic page, saving you trouble when printing.

Add a simple boarder from Word to create a finishing touch. I chose a double border from word’s list and changed the colour to a dark royal blue.

  

Sample of the finished font and invite inside

  

Hey presto you are ready to print!

Word of advice: Be sure to have a few packets extra when buying the tri-fold cards as the printer eats a few of them up, I had to feed each card manually and print them one at a time to ensure that the alignment was absolute perfect every time and did have a few lopsided unusable cards while figuring it all out.

Decorating

I began preparing the cards by sticking a length of dark green ribbon around them and cutting off the corners to create little arrows at the opening. The blue ribbon was purchased from Paperchase and was just the right size to sit perfectly in the middle of the green. I only stuck the ends of the ribbon on to the card so as to insure flexibility when the card was opened up. 

I then carefully stamped a green feather in the corner of each invite to give that subtle hint of the peacock theme. The clear stamps are dead cheap (around £1) from Hobbycraft and I recommend getting the clear stamp block (another £1) too as it'll help minimise the messy-ness and is easier to get the positioning correct every time plus speeds up the process like you won't believe. 

I decided in line with the image in my head, to have a custom seal designed from which I would stamp magnificent wax seals on each invite. Ah! Brilliance. So I went on another internet search and found a UK company that were able to produce a gorgeous wax seal for me in very little time.

Once arrived, I sat down with the Fiancé and we created little wax seals on foil paper to attach to the cards with glue later.

It was quite an easy method and I would recommend to anyone looking for a unique touch to their wedding invites to give it a go. The good thing is our custom seal can now be used to piss everyone off for the rest of our lives on wedding invites, thank you’s, birthday cards, Christmas cards.. ^_^

Once we created our little seals, we just pop them off the tin foil (it doesn’t matter which side you melt them on) and stuck them on to the invites over the ribbon and between the closing with a dab of paper pritt stick glue. The gooey kind if you know what I mean.

And that was it, all in all it was a 2-3 day job but could have been done in a day if we had worked solidly (not just evenings like we did). It was such an enjoyable experience and I felt so proud when I realised family and friends had no idea they were hand made by us!

Have you had a go at making any invites for your wedding or such? How did they turn out? Please share your stories and ideas as I’d love to hear from you!

Little Pocket Chameleon

I have a new filofax! My lovely little Pocket Chameleon. It’s now in full use although it still needs to be customised up.

I didn’t think, as mentioned previously that I’d ever enjoy using the pocket but I’ve got to say I love it! Every time I take it out to pay for something I feel the same sort of proudness and joy I felt when using my Ted Baker purse. I have yet to encounter a fellow planner “nod” which will just be the icing on the cake.

Not quite flat while open but can stay open itself

Pretty packed with hardly 'nowt in it but no where near as bulky as a personal

For me I realised that the lack of happenings in my life meant the Finsbury became too much of a burden to fill with nothing. So I’ve decided for the moment to use my Pocket as just a diary with odd bits here and there with the view that I’ll add to it the more busier I become.

The set up is:

Tab 1 – Diary

Tab 2 – Notes – mainly to do lists

Tab 3 – Info – currently unused but may use it to jot down any wedding venues/ideas I have to later transfer to my A5

Tab 4 – Finance – I really want to start making use of this as Student loans and the malarkey are rearing their heads + wedding rubbish will really help me keep focus.

Tab 5 – Addresses

The tabs are already labelled by Filofax and for now are working pretty well. The size is perfect about the size of my hand, and really a perfect fit to downside from the personal size.

I’d really recommend trying a downsize to anyone who like me thought they’d never really go for a pocket.

Along with indulging in new filofaxes I finally bought two Frixion pens in black and blue and came across this brilliant pocket I bought from Japan containing Hello Kitty stickers from 2006. Low and behold it fits PERFECTLY in the pocket! LOVE IT! I’ve added some of my other stickers to encourage me to decorate my pages as I go along rather than at the end of the week as I tend to do now.

The Fiance is amazed at how multi functional the little diary is with its 5 card slots that are not stiff or difficult to use in the slightest plus a little side pocket where I keep loyalty cards for nandos and M&S cards and a generous slit pocket across the top for cash and receipts.

My lovely kitties

I keep all my change in the back zip pocket and am finding that I am using it a lot more which was all I wanted from my little sweets!

The only problem I have is I have no idea what to call this one! Any ideas?

My Filofax Week (week 38)

After the engagement party I’m back on training contract searching and generally finding my purpose in life. I really enjoyed all the creative d.i.y’s I became involved in and was wondering if I can’t make some extra cash doing things I enjoy and using a bit of creativity. I’ve been researching a bit about starting up a little business from creativity but can’t really find any articles or so that will help explain what I’m looking for so perhaps once I get things finalised myself that could be a future post.

Here’s the week below, the highlight being visiting the Bluewater Wedding Fair in Kent. I received tickets for my birthday from my Sister – in Law to be and had a great time! We (the Fiancé and I )got a sneaky upgrade to V.I.P and received the lovely goody bags YAY! I had wondered before attending whether it is the right etiquette to be visiting with the Fiancé I was going with the Mum but she’s busy with my lil’ Sis who’s jetting off to uni next week. I was pleasantly surprised that there were in fact a fair few Mrs’ to be with their fella I mean it figures seeing as more couples do tend to finance the wedding themselves these days.

There were some lovely wedding ideas with the current craze of the photobooth guestbook and we received two complimentary glasses of champers which I chugged down including the Fiancé’s (oops) which gave the last 30mins of walking around stalls an extra kick, yeah I hadn’t eaten anything before. Oops again. But overall it was pretty great for an otherwise blasé week. 

Week 16th - 22nd September 2013