Your daily dose of pretty: Claire Gent Painted Cherry Blossom Cuff

I still have a few discoveries from the Very Vintage Day Out to show you, but I spotted this cuff on Pinterest and fell in love with it so of course I had to share:

I don't actually wear cuffs because I have short arms, and wide cuffs make them look even shorter. A bit like this:



The Painted Cherry Blossom Cuff is £25.00 from Claire Gent on Folksy.

Buy pretty, help Queensland

The relationship between New Zealand and Australia is a bit like the relationship between siblings: we call each other names, make jokes at each other's expense, and steal each other's toys (it's ok Australia, you can keep Russell Crowe); but when one of us is in trouble the other is immediately there to help. And goodness knows after the flooding in Queensland the Aussies could do with all the help we can spare.

One way you can do your bit is by heading over to Etsy and purchasing an item from AusDisasterRelief, a collective of Etsy sellers who have donated items from their own shops for sale. The proceeds from the sales will be donated to The Queensland Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal.

I've got my eye on these earrings:

this bracelet:

and these earrings:

Note: while the majority of sellers donating to AusDisasterRelief ship internationally not all do, so it pays to check before making your purchase.

Your daily dose of pretty: Violet Bellflower bracelet from Ruche

I just love the colour of the delicate wee flowers on this bracelet:

This is also a very good example of what good photography can do for a product, isn't it?

The Violet Bellflower Indie Bracelet is US$23.99 from Ruche, who are based in America and ship internationally.

Your daily dose of pretty: Maria Sem bracelet by Marzio Fiorini

New to Mink Schmink is Marzio Fiorini's jewellery range. Most of the pieces in the range are made from recycled rubber, and while 'pretty' may not be the first word that springs to mind when one thinks of rubber ('fetish' would probably be the first word that springs to my mind, but the less said about that the better), these pieces certainly qualify as pretty:

The Maria Sem bracelet by Marzio Fiorini is AU$40.00 from Mink Schmink.

Your daily dose of pretty: My Pet Octopus Cuff from ModCloth

I have to admit Octopi (see how I used the correct form of the plural there) kind of give me the creeps. Those wriggly waving tentacles are all a bit wormy for my liking, and we all know how I feel about worms. *shudder*

This cuff from ModCloth is not in the slightest bit creepy though, I could definitely see it adorning my wrist without causing me to shriek and flail every time I saw it:

See? Isn't she cute? Not wormy in the slightest. (Did someone say worms? *shudder*) The My Pet Octopus Cuff is US$15.99 from ModCloth and is also available in silver.

Cute story for you: When 14 Year Old Daughter was a wee dot she saw an octopus on TV and exclaimed to me: "Look, you can see it's testicles!". That story is now so ingrained in our family memory that we all have a hard time remembering to refer to them correctly as 'tentacles' - most embarrassing on family trips to the aquarium!

Your daily dose of pretty: Cat Charm Bracelet from What on Earth

Back in the days before The Eccentric English Boyfriend and I moved in together and added dogs to my already sizeable menagerie there was a time when I was in serious danger of becoming a Crazy Cat Lady.  Nothing much has really changed, except that now I'm in danger of becoming a Crazy Animal Lady, if I'm not driven just plain crazy by EEB first.

EEB isn't a big fan of cats, having grown up in a cat free dog owning household, so he and my cats aren't on particularly good terms.  Apparently it's a bad thing when they vomit hairballs in the middle of his office.  Some people just don't understand what it is to be owned by a cat!

Regardless of his feelings about cats, I think I may just drop some hints about how much I love this bracelet. After all it's only nine months till my birthday!

The Cat Charm Bracelet is US$39.95 from What on Earth.

Your daily dose of pretty: to keep you going for a few days

Hello my pretties, a quick post before I madly start packing - we're off to my home town of Dunedin this afternoon for my little brother's wedding.  I am so looking forward to wearing my dress.  I mean I'm sure the bride will look lovely and all, but my dress is GORGEOUS!

We're away for a few days and although we're taking the laptop I doubt I'll have any chance to blog, so here's a couple of pretties to keep you going until my return.

First: Shoes. Pretty. Bright pink. Nuff said.

Actually, not quite enough said - also on sale! But I probably shouldn't buy them, right?  £7.00 from New Look. 

Moving along quickly before I buy the shoes, some more shoes.  Not on sale, but pretty nonetheless:

Mmmmmm, pretty nude shoe with lovely bow detail.  The Tony Bianco Cherish is NZ$219.99 on royalt.co.nz.

And finally, gorgeous jewellery:

That's the Hand Knit Argentium Silver and Blueberry Quartz Cuff, US$125.00 from KaelinDesigns on Etsy. Who knew you could knit silver - the thought leads me off on this weird tangent where I start imagining elderly robot grandmothers knitting jumpers for their grandchildren.

RIGHT!  Enough of the silliness, packing to do.  See you in a few days my pretties.

Your daily dose of pretty: Twist collection by Forever 21

The new ballet-inspired Twist collection at Forever 21 might be not at all appropriate for those pushing 40 (ie: me), but I can imagine 14 Year Old Daughter having conniptions over some of the pieces, and they're reasonably enough priced that Santa might not be averse to seeing them on her Christmas wish-list.

Beaded Mesh Pleat Skirt, US$19.80

Oval Mesh Net Skirt, US$17.80

Poised Ballerina Tunic, US$17.80

Charisma Beaded Bracelet, US$6.80

What about you my pretties? Could you wear them? Would you wear them? 14 Year Old Daughter is going through a tutu phase at the moment. There is a very short period of time during any girl's life when she can get away with wearing a tutu, so go for it while you can I say!