Review | Handcrafted Leather Camera Strap

Today I'm delighted to share a beautiful product with you all, sponsored by Magpie Accessories on Etsy.

Kathryn was a delight to work with, and though her shop is based in the UK, the shipping was prompt and streamlined.

The camera strap itself is a dream. I selected the Marbled Chocolate Brown strap, which is a lovely rich leather in a classic color.  The quick-release sam brown-style button closure makes changing straps a breeze, and the top stitching is the perfect finish.

The leather itself was a little more thin that I was expecting, and does stretch the tiniest bit if put to strenuous use for long periods of time.  However, I use it as a sort of 'dress suit' for my camera, using it at weddings and events where my everyday bright pink strap might look a little loud.  This classic leather camera strap can go anywhere with lashings of style, bringing your ensemble to a whole new level.

Be sure to check out her shop, and with Christmas coming up, you may want to add her to your favorites for yourself or another special photographer in mind!

MagpieAccessoriesUK

Luxury Leather Designer Handbags & Accessories

Shop // Website // Facebook

About the Shop

Kathryn Sillince of Magpie Accessories designs and crafts the most gorgeous luxury leather handbags and accessories. She hails from a Fine Art background then trained at prestigious Cordwainers London College of Fashion. Kathryn hand selects the finest leathers, linings and hardware and hand-stitches finishing details, creating a beautiful and unique line of camera straps, handbags, iPhone and laptop sleeves, and much more!

Magpie Accessories is run from a charming converted tortoiseshell comb factory in Yorkshire, England. 

Working with ethical chemical free leather and organic fair trade cotton linings makes this company stand out in a world of mass-produced luxury accessories.

Disclousure:  All thoughts shared are my own and are in no way influenced by the sponsor.  
First four photos by Kellie Falconer.  Product donated by Magpie Accessories.

Outfit | The TARDIS Skirt - Doctor Who Blog Party

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TARDIS SKIRT // made by me    -    cardi // thrifted

blouse // thrifted   -   belt // f21   -   scarf // fabric.com

cable stockings // online   -   pumps // thrifted

TARDIS sign button badge // made by me   -   headband // Kellie Falconer Design

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Today I'm joining the Doctor Who blog party fashion link up!

The TARDIS skirt was a fantastically fun project which I hope you all love to bitty-bits, as I plan to offer them in my shop in future... :grin:

I started with my basic Walk in the Woods skirt pattern, but omitted the sclupted waistband, as the TARDIS really doesn't have any curved lines.  Really amazing pockets seemed in order for a TARDIS skirt (bigger on the inside!), and what could fit that order better than these beauties?  Plenty of room for your sonic screwdriver, nerdy specs, and anything else you might need on your next intergalactic adventure!  Take notice, Donna...

I then appliquéd the windowpane design on the pocket band and created a custom Police Public Call Box sign button badge.  I'll probably make another with a black background and the words Police Public Call Box in white - all in good time!

I wanted the skirt to be simple enough that it could be styled in a variety of ways, not just DW inspired. The buttons allow the nerdy theme to get vamped up a bit, but allow the skirt to be worn for many different occasions as well.  (The buttons can also be transferred to a bag or jacket when the mood strikes, as well!)  If I were going for a full blown theme skirt, I would probably have made the waistband black and embroidered or appliquéd the Police Box text there.  Wouldn't that be awesome? ;D

Styling this skirt is so much fun... TARDIS blue goes with so many other colors.

And my rose headband, besides being a staple accessory of mine, seemed fitting for this particular outfit.  ♥

The Doctor Who week was so much fun!  You were all fantastic.  And you know what?

So was I;D

Judy's back

 

The coming of Autumn and the imminent threat of snow means it's time for Winterizing the Wall Tent Studio, Second Edition.

It's hard to believe that another winter is upon us, another year embarked on with this great adventure of wall tent living.  But, with my experience form last year under my belt, I'm confident that I will be able to do this again.  It's not easy... it's often downright miserable!  But it's what I have to do - and I plan to make the very best of it that I possibly can.

Last week found me with a can of sprayable high-temp blacking paint, which I found to be even better than the rub-on stove blacking I used last year.  Judy, my faithful little 624 king woodstove, had acquired a bit of rust and dirt over the summer on the porch, but she was soon in top form, iron gleaming black and ready for work.  I fired the paint with the first light of the year and fell in love all over again with the indescribable, irresistible beauty of crackling flames.

Mildred the kitty appeared from nowhere, ready to take up her winter abode at the foot of my bed.  The sky was the bluest blue after a small hailstorm and the air carried a breath of snow.  Autumn leaves gleamed in the low light of late afternoon.

Next - chop, stack, chop, stack wood on the porch, and rocking by the fire, hot chocolate in hand.  

No, Rosie, you adorable tornado you, you can't come in.  Not even with that face.

But I'll go on a walk with you, because soon I'll be snowbound in canvas once more for the long, long winter.

The Doctor Who Blog Party | Party Tag

Here we go... the Doctor Who Blog Party is on! Are we ready? 

Allons-y!!

1| If you decided to name your first born child after any Doctor Who character, male or female, who would it be?

Weell... I've always loved the name Rose, because that was my Great-Grandmother's name.  And I've always thought of naming a daughter after her:)  It counts, right?  Also really loving the name David, but my best friend already claimed that one for her list... hehe;D

2| What is your favourite colour of the Doctor's shoes?

The red is spunky, but I like the neutral canvas ones, too... Have a thing for cream canvas. :)

3| Look around yourself and name the one thing that is TARDIS blue in your house!

A really gorgeous length of satin-brushed cotton fabric... Epic TARDIS project coming up!!!

4| If you could pick who plays the Twelfth Doctor which actor would you choose and why?

No idea... um, you know who might do a fantastic job is... David Tennant!  k, seriously, he's the doctor in my book.  I'm sure that the powers that be will find another great player:)

5| The Doctor is going back in time again, which historical era should he visit?

The French Revolution!!!  Can we please have The Doctor team up with Sir Percy?  Of course, we'd all just keel over from the awesomeness...  Besides, Robespierre was probably some sort of Slitheen-ish creature.  This could be a bit more sonic...

6| Would you REALLY go with the Doctor in the TARDIS?

Yes.

My lack of loquasiouness needs no explanation.

7| Who's your favorite Doctor and why?

Ten.  Ten.  Ten.  Why?  Just Ten.
Those of you who've seen him don't need any explanation, and I'm sure other party-goers will gush enough to make you get the picture without my adding more:)

8| Would you be afraid to spend Christmas in London?

Not with the Doctor!

9| Do you look at an ordinary screwdriver and think 'this could be a bit more sonic?'

Last year, no.  Now, yes.  DW does that to you.

10| Angel statues, plastic mannequins, Christmas trees - what ordinary everyday object would you love to make an object of terror to Whovians were you Steven Moffat?

Wouldn't it be wicked to do something to doors... any door... all doors?  You walk through and dissapear?  We walk through so many doors in a day... that would be deliciously horrid.

11| The TARDIS lands in your garden and the Doctor steps out. What is the first thing you say to him?

"Yes, I think I would like that.  Might I just go grab my accordion before we're off?  It could really be a little more sonic, but we can fix that all right and tight!"

12| Who is your favorite actor who has played the Doctor so far and why?

David.  See #7.  'Nuff said.

13| Have you seen any Classic Doctor Who? If so, which Doctor/episode(s) is your favorite?

No, but planning to with my friend Tom soon!  She's watched the classics since before they were classic:D

14| Which are the creepiest, scariest and all-out meanest baddies in all the Who-niverse?

I'm going with the nameless creature in The Impossible Planet two-parter... you know the one. That was seriously scary.  "I am known by many names..."

15| Who is/are your favorite Companion(s) and why?

I've only seen Rose so far, but I have a feeling she's always going to be the best.  Very excited to see the others, though. (edit: Martha is amazing, and I adore Donna.  yes yes yes.)

16| Did you cry more watching Doomsday or The Angels Take Manhattan?

Only seen Doomsday, but I can't imagine a more poignant, emotion-fraught story than that... :sobs:

17| What is your favorite quote from the show?

Impossible to say.  But a few favorites that comes to mind:

Bishop: Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know.

The Doctor: Well, for starters, I know... you can't wrap your hand round your elbow and make your fingers meet.

Father: Now what's your game?

The Doctor: My... um. Snakes and Ladders. Quite good at squash, reasonably. I'm being facetious, aren't I...? There's really no call for it.

The Doctor: I cannot stress this enough. Ballbearings you can eat—masterpiece!

Rose: Thanks.

Mickey: Thanks for what?

Rose: Exactly.

The Doctor: It's very well-behaved, this place. I thought they would be happy slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping-hoodies-with-ASBOs. Happy-slapping-hoodies-with-ASBOs-and-ringtones. :Pleased: Yeah? Yeah? Oh yeah! Don't tell me I don't fit in.

Reinette: Monsieur, be careful!

The Doctor: Just a nightmare, Reinette. Don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares. Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares. Don't you, monster?

Reinette: What do monsters have nightmares about?

The Doctor: Me!

The Doctor: Go now! Don't drop the banana!

Captain Jack: Why not?

The Doctor: Good source of potassium!

...

Captain Jack: Who has a sonic screwdriver?

The Doctor: I do!

Captain Jack: Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, "Ooh, this could be a little more sonic."?

The Doctor: What, you've never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?

...

The Doctor: Come on, we're not done yet. Assets! Assets!

Jack: Well, I've got a banana and in a pinch you could put up some shelves.

The Doctor: Well... among other things I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a couple of centuries early. Do you know they'd never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good.

The Doctor: Oh ho ho... brilliant! It's you! You're my favorite, you are. You are the best. You know why? 'Cause you're so thick! You're Mr. Thick Thick Thickety Thickface from Thicktown, Thickania! ... And so's your dad.

:Happy smile:

18| Which Doctor (including all previous regenerations) would you most like to be the companion of, and why?

See No. 7 :)

19| Which of the following are you more scared of, the Daleks, Cybermen, or the Weeping Angles?  The angels.  Statues are an object from our everyday lives.  

20| Who are some of your favorite guest stars in the series?

It really cracked me up to see Ron Cook (Mr. Magpie) whom I already knew as Mr. Chivery!

21| What was your first experience with Doctor Who and how did you hear about the series?

Late at night, a sleepover with my bestie, and 'Silence in the Library'.  We joke that Tasha chucked me in on the deep end;D  I first heard about the series back in May when Tasha discovered it and seriously scared me by promptly becoming obsessed.

22| The Ninth Doctor said, 'Fantastic!', Ten said, 'Allons-y', and Eleven says, 'Geronimo'; what would you like to be the signature exclamation of the Twelfth Doctor?

'Let's Ride' would be kinda cool;D

23| If you were trapped in an episode, which one would it be?

I really have no idea...

24| Which is your favorite episode with each Doctor (Nine, Ten and Eleven)?

Probably Father's Day, The Girl in the Fireplace, and...?  Really can't choose, though.

25| After watching a certain Doctor Who episode, did you summon up the courage to try fish sticks and custard?

I'm still deliciously ignorant of this question's import... :grin: