Blogtacular 2015

Blogtacular at The Royal Institution

It would be weird not to blog about a blogging conference, although Im not sure how interesting it is except to other bloggers. However there is always inspiration in colour and style to be found, especially when the hosts - Blogtacular - find such beautiful venues and sponsors.

Despite having worked on both Bond Street and Berkeley Square back in the 1980s for Polygram Records, I'd never set foot in the Royal Institution of Science. They have done wonders with the interior and surprised that is had such contemporary aspects.

it wasn't lost on me that it was Worldwide Knit In Public Day

A room full of blogging women (mostly) there was a lot of love. I actually wasn't surprised that there was so much support for each other in this community.  I find that women cut to the chase, it made it easy to network. So I found out lots of technical stuff about the layout of this thing and boring stuff like that. It was very useful to me and once its all instigated I hope it will make this blog more enjoyable to you the reader.

It was so comforting for me that one of the sponsors was Annie Sloan Chalk Paint as it gave me the chance to tell some of my fellow bloggers about it, we talked about paint quite a lot as a result and so Im starting my own hashtag photo community called #paintpassion.

Join me if you like, its anything thats painted - thats it, whatever has been changed due to the application of paint qualifies, from masterpieces in oils to old shed doors, pin it on pinterest (let me know if you want to join the board) tag it on instagram and maybe in the future lets do some blogs about it.

I was thrilled to meet many people, not least of all people behind Urban Jungle Bloggers.  Expect to see some posts and talk about plants, paint and colour.

And then we rounded off the day at West Elm on Tottenham Court Road, Ive bought some cute things to feature in my photos as well as some lovely cutlery. 

Prior to the conference we had a meal at a lovely restaurant called The Cha Cha Moon, just of Carnaby Street and behind Liberty. Another old hunting ground of mine and fond memories of lots of times spent with Metallica, whaaat, did you read that correctly, yes, I was their press officer and helped to break the band in Europe. If I did my job right then you might have heard of them.

My photos from Liberty London will be going on a blog I do for Love Stitch Heswall. A fabric shop with a cafe and studio, a place for my craft connections to collaborate. 

This part of London was a great trip down memory lane and looking back at those times from my new life, where I re-use my old skills but with different tools. The list of inspiring people at Blogtacular are too numerous to mention but I shall give them more time and proper links in forthcoming posts. 

Fellow Blogtaculars, please keep in touch.  Im hoping to move this blog onto its next level now that Im armed with all the info. 

Blogging its the future .... and the future is now. 

photo by Piers MacDonald for Blogtacular and Mollie Makes

Clarks Orla Betty funky retro shoes!

A slightly unusual review from me today, but as most of my readers are ladies, I thought pointing out these new shoes from Clarks would be appreciated.

If you, like me, wear vintage or vintage style clothes and like the colourful and fun, then this new range of shoes designed by Orla Keily for Clarks will sure be a must have for your summer wardrobe. But be aware, these are selling out super fast, so whilst its not quite sandal weather I have bought mine now so that I don't miss out.

As is usual with Clarks, they have gone for comfort here, so despite it being a high heel, you don't feel like you are walking in heels, as the inside padding and the little platform put you in a comfortable position.

I think the strap is a little thin as it did tend to cut in a little bit but considering my first outing in them was walking around a vintage fair with bare feet, I didn't come home with any aches or pains and no rubbing whatsoever, which is a good sign.

There are so many great styles in this range, I also liked these in blue but it had sold out and there are some that do have a thicker ankle strap and are slightly lower, these could be a good second pair to have. 

The styles remind me of childrens shoes in the sixties and seventies, and Im sure I had a pair like these Orla Betty when I was at school in the 1970s.  Theres are so many cool pairs in the range, Bibi, Bobble and Beatrice all really appeal to me, so I may have to go and try these on soon. 

One last major point, Im a half size, (uk 4.5) and these come in half sizes, which is a great bonus.  

If you can't get to a shop, then order online http://www.clarks.co.uk/c/womens-orla-kiely