It's fabulous Dress Up Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Dress Up Friday!

Yes, it's that time again. The joy of dressing up has been a saviour for me this week as I've been a bit washed out. My behind the scenes hobby of late is the reclamation of a piece of land within our garden that hasn't been touched for over 50 years. Totally overgrown with brambles and bracken, I thought it might be a good idea to try to clear a patch for us to grow some veg. I'm an absolute novice at gardening and OMG, I didn't realise what this would mean! Steve broke the ground for me, but I've been in charge of digging and getting rid of the network of roots and weeds some 12 inches deep. The past month has been particularly exhausting, but we've got some plants in now and the tiny allotment is shaping up. Anyway, I think I kinda overdid it recently and have been paying the price this week. 

My Friday frock was a TK Maxx buy from a couple of summer's ago. The brand is Never Fully Dressed, is 100% polyester and yet moves like silk. I've only worn it once to a Gallery exhibition and this time I swapped the self tie belt for this charity shop black stretch belt. The plastic D rings are to make it adjustable.

The statement necklace is from Topshop, £10 in the sale (not this year).

I'm pleased to showcase these yellow and black snakeskin print sandals here - don't they match the dress so well? From New Look, again a sale item for £6.

Perhaps I need to do a bit of weeding before we do another photo shoot here next time?

This will be another everyday work frock when I get back to the Gallery in due course (although the shoes may be a bit high). I'll probably opt for some wedge sandals for height and comfort. Many thanks to The Brand Ambassadors Agency for creating the Dress Up Friday campaign.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Anna x

Summer show 1

Hello and welcome our first summer exhibition evening at the gallery. Last night our artist in attendance was Flynn O'Reilly who basked in the glorious weather and revelled in his opening night party. To say that the gallery was busy is an understatement and we all worked hard like the ubiquitous swan, graceful on the surface and pedalling like billy-oh under the surface.

Before the masses descended. Flynn's artwork hangs proudly on the back wall and drew him lots of interest over the course of the evening. He spent a couple of hours chatting to clients, discussing the work which was produced as a result of his winter residency on the island. His reward was to sell his first piece on the night, setting him up for a good show. See the full collection of the July shows here.

The first show in the bag, we stepped outside for a few snapshots of the event.

I'll admit it: I've already peaked outfit-wise! I wish I could be of the mindset to save the best 'til last, but the glorious summer weather plus the siren's call of my mermaid coat clinched it. All I can say is that you'll surely see this fabulous coat on another exhibition evening. 

The evening sunshine bounced off the iridescent scales/sequins of the coat, causing it to shimmer and dazzle. It garnered lots of compliments too as I explained that Steve had given me it for Christmas - on land as in the water, I'm forever a mermaid I joked. The coat was from Topshop, but no longer available I'm afraid. I've slipped a beaded vest top underneath - a charity shop find (£2.50) again the brand is Topshop and the satin trousers were a gift from my daughter. I love to put a look together that looks unique but that hasn't cost the earth. Recycling clothes is one of my pet loves as you know.

My thanks to Harriet, a visiting friend who kindly donated these fantastic rosy-hued mirrored sunglasses to me. They're by my favourite brand Quay Australia  who have a 25% offer on at the moment, so hurry and grab yourself a bargain. (I link through to them because I love them, no other reason.)

Yet another outfit that delivers the wonderful swoosh factor! Not only that, but when I walk, the coat rustles making a noise like the sea receding across shells on the shore.

Both rings are pre-loved and ridiculous bargains from a Truro charity shop.

I've had these satin kitten heels for years. They were from Wallis. I love the pale mint green lozenge gemstones adding a bit of bling to what might have been too much classic understatement otherwise.

I'm so fortunate to have an excuse to dress up to the nines like this. With one exhibition every 10 days over July and August, Polly and I are constantly planning the next outfit. I'm, needless to say, in my element bringing out all of my sparkly over-the-top ensembles, but I also have a couple of new dresses that are much more the floaty look than awash with bling. You know me, ever the chameleon! 

So that's it, one exhibition down and five to go. I do hope you've enjoyed the first round up of our summer shows and that you'll join me for the next one. In the meantime I hope to see you again at the weekend!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

                                                                                      Anna x

Feels like spring

I don't know about you, but I've had enough of winter coats and at the slightest hint of spring I've been embracing a lighter look. I bought this rather fabulous pinstripe trouser suit for £7.50 in a charity shop in Penzance in January. The lining caught my eye before the price, but the combination of the two meant I just had to buy it.

I decided to push the boat out colourwise by adding my favourite floral satin shirt (preloved from Next) which upped the style factor to at least 8 out of 10. 

And to finish the look it had to be these old faithfuls, my silver brogues from Office. Between these and my Quay Australia sunglasses I'm pretty sure this could be a 10 out of 10 outfit today - what do you think?

For this shoot Sasha and I took a wander off the beaten track and ventured onto the boardwalk that leads to the bird hide. Her photographer's eye saw the creative opportunities that lay here. Not only did I benefit from some lovely photos for the blog, but she gave me some lessons with her snazzy camera too. 

At the moment I'm actually on the mainland with Steve on a little jaunt. We're spending a few days in Cornwall catching up with friends and then on Tuesday will be travelling to London. Wednesday will see us at the O2 as we join the thousands of star struck fans gathering to enjoy an evening listening to Paloma Faith. Our tickets for this have been delivered to a guest house in Truro so I'm not 100% convinced that we're really going until we and tickets are firmly together.

I'll be posting on Instagram over the next week, but I'm afraid that there's no blog post lined up for you mid-week this time. The hiccup with the loss of broadband for five days meant that I've struggled to get ahead of the game before I left.

In the meantime, I hope you're having a breath of spring wherever you are. Enjoy your week and I hope to be back with another post next weekend.

Anna x