Dear 10 year old me...

Well, the other day I saw a photo of me at 10 years old, kitted out it knee length denim shorts and a floral coral hoodie.  Being 10, was awkward for everyone, right?  Not to mention the middle parted bob of sorts and crooked teeth.  This photo took me back to a memory of a younger, shorter, more vulnerable version of myself.  10 year old me.  This photo got me thinking, what would I say to myself, if I was given the chance?  What advice would I give?  Soo, I decided to write a list of what advice I would give 10 year old me,

1. Burn all the capris in your wardrobe.

Capri trousers and 3/4 lengths, what is with those?  Seriously.  For seem reason at ages 9, 10, 11 I had an abundance of them.  I'm not sure what it was that drew me to them.  I'm just glad that phase is over!

2.  Lay off the chocolate chip cookies.  

Let's just say I wasn't the thinnest kid around.  I had a real sweet tooth. To make things worse, my mum is an AMAZING baker.  Who can say no to home-made chocolate chip cookies?

3. Sometimes it's better just to shut your mouth and stop arguing (even if the other person is wrong)

I was kind of a stubborn kid.  I learned this the hard way.

4. Unique Style > Paul's Boutique Hoodies

Paul's Boutique Hoodies.  Remember those?  No?  Well, when I was 10 they were all the rage.  What looks better than those 13 letters bedazzled on to the front of a hoodie?  Thankfully over the years my appreciation for brand names in general has decreased.

5. Don't get caught up in pointless dramas, they're not worth your time.

When I was younger I spent way too much time listening to pointless gossip and picking sides between friends who had fallen out.  When I look back on it now, I realise what a waste of energy it was.

There you go, I guess that shows some of what I've learned over the last 6 years.  I've still got lots to learn.  I'm sure when I'm older I'll cringe at the clothes I wear now and shake my head at the stupid things I've done.  That's how life is I guess.

-Madsyroo xx

For the love of writing

Why blog?  This question seems to race across the back of my mind every time my fingers start typing away at a new post.  What's the point Madeline?  No one's going to care about what you write!  Won't having a blog come across as a little vain?  Phrases such as these seem to find themselves, snatched out of my subconsciousness and forced into the front of my mind.

Now, for starters I doubt many people do care about my blog and I would hate to think that I come across as vain for having one.  It's one of my biggest fears when it comes to posting on here.  My reasoning for writing a blog isn't because I'm hungry for recognition or I think everyone must be desperate to read exactly what I'm thinking at any given moment.  It's for the love of writing.  My love of writing.  I love writing.  I'm weird like that.  It's been one of those things I've stuck with, partially due to the occasional English Assignment which would force me to present some form of creative writing.  Everybody has something or a handful of somethings they're passionate about.

Another one of mine is music.  When I was little I used to love sitting at my Grandma's piano and making up little melodies.  Sometimes the notes I played with my left hand clashed with those I played with my right and sometimes they didn't. I didn't care that much.  Which ever the case was, clashing notes or no clashing notes, I was still making music.  That made me happy.

Blogging is my excuse to write.  It gets me writing on a regular basis.  I'm not one to sit with a notebook in my lap scribbling down stories for hours but I am one who will enjoy typing up a few paragraphs every once in a while.  It just works for me.  

I'm happy to say I have now settled my thoughts about blogging once and for all.  It doesn't matter if no one cares about my blog.  Even if I was the only one to ever view it, I'd be happy I kept it up?  Why?  For the love of writing, of course!

I know for myself, I need to continue to learn not to let my own thoughts box me in.  I may not be a great writer yet, but I can only improve from here.  I'm going to write and write and write because I love it.

-Madsyroo xx

Confessions of a Closet Narnia Fan

The kid within me is freaking out right now.  I just heard news via facebook that the new Narnia movie will be The Silver Chair.  I've been waiting years for this to happen.  As a nine year old I was a hard core Narnia nerd.  No joke!  My favourite book of course was none other than The Silver Chair. 

I had the whole series not just as books but on CD too (cheesy sound effects included).  I remember long journeys in the car, listening to a British voice drone on about Aslan and wardrobes.  I still have them to this day!

It wasn't enough for me to listen to the books or read the books, I had a Narnia themed room too.  I had a Narnia calender which I ripped the pictures out of and blu-tacked onto my wall once I was done using it.  I was obviously a decor expert.  

My obsession didn't end there.  No.  My tenth birthday was Narnia themed.  It was pretty legit.  I made TONS of paper snowflakes which my mum hung from the ceiling with string.  I had Narnia figurines all over my cake and all the kids at my party decorated home baked ginger bread houses.  I loved every moment of it!

Oh and on book day at my school who did I dress up as?  Susan!  Of course.

So as you can tell I was a pretty committed fan.  The key word there is was.  No, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy no longer adorn my walls and my previous fandom is not something I would proudly bring up in a day to day conversation but I was still pretty excited to hear about this movie.  I'm allowed to be a total nerd about something right? 

I was a little disappointed when I found out the silver chair movie won't actually be out until 2018.  So, when I'm like 20 or 21.  A LONG way away.  By then I'll probably be a broke student but I'll be sure to forge out a couple bucks to see this one in honour of my nine-year-old self.     

-Madsyroo xx

Pie hunting, etc.

Happy Sunday!  Before I get too far into this post I'm going to let you know I'm one of those sad people who loves planning WAY ahead.  I mean it's September and I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving, never mind Halloween of course.

Thanksgiving.  For those of you who don't know Thanksgiving is and American Holliday about giving thanks for Indians helping pilgrims and stuff but the main reason I enjoy Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving meal itself and the FOOD!  Even just making the food.  

It's always weird celebrating Thanksgiving in Northern Ireland.  I've spent several Thanksgivings in school.  Doing tests and stuff seems to dampen the whole holiday spirit.  To most people here it's just like any other day.  Our family may not have a super traditional Thanksgiving but it's still special because almost everyone in the family pitches out with the food.  My younger sister makes to die for twice baked potatoes with bacon and last year my little brother helped make rolls.  Dad typically makes Turkey and the rest of the sides are prepared by Mom and Dad.  

My thing is to contribute to the meal by making pie.  Last year it was a Banoffee (which was a decent success) but I have not yet decided on this years pie so I'm scanning pinterest for a solution.  I like to go for pies that aren't super traditional.  

These are my pie suitability requirements:

1. It must have multiple flavours.

2. It must look really yummy in pictures.

3. It can't be a pie I've made before.

These are the contestants so far in my conquest for good pie from various baking blogs around the web...

1.Ricotta Chocolate Chip Pie

2. Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pie

3.  Rhubarb Apple Pie

So that's my pie planning, I think I'll need some advice from the family (They're all very harsh pie critics of course)  I'm not kidding, something tells me the whole rhubarb idea WOULD NOT go down well with most of the family but at least it would be a hit with my parents.  I think I should be able to come to a conclusion before Thanksgiving arrives

-Madsyroo xx

Tumbler Cozies and stuff like that...

School arrived a little while ago, which means I've been pretty busy but I also had time to whip up some tumbler cosies/sleeves.  You want to know why I love making them?  They're easy!  That and you don't need a pattern!

I was actually searching for a mug cosy pattern, when I stumbled upon an adorable tumbler cosy pattern and realised that would be a lot easier (I'm lazy when it comes to crocheting stuff).

Unfortunately my computer stopped working during the day but I managed to make some anyway.  I just chained as much as I needed around a Starbucks tumbler laying around in our house and double crocheted around until it was the height I wanted.  Later I got more creative, tried other yarns and added bows and faces.

Ta da!  I'm now selling them to raise money for the missions trip my youth group is going on next summer.  We're going somewhere in Europe, but we're not sure which country yet.  I can't wait!  I think I'll freak out.  It'll be my first foreign trip with out parents and travelling is one of my favourite things.

Anyways, that's one thing I've been up to lately.  Today at one point or another I'll probably sit down with a cup of tea, and make a few more while I'm watching some cheesy TV show.  Bye!

 -Madsyroo xx

New favourite 'do!

Hi!  Back to school we go.  Or for some of you, back to school we have gone.  Anyway, I thought I'd share with you my latest favourite hairstyle.  On school mornings, I have very little time to even look at my hair but this style is fast and takes little skill (Thank goodness!) I've been noticing more and more that simple plaited updos are really big right now.  I love plaited crowns! Even just from browsing teen vogue I found a picture of both Vanessa Hudgens and Maia Mitchell sporting them.

I've always loved braided updos.  When I was younger I used to have my mum french plait my hair around my head, somewhat like this.

Thankfully the following style is a little simpler.  I'm not good with French plaits!

I even tried it myself!

Ugh, I'm bad at selfies but there you go.  A fun hairstyle that won't take long.  Oh and by the way, I would advise using LOTS of bobby pins and possibly a bit of hairspray to help it stay.  Byebye!

Early mornings

Good morning!  Sorry in advance for the blurry pictures, I've been using my dad's old phone, so they're all a little blurry.  Anyway this morning was a very early morning.  Why was this morning so early?  Well, I rolled out of bed at around 6.25 and popped in the car (In my jammies) to drive with my grandparents to their bus stop.  They got a bus to the airport.  Goodbyes are tough.

For some reason I didn't go back to sleep when I got back home as I had planned to.  After a summer full of sleeping in, this was one of my earliest starts yet.  Anyways I stayed up looking through blogs.  I do love reading through blogs.  As I looked trough various blogs on bloglovin, I stumbled upon some adorable blog, which I sadly can no longer find which had LOTS of pictures of tea.  I decided to be cool and make myself tea and take a picture of it.  Of course my mug is more like a bowl and isn't all pretty and vintage but whatever, same idea.

I'm actually cracking up, looking at this picture cause it looks like the pair of eyes on the cover of the novel are staring at the tea.  This is a novel I've been reading for the past few days.  This summer I've been reading WAY more than I normally do.  Before this summer, I thought maybe I didn't like reading but that all changed when I got a library card.  There's  a library right by my house and it's a nice walk over to it, so I go often enough.

 The book, I'm reading right now is (as you can see) called Ruby Redfort.  It's about a 13 year old girl who gets tracked by an agency and asked if she can code crack for them because she has highly advanced skills for her age.  It's by Lauren Child, the same lady who wrote Charlie and Lola.  Which is the cutest TV show ever.  Trust me, I've seen WAY to many TV shows aimed at young kids but that one I can bare, especially because of the beautiful wallpaper that adorns the walls of Charlie and Lola's house.  Isn't it beautiful?

The kids in it are adorable too, I love the art.  That's kids TV done well.  That's all for now.  I'll be chilling and reading my book.

Art Journalling, my belated summer project

Well, hey there!  Nice to see you again!  What's it been, days, weeks, a month or so?  Who's counting?  Anyway I am very excited to let you know that I have gotten round to some art journalling.  For you guys who don't know what that is ( by the way practically none of my friends do, so you're not alone ) , it's a journal in which you use not only words but images to express yourself.  Personally, I'm no big artist but that's what's fun, you don't have to be! I've decided my art journal is more of a cut stuff out, stick in ordeal, opposed to one that requires much real artistic skill.  Here are some examples of art journal pages I LOVE!

by Michel LaPoint Rydell

So fun and vibrant.  I love the way this piece incorporates pages of pre-printed text too.  

I can't seem to find the original source for this, so I apologize to whoever credit is owed but I love the camera collage on this page and I even attempted a collage in my own art journal, which is of course much less impressive and not worth looking at but I love being inspired by artists.

Again, I don't have a clue who to credit this beautiful journal page too.  Anyway, I love the list on this page and I have yet to recreate it in my own style.  I also adore the incorporation of the different shades of watercolour.  It really brightens the page.

By Donna Downey

These pages are fun because of all the colour and the phrase.  I have allready made several art journalling pages of my favourite quotes.  It's the perfect alternative, if you don't actually feel like writing about your day.  A few simple words against a colourful background can be very effective.

I've been wanted to start art journalling for a couple months now and didn't even think it would happen this summer until a few days ago.  I even had a pinterest board packed with inspiration for my non-existent art journal (quite sad really).  I'm definitely lacking in supplies but, hey art journals are about creativity right?  My grandma bought me a beautiful, blank paperblank journal a few days ago and I allready have several pages filled!  I'll admit, I'm slightly addicted.  I've been using simple things like my little sister's stamps, ink pad, stencil, crayons, my glue for the new school year (which I'm dreading!), pens, pencils and cut outs from magazines, catalogues and book pages I single-handedly prevented from being thrown in the dumpster. (My school's English department has an excess of  "well-worn" books)

The great thing is that there are countless tumblr pages and pinterest boards full of art journal tips, tutorials and inspiration.  If you don't go crazy buying supplies, it's actually a fairly inexpensive hobby.

Well, this is me saying goodbye, in my beautiful red, suede Mary Jane heels by the way!  Friends of the  family are having a wedding and I'm coming to the dance.  I decided to branch out and buy some heels (which I haven't worn in public since I was like 12 haha!) so this is me breaking them in!  I was wearing them with my jammies this morning.  Lets hope my fat little feet fit nicely into them by the night of the wedding. Bye!

-Madsyroo xx

Birthday Time!

Two Birthdays have happened in my house within the past two days.  My little sister's and my brother's.  It's been busy but fun.  I got my little sister a make up kit which was a win thankfully.
For my brother I did something a little more creative.  Julian Smith (a youtube comedian you may or may not have heard of) has this hysterical video called 'Donut Pirate' (see below)

which I've watched with my brother before, who is a big Julian Smith fan.  It's adorable right?  That kid can act!  Anyway I bought my brother some donuts from a bakery by our house and printed out a page with a picture of that cute little kid screaming and the quote, "I donut care!" (1:26) It's of course less funny when it needs to be explained but my brother got it and it gave us a bit of a laugh and he appreciate the donuts so it was pretty much a win win.  These past couple of days have been filled with cake and cupcakes.  I definitely LOVE birthdays.

Now I just can't wait for my birthday to come around but unfortunately that'll be a long while yet!
-Madsyroo xx

Nebraska Calling

Well, I've had a crazy week this past week.  Most people spend their first week of summer lying around and watching TV (well that's what I would do) but not me.  I spent my first week of Summer running around Derry (my home town) with some crazy Nebraskans. It got me thinking, maybe Nebraska isn't so bad.  In fact it made me think about how badly I would like to visit Nebraska.  Being the weirdo that I am I decided to wikipedia Nebraska. According to Wikpedia, "Nebraska is overwhelmingly rural, as the 9th least-densely populated state of the United States" Overwhelmingly rural. That sounds like a flat out insult.  I always thought that I'd hate to live somewhere rural but maybe I'm not as close minded about that possibility as I thought.  One association I have with Nebraska is an infant sized corn huskers hat my family used to have laying around the house when I was little.  I guess maybe I used it?  My Dad was born in Nebraska and spent his first few years there but I really don't know much about it.  I have been to Nebraska.  Once.  Me and my family went to Scotts Bluff when I was little.  I have few memories from that trip.  I remember visiting and old lady who gave us Jam and going to a museum, all the while parading around in my white "cowgirl boots"  I LOVED those boots.  They quickly became my footwear of choice and I remember wearing them frequently to kindergarten in California and getting asked why I wore them.  I wore them because they were cool.  Who doesn't like cowgirl boots? Something inside me still likes the idea of cowgirl boots and handmade jam.  And a big part of me really wants to go visit all the wonderful people I got to spend time with this week.  Although I'm definitely a city girl I could see myself spending a while there.  Nebraska has been on my mind.

Long time, no write

Sorry guys.  It's been a while.  I'm a lousy blogger.  I have some great news, well great for me.  I've only got two days of school left.  TWO DAYS!  The last couple days tend to be some of the best couple of days of the year.  For example, today instead of doing work my class went to a river and went raft building because we got one of those goody-two shoes awards for being the best behaved form class in our year.  We win them every year.  How that's possible beats me.  We also won the attendance cup.  We're on a roll!  It was really fun and most of us ended up fully submerged in water fully clothed at one point or another.  My friend threw me in backwards and I screamed.  Rivers in Ireland tend to be pretty cold... cause it's Ireland and by the time I got out of the water my limbs all felt numb.  (Unfortunately I didn't get pictures at the river so you just get to see my little selfie because I feel weird posting about stuff with out pictures) Apparently river water drives my hair crazy.  Today was beautiful.  We were surrounded by trees and there was even a sheep and a goat or two across the river.  After we got back to school our year head let us skip the last period of class and spend it in one of the H.E. rooms drinking tea and chatting away.  I do love my tea.  It's days like these that I'm going to hold on to and miss.  School is flying by pretty fast.  It's starting to scare me a bit.

Oh!  I have another cringey photo for you.  A long while ago I posted about being in my school play, 'Dracula', well I took photos of the stage make up.  I've been told I make a good man.

That's my friend who played a ship wrecked sailor.  I had to carry her on stage later on in the play.  Here, I'm wearing my villager costume.  Like the waist coat and scarf?  I know, such a good look for me.  You can't see very well here but I had some pretty intense stubble going on too.   It was great fun just being apart of the play and hanging out in between scenes.  This was my first school play. (well, besides my pre-school one but that doesn't count right?)

Yep, so that's life at the moment.  All is going well and I can't wait to be through with these two last days!  This summer looks as if it should shape up to be pretty amazing.  I can't wait!!!

-Madsyroo xx

Gabrielle Aplin

Exciting news today!  No one other than THE Gabrielle Aplin is coming to do a question and answer session next Saturday for Radio One's Academy.  I'm kind of going.  I can't wait!!! I love her voice don't you?  Or maybe you don't know her yet (It's Ok my sister didn't). She's an English singer songwriter and her album 'English Rain' is coming out on the 13th of May.  Trust me, she has a BEAUTIFUL voice.  Go check her out.  I think her session is on "Making it in the music industry" or something along those lines.  Which to be honest I don't think I'll ever achieve but I can't wait to here all her tips on music and songwriting and such.  Sorry for the fan girl moment there.

So that's kind of been the highlight of my morning.  Unfortunately The Script Q and As were booked out.  They would have been great to hear from as well (love Danny!) but I'd rather get advice from a 20 year old singer songwriter than a band. 

When the day comes I'm going to be such a nerd about it.  I'll bring a notebook and take a gazillion notes and plan out my outfit the night before.  Pathetic much?

Moved In

Fun times!  I've officially moved.  Not that I've said anything before about it.  Just to another place in town so it's not a big deal.  Except of course for all the organising that is to be done!  I actually like going through my old stuff though.  Weird.  I'm always finding fun little memories and quirky knick knacks I never use.

After yesterday's attempt at de-cluttering I'm getting rid of my heeleys.  Remember those?  The shoes with wheels.  We all thought we were really hot cruising along the side walks. Cringe.

In other news... progress on the decoration situation (wow, that's fun to say). I got a little pillow.  Yay!  Progress.  First thing I've bought for my new room.  I think it will look nice against my bedspread and it reminds me of Mary Poppins, so why not?  I don't know if anyone with a mustache says "Hello, hello." in Mary Poppins but it would fit right? 

Anyway that's all for now.  Must get on with my French homework.  Au revoir!

P.S.  this was meant to be up yesterday but my phone jad trouble publishing it.  Sorry!

Princesses and Ukuleles

Today so I've played a bit of ukulele, thanks to my amazing friend who lent me hers for the week, dressed up as a "princess" and watched about half of Cinderella, with a bit of Caillou thrown in for good measure with my little sisters.  Jane and Maggie asked me to be a princess with them.  I was Cinderella since I conveniently had a blue dress sitting in my wardrobe.  They were Belle and Snow White.  They're some of my favourite people to hang out with.  We put on Cinderella because when you're a princess, you've got to watch princess movies, right?  Unfortunately they got a little bored fairly early on and we never even got to see Cinderella go to the ball.  They opted for Caillou which they both love.  I've got to be honest I've never been a big Caillou fan but my hate for it has grown ever since a couple weeks back when the two of them discovered 'Caillou's Holliday Movie' which has been played in our house a countless number of times since their discovery of it, alongside all the regular Caillou shows which they watch frequently.  I can ryhme off his theme tune to you.  "I'm just a kid who's four, each day I grow some more.  I'm Caillou..." 

It's kind of sad really.  Caillou rant over.

Playing ukulele, is going great (only been playing a couple days though, of course) and I'm in love already, as expected.  I've been strumming away to Train's 'Hey Soul Sister' since Sunday.  So far, I know about 5 chords? I love just being able to teach myself chords as I need to know them, they're mostly all really simple.  MY ukulele is coming my way in less than two weeks! Whooo!  My Grandparents used to live in Hawaii and while they were there my Grandpa bought a ukulele and learned to play.  I can't wait to play mine for him someday!   

Mondays...

This is my attitude for today.  Happy Monday.  School is BUSY but it's still O.K. I suppose.

I just got finished watching the third blind audition of The Voice (since I missed both episodes this weekend, again!) It was great seeing two people from Belfast on the show!  Love it!  

I've been thinking about the paint colour for my new room... I was originally thinking a duck egg blue but now I'm thinking maybe a pool or a mint?  Not sure.  At one point I was even thinking of a bright yellow feature wall but I think it might be a bit much.

I've found some great little frames from Ikea.

I like the bright colours.  I'll have to make an Ikea trip sometime in the near future.  They sell AMAZING biscuits.  I know, weird right.  I discovered this on my last Ikea trip.  I'm officially a big fan of Ikea now.  I think I'll make some of my own wall art and I'm planning to hang my ukulele  (when I get it) on the wall.  Ooooh!  So that's a very brief update on the room situation.  

Frames picked, paint colour still in progress.  Much decorating ahead in the future, which I'm very excited for!

My Little Uke

Ok, so I think I forgot to tell you guys but this little guy is coming my way soonish!  It's a Fender Soprano ukulele! I'm very excited! (Just in case all the exclamation marks didn't make it obvious)  

In my opinion, ukuleles make everything sound happier and happy is good.

Just in case any of you are cooler than me and allready have a ukulele, here is one of my favourite ukulele websites.  http://ukulelehunt.com  It's full of tips, chords, tabs, reviews and just about everything ukulele!

I should be getting my little ukulele next month.  So in a short while I'll be strumming away.  

The next instrument I have my eye on is a cajon.  Just in case you're not sure what that is, it's a type of drum.  It's like a box you sit on and you play.  It is also referred to as a "drum kit in a box".  Lots of buskers use them.

I love drums.  Is it just me or does it always look like the drummer in the band is having the most fun?  Since learning real drums seems a lot more difficult and a LOT more money, this seems the next best option.

This is what one looks like...

 So there you go.  Aren't they cool!  

I have a feeling I won't actually get round to buying one, well at least I need to teach myself ukulele first!  

School and Shows

Hello.  Unfortunately I probably will blog a lot less now that I'm back at this weird thing called school where they give you a ton of homework.   

My new goal for this week is to watch the first episode of The Voice on BBC iplayer because I didn't catch it on time last Saturday and I LOVE that junk.  I always watch it and daydream about having to choose one of the four coaches.  I have a feeling I might go for Will.  Although I could easily see myself choosing any of them.  (The voice is a talent show based on singing and if you're chosen to stay after you're audition by one of the judges, that judge mentors you.  Sometimes all four judges choose one person so the singer picks one. The four judges are Jessie J., Tom Jones, Will I. Am and Danny O'Donoghue)  One thing I like about the show is that unlike the X Factor it's meant to be purely based around talent and not looks or personality, well that's what it claims at least but once it's past the audition stage things like personality, looks and style all do have their own influence.

Look at those posers!  They're all so talented!  

Anyway, that's me right now.  I'm taking a break from homework at the minute.  Studying "Of Mice and Men" is proving to be less than fun.  I better get on to my Maths homework and music revision.  

Baking Away

Today I managed to get some baking done.  I made some chocolate wafers from my new cookie book by Alice Medrich.

I got it yesterday at T.J. Maxx for just £3!  Which is quite a bargain considering on the inside the price $29.95 is written. 

It's a large 384 page book full of cookie recipes.  Lots of them are a bit to intricate and time consuming for my liking but there are still tons of inventive cookie ideas and flavour combos.  It's got everything from biscotti to meringues to snickerdoodles. 

I would really like to try her low fat chocolate chip biscotti.

Anyway here is the first recipe I've tried from her book.  They taste a bit like the cookie part of oreos that as a kid you left till last, after you'd licked off the frosting.

I put some in my mum's little Marks and Spencer biscuit tin.  There's plenty of them still on cooling racks!

Optionally there is a white chocolate and mint spread in the book to go sandwiched between two of the cookies, which I TRIED and the white chocolate burnt in the microwave on me and turned black on top.

We're just going to pretend I intentionally left the cookies plain. 

Wall Art and Laura Amiss

Hey guys, I thought I'd introduce you guys to one of my favourite etsy artists, Laura Amiss.  She works as a freelance designer and textiles artist and happens to currently live in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  My family took a holliday several years back to Liden (nearby Amsterdam) and LOVED it!  Such a beautiful place.  A good bit of her art is inspired by Amsterdam and the Netherlands as well as other major cities in the world.  Two of her city canvases are featured below.  London and San Fran.

I'd favourited her stuff before on Etsy but was reminded of her amazing art while searching for prints to possibly decorate my room with.

So far I've settled on painting the walls a duck egg blue, something a little like this and I would love to have a bunch of bright, quirky and eclectic art prints in different sizes on the walls.

Maybe even a little art wall like this?

I'm still not sure yet though.  All I have so far is a LOT of ideas.

Anyways here are some of my favourite finds from Laura Amiss...

This one is listed as, Hill houses - San Francisco inspired, Textiles Canvas print

 Although she doesn't just do city prints those are mostly my favourites of hers.  This fun textured piece is a incorporation of both hand embroidery using felt and appliqué as well as print on canvas.  I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like it. 

Here is another textile canvas print, this time of London...

And now I have two of her prints for you...

The first one being called Scattered Showers and the second being called simply Teapots, which I think would look great in a kitchen against a brightly coloured wall.

Anyway all her prints and canvases are beautiful!  Have a nosy at her shop! Laura Amiss