What have your bought yourself lately?

[Maisie]

Date: 5/29/2010 9:22:32 PM
Author: dragonfly411
I bought myself Jessica Simpson shoes and also two bikini tops from Victoria Secret

Show us!!!

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/29/2010 8:13:59 PM
Author: Circe
A proper crinoline! I wear a lot of 50''s-esque circle skirts, and I have been wanting a crinoline to amp it up for ages. But so many of them are either cheap-looking if modern or, if you vintage, sort of falling apart. While I know it is weird from someone who''s happy to buy vintage *skirts* and wear them *sans* crinoline ... an old crinoline still reads as underwear in bad shape to me! So I finally sucked it up and spent $80 on a fancy crinoline, and you know what? It looks AWESOME. Can''t remember the last time an article of clothing made me so happy!

I love those skirts! I saw these aprons last night. They would look lovely with one of your skirts! Linky

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:47:19 AM
Author: Phoenix
Maise, LOVE yr new dining room and that adorable table runner!

I haven''t really bought much lately. Living here in China and due the higher taxes on imported goods and the lousy customer service, I tend not to go shopping (used to be a shopaholic in Singapore)!. But during my last trip to the US in April, I bought another pair of wicked Gucci heels (yay, another pair!!

) and 2 pieces of clothing from Y3 at much cheaper prices compared to here.

Oh, am also buying a small pair of diamond earrings from BGD and a small AVC from GOG!!

My justification is that I''m saving DH a ton of money in other areas!

How lovely! New diamonds never need justification!!

 

[Maisie]

These clarisonic things look like fun. What do they do? Is it like sandpapering your skin?

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/29/2010 10:05:45 PM
Author: CasaBlanca

Date: 5/29/2010 9:24:47 PM
Author: Maisie
It cost me less than £40 to do the decorating. I feel rather clever! My main excitement was the wallpaper on the bottom of the walls. Its beadboard paper and it looks like wood panels. It took me hardly any time to put it on and its designed to cover difficult walls.

Here is a photo I found on the net which shows the detail

GET OUT! THAT IS PAPER? GET OUT!

Incredible! Great job Maisie!

Isn''t it amazing! I was going to try and do the wood panelling myself but realised I would probably mess it up. Then I saw this paper on someones interior design blog and I thought it looked easier!

Here is a better look at my room in daylight...

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I have been naughty and buying several lose stones. Hurray for internet shopping (I am still stuck in my hotel room).

So far: a 3.7ct crystal opal from TGT (which looks like it will match another opal I have), a 0.95 emerald from someone on PS (feel free to come out, if you wish!), a 0.5ct minty garnet (tiny but so cute!) and some rough for cabbing.

Oh, yes, and a lot of handwoven textiles!

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:00:29 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
I have been naughty and buying several lose stones. Hurray for internet shopping (I am still stuck in my hotel room).

So far: a 3.7ct crystal opal from TGT (which looks like it will match another opal I have), a 0.95 emerald from someone on PS (feel free to come out, if you wish!), a 0.5ct minty garnet (tiny but so cute!) and some rough for cabbing.

Oh, yes, and a lot of handwoven textiles!

Do you have any photos?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I don''t have pictures of the textiles, but it is handwoven Guatemalan textiles. I looked a lot before finding the truly fine ones!

I love this picture! It shows the backstrap loom clearly and you wouldn''t believe the intricacy of the work they do on such basic equipment.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:41:57 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
I don''t have pictures of the textiles, but it is handwoven Guatemalan textiles. I looked a lot before finding the truly fine ones!

I love this picture! It shows the backstrap loom clearly and you wouldn''t believe the intricacy of the work they do on such basic equipment.

Beautiful! Where do you buy it from?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

And, of course, the stones!

The picture looks too good to be true, but I have never been disappointed with Brad''s stuff. This will probably go on a YG pendant.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

And my yummy emerald (vendor picture, as I haven''t received it yet).

 

[bee*]

Date: 5/30/2010 1:38:42 PM
Author: Maisie
I just won this on Ebay! £62!!

That''s gorgeous! What a bargain!!

The last thing that I bought was the epilator (which I really like!). Next will be this gorgeous cherry dress that I''ve been after for ages!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:43:17 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 2:41:57 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
I don''t have pictures of the textiles, but it is handwoven Guatemalan textiles. I looked a lot before finding the truly fine ones!

I love this picture! It shows the backstrap loom clearly and you wouldn''t believe the intricacy of the work they do on such basic equipment.

Beautiful! Where do you buy it from?

I found the best quality in the weaving cooperatives. They generally buy better quality raw material (good quality threads) and are rather more expensive because they try to charge fair trade prices. Although I got a gorgeous table runner from a lady in Panajachel, who was very desperate to sell something, since she needed to pay rent. I am afraid I may have underpaid for that one, because I wasn''t going to buy initially but she kept insisting. In the end, I was so desperate to help her that I just gave her whatever she was asking for it (less than similar quality elsewhere).

My favourite was the Trama shop in Xela. Beautiful work, vast variety, good prices and the women who run it are sweethearts!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

By the way, I love your light fixture, Maise! It throws off lovely shadows and graduations of light.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:47:32 PM
Author: bee*

Date: 5/30/2010 1:38:42 PM
Author: Maisie
I just won this on Ebay! £62!!

That''s gorgeous! What a bargain!!

The last thing that I bought was the epilator (which I really like!). Next will be this gorgeous cherry dress that I''ve been after for ages!

Epilator = pain! But I would still give it another go if it would work. I tried one years ago and ended up in tears.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:53:36 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
By the way, I love your light fixture, Maise! It throws off lovely shadows and graduations of light.

Thank you. That was another bargain. Cost me £10! I love getting things for cheapy prices.

Your gemstones are very pretty. I can''t wait to see them set. I would be useless if I went to a poor country. I would want to help everyone. I can''t imagine how hard it is for them to survive by selling things on the street.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I bought this watch. Some fakie earrings too but I am returning them. I try to like cz but I just can''t do it. Hopefully, I will soon be able to get some of those cute little huggies from BGD.
Bought the watch from overstock. It''s an eco drive so I won''t ever need to buy batteries. I love them but I wish they would get some updated styles. This one was just simple and basic.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I bought a great big diamond upgrade

Maise, where is your lamp from? I love it! And is it paper on the walls or that beadboard stuff? I have seen the board stuff, it is thicker, made of a wood/fibre mateiral. Stiff when you hold it up. Or is it literally wallpaper applied like wallpaper with glue?

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:57:47 PM
Author: luv2sparkle
I bought this watch. Some fakie earrings too but I am returning them. I try to like cz but I just can''t do it. Hopefully, I will soon be able to get some of those cute little huggies from BGD.
Bought the watch from overstock. It''s an eco drive so I won''t ever need to buy batteries. I love them but I wish they would get some updated styles. This one was just simple and basic.

I like that watch. Its just my kind of style. I must be simple and basic

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:00:11 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I bought a great big diamond upgrade

Maise, where is your lamp from? I love it! And is it paper on the walls or that beadboard stuff? I have seen the board stuff, it is thicker, made of a wood/fibre mateiral. Stiff when you hold it up. Or is it literally wallpaper applied like wallpaper with glue?

The lamp was from a store called B &Q. Its a DIY store. The wallpaper is the kind you glue on. Its stiffer than normal wallpaper but its still paper.. if you see what I mean!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:55:05 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 2:53:36 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
By the way, I love your light fixture, Maise! It throws off lovely shadows and graduations of light.

Thank you. That was another bargain. Cost me £10! I love getting things for cheapy prices.

Your gemstones are very pretty. I can''t wait to see them set. I would be useless if I went to a poor country. I would want to help everyone. I can''t imagine how hard it is for them to survive by selling things on the street.

I know how you feel. Half the time, I get exasperated because I feel there is a dollar sign on my forehead and everyone is trying to push something on me (or trying to overcharge me for something - getting "gringoed" is the local term) and the other half I want to help everyone.

It is really sad that these women do such lovely work, which wouldn''t look out of place in a high end store) and yet make less than a dollar a day. The embroidered table runners take over 15 days to make, and yet you can buy them for around $20.

There aren''t enough places in the public schools for all the children so many of them have no schooling. A private school costs $12.5 a month - which is nothing for us but a fortune for them. And the children are so motivated to learn. In the early evenings, all the kids gathers around the kitchen with their school books and read out their lessons (the mother is, more often than not, learning along her children, as the women of that generation had no schooling whatsoever).

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 5/30/2010 2:57:47 PM
Author: luv2sparkle
I bought this watch. Some fakie earrings too but I am returning them. I try to like cz but I just can''t do it. Hopefully, I will soon be able to get some of those cute little huggies from BGD.
Bought the watch from overstock. It''s an eco drive so I won''t ever need to buy batteries. I love them but I wish they would get some updated styles. This one was just simple and basic.

I like the watch! I think my next watch will be an eco drive, since I hate watch batteries. Simple and basic is just my style!

Right now, I wear a Skagen titanium watch.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:03:48 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 3:00:11 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I bought a great big diamond upgrade

Maise, where is your lamp from? I love it! And is it paper on the walls or that beadboard stuff? I have seen the board stuff, it is thicker, made of a wood/fibre mateiral. Stiff when you hold it up. Or is it literally wallpaper applied like wallpaper with glue?

The lamp was from a store called B &Q. Its a DIY store. The wallpaper is the kind you glue on. Its stiffer than normal wallpaper but its still paper.. if you see what I mean!

I do, thanks! I have seen similar stuff here now that you mention it. You can paint it too... is that like yours?

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:04:04 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain

Date: 5/30/2010 2:55:05 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 2:53:36 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
By the way, I love your light fixture, Maise! It throws off lovely shadows and graduations of light.

Thank you. That was another bargain. Cost me £10! I love getting things for cheapy prices.

Your gemstones are very pretty. I can''t wait to see them set. I would be useless if I went to a poor country. I would want to help everyone. I can''t imagine how hard it is for them to survive by selling things on the street.

I know how you feel. Half the time, I get exasperated because I feel there is a dollar sign on my forehead and everyone is trying to push something on me (or trying to overcharge me for something - getting ''gringoed'' is the local term) and the other half I want to help everyone.

It is really sad that these women do such lovely work, which wouldn''t look out of place in a high end store) and yet make less than a dollar a day. The embroidered table runners take over 15 days to make, and yet you can buy them for around $20.

There aren''t enough places in the public schools for all the children so many of them have no schooling. A private school costs $12.5 a month - which is nothing for us but a fortune for them. And the children are so motivated to learn. In the early evenings, all the kids gathers around the kitchen with their school books and read out their lessons (the mother is, more often than not, learning along her children, as the women of that generation had no schooling whatsoever).

I can''t believe the education costs so little, I know its a lot to them but for us its pennies. I have been thinking about that child sponsor program. I always worry that the money isn''t going to reach the child. I would love to help though.

I agree that the textile stuff wouldn''t look out of place in a high end store. The problem is that if buyers go there to source this kind of thing, the women who make it still end up with next to nothing. The benefits are never passed down to them. Its the store that makes and keeps the money

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:07:19 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 5/30/2010 3:03:48 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 3:00:11 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I bought a great big diamond upgrade

Maise, where is your lamp from? I love it! And is it paper on the walls or that beadboard stuff? I have seen the board stuff, it is thicker, made of a wood/fibre mateiral. Stiff when you hold it up. Or is it literally wallpaper applied like wallpaper with glue?

The lamp was from a store called B &Q. Its a DIY store. The wallpaper is the kind you glue on. Its stiffer than normal wallpaper but its still paper.. if you see what I mean!

I do, thanks! I have seen similar stuff here now that you mention it. You can paint it too... is that like yours?

Yes it can be painted. I was all set to paint mine but it looks so nice as it is I decided to keep the paint for when the kids have marked the paper!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:07:48 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 3:04:04 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain

Date: 5/30/2010 2:55:05 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 5/30/2010 2:53:36 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain
By the way, I love your light fixture, Maise! It throws off lovely shadows and graduations of light.

Thank you. That was another bargain. Cost me £10! I love getting things for cheapy prices.

Your gemstones are very pretty. I can''t wait to see them set. I would be useless if I went to a poor country. I would want to help everyone. I can''t imagine how hard it is for them to survive by selling things on the street.

I know how you feel. Half the time, I get exasperated because I feel there is a dollar sign on my forehead and everyone is trying to push something on me (or trying to overcharge me for something - getting ''gringoed'' is the local term) and the other half I want to help everyone.

It is really sad that these women do such lovely work, which wouldn''t look out of place in a high end store) and yet make less than a dollar a day. The embroidered table runners take over 15 days to make, and yet you can buy them for around $20.

There aren''t enough places in the public schools for all the children so many of them have no schooling. A private school costs $12.5 a month - which is nothing for us but a fortune for them. And the children are so motivated to learn. In the early evenings, all the kids gathers around the kitchen with their school books and read out their lessons (the mother is, more often than not, learning along her children, as the women of that generation had no schooling whatsoever).

I can''t believe the education costs so little, I know its a lot to them but for us its pennies. I have been thinking about that child sponsor program. I always worry that the money isn''t going to reach the child. I would love to help though.

I agree that the textile stuff wouldn''t look out of place in a high end store. The problem is that if buyers go there to source this kind of thing, the women who make it still end up with next to nothing. The benefits are never passed down to them. Its the store that makes and keeps the money

My reaction exactly! The workers are the weak link. If you want any nice textiles to coordinate with your new room, check their catalogue at www.tramatextile.org. The bee hive table runner is gorgeous, by the way!

I am sponsoring 2 children from that association (after I found them, I stayed for 3 weeks as a volunteer) and I donate directly to them. Since I know the children and they have pledged to send me photos of their work, report cards, etc., I am pretty sure my money is being put to good use!

I have a deep mistrust of a lot of the "charitable" organizations. Many of them have very high operating costs and there are also those which are flat out crooks. I hate wanting to help but having a hard time finding the way to.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:15:58 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain

My reaction exactly! The workers are the weak link. If you want any nice textiles to coordinate with your new room, check their catalogue at www.tramatextile.org. The bee hive table runner is gorgeous, by the way!

I am sponsoring 2 children from that association (after I found them, I stayed for 3 weeks as a volunteer) and I donate directly to them. Since I know the children and they have pledged to send me photos of their work, report cards, etc., I am pretty sure my money is being put to good use!

I have a deep mistrust of a lot of the ''charitable'' organizations. Many of them have very high operating costs and there are also those which are flat out crooks. I hate wanting to help but having a hard time finding the way to.

That catalogue is full of gorgeous things. I will definitely buy from them. Its better when you know the money is going directly to the community. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

 

[pinkstars]

A plane ticket to see my family. I usually only see them once a year, so it's important for me to see them. But this year we're planning on getting together for my Grandma's cousin who is turning 100. If I don't go during the summer though, then I wouldn't see my dad and he's kind of sensitive so my summer trip is still necessary.

Shoes! I needed some comfortable shoes for when I was doing my Relay For Life, and I got some Merrell's that are awesome!

Laptop, haha I'm about to buy a new one. The one I have now is 6 years old and still working, but not very well. I don't know that I expected it to last this long, but I'm so glad it has. I'm really looking forward to having something that I can actually use though. Currently, just about every page I try to look at on the internet creates an "unresponsive script" which is beyond frustrating. I plan on getting an Asus, possibly tomorrow!

 

[Maisie]

Date: 5/30/2010 3:32:41 PM
Author: pinkstars
A plane ticket to see my family. I usually only see them once a year, so it''s important for me to see them. But this year we''re planning on getting together for my Grandma''s cousin who is turning 100. If I don''t go during the summer though, then I wouldn''t see my dad and he''s kind of sensitive so my summer trip is still necessary.

Shoes! I needed some comfortable shoes for when I was doing my Relay For Life, and I got some Merrell''s that are awesome!
Laptop, haha I''m about to buy a new one. The one I have now is 6 years old and still working, but not very well. I don''t know that I expected it to last this long, but I''m so glad it has. I''m really looking forward to having something that I can actually use though. Currently, just about every page I try to look at on the internet creates an ''unresponsive script'' which is beyond frustrating. I plan on getting an Asus, possibly tomorrow!

Wow! 100 years old! Fabulous!

Have a wonderful time!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Maisie, I am soooo getting one of those aprons! I bought a red KitchenAid mixer, and I''m loving turquoise + red lately! That apron is perfect!

I just had my asscher tourmaline set.

And I finally bought a Tsavorite that I love and had it set in a Jewelryhoo setting.