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2/52

January 10, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Photo 12-01-2016, 17 57 12 Photo 09-01-2016, 17 19 25
Quite by accident, this weeks pictures also include products I have sewn! Lily decided to dress like Harley Quinn (I made the dress), she put her hair in bunches by herself and even found her new black boots to go with it. In her stocking at Christmas there was some Harley Quinn perfume so of course there was a squirt of this included too! Megan on the other hand was modelling some “Mickey” mouse ears for me, that I made over the weekend. These were my first ever attempt and I was really pleased with how they turned out. They are Cinderella themed and I’m sending them over to Liv, to go with the Cinderellla dress I made her for Christmas!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 2/52, blog project, Closet Geek, dressing up, handmade, Harley Quinn, Lily, Megan, Mouse ears, photos

Week 40 – Monday Round-up

October 5, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Only another 12 weeks and then I’m knocking this round up business on the head! I knew my close friends enjoy reading it but I find it such a bind and I’m sure its completely boring to the majority of my readers! Not to mention on a busy week it just feels like such a hassle and yet again I’m writing a very quick post today!

Monday-Friday was school as usual for the kids and work for Chris. Monday I started a new diet with DW Fitness and since its a 12 week challenge it will take me right up to Christmas! This first week I’ve lost 2lb and so I’m feeling fairly positive about it so far! The whole week I have been working hard on Closet Geek orders. I’m so completely busy that every moment of every day seems to be dedicated to it! I had a total of 13 orders over the weekend, 11 of which were handmade dresses and so as you can imagine it’s keeping me busy. Tuesday though I made a dress for Megan and I was really pleased with how it turned out. She even wore it over the weekend so that assures me she likes it!

Um what else? Girls were with their Dad on Monday night and stayed at my mum’s on Thursday. Oh that’s because I went to a Bloggers Event at HomeSense on Thursday night and that was really nice to get out for a change. Nat came around one day too. Think that might have been Thursday daytime! I’ve been updating the school website in what little spare time I have, plus making sure I attend the kids events at school. I went in to help school with the website on Friday afternoon too. Watched The Descendants movie with the girls at the weekend – wasn’t really what I expected but it was good in the usual Disney manner. I would say Mean Girls meets High School Musical really.

Think that about sums up my week! Got to go make 9 of the same dress now so update again when I can!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: bloggers event, Closet Geek, Descendants, dieting, Disney, disney movie, dresses, fitness, Fox dress, handmade, HomeSense, Lincoln, Megan, Nat, sewing, twelve week challenge

#ThatsSewGeorge – Crafty Project

September 30, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

As you know I’ve been busy sewing all sort of things recently but one of my most fun project was given to me by Asda. George – who make a wide range of clothes, bedding etc. for Asda, offered bloggers the chance to make something from some of their bedding. They have a beautiful range which you can find on their website. It was hard to pick to be honest, but it was especially hard knowing I was going to chop it up!

bedding
As you can see, there are some lovely choices and at really great prices too. I have plans for bunting, cushions and more clothes. However today I wanted to share one of my projects with you, and that was the Foxy dress I made for Megan yesterday.

dress3

Since I knew I was making a dress, I picked a king size cover, to make sure there was plenty of material. I used the main design as my outside print, but the back of the cover (which was a paw print design) as my lining. I also used the paw print pattern as a contrasting material. Both the sleeves and the waist band of made from this.

dressclose2 dressclose1
I was really pleased with how it turned out, though due to the large print I think I could have been more careful where I placed my front pattern piece – just to make the design look a bit more balanced. However that’s maybe just me as I’m a bit of a perfectionist!

dress2 dress1
Megan seems really pleased with the dress and that’s the main thing as far as I’m concerned. I also have more than enough fabric to make another dress from, so perhaps Lily will get one too. Or maybe I’ll make an adult skirt from it! Either way I’m looking forward to trying out some projects with my other duvet covers too!

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Filed Under: promo, sewing projects Tagged With: Asda, bedding, crafty, dresses, George, handmade, sewing, sewing projects

Week 39 – Monday Round-up

September 28, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

I know I always say this but I really have to make this a quick one this week. I have like 100 sewing projects going on, 10 or so of which are actually orders. Monday to Friday were school for the girls and work for Chris. I barely updated my instagram all week so I can’t even remember for the most part what we got up to!

Nat came around on Wednesday for the day time, I do remember that. And Thursday I spent the afternoon with Megan and Lily, at their Harvest Festival, then going to mum’s for dinner and finally to an open evening at one of Megan’s options for secondary school next year. The rest of the week is just a blur of sewing, blogging and trying to keep it together! It’s been more than a busy week this week, more like a chaotic one.

I got some new items listed in my shop this week, Amy’s Wendy dress got its outing at MNSSHP and I finished the Back to the Future prom dress that I’ve been working on. However like I said I have to make this short as I’m knee deep in a Cinderella dress and loads of other projects too!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: Back to the Future, Cinderella, Closet Geek, dresses, handmade, open evenings, secondary school, sewing

Closet Geek Update

September 23, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Obviously as you probably know, I now own a small business called Closet Geek, where I make handmade jewellery, pencil cases, hair bows and clothes. I also take custom orders – which recently has led to a prom dress and a Cinderella cosplay. Because of this it means I struggle to find time to blog sometimes, but I thought I would write a quick post about what’s going on over at the store!

businesscard

First thing to note is that my website itself (www.ClosetGeek.co.uk) isn’t having that many orders! I guess if I’d thought about it more in advance, I probably would have known this – but basically it feels like I opened up a little shop on a tiny off-the-beaten-track lane and the only customers I get are few and far between. However on a positive note, my Etsy store (which basically duplicates most of my store listings), has been really busy and it’s been so much fun sewing and making bows for orders. This last week I’ve had two “Little Miss Disgust” dresses to make (one even with a neck scarf), three hair bows and four necklaces. I even have an adult Little Miss Disgust dress on order.

I’ve pretty much completed the Back to the Future Prom Dress, which will hopefully be mailed off towards the end of this week. I’ve also properly started on the Cinderella dress (after a nightmare with fabrics). I’m hoping to make a batch of Villains hair bows, which will be a sort of “Halloween” launch, but permanently in the store once they’re launched. I’d also love to do a Superhero batch but I have no set period of time for that. Probably not quite in time for Halloween unfortunately, but in the not too distant future, I’d love to do a Disney Villains inspired batch of girls dresses too – which my girls are keen to model!

On top of all that, I’ve actually started working on ideas for Christmas. I’d love to make some geeky stockings and I’m currently in the process of working with some fellow bloggers on getting some designs made and reviewed. On the topic of reviews, I was also featured on Fashion Quirks YouTube channel this week. Carley, the girl who vlogs, featured my Golden Snitch necklace, a Cinderella carriage necklace (end of line), an Alice in Wonderland bow and also a Minnie and Mickey pencil case. The video is here if anyone would like a watch!

As well as all that, I have an order for several bows and scrunchies that I’m currently working on, I recently made a Harley Quinn dress for Lily which I hope to put in the store soon and also I have a Snow White rags, Woody, Minnie Mouse and Briar Rose dress to add to the store too. It’s all busy busy busy but I absolutely love it. I only wish I had clones of myself so I could make clothes, watch TV AND blog, all at the same time.

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Filed Under: Closet Geek Tagged With: Back to the Future, bloggers, blogging, Briar Rose, Carley, Christmas stockings, Cinderella, Closet Geek, crafty, dresses, etsy, Fashion Quirks, geeky, hair bows, halloween, handmade, Little Miss Disgust, minnie mouse, necklaces, online store, pencil cases, Prom Dress, sewing, snow white rags, superheroes, villains, Woody, youtube

Week 38 – Monday Round-up

September 21, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

This Monday Round-up is definitely starting to become the bane of my life! I was unsure about doing it again at the beginning of this year and now 38 weeks in and I’m almost certain I won’t be doing it again next year! Anyway… another busy week (duh!). Monday to Friday and the kids were at school, though Lily was off sick on Wednesday. Chris was off Tuesday and Wednesday, but otherwise he was working every day and also Saturday at the weekend.

I honestly don’t remember much of the week, as its now a bit of a blur. Monday I think was probably a day spent catching up on blogging and the internet – as it often is. Tuesday I didn’t have to take the kids to school as they were at their dads, so it was lazy to begin with, then a shower and changed for a Secondary School open evening that night. Chris and I went to pick the girls up from school, headed home for dinner and then Megan and I went out to the first of her open evenings, leaving Lily and Chris at home to watch Avatar.

We were back around 9pm and so Megan and Lily headed straight to bed. We enjoyed the open evening though and LCHS is Megan’s first choice for next year. Wednesday as I mentioned, Lily was off. Nat also came around for the day and Chris was off work so we were a full house! Nat and I however headed out to Scunthorpe for fabric and then obviously later that afternoon I went out to get Megan from school. That evening was spent making a start on a custom Cinderella dress and then researching and ordering a few bits and pieces.

Thursday everyone was gone again – Chris back to work and the girls both at school. I spent the day working on a variety of sewing projects, popping into town and really just getting on top of things. I picked the girls up from school and then headed to mums where we would have dinner before heading out to another open evening. This time mum and Lily came too but not till towards the end and it was only really to meet us and make getting home a little faster. The girls went to bed not long after we got back and I started on Lily’s Harley Quinn dress. I spent pretty much all day Friday working on Lily’s dress and by the end of the day (with picking them up from school and dinner etc.) the dress was done. Lily had a friend to stay overnight Friday as well, which made things a little stressful but I still got plenty done.

I then spent Saturday morning making some bows for Lily and tidying up Megan’s Belle dress. Lily’s friend went home midday and at that point I was back to working on my other projects, putting a zip in a different dress, working on new ideas etc.

Sunday was Geeks in Lincoln, a sort of mini-comic con. The girls got dressed up but Chris and I just wore geeky t-shirts. Left the house not long after 10am and met up with Nat and her son Josh around 11am. The convention was really busy but it was small so only took an hour or so to look around. The girls enjoyed themselves and I have to admit I did too – despite it being small. We also bumped into Rhiannon who I haven’t seen in ages! We headed to KFC for lunch and then to my mums. After that we all headed home and just chilled out for the rest of the day – making time for homework and baths too though.

Another busy week coming this week but what’s new! Hope everyone is okay and having a good week too.

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: Cinderella, comic con, fabric, friends over, geeks, handmade, Harley Quinn, Lincoln, Nat, Open Evening, Rhiannon, secondary schools, sewing

What I’ve been up to!

September 4, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

It’s been a quiet week on my blog and that’s basically because I’ve been busy! The girls were back at school this week which took up a lot of my attention, but I’ve also been working hard on my new site, Closet Geek. I’ve been making and sewing, sourcing and thinking, browsing the web and just constantly thinking!!

Closet Geek labelIf you missed the memo, my new site is sort of One-Stop-Shop (or it will be, eventually), for geeky apparel. Right now it stocks jewellery, hair bows and pencil cases, along with Disney inspired dresses for children. In the near future I want to add adult clothes, but at the moment I just do them on a custom order basis. If you want to keep up with what I’m going, Instagram seems to be my main platform as its great for visuals.

So this week I’ve been finishing off a Wendy cosplay that I’ve been working on for a while. It’s almost finished but not quite so I won’t share it here yet. However I have completed a new Woody inspired dress for girls and started working on some other projects.

Woody Inspired Dress

I have two custom orders in process at the moment, the first one of which I’ve ordered fabric and have a pattern for, the second being quite a big project! The first one is the Prom Dress from Back to the Future. Know which one? Marty’s mum, Lorraine wears it.

Back to the Future, Prom Dress

The second is a Cinderella cosplay which I’m still looking at fabrics for at the moment. I’m pretty excited, but also a little terrified too! As well as that, I’m making a Briar Rose inspired dress and hopefully a Snow White rags inspired dress, fingers crossed they’ll be done over the weekend. I have loads more planned but I really need to get on with my custom orders.

Finally on top of all that, I spent almost one whole day making hair bows. I had some in my store but I’ll be adding more, again you can see those on my instagram. My favourite by far is Eeyore though. It was quite fiddly but such a good outcome.

Eeyore bow

In the future I’ll be adding a range of Villains bows. I’ll also be adding some Superheroes too!

So this is what I’ve been up to. How about you? I love working from home but I tell you, its hard to separate being at work and not being at work – switching off your brain and actually getting “me” time seems a thing of the past!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 50's prom dress, Back to the Future, Briar Rose, Cinderella, Closet Geek, cosplay, costumes, crafts, Disney, dresses, eeyore, hairbows, handmade, Prom Dress, sewing, snow white, snow white rags, toy story, Woody

34/52

August 23, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

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So many beautiful pictures to choose from this week as the girls had a mini photoshoot on Friday. It’s been such a lovely week and lovely summer holidays really. I’m so sad that it’s coming to an end! This picture is Lily, Megan and Amy’s daughter Olivia, when we went to visit them in Berwick this weekend. The girls are all wearing dresses that I made and are now in stock at my new online store – Closet Geek!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 34/52, blog project, Buzz lightyear, Closet Geek, crafts, crafty, custom dresses, Disney, handmade, Jessie, Lily, Megan, Olivia, photos, sewing, toy story, Woody

Sew Sew Busy!

August 6, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

First of all I want to apologise for my lack of online presence at the moment! I’m so busy with other things – especially sewing and launching my online store – that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. I don’t want it to though – as I have books to review, Inside Out to discuss and today we’re going to see The Railway Children so I’m sure I’ll want to tell you all about that! Hopefully tonight I’ll be able to make another couple of posts and schedule them for the next few days, but right now I have to get the kids ready and make a packed lunch! My trip to York includes a stop for sewing supplies too so I imagine that will mean even more sewing to do!

Promise I’ll be back soon but in the meantime here is some of the stuff I’ve been working on and some that will be stocked at Closet Geek!

Custom cosplay costume for a Kariss – Alice in Wonderland

Pencil Cases, various – for Closet Geek

 

Pinocchio Girl – Disney inspired dress – livvybirdadventures IG

 

Briar Rose cosplay costume for Amy

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: Alice In Wonderland, Briar Rose, Closet Geek, cosplay, costumes, crafty, Disney, handmade, pencil cases, Pinocchio, sewing, stationery

Week 28 – Monday Round-up

July 13, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

For the most part, this week has been great. It’s been busy in parts but not to the point of feeling like you don’t have a moment to breathe! Monday started off with Chris heading out to work, taking Lily to school and then Megan and I attending an Open Morning at one of the schools she is considering for next year. It was between 10am and 12.15 but it was nearer to half past by the time we left. Megan ate her lunch in the car, we called in briefly at mum’s and then I dropped her back at school before heading home. The girls were going with their dad after school so I knew I didn’t have to turn out and get them again, meaning I got on with some work when I got home. That said I started to feel a bit rough and curled up on the sofa to watch TV and chill. When Chris got home we had takeaway and didn’t do an awful lot else!

On Tuesday I took both the kids to school (and Lily’s tardis that we made over the weekend!) and then came home again. It ended up as a busy morning, picking up parcels, doing some shopping, calling to see Chris’ Gran and getting my sewing machine serviced. We managed to grab lunch and a few hours to ourselves before heading out to get the girls from school and going out for dinner. After that we dropped Lily off with her Grandma and headed back to school as Megan was in her school play. Chris and I watched and thoroughly enjoyed it, before picking Megan up, collecting Lily and then heading home and putting the girls to bed. By that point I was exhausted and yet again, didn’t get an awful lot done that evening! I took a bath and read some of my latest book.

Wednesday was Sports Day and so I headed out to school with the girls. Lily went first in the morning, participating in 4 races, though as every KS1 group took part, it took all morning. The weather was dull and it even rained a few times, but it turned out okay, despite being cold. Lily and I then had lunch together (along with my mum) and eventually Megan joined us too. In the afternoon it was Megan’s turn and there was a Kingball Tournament for all the KS2 kids. This took all afternoon too and though my mum bailed on us, Grandma turned up to support and keep me company as well. We managed to leave school about 10 minutes early but it did make a difference when we came home and collapsed! We had takeaway for dinner and then Nat came around in the evening.

On Thursday I decided to really try hard with my diet. On Wednesday I’d had a nasty shock when getting on the scales and it was just the kick I needed to make me try again. After taking the girls to school and then popping to mum’s to drop off their stuff (they were staying the night), I came home and emerged myself in wrapping parcels and going to the post office, all just to keep busy. I was good for lunch and good for dinner and I felt so much better for it. I also remembered how much I love jacket potatoes! In the evening Amy and I collaborated to book our Inside Out cinema tickets for when she comes down to visit in a few weeks time. We booked with Vue which means we get Disney Store vouchers each and since we’re buying Tsum Tsums on a monthly basis at the moment, it all comes in handy!

The girls had stayed at mum’s on Thursday night as it was school disco and her having them saved me a lot of hassle, however I still needed to get up on Friday morning and head to school as Lily was in shine assembly. This was the last one of the year and I was so proud of her for being in twice (she was originally in it at the beginning of the year). No surprise but I cried when she was up at the front – I’m such an emotional mess when it comes to the kids! Afterwards I came home and set myself to sewing. I challenged myself to three dresses over three days and I’m happy to say I managed it! I made a dress for Amy’s daughter Liv on Friday, which took majority of the afternoon and a little into the evening. Once that was finished I started on Lily’s, cutting out the pieces that evening. I obviously picked the girls up from school at the right time, had dinner etc. but the majority of the day was spent sewing!

On Saturday I got up and began to sew again. I started on Lily’s dress and worked on till after lunch. At that point the girls and I headed into town as we needed a few bits of food and also some material/elastic/zips from Boyes. When we came back I continued to sew but I did take a break here and there – especially when Megan wanted to make brownies. However I got Lily’s dress finished by the evening and even started to cut out Megan’s pattern pieces. Megan made her brownies into Minecraft Blocks as she’s a nerd like that, but they tasted amazing and looked pretty cool too.

Finally on Sunday I got up and had to take Chris to work, so the girls had to come too. We packed our swimming stuff as I promised we’d go swimming over the weekend and so once Chris was dropped off, we went to the leisure centre. We spent an hour or so there, had showers and got changed. We then had to pop into Tesco again on the way home, where the girls decided they wanted to make their own version of Subway subs. We then came home, made lunch and did some bits around the house, before I settled down to sew. I sewed all afternoon and into the evening, stopping to make food for the kids, help with homework etc. and of course feed myself and Chris. However by about 10pm Megan’s dress was finished too and I was really pleased with them all!

dresses

So that was pretty much my week, I don’t think I missed anything! It’s been a good week but I have to admit things are always so busy at the end of term – I look forward to the holidays. As of today, the girls have a week and a half left of school and I have at least 5 things penciled into my diary that I still need to do with regards to school. That said, it’s nothing too hectic so it should be a good coming week! Hope you’re all having good weeks too, I’m off to sew again!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: assembly, baking, brownies, Christ Hospital, cinema, dieting, Disney, doctor who, dresses, handmade, Inside Out, inside out dresses, minecraft, open morning, school, school play, secondary school, sewing, sewing machine, sports day, swimming, tardis, tsum tsums

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Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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