Sip By Sip

"come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things"

- chaim potok

good morning you lovely folk! i'm back with a new feature to help me find my way back into spending time in this space - once a week, i'm going to make myself sit down, have a cup of something and have a bit of a catch up with you. i'll let you know what's happening over here, something i've recently discovered that interests or inspires me and i'll share a song that i love with you as a soundtrack for our little tea date.

what's new: this is my last week of work at my current job before i start as a junior creative copywriter next tuesday. i am so excited to start, this has been the longest month of my life. i'm also a little bit petrified so have immersed myself in trying to find some pretty work clothes and trying to find a way, any way, to give my ridiculously fine hair some volume that will stay put all day...i know, i've got my priorities so well sorted.

what i've discovered: the beautiful hand painted work of artist and illustrator, rebekka mann seale. i want her pretty prints all over my future home.

find her here: shop | blog

what i'm listening to: alys williams' cover of 'the cave' on the voice is just pure magic. she's from a town not far from where i grew up and the catatonia-esque welsh lilt to her voice gives me goosebumps every time.

have a lovely monday!

p.s. feel free to share your news, discoveries or your current musical faves in the comments below. or if any of you are interested in a hosting your own virtual cuppa and a catch up sometime, drop me an email or leave a comment ♥

Wishlist Wednesday No. 9: A Spring Picnic

belted cotton maxi | chet faker's 'no diggity' | 'nagoa' pumps c/o blowfish | always rooney | elderflower cordial

whilst we may still be having hailstorms and torrential downpours, it is spring outside. it is, it is, it is. it's midway through may, it has to be! and while i'm cooped up in the house recuperating from my little adventures last week and hiding from said hailstorms and downpours, i am back with another little daydream - a lovely spring picnic. 

last weekend i broke out my beloved jersey maxi skirts, something i lived in last summer. i have one in olive green, one in coral and a new one in plum and, paired with a light cotton tee and a chunky necklace, i am good to go. i am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a fashion blogger and outfit posts or style column-esque posts just aren't going to happen here on give me magical, i'm just not qualified. my style, if you can call it that, is simple. comfortable, muted and simple. for my spring picnic i want something pretty which will keep me covered up and warm enough in this still-not-fully-cooperative weather and this maxi dress is right up my street. modest, loose and beautiful. teamed with my blowfish pumps with their summery raffia trim and pop of bright turquoise, i have a perfect outfit for the transition to a warmer season. 

with chet faker's gorgeous acoustic cover of 'no diggity', some inspiration from courtney's beautifully boho blog 'always rooney' and a glass of icy elderflower: i am prancing about in a daisy filled field somewhere, i am dozing under an oak tree swatting away bumblebees, i am soaking up some much needed sunshine and thawing my poor little bones. i am not stuck inside folding laundry listening to the never ending rain drumming away at the roof ♥

where are you wishing you were today? 

for more wishlist wednesdays, click here!

When It's Cold Outside, I've Got The Month Of May

whilst we don't really celebrate cinco de mayo here, last weekend was 'may day' bank holiday in britain - may day is a traditional celebration of springtime fertility, often bringing festivities in the form of village fetes and community gatherings. and whilst we didn't see any may poles or morris dancing, it was lovely to spend a long weekend at home in the hills where i grew up. we spent some time with both our families, in my little village and basking in the sea air and sunshine at the beach. unfortunately the weekend ended with me in intensive care but, until then, it was beautiful! i'm on the mend now but am just a bit worn out so bare with me and this little quite period here on give me magical, i'm just having some much needed rest time. in the meantime, over the next few days i will be sharing the photos i managed to capture between galavanting round north wales and my little stint in hospital ♥

Second Star To The Right And Straight On 'Til Morning

well. wow. what a whirlwind week. thursday was one of the most exciting days of my life. i've managed to get myself a job as a junior creative copywriter. getting a job with the word creative in the title tells me that i'm making it. i'm getting a foot in the door doing something i already love to do, something i spend an awful lot of my free time doing anyway and i honestly could not be happier. i've been on cloud nine since i found out and the month or so before i start really can't go fast enough. on friday evening my parents drove over from north wales to take us out and it was a lively, very happy night of celebrations and cocktails and grown-up chat. saturday went by in a blur of bright sunshine, endless cups of tea and constantly checking myself to make sure the last forty eight hours had actually happened. yesterday, we ventured out in the drizzle for an afternoon stroll to clear the last of the cobwebs and by last night, in all honesty, we were completely tuckered out. everything is falling into place and it is so exciting but it's also nice to take a step back and let ourselves quietly bask in it all for a moment, to avoid it getting on top of us and overwhelming us, to take a second and just steady ourselves. so, here's so this next little adventure ♥ 

Let It Be Written

did you know that, in german, sprachgefühl is the spirit and character of a language, from sprache (language) and gefühl (feeling)? were you aware that something that is rare, strange and unfamiliar yet marvellous can be described as selcouth? and that the pleasantness of a word's sound is its eutony?

if you follow me on instagram or pinterest, you might have noticed that i'm currently completely obsessed with calligraphy. i have been trawling site after site, watching tutorials here and admiring other people's handiwork; pinning everything i find that i love onto this board and trying my own hand at it from the safety of our living room floor; going through reams of layout paper and staining my fingers black with ink. i love the thick cushiony pad of smooth paper, the way the black ink bleeds into it and the pretty splatters when the nib catches on the fibres of the paper and flicks ink across the page. i still need to learn to strike a balance between the uppercase and lowercase letters and i have yet to master flourishes that are elegant, well thought out as well as being full of life and motion. 

i am saving my pennies so that i can enrol on melissa esplin's i still love calligraphy course which i hope will give me a little more guidance and technical knowledge. i have been trying to mimic the roundhand style of artists like melissa, lindsay letters and may-belle for about six months yet couldn't for the life of me figure out how they were forming such delicate thin lines and thick swooping curves - it turns out i was using a flat nib which is better suited to gothic or italic writing styles. so i ventured into an art shop and got myself a bog-standard set of copperplate nibs, a dip pen holder, smooth layout paper and a jar of black india ink. i can't wait to master the basic strokes and how to form each letter confidently, then i can begin experimenting with different inks and nibs. 

i am only just beginning and by no means am i an expert. in fact, i am probably as amateur as they get. i've mentioned before that i have a perfectionist streak a mile wide and need to constantly remind myself that i won't be great at something straight away; not without perseverance, hard work and practice. i have written out the alphabet countless times this week and, for fear of throwing down my lovely new nibs in frustration and giving up, i went in search of beautiful words to write out. 

at university, i studied language and linguistics and have always loved learning foreign words, their origins and meanings and how they have changed over time. when i stumbled upon otherwordly, i felt like i'd struck gold. i've spent hours clicking through this site, keeping a record of the words i loved, either for the pleasantness of its sound or the meaning behind it. below are some of my favourites -

1. smultronstalle (n.) lit. 'place of wild strawberries' a special place discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress or sadness

2. kintsukuroi (n.) (v.phr.) "to repair with gold"; the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken

3. quaintrelle (n.) a woman who emphasises a life of passion, expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm and cultivation of life's pleasures

4. brontide (n.) the low rumble of distant thunder 

the basic tools for copperplate calligraphy aren't expensive and it's a nice way to spend any downtime you may have before work, whilst the dinner is on the stove or if you're winding down for the evening. forming the letters and repeating, repeating, repeating is actually very therapeutic and i'm trying to practice a little each day. if you've ever fancied trying calligraphy yourself, i highly recommend just biting the bullet and trying it. like i said, i am completely obsessed so you can expect to see a lot more pretty, swoopy (it's a technical term...) lettering around these parts ♥