One Lovely Blog Award

Just when you feel you may be loosing your way, a small gesture that ignites your spark once again is a welcome support. This is one of the great things about the blogging community. It has been a week since I last posted and just as I began to feel a little down heartened by this, the lovely Claire over at claireabellemakes nominated me for "One Lovely Blog Award" and I couldn't be more chuffed.

To accept the award I have to follow a few rules.

1. Thank the blogger who nominated me, thanks again Claire
2. Nominate a further 15 bloggers for the One Lovely Blogger Award...

Hellolidy
LOTS
theprettyvain
sailorjennie
burkatron
jadestobbs
Living Longingly
pieceofcakepeaceofmind
blindingbrightlights
feathers & freckles
Ginger Pickle
Secret Diary of a Fashion Journalist
keastylblog
The Burgundy Book
fatmumslim

These blogs are a collection of my daily must reads, those that inspired me to publish my first post and recent blog finds. All 15 of them are so very deserving of this blogger community award!

3. Finally tell the person who nominated me 7 things about myself...

• I think my new hobby might be golf...I have a swing similar to that of Happy Gilmore
• I couldn't live without hair mousse or my tangle teaser...these 2 tools are the secret to taming my curls
• I once sang solo in a school musical...if you could hear my singing you would know how cringy this is. It was the rose seller song from Oliver...ouch!!
• My most prized possessions are my engagement ring, watch, moleskin notepad, ipad, trinkets from my Nan and my never ending collection of photos
• I'm insecure about my ankles...they are so skinny. I could never rock the shorts and converse look and have not yet managed to find a pair of knee boots to fit my legs without looking like wellies. My grandad still reveals in winding me up over my "chip sticks"
• My Mum is my best friend
• I'd love to run my own magazine, have a big family and live in a New England style home with a porch that wraps around the house.

I hope, as a result of this post you stumble across some new blogs that become part of your daily blog reading list. And in the process you have learnt 7 things about me too...bonus!

Thank you all for you dedicated support ♥

L x

The fear...portraying yourself through words

I thought that blogging would contribute to curing my irrational fear of writing about myself. A bio field on a profile page sends a hot wave of discomfort over me. A mandatory bio field sends me over the edge! My current bio’s are on version 8 and have taken months to get to a stage where I am happy enough with them. My 'About' page for my blog remains unpublished. I just can’t seem to find the right words, which is somewhat ironic for an English Grad. And I find all this so much worse when writing about myself in the professional sense.

Over the last week I’ve spent a lot of time staring at a white box on my screen, the black flashing cursor only heightening my anxiety of the task in hand. With moving away I’ve had to revise my CV, write covering letters and feedback reports on how I have felt in my role. I found myself asking why do I get the fear at the prospect of writing about myself? I am confident in my career and successes, Senior Management always have positive feedback and I love what I do. So what is it?

Perhaps it is the worrier in me, imagining that I am not liked, a bit of a bragger or not thought the best person for a role because of how I have illustrated myself on paper. Ridiculous, because like I said, I know I am capable and my writing style is *quite good*. This is a perfect example!!…what I really want to type here are adjectives like brilliant, super or fantastic. Why didn’t I?...because to a reader I may not be. I’d rather someone read something and think, she is underselling herself, she is a fantastic writer, than think, a good writer – I guess but fantastic – I've read blogs written better.

I’m cringing at that statement but in order to face my fear I need to be openly honest about it. I am a very genuine person, what I say I mean. Writing about yourself in a professional sense has become much more complicated in my opinion as roles have dozens, if not hundreds of people applying for them. How do you make yourself stand out from the crowd without sounding cliché? No longer can you simply describe yourself as a hard-working, organised, team player. Even if you genuinely are. When describing myself with a plethora of descriptive words and phrases, even though I genuinely believe I am those things, it feels false. There are so many rules and books to read that if you took into account your CV would take years to write.

I have promised myself that after publishing this, I need to be more confident in the way that I illustrate myself on paper. Not to shy away from writing about achievements. Not to get caught up in the rules or worry that I am not putting myself across in the way that the reader may prefer. Something that applies to blogging too. So over the course of the next week I will finalise my resume for Canada and bravely hit publish on my About page…watch this space.

Apparently this is not a select fear but one many people come up against. Do you get the fear when writing a CV/Resume or a personal ‘About’ excerpt, what are your suggestions or tips for getting over this?

L x

Nail Art Obsession

In recent weeks I've found more time in my evenings. Perhaps a result of living back at my parents' house. I've spent this time feeding my obsession with painting my nails. Nail art seems to be undergoing a revival lately and I have wholly embraced this. After successfully recreating the Caviar Manicure with bargain supplies from eBay I was hooked and trawled eBay for more bargain nail tool supplies. I bought a set of dotting and marbling pens for the grand total of £1.50 from a UK supplier! I used these to create the Pink Polka Dot Manicure above for my Mum.

Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for nail art, which is where I got the idea to recreate Cath Kidston inspired nails, hence the tools above needed to attempt this.

For a first attempt and just a picture to go by I was fairly pleased with the result. I didn't have green nail polish like the girl uses in the Pinterest pin. I think this would have helped the effect a lot! Going to attempt this again in the week after seeing Burkatron's extremely professional looking Cath Kidston nails!

Do you use the tools above? Have you got any tips or inspiring nail art/designs?

L x

Button hearts

There is something about a tin of buttons. Every button in my tin has a memory attached to it. Whether it be the well loved piece of clothing that it was taken from, the little shops in Devon where they were salvaged or fragmented memories of sitting with my cousins at my Nan's house endlessly tipping them out all over the floor and matching them up. All these memories have sat tightly shut inside the tin that my Nan gave me for over 10 years, only ever opened to add one of my own buttons. For all those years I've thought of ways I could use them in a non-permanent way. I finally decided to make button hearts and frame them. If in a few years I find another use for them I can simply unpick them and recycle. Although I think it will be a long time before I could bring myself to undo these.


These are so simple to create and make great gifts, which is exactly what I am planning for them.


All you need is a fairly thick fabric, lots of thread, a needle, a cross-stitch hoop, a box frame and lots of your favourite buttons!

I laid the buttons I wanted to use on to the material in a heart shape and took a picture, so that I could follow it, like a pattern.

Start to sew each of your buttons on. I started with the top outline and then filled in the shape from the sides moving to the middle to make sure that my heart shape remained as 'heart shaped' as possible.


Once you have sewed on all your buttons, iron your fabric around the heart. Take your box frame and place your button heart in the centre, place the frame back on top of the fabric, try to keep the fabric as taught as possible so you don't get any creases. Cut of the excess fabric and staple round the back of the frame if you need to.

Et volia...a very cute, personal momento, that cost next to nothing to make. The frame was the biggest expense at £5 in Tesco. Bearing in mind, they can sell for up to £50 in some shops, having become a shabby chic interior design accessory, perhaps becoming a little overdone. Although, the handmade versions are just that little bit more special and unique.


I still have loads of buttons left...if you have any ideas for how I could use the buttons in a creative or crafty way, please post your ideas below :)
L x

DIY: Canvas Transfer

At the beginning of the year, whilst reading the numerous projects from A Beautiful Mess, I came across the Canvas Transfer project. My Mum loves canvas prints so I thought I'd create this little project with her in mind for Mother's Day. This year would be my Nan's 70th Birthday so a photo or her Mum, given to my own Mum, on Mother's Day seemed perfect.

At first I wasn't happy with the outcome as the black parts of the image still showed the paper residue. Although I've come to quite like the distressed look of the canvas and the ghostly finish.

If you want to create a canvas like this hop over to A Beautiful Mess here. Her instructions are nice and simple. The only things I would add are:

I'm not sure what the effect is if you use a colour photo. The black and white works well as the paper residue doesn't show up on the white or light grey parts of the transfer. I found it difficult to remove it from the black parts of the image though. Have a black felt tip handy to neaten up if you feel it needs it.

Tip: if you're in the UK, I bought the gel used to transfer the image onto the canvas from Hobbycraft.

This is something I'd definitely attempt again. If you try this let me know your tips or share the outcome of your finished piece by posting your links below.

L x

University: this time 3 years ago

Since walking away from my little exam table in the University sports hall, gathering pace as I entered the road where I lived across from the Uni main entrance, eventually running to our house to celebrate with my housemates who had already completed their final exam, I can safely say that I haven't looked back. Until now that is. When I packed up my things and left the room that had become my home for the past 2 years, I felt ready. Of course, I would no doubt miss the friends that I had made but Uni life itself, I was done. Ready to start my career, earn money, make a plan, start a new chapter. Uni was the best life lesson. I worked hard and played hard, learnt some hard lessons, made friends for life and laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks on a regular basis. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have not done all the things I had, but that's part of growing up I suppose and this has most definitely molded me into the 24 year old I am today.

Perhaps, reading blogs of those currently going through finals has prompted me to reminisce. My final year was the most stressful but interesting holds my fondest memories. During the final few months, connections with friends grew stronger, through the fact that you were all in the same boat, working late in the campus library towards the same deadlines. A sense of camaraderie could be felt from the silent students, huddled around desks, helping to overcome the dreaded dissertation writer's block.

During moving recently, I found my dissertation but couldn't read it. Last night I dug it out and plucked up the courage to read it. I was fearful of reading it in case hindsight took over and I would be left regretting writing certain parts. At the time of submitting it I was really pleased and didn't want to destroy that memory. I was pleasantly surprised however. Who knew I could write like that! I had to keep checking the top right corner of the page where my surname appears, in case I was reading a classmates. When I first proposed my dissertation topic to my tutor she every so slightly screwed up her face but composed herself before saying "Bridget Jones. I wouldn't class that as a classic romance." I proposed writing on Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Bridget Jones, focusing on how female characters in romance literature have developed (or not) over a 200 year span. I knew I wanted my dissertation to be a little bit different and interesting to write, hence the wild card - Bridget Jones.

My finals were at the time, probably the most pressurised experience to date. Although, at times I think it would be nice to go back to that point in time; sitting in the library, in snugs and ugg type slippers, with hoards of goodies to get me and my housemates through the long hours. Or to go back to the point when I handed in my dissertation, or left the sports hall for the last time feeling pleased with my effort. Responsibility and commitments come rushing on too soon after finishing University and you get sucked into the excitement of 'adult' life, leaving you no time to look back on your years at University.

Good luck if you are studying for your finals!

Lx

DIY: The Caviar Manicure Look

If you are an avid fashion follower or beauty blog reader, you'll no doubt be familiar with the term 'Caviar Nails' and the brand Ciate. Ciate charge around £18 for the Caviar look set - a nail polish and 'caviar' beads. Personally I couldn't part with £18 simply for a bottle of beads, which is ultimately what all the fuss is about. (I would buy their nail polish colours though for £9.00 as the range is gorgeous!) I went on the hunt to find the best and most reasonable alternative - I wanted "the look for less". The result as you can see gives a very similar effect.

Here's how I created it...

Firstly, you need to get yourself some beads. I bought mine on eBay from Goldleaf Craft Supplies. I would highly recommend purchasing your beads from them. They have a fantastic range of colours for a couple of pounds per 40g bag, delivery is super quick and the beads are the perfect size to recreate the Caviar look.

Paint your nails with your base colour. Because I am using black beads and wanted the full coverage effect I used black as my nail polish base. Tip: do not use a fast drying polish!

On the second coat, apply the beads individually to each nail, immediately pressing your nail into your bowl of beads before it drys. You don't have to be aggressive with this. I find dabbing my finger into a bowl of beads rather than pouring the beads onto the nail much more effective and less messy. Gently pat down the beads on to the nail and brush any excess off your finger. Move onto the next nail, again applying your nail polish, then the pressing your nail into the beads and patting down.

Once you have applied the beads to all your nails, take a clear polish for your top coat. Now some YouTube caviar manicure videos will tell you to apply a clear coat only to the nail tip. I would recommend applying a clear coat over all of the nail, covering the beads. Don't panic if, when applying the clear top coat the caviar look almost seems to loose the effect!! Have patience. Wait until your top clear coat drys and the same effect, before you applied the top coat, will reappear and ALL of your beads will be tightly held down.

Now go show them off!!

Some of you maybe wondering how long this lasts. I did this manicure a few hours ago and since then I have showered and washed my hair (admittedly a little cautiously), tidied up a little and typed up this post. Looking at my nails, I have not obviously lost any beads. I must have when washing my hair but if I did, I can't tell. Although if you are doing this manicure before a night out then maybe wash your hair before...just in case!

Have you tried this manicure either a homemade version or the Ciate one?
Or after reading this post will you be trying the look for less? I'd love to know how you got on and see any pictures :)

L x

Do you know what goes into your facial products?

I am not loyal when it comes to beauty products. My make up bag has a rotating array of different brands and products. This is true also for facial products. Since my introduction to a 'proper' beauty/facial routine I have tried and tested so many brands and products. Only a few I have ever repurchased. Recently I have thought about what I realistically want from a facial product. This lead me to face up to the fact the flawless result I desire will not be obtained from a liquid in a well presented bottle. So with that revelation I stopped looking at the models skin on promotional advertising and started reading about facial products in general.


One thing that I have never considered are the ingredients. I'm so concerned about the ingredients that I eat yet not those that I potentially let my skin absorb. Did you know that up to 60% of what you apply to your skin is absorbed into your body?! Some chemicals in skin care products can also be the cause of skin problems such as abnormal oily or dryness areas or acne itself. I was surprised to find that facial products can also cause internal problems to kidneys, the liver and urinal tract!! The ingredient Propylene Glycol (a popular skin care ingredient) surprised me the most. Firstly for the fact that everyone today is trying to retain youthful skin yet this ingredient actually weakens your skin proteins...the stuff that keeps your skin looking taught and youthful. Secondly it can be found in anti-freeze! Yikes! (Source: Pure-Therapy)


Armed with this information I began my search for a more natural skin care routine. Neal's Yard first came to mind having seen their advert for organic make up. After staring blankly at the gorgeously shaped, deep blue bottles on the shelf in John Lewis for ages I decided to try Origins instead. If I'm buying a facial product for the first time, I like to try it and speak to someone about it. *Huge downfall for some of the brands in the store who literally have a few shelves tucked away in the corner and no representative!*


Over at Origins the lady was so helpful. I am a sucker for good customer service and could have bought everything she suggested. After trying the products on the back of my hand I walked away with Never A Dull Moment and United State. A cleanser and a tonic. Oh and a list of 3 further products should I get on well with these!

 

Now I know these are not quite organic but compared to the brand I am currently using these are a step in the right direction to au naturale skin care. After just a week of using these I have noticed a dramatic difference in the oiliness of my skin. This seems to have evened out and by 3pm I don't have an oil slick patch on my forehead.

I may have found a brand I can be loyal to...

...for now.

Have you ever thought about the chemicals in your facial and beauty products? Would more knowledge of what they are made from, see you consider using more natural alternatives?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

L x

Cambridge weekends

The countdown really has begun. Four weeks tomorrow we set off across the Atlantic to start a new chapter in our lives and I cannot be more excited. Until then, life is proving to be a little topsy-turvey. While I'm still working I'm living apart from my fiance. Although, the benefit of this means that I get a mini weekend break in Cambridge over the next few weeks to stay with my fiance and his brother's family.

I love weekends in Cambridge. It's like going to stay with your cool aunt or nan when you were a child. Cambridge means home cooked food, copious amounts of tea, crafting with claireabellemakes.com, shopping in the beautiful city, thrifting, deep conversations with my fiance and his brother, eating biscuits and popcorn, whilst lounging around in sweats. Perfect!

Claire and I spent yesterday afternoon crafting. More to come on this next week...I just need to find the right frame. Here's a sneak preview;

Can you guess what it's going to be???

Claire gave me a little alteration lesson. I can finally wear the suit trousers I bought in October last year. She also altered a cute vintage dress which she'll be writing a brilliant post on soon!

I hope you are all enjoying the bank holiday weekend.

L x

Spring gingham nails

The spring sunshine is not set to break through in the south-east for quite some time and the view from my desk at work is rather dull. So to cheer up a grey Friday and bank holiday weekend, which I would have liked to have spent in a sunny Cambridge with a delicious picnic, but the weather looks set to ruin that plan. Instead I have used my nails as a canvas to paint a little Spring picnic.

It's a little fiddly to create but I love the finished outcome. I'll be spending the summer perfecting this. I got the idea and technique from Pinterest. This is how I did it;

The key items you will need are, a base coat, a colour for the gingham pattern, scotch tape (or similar, selotape will not work) and a clear top coat to hold the design in place.

Before you start painting your nails paint a length of tape with the colour you would like your gingham pattern. This takes quite a while to dry.

While the tape is drying, paint your nails with your base colour. Once dry, take sharp nail scissors and cut small strips of the painted tape. Dab with your finger at the edge to check the paint on the tape is dry before cutting. If it is still tacky wait a little longer. Cut horizontally across the tape.

Using tweezers place the strip on the nail you would like to create the pattern.

I used 7 strips on each nail. Depending on how thick you cut the strips and the size of your nails you may need to alter the number of strips you use. The strip are likely to be a little longer that your nails.

Using nail scissors cut the overhanging pieces of tape once you have stuck all the strips down. Then finish off your spring picnic nails with a clear top coat and there you have it...a design that will put Spring in your step.

What do you think? Will you be trying this, this Spring?

L x

Glossybox: Natural Beauty

With the dreary weather that the south-east is currently experiencing, a touch of spring sunshine is drastically needed. And this month's Glossybox has injected Spring freshness to my makeup routine.

This month's box is bursting with lightly scented and light products that saw me cast aside my April shower blues at first glimpse, whilst opening the carefully wrapped, limited edition 100% biodegradable box. The theme is Natural Beauty, which couldn't have been better timed, since recently looking into more natural and organic beauty products. So the natural beauty box served as a welcome treat. And those treats were;

1. Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst Quenching Serum
I expected a thick, serum being that it is described as "ultra-concentrated" but was surprised to find the product to be very light, almost like water. It wasn't at all heavy on my skin, leaving me with a dewy, refreshed complexion. Just the right consistency and after using for 5 days (this being the only addition to my beauty routine) my skin feels and looks much healthier. At £29.00 is fairly expensive, although no more than the likes of Clarins or Clinique. Plus a tiny bit of product really does go a long way.

2. Inika Cosmetics Certified Organic Eyeliner
"Peacock blue", read the packaging. "Glossybox have really read me wrong from my beauty profile," I immediately thought, being a blacks, browns and grey girl for eye makeup. I was wrong! The colour is stunning. I am so pleased with this product. Firstly for the fact that it is organic and I have been looking into organic products and makeup (it can't be good, loading your skin with man-made chemicals on a daily basis), and secondly for the price. At £11.75 it is about the same price I would pay for a good eye liner and it's organic! The pencil has a very creamy texture, making application fool proof and allowing for both sharp, clean lines or for a smudged look for those who prefer softer, subtle eye makeup. Read more about Inika Cosmetics here.

3. Ayuuri Natural Body Wash
With fruit, plant and flower extracts, a sniff off this sent me to a lush, sunny, spring time field. This has gone straight into my gym bag and has been a delicious, refreshing addition to my post-workout shower. I had the Rose scented one, which I normally wouldn't choose however, the fragrance is very light, not overpowering, just enough to invigorate your shower. At £4.95 a bit of bargain too.

4. Figs & Rouge Lip Balm
Having heard and seen a lot about the Figs & Rouge brand but not yet had the chance to try I was very pleased to find this lip balm tucked up inside the box. Kitsch, dainty packaging, a gorgeous scent and organic...I was won over. All this no nasty, hydrating product in a neat little tin packs a punch. A great product to have handy. I can see this becoming one of my travel essentials being that it moisturises lips, face and body. A little goes a long way as I quickly found after pressing a little too hard on the balm, thinking it would be much less soft than it was. Now I have a nice finger indent in mine. Another bargain at £3.49 with free delivery from feelunique.com

5. Kai Perfume Oil
I was unlucky enough to receive an empty vile of the oil but the lovely team over at Glossybox have popped another in the post for me...watch this space for my thoughts.

Even though I was essentially missing the 5th sample, the other 4 certainly made up for it. For me, this is the best box I have received to date. It has reminded of the point of Glossybox - trying things you wouldn't normally, like the eyeliner colour and scent of the body wash for example. Unfortunately this is my last Glossybox for quite some time. I've already started researching Canadian beauty boxes though. So if anyone can recommend a good beauty box do let me know your suggestions.

If you received the April Glossybox and have written a post/review post your link below. I'd love to see what you thought. Or find out more about Glossybox here.

L x