B-E-A-U-TIFUL

Hello all, I've been a little bit busy this last week and will probably be busy again this week too (I'm moving back to Leeds on Saturday so I should be able to blog more from next week!). Anyway, I'll update you all very soon with the things I have been doing over the past week, but tonight I am going to do a special post....

Earlier today I received an email from Meagan at Splendid Communications, who have been working with, none other than:

 Jessica Lowndes from 90210!

Recently, Jessica and Splendid Communications have been working on a campaign together for the Norwegian glacial mineral water brand Isklar. This is all part of a campaign called "Do Different" where, basically you make a change in your life whether it is a new hairstyle, a new wardrobe/look or trying new hobbies. Jessica has been working behind the scenes as a makeup artist, as part of this campaign, and I have been given the chance to share her beauty secrets with you so not you can look just as gorgeous as Jessica does above!

 

Tip 1: "I always drink lots of water and when I’m in the UK I drink Isklar. It’s probably the best beauty tip that I was given. Water is a natural purifier and aids in detoxification, so make sure you drink 6-8 glasses a day!"

Tip 2: "I love dramatic eyes for my night time look so I always use Laura Mercier cream eye shadow and L’Oreal Voluminous mascara to give my lashes lots of volume. Always try and use a mascara applicator that’s more of a comb rather than a brush for more defined, fully coated, voluminous lashes"

 

Tip 3: "I like body lotions and perfume that are sweet smelling - anything that smells like cake is a favourite of mine.  I always apply body lotion after I get out of the shower to help seal in moisture to keep my skin supple and hydrated"

Tip 4: "I’ve just been introduced to Bare Minerals makeup on my trip to the UK and it’s great because it doesn’t clog your pores and allows your skin to breathe. It’s ideal for sensitive skin as the minerals are so pure and absorb excess oil giving you a matte, fresh finish"

Tip 5: "Whilst in the UK I’ve been introduced to Givenchy lipstick in sweet shine, this is a great lipstick colour that can be worn in daytime or with smoky eyes for night time look, make sure you choose a lipstick colour that suits you and is wearable with more than one look!"

Tip 6: "For a great glow I like to use Armani Cream Blush Duo- gives a great sun kissed look without being too much. I apply mine with a soft brush and it leaves my skin dewy and glowing!"

Tip 7: "It’s really important in summer to keep your skin hydrated so I love to use Dermalogica cream on my face. A good moisturizer is imperative for healthy skin, as is an SPF. Make sure you choose the right moisturizer for your skin type too!"

And they are the lovely tip top beauty tips from Jessica Lowndes, some of which I will definitely be following!

To find out more about the "Do Different" campaign visit Isklar's Facebook Page where you can also find competitions and become part of the campaign yourself. I'm going to start making some changes and follow the Do Different campaign as I feel some things in my life need a little bit of a kickstart! Feel free to let me know what changes you would make to your lifestyle.

Top image is from We Heart It.

Many Thanks to Meagan from Splendid Communications for providing me with photos of Jessica from the photoshoot for the campaign.

The "Other" Blog

 

Well, I always thought of myself as a one-blog kinda girl. I absolutely LOVE writing my blog, and I am really getting into it lately. I don't know what it is about it, but there is really something therapeutic about keeping this little online journal.

I kinda wish I'd started blogging earlier in my life, or that I'd got more into it in October 2009 when I first started this as part of a uni project. I feel as though Creative Ingenuity is becoming a little part of me, I think about it while I'm doing other things and think to myself, would I like to mention this on my blog? With this in mind, I have started to say yes to this question more and more over the past few months!

Anyway, over the past year I have really developed a love for baking, which I believe is from working in an office where "cakes and treats" were available most days of the week. I wish I'd baked more for the office over the year, but I'm gona visit them with homemade treats over the next year (it'll give me a break from uni work!).

Whenever I make a cake/cakes, I always follow a recipe. I mainly get the recipe off the internet, adjust it slightly to suit me then make my yummy treats. Then I put the recipe somewhere and move on to the next recipe. I never ever remember where I put the recipe and spend more time looking for it again as opposed to the actual baking!! I decided that I needed a recipe book of some sort, or a file/folder to keep the recipes I use in one place... then I thought I would like to share the recipes with people, and I'd like to give my reviews or to hear other people's comments, so I have made myself a Cakey blog. Now I have even more motivation to bake and make cakes, as I have my other little blog to write on.

So please feel free to visit my other blog! It only has one recipe on at the minute but I can PROMISE you that more will be uploaded very soon. I'd love for feedback and comments about the recipes and cakes seen on the website!

Click on the image above to visit *cupcakes and sweet dreams*....

 

Top image is from We Heart It, *cupcakes and sweet dreams logo is designed by myself.

30 Things...

...to do before I turn 30!

Well I am 21 (nearly 22!!) years old and there are many many things I would like to do in my life. I have seen a few blogs with the 25 before 25, 30 before 30 etc etc and I would quite like to motivate myself to actually do some of the things that I think of doing. I will add this into a tab so it is easy to keep track of and cross things off my list!

So here it goes...

1. Run a 10k
2. Ride in a hot air balloon
3. Visit New York
4. Buy a VW Beetle
5. Graduate from university (hopefully with a 1st but a 2:1 will do!)
6. Go to Paris
7. Go on a roadtrip in a VW Campervan
8. Raise over £500 for charity
9. Start my own business (maybe open a little Haberdashery?)
10. Go to Glastonbury
11. Attend a Blogger Meet-up
12. Own an industrial sewing machine
13. Complete an Otley Run (Yes I have lived in Leeds for 3 years and have not done an Otley run!!!)
14. Go to Ireland
15. Arrange and organise a fashion show for College/University students
16. Get a real job once I graduate university
17. Start shopping in charity shops and blog about my finds
18. Buy a house
19. Run a full marathon
20. Take part in breaking a world record
21. Go on ALL the rollercoasters at Alton Towers in one day (hopefully I will do this in September!)
22. Visit the Grand Canyon
23. Go to Disneyland!
24. Meet someone famous who I actually know things about so I could say something intelligent
25. Get a little Westie for a pet
26. Try to read at least one book a month as a regular thing (minimum of 12months for this to be crossed off!)
27. Start a Cake Recipe Blog Visit cupcakesandsweetdreams.blogspot.com
28. Appear on Deal or No Deal (this seems a bit silly but it's a game show purely based on luck and not skill! And meeting Noel Edmonds would be cool)
29. Join some Socials during my final year at university!
30. Learn more about HTML to make my blog truly unique to me!

Phew, that was difficult... much more difficult than I'd anticipated! Hopefully, it'll be easier for me to complete all the things on my list.

What kind of things do you have on your lists? How have you been getting on with doing the things on your lists?

Above image is from here.

Little Surprise For Me!

Well, the other day I was playing around with my camera (this tends to be something I do when it comes to Technology because I like to now everything it does, and how to do everything on it). Anyway, there I was flicking through the settings and trying different styles when I found this BEAUTIFUL setting!

I absolutely love it, and it was such a great surprise!! I think I'll use it every so often to capture tiny little details! But it doesn't work too well for certain things so it'll just have to be a special setting for me until I figure out how to use it properly! The camera is an Olympus X-940, which I bought in February, and although it is a bit temperamental it is a pretty good camera. Look below for some more lovely photos using the same style:

Have you found any interesting features on your camera?

Top image is from here and the rest are from my camera.

Soothing Sunday #2

Well, I haven't had many chances to blog this week, which I actually really missed (considering I'm not very good at blogging regularly, I have been trying to post more in the past few weeks). I'm currently at home for the summer after a few personal problems, and after having a delightful visit from my sister we had limited internet downloads left. Which meant I was rationing off the last few megabytes to use Facebook and Twitter. Well from today the download limit has been set to zero again meaning that I have full use of the internet to blog blog blog!

So, what I am trying to say is that Blogging makes me happy! Just having a record of my thoughts and inspirations is what I love the most about writing a blog.

To be honest, I have a few posts in my head lined up... but I haven't taken photos along the week to put up here today for my Soothing Sunday! I can tell you a little something about my week! I had a road trip to Leeds on Thursday to see people from CWI, sort out a few things at the flat and to have a look for some part time jobs. My auntie and uncle visited Mablethorpe and we found some very old cameras in a market (I might go take some photos of these interesting old-fashioned cameras to share with you!). Today I travelled to Luton with my parents to get my sister and the journey was filled with 90's music and tasty sweets, so I can't really complain about being in the car for 6 and a half hours. I have also spent my week reading, watching Men Behaving Badly, going for early morning runs and seeing friends.

Finally here is my most favourite song this week:

 

The lovely Mouthwash by Kate Nash!

Image is from We Heart It and the video is from Youtube.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

 

As I am home for the summer, I have borrowed my dad's library card to take some books out for me to read. I chose a couple that I would probably not have read/bought and now that I have finished the first book, I am glad that I did.

 The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is a book set in the 1950's following the life of Penelope Wallace, an 18 year old girl who would just like to grow up and fall in love with her favourite pop star Johnnie Ray. The story begins with how she met Charlotte, a girl her age but very different in personality to Penelope. This is definitely a very girlie book, talking about fashion, shopping, falling in love, pop stars and food. I absolutely loved the book I couldn't stop reading it at the end, as I just had to know what happened! I really connected with Penelope, she was so honest with herself and how much she admired Charlotte's confidence.

Even though this novel was set in the mid 1950's it was lovely to read and I would recommend it to everyone!

Images are from WeHeartIt & Amazon.

Soothing Sunday #1

 

I have noticed a couple of blogs do a "weekly round-up" on the same day each week, which I love the idea of!! It would be good to look back on my posts to see what I've been doing with my time, it will encourage me to keep taking photos (something I seem to be bad at remembering) and it'll be a regular post that I can stick too.

I always like to think of Sundays as long, relaxing days full of cups of tea and TV watching, long walks and lie-ins. That is why I thought the adjective "Soothing" would be a good choice to name my new regular weekly post.

So what have I been up to this week?

Earlier this week I treated myself to a recipe book, Cooking with Chocolate, and a cupcake stand. I love baking and I would like to start collecting more recipe books and developing my own recipes... look forward to seeing more cakes made by myself!

 I have finally sent off the book Northern Lights to Emily who writes the blog emily--charlotte.blogspot.com for her to read and pass on to another blogger. I'll be keeping track of the journey of the book, and I hope that it travels far and wide. Emily, enjoy reading it again!

Today I went to Skegness to watch the Carnival with my friend Hannah today, it was actually quite fun. There were some impressive floats, we think the theme for this year was The World but all in all it was pretty good. My favourites were the brass bands and drummers( playing some classics such as YMCA), as well as the Zumba dancers who practically danced all the way around Skegness!

Above is my new playsuit from Missguided which I absolutely LOVE! I haven't had a playsuit before, and without thinking about the struggle of going to the toilet, it's great to wear! It's such a nice summery print and is really comfortable, even on warm days.

I hope you've all had a great week!

Sunday image taken from here. All other images are my own.

Don't Stop Believing

I hope all those affected by the riots are safe and well.

Today I have seen the more lovely side of our country in those offering their services and help in the clean up (on Twitter!!), and it is these people who make me feel proud to be British.

Image is from We Heart It.

At home for the Summer

 Well it finally feels as though Summer has started, there has been beautiful sunshine and warm breezes most days, with the occasional spot of rain and exciting thunderstorms. A few weeks ago I came home for the Summer in my home town of Mablethorpe, in Lincolnshire. So far it has been filled with days out with friends, drinking lots of tea, reading in the sun and now family have come to visit. I just thought I'd share with you a couple of the things from here at home near the seaside.

A little while ago my room was decorated cream with a feature wall in pink. I have the little "box" room in my house, but it's lovely and ever so cosy that I love it. It's so girly and (now that I'm at uni for most of the year) it's clutter free and minimalistic, with pine furniture and pink and cream accessories. Below are some pictures I have taken of my room.

 

I also decided to have my hair done for the summer with red streaks and a slight change in style. I'm planning to grow my hair long again, so I have opted for the simple centre parting. My mum was a hairdresser so she has cut (only slightly to allow for the new parting) and dyed my hair.

As part of my new hair style I treated myself to some new products by Tresemme (2 for £5 in Boots at the moment) which are to give my hair more volume. After using them for a couple of days (along with my Aussie Leave in Conditioner, which I would absolutely recommend to all) I have noticed more bounce and a beautiful shine in my hair. I love the smell of Tresemme products, and they leave my hair feeling soft and sleek to the touch. I think these are my new must-haves for my hair.

Top image is from here. All other images are my own.

Kind Hearted Blogger Pledge!

While looking around some other blogs for a bit of Sunday Afternoon Reading I came across this:

This is something that I would like to be a part of, so here is my pledge:

AS A KIND-HEARTED BLOGGER I PLEDGE TO:

• create, inspire, and admire rather than compete with fellow bloggers
• be understanding of each other -- in the blogging community, as well as in the world
• stay away from internet/blogging bullying
• speak my opinion freely, while still being mindful of other's feeling s-- be tactful.
• make an effort--no matter how big or small the gesture, to spread kindness or joy to others
• acknowledge that I will make mistakes, (I am only human) but remember to learn from them
• know that at times I will post about the negative stuff in life, and maybe even some complaining (I am only human) but I will always follow up with something happy/positive too.
• believe that this world is a good place, filled with good people.

Top image is from WeHeartIt.
You'll find your own code to add the campaign image to your blog, as well as more information on the campaign, here.

I've had a little idea...

In March, when I was working at my placement, I was given a book by my friend Chantelle as part of World Book Night 2011. This was quite an exciting thing to be a part of as Chantelle had 30 or so copies of this book and was handing them out to people to read, for free!! Once the book has been read, it can then be passed onto someone else to read (for free) and the process is repeated through friends and families. There is a tracking number in the back of the book so that you can register that you've had the book, and where you had it. Then a little while after you've passed it on, you can track where the book has been!

I was really interested in this idea, and since I started reading the book earlier this week, I have been thinking about who I'd like to pass the book onto.... Well, here is my idea:

Why don't we keep this book "Blogger Themed"? There are two ways this could be done, people request the book and an order is made and the book is passed along in that order, or, each blog nominates another blog and passes it onto them individually! Any ideas on which idea is best would be really helpful.

I suppose I better tell you about the book then! The book is called Northern Lights, by Philip Pullman, and is one part of a three part series called "His Dark Materials". I'm not going to lie... I LOVED this book, I could barely put it down! The book is really different, it contains mystery and superstition, following the story of a young girl and her dæmon and how her life will be changed forever. It's really gripping, and with so many twists and turns throughout the whole book. At first I didn't really like the main character, probably because she was the complete opposite of me, but as I got to know her more in the book and her tale, I found myself connecting with her. I would highly recommend this book, and cannot wait to hear what others think!!

So let me know what you all think, if anyone would like to request to be next then comment or send me an email!! I think it'll be a lovely way to unite Bloggers (in a sort of book club kind of way?) and this one little book could travel the world on Bloggers alone! When I pass on the book, I'll include a little note to let you know how to write a journal entry on the book, so everyone can track it, and you could all sign it with your blogs to show who has had it!

The image above is taken from the World Book Night website. The image of the book is taken from my camera.

Designed with Purpose

A little while ago, I received an email about a website called Goodfibres... I wasn't really sure what it was about however since then the site has opened and I think it's a nifty little idea!

So, what is Goodfibres? The website (you'll find a link below) states in it's mission that:

"Goodfibres is building a community for artists, and those who appreciate art, to share their tastes and talent to promote cool designs for a good cause. We believe that the individual spirit of many can be used to collectively inspire, and directly impact many people’s lives. We hope to build a unique relationship between our artists and our customers by providing a venue for artists to showcase their other projects and by allowing customers to voice their support and feedback on new designs. Additionally, we hope to create a forum where users can discuss causes that they feel strongly about and collectively choose the future recipients for our clothing donations (and hopefully soon other items like art supplies, medicine and drinking water)."

Goodfibres allows just about everyone, to design a t-shirt that is then showcased and voted for by people who actually want to buy it. Once it has received enough positive feedback, the t-shirt is then made (sustainably and ethically!) and for each one that is sold, Goodfibres will donate a t-shirt to someone less fortunate! The good news for the designer is that they hold all rights to their artwork/design and they receive some of the royalties. Therefore the designer is rewarded for their work, and they're helping someone less fortunate in the process of selling their designs. I've included some examples of artwork that you can vote for online, just some that caught my eye.

 Anyone can get involved in this cause, whether it is designing a t-shirt or simply just purchasing one!! Simply go to www.goodfibres.com to see what you think!

All images were taken from the Goodfibres website.