Monday 29 July 2013

Liebster Award!

Fantastic news!  I've been nominated for the Liebster Award, which helps to promote smaller blogs (under 200 followers), and thank you Vanessa for being so kind and nominating me :)

So now I've been nominated, here are the rules for receiving said award:

1.) People nominated musy answer the questions that the tagger has set for you, and create a new set of questions for the people you've tagged to answer
2.) Choose 11 people to nominate, and link them in your post
3.) Go to their page and tell them!

I've been loving reading people's answers and think these questions are really interesting and fun to answer, so away we go!

1. Who is your favourite actor or actress?
It's hard to differentiate favourite actors and actresses who I think are brilliant at what they do, like Johnny Deep, and then there's those whose's personalities I just quite like and gravitate towards. 
But I'd have to say, as all-rounders, whose acting I think is 2nd to known, whose films I like, and whose personalities I think are great are, Jonah Hill, Jason Segal for actors, and Helen Mirren and Emma Watson for actresses.

2. What is your favourite word in the English language?
Soliloquy. It's such a pretty word, spelt beautifully, and it's meaning is just as gorgeous.

3. If you were on death row, what would your last meal be?
Ahh, this is so hard!  I love food way too much!   It's going to have to be a 3 course meal, beginning with a starter of a plethera of oriental delights, with sushi and dim sum, which not only is part of my heritage but I also just love eating these little bitesize parcels of deliciousness! Main would have to be a good-ol' Sunday lunch, complete with stuffing, mountains of cauliflower cheese, and a big crispy Yorkshire pudding drenched in gravy, it just shouts out homely, British comfort to me, and is like a gigantic big hug :)  Then for dessert, it'd have to be a toss-up between a silky and creamy panna cotta (I love Italy and Italian food!), or an indulgent NY cheesecake (not gonna lie, I could quite easily eat a whole one, complete with a side order of guilt!)





4. Which one of your Blogspot posts are you most proud of?
Probably my blog post on inspirational women. I just felt really empowered one day, and thought to do a post like this, before realizing how many women in my private life and those in the public life, are so amazing and inspirational to me, and I found out so much more about some of them also from a dab of research.

5. If you had to be trapped in a tv show for a month, which would you choose?
Well, 1st thing that comes to mind is 'Friends' or 'The Big Bang Theory', because they both are based around a group of people who have great friendships and different, hilarious and endearing personalities, and I think it'd just be a barrel of laughs. But, I've got to say that 'The O.C' also comes to mind because that was literally the show of my adolescence. When I was teenager, I wanted to be part of that show and its people so much, and although looking back, I don't think I'd like to now, the 13-year old within me definitely would be screaming to be driving a sports car to the beach and the mall.



6. Do you have any phobias or philias? 
My biggest fear is of death....(putting a bit of a downer on things here, sorry), and being lonely. I can be alone, that's fine, quiet time for myself apart from others is healthy, but the thought of ending up being lonely, on my own. I know the likelihood of my not having anyone at all in my life is slim, it still strike fear all through me.  Apart from that, there's not much else, I'm not keen on creepy crawlies but I wouldn't call it a phobia.

7. What is your perfect pizza?
I'm a big meat feast love (no innuendo intended), but I am partial to a mushroom, ham & pineapple too.

8. What your favourite item of clothing that you own?
Oh, this is a tough one. My favourite pieces of clothing that I own and love to wear, are my dresses and skrits, but if  I had to pick one item out of the whole bunch, it'd have to be this dress that I designed and that me and my mum made. I made it to go to an opera that I got invited to by my ex-boyfriend and his family, and having never been to an opera before, and there being an outdoor posh-picnic, I was quite excited! With an idea of Cinderella in my head, I made this baby-blue and silver, shimmering halterneck beauty that draped just perfectly. I like that I designed and made it, I like how it actually looks, how it fits one me, and I truly feel like a princess of my own :)


I've also got a bit of a soft spot for this dress from Ted Baker. I love Ted Baker, especially when it does quirky prints like this, all the details in this circus scene are just gorgeous and it's extra special as it's from my parents as a surprise when I won the Schwarzkopf Live Project for the trend I entered for.

9. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What's holding you back?
I wanted to start making Youtube videos about 5 years ago, not even exaggerating. The first people I remember watching were AmazingPhil's vlogs and the VlogCandy's collab channel, and I've tried numerous to making videos, and there's many a draft version stored on my laptop and computer, but I've never uploaded them. As many different ideas that I think of, there's always that voice in the back of y mind as well saying  'who on earth would want to watch me rambling on?!' or 'oh god, everyone's gonna hate me!'. I know it should be about you loving what you do and make, and I have this attitude applied to most areas of my life, but criticism is a hard thing to take, and with an audience of the world wide web on top of that, it's just stopped me every time.

10. If you knew that nobody would ever judge you, would you dress or act differently than you do now?
I don't think I'd dress much differently, although, I would probably end up wearing sparkly dresses and pretty ballgowns everyday! (secret fairytale princess and Hollywood movie-star wannabe!) I love dressing up and think it's a shame when people don't do it more often. There's something quite romantic and nostalgic about dressing up and putting on your top hat and tails, like the vintage days of Ginger Rogers, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. That'd also mean I'd get to wear all those magical, fairytale creations from my favourite designer, Elie Sabb (that is if some genie would conjure them up for me!).
And I already am pretty much my very own bizarre, silly, and giggling self to the majority of people in my life, so I don't think much would change there :)




And here are the questions for all of those I've nominated:
1.) If you were a cocktail/alcoholic drink, what would you be?
2.) What's your go-to lazy, take-away option?
3.) If you had to live in a musical, which would it be?
4.) Who would play you, in the movie of your life?
5.) If you were part of a pack of crayons, what colour would you be?
6.) What do you like doing in your spare time? And what do you actually end up doing?
7.) Create your perfect ice-cream sundae!
8.) If you had you're own festival, who would you have performing and headline?
9.) If your wardrobe could only be filled out by one designer/brand, who would it be?
10.) Who's the cartoon character from your childhood?

Thanks for reading!

Hope you're all well,
Speak soon,
A.x

Monday 22 July 2013

Graduation Celebrations!

Guys & Girls, this past Friday....

I GRADUATED!
After 3 year of hard work, friendship, sweat and tears, it was time to celebrate all that we'd achieved, and it couldn't have been a better day! The sun was out, hugs were shared, congratulations were made, champagne was popped and hats were thrown.

It was was a glorious and fantastic day, even if I id spend it with a hot and sweaty cape and not the most flattering cap in the world, it really was a day to celebrate with all my beautiful classmates that I'd spent the pat 3 years with, whom I'd share experiences, adventures, cocktails, laughter, tea, and friendships with.
It was also a day filled with family members being proud, which was particularly touching to me, as being the youngest in my family, I'm the last to graduate and it's almost like the end of the trilogy is now complete!
And of course, none of this would have been possible without my amazing tutor, Jane Mills, there for us and guiding us in the right direction, every step of the way.
The day really hit home hoe far we'd all come along and how much I've loved and appreciated the whole degree and uni experience, and I can't wait for the next chapter in my life.

So here's to the Fashion Class of 2013! I hope you all get towards your dreams and goals, and don't be a stranger :)

Hope you're all well,
Speak soon,
A.x

Sunday 14 July 2013

White Noise

With the sun blazing down gloriously onto England, people in the street have been filled with people who have dusted off their sundresses, and I am definitely one of them.
Being a big lover of dresses anyway, as I love how they flatter my shape and figure, I have probably more than my fair share of summer dresses, but with the high of Murray's Wimbledon win still in the air, and a hot summer day in sight, I whipped out this little white number out of my wardrobe.
With cut-outs and an zip running down your exposed back, I love these little details that make this LWD stand out with a bit of a difference, so much so that during my day out, a girl told me how much she liked that  it was a bit different and how cute i looked! (don't you just love if when a stranger gives you a compliment?! it made my day!)
With temperatures so high, it's quite a disgusting ordeal when you have long hair, so I plaited mine out of the way swimmingly, and topped it off with a daisy, and with the scent of summer blooms drifting across the summer air, I've recently found a new favourite perfume in my life. 
A scent is so personal, and says something about a person, and I like having one or two signature scents that I hope would cause others to associate with me, and after Liz Earle sent me a sample of their new scent when I bought my refill of their amazing cleanse and polish, I immediately fell in love with this little bottle of happiness!
In partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society to celebrate the centenary in 2013 of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and with 90% being derived from natural ingredients, this is more than just a perfume, and it's hard to resist the blossoming tones of Indian jasmine, orange flower and Bourbon vanilla. And to top it off, I just love the design of the no.100 fragrance, with stripes of bright florals, I know packaging isn't the be-all-and-end-all, but it is rather pretty, don't ya think?
With the theme of this clean and pristine tone continuing to run though, I buckled up my sandals, that shimmer and glisten in the sunshine, and stepped out to spend the day exploring the sunny world on a big family day out.
I don't know about you, bt everything seems better when the sun's out, and everyone just seems happier!

I hope you've all been enjoying this lovely summer we're having, (let's hope it continues!), but remember to stay protected and drench yourself in SPF (keep those wrinkles at bay!).

Hope you're all well,
Speak soon,
A.x

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Soft & Gentle

As someone who grew up in the Stoke, the home of Wedgewood and Emma Bridgewater, and studied Ceramics at school, I've always had an interest and appreciation of pottery, and Tamsin Van Essen's pieces really just make me swoon.
Being a girly girl through and through, and a hopeless romantic, dreamy shades of pink and serene washes of white always make my heart flutter, and these pieces by Tamsin do just that.


These beauties from her Medical Heirlooms collection are just fascinating. Based on diseases and questioning today's society's focus and obsession with beauty and perfection, she has manipulated the ceramic form, so that it's 'deliberately encouraging 'faults', 'defects' and 'blemishes.'


Taking something horrible and negative, such as diseases like psoriasis, syphilis, cancer and acne, and being able to see the beauty within it to create something so enticingly stunning, is just amazing in my eyes.
The textures and tones that Tamsin used, are no stranger to the catwalk either, with Simone Rocha's A/W
                                                                        '13 collection.
      With fitted bodies and rouching and fathering to the side that dance with movement, her collection was clean, serene and would be perfect and fitting for a beautiful ice queen.
.

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon,
A.x