Wednesday 30 October 2013

charity shop treasures



shirt: charity shop
pinafore: handmade
belt: charity shop
necklace: robynmakesthings
shoes: vintage shop

back in march this year i found a typical 'grandma' skirt in a charity shop, and although the cut of it definitely wasn't for me, i loved the colours of the tartan so much that i decided to buy it and see how i could recycle it, and this pinny was the result. although recycling clothes is somewhat time consuming, i find it really rewarding because at the end of it you've got a piece of clothing that nobody else has, so there's absolutely no fear of turning up to uni in it and having that awkward moment where you and somebody else have chosen to wear the same piece of clothing.

charity shops are definite favourites of mine to look in when i have a clear idea of something that i'm looking for and either can't find it online/in stores, or just don't want to pay the price tag for it elsewhere. i love stumbling upon little gems that become wardrobe staples (like the shirt i'm wearing here,) and i love even more the fact that you can pick most things up for under a fiver, which is perfect for someone who is as tight with their money as i am!

Tuesday 29 October 2013

the c word (and sloths!)


hello everybody! i'm sorry to be that guy, but i'm throwing it out there - the c word. the c word being christmas, of course! i try to wait until my birthday's been and gone (which is still another month away) before i start thinking about the occasion, let alone mentioning it, but this year we've been asked to consider card making for university fundraising for a new blood visit so i've had my christmas hat on, ho ho ho.

i know, i know, more sloths. sloths aren't particularly christmassy (in fact, not even at all,) but they are my thing, so i've taken them and ran with them, and here i have a whole bunch of them to feast your eyes on! hopefully within the next week or two i'll further develop these into final card designs, so if i do so i'll be sure to keep you all updated. i've considered perhaps adding them in packs of 6 to my etsy shop, so if you'd be at all interested in purchasing a pack of festive sloth cards, please do let me know! they'd probably be priced at around £2 for 6 cards and envelopes.

Monday 28 October 2013

my graze deliveries


i've been receiving graze boxes now for five months and i love them because:

a) a good 90% of the treats i've received have been delicious
b) the packaging is lovely and graze in general are a fabulous brand
c) all the delicious food i receive always contains less than 150 calories

each box costs £3.89, contains four snacks, and you have the option to have the boxes delivered weekly, twice weekly or once a fortnight. i've opted for a delivery once a week, and for that reason, monday is by far my favourite day of the week. i've chosen the lightbox option, meaning all my snacks are less than 150 calories, however there are four other boxes to choose from:
 
1) nibble box: maximum variety, over 100 snacks to choose from
2) breakfast box: 4 breakfasts in a box
3) goody box: snacks for kids with no nasties
4) nutrition box: a plan where you can choose a plan dependent upon your dietary requirements 

there really is something suitable for everyone if you're looking for a way of trying new foods that you may never have thought to try before. since receiving my graze boxes i've realised that pistachios are delicious, but i would've never thought to have picked them up to try beforehand! i'm also really fond of graze's popcorn and their cakes (ones i've previously received include a brownie, carrot cake and lemon cake, yum!) that they send out with a teabag for you to enjoy your yummy snack with.

if you'd like to try a graze box absolutely free of charge, feel free to head to graze.com now and enter my friend code ROBYNM44B to receive your first, fifth and tenth boxes for free. if you decide after your first box that you're not interested in receiving any more boxes, there's the option to cancel your plan meaning that you don't have to pay at all to try graze out - fab! this code can only be used four times, so get grabbing your freebies while you can :)

i'd love to hear from you if you decide to subscribe to graze, or even what your favourite snacks are if you're already subscribed!

Sunday 27 October 2013

sunday synopsis


this week has pretty much been a battle between me and after effects/motion graphics. after effects is a tricky program to get your head around, and when you've a limited amount of time to spend on a brief, it's tough trying to invest time into learning how to use the program when there are so many other things you've got on your plate to be doing, too. motion graphics generally don't interest me, and when the option of creating a narrative/characters was strictly forbidden (ok, that sounds a little too dark, perhaps) in the brief, it was hard trying to pull anything out of it that was even somewhat inspiring/exciting for me. we've been asked to all reconsider our pieces for tuesday, so tomorrow i intend to spend my day creating a response that is relevant to me, as an illustrator, and hopefully everything will go to plan and my idea will be easy (enough) to produce! i've realised that all i do is complain about my course, so i've vowed to try my best to stop bitching and moaning about every task that doesn't give me the option to attack the nearest surface with a biro, and just get on with it. i'm not a graphic designer, but while i'm on the course, i can at least give it a good bloody go (even if that does mean littering every project with bunnies or a sloth.) i hope you've all had a lovely week and aren't as down as me about the fact that it's now officially the end of the british summertime *sob*! cue the cold, snow and christmas sloths (watch this space!)

Saturday 26 October 2013

moving on



hat: h&m
crop top: new look
jeans: topshop
ring: shop dixi
shoes: charity shop

i'm currently gritting my teeth and just dealing with how wide my hips are in the top two pictures... swiftly moving on! you may have noticed that my hair here is significantly shorter. if you weren't aware, this isn't because i've gone for a massive chop, but because i've taken my extensions out. i've grown tired of them getting knotted, constantly washing and colouring them and generally just having to deal with them on a day to day basis, so i've said to myself that i'm going to make an effort to give them up altogether! i'm expecting it'll be quite difficult for me as i've worn extensions now since i was about 15...

if you're wondering why my hair's failed to grow an adequate amount in almost five years, it's simply because i'm a fiend with hair dye. i always get bored with my hair style/colour and then opt for a new look by either dying it or chopping it, thus either shortening it or damaging it, so growing it is a massive chore. just over a year ago i had a terrible haircut where my layers were cut so terribly short (never again,) and i've just about grown the layers back, meaning my hair now has some body to it. length is a work in progress, but in the mean time, i'm happy that i can use what hair i do have to create a certain amount of volume.

outfit wise, i adore my joni jeans. admittedly, they're not too flattering in photos, but in life they make me feel fab and are so, so comfy. i picked the crop top up on a whim because it was adorable and just £6 in the sale, and the same goes for my shoes. every time i see a pair of shoes in a charity shop that a) i like and b) fit me, i feel compelled to buy them, and these shoes were just so adorably ugly that i couldn't leave them on the shelf!

Wednesday 23 October 2013

an array of colours



blouse: charity shop
top: primark
necklace: robynmakesthings
belt: primark
skirt: primark
shoes: primark

i picked this skirt up from primark a few weeks ago and instantly fell in love with the print as it looks nothing like something you'd find in primark. since purchasing it i've worn it a couple of times, and each time have been complimented on how nice it is and then met by a face of surprise when i inform them that it's only from primark, which further helps to justify my decision to purchase (or so i keep telling myself...)

flicking through my previous outfit posts, it's painfully obvious that i'm a massive primark shopper - i just can't say no to a bargain! i've heard a lot of people say they don't like primark because it feels like a jumble sale and that they can never find anything nice in there, which baffles me to no end because since primark revamped their stores a couple of years ago, the ones i've been to have generally been tidy, well laid out and easy to navigate, and since falling in love with their collections over the past few months, i can hand on heart say that there are plenty of nice pieces to discover; if you're willing to take the time to look, that is!

 

Monday 21 October 2013

the body shop haul


this haul isn't as big as my previous e.l.f. one, however i thought i'd just about bought enough for it to quality as a haul, so here i go! i'd been on the search for cruelty free hair care to replace my abundance of aussie products that currently keep my hair under control, so when i realised that the body shop sold hair products i was on the website browsing the range in a heartbeat. i know there's a lot of talk around the body shop and how they're owned by l'oreal that puts cruelty free shoppers off buying from them, however since doing my research into all their campaigns and speaking to team members in store, i personally feel safe and comfortable buying from them with the confidence that their products and ingredients are not animal tested, regardless of their parent company.

while online i stumbled across a voucher that entitled you to 50% off when purchasing 8 or more products, so i took this as the perfect opportunity to gather together a load of products that will replace my current hair care products when they run out. i only purchased 5 items, however my trusty friend who also placed the e.l.f. order with me decided to tag along and helped me out by purchasing another 6 items for himself - big spender! our basket totalled a whopping £70 before discount, but just £35 after; thank you 50% discount! my items came to £15.25 altogether which i thought was more than reasonable, i'm just crossing my fingers that the products will impress me when i eventually do start using them! if not, at least i know for a fact that they all smell damn good.

have you used any body shop haircare or any similar cruelty free products before? i'd love to hear any thoughts or recommendations to check out!

Sunday 20 October 2013

sunday synopsis


i (surprisingly) haven't taken it upon me to take any selfies this week, so i'm having to make do with a slightly old picture. this week's been odd in that it feels like it almost didn't happen... if that makes any sense? probably not. i think what i'm trying to say is that nothing much has really happened, so the week's been a bit of a dull one; it could be erased from my memory and i wouldn't feel as though i'd ever missed anything! uni's finally pressing on in that we now have two 'proper' briefs running alongside each other, one which is self promo (which should hopefully be a lot of fun once i get stuck in!) and the other which i'm not 100% sure about at the moment as we're being given short briefs that are all supposed to come together at the end to make some sort of sense... we'll see! i'm still struggling a little with the whole graphic design/illustration divide, however i think slowly i'm managing to communicate that struggle with my tutor and i think i should be okay doing things my way; you know, as an illustrator. i think my main problem is my total lack of confidence, but that's something that will hopefully improve as i progress throughout the year and get used to doing things my own way and hopefully have the tutors think positively of my decisions, because, unfortunately, when i'm back at uni i've more than just myself to please with my work! i would go on, but i've honestly nothing more of any interest to say, so enjoy the rest of your sunday if you're reading this, and i'll be back again next week!

Saturday 19 October 2013

french bulldogs // ootd + video



shirt: primark
skirt: primark
belt: primark
necklace: topshop
boots: internacionale

i remember falling in love with this shirt the first time i laid eyes on it because the pattern was just so bloody adorable, and also because it looked more like something zara would stock rather than primark. i didn't buy it the first time i saw it, however, because i was trying to save money, but then when i saw it in the sale a couple of months later for a mere five pounds, i decided it was fate and i just couldn't leave it!

everything i'm wearing here was either bought late 2012/early 2013, so unless you're willing to trawl ebay, you probably won't be able to find any of these exact items still in stores! however, i'm sure there'll be very similar skirts and boots floating around somewhere on the high street because they're very much still in fashion this autumn/winter.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

e.l.f. haul


last week i found myself trawling the e.l.f. website, and since finding out that their products are 100% cruelty free (verified by and approved by peta, which i thought just had to be legit because, let's face it, peta are crazy at times,) i decided to go ahead and treat myself to a few essentials (and some not so essentials.)

while browsing the website it turned out that i was browsing at a time that meant i qualified for 30% off (hurrah for late night online shopping,) so i kind of went a little bit crazy adding things to my basket, and when the delivery arrived, the full to the brim box helped to reinforce that fact - oops! me and a friend placed an order together which totalled around £42, which after discount was £30 which also meant we were eligible for free shipping. my share of the order totalled £17, which i thought was a complete steal seeing as i'd ordered 10 items.

before placing this order i'd only ever used one e.l.f. product which was the lip exfoliator, however after being really impressed by that i was willing to gamble on the quality of the products when placing this order; also, the items are just so cheap (they start from just £1.50) that it's really not too difficult to convince yourself to buy something just to try it out. so far i've used a couple of the nail polishes - which, oddly enough, smell really nice - and the face mist, however i haven't used them enough to form any sort of opinion on them. i'm sure in good time when the products have been used properly i'll have something to report back!

all in all, from previous e.l.f. product experience, the brilliant prices, sleek, fuss free packaging and the fact that everything's cruelty free, i would definitely recommend having a browse through e.l.f.'s website if you're in need of some new, affordable make up. if you'd like to know any of the product names/colours etc. just drop me a tweet and i'll happily let you know!

have you used any e.l.f products before? how did you find them? i'd love to hear any thoughts!