Normally my resolutions are things like, 'eat more chocolate,' or, 'stop spending money,' but as this is my first New Year with a blog, I would like to dedicate a couple of resolutions to it!
These are resolutions for building content, traffic, and gathering more readers - because I love you guys!
But also, things I intend to do - so please! Call me up on them when I forget. (because we all know I will...)
To improve my social media 'presence':
I currently have Facebook and Twitter (you can follow me over there > )
and I really notice the difference when I post a link: people click on it.
But I love photography too, so Instagram would be a good site to join (I think) and Pinterest seems great generally for sharing.
Take part in IFB:
Independent Fashion Bloggers is a great resource, and actually the reason I am posting this right now (normally my resolutions would be in the New Year), but this is only my first time taking part in an IFB project.
This post is for IFB Project #76 , but I really can't wait to do more!
You will see a lot of these in the New Year!
Blog MORE!
I love to blog, I really do.
I love taking photos, writing and doing stuff I wouldn't normally do.
So next year, I want to blog more; maybe twice or three times a week.
Interact:
With my readers, and with other bloggers. I would love to do features, link to others blog's, or maybe guest post.
Anything!
Post etiquette:
I have begun a little early with this one, but I need to sort out the design of each post. I plan to give each post a title picture, and include visuals of some form with every post.
I was also thinking about starting a feature, whether it is item of the month, or a favourite song. Any ideas?
Blog design:
I definitely need to work on the overall look of my blog - maybe even a complete revamp!
It is coming, little by little, but I would love some tips or ideas - feel free to comment below.
Reader involvement:
Maybe I should start a question poll, and post the results each week.
Or a reader's feature, where readers guest post once a month on their favourite item.
I would love some help with this one (as it's all about you) - don't feel afraid to post ideas or comments. I created a whole page for this - You!
These are my resolutions; what are yours?
Thanks to IFB for their project ideas and inspiring me to do this, but also for just being such a great resource!
xx
With my textiles group I was lucky enough to visit The Clothes Show, which is a huge yearly high street designers event, with catwalk , stalls and freebies .
My trip was on the last day, Tuesday 11th December, which was truly the best day to go as everything was on sale (and you know how I like my sales!)
As so much happened and I don't want to skip a single piece, I have decided to split it across several posts - and this one is dedicated to vintage!
There were MILLIONS of stalls of every kind - beauty, clothes, accessories, vintage, shoes and more!
I bartered hard (okay, so just a bit) and won a couple vintage pieces for my efforts.
But although I couldn't buy everything I saw, I did take photos of them all!
First up, Bottle Green Vintage.
Some beautiful items, all unique and great quality. Also well presented - suitcases, dressers and hanging rails were decked out in vintage. I bought a lovely coffee-and-cream clutch-come-shoulder bag for just £5, when it should have been £10. It caught my eye inside the bargain suitcase! But the best comes when you don't expect it, and with each purchase came a free tote embellished with the Bottle Green logo and a lovely scarf. I received a block-flower patterned scarf, and my friend E a green 70's style bordered scarf that I forgot to photograph. I will ask her to send me a picture and maybe stick it in the next post!
Bottle Green Vintage sell on Asos Marketplace and also pop up around London in various different markets. I really recommend checking out their stuff as the lady who ran the stall was very nice and let me take photos, but also the prices are very decent for excellent quality products!
I have always loved hats (despite owning very few) and lo and behold, a beautiful stall selling beautiful hats appears in front of me!
Lizzie Lock Millinery creates hats using traditional techniques, and my, are they beautiful! I know little about the price of hats, but these didn't seem to be overly expensive considering they are individually crafted - but still out of my price range. I wanted every single one of them!
Lizzie Lock is also on Asos Marketplace, but based in Brighton. They don't just sell hats but all head-based accessories, like earmuffs, clips and mini-hats. (I'm sure there is a proper name for them, I just don't know what it is!) The ladies who ran this stall were also very nice and let me take photos, and we had a nice little chat about you guys and my blog!
There were just too many fantabulous stalls, stands and shops to take a photo of each, but I did pick up a lot of business cards and a copy of The Vintage Directory, which you can find online or in many vintage shops.
There were definitely too many stalls to explore - the place was HUGE! Every high street brand you could ever think of was there, from Rimmel to Punkyfish, as well as lots of standard market type stores. You could spend as much or as little as you wanted. (If I had it my way, I would have bought it all!)
There were three catwalks - one of which was a Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model catwalk, with the contestants actually there doing many shows throughout the day. The main catwalk was run by Suzuki and inside a theatre filled with seats and heaving with people, but I think I grabbed a pretty good spot (aside from the giant pole.)
I can't wait to post some more, on all of the goodies that were so cheap on the make up stalls, the main catwalk show, and my very own catwalk experience!
I will be posting lots of photos on Facebook and Twitter - so follow me at the side to see them (because they mightn't all make it to these pages - and you wouldn't want to miss out on that!)
I know it was over a week ago, but I am still buzzing and can't wait to share it with you!
Watch this space for more!
xx
So...
I might have gotten a leetle bored in class, and maybe have started doodling, and then designed, coloured and scanned in my doodles.
Or I might not have.
Ok so I did, and I was thinking of many different nail designs (not all that I have the paint for) and realised I actually only have ten fingers and toes. In come the marker pens! This is just a little random post full of ideas and tips!
These designs look really hard to do with just normal nail varnish, but investing in a couple coloured nail pens is definitely a good idea. Just Essentials, Models Own and Rio all do nail pens of various colours, but loads of stores do cheap own brand varnish - just make sure you top it with a decent no-chips coat. Maybelline, Essie and Rimmel all do decent top coats, although they aren't always cheap.
But if you aren't the arty type, don't worry, as companies like Sally Hansen produce nail foils - varnish free designs that peel, stick and file to fit.
Nails are a really easy way to accessorise your look, and can glam up anything. Take care of your nails by cutting and filing them regularly, eating iron-rich foods and using nail balms.
Get Creative!
xx
