Things I've learnt from blogs this week...

I can’t believe the week is over already… it doesn’t feel like it was Monday that long ago. A couple of my friends are coming to Leeds this weekend so we are going to have some girly fun including home made desserts (I made the truffles) and BBQ’s! I can not wait… as one of them said: there is only so much time you can go without your girls!

1. I love this idea – I’m definitely going to try it out!
2. You never need a reason for a puppy photo – doesn’t this one look like Harry… awwww!
3. I want to see the new anthropologie catalogue – especially if these are anything to go by (I know… I’m obsessed…)
4. I miss colourful tights too (though not so much the heels – I’m rubbish in them)
5. Yellow = Happy!!

I hope that you all have lovely weekends...

Little surprises...

Everytime I have got back a film from my Holga I have had little delightful surprises where photos have not turned out like I expected... I laughed when I got the packet back at the counter yesterday, as written on the front was:

The double exposures were meant to be there - but the 2 miss framed prints were not. Heres how they turned out...

The funny thing is if you take the one half of one and the other half of the other, it does make a complete photo - I love little holga surprises!!

More photos of Birmingham...

I really like Birmingham - it has a certain charm. There are lots of lovely areas, like the Bullring and around the museum but it was the more run down area of Digbeth that really captured me. We took a wrong turn on Saturday and found ourselves wandering away from the main road around the mostly run down and abandoned industrial buildings.

I watched a programme on TV about a photographer a few weeks ago* and this area reminded me of his work and his attitude. He said (this is from memory, sorry if it's not completely right)

"I was told once to take pictures of the beautiful things around me... and I said, there are no beautiful things around me... and the person responded, well take pictures of the ugly things then. So I did."

I love how taking a picture of something can turn something considered ugly into something really quite beautiful!

*UPDATE: The photographer was William Eggleston, I couldn't find exactly what he said - but I did find this quote - I think its something I might aim to do!

"'I only ever take one picture of one thing. Literally. Never two. So then that picture is taken and then the next one is waiting somewhere else."

Panorama photos...

I treated myself to a new phone a few weeks ago as my old one was literally falling apart and whilst playing around with the 5megapixel camera at the weekend, I was delighted to find the Panorama setting. I've never taken pictures like this before and it was very exciting! Here are a few photos from Birmingham!

I love finding new ways to take pictures and I love that you get a sense that you are looking around with this setting... I think I'm going to have to play with it some more!

p.s. Don't forget about the giveaway!

Oh my...

I'm beginning to think that these posts should be titled 'uh oh...'

I spent the whole year we were in London avoiding the massive Topshop on Oxford Street in an attempt not to spend all of my money on these bags... and now I've found a website - disaster!!

I guess I don't need to tell you I have a thing for bags... and these from Lie Down I Think I Love You are my absolute favourite!

(I don't think I'll tell Boyfriend about this... he doesn't trust me with bags as it is...)


Sidenote: I finally got one of these bags in 2012 haha, amazing!

9 Months!

Well, actually less than that now - I realised on the train on Friday that I had completely forgotten about this post... oops! I think it was for the best though because I got a call from the Bride to be on Saturday telling me that she has put a deposit down for her wedding dress! Eeeeeeeeee!

We first went wedding dress browsing 3 years ago (how time flies...) and I'll admit that I did get a little teary seeing her in such stunning dresses.

So here's another snipet of the wedding: a champagne coloured wedding dress.

The Bride to be is a gorgeous red head and the traditional white dress did not suit her at all but wow did she look amazing in champagne! I seriously can not wait to see the dress that she has finally chosen.

{All images from Disney Bridal: did you know Disney did wedding dresses? I had no clue. I love the idea of Princess wedding dresses though!}

A little giveaway...

Its Monday again! Doesn't time fly when you are having fun..? I had a brilliant (though hectic) weekend and I have a lot to share over the week (woo) but first...

I have 25 followers! Yeay! Hello to Girl with the Golden Touch, my latest follower,
check out her blog.

So... to celebrate I have 3 postcards from Keep Calm Gallery for my first ever give away!! I saw these in the cutest shop at the weekend and after seeing them everywhere in the blogging world (here, here, here and here...*) I knew that I had to get some for you!

To enter: just leave a comment below - perhaps about the giveaway or perhaps just to say hi :) You don't need to be a follower, though if you are you will get an extra entry, as this is all about you! Thank you for reading my blog!

UPDATE: The winners were decided on Monday 3rd August :)

Thanks to everyone who took part!


*Google reader came up with over 40 other posts but I figured I couldn't add them all...

Things I've Learnt from blogs this week...

Well its been a long week and now I have a long weekend, yeay!! I love long weekends. I'm probably on a train down south right now :) Hope you all have lovely weekends, I'm going to play with my Holga somewhere new, yeay!

1. I seriously love the colour yellow ... it makes me happy
2. I am hugely surprised to say that I love these images with the pink and the yellow... I've never been a massive fan of pink, but these are cute!
3. I love love love this (and I'm pretty sure you will too) hehe
4. This is a genius way of reusing tins!
5. These cases are too cute...

p.s. Hello to my lovely new follower Nina! I love her blog :)

Oh my...

I saw these on Jars of Cute and I had to share them as well, especially after seeing the Creme Egg!! I seriously love Creme Eggs... I can't even decide which one I like the best... they are all just delightful and my favourtite treats!

They are too cute - check out British Tea Cream for more delights - I think I'm going to have to get some, but which ones?!

p.s. I didn't spot the bourbon biscuit when putting together the image - eep! Too cute!

Caught in the rain...

This morning I got caught in the rain without an umbrella... and to make it worse my bus was late and I got wet feet - theres nothing worse than cold, soggy feet.

Rather than feel too sorry for myself I decided to cheer myself up by looking at some pretty pictures on Flickr - I wish I had had my Holga with me now... oh well :)

1. paris in the the rain, 2. Millennium Bridge, London 2004. Rain., 3. --> the beauty of the holga, 4. Artist in the Rain, 5. Rainy HOLGA #2, 6. Holga B/W, 7. Rain Check, 8. rain, 9. hawaii rain, 10. After it rained., 11. Rainy HOLGA #3, 12. rainy day

p.s. Isn't it great how blogging can turn a negative into a plus? Also I think its quite fitting all the photos were in black and white...

Anthropologie love...

I did this on Polyvore last week before I knew Anthropologie was opening a store in London... I seriously love that dress... and the peacock plate... and the bag... and the shoes...

Uh oh... I'm definitely going to have to start saving up some pennies!

The last of Roll 2...

Here are the final pretty pictures from the second roll of film that I took with Helga... I love the contrast of the shadows in the top photo. In the other two photos I was experimenting with the double exposure again - its far too much fun!!

I managed to find some 35mm film in Poundland at the weekend so I now have 5 rolls to use up - I can't wait to use them next weekend!

p.s. Big Hello to my new followers Onic, Carlene and Urban LifeStyle Decor - check out their amazing blogs... especially the puppies - awwww!

Bourbon Truffles - so yummy!

I love love love bourbon biscuits - to the point of where I don't buy them anymore as I can happily eat 5 in one go without any guilt or shame. However when I saw these Oreo truffles I knew I had to try them with bourbon biscuits...
Oh my... they were so so yummy! Totally worth getting covered in chocolate (I'm such a messy cook!) and Boyfriend loved them too! I could easily have eaten 5 of these in one go as well. Yum!

I wonder what other biscuits this would work well with...

Things I’ve learnt from blogs this week…

Another week over already! Still very excited about getting new followers and even more excited about sharing Holga pictures... I'm going to get some more film tomorrow for next weekend yeay!

1. One day our house will be like this at 5pm – I can not wait!
2. I love love love these France inspired images...
3. I want to go on this, hehe!
4. you can never have too many cute pillows or cups!
5. I heart film too!

Hope you all have lovely weekends!!

When Harry met Helga...

Eeee!! I don't know how I held out not posting these until today... I think it was worth the wait though!

Poor Puppy - I do tend to camera stalk him but its totally worth it!

I adore the last photo of him - I wish I could see him more.

p.s. Yup Puppy's name is Harry - I'm pretty sure my lil sis named him after Harry Potter but she would never admit it :)

Great news...

My first Holga film arrived in the post yesterday... I am so relieved!

The not so great news... only 1/4 of them turned out really well and I didn't get the free film... boo!!

Here's the best of the bunch from the first roll, I still love them :)

My first double exposure looking out of our bedroom window!

Kirkstall Abbey at twilight...

I think the last one is my favourite :)

I didn't really expect the photos to turn out that well with it being the first experimental roll and I know I forgot to set the shutter speed back to N after messing around with the B setting - oops. I didn't use the B shutter setting at all with the second roll which is why I think the pictures turned out so well!

20 Facts about Boyfriend and Me...

I saw this at A 'Cheery' Disposition and inspired by Adele's 'Things that Make Ian and Adele, well, Ian and Adele' I decided that now was the time to share a few snippets about us!!

I was originally going to do ten but as I got my 20th follower (oh my gosh...) I decided to celebrate!! Thank you so much to everyone who follows (and reads!) my blog - I really can't believe it! Hope you enjoy these facts!

1. We met at College
2. We were both very shy and had to be coherced into talking to each other
3. He was the coolest boy from his high school and I was one of the geekiest girls from mine
4. We went to two different universities
5. I had a bit of a Bella breakdown when he first went away (not my best moments...)
6. ...which is why I'm on team Edward!
7. We spent 3 years long distance
8. Now we struggle with a couple of days apart
9. We have been together longer than all of our friends who are getting engaged/married...
10. We have had 4 homes together
11. and we have loved each one!
12. He loves cats and I love dogs
13. I love High Fidelity because it reminds me of when Boyfriend made me mix tapes
14. We still have the first ones in my Hifi
15. Now he makes me mix CD's
16. He is great at getting up in the morning... I really am not!
17. I still get excited when I get a text message/email/phone call of him
18. We love going out to eat (possibly too much)
19. We are both addicted to Rock Band
20. He is better at it than me...

Hi especially to Gabby and Shelby! Check out their blogs!

When Helga went to Scarborough...

After waiting for what felt like ages (though really its only been a week) I decided to check my bank and see if the money had been processed for my first holga film that I sent off... It hadn't
:( So I tried ringing the company and all I got was an answer machine and a worrying message about how the company had changed hands... So my first holga film may be lost to me... sob.

On the plus side, I took another film at the weekend and rather impulsively decided to take it to the shop to get processed yesterday... it cost double the price but only took 20 minutes! Huzzah. I think my new toy may be an expensive hobby...

How great have they turned out? I was so excited when I opened the packet!! I still have 16 photos from Scarborough in the camera - I'm a little surprised I didn't finish the roll to be honest but those will have to wait until I do... I'll post some more of this roll over the next few days though, yeay!!

p.s. I really hope that first roll does turn up - we had so much fun taking the pictures...

Love. Obsess. Inspire. Giveaway...

I don't really think I'm lucky enough to win two giveaways in one month (or ever) but its worth a shot right? Also the prize is amazing and all the sponsors are great.


I particularly like the Pink Boot Series - Elephant from Tallfrog

and the Darling Deer Laptop Sleeve from Lollington’s Shop... if only I had a laptop!

Oh my...

I discovered The Red Deer this morning through Grace's Birdcage (Alicia also won a postcard) and now she is following my blog as well! Hi Alicia :)

Check out her amazing cupcakes - I have never so much wanted to bake cupcakes as I do right now - especially as my lovely Mum just brought me some cute cupcake molds!! Question is: which one do I make first? The Kit Kat one really looks yummy...

p.s. I'm actually going to make some bourbon biscuit truffles tonight after seeing these Oreo Truffles on I Then Shall Live... I hope that bourbon biscuits taste as nice. I can wait for cupcakes... I think...

Scarborough...

I think I have a Poladroid problem! I still think that Boyfriend's camera takes gorgeous photos but I can't seem to stop myself from taking photos that I know will look great when made to look like Polaroids - is that a bad thing?

We had such a lovely time in Scarborough: the weather was gorgeous, we had icecreams, we went on a sea cruise, we had fish and chips on the sea front, played on the 2p machines and we walked across the beach... I have never seen so many seagulls in one place before though and they were huge!

I've uploaded the best digital photos onto Flickr, so you can see them there if you want...

Things I’ve learnt from blogs this week...

Well, it’s been an odd week this week, the days have really dragged and the evenings have flown by… I’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of my first holga film… I really hope it’s in the post when I get home today. Boyfriend is taking me to Scarborough this weekend, I’m hugely excited, we’re even staying overnight (ohhhh) I love the beach and last time we were there it rained so I’m hoping it will be nicer weather. Hope you all have lovely weekend!!

1. I seriously want one of these – It did make me smile – I’m not sure I would be able to eat the toast though, its too cute – unless it said ‘eat me’ maybe?
2. These butterfly place cards are adorable!
3. You can get rugs that look like grass – I miss having a garden and one of these would make up for it a little bit :)
4. I wish I could find these molds for the UK– they are actually too cute! Eep!
5. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of prints of cameras… these are stunning – I love the double exposure one.

p.s. Hello to my new followers Claudy, Radio Web Blog and Red Boots (I love your blog!)

Today I wish I was...

1. At the beach {Beach Holga Paulilles}
2. In Paris {Paris_holga_05}
3. Playing with a puppy {Ettore}
4. Sitting on a swing {Fall swing}
5. Having a picnic in the sunshine {mall picnic spread}
6. Back in my bed... {no sleep 'til ...}

Any of these would be lovely...

p.s. Hi to my New follower Jenny - Check out her two blogs :)

Flamingo Land!

I don't really know why its taken me so long to post about our day trip to Flamingo Land... especially as I absolutely loved it. The weather was lovely, we had great company (my sister and her boyfriend) and the rides and the zoo were amazing! I love Theme Parks and now so does Boyfriend.

( I want to take him to Alton Towers next, woo)

The best thing about Flamingo Land was that it had alot of my favourite things!

Peacocks and tigers...

Minature trains and awesome rides...

and swings! I love swings - in fact my favourite ride was Flip Flop - essentially a massive spinning swing!

Yeay for great days out and finding new things that Boyfriend and I can do together!!

Chocolate Macarons

After not having the time to go to Laduree when we were in London, we decided that now was the time to try making our own Macarons...

First I should admit that I'm a really messy and somewhat novice baker - I had no idea that the mixture would spread as much as it did or that it would spread even further when in the oven - oops!

So in the end we ended up with 8 large complete macarons that despite not looking the best tasted abolutely amazing!!

and heres the proof that I'm messy!!

Find the recipe I used and pictures of what they should have looked at here - I used a basic chocolate butter icing in the middle. Maybe they will look like that next time I try making them?

Blogroll Update: July

Here we go again - every month I manage to add more and more blogs to my reader and this month it has been bursting at the seams! Here are the latest additions to my Blogroll for July:

P.S. Be sure to click on my latest follower Leetid's blog Life of Leetid - I totally blame her for introducing me to Polyvore :)