Some Sad News

Hi Gals,as you know it's not often that I get very personal in the pages of my blog, recently I had some very sad news my mum in law died of cancer after only a week in hospital and I felt it was important to share it here even if it is the season of Christmas, sometimes you can't sugar coat something you just have to share it. Writing and sharing my fashion and lifestyle blog with you all is one of my greatest passions, so please forgive me if my posting is a little irregular at the moment. I have so many fun Christmas inspired post's planned, but right now I just need a little time to adjust to not having one of best friends and someone I admired around any more. I wanted to share with you some of my favourite Christmas DIYS courtesy of pinterest,I love making friends gifts and making Christmas decorations if I have time as long as the process is fairly simple! What about you?

  Christmas DIY Favourites

 This tree was used in Anthropology's window display and reminds me of a giant foxglove it's made using rolled up paper plates and varying shades of green, the snow man is made by gluing the free ends of 3 different sized balls of string together and then gluing each of them together to create the head, middle and lower half of the snow man, I loved the idea of using a reel of cotton for a hat. I am definitely going to be etching initials onto some glass kiln jars as in the Christmas sweetie jar featured, but I will probably use an assortment of bright green and red bubble gum in smaller and larger sizes with the addition of a few silver cake baubles to add a bit more fun to the gift.My final Christmas diy pick, is this snugly vibrant pom pom wreath. 

Knot Wrapping Paper

I love pretty prints and packaging and being able to use things more than once as you have probably guessed from my previous DIY styleposts, this time of year I start to get obsessed about new ways to gift wrap my Christmas purchases.In the past I've used everything from music manuscript, plain brown parcel paper and newspaper print finished with  black velvet ribbon.So it's not surprising I have recently fallen for the charms of  the new retro inspired bright coloured scarves from lush Lancaster, made from Greenspun fabric which recycle plastic bottles into the fibres of this particular fabric, each scarf contains the equivalent of two 500ml plastic bottles and can be used to create an attractive alternative to gift wrap called knot wrapping a custom that comes from Japan, the process used to make Greenspun is identical to that used for making polyester, the difference being the plastic pellets are made from old plastic bottles. at under a five pounds each I think they are amazing value and it feels pretty good to have the option to help slow down the growth of our landfill sites through the combined efforts of Lush and companies like Greenpac that are creating fabrics that can help reduce plastic waste. Plus how many Christmas gifts do you receive where you can actually wear the wrapping paper and look ravishing wearing it!   

Join Me For Some #MERRIMAKING

We are getting a little closer to the season of Merrimaking, so when the gals from Merrimaking told me about their made to order festival animal hoods worn by Ellie Goulding and Rizzle Kicks, I thought is was the perfect time to share their passion for all things fun and furry here.

The two friends behind Merrimaking will be sewing live with the Secret Emporium Dec 15^th and 16^th at; London. Factory 7, Hearn St, Shoreditch. 
  a rare chance to commission a piece in person and make your animal hood that much more unique.

  From this snuggly beautiful made stag hood featured at Selfridge's to their soon to be launched first ever reversible lion hood on the 1st of December 2012 the dynamic duo that make up Merrimaking have their finger on the pulse of what us animal loving fashionistas will enjoy wearing and making merry in this Christmas, all I can say to that is, how grrrrand!! 


 

*images courtesy of Merrimaking

HEATTECH BY UNIQLO REVIEW| MY PASSPORT TO STYLE

A short time ago I made solemn and very difficult vow to myself that this year the lead up to Christmas was not going to be my signal to eat every adorable chocolate santa and reindeer that crossed my path. Shortly afterwards Uniqlo  approached me and invited me to review their slim line (my words) HEATTECH range which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, the timing could not have been better, I'm a big fan of their extensive range of prints and was excited to discover they have recently partnered Orla Kiely, which means more beautiful affordable prints and colours in wafer thin fabrics that can help me fight the pre Christmas bulge but still keep me warm, maybe I could relax my self imposed  pre Christmas chocolate ban and indulge in the odd chocolate reindeer.

Secret Girls Buisness

 

 

 

Some time ago I was asked if I would like one of my fashion posts from My Passport To Style (Every ones A Winner) to feature in a new book release called Secret Girls Business, my fashion post was about the trend for wearing underwear as outerwear, the book by Maggie Hamilton encourages teenage girls to connect with their creativity and forget conformity. I wish I had one of these knocking around when I was thirteen. Secret Girls Business covers fashion ideas, body image, vintage fashion, creativity and relationships.

Gal Friday | Desert Island Favourites

  Hi Gals, for quiet a while now I have been itching to share my favourite desert island products here, I'm a sucker for products that are like a Swiss army knife in a beauty crisis; I love the feeling of having a magical pot of something in my rucksack that I whip out and have fun with because it's so versatile and will sort out several grooming and beauty issues at once. So to encourage you all to go and find your favourite sunny island and get stranded on it, I want to talk about two Lush firm favourites, Lady Godiva shampoo bar and Ultra Balm.

    

   Lady Godiva Shampoo Bar

Saffron yellow in colour and of a creamy consistency which conditions and washes the hair at the same time, saving you time but also perfect for hand washing your smalls too (this might come in very handy if you get stranded on a desert island of course, Lady Godiva contains a lovely bunch of moisturising scalp loving goodies such as -

Cocoa Butter
Shea Butter
Jojoba Oil
Camellia Oil
Macadamia Oil
Cupuacu Butter
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

For any lush fans this shampoo bar smells of Flying Fox shower gel and does not leave you with a greasy residue on your scalp, just shiny and clean hair and it's great for long hair and dry ends.

Ultra Balm

This stuff feels so decadent for an all purpose balm that's effective for dry elbows and knees, chapped hands, parched lips, dry cuticles and the ends of your hair it's like the Wonder Woman of moisturising products and I love things in tins, it contains three simple but effective ingredients 

Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis) , Candelilla Wax (Euphorbia cerifera) and Rose Wax (Rosa damascena) 

Alphabet Chic - M Is For .........

 

Marvellous Maroon

My Passport To Style| Guide To Choosing Sunglasses

 

Although I don't wear glasses myself, for a long time I struggled to find a pair of sunglasses that had frames that I felt flattered me, being part Nepalese, I have a very narrow bridge to my nose which is much more Asian than European, so finding a pair of frames that were comfortable and stylish was a bit of a challenge.

 

Since working out what are the best shape frames for my full oval face shape and quirky nose, which are the large Cats Eye if I'm wearing a nude lip and the small Cats Eye sunglasses (Cats Eye styles are really a take on the classic Ray Ban Wayfarer) or slim oblong frames if I want to wear a brighter lipstick, I have got quite savvy about spotting frames that flatter my friends and women that come to me for wardrobe advice with my stylist hat on.

#Chloe Sevigny For #Miu Miu A/W 2012-13

 

 

 

 

When Miu Miu cast Chloe Sevigny in the role of teddy boy temptress for their Autumn Winter 2012-13 campaign I think they got it VERY right, I know I'm a very biased Sevigny fan, but she brings impish charm and style to the brands Autumn/Winter 2012-13 campaign.Never has such a mash up of yellow, texture and print looked this slick, the layered shirts in shiny sweeter wrapper colours and prints are so moreish and effortless and lets face it what gal doesn't want stategically placed mirrors on her favourite tie, with which to view her makeup. If you missed the behind the scenes video, it's a lot of fun check it out here.

*images courtesty of Miu Miu

Filling A Cake Shaped Hole

 

 

Filling A Cake Shaped Hole

I have decided to go on a voyage of cake baking discovery, largely due to the fact that I recently got addicted to watching the Great British Bake Off and it has left a sizable cake shaped hole in my life but also because I'm just pretty passionate about baking.I can whip up a mean brownie but I'm in need of a new challenge and so have decided to do this properly and have joined my local cake club my cakey user name is Cherry Bakewell one of my tea time favourites.The club is called the Clandestine Cake Club and they are springing up all over the UK as well as overseas so watch out for one in your local area.

 

 

The idea is pretty simple, the Clandestine Cake Club release a cake theme every month, Decembers is pantomime cakes, you can't bake any small cakes, so cupcakes are forbidden, but you have complete creativity to create a cake of your choosing based on the theme, no more than fifteen people get to bake and bring a cake to the chosen venue to share and you don't get to know the location till the day of the event.

 

 Let Them Eat Cake

 Then you eat lots of cake, so how hard can it be I can already bake and eating it is clearly not a problem, well I can make great tasting cake but other than a couple of smarty cakes I have knocked out in the past I'm less confident about the decoration of large cakes, so I'm hoping to maybe pick up some cake decorating tips and learn how to make my cakes look more stylish and appealing. Any favourite easy cake decorating tweaks or cheats for an icing beginner like me or suggestions for a pantomime theme welcome.