What you need to be a popular blogger and gain followers:



Everyone is asking the same question. How do I become popular as a blogger? What do they have that I don't? Well, sit back and read. Here are the answers! (P.s this is meant to be humorous, not insulting!)

1) A monthly subscription to a beauty box



Preferably, you need to be subscribed to all of them......glossybox, feel unique, joliebox, carmine....the list goes on. A subscription to these boxes give you something to write about once a month. 
Unfortunately, someone has to be first, and everyone elses will be a copy review. It gets a little boring after the fifth read.

2) A love of Nandos or Wagamamas or Macaroons



Chicken breast pitta, chips and spicy rice - Nandos.



Cha Han and Chilli Squid - Wagamamas.



Macaroons - photo from http://www.thelondoner.me/.

I'm quite a fan of the first two but sadly I've never ever had macaroons. At £10 a box, I just can't justify it!
So there are the places to do your "blogger spotting." They're the ones taking pictures of their food!
Which leads us to:

3) A Canon DSLR Camera

I have no idea if the one above is good or not as I don't have a Canon! But they seem to be the camera of choice for bloggers. A camera is probably the most essential piece of kit for a wannabe blogger. How else are you going to take photos of EVERYTHING you do on a daily basis?

4) An endless supply of money and time

There's a reason that most bloggers (well, the popular ones) are students. They have access to a student loan and they don't have much to do during the day. I know this because I was once a student. An art student no less.

It's pretty hard to devote time to your blog and doing fun things to blog about when you work full time. It's also hard to post a new outfit photo every week when you have a mortgage to pay.....

5) Ombre hair



Lily Melrose http://www.llymlrs.com/

I love that when you type "ombre hair" into google images, the third image that comes up is this one of Lily Melrose! For the uninitiated, ombre hair is when your hair is lighter at the ends than at the roots. It should sort of fade downwards in colour. It's big in the blogging world. And so is big hair come to think of it!


6) An in-depth knowledge of html, the internet and photoshop

Er, I can't think of a picture for this one! You can survive with just a basic knowledge of the internet but sooner or later, you're going to have to watch some you tube videos and learn a bit more. Shabby blogs is a great (free) place to get some cute backgrounds and buttons and they have tutorials to show you how to use it all. I also downloaded a programme called Photoscape which is a free photo editor.

7) An account on every social network site available

There are quite a few sites out there where you can link and promote your blog. There's Lookbook, Pinterest, Facebook, Independent Fashion Bloggers, Twitter, Bloglovin etc

Sign up to every single one and get posting about every single aspect of your life!

What have I missed?

It helps if you can travel endlessly, change your outfit hourly and eat and photgraph lots of meals without putting on weight! You also need that Primark pleather skirt, some Jeffrey Campbell Litas and some sort of top from either a charity shop or Motel. Sorted! (Oh, and don't forget the YSL Arty ring and Mulberry handbag as accessories...)

(Three of my favourtie bloggers there - rocking the pleather skirt! Effies Make-up Box My Pretty Mummy http://www.llymlrs.com/ )

Got a Spring in my step

Hello! Remember me? Glad you're still out there listening!

I've been working a lot recently and having headaches on my days off so there haven't been many outfits to speak of......
So, here's my (2) weeks in photos:



Dress - Primark (old) Cardigan - Zara (old)



Dress - New Look, Cardigan - Zara

The dress above is a new one I bought for my holiday. Yes, that's right. A holiday! I'm going to Turkey for a week in exactly 3 weeks time. Can't wait.
As I haven't posted for a while, the next 2 pictures are from Valentines Day!



Watch by Swatch

 

Bear I bought for my boyfriend!

And more holiday clothing...


Swimsuits from Accessorize and New Look (I've taken these back already)



Dress from Holister



Tankini from Primark

So, there's my holiday wardrobe so far....I haven't tried on the tankini yet so that might still be going back!
I'll have to check the rest of my wardrobe for summer clothing and see what I've got.

By the way, when did shops stop selling sarongs? Have they gone out of fashion or something? And why are there no brown wedges either?!! Answers on a postcard please.....

Lazy Sundays

Evening! How was your weekend?

Walkies!

I took my kitten outside for the first time today.......I bought him a harness from Pets at Home, strapped him in and lead him outside!



Why did no-one tell me that my roots need doing?!



He seemed to enjoy it after he had gotten over how cold it was! You can't see in this picture, but the harness has bling down the back. It was on sale for £5 so it doesn't matter if he doesn't wear it too much.

It must have tired him out as he is now curled up asleep next to me :-)

Here's what I wore today:


Horse print dress - New Look, Cardigan - Zara, Scarf - Benetton, Belt - Peacocks.





"Organic" ring from an art gallery in Alabama



Tiffanys' ring that I got for my 21st birthday and wear everyday.

Time for my close-up

As you might be able to tell, I have been experimenting with the macro setting on my new camera. It's awesome! I've always liked abstract, close up shots so I played around taking some pics of the flowers in my kitchen:


I think these would look amazing as a photo canvas. Maybe next time Groupon has an offer on, I'll take advantage of it.

Well, that was my Sunday. Apologies for my lack of posting recently - I've been working lots. I'm off for Tuesday and Wednesday next week so I'll make more effort. Promise.

All about the knits

Evening, enjoying your Saturday?

Here's what I've been doing/wearing this week:


Top - Gap, Cardigan - Zara, Jeans - River Island, Boots - Oasis



I've had these boots for ages but they aren't particularly comfortable so they rarely make it out of the wardrobe. I like to think the look like Vivienne Westwood Pirate boots.....

I've also been making toys for my kitten! I tied a few toilet rolls to some string and he loves it!



Thomas and his homemade kitten toy!

 This weekend I went to stay at the De Vere New Place hotel near Wickham. We only paid £39 for our room and found it to be lovely! The accommodation is not in the building below but is in a separate block of apartments. You get free use of the swimming pool and gym, and you can go for a nice walk around the grounds.



De Vere New Place





They also have a treehouse room !

This is what I wore (going for the preppy look...)



Shirt - Crew Clothing, Scarf - Covent Garden Market.

 Today, I did a bit of shopping in Southampton and managed to find some super bargains in Gap. They have an extra 25% off their sale at the moment which means that the slippers, snood and hat below only came to £11!! Bargain.



Fur slippers - Gap




Hat, Snood, Slippers and Jumper - All Gap.

 You might think from this look that I'm heading off to be a Chalet girl.....but actually it's been that cold recently. I just like to be snuggly.....

Make your own tablet/kindle case tutorial

Hiya! I've posted some photos before of my home made tablet cases and here is the simple tutorial behind them! Any questions, drop me an email from the tab at the top.

What you need:
A large square of fabric that won't fray at the edges
Fabric scissors
Cotton thread in colours that blend with your fabric
Wadding or stuffing
A button
Some bias binding (edging for sewing neat edges on fabric)
A small piece of ribbon

Step one:
Cut out 2 pieces of fabric that are twice as long as your tablet/ kindle and leave an edge of about half a centimetre for the seams.
I did this really roughly by laying my tablet on the fabric then folding it over to create double the length. Then I laid this bit of fabric over another bit and cut around it to make two.

You also need to cut out two pieces of wadding (padding) that are slightly smaller than each half of your rectangle. You should end up with the pieces below:

Step two:

Place one fabric rectangle on top of the other, wrong sides facing each other. Fold in half and pin down the longest sides.

Step 3:

Turn it all inside out so you have a lined "pocket".

Step 4:

Fill the inner two "pockets" with your pieces of wadding.

Step 5:

Now you will have a rough seam around the top so it's a good idea to sew on some bias binding. I got mine from Hobby Craft and it comes in all different colours and widths. It is basically like strong ribbon which has be ironed in half so that you can fold it over and edge and sew it on. Pin it in place a little bit at a time and sew VERY NEATLY around it! This is the bit to spend your time on.





Step 6:

Finally, sew a button on the front (being careful to hide your stitches by only going through one layer of fabric.) Add a button hole by folding a piece of ribbon in half and stitching inside.

Put your tablet or kindle in it's new home and enjoy!!



You could also adapt this tutorial to make a case for your glasses or make it smaller for your mobile phone. If you are super clever, you could add a zip to the top!

Enjoy!