Crafty Creatives: Box 7!

Hey everyone!

Apologies for my lack of regular posting recently - I'm still trying to get a blogging timetable in place to fit around my new work schedule! But I hope to be back to normal very soon!

Anyway, it's that lovely time again when the latest Crafty Creatives box lands on my doorstep - and now that I've moved back to civilisation I don't have to wait 4 days longer than everyone else for mine to arrive.

This month the girlies over at Crafty Creatives have really outdone themselves, with a fabulously fun Woodland theme packed full of owls, foxes, flowers and leaves!

So without further ado, here are the treats in my box this month:

Crafty Creatives: Box 7!

Crafty Creatives: Overview

Crafty Creatives: Needle Felt Kit

As well as the needle-felted leaves kit (am I the only one who'd never heard of this craft before? I'm very excited to try it though!), my CC Box also came with lots of gorgeous extras including:

Art card by Lucy Farfort
3 toadstool beads
Wooden leaf buttons
Owly fabric
Skeleton leaves
5 leafy pendants
2 pots of Flower Soft 

Full size Flower Soft glue
2 fox beads
Owl pendant

3 birch hearts

Pine cone

My favourite items this time are the two fox beads and the gorgeous owl pendant (perfect for an owly themed necklace!).

Closeup: Pinecones and Woodland Creatures

Closeup: Foxes and Leaves

Closeup: Owly Fabric

Closeup: Woodland Treats

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I love the cute wildlife-themed contents of this month's box and can't wait for the weekend to find out what needling-felting is (and whether I'm any good at it!) 

If you're interested in signing up for your own subscription, here's the link: Crafty Creatives 

Em
x 

PS: Don't forget to follow my blog and Twitter: @emberdrake

Hair Dilemma!

Hey everyone!

Every year I make a New Year's Resolution to do something new with my hair. And every year I get as far as the hairstylist's chair before succumbing to nerves and getting my usual boring haircut all over again.

But I've been gazingly longingly at Emma Stone's pretty side bangs for too long now - so this year I've made the same Resolution but am determined to go through with it! 

So to see if side bangs would work for my face shape, I thought I would give one of those online 'Hairstyle Tester' websites a try - where you upload your picture and virtually try out celebrity styles to see whether they suit you. 

Now the results are not exactly a masterpiece in photoshop skills - but they do the trick and give enough of a snapshot to prove to me that side bangs are definitely the hair trend I want to try out this year!  

Here are four styles I tried based on haircuts sported by gorgeous starlets such as Emma Stone and Kirsten Dunst. I'd love to know your opinion on which suits me best before I commit to a hairdresser's appointment:

Option 1 - The 'Reese Witherspoon'

Option 2: The 'Emma Stone'

Option 3: The 'Eva Mendes'

Option 4: The 'Kirsten Dunst'

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It's weird how each of these styles makes my face shape look very different, but I think they all show that side bangs will definitely help to soften my features a little more.

At the moment Option 3 'Eva' is my favourite, but Option 2 'Emma' looks like it would be much more manageable on daily basis. What do you think?

Em

x

PS: Don't forget to follow my blog and Twitter: @emberdrake

Floral Fancies!

The first payday in my new job is creeping ever closer and I've decided to buy myself a little treat for coping so well with all the recent changes to my life and routine.

Floral jewellery - and especially statement rings - seems to be a big trend on the High Street at the moment.

So when I spotted these pretty, uber-feminine flower rings in Accessorize the other day, I thought they would make the perfect little gift to myself after a hardworking month.

1. Accessorize - Paradise Cluster Ring - £10.00

2. Accessorize - Fleur Cluster Ring - £8.00

3. Accessorize - Rosy Posey Bouquet Ring - £10.00

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Are you a fan of floral statement rings? Which one should I choose? Let me know your favourite in the comments!

Em

x

PS: Don't forget to follow my blog and Twitter: @emberdrake

TAG: 10 Day 'You' Challenge!

Hey everyone!

Following on from my previous '10 Day 'You' Challenge' posts divulging my 10 Secrets, 9 Loves, 8 Fears, 7 Wants, 6 Places, 5 Foods and 4 Books - linked in case you're interested in checking them out.

Today's post focuses on my 3 Films and I thought it would be nice to include a favourite from each of my top three movie categories: chick flicks, big blockbusters and unique/arthouse flicks!

Here goes:

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1. 13 Going On 30: My favourite 'go to' chick flick for when I need a little cheering up - I must have watched it a thousand times so far! The storyline is very sweet, I adore every one of Jennifer Garner’s fabulous outfits and Mark Ruffalo is an unexpectedly adorable male lead (especially when he's dancing to Thriller). So if you haven’t seen this rom-com yet, I would highly recommend it for a fun girly night in!

  

2. Lord of the Rings ‘Return of the King’: This has to be one of the best ‘big budget’ movies ever made (it’s up there with Avatar and the new Star Trek movie) and is by far the best in the trilogy IMO. The battles are staggeringly epic and I love that it ties off all the loose ends in the series – especially in the final scenes between Aragorn and Arwen which are just so beautiful!

 

3. Amelie: Filmed entirely in French (with English subtitles) and starring ‘cute-as-a-button’ Audrey Tautou as it’s lead, this quirky little film quickly found its way onto my all-time favourites list. The storyline is such a celebration of appreciating the little things in life and admiring people for their individuality – it really inspired me to think about the things in my own life that I perhaps ought to value a little more.

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Let me know if you decide to do this Tag too and I'll look forward to learning your 3 Films!

Em

x 

PS: Don't forget to follow my blog and Twitter: @emberdrake 

Style Spot

As a fashion lover, I'm always in search of outfit inspiration from as many sources as possible.

Taking style tips from celeb photoshoots is all well and good, but some of them wear such impractical clothing that just wouldn't be a good fit to my everyday life and workplace. 

While magazines offer some good ideas but they always seem to choose the most expensive pieces, which are way beyond the price range of your average high street shopper like myself. (£3,000 for a belt - what do I look like? Victoria Beckham?!)

So for budget friendly looks, I've recently taken to checking out the fashion pages of Pinterest! And my favourite part of this new found inspiration source is that many of the images (pinned largely from Polyvore or fashion blogs) are accompanied by links showing exactly where you can purchase the items yourself - fantastic!

So I thought it would be fun to do a blog post sharing some of my favourite Pinterest-ing outfit inspirations with you all:

 Nautical & Nice

 

A Pop of Mustard - Workwear

Tuxedo Chic

Summer Lovin' - Orange Ruffles

Winter Glamour - White Cape & Red Lip

Country Girl - Tweed Love

Military Princess

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Aren't these outfits simply lovely? My favourite is definitely the Tuxedo chic look - I need a jacket that glam in my life!

Do you use Pinterest as a 'go to' style source? What favourite outfits have you pinned so far? Let me know in the comments and I'd love to check them out!

Em
x

PS: Don't forget to follow my blog and twitter @emberdrake

Winter Wonderings...

Me & My Grandad at Brodsworth Hall & Gardens

• That exciting feeling at the start of a new year - hope, opportunity and a brand new start! 

 

• Driving home down scenic country roads with mist so eerie and heavy you can barely see the end of the car bonnet.

 

• "If you had a chance to change your fate, would you?" - Inspiring quote of the month from Princess Merida (Brave)

 

•  At last some snow - after two years of nothing but Somerset floods, this has made my year already! 

 

• Saving the day at work with my Microsoft Excel skills - all while looking fabulously stylish in my new dogtooth heels! Fashionista in the making.

 

• My 4 year old niece running around in a mini Snow White dress telling everyone she wants to be a Princess like Kate when she grows up. Aww!

 

• Beautiful church bells ringing enchantingly over the fields near my office. The perfect way to celebrate a wedding.

 

2013 In Film!

2013 looks set to be an amazing year in film and, now that I no longer live in a field in the middle of nowhere, I’m hoping to fit in a cinema trip or two to catch some of this season’s biggest blockbusters.

Here are a few of the movies I’m most looking forward to in 2013:

  

1. Iron Man 3: I love Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark and the trailer for this film looks amazing (is that actually an Iron Man suit that can move on its own?!) So as you can imagine I am very excited for April to see what will happen to Iron Man and Pepper - as well as how Stan Lee will make his cameo this time around.

2. Monsters University: It has been a very long time since the original Monsters Inc movie and it’s about time they made a sequel (or prequel as I believe this is – set when Mike and Sully were still at the University of Fear). But after my lukewarm reception to the last Pixar follow-on film, Toy Story 3, I really hope that they manage to do this one justice.

 

3. Star Trek Into Darkness: Details of the new instalment in the Star Trek franchise have been few and far between and even the trailer, while action packed, is fairly vague. But that just adds to the excitement for me - I hope Chris Pine et al put in as good performances as they did in the first movie and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Benedict Cumberbatch as main villain John Harrison (whoever he might be...)

4. City of Bones: “When her mom is attacked and taken from their home in New York City by a demon, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl, Clary Fray, finds out truths about her past and bloodline on her quest to get her back, that changes her entire life.” Now I’d never heard of the book series that this film is based on but the storyline sounds so good – and the demon theme is a really welcome break from all of the vampire movies/shows around at the moment. 

 

5. Despicable Me 2: ‘Papple or Banana anyone?’ I can’t wait for Gru’s little yellow minions to return to our screens and have so far loved the pre-trailer of them singing about bananas to the tune of ‘Barbara Ann’ haha. I’m also really hoping Pharrell has been signed on to produce the soundtrack again, as I thought his music choices really helped to make the movie last time.

6. Thor 2 - The Dark World: Chris Hemsworth is due to return in November as everyone’s favourite Norse God, battling a race of Dark Elves led by Malekith (played by Christopher Eccleston – yay!). I can’t wait to see more interaction between Thor and his fabulously evil brother Loki, as well as the return of ‘Broke Girl’ Kat Dennings as Darcy.

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What movies are you most looking forward to this year? Let me know of any other exciting new releases in the comments! 

Em

x

PS: Don't forget to follow my blog and twitter @emberdrake