Nail Art 2: Galaxy Nails.

Hello,

Yesterday I decided to try out Galaxy nails after seeing this  tutorial on YouTube.

First of all I started with two coats of  black nail varnish (I used Barry M).


After letting each coat to dry I took a make up sponge (like the video says) and ripped off a small piece. I covered the small piece in white nail varnish and used tweezers to pick up the sponge and sponge on the varnish to start off my nebula.

To be honest I found it a lot easier to hold the sponge with my fingers as using the tweezers didn't give me enough control, but try it if you want.


Next I sponged on yellow. I used Barry M's pale yellow. I did the next few steps downstairs while watching a film so the lighting in the photos isn't great. I think it'd probably be a lot easy to do this design at your desk.

Next I added a bit of a pinky colour. I used Barry M's Fuchsia.

In the video she adds blue/navy to her nails next. I did that on my thumb but the navy I used was too dark so you couldn't really tell I'd used it so I just added some more yellow over the pink to tone it down a bit.

The next step was white dots with a toothpick. I don't have a white nail pen but if I did I would have used it as the toothpick wasn't very good. It was probably more down to the fact that my white varnish is a bit old so is a little gloopy. Anyway, I didn't do many white dots (or stars).

The next step was to paint over my nails with a glitter polish. I used Model's Own Juicy Jules polish to do this.

I'm not sure if its too glittery though?

I then added a top coat and that's it!

These are the varnishes I used (minus the black, which was also Barry M).


Hope you enjoyed this post. I can't decide if I like my nails or not, maybe they are too glittery or the nebula is too big but I think I prefer how the girl in the video's nails turned out.
Next time I think I'll definitely add a blue.
x

Oh deer.

Hello everyone.

I'm currently getting side tracked with selling my life on ebay when I should be blogging. Ooops!

On Saturday I had a little trip out on the metro to Sunderland. I popped into H&M and bought myself a dress and a necklace (obvz!)

HOW CUTE is this deer! Totally in love. Cost £3.99 so such a bargain!

I promise this week my food blog will be started!
I'm also in the process of trying a different nail art design so keep your eyes pealed for that.

x

Nail Art.

Well as I mentioned in my last post I've decided to give nail art a try.
There are so many nail art designs all over the internet and I'm by no means an expert. I saw a leopard print nail art feature in a copy of Look magazine a while ago and always wanted to give it a go.

I started off with "Parma Violet" nail varnish from Topshop as my base colour.

After two coats and waiting for them both to dry I used "Peeping Tom", also from Topshop to place random dots on my nails.

Once they were dry I used my Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Dog & Flick nail art pen in black. It has a nib and a seperate thin brush. Typically I could only unscrew the lid to expose the brush and have only now just been able to pull off the cap to expose the nib (which would have made the nail art so much easier, but never mind!) Anyway, I drew random lines around the pink dots.

They're not perfect, but considering its the first nail art I've ever tried (unless we're counting Barry M nail effects haha) I'm pretty pleased with my results!
Now I know how to open the nib on the nail art pen I'll be doing more designs and hopefully buy some nail art pens in different colours.
The leopard print design can be done in any colours you wish (obviously) and I didn't follow any pattern or picture I just places the dots and lines where I wanted. I did practice a bit on paper first, but that was really just to get myself used to the nail art brush as its so long and thin!


Speaking of nail varnish, Models Own are currently offering a 50% discount at their online shop. You just enter FIFTYFIFTY in the discount code box at the checkout when you're buying £20s worth of products (or more) to get 50% off. If you spend over £25 (after the discount has been applied) you get free postage too! Its a really good deal, especially as their nail varnishes are so good! Its to celebrate them reaching 50,000 fans on Facebook. You probably already know this of course, but just incase you don't, you should check it out :)

necklace of the day.

I've been busy again so my necklace blogging has been a bit neglected.

It's Wednesday afternoon but I've already been to the cinema twice this week. On Monday I went to see "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes" with my dad. It's a really good film. The graphics are great, the apes, oragatans and grollia's faces were so believeable! James Franco is in it so theres some eye candy. I don't really want to give too much away about the plot etc because I hate ruining films for people who've not see them, but I will say that basically the film is one of the many reasons why humans shouldn't test things on animals.
Yesterday I went to see "Horrible Bosses" with my friend Jenny. Again I don't want to ruin it, but it was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Recommend them both.

I'm currently dabling in "nail art" and trying to give myself lepoard print nails. I'll upload a post if they turn out any good...

I've been working on blog layouts (as you can probably tell since this has changed) and am so close to posting on my anthropology of vegan food blog. I'm so excited! Food is definitley one of my favourite things ever! However I've not forgot about this blog and the main focus of my necklace collection.
As I'm a bit rushed today I thought I'd just show you the necklace I'm wearing.

It's a purple skull on a gold chain with random beads on. I got it from Diva at Miss Selfridge for £1 (instead of £5). Bargain!

Normal necklace blogging will resume soon, I promise!
x

Stop, oh yeah, wait a minute Mr Postman.

I have always been a fan of post and cute letter sets are another thing I seem to collect.
When I was younger I used to go to Lourdes for a week every summer with Westminster diocese and to keep in touch with the friends I made there, we often sent letters to each other. I think when you're young post is a bit of a novelty. You obviously don't get bills so the only post you do get is either the odd birthday/Christmas card from a far away relative or a letter from a pen pal.
I don't think I've ever grew out of the "post is a novelty" phase. Obviously I don't like getting bills, but its always so exciting to get a letter that you weren't expecting. (I even find it exciting when I have post from ebay or another source I was expecting - I know, I'm sad).
Once I moved to London for uni I always bought kawaii letter sets from Art Box. Even though my letter writing days were slowing and it was so much easier to keep in touch with friends via facebook etc I still continued to buy writing sets.

Last week I spoke to my friend Hayley who used to be my best friend in college. We hadn't really spoke for aggggges so it was good to catch up. We were on facebook chat (rubbish) and she was telling my about moving just outside of Leeds and when she was packing up her flat she found old letters I sent to her during uni times. This inspired my to start writing to her again - we definitely kept in better touch with letters rather than the Internet.
I must now admit that last week when I went to town with my mam we went into our local Paperchase and I ended up buying another letter set. Oops. But it will get used this time!

It was £4.00 (though my mam bought it for me) and contains:

 10 sheets of writing paper which has a really cute header. This writing set is from the "Bubble and Sweet" collection.

10 envelopes - if I were a post-person I'd love to be delivering cute little letters like this rather than the standard and boring white or brown envelopes.

10 memo notes - These are good to write your address or an important date on so your friend can have it separate from the main letter.

and finally:

stickers :)


I hope you liked this post, maybe it's inspired you to start sending letters again. I hope so - everyone loves a pen pal :)

The Gift.

During my first year of my Social Anthropology degree at SOAS I learned about the importance of the ritual of gift giving and exchange.
Marcel Mauss was a French Sociologist/Anthropologist who came from Durkheim's school. Mauss argued that gifts are never "free", he believed that sometimes humans do not want to be caught up in the practise of gift giving but due to the nature of the exchange they are left trapped in the obligation to give. If you have received a gift you must also give a gift. If you do not give, the spirit of the gift is broken and bad things will/may occur. *

I decided that grouping my necklaces into ones which were gifts would be a good way to show you the part of my collection that I didn't buy for myself.
As I didn't buy or chose these necklaces for myself it's hard to tell you where they are all from.

I'm starting off with necklaces I got for Christmas off my Aunty Barbara and Uncle Hal. AB reads this blog sometimes so hello!

I think I got this at Christmas 2009?

This one I got Christmas 2010.
If I'm honest I probably wouldn't buy these necklaces myself, as they're not the same sort of style I collect. However having said that I do really like them both. I think in some ways the fact I'd not buy them myself makes them better as it's good to have someone elses style input sometimes.
They are both beautiful necklaces and very unusual.....especially compared to my other necklaces! So I'm pleased with these :)

Next up is a heart necklace from Dorothy Perkins my best friend Hayley bought me for Christmas 2010. Again I probably wouldn't buy this myself, but again I really like it. I'm pretty sure Hayley told me part of the reason she bought me it was so she could borrow it. She hasn't yet, but if she does move back to Newcastle soon I'm sure it won't be long before she does!

Next up is a little girl necklace that my ex housemates (and very good friends) Lucy and Harry brought back from me on their recent trip to New York. It's my first Forever 21 item and I LOVE it. I can't wait to visit the newly opened Oxford Street store.

This owl locket is my most recent necklace! I got this off Jenny on Tuesday! She bought me it as a thank you because I told her about a job vacancy which she got!
As you will all know I love owls so this is great! Its a locket so me and Jenny decided I should put a photo of Jake Gyllenhaal and James Lafferty (aka Nathan Scott) in it. We were watching One Tree Hill and talking about how if a Jake G question came up on Pointless I'd totally win. Haha.


I hope you enjoyed my post, if you want more anthropology related posts then be sure to check out my friend Catherine's blog over at Style anthro. Also, I'm starting up an Anthropology of (vegan) Food blog, which I will link here once its all sorted.
Enjoy!

*sorry if my facts are wrong and/or confusing Mauss' argument with Sahlins, its been a long while since I read either and I'm going purely off memory as I can't find my notes!

My youth is slipping away.

In exactly 3 months I will turn 25.
This means I will officially be "mid-twenties". I will move up an age bracket in the statistics (no longer 16-24 or 18-24, I will be 25-34!!). I'll no longer be classed as a "young person".
How depressing.

As a result, I thought it'd be best to blog about some necklaces that remind me of my favourite things from my childhood/youth.

Bringing back any memories for you?

First up is my Carebears necklace. When I was younger I used to LOVE Carebears. This necklace is from eBay and only cost a couple of pounds.

 Also from eBay (from the same seller in fact) is this slush necklace. Its such a big necklace. There were several slush options however most were sold out so I settled on orange.
Slush puppies are by far the thing that reminds me of my childhood the most. I remember always getting one at the Metro station on my way for an adventure with my Mam and Nana and Grandad. I also used to get one at the bus station coming home from the Metro Centre. I always had to hide my slush when getting on the bus otherwise my Mam would end up arguing with the bus driver who thought I'd spill it. (Spill a slush?! As if! I never wasted any!)
I used to love trying all the flavours and getting different brands but Slush puppies were always my favourite. Blue raspberry was/is my favourite flavour too. Deffo going to try and hunt down a blue slush necklace!

It's such good detail though, with a bright blue straw and softer plastic fruit. :)

Next up is gingerbread men - or in the case of this necklace - a gingerbread family! This necklace is from Claire's and cost me about £2. I used to always get a gingerbread man at Greggs in the middle of said Metro journeys. We'd also sometimes make our own at home :)

Last up in this trip down memory lane is one of my newest necklaces. A house. I have wanted this house necklace for months, but at £10 I was a bit put off. However as its sale time I found it in the Accessorise sale for £3! THREE POUNDS! 70% off - what a deal!
The real reason why I love this necklace and why it reminds me of my childhood can be seen in the next picture....

It opens up and inside are the rooms of the house. This reminds me of Polly Pockets and all the other different kinds of doll houses I had or wanted (Barbie, Playmobil, etc).


Hope you like them :)

I love sales.

A little while ago I went sale shopping and found some good bargains in River Island.

:)

The banana earrings are so fun and were only £1! They were £3.99 originally. They're quite summery, so maybe I won't wear them much when the winter takes hold but we'll see.

These hair clips were £2 instead of £4.99. I love owls (but you probably know that!) so had to get them. I think the clips are very autumnal, so will get a fair amount of usage.

The pineapple necklace had the biggest reduction - £5 down from £14.99. It's a big (and heavy!) pineapple on a long gold chain so is a bit of a statement piece. Like the earrings quite summery, however I can imagine wearing this at any time of year with a plain outfit.


Did you manage to snap up any bargains?

Waltz of the Flowers.

Yesterday I went to the Gateshead Summer Flower Show 2011 with my parents.

It was my first time at the Gateshead flower show and it was such a lovely day. The weather was so nice, and the show was a lot bigger than I thought. I'll definatley go back again.
Here are some photo highlights.

 There was samples of the yellow tomatoes and they were LUSH. So we bought a mixed tomato pack. I'm sad they're all gone now. If you see yellow tomatoes try them! They're so sweet! :)

 Gateshead is twined with Komatsu in Japan. Komatsu have given Gateshead a frienship garden to cemente the partnership.
During my Anthropology degree at uni I studied "Ethnography of a selected region: Japan" during my second year and it was by far one of my most memorable and favourite modules. As a result I'm really interested in anything Japanese so I enjoyed looking at the Japanese garden and bonsai trees.

 If you're friends with my on facebook you can look at the full photo album for more flower related pictures. I didn't include many here as was scared my blog post would be too photo heavy.

I was given some free seeds by the national trust which was really nice. Hopefully I can grow some tasty carrots!


As well as flowers, fruit and veg, there was also craft markets and stalls of independant retailers.
Here are some of the things I bought:

This mix and match cutlery set is amazing! The pieces are all so different but compliment each other so well. I'm keeping them boxed up until I finally move out (whenever that will be!) so for now these photos will have to do.

I also got an owl mug with an owl shaped coaster. Both of these items are from www.munchieandmillie.com so have a look :)

And because it's me, I also bought a necklace. I didn't own a chocolate related necklace before (can you believe it?!) so I decided to buy this little cutie for £5. I like how the label says "non edible" incase anyone is confused haha.

Hope you enjoyed this post!