November 28th, 2011
The Vintage Tea Party Book
Sundays; the perfect time for a bit of baking – something I’d been itching to do since I got my hands on the Vintage Tea Party book earlier in the year. With a few hours spare on a Sunday morning, I decided that I’d review the book properly by trying out a few of the recipes and sharing the results with you..and consequently gobbling them up. It’s a shame you couldn’t really come to tea, as the only guest I had was rather unwilling, but I turned him in to my “Mrs Nesbitt” anyway (Toy Story reference, anyone?).
I decided to try out the chocolate brioche hearts (or mini stars, in my case), classic scones, and a triple berry smoothie. Not exactly a balanced meal, but an extremely yummy one! Now, even these few things were a big enough task, and made a mess to match, so I dread to think what my kitchen would look like if I attempted a larger ‘tea party’, with actual guests. Still, Angel has included tips on everything from invites & decorating your house (including a nifty stencil of the Queen!) to vintage hair and make-up tutorials, which I thought were such great touches!
The images and illustrations in the book are my favourite thing – I’ve studied each page meticulously, as they are so beautiful! But on to reviewing the food. I chose a few of the easier recipes, as I’m not the most talented chef, but I even managed to mess them up a little! The brioche stars turned out a bit too salty as I went crazy with the butter when I was frying them, and the scones caught a little on top too, but still tasted perfect. Definitely okay for a first attempt!
If you have a space on your Christmas lists, or are looking for a present for a vintage loving lady, then I couldn’t recommend this book more. I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited by a cook book! It has such amazing ideas, including ways to present your food, too. There are some really creative party food ideas that look worth trying out.
Both Miguel and Oscar the cat enjoyed their afternoon treats in the end! x
September 14th, 2011
Back By Popular Demand
Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. Perhaps 2 people max asked if I was going to compile a ‘back to school’ post again this year, but I didn’t take much encouraging, seeing as this will be the last year that I actually go “back to school”!! I’ve been happily nestling under the warm, safe wing of education for the past 17 years *gulp* and next year I won’t have the same silly excuse to buy a new pencil case or lunch box. Bit scary, eh?
I think all of my above picks are worth buying if you’re not heading back to school too. You don’t really need a new hat..it doesn’t hold any educational value or anything, but it’s pretty, and that’s what we like ; )
1. A French & English Confectioners leather backpack has been on my wishlist fooooreverrrr. How amazing would this be to carry your books in? Going back to school has always been an excuse for a new, roomy, hard-wearing bag. Whilst I haven’t got my mitts on this one, I had another bag for my birthday that is going to be perfect to lug my laptop around uni.
2. This Topshop Purse features the sweetest map of London, just the right thing to carry your dinner money in (the first of many tedious links to going to school!)
3. If you’re anything like me, writing lists is almost like a pastime. Even when I’ve only got the housework to do, I’ll go to the trouble of writing down “Breakfast. Shower.” As if I needed to be reminded! So imagine how hectic it gets when I’ve got uni work to contend with! These sticky notes from Modcloth would be the perfect solution to my note-making needs.
4. If you’re at uni (good luck to those of you just starting!), halls can be pretty glum-looking, so spruce them up with a print. I recommend Krisatomic – I love her 50′s Girl print!
5. Miscellaneous notebooks to write miscellaneous notes in! These, naturally, are by O-Check!
6. My dream diary is back again for another year! I maaaay have preordered the Frankie 2012 Diary as soon as I heard about it, too. I don’t need to explain why this is on the list, do I?!
7. Not strictly necessary, but I’m a hat girl, so it’s on the list any way! This one is from New Look.
8. I told myself that this autumn I’m going to wear more jumpers to avoid wandering around uni in my impractical coat all the time. I don’t really have any! And whilst this one is probably a wee bit too expensive, the colour is perfect!
9. I’m not one of those girls that goes to university in heels just because I do a fashion degree, no siree. A comfy pair of flats need no explanation!
July 8th, 2011
WishWishOne
WishWishTwo
WishWishThree
One of my most frequently asked questions is how I edit my pictures. Whilst I’ve never thought I was particularly great at it, I do know my way around Photoshop, so rather than try to explain how I edit my pictures, I’ve created these Actions so you can do it too with the click of a button!
For those of you that don’t know what an Action is – it’s something that you can download, load to Photoshop, and then when you press the play button, it edits the picture that you have open for you. I’m not sure if that’s the best description – if you’re still confused and want to know how to use actions, just take a peek on YouTube as there are loads of tutorials.
As you can see from above, the actions are varying in their degrees of “vintageness”..but there is no reason to keep them exactly as you see them. Have a play around with the layers, and change the opacity until it looks perfect for your own image. That’s how I learned how to use Photoshop and familiarised myself with the various tools, so hopefully it will help you too!
I also created a little zip file with a few ‘Bokeh’ images for you to overlay and create a glittery, flared effect. For those interested, the images were created from fireworks at Glastonbury Festival! Simply resize the image, set it as a new layer above your original image, and then play around with the layer style – I recommend Soft Light!
So, without further ado, download the set of Photoshop Actions here, and the the 3 Bokeh images here.
If you have any questions, just ask in the comments and I’ll try and help!
If you’d like a step-by-step tutorial, I posted one last year! Take a look! x
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