Three Simple Spring Outfits

Another Online Moodboard Addiction

So sorry, for not posting so much this month...I'm kind of in the process of finally moving out which I'm sooooooo excited about! I posted a few weeks back about one of my current obsessions which was Polyvore and I always had in mind that I would eventually post about my other current, favourite thing to do which is pinning!! 

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 I'm signed up to two pinning websites, the first I joined was Pinspire and then I also joined Pinterest, which you have to be invited to as far as I'm aware. If I had to choose I'd say I slightly prefer Pinterest for quality of images although there's not really a huge difference between either. Pinning is pretty similar to Polyvore in the sense that you create moodboards with images and also videos that inspire you however pinning is a lot more convenient as you can pin as you browse the internet. Say if your browsing for clothes online and you spot something you like you simply use a handy little toolbar button to pin the image to one of your boards. Here's some screenshots of a few of the boards I've created on Pinterest:

 I have to say, I love the images other people post so I tend to repin a lot more than uploading my own images, this is a habit I really wish I could get out of but there's soo many great images it's hard not to repin all the time!

 Pinning is really easy and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys collecting images or who wants to collate inspirations onto boards. The link to my Pinterest boards is in the side bar or here and the link to my Pinspire boards is here. Are you signed up to any pinboard websites, if so what do you think of them, are you as addicted as I am!?!

My New Favourite Hobby!

Elyse has been in a wayyyyy better routine lately which has consequently left me with a lot more time in the evening to do things other than cleaning, tidying and cooking! I am a bit of an online shopping addict which led to me discovering Etsy which is a pretty amazing website where people basically sell things they've made or customised. I've always been a bit arty farty at heart and after seeing the plethora of gorgeous, knitted baby stuff on Etsy I thought I'd have a bash at crocheting some headbands for baby girl.

I think I've crocheted about 5 headbands up to now but these were the first two I finished for her and I must say, even though they're not perfect I was quite impressed with myself! It's safe to say I've become a bit obsessed with crocheting and I actually find it a lot easier than knitting which I tried and kinda failed at when I was pregnant.

I think knitting's considered to be slightly more "cool" these days and not so much associated with grannies so I'd love to try and knit a snood for myself but not sure I'd be up to the challenge just yet! I personally love handmade, baby clothes and accessories but what do you think of handmade creations?

Valentine's Glossybox: A Mixed Bag?

After being pretty flippin impressed with December's Christmas Glossybox, I had high hopes for the next one although in the back of my mind I wasn't expecting it to be quite as good. However, upon opening my box I was quite impressed. For once, I'd actually heard of all the brands included and there were some products that I was genuinely excited to test out. From looking around at other bloggers boxes and seeing the variation in products, it seems that Glossybox are have finally tried to tailor the boxes more to the individual receiving it.

What's in the box from Top Left: Eyeko, FAB Body Moisturizer,

Whilst I'd loved to of tried the Orly nail polish that some people received,overall I was pretty happy with what was included. Murad is a brand I've been wanting to try for a long time purely because of the rave reviews for their acne skincare range so I was intrigued to see a primer product by them.

Swatches taken in natural daylight.

I don't think it would be fair for me to review the primer as I haven't actually used it on my face yet...and if I'm honest I don't know if I will as I tend to aim for a matte finish and this primer apparently gives a dewy finish which is a obvious no go for oily skinned girls like myself.

Swatch taken in natural daylight.

 I received the plum shade which I was quite happy about as I tend to just stick to safe black and this isn't too extreme a colour from black and completely wearable. I was really pleased to see a make-up product included but I think Glossybox should be including cosmetics a lot more than they have been! I do like testing out skincare products but when it comes to skincare, I like to stick with products I know work for me and more often than not, Glossybox include skincare products that aren't tailored to my skin.

As for the skincare products, admittedly I haven't tried any of them out yet but I'm definitely going to be giving the FAB Moisturizer a whirl over the next few days as the cold snap has dried out my skin to death. I've also started to notice scary signs of ageing (hello sagging cheeks!) so the Clarins may have to be slipped into my skincare routine as well! 

I'm really tempted to try out a different beauty box but there's quite a few knocking about now, preferably I wanna try something that has a few more make-up or nail product inclusions...if you think you know which box is best for this, feel free to comment and let me know!

Contented Little Baby Routines

During the first few weeks of Elyse's life, I pretty much took a baby led approach to looking after her i.e. fed her when she wanted to be fed and let her sleep when she wanted to sleep. Needless to say, this led to me feeling worn out to the extreme and having had no time to get anything done, my house was looking in pretty bad shape. I think babba basically got her daytime and nighttime mixed up, so whilst she slept like angel during the day, it was near impossible to get her to sleep at night and this is when I started seeking desperate measures! I was determined not to put her on formula so began googling away for solutions to improve sleeping patterns and that's when I came across a few people recommending Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby Book. 

In a nutshell this book advises putting baby into a strict routine and whilst I definitely believe it's vital that children have a set bedtime routine, I think this book takes it to the extreme and beyond! Don't get me wrong, there are handy little tips here and there but I don't think it's necessary to follow the routine to a tee. For instance, I think the timings Gina suggests for awake and nap time are handy to ensure you don't let baby sleep too much which usually means less sleep for you at night but on the other hand it also feels like she dictates when baby should be changed...now I'm not being funny, but surely you should change babba's nappy when it's needed otherwise I'm pretty sure you'd be working through hundreds of nappies per week! And she also firmly believes in ensuring baby is swaddled at every nap time up to a certain age, unfortunately for me swaddling is something Elyse clearly didn't appreciate aside from the first few days after she was born when she was still adjusting to the big wide world.

Overall, as much as I've just slated the whole strict routine bulls*&^ I do think this book kind of helped me ease my lovely, nocturnal baby into a normal sleep and wake pattern although she didn't enjoy going to bed before 2am at one point, whilst she was on the routine! On the other hand, I think I'm just a bit lucky that Elyse has slept through from around 2 months old and lets mummy & daddy have lots of lie-ins! In a nutshell, take the routines with a pinch of salt...the suggested window of time in which your allowed to go out is friggin ridiculous, what a life your going to live if you only leave your house between 2-4pm! If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, read the book lol. I can't remember how much I paid for the book but I bought it off eBay and it was really cheap like £3 or something so if you do want to see how the routines work for you, I'd try eBay.

What do you think of the Contented Little Baby Routines? Have they helped you and your baby? Did you follow them to a tee?!

Much love,

Polyvore: Online Digital Moodboards

Hi everyone, hope your all feeling okay! Sorry it's been a bit slow around here recently, been so busy this week as it was my lovely boyfriend's 21st birthday! Today I wanted to share with you something that I've recently become rather obsessed with and that obsession in particular is online, digital moodboards. If you don't happen to know what moodboards are they are a collage of photos, sketches, fabric samples, swatches, text (basically anything you've been inspired by) and are predominantly used amongst the design industry for instance many fashion brands create moodboards for seasonal ranges to show how the range has been inspired or how a concept has come about. 

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 Anyways, long story short I discovered an amazing website called Polyvore that enables you to create digital moodboards with the least amount of effort possible as all the images are readily available for you to choose from! The website also works similarly to many of the social networking sites such as Twitter in the sense that you can follow people who's style you like.

The moodboard above is something I threw together last night whilst I was getting babba off to sleep. It's a bit of a mixture of the kind of style I've been rocking this week and accessories that I'd love to own plus a few random graphics thrown in for good measure :-) Some of the people featured on Polyvore's homepage seriously put my moodboard to shame, the boards they've created are bloody brilliant. Another, really handy thing about Polyvore is that it provides links to where you can purchase items from...although I highly doubt I will even utilise this as I discovered I have rather expensive taste according to Polyvore!

I love looking at other people's styling ideas so if your on Polyvore already, feel free to post your link in the comments box. My link is in the sidebar if you'd like to follow ;-)