Some of My Best Art

Today I thought I would share some of the art that I have created which are my favourites. If you have any feedback for me please let me know in the comments.
                                                     


I created this first drawing with an ordinary writing pencil (probably HB) and some thick artists paper. It took me quite a long time to reach this standard. I was trying to practice tone when I drew this.








This ice-cream sundae was drawn on my computer using my BAMBOO wacom drawing tablet. I am most pleases with the shading on this piece because I find it hard to make the base of a glass look realistic.










If you read my water colour post then you'll have already seen this picture of a birdhouse that I drew then painted. I used black fineliners to sketch out the outline then I used water colour paints to colour it in. I like this painting because I think I blended the colours well to give the wood a worn look. Also, it is quite realistic (I drew out a birdhouse that i could see in my garden).







Today's post was short but I hope you liked it! Please leave me some feedback in the comments.

PS: I have done more pieces of art that are my favourites but I haven't got pictures of them all-let me know if you want to see them. :)

Kawaii Products ^U^

The box that arrived today

Today a box arrived in the post filled with kawaii products that I ordered online from www.tofucute.com. I had chosen half food products and half stationary products to come in the post so I could try a mixture of things.

The items were:
.Grape flavoured Puccho sweets-£1.50
.Waffle cone with chocolate sweet filling-60p
.Cute bear fineliner-£1.50
.Patterned tape-£1.99

As well as the original prices I had to pay the postage which was a decent price of £2.50 (this included one more item that was posted at the same time). :D


The packaging of my items was very nice too :). The outside was just a plain box with a label but when I opened the box it was much better. At the top of the package there was a cute leaflet for the company with something extra on the back...there were 3 kawaii pictures to cut out and 3 stands. When I cut slits in each piece and slotted them together, they stood up. They are perfect for decorating shelves or surfaces! After I took away the leaflet I couldn't see any of my products but instead I could could see shredded packaging. It was a good way to fill the box up.

I would recommend you buying kawaii items from tofu cute because there is a wide range of different cute products such as snacks, stationary, plushies, charms, gifts and more from Japan and Korea! The postage price to the UK is a fair price too so the total price doesn't shoot up once you account for shipping. I think that these kawaii items are great as gifts as well as for yourself so there are lots of reasons to buy from www.tofucute.com!

I haven't tried out all of my products yet so I may write new posts with reviews in for you in the future when I have tested them. So check that out when I upload them! Please leave a nice comment telling me what you think of today's post or perhaps you could tell me your favourite kawaii items?!? Thanks for reading!  =^U^=

How to Make a Luma Plushie (from Mario Galaxy)

Recently I have been playing Mario Galaxy on my wii again so I decided to make a plushie of one of the characters! I chose Polari (the black luma with blue eyes) to make but if you make your own plushie you can choose any luma you want. I've written some simple instructions for you below so feel free to make one for yourself (you can't sell them though because of copyright issues).

What you will need for this project

You will need:

. a generic luma template from google images
. a large piece of felt in the main body colour
. a small piece of felt in the eye colour
. a long piece of thread in the body's colour
. a shorter piece of thread in the eye colour
. a needle
. pins/pen in a different colour to the fabric
. Stuffing
. paper scissors
. fabric scissors (not necessary)



Let's get started!
1. First of all you need to cut out your template with paper scissors
2. Pin**it to your large piece of felt securely
3. Carefully cut around the template with fabric scissors (if not you could use paper scissors)
4. Flip your template over, pin**it and repeat step 3
5. Now you have your body pieces you can cut out 2 ovals from the other fabric for the eyes
6. Choose one body piece that will be the front and place the eyes on it
7. Use felt stitch*to attach each eye onto the felt shape (using the shorter thread)
8. Place the front and back pieces of your luma together
9. Now you can start to use blanket stitch* to attach it together (using the longer thread)
10. Make sure you leave a gap for stuffing
11. When you are stuffing the luma plushie put more in the centre to make it look more realistic
12. Once it is stuffed you can sew up the rest with the same stitch as before

Finished plushie example

You have finished your luma plushie! 
Here is a picture of my finished Polari luma plushi! Yours should look similar once you have finished but of course it may not be black with blue eyes-it could be any colour!




* If you are unsure on how to do these stitches then you can look up simple tutorials online.
** If you are using a lighter colour than black you can just draw around the template then cut it out 

Any Ideas?

I want to hear your ideas for posts on my blog! But not just any type of post, I want ideas for craft projects! After all, my blog is supposed to be a creative website for you to get inspiration from! So, my question for you is: what craft projects do you want to see this Spring/Summer on my blog? Tell me your best ideas in the comments and I'll choose my favourites to write! Thanks for reading!

Fashionable Fruits

This Summer, many of us are swapping the florals in our wardrobe for fruit! It's a big trend this year (especially pineapple and watermelon outfits)! So today I'll be showing you how to wear these fashionable fruits!

The first piece I want to show you is a gorgeous watermelon clutch from New Look. It is bright, juicy red and green so it pops! I love because it can transform a plain outfit into a Summer statement. It is £12.99 at the moment.



Now I'll show you a lemon patterned cardie. I like this piece however it looks a bit old fashioned so I would pair it with some sneakers,black skinny jeans and some edgy gold jewelry to make it more modern. You can buy this for £20-£2.





This awesome, exotic-looking phone sticker is covered in pineapples! You can buy it from Accessorize for £4! I love the way the colours complement each other-ocean turquoise, sunny yellow and  dark green. It looks great for a beach look! (I'm not sure which phone it will fit the size of)

This cute necklace is only £3 from Claire's right now. I think it would look cute with a pink and white striped t-shirt, a small brown leather bag and blue jeans. The price may go up again because it used to be £4.50.






These shoes are from Bluezoo section of Debenhams. They are just so cute covered in cherries! It says you are my sunshine all along the bottom. I can imagine these shows paired with quite a plain black dress and some thin gold bangles or decorative gold rings.

I really hope you loved today's post (it took me absolutely ages-seriously)! Tell me in the comments which is your favourite fruity fashion item and let me know if you think I should do more fashion posts! Any suggestions for fashion trend posts (or similar)?

PS: sorry that there are a few typos today, I'm having some problems with the editing.

Read with your Cuppa' #1

Intro-
Welcome to the first post in a series called Read with your Cuppa'. I'm really excited to share this new idea with you-in each post for this series I'll just update you with some short interesting facts, give you a bit of a laugh and share some fun things to start off your day alongside your perfect brew. This is the only intro I'm going to write for the Read with your Cuppa' posts because it's meant to be a short and snappy start to your morning.

Tea Of The Day- Chai Tea 



This blend of warm spices such as cinnamon, cardamon and star anise is from India. It is drank with sweet honey in it.







Funny Picture-







This is from the American comedy friends. You should watch an episode... why not today? It's one of my favourite TV shows.











Fashion Trend-

Pineapple prints (and pineapple anything) are a big trend right now, if you haven't already got some cute summer prints with this exotic fruit all over, you should go out and buy some! :)





Fun Activity-



Origami can be quite a complicated craft however there's this satisfying feeling that comes with completing a particularly hard task. This art of paper folding originates from Japan and once you've started origami, you'll catch the folding bug! Make sure you're stocked up on pretty papers when you start you first few projects!








I bet you didn't know-

Hedgehogs got their name from their preferred habitat—garden hedges—and the pig-like grunts they make.

I hope you enjoyed drinking your hot beverage while you read a snappy post! Tell me in the comments if you enjoyed it or have any suggestions for this series like a funny part, a fascinating fact or something else! Bye for now!

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Comments are now enabled on all of my posts so far. They are moderated by another person before they reach me so please just write nice things so they can be allowed on the site. Enjoy letting me know what you think about my blog! I'd love to hear some requests for posts that you want me to write-maybe you could leave your ideas on the comments of this post. When you leave a comment please make sure that you select the notify me box so you know when you get a reply! :D

Taylor Swift fashion designs

 Recently I had to present a talk in my English class with an Introduction and 4 sections, about any subject I wanted. I chose fashion design. One of the sections was all about where to find inspiration for your designs so, one of the pages was about style icons. Basically, a style icon is a celeb that you look up to for ideas of what to wear (or in my talk's case, what to design). I chose Taylor Swift as an example of a style icon. These are the designs that I came up with. I explained that if you were to be inspired my a style icon you would only take 1 or 2 elements that you liked from the design whereas I have just copied the pictures onto a model template, this was just to show how you would go about drawing the designs.
I hope you like my drawings of Taylor swift's outfits. I used a mixture of 'TopModel' pencils in natural shades, coloured 'stabilo' fineliners and black 'pinline' fineliners to create them. You can see the original photo of Taylor on the left and my drawing on the right, to compare. Take a look at the full view and profile view of the double model design which are below.


PS: I drew on the hair on both of them, the signature and eyeliner.
PPS: Sorry about the layout, it messed up when the post uploaded :(

How to Host A Eurovision Dinner Party!

The Eurovision Final is on the TV this Saturday so today I'll be writing a blog post on how to host a Eurovision Dinner Party! My parents and grandparents take it in turn each year to host it and I have been helping out for several years so now I can give you some tips!

Step 1- Find out what country is hosting the program that year (this year it is Austria by the way)
Step 2- Research traditional main meals, desserts and perhaps drinks that they have in that country
Step 3- Find some recipes that you like the look of for the food and buy in ingredients
Step 4- Print off the list of countries, music artists and songs in a table then cut them up into slips and fold them up really small
Step 5- Print off (or draw) small rectangles with two flags next to each other inside (only flags of countries that are taking part in the Eurovision final) and then take the same amount of cocktail sticks as there are rectangles and wrap a piece of double-sided sticky tape around them all (separately). Then fold every rectangle (with two flags on) around the sticks so it makes a min double-sided flag!
Step 6- Follow the recipes
Step 7- Put all the folded up pieces of paper in a bowl or something similar and divide the number of acts up between the guests. Once you know the number of pieces of paper everyone needs get them to randomly pick that amount of folded up bits and open them in front of everyone
Step 8- Once the countries have been chosen then everyone needs to pick up all of the mini flags that mach the countries on the bits of paper
Step 9- Dish out the food a while before the program comes on and you can have the desert later during the program
Step 10- Everyone can wave their mini flags as their chosen acts come on the screen and whoever's country wins gets a mini prize (whatever you want to give out)

I hope you have enjoyed today's post about how to host a dinner party for eurovision (wow that rhymed and I didn't even realise). It was only 10 simple steps on how to create the perfect dinner party! Enjoy the final 2015!

PS: We only have a dinner party for the final so we can celebrate the winner (we also only watch the final in my family).

Potato Salad Simple Recipe for Summer!

My last post was all about what to do this Summer! In the food and drink section I promised that I would give you the recipe for my Mum's potato salad so that you're ready for a great barbecue! It is quite easy but will have you wanting more. Here's the scrumptious recipe:

Ingredients:
.A bag of small potatoes
.A few spring onions (about 2 or 3)
.Mayonnaise
.Plain Yoghurt

...And that's it! Let's get started with the recipe.

1. Cut all the potatoes (the amount you feel necessary) in half and boil them until they are soft
2. Whilst they are boiling, chop the spring onions
3. Once the potatoes are boiled, drain them and put the chopped spring onions in a bowl with them
4. While it is still warm, put in as much mayonnaise and plain yoghurt as you want
5. Stir it all together then leave the potato salad to cool, enjoy!

That was easy! Only 5 steps...and it's worth it!

PS: The picture isn't of the potato salad that goes along with the recipe (I don't have a photo of it) but it looks similar to it.

Summer

Today's post has a bit of a story behind it. I've been ill recently so when my mum went out to buy me some soothers, she brought back the free TESCO magazine to cheer me up. I've been inspired by a section called stepping out (which is all about what to do outdoors) to create my post. I'll be telling you my ideas on what to do this summer including some fun things to do outside.

Ideas for walks (with your dog or family)-
Some people find walks boring however there are some amazing places you can take walks or fun things to do that make walks a nice day out in Summer. Here are my ideas:
.Take a walk along a beach (that allows dogs), you can even paddle along the edge
.Take a walk in the Yorkshire moors (or somewhere else equally beautiful)
.In the middle of your walk you can have a mini picnic at the top of a hill or in the centre of a forest
.Go to a specialist walking area (you could go to a National Trust place-that allows dogs)
.Forage for wild fruit that is in season (this can be done at any time of year, in fact is best in Autumn)

Decorating your Room:
.Beach in a jar-Put sand, shells, pebbles and anything else you can think of in a clear jar and display it (you should probably buy these but if you can't find them then collect them from a walk on the beach)
.Dried out Flowers- Use a flower presser to press down pretty flowers then place them around the room or create a piece of art with them (if you don't want to pick normal flowers then you can pick daisies or dandelions which are actually weeds)
.Small Wallpaper Alternative-Instead of using wallpaper you can blu-tack (whatever size you want of) patterned paper to blank areas of your wall. For a nautical look why not use red and white or navy and gold striped paper?
.Decoupage Letters-Buy plain decoupage letters that spell out Summer and decoupage them with glue and tissue paper (or even better-decoupage paper) then attach them in the right order to your wall or stand them up on a surface for a cute look

Food & Drink:
.Make your own cloudy lemonade. Cloudy lemonade is much better than normal lemonade, it is refreshing, zingy and has a zesty kick to it (it is sometimes called Victorian lemonade)
.Have a barbecue with your family and make your own potato salad (it is so yummy-I'll upload my mum's recipe soon)
.Fruit Bowl-Cut a gala melon in half and put 1 piece in the fridge for later. Carve out a hole in the centre of the melon (still leaving plenty of flesh inside) and fill the hole with raspberries, cherries, blueberries or any soft fruit you want. Grab a spoon and eat the soft fruit then the melon's insides (you may want to share or save some for later)
.Instead of making complicated ice lollies you could try making flavoured ice cubes! Just use fruit juice, cordial or anything you want instead of water to make them. Maybe you could put small sticks in them to hold them with when you eat them (or just leave it) then put your ice cube tray in the freezer for the recommended amount of time on your ice cube mold packet.

Crafts and Activities:
When you don't feel like going out (or it's a rainy day) you could try out a new craft. Here are a few crafts:
.Origami-the Japanese art of paper folding (this ranges in abilities from easy to extremely hard)
.Sewing-there is los of types of sewing for you try such as cross-stitch, sewing small plushes (mini toys that can be made of felt or soft fabrics), making pin cushions, sewing anything for your room such as cushions or bunting, etc.
.Using clay-you can make anything you want with polymer clay (colourful clay with a Plasticine like consistency that can be hardened by cooking in the oven)such as fimo. Just mold it into shapes and follow the instructions to cook it.
.There are lots more crafts for you to discover to look up some activities for summer days in!

I hope you enjoyed this Summer post-I'll upload the recipe for my Mum's potato salad very soon! Have a great Summer! :D

What to do When You're Bored!

 I know that it is extremely hard to stop being bored once you have started to feel bored so I decided to write a post for you today on how to stop being bored and starting to have fun again! My  first tip is not too look amount the internet for AGGGEEESSS for ideas on how to not be bored, find one source (well here you are!) and settle for one cool idea to try. If it is unsuccessful then try again with another idea. So here are my ideas:

• read lots of my blog posts or start your own blog (you can look up how)
• have your own mini dance party-put on some music you love and dance around your room (and maybe sing too :D)
• Change the background of google (!)Download My Chrome Theme, make your own background for your browser then install it. Ta-da!
• Start a craft project (and actually finish it) it's very satisfying, and fun!
•  If you don't feel like the crafting side of art, why not just draw? You could doodle anything you want! It could even become a new hobby.
• Decorate some of your stationary (e.g notebooks) with patterned tape, stickers, cool papers, sharpies, a collage of your favourite pics or something equally awesome!
• If you're feeling more adventurous then you could even decorate your room! I don't mean painting walls, moving furniture etc (although you could if you want to), I mean putting up posters or paintings, making cushions, putting a tablecloth on your desk, decorating desk pots (as in the cups for your pens and things) or anything else you can think of!
• Make lots of small gifts for no reason such as bookmarks, bracelets, small soaps, fridge magnets, handmade lipglosses/lipsticks (maybe made out of crayons? Look it up on youtube), polymer clay charms or anything you know how to make or want to. Then put your small gifts in a box, now you'll be ready for giving people little gifts to make their day or to go alongside with bigger gifts at a special occasion
• Write a letter, you may think this sounds boring but it really isn't! Use cute writing sets, coloured pens (for multi-coloured writing), stickers or anything else to create a nice message for someone. You could write to a friend in another country, a family member or to anyone whom you want to surprise or make their day! You could even include a small gift in it (just make sure it's thin so you don't have to pay extra for the size).
• Try out a nail art tutorial (or a few) start off with easy tutorials then progress to harder ones. If it's your first go then you'll probably mess up a lot but don't give up it's still fun! xD
• Make your way through a TV boxset (I often watch comedies-you could too :D). You could watch one episode every evening or try to watch a whole series in your holidays
• Try out a new hobby. You could try: origami, fashion design, a new sport or something else that interests you!
• Make your own animation or game! Go to www.scratch.mit.edu and make an account, then click on the create button to start programming an easy 'project'. Once you've started, the opportunities are endless for what you could do, any type of project will do, you could start a new studio, look at other people's projects etc (look at the website for more info and explanations, after all this is just a bullet point)
• Ask your friends and family what music they would recommend for you to listen too. You could make a list of the songs and music artists they talk about then search for them online. Once you've listened to them you can decide on your favourites, you may have found some new tracks to listen to in your spare time!
• Let yourself be swayed by TV adverts. What I mean by this is that you could buy (or ask for) a cool product or book you see advertised that interests you! If it's a popular book you could take time writing a review for it so that other people who see the advert may look up reviews, see yours and decide whether or not to buy it. If it's a craft product then you can try it out and if you love it then you can do a craft project with it!
• Spend an afternoon in your garden (on a nice day) and bring a sketchpad and other supplies so that you can draw lots of nature sketches
• (when you're not going out all day) Try out different combinations of your clothes to create some amazing outfits for different occasions. If you want you could either take pictures of the best outfit combinations or note them down

Once you have tried a few of these ideas you will have changed your boredom into a fun state of mind (that sounds cheesy xD)! I hope I have helped you to undo your boredom! I may make another post on What to do When You're Bored later but in the meantime I'll try and upload posts more often again! :D :D :D