Blogs I Follow and Why

There are so many blogs out there it can be difficult to know which ones to follow, so I thought I’d share my favourites with you in case they’re your cup of tea too!

Pugly Pixel – Blog Design & Development

This is where you’ll find excellent design tips and tutorials for your blog. Katrina’s posts always have good instructions and lots of pictures for reference.

Lil Sonny Sky – Illustrator

I follow Lisa for a very simple reason – her work is fantastic! I really like her style and the different colours, patterns and textures she incorporates into everything she makes.

Ghost Parties – Beauty & Fashion

Kate is the perfect fashion and beauty blogger for me. We have the same skin and hair type and a similar taste in fashion, which is great because her reviews allow me to pick products which would probably suit me too.

Blacksburg Belle – Business Hints & Tips

April has a fantastic way of vlogging helpful information for businesses in a straight-forward way that makes me wonder why I never thought of it before!

A Beautiful Mess – Recipes

Almost every recipe Elsie & Emma post makes me drool! None of them seem complicated, but they all look tasty and I can’t wait to try them. ALL!

Miss Indie – Random Loveliness

Mandy’s blog doesn’t really fit any one purpose.  She really just introduces me to great things that I haven’t seen before, whether they’re craft tutorials, beauty or fashion ideas, or just really cool, cute stuff that I end up wanting!

These are only a few of the blogs filling up my Google Reader but if you have a blog or can recommend a blog that I should be reading, let me know!

Karen x

♥ This Week’s Loves ♥

1. It’s been a week of making and getting things ready for Aberdeen Craft Bazaar next Saturday! First up were these vintage cards I bought which used to come with boxes of teabags! These are from the 1950s and 60s and have these great pictures of birds on them but the backs were a bit worn so I turned them into magnets.

2. I also made some more of my Farmyard Magnets so I can make a pretty display of them altogether on my blackboard. These magnets are made from photos I took on a local farm on a family day out!

3. Still overcome with Olympic fever, I bought this Make Your Own Gingerbread Medals kit from Morrisons! It was half price so I couldn’t resist and this is my one (it’s meant to say #1)! It tasted good too!

4. Sky1 has been showing the Naked Gun films every Tuesday, ending with Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult tomorrow night. I LOVE these films! They are full of ace one-liners and the comedy isn’t offensive or anything, it’s just really silly, laugh out loud goodness!

5. I got another Glossybox this week and this one’s full of International Superstars. I’m really excited about this one as it contains Lipcote, a Glossybox lipstick, Deep Cleansing Oil and imPRESS nails which I’ve been dying to try.

6. Here are my imPRESS nails! They’re really easy to put on, you just use the wipe to clean your nails, peel off the back of the nail and stick it on! The only worry I have is that if one falls off they all have to come off unless you buy glue separately.

7. Even more making this weekend! I’m making some lunch bags for the Bazaar with this pretty oilcloth. I really liked the material but had no idea of what to make with it until now and the bags are turning out really well!

8. Aberdeen Art Fair was on this weekend at the Music Hall and there were lots of amazing artwork, sculptures and even furniture to look at.  One of my favourite stands was the one from a local school, the pictures were so bright and imaginative!

9. My cinema trip this week was to see Bourne Legacy. I never really got into the previous Bourne films that much, but I enjoyed this one. I’m quickly become a fan of Jeremy Renner, especially as Hawkeye in the Marvel films, and he really suits these rugged action roles. I’d say that a bit of knowledge of the previous films would help when watching this though as there are some references back to them.

Karen x

Call Of The Wild

I haven’t done one of these for a while! I’ve been trying not to spend lots on clothes as I’m saving for my trip to Japan, but this beast can only be contained for so long!

1. This was love at first sight! I saw it on a model in the shop and had to have it! It’s a completely animal-free biker jacket with a grey suede-like body and black PVC sleeves from Dorothy Perkins, and it’s a great any occasion jacket which can be dressed up or down as appropriate. This was my only full price item of the trip!

2. This Poison Arrow Ring is from Accessorize and was the last one in my size. Although it has a red stone missing it still looks super cool and was only £2.40 so I’m not complaining!

3. My star buy was this wolf t-shirt for £10 from Dorothy Perkins. I don’t own a lot of t-shirts for some reason, I think it’s because I’m really picky about the cut of them or something, but this one is great, it’s boxy but hangs really well and has glitter through the image to jazz it up.

4. I couldn’t find these shoes on Accessorize’s website but I got the last pair in the Aberdeen store and they were just my size! These were £7.50.

5. And I couldn’t find these online either, but these cream polka dot sunglasses were from Accessorize too and were only £4.50. I got a black 50’s style pair from Dotty P’s too for only £2. Now I just need to find the sun!

What’s new in your wardrobe? Any sale bargains? What do you think of this little haul?

Karen x

♥ This Week’s Loves ♥

1. Forgot how much I love Toffifee! I always nibble off the toffee outer shell, then devour the chocolate and hazelnut centre. This box did not last long!

2. I’ve been using Dove Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner for about a week now and it’s really made my hair soft and shiny. I seem to struggle with hair oils usually because I have fine hair and even a drop too much can make it feel weighed down, so this product means I get the oil but in an easy to use way!

3. I took my sister to Yo! Sushi. She’s never been before and wanted to try it out before our trip to Japan. She loved it (naturally!).

4. I did a little shopping and got some ace stuff in the sales, but I’ll do a seperate post on that shortly.

5. I went to see Step Up 4: Miami Heat at the cinema this weekend. I love these films, they always make me want to dance (much better than I actually do!) and it doesn’t hurt that the main men are a bit buff (Ryan Guzman is my new favourite eye candy)! The storylines are never amazing but the dancing is so awesome it more than makes up for it. Why do I not own more of these on DVD…

6. …oh wait, I do! I went thrifting at the weekend and got Step Up and Step Up 2: The Streets for 50p each! Bargain DVDs! In my hunt for these I also found X-Men, X-Men 2, The Goonies, Fantastic 4 and Big Bang Theory Series 1. My whole haul cost £4.50.

7. Another bargain I found was this Hello Kitty alarm clock.  Unfortunately the alarm plays “Auld Lang Syne” and “Jingle Bells” so that won’t be getting used! But it does tell the time, the room temperature and light up in a rainbow of colours when tapped, so that makes me happy!

8. I’ve added this vintage Thelwell jigsaw puzzle to my Whimsy store. I remember these illustrations from my childhood and I lit up when I saw it! They’re always so cute with the little round-bottomed characters bounding about on their horses and this one is dressage themed.

9. The Olympic closing ceremony was brilliant, I love the cheesiness of it all! The teenage Karen inside me still loves the Spice Girls, and fireworks and music and dancing and bright colours are four of my favourite things! 😀

Karen x

♥ This Week’s Loves ♥

1. Going out for a Thai meal with my friend to a restaurant I hadn’t been to before.

2. After our meal we went to see Ted at the cinema. It was so funny, but also very rude and very close to being offensive! But it’s hard to be offended when it’s a cute little bear!

3. Saw a nice picture of someone with purple nails, so I painted my nails purple. Simple as that! This is Marshmallow Heaven by Rimmel.

4. I ordered some books on Japan, getting my research on for my big trip in 90 and a bit days (I have a countdown timer)! I got the Rough Guide to Japan, a Japanese phrasebook and Japanese In 30 Days.

5. I love Paperchase cards! I go there for most of my cards, just cos they have such great designs and they’re not expensive. Luckily my great-auntie and friend’s birthdays have passed, so I can show you these!

6. And I had to buy this card for me, just cos it makes me laugh!

7. My Dad appeared with a happy pear, left it on the mantelpiece, so I got a Sharpie and gave it another eye. It’s even happier now!

8. Went on the hunt for a gold post box yesterday and here it is! Royal Mail are painting post boxes for every gold medal winner from Team GB at the Olympics and this one’s for Katherine Grainger, gold medal winner for women’s double sculls rowing. There’s a handy website to see if there are any near you.

9. Our cinema trip this week was to see Brave. I didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t really know what the story would be, but it was good! I won’t spoil it for you though, you’ll have to go and see it for yourself! There’s an animated short beforehand called “La Luna” which was really sweet and lovely!

Karen x

♥ This Week’s Loves ♥

I have some ridiculously exciting news for you this week, something that makes me squee every time I think about it! 😀 But more about that later…

1. Sale bargains! There are lots of sales on just now and I was in town anyway so it’d be rude not to look! I got these ace high-waisted lilac jeans from Topshop which were reduced from £40 to £15 and feel really summery but comfy when on!

2. More sale bargains! I also got these rings in the sale at Topshop for a few pounds each. The glasses are part of a set of three rings, one with a nose and one with a mouth, but I only really bought them for the glasses! I love the loose eyes on the cartoony one!

3. I haven’t been to the comic book shop for a good few weeks but it’s right next to my hairdresser so I like to pop in when I’m in the area. I’m collecting the Avengers Vs X-Men series just now.

4. I also bought a few random Kidrobot things where the contents are a surprise until you open them. I got a Super Mini fireman keyring, a cool 100% wooden Jibibuts, a Yummy Breakfast pastry and a Smorkin Labbit. Probably the only one I’d buy again would be the Jibibuts cos they make nice ornaments too, but I’ve just spotted lots of funky stuff on the Kidrobot site…

5. Strawberry milkshakes at Tinderbox. It’s my favourite place to get hot chocolate and caked in Aberdeen, but it closed down this week so we went in for a farewell drink 😦

6. This is an all year round love but I had lots of cake this week! It was my sister’s birthday on Monday and a colleague’s birthday midweek, so he brought in these yummy, pretty cupcakes his son’s girlfriend made!

7. Juicy watermelon in the sunshine!

8. Continued work on my secret project. This is a sneaky hint 😉

9. And finally, the squee-inducing news – I’M GOING TO JAPAN! This is a total dream holiday for me and I can’t wait! I saw an offer on flights from my local airport and we only had a couple of days to decide so we just did it! My sister’s coming with me for 10 days in November, and the plan is to spent most of the time in Tokyo but also travel a bit, probably to Kyoto and Osaka, but I need to do lots of research first.

If you’ve been to Japan and have any advice or recommendations let me know!  I’d love to hear from you!

Karen x

This Week’s Loves #2

1. My little brother’s 30th birthday *sobs*. A friend of my Mum’s made this ace cake of him at the gym! We had a lovely family meal the night before to celebrate.

2. I put money towards his new laptop as a present, but wanted to give him something to keep so got this Beano comic from the week of his birth.

3. I finally got round to watching My Neighbour Totoro and loved it! Such a sweet story and brilliantly animated.

4. I’m a Superhero! And you can be too courtesy of Marvel’s Create Your Own Superhero game.

5. A triple hit of Batman this week! We went to a double bill of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in preparation for the The Dark Knight Rises at the weekend. Unfortunately I’d caught a spoiler which took the edge off of it, but it was still a great movie!

6. I dyed my hair using my usual hairdye because I’ve tried a couple of different ones lately and been disappointed so I went back to my trusty Castings by L’Oreal in Plum. I used Live XXL but it contains bleach and made my hair feel horrible, but this stuff make it feel soft and shiny and is a really good colour. Also it fades brilliantly! It goes a nice reddy-brown and people have said how nice that looks!

7. I ordered a load of stuff from the Next VIP Sale! I always order a ridiculous amount of clothes online in this sale then end up taking most of it back because you don’t get much of a description, but it’s great to try it all on at home at my leisure! I don’t buy that much from Next usually, but their sales are great and I get some good work clothes and bikinis and if you’re a VIP you can shop the sale before all the good stuff is gone!

8. I bought my first nail polish from Topshop and it’s a transparent pink with multi-coloured glitter called Adrenalin. I’ve tried it on bare nails and it looks nice but I’ll need to try it on a painted nail too.  The glitter has come off the white bit of my nail already but it’d might stay on better with a base.

9. I’ve been designing a new product which I am so excited about! The prototypes have come out better than expected and I’m hoping to release them this week!

Karen x

 

 

This Week’s Loves #1

I’m trying something new this week, let me know what you think!

1. I went to see The AMAZING Spider-Man. Twice.

2. My Granda’s 75th birthday

3. Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap. I have combination skin which is a bit oily and this stuff creates a harmonious balance and has cleared my skin right up. I only use 4 drops of citrus liquid soap each time on a face cloth so my 2oz bottle is lasting AGES.

4. I’ve booked my travel and hotel for BlytheCon so I will definitely be there!

5. Due to my new-found love of Andrew Garfield I watched Never Let Me Go this week and loved it.  I hadn’t really appreciated what it was about before, so was surprised to find it so moving.

6. What can I say about Magic Mike?! It’s not a great story, but it is what it is, and I liked it! We made a girls day out of it and had a few cocktails before, during and after!

7. Après-Magic Mike cocktails and Jenga with the girls

8. Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover. Put your finger in, twist it around, and it comes out nail polish free! It takes more than 1 second to be fair but not much more. It’s pretty hassle-free for £4.99

9. This is Nails Inc Portobello Market which doesn’t seem to be available anymore, but I tried it for the first time yesterday and it’s a really cool slightly neon peachy-orange shade which will look ace with a tan!

Karen x

This Week’s Loves #1

I’m trying something new this week, let me know what you think!

1. I went to see The AMAZING Spider-Man. Twice.

2. My Granda’s 75th birthday

3. Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap. I have combination skin which is a bit oily and this stuff creates a harmonious balance and has cleared my skin right up. I only use 4 drops of citrus liquid soap each time on a face cloth so my 2oz bottle is lasting AGES.

4. I’ve booked my travel and hotel for BlytheCon so I will definitely be there!

5. Due to my new-found love of Andrew Garfield I watched Never Let Me Go this week and loved it.  I hadn’t really appreciated what it was about before, so was surprised to find it so moving.

6. What can I say about Magic Mike?! It’s not a great story, but it is what it is, and I liked it! We made a girls day out of it and had a few cocktails before, during and after!

7. Après-Magic Mike cocktails and Jenga with the girls

8. Bourjois Magic Nail Polish. Put your finger in, twist it around, and it comes out nail polish free! It takes more than 1 second to be fair but not much more. It’s pretty hassle-free for £4.99

9. This is Nails Inc Portobello Market which doesn’t seem to be available anymore, but I tried it for the first time yesterday and it’s a really cool slightly neon peachy-orange shade which will look ace with a tan!

Karen x

Twentythreetwo’s First Birthday!

I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I started Twentythreetwo!

I’ve always been a creative person. My Mum is a tailoress so we were always sewing and making things as I grew up. I was fascinated by how quickly she could knit!  But as I grew older my creativity wained and was replaced by school and boys and work!

I started screenprinting in February 2011 and had a fantastic time!  That’s when the switch was flicked and the lightbulb went on and I remembered how much I loved making things!

In June last year I plucked up the courage and added my first screenprints to my Etsy shop, Twentythreetwo. I started doing craft fairs and meeting lots of lovely new crafty people!

In May this year I launched Twentythreetwo Whimsy, a shop where I could share my love of vintage and nostalgia, with lots of fun and playful items!

Thank you to all my customers, friends, family, blog readers, followers and likers for your support! I’ve had a brilliant time!

For being so excellent over this last year, I’m giving you all 25% discount of all items in both of my shops! All you need to do is quote code 1YEAR at the checkout and your discount will automatically be applied!

Karen x