What's in my Pen Pots?!

Hey Guys!

So you might be thinking that the title of this post is a bit unusual to a normal post, however I was sitting doing homework at my desk and realised, I use everything in these pen pots everyday. I have three main pen pots that are from Ikea (I will link the bigger version here but the smaller ones are exactly the same). These are actually meant to be used for plants, however as they were quite inexpensive with a pretty detailing, I thought they might go well when I did my room up. I have more stationery, but these pots are for all my main pens and things that I use on a daily basis so they are easily accessible.

In the one closest to my lamp, I keep all my coloured fineliners. I have two sets in here - one being a non-branded set from Portugal and the other being a Stabilo set that I actually got in Germany. You can definitely buy the Stabilo set here however I got them abroad as they were cheaper than they are here. They are both very useful to have when I am writing on posters in small spaces or just for writing in general. They can add more interest as they are easy to write with but you can use many different colours. I have on thin fineliner set for each however I also bought a thicker set which you can use for colouring.

In the middle pot I keep all my coloured biros. I must admit that I actually have quite a few, which is a bit sad to be honest, however I really like writing with these as there are many colours and they are easy to write with. I have many different sets as some I bought didn't always have a colour in so \i had to buy extras or another set. So now I have a load of colours and they are easy and accessible to use.

In my last pot on the left I keep everyday stationery. I use pretty much everything in it everyday whether that be for homework or just in general. In the pot I keep, a couple of pencils, writing pens in blue, black and red, highlighters, a ruler, scissors. I do have glue, rubber and sharpener however I keep them on my shelf next to my chair. 

So that is what is in all my pen pots. I know I have a lot but that's one of the things I'm kind of obsessed with! Let me know if you liked this type of post?

Imagine Creativeness

Emily x

Strawberry Cupcakes

Hey Guys!

So it's another baking post today! I feel that whenever I am doing a baking post on here, most of them seem to be one of Tanya Burr's recipes, so sorry if that's not what you expect. However I think that's because her book is new and I haven't made most of the recipes, so just expect her recipes when I do baking!! Today I am using her recipe for Raspberry Cupcakes, however i made it into a strawberry version party because I had no raspberry jam! Feel free to use whatever jam you want as well. So here is the recipe...

For the cupcakes you will need: 

• 50g margerine/butter,
• 180g caster sugar,
• 1 egg,
• A teaspoon of vanilla extract,
• 160g plain flour,
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder,
• 160ml milk,
• Strawberry/Raspberry Jam.

For the icing you will need:

• 170g icing sugar,
• 85g margerine,
• Food colouring,
• Silver balls/strawberries/raspberries.

1) Fill a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases and set aside (you might need extra depending on what size your are). In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until a light and fluffy mixture is formed. Then mix in the egg, along with the vanilla extract. Once that is mixed, sieve in the flour and the baking powder. Lastly, slowly add the milk until you have a smooth mixture that is well combined.

2) Spoon the mixture evenly across the muffin cases and fill as many as you can. Tip - I used an ice cream scoop for each and then filled the rest up with a little spoon to make the quite even! Bake for around 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your cupcakes/muffins.

3) Once cool, spoon a little jam on top and spread all over, or like Tanya's recipe said cut out a hole and fill it - it all depends on how much jam you like. 

4) Mix together the icing sugar and butter in a bowl and slowly mix it to create buttercream. Once mixed, add in the food colouring (I chose pink) and stir it all together. 

5) Lastly either pipe or spoon the icing onto your cupcakes and either place silver balls on top or a fruit related to your jam. 

My cupcakes turned out really tasty however they definitely weren't the most amazing looking! Let me know if you try them out.

Imagine Creativeness

Emily x

A Quote for the Week

Hey Guys!

How have you all been? It's been such a long week going back to school and the weather has not helped, even though it's actually nice to have a long summer for once. I have started a new course in Graphics and as a first homework we were asked to either draw a picture of print out an outline and shade it in using the tonal scale. I, being me, decided that I would push myself and try to draw an eye and shade it in. I have never done such a detailed drawing before and definitely not to this standard, but this is how it turned out. It took me a long time however it was definitely worth it.

I have never done anything like this drawing before, and I thought this quote related to that. If you don't think you can do it and say you can't, your mind does not think you can, therefore your eyes can not see that. However when you put your mind to it, and you say you can, do it, because your eyes are always going to see an end result that makes you better and who you are.

Hope this quote is something that you can think about this week. 

Imagine Creativeness

Emily x

Back to School Stationery Haul

Hey Guys!

Hope that you are all well and that you had a great summer holidays! I can't believe how quick it's gone! This Monday I went back to school, so I thought it would be a good idea to do a haul for all my stationery I bought. This is the part of the holidays that I enjoy the most, I just find it so therapeutic, and I could forever buy stationery! Here are some of the things I bought that are in my pencil case, and that I find useful to have for school.

Last year I had quite a big pencil case, and it took up quite a lot of room in my bag, so this year I decided that I would get two small pencil cases instead. This is my main pencil case that is grey and white with a neon inside. It is a great size and just about fits everything in.

I also have a folder to put in my bag for loose sheets or homework so that they don't get creased inside. I also have a ruler because that's an essential, and then scissors and glue because the schools aren't always that good.

The main things inside my pencil case are two black pens and two blue pens for writing in my books, some pencils for drawing, a red and green pen for marking and a rubber/sharpener. These are the essentials, and I got them in lots of places, but you can probably get them anywhere.

I then have a set of coloured biros as they are quite useful to have for revision and making posters. When it comes to revision, I like to use lots of colours, as it helps me to remember things easier.

I also have some highlighters for highlighting key information or words when it comes to remembering those too. 

This is my other pencil case that includes colouring pens and pencils that I just keep in my bag incase I need them in a lesson. They are both the BIC ones, as I find these really good quality. 

This is everything in my pencil case. What's in yours? Have you gone back to school yet?

Imagine Creativeness

Emily x

Two weeks in Portugal!

Hey Guys!

Hope you have all had a good summer holiday so far - I can't quite believe how quick it has gone. We are going back to school in a week! Although it has flown by, I have managed to do lots of fun things as well as having a relaxing holiday in the north of Portugal for two weeks. We went to a little place called São Martinho do Porto which is just off the coast. It was my second time there and had lots of fun visiting places, as well as taking lots of pictures.

We visited many places - some of which we had visited before, some which were new. This gave me the opportunity to take some interesting shots out and about and on the plane too. Some of these pictures are my Dad's however quite a few are mine too.

I only took two pictures on the plane on the way there as the weather wasn't amazing, however on the way back the view was stunning. As we left quite early in the morning it meant that we saw the sunrise and had the chance to take some pictures of the sun rising in a bright blue sky. The clouds were also so pretty. Just views you can't get down here!

Hope you like this sort of post? Let me know if any of you have ever been to Portugal before!

Imagine Creativeness

Emily x

Frozen Lush Review

Hey Guys!

I thought I would come back and do another review on what I now think is my favourite bath bomb. A while ago my friend Charlotte bought me the bath bomb Frozen for the first time and as soon as I used it, I instantly fell in love with the smells and the sights in the bath. Recently, Charlotte has been doing BEDA over on her blog where she puts up a post everyday, so she asked me if I would like to do a Lush Review for one of her days, Seeing as I had to write it for her anyway, I thought I would put it up on mine. Make sure to check out her posts and the Lush review when it goes up on the 15th. So here is my review on Frozen...

Lush says this about the product:

'Do you want to have a bath bomb? Do you want to splash and play? Enjoy the most magical soak in the kingdom with this shimmering blue bath bomb, which spills out rolling snowdrifts of silver lustre. Uplifting neroli from Tunisia and precious rose oil from Turkey are sure to spread a little sunshine and melt the iciest of moods. If your day's felt like a serious doors in your face, this shiny, sky blue bomb filled with sparkle provides the perfect fairytale ending. Step in. take a deep breath, and let it go.'

Before placing this into the bath, the smells of rose and neroli infuse the air and the small bath bomb that is Frozen. It is a circular blue bath bomb, that shimmers in the light and glistens in the bath, leaving you feel magical. Inside it carries almost something like silver glitter to create a unique enchanted feeling once it has been placed in the bath.

The product, once placed in the bath, leaves a blue whirl all around the path that it takes. Some parts of the bath bomb wisp off into foam and create bubbles that soothe the skin and leave you feeling really soft afterwards. A shimmer from inside the bath bomb explodes leaving the bath an iridescent shimmery blue, creating a magical feeling. In the end you are left with a shimmery light blue that makes you feel calm, along with the smells around you.

Although this bath bomb is priced at £4,25, it is still a great bath bomb that can even last two baths and still come out miraculous. I will forever love this bath bomb and the magical feel it leaves behind, Maybe just like the film Frozen itself!

Imagine Creativeness

Emily x

A Year of Blogging!

Hey Guys!

It's so hard to imagine that a year has passed by so quickly, yet I have been blogging for a year now. How crazy is that! I can't believe that it has got to that point. So tomorrow on the 4th of August 2016, it will be my "Blog Anniversary" if you want to put it that way. I understand that I don't always get the amount of pageviews I like or I don't know who reads them, but what I do know is that I enjoy reading comments and overall, writing out posts for you to read.  

It's got to that point each week, where I don't always know what to write the day before my posts go up, but people like Charlotte (who is currently doing BEDA at the moment) help me come up with ideas, as well as me looking at anything and everything for inspiration! I think during this next year I might have to try and be more organised with blogging, which to be honest is quite unusual for me! Maybe I should try planning each month out early so they are sorted and I don't have to panic when I don't have a post written. Overall though, I have managed to produce a post on this blog every week, with the exceptions of when I went on holidays abroad. 

What have I learnt/gained from blogging for a year?

- I have learnt that no matter how many pageviews you get, there are always some people reading your posts!

- I have learnt that your posts don't always have to fit your personality or other peoples interest, include what you love writing about.

- It has allowed me to improve my grammar in a wide amount of ways.

- I have learnt that if I want to stick to it and actually want this blog to go somewhere, then I have to have commitment and be wanting to write posts.

What do I need to do/look forward to doing in the future?

- Hopefully, I will be able to see an increase in the people who read and comment on my blog over the next year to show some improvement over the year again.

- I need to probably create a schedule so that I am prepared when I have no ideas!

- Brainstorm ideas to please mainly myself but also others.

At the moment I have 1642 pageviews, 54 posts, 53 comments and 2 followers! By the end of my second year, by which hopefully I will still be blogging, I hope to have more of all these stats and hope to have improved my blog as much as I can...

Imagine Creativeness

Emily xx