The Style Rawr: The Best Girls!

If you keep up with the lovely Style Rawr ladies on Twitter (follow here!) you may have seen their new avatar picture, designed by yours truly funnily enough! 

Tara and Jade are the best, they told me to get creative and the only requirement was that there had to be a little leopard print in there somewhere! A little translated into quite a lot, but I do love it! 

I'm so glad that I have their blog in my life, I totally love their style and they always, always make time for their followers. I think that's one of the reasons The Style Rawr is such an awesome blog, it's really interactive, just like talking to a friend really! Anyway let me know what you think of this illustration and follow the girls here!

Happy Easter! 

C xxx

Golden Easter Bunnies

Happy Easter, bunnies!

I actually find it a little bit sad to eat the Lindt bunnies, I'd much rather have a real one instead (not to eat, just as a pet!). 

C xxx

Billions of buttons!

Okay, well maybe not billions, but I designed quite a few buttons for Karla's re-designed blog! Here is just a little selection of them. I also made her new social media icons which was a little different for me, but I found it fun! 

I love her new re-branding, lots of pink going on which suits her perfectly! Karla's blog is really fascinating and a must read if you are thinking of getting into make-up artistry. Just recently she's been away to Belgium on an amazing photo shoot in a beautiful castle. Click here to give it a read!

C xxx

Tales of Creativity

So, this is a portrait of the winner of Karla's 'Name our charity project' competition, Lawson Wright. Lawson came up with the name 'Tales of Creativity' so that is how I will refer to the project from now on! Lawson is also a Makeup Artist, and you can find him on Facebook or Twitter. I tried my best to capture Lawson's signature monochrome style and he liked the outcome, so that's the most important part! 

C xxx

A postmodern masterpiece.

As popularly requested by...one person, here it is! This stunning work of art was made by myself when I was in college, a mere child of 17. I'm sure you will agree that my style has significantly evolved since then. 

As you can see, this collage features a stylish coffee table with the head of Pete Doherty, who appears to be wearing a ruff of some sort. There is also a harlequin's mask, and a pink bird (who is possibly a puppet). Pete is a very functional item of furniture, you can place a bowl of fruit on him with ease, and a stack of magazines for your viewing pleasure. His muscular arm is holding a microphone indicating he can also sing while you relax at home. Oh, and let's not forget the sartorial elegance of his footwear. Yes, I would indeed buy this coffee table in a heartbeat. 

I may or may not have been completely insane when this was created. This is just the tip of the iceberg too if you can believe it! 

C xxx

Superdrug Coconut Oil

As you can see, I have ridiculously long, thick hair, which tends to be quite wild. As I've recently bleached a streak of my hair, I decided it was time to start putting a little more effort into my hair care regime to keep it looking and feeling healthy! I've also been blow drying my hair a lot more recently, this coupled with the horrendous weather has been really drying so I've been doing a little research into various products to see what will inject a little moisture back into my hair. My blog pal Marta, is a massive advocate of coconut oil, so I thought I would give it a go myself.

Cue some more 'amazing' photography skills. Ha! 

I spied this little pot in Superdrug, and it was pretty cheap so I thought it would be my best bet. The Superdrug website states that it is £2.29, but I'm sure it was less than that when I bought it so perhaps it was on offer that day. It's a fairly small little tub, and some people have complained that it is not filled to the top, however you literally need to use the tiniest amount, otherwise you risk your hair looking overly oily. So please use sparingly! 

The oil is actually solid in formula, you have to chip a little bit out and melt it in your hands before applying to your hair. I like to brush my hair out after showering and apply directly to wet hair before drying. You can also use it on dry skin and as a hair mask, so it really is a multi-purpose product! I'm so so glad that I decided to try this, it makes my hair ridiculously shiny and it smells delicious. Do you guys have any 'wonder' products that you use religiously? 

C xxx

Tara: The Style Rawr

As soon as I saw Tara's style, I knew I would have to illustrate her at some point! Tara is basically cuteness personified and her style is the perfect mixture of fashion-forward whilst always remaining very classy and identifiable. As you can see from these photo's, she knows how to rock a hat or two! I'm so glad I found The Style Rawr blog, because I can see Tara becoming a big inspiration for my future illustrations!

So, this is the illustration I managed to come up with! I included her signature hat, and this awesome 'Doing Real Stuff Sucks' tee. Let me know what you guys think of it, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out! Make sure you follow Tara's blog here. 

C xxx

The Creative Blog Award

The kind Elle just let me know that she had nominated me for a creative blog award - how sweet of her! I thought I would take the time to answer the questions now and nominate some of my favourite crafty and creative ladies. Please don't feel like you have to take part, I just want to let you know I appreciate what you do! 

The rules:

 Thank the blogger and link back their blog
Write 3 things about yourself.
2 things people might not know about you
 1 thing you would want to change about yourself.
Answer the questions asked by the tagger
Nominate this award to deserving blogs
Ask your nominees some questions of your choice.
Inform your nominees about their award.

3 things about me!

I am a full on geek and love reading sci-fi and fantasy books. My recent favourites are the Assassin's Apprentice trilogy by Robin Hobb - so addictive! 

I enjoy playing MMO's from time to time, although I'm not playing one at the moment. My main character in WoW is a Warlock - so cool (heh). 

I'm currently in the middle of a fringe dilemma, I really don't know whether I should grow it out or not? Does anyone have any advice! 

2 things you might not know about me.

I use Photoshop a lot but I had to completely teach myself from scratch! 

Me and my friends made this strange and probably god awful journal/scrapbook in college called 'The Book of Dreams'. It featured some mental characters such as a coffee table with the face of Pete Doherty. 

1 think I would change about myself. 

I would change how stressed out I am all the time! 

Do you think it is important to have an education these days?

I think this depends entirely on the individual, but no I don't think it is the be all and end all. 

What is your favourite meal?

Haha, well this is a hard one because I have so many favourite meals. I love roast dinners, fajita's, and chill con carne. I also love every type of cake going. 

Would you prefer a cosy night in or a night on the town?

I would choose a night in! I love watching movies at home. 

Would you say that you're a chilled back person?

I am in no way a chilled out person! I wish I was though! 

Favourite product of the month? 

Superdrug's Coconut Oil - I really love this lately. 

Lovely blog's I would like to nominate!

 

Marta from Glitter Detector. I love all of Marta's cute tutorials and Youtube video's! 

Jess Buckley. Such an interesting range of blog posts! 

Amazing Jennie from Sailboat. Perfectly pretty photography and amazing video's. Such a sweet girl too! 

R for Rebecca. Such a lovely blog layout and really gorgeous photo's. I always enjoy reading this blog. 

Here are a couple of questions!

1. Favourite cult beauty product?

2. Do you have a favourite hobby which helps you to relax? 

3. What do you hope to achieve with your blog this year? 

4. Favourite takeaway meal?

5. Have you got any fun plans for Summer? 

Okay, well I think that's everything! Once again, thank you for nominating me Elle! 

C xxx

Happy Birthday Karla!

This is a portrait that Rich asked me to start a couple of days ago! It's a portrait of Karla Powell, as a gift for her birthday which is today. He told me that Karla is fond of her signature red lip so I made sure to include that detail! I also added a pink sparkly background just to make it more girly and fun, and because I really enjoy a bit of glitter. Let me know what you guys think of it! 

Bloglovin'/Twitter

Mini Hearts

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend so far. This is just a little something I started the other day! I really love pinafores lately, I think they are so cute, and can imagine them being lovely to wear when the weather warms up a little. I noticed quite a few people who said they liked my pink hair/green dress Motel girl so I did this illustration in a similar style! If anyone has any requests of film/tv characters, models or just whoever, that you would like to see drawn, please give me a shout!

C xxx

I love JUJU Jellies!

I've been obsessed with JUJU jelly shoes since last summer, or rather since I was a small child! I can remember them being all the rage at primary school and now JUJU have revamped their range and introduced some gorgeous pastel varieties and glittery versions. These are just a couple of my favourites and they are currently available from Mr. Shoes. It seems like there will be lots of new versions available come high summer, and you can have a good look at the full range on the JUJU website. I love the nude sandals I've featured in my post, but there is also an amazing copper/bronze pair that I would love.

What do you guys think of them?

C xxx

When surrounded by giants...

I'm really happy that I can share this image with all of you today, as this is the first illustration of the new project I'm working on with Karla Powell and Rich Hinton. I know I've mentioned this a lot lately but I'm really excited about it!

Anyway, as I said in my last blog post, we are on the lookout for stories from makeup artists and other creatives who are struggling with self doubt and lack of inspiration. We are then using these stories as the starting point to come up with some inspirational illustrations! Another really important aspect of this project is that all of these stories and illustrations will eventually be compiled into a book with all the proceeds going to a suitable makeup charity, one who helps scar & burn victims hopefully. I think this is a really worthy cause so I'd love for some of you guys to get involved and share your stories. 
If you don't have a story to tell you can still help us out because Karla is currently hosting a competition on her Facebook page to help us choose a name for the project and we need your ideas! Whoever comes up with the name we like the most will win a custom illustration designed by me! 

You can read all about the project here on Karla's Facebook page. 

If you would like to share a story or two, email it over to Rich at this address: wolves_tog@yahoo.com.

I'd really love to know what you all think of this first illustration!

C xxx

Surprise of the day!

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Big surprise of the day so far! I had an email from Rich Hinton who is a talented (and obviously kindhearted photographer!) to tell me he had nominated me in the Company Blog Awards. I've never been nominated for anything like this, I'm not sure my blog really deserves it to be honest! I'm currently working with Rich and Karla Powell on a project, so I might as well mention it again now. If you have any stories related to being an MUA and the struggles/problems you've encountered as you try to make your way in the industry then please do get in touch with Rich at wolves_tog@yahoo.com. They are primarily looking for make-up artist stories, but I think if you are just trying to break into the fashion industry in any way they'd also be interested in hearing from you! I've almost completed one of the illustrations so I can't wait to share that when I'm able to!

I hope you are all having a good week so far.

C xxx

The fashion genius of Willow Rosenburg.

Well, it seems that dungarees are well and truly in fashion again (I'm sure some people are wondering why!) but I've actually always had a fondness for them. If you are a Buffy fan then I'm sure you know that Willow has a penchant for a good pair of dungarees and can often be seen wearing them in the early seasons. Yes, they can look slightly nerdtastic but maybe that's not such a bad thing! I'm going to have a little rifle through my wardrobe and find my old pair, and maybe when this insane weather gets slightly warmer I'll start wearing them again!

1. Bitching & Junkfood via Asos. Acid Wash Dungarees. £95. These are ridiculously expensive but look how pretty they are! The fact that they're acid wash makes them even more 90's and stops them from looking too childish (although I do quite like to look a little childish on occasion!)and I just think they are pretty damn awesome. It's highly doubtful that I would pay this much for dungaree's but if you are feeling flush then these could be the perfect dungarees. 

2. Rokit, Vintage Pale Blue Dungarees. £25 There is a huge selection of vintage dungarees on Rokit, including long length ones if you fancy something a little different. I think £25 is a lot more reasonable for an item that might be a little faddy. 

3. River Island Red Floral Dungarees. £40. Again, I'd say these are relative expensive but I do like how different they are! These are definitely a statement piece and I don't think I'd be brave enough to wear them, but they are very Willow don't you think? Another thing about these is that they are actually long length which I think may be a little harder to pull off!

If you are a bit of a bargain hunter like me, then you could also check out Primark or Ebay who often have super cheap dungaree's available. I've also noticed that River Island have lots of cute pinafore's on sale at the moment so if you're looking to snap one up for a reasonable price then have a gander on their website! 

What do you guys think of them? 

C xxx

The Motel Rocks Collection

As I mentioned in my last post I decided to enter the Motel illustration competition just for fun. All of the pieces I chose to illustrate are definitely things I would wear myself, I especially love all of the shoulder-less tops and dresses! I also decided to feature some cute critters in the drawings just to keep them in line with my usual style!

Anyway, I hope you like the illustrations I came up with! I don't know if I really stand much chance of doing well in this contest as I think my style may be a little different from a lot of the other entries, it's not strictly typical 'fashion' illustration so that may not bode well! I'm happy with all of them though, I think I've stayed true to my own style and that's the most important thing! 
If any of you are thinking of entering or have already entered, please let me know so I can check out your posts! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the other entries - very exciting!

C xxx

Sneak peek.

So I decided that I would take part in the Motel Rocks illustration competition because it sounds like a cool opportunity and I thought I would give you guys a little peek at the first illustration I did. I plan on adding a couple more but I'm still working on them at the moment! I wonder if you can guess which awesome Motel lady inspired this piece? 

In other news, I am going to be working with Karla Powell and her photographer Rich, on an exciting new project! If you follow Karla on Facebook or Twitter you may have already seen the announcement. The series is going to hopefully be an illustrated compendium on some of the struggles/issues aspiring MUA's face and how they may overcome them. They are looking for stories from MUA's right now, so if you have one then please get in touch with them if you would like to share! 
I'm very excited to start and also a little nervous as it may be quite a big undertaking and I don't want to let the guys down! I'll keep you posted as things develop more. 
Anyway, I will make a bigger post as soon as I have my Motel collection put together and I'm happy with how it all looks! As always, I'd love your feedback. 

A massive thank you to all of my new and old followers for your amazing comments lately. I really do appreciate every single one! 

C xxx

China Doll Boutique Competition

A couple of days ago the lovely Nhuc emailed me to invite me to take part in a competition she is running for her boutique - China Doll. Of course I said absolutely, so here is my entry. All you have to do is choose an item from her range and style an outfit around it with anything you fancy, then you simply create your own collage. If you want to take part, you can read more about it here. 

Whole lotta Rosie headband - Crown & Glory - £20. 

China Doll Boutique Anabel blouse - £36.

Topshop Rose Cord Pinafore - £42.

Dr.Martens boots in pink/yellow - Office - £90.

Total: £188

So, that's my outfit! What do you think of it, is there anything else you would have added? Good luck to everyone else who enters! 

C xxx

The nicest tea in the world!

This is probably a slight blogging cliché but I really do love tea! I first picked up this amazing Whittard tea over Christmas while on a trip to Cheshire Oaks and I'm so glad I decided to give it a try. I first spied it on the Whittard website quite some time ago after trying to discover some reasonably priced instant tea, it proved to be quite a feat as there doesn't seem to be much around. Anyway, there are so many flavours to choose from but I went for Strawberry & Vanilla, which just sounded so yummy, and I have to admit I was swayed by the gorgeous packaging - look how pretty it is! 

 Anyway, the packaging suggests to add 3 teaspoons to hot water, but I tend to use 2 as it's quite strong. The strawberry and vanilla flavours go perfectly together making it the ideal sweet treat. I have only had this tea hot so far, but during summer I'll definitely have a go of making ice tea with it. A tub of this instant tea costs £5.50 so it is slightly on the pricey side, and I wouldn't use this as an every-day tea, I like to keep it on days where I want a treat. 

While I was in the store, I also spotted their range of hot chocolate - so many delicious sounding flavours! I think it would be hard to choose just one! Again, these are fairly expensive, but they have hugely positive reviews on the website so I can imagine that they are pretty divine. I think these would make cute gifts for anyone that loves chocolate as much as I do, or perhaps in a food hamper for birthday's and Christmas. 

Have any of you tried one of these tea's or do you already have a particular favourite? Send me your suggestions! 

C xxx

Big Fish

I think Big Fish is definitely one of my favourite Tim Burton movies, it's probably one of the last he made before he went totally mental with the CGI, seriously, tone it down! Anyway, I adore the character of Sandra Templeton, she always looks adorable, and the styling of her outfits is just perfect! I decided to draw her in her classic blue dress. If you haven't seen this film, I urge you to watch it! If you are into magical and unlikely tales, I'm sure you will love it. The film also features Steve Buscemi dancing around like a loon, what else do you need! Do you have a favourite Tim Burton movie?

C xxx