A few downloadables for you...

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Oh hey! So as you can probably tell, I'm trying something new today. I've always been a bit of a designer at heart, and although these are far from my finest pieces work, I've been playing around on Photoshop recently and I thought I'd share what I've been working on with you guys. The idea came from my little notebook of content ideas where I'd drawn a ridiculous little camera icon next to an idea to tick off once I'd taken the photo for the post, and I kind of went from there. Below we have three versions of a simple 'to-do list' where you can write a blog post idea and tick of the following as you go: photo taken, post written, post published/scheduled, and post shared on social media. Like I said, nothing mind-blowing but I thought I'd post them because someone might some use out of them! Do let me know if you decide to download them (links below) and tell me if you have any other downloadables that you'd like to see! 

Blog Checklist 1                                  Blog Checklist 2                                        Blog Checklist 3

I x
Continue Reading...
comments: 0

Double Take: Vampy Nails

Tuesday, September 29, 2015
As soon as the first golden leaf of the year touches the frost-bitten ground I'm ready to apply my favourite autumn nail shade - burgundy. Most of my favourite polishes of all time have been LE OPI polishes that all belong to the same colour family, colours like the British passport or cool, sweet sangría from my beloved Spain. As mentioned, I've gone through countless limited edition bottles and the same number of heartbreaks when they've inevitably dried up or ran out. Therefore, about 2 years ago I decided to begin the hunt for a colour that was part of a permanent collection so that I wouldn't have to go through the same thing once the bottle was old and gloopy. In my search, I've come across some lovely variations of my beloved autumn shade (as well as a pretty damn good dupe) that I've decided to share with you today to help other poor, polish-less souls out in their journey for the perfect burgundy.
L-R:
Rimmel Salon Pro Nail Polish in Desire (£4.49)
A darker take on the classic with a semi-metallic finish.
Seche Bella (£7.95)
A true metallic wine coloured shade to make the heart swoon.
Ciaté Dangerous Affair (£9)
A lighter variation but equally as classy.
OPI Mrs O'Leary's BBQ (similar here)
The original LE shade from OPI that has since bitten the dust.
Essie Bahama Mama (£7.99)
The ultimate dupe for OPI Boris and Natasha, as well as the above Mrs O'Leary's BBQ.


Are you a fan of a good ol' vampy shade or do you prefer other colours for A/W? What are your favourites? 

I x
Continue Reading...
comments: 0

September

Sunday, September 27, 2015
Ah September, a month of new beginnings (apart from for me, the unemployed graduate, that is!) As well as returning to school or university, September marks the beginning of a new season and the slow descent into darker days and plummeting temperatures. I'm always relieved when we reach this point in the year - not only because it means that Christmas is just around the corner - but also because I'm a winter baby at heart and love anything knitted, chunky or warm. 

So this is what I'm thinking for the 'favourites' feature at the end of the month; a collection of bits and bobs that have defined the month I've had. It's not going to be a fixed formula, though. If I haven't been reading anything new or haven't been getting down to any new beats, they'll be excluded for the month to keep things simple. It'll just be a roundup, so let me know if there are any extra sections you'd like to see! 

SOME FAVOURITES:

1. Beats Solo 2 by Dr Dre (£169.95) 
Around this time of year, just before the big Apple releases, they tend to have some great offers lurking around for students to prep them for the academic year ahead. Luckily for me, I planned it so that my student discount was still valid when I bought my new Macbook Pro, and these Beats came as part of the deal! I've never been a headphone type of girl because they tend to hurt my ears, but these are incredibly comfy and don't look too ridiculous, and it didn't hurt that they were free! 
2. Essie Cocktail Bling (£7.99)
Once the first leaves begin to turn colour, I'm all over autumn nail shades, and this is one of my newest additions. Cocktail Bling is a gorgeous purple-toned creamy grey that really looks great on the nails. A new favourite perhaps?
3. Chanel Chance au Tendre (£78.50 for 100ml)
I've had this perfume for quite a while now, and you can probably tell from the photo above that it's a firm favourite of mine. It's really fresh and fruity, but it's definitely now limited to the warmer months. 
4. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin (£29.99 for the series)
If you know me then you'll know that I am obsessed with Game of Thrones and have been wanting to dig into the books for ages. Well, I didn't let myself start them until I'd graduated, so when I was in holiday in Mexico in July, they were fair game. They are really long books, but ever since I got back from Mexico I've been trying to read a couple of chapters on my iPad every night, and I've just started the third book: A Storm of Swords. So far I'm really enjoying them, and they are so easy to read that I'd recommend anyone to give them a go, even if you haven't seen the TV show. 


MUSIC:

Been busy this month? Here's a round-up of the posts that have gone live over the last 30 days so that you can catch up! 


I x
Continue Reading...
comments: 0

Isobel Cooks: A simple Caesar Salad

Friday, September 25, 2015

Summer is the time for an abundance of salad due to the (hopefully) warm weather. However, I've never been a fan of salads so you can imagine my nightmare when the season approaches because leaves and dressings seem to feature in every meal. To combat this, I've been experimenting with the few types of salads (see another of my recipes here) that I do like and have settled on a recipe or two that I've been scoffing all summer long. Today we're going to take a look at a good ol' chicken caesar salad that I've been all over recently!
Ingredients:
- 1 romaine lettuce / 1 pack of salad leaves
- 1 - 1 1/2 pack of cooked chicken breast (depending on how much chicken you like!)
- A pack of croutons (you can make your own, but I prefer the store bought ones)
- A handful of finely grated parmesan 
- A few slices of shaved parmesan (for the topping)
- 4tbsp half-fat mayonnaise
- 2tbsp white wine vinegar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- A pinch of sugar

Method:
1. Combine the half-fat mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, the finely grated parmesan and a pinch of sugar to create the dressing. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper!
2. Slice/tear up the chicken into bite size pieces and throw into a large bowl with
the lettuce, dressing, croutons, and the grated parmesan.


Feel like trying this recipe out? Let me know how it goes! 

I x

 *This recipe was adapted from a Waitrose recipe (see here)
Continue Reading...
comments: 0

A handy tip

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

It's quite bizarre, but all of my best ideas seem to come to me when I'm trying to sleep. No matter how many times I repeat said ideas over and over in my head in the hope that they'll still be lingering when I wake up in the morning, they always disappear leaving me frustrated that I didn't get up and write them down. However, if I spent all my time writing down ideas that came to me when trying to fall sleep, I'd still be typing as the sun rises every morning, so this is never been a practical solution for me. Recently, I was messing around with my iPhone and decided to try out the dictation tool and found it to be extremely useful for helping me to solve this problem. Now when those ideas inevitably come to me when I hit the pillow, I can pick up my phone with my eyes still firmly closed and dictate my thoughts and ideas so that I can continue to try and sleep whilst speaking out loud, rather than in my own head. It's surprising how useful this is been to me - dictating makes the writing process so much faster and I can simply copy and paste my notes, saving hours when it comes to writing blog posts because I don't need to think about it because I've already done all the work.

When do you find you work best? Have you found a tool to make the most of the best ideas and to record them effectively? Do you think the dictation tool could be helpful when you're writing blog posts? Let me know!

I x
Continue Reading...
comments: 0
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Follow

Instagram