New Challenges & Fun Things

Hi guys! Happy Sunday!

Usually I write these posts of a Friday or Saturday and have them go out on a Sunday, chatting all about my week and what's going on. I bloody love these posts!

However as you know this week was The Girl Gang event, and since Thursday I've been totally exhausted to be honest! So I didn't really have time to write the past few days. However I'm here today, and I finally feel like I'm getting some of my energy back - and I wanted to check in! After all, I do love our Sunday chats.

I've started my new art journal, which was something I swore I'd do as soon as the event was over with, and I'm SO happy. I've decided I'll work on it every single day, however I feel. I might paint something (like above), collage, sketch, or just write in it. Either way, having a daily creative outlet again is lovely; I thoroughly recommend it.

Artwork & Life Lately

Hey guys, I thought I'd check in with you today and just share a little of what I've been up to. It's been a strange week or so, with both good things and bad things.

I've been working with a few different people and small businesses creating artwork for custom ranges (soon to come!) and special projects which has been really cool. On the one hand I've felt super inspired and happy with life, and on the other hand it's just MORE things I've had to do and been tearing my hair out about, haha. I get stressed easily anyway, but when work is piling up I become a little bit manic.

It's this strange battle between feeling so grateful for having a lot of work in, but also desperately wishing I had a week off. Or even just a weekend! But I've kind of accepted I'm going to be crazy busy, at least for the next year or so. Hopefully by then I'll be making more money, and have enough awesome opportunities that mean I can slow some things down a little.

DIY Cute Storage Box

Happy weekend folks! I hope you're all having a good one :)

I promised more creative/crafty/DIY posts over here on this blog, and today I am keeping that promise! Maybe they're not really your thing, but I adore these types of posts and thought it'd be fun.

Since I'm planning to make DIY's a more regular feature, I thought I'd start off easy today with a simple storage box DIY. This'll be good if you want to make your office space look cuter, provide a new place for makeup (those ALEX drawers from IKEA aren't cheap!) or create a place just for those little knick-knacks we all have hanging around.


What you'll need:

- Any old box/container of choice.
- Wrapping paper/sheets of colourful paper.
- Scissors.
- Washi tape.
- Clear tape/glue.
- Card.

I'm Making Stickers!

I was always obsessed with stickers as a kid; whether it was collecting them in a book, putting them all over my bedroom door (I did this with Hunchback of Notre Dame stickers once and my mum was FUMING), putting them on handmade cards or all over my school books. Stickers were my thing yo. In fact, it's fair to say they still are; I have about 3 boxes JUST for stickers, and I'm constantly buying more. They're my fave.

However when I was younger, I always wanted a sticker maker. You know those diddy little, DIY things that were advertised everywhere? I was in love. But for some reason I never got one. Maybe I didn't nag my mum enough, or maybe she remembered the door incident and thought better of it. Either way, even twenty years later I was still keen to make my own stickers.

Which is why I'm exceedingly excited to tell you guys today that I'm finally making my own - woo! And much better than an 8 year old me could have managed, I hope. I've been working away behind the scenes to put together packs of stickers for sale on my Etsy shop, and they're finally here!

5 Amazing Creative Blogs

I feel like I have quite a varied audience (hello YOU!) for my blog. There are those of you who love general life update/chatty posts, those of you who are beauty bloggers and appreciate seeing my new fave purchases, those who like that I sometimes even blog drunk (why??!) and those who like when I share my latest creative experiments.
I myself like writing a little of everything, and the blogs I read vary hugely in their categories. But admittedly, my bookmarks are mostly full of creative blogs that inspire me. Whether professional looking, or quickly thrown together on Tumblr; I love any kind of blogger who shares their artwork, creative writing, textile prints, fun diy posts or illustrations. I love people sharing ideas, and talking about what went wrong/right with a project. Those are my favourite kinds of blogs, they motivate me and keep me going. Today I thought I'd share five of them with you, that I've admired for a while.
Prepare yourself for total inspiration!...

1. Elise Joy.

Elise is someone whose blog I come back to time and time again. Hers was one of the first blogs I ever read properly, and I've followed her for years. She's basically a creative powerhouse with her own blog, podcast, shop and workbook. Her blog is one of the most inspiring and motivational bookmarks I have on my browser. I recommend visiting her archive and browsing all her fantastic diy posts.

Collage Work: A Storm Of Colour

Today I wanted to share one of my latest collages with you guys. They're something I've shown on this blog many times before, although it's been a while. This one is basically a visual representation of everything inspiring me lately, and everything I want my blog to be. Colourful, edgy, girly, unique, and slightly off kilter.
Images are from artwork that inspires me, my own drawings/doodles/magazines and Pinterest.

You can find more of my collages/moodboards here.

Let me know what you think, or if you enjoy making collages? :)




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Dead Of Night.

With skin on skin, and lights flashing through the night she turns inside and and tries not to fight she doesn't dare to breathe, the evening stands still hold on before the moment is killed.
Say goodbye to an old past love the longing is never going to be enough a tightly moulded version takes over now there's a way to get through this but I'm not sure how.
Remembering you in the dead of night watching my darkness turn into light.

Custom Artwork

I feel like I've really found something I love, doing custom portraits for people. Lately they're my favourite thing to tackle on my to-do list. I get to spend a lot of time doing some cool things; designing blog headers for people, custom graphics for various websites (I've had some great opportunities lately!) and handling social media for people. However among all this, if I have a custom portrait lined up, I'm usually way more excited for this than anything else. THIS. IS. MY. JAM.

What I Want To Be When I Grow Up

These days my life revolves around drawing, painting, writing and taking photographs. Every single day- God I'm lucky. It was always what I wanted growing up, and I always had trouble defining it. You're constantly asked what you would like to be when you grow up, rather than what you would like to do. Personally, I had a lot of trouble answering this question throughout my childhood, and right through my teens. I can remember giving a multitude of answers; 'writer' was always a frequent one, because I loved creating stories. Artist, graphic designer, photographer, fashion designer, teacher - these were just some of many answers throughout the years. I never quite knew which title fit me best, which box I should mould myself into.
I chose my college course on a spontaneous whim; I was initially going to study English Literature, Psychology and Art - each as a part time one lesson a week sort of deal. It still seems really appealing to me; combining creativity with knowledge and further factual learning. However on the day I went to enrol at college (a little hungover) I was told that if I studied Art part time, it would only be a few hours a week, and only Fine Art. So no digital design, no photography, no 3D design, no contextual studies and no textiles. Hmm. This didn't sit well with me. I took all of three seconds to decide my fate, and I guess ultimately shape the next few years of my life. I scrapped English Lit and Psychology, and told them to sign me up for full time Art and Design A Level. 

My Art Essentials

I've always considered myself one of those people happy to let my creativity flow in any medium it may take. So whether that be through photography, collages, paintings, installations, clay making or even makeup; I'm happy to try it! There are definitely some art supply essentials though that I always need in stock, and make a mad dash to my local Cass Art* to buy as soon as I see that I'm running low. They're my tried and tested little babies that I can't bear to part with; so I thought I'd share some of them with you today.

Art & Freedom | Lately

You all remember a few weeks back when I said I needed to slow down a little on the design front? I stopped doing custom artwork, and planned to have two weeks off to clear my head; as it had gotten a little stressed to be honest. Well, that two weeks turned into around 4... so far. I've thoroughly enjoyed it, and I did really need it.

I didn't want to ruin the passion I felt creating, so I knew I had to take a step back from doing custom work for people. However I never wanted to stop creating artwork, and this has given me the chance to paint, draw, collage and design 100% for myself, which has been amazing.

The crazy thing is; even these random painting or pieces of work have still been going well. I decided to put some in my shop on a whim, and you guys have been buying them! It's felt SO GOOD to know that I can have the freedom to create whatever I feel like, and people still appreciate it (for whatever reason!) - so thank you so much if you have been one of these people.
I'm not saying I won't be doing custom design/artwork again, I'm just saying right now I'm far too happy working this way, and I'd like to continue for a little while. If people have suggestions, then please comment, tweet me, message me; I'm always keen to know what sort of imagery people like!

I'd also like to say a HUGE thank you for any and all support, because it means the world to me. If you ever do decide to buy anything from my shop, please know how happy it makes me. I try to post pieces out the very next day, and always try to fill the package with a sweet message! (and covered in stickers...)
Every single purchase helps me to push myself and support my dreams a little bit more. Recently Beth from Mermaid In Disguise bought the illustration shown above, and it meant I was able to go out and purchase some more much needed quality paper and paints! I'm not rich by any means, and every little helps is such a blessing! So thank you Beth for being a babe, and a true supporter of dreamers!

I just wanted to share this today on the blog, mostly to let you guys know how happy and creative I'm feeling :) Be sure to keep an eye out for more stock getting added to the shop in the next few days! 
Do you have any suggestions of what you'd love to see in there? :)




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Visiting Cass Art Liverpool

Everyone has those little shop versions of nook and crannies; those places you feel most at home, where you can happily get lost for hours. Yours may be browsing book stores, H&M music section (reminiscing of times before itunes and such) or the latest Topshop sales. For me, it's art stores. Most recently, the lovely Cass Art in Liverpool.

Maybe you caught my post about the wonderful Cass Art package I recently received; well after that, I couldn't resist popping in store to see what else they had to offer me. I was absolutely thrilled to see that their store was SO much bigger than I expected! It's located at 18 School Lane Liverpool (next to the Bluecoat if you're local!) and from the outside it looks like an adorable, but small place. Well appearances certainly can be misleading, as the store goes right back and has a huge selection of every art supply you can think of, plus extra goodies you wouldn't think of!

The best thing about Cass Art, and the reason I wanted to feature them on my blog, is because of their genuine, total passion and enthusiasm for creativity. One of their biggest missions is to 'Fill this town with artists!' and make good quality materials and supplies available to everyone, at a low price. This is something I myself am SO GOD DAMN PASSIONATE about. One of my dreams with this blog is to inspire you guys to be creative, in whatever way that may mean. Too many people don't consider themselves creative people, and don't allow themselves to experiment with art; which really saddens me. I genuinely believe there is a creative outlet for everyone whatever their preference, and it could help them so much.
I only wish I'd had Cass Art on my doorstep when I was at college studying Art and Design; that would have saved me so much money! I could have gotten even more drunk on student nights!.. Ahh well. They're right on my doorstep now, with the Liverpool store being in the heart of Liverpool. I now use this store for when I need super amazing quality supplies for my design work, or when I just want to delve into the fun aspects of their stock. Like this amazing pack of Watercolour Postcards that I couldn't help but pick up. You can create pretty little watercolour paintings, then post 'em off to friends, family, whoever! Eep. This thrilled me far more than it probably should. You should all expect a project about this from me very soon...
I love sharing a selection of my favourite places with you guys! I hope you'll take a browse through the Cass Art website to find something that gets your creative juices flowing. Or even better, come and visit our Liverpool store; because it's pretty beautiful.

Let's fill this town with artists!


*This post was written in collaboration with Cass Art.

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DIY Tassel Bunting

Happy Monday everyone! I know Mondays aren't particularly great for a lot of people, and even though I'm actually in work myself today with a long week ahead, I'm actually in a fantastic mood! I've spent the last few weeks concentrating on design work and social media work, which I'm SO glad for, but now is the time to put my heart and soul back into this blog. I love making this space somewhere I post at least 3-5 times a week with all my favourite things, and I haven't been able to do that as much lately.
So today is the start of a launch back into everything I love; I have posts lined up I've been meaning to do for ages, time scheduled just for blogging plans, and a bunch of enthusiasm to boot. Woohoo!
To kick this off with a bang, today I'm bringing you one of my favourite type of posts, a lovely little DIY! If you fancy creating a colourful little space for yourself at home within 10 minutes, then keep reading.

What you'll need:
A few pieces of coloured paper, small pegs, washi tape, string, scissors.

First, cut your pieces of paper into chunky squares. The size is totally up to you, but I did mine around 4x4 each. Consider how many tassels you want to create, as that's how many squares of paper you will need. Then you should use the scissors to cut the squares into strips of paper, with just a small space left at the top, keeping it all together.

Next you'll want to roll each piece of paper up, with the strips of paper hanging down nicely. Secure in place with a piece of washi tape around the top of each tassel. You may even want to fluff out the paper a little to give it some 'oomph!'.  

Now you're almost done! Keep going until you've created as many tassels as you need for your chosen space. Once you have enough, secure them to your string with some cute little pegs.

And viola! You have the cutest and colouful little decoration within minutes. You can even expand on this idea by adding glitter, teaming it with fairy lights, using patterned paper or hanging photographs. The possibilities are endless.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Find more of my DIY posts here.




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Custom Portrait

I've been pretty lucky over the past few months, but I'd say this is one of my luckiest and favourite moments; which happened this week. I follow Kayley on Instagram and I've been a fan of her illustrations for a while now. She has a unique and beautiful style and is extremely talented, so I was a fan immediately. So when she had an Instagram competition running for a custom portrait, I jumped at the chance and entered. I had no idea I'd end up winning, and was over the moon when she told me!

She managed to capture me in such a cute way I wouldn't have thought possible, and even decorated the piece with PINEAPPLES! If you don't know my love for pineapple prints by now, shame on you.
As well as doing a custom portrait of me which is awesome anyway, she included a few other of her illustrations for me to keep too! I am so happy and proud to be able to put them on display at home, and a huge thank you to Kayley for being so sweet.
I'd love if you all went and followed her on Instagram, Twitter or visited her Etsy store. Supporting small businesses and creatives is always so important!
Have a great weekend! 

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Learning To Time Travel

Sometimes there are quiet moments, like right now. I'm completely alone, sitting up in bed, typing away under fairy lights with the windows open. I can hear the quietness of the city outside distantly settling. I can't hear anyone else, and I've been silent for hours. It feels as if there is peace in my mind. Peace and agony.
In these moments, I can travel through time. If I close my eyes, let everything else fall away, and listen only to my own breathing for a moment; I can travel anywhere, to any time. I'm right there in those moments I thought were long gone.

I'm around nine years old and I'm riding my bike around the block repeatedly. I love it, I feel free and I like the breeze in my hair. I feel like I'm going on my own adventure, even though I'm really staying within a small radius around our house. Just one more go around the block Mum, I'll be in soon.  The sun is setting, and the sky is orange.
I'm twelve, and I'm standing in a corn field. I'm with friends, and I'm with a boy I like. We're about to kiss, everyone knows it. It's so awkward, forced and stupid, and everyone is watching. I don't want to do this wrong. But I do really want to kiss him. Just maybe not with everyone watching. I can feel the pit of my stomach churning. He's a little older than me, and really nice. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to kiss him first, or him me? I can hear people giggling, and a nearby river trickling away. 
I'm 21. It's 4am and I'm sitting near the window, waiting. Hating myself a lot, feeling powerless. Not sure how to be myself anymore. Wondering if I'll be able to fix things so that he'll like me again. If I could just stop being so annoying, it'd be okay. I wonder if he'll see how much I care. I always feel like I'm bothering him, he makes me feel desperate. I'll just wait up another hour, that's it. I'll keep looking out the window and waiting.
I don't know how we got here, we were only supposed to go for one drink. Now I'm with the boys and we're all hammered. We're dancing like insane people, the music is good and we can't stop laughing. I have awesome friends, and I get to go home to my soul mate. I've spilled my drink, but no one even notices. It's loud and my ears are ringing. I wish I could bottle this feeling. I get home, and there are roses waiting for me, I'm not sure what I did to deserve those. I'm so happy. I need sleep, and water. I collapse on the bed without changing clothes. Everything feels so good.

Sometimes I'll close my eyes and travel to a distant memory without meaning to, or to one I didn't even know I had. I'll feel that joy, or fear, or pain... all over again. It scares me sometimes, how ten years can feel like a moment ago. It's a good thing though mostly. It means I'm still me, it means people don't get left behind, you get to take them with you. It means you relive past pain, but you remember the lessons. It means you have gratitude for everything you've gained.
You can close your eyes, and go back through time to the most random, beautiful and strange moments. It's a gift. 
We're all time travellers. 



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15 Creative Things To Do

If I could ask for anything for you guys when visiting Dorkface, it'd be that you're left feeling inspired and creative; that's the hope anyway. So what if you do feel inspired?, what if I do get your creative juices flowing?... what then?
Well I have the solution my friends. I know, I know. You can thank me later.  Now take some time to invest on your creativity, it will not be time wasted!

1. Paint. I don't care if you've never picked up a brush in your life; do it! Swish some watercolours about, use them as pretty backgrounds for pictures, make a super organised colour swatching page to inspire you (and possibly consider a new colour scheme for your blog!)
2. Make an inspiration book. Collect pretty images in magazines, scraps of paper, cute wrapping paper, anything you can stick into a journal. Starting in such a simple way, creating pages of imagery you just like, will bring new ideas to you every time you come back to it and will make a really pretty journal.
3. Paint your nails. Really go for it, don't stick with the normal splash of colour quickly slapped onto your nails (just me?!). Check out some amazing ideas from Pinterest like these, and make something super pretty. Get creative with it; add glitter, stickers, spell out words, whatever. Make a statement!
4. Sew something inspirational into a shirt. Yep, anyone could do this one! Use this an an example. Just pencil in what you'd like to write first, then get sewing! Think of all the awesome song lyrics you could use...
5. Repaint something at home. This could be a big DIY project like painting an old table with a pop of colour, or simply making a serving tray a little prettier. 

6. Make a card. Everyone loves a handmade card! There is nothing cuter, or more heartfelt than someone putting a bit of effort in. Especially if it's for no reason, other than to make someone smile :)
7. Create a collage. Super easy! Whether you use old photographs, images from magazines or just ripped up pieces of pretty paper :)
8. Take photographs. I know a lot of my audience is made up of bloggers, and you photograph a lot anyway. But let's get creative with it! Take photos every hour of your day, and show how your whole day went. Or go somewhere special, somewhere local, and take as many photos as possible. Maybe even ask someone to sit for you?
9. Writing. This this I'm doing right now? This counts. Grab a pen and paper (ooh, oldschool!) and write down your favourite memories, the start of a short story, or even a poem. Don't worry about the outcome, just have fun with it.
10. Customise. Whether it's your clothes, your notebooks, your bag or your mirror; get customising! 

11. Sculpt. Okay, this doesn't have to be as daunting as it might sound! I've used clay before to make jewellery on this very old post, and it's so much fun!
12. Collect things. I know someone who collects pretty flowers and presses them into a scrapbook with notes/photographs from where she picked them, and it's such an awesome idea! But the simple act of collecting anything can be quite creative if you share or display it in some fun way.
13. Get crafty with crochet. I've never learned to crochet myself, but it looks amazing! I'm especially impressed with the creations from Crissy - she is so talented!
14. Make a dream catcher. Not just for the boho types! Make something super pretty to display above your bed and it'll remind you how super creative and awesome you are! :)
15. Learn to play an instrument. Whether the piano, drums or the guitar are something you've always wanted to learn but never bothered, do it now! There's no time like the present.

I hope you all feel a little inspired, and let me know what creative things you're all up to lately?



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Starting A Summer Scrapbook

This month I've been enjoying the new sunshine that has blessed us recently, and allowing those brighter days to inspire me in a multitude of ways. One of those ways is my new scrapbook! Yes, I've started a scrapbook and I wanted to share some of it with you guys today.
I hope to update this and keep it going for the rest of the year, but for now I thought I'd start it off with a kick of sunshine and Summer fun! My first few pages stick to the Summer theme, and it's been really cheering up my mood to work on this and feel like I'm embracing the upcoming season early. 
I've been reminiscing over past Summers, my favourite holidays, memories and thoughts, to fuse them into something inspiring to decorate onto my first few pages. A scrapbook can be a wonderful way to explore your creative side and keep cherished memories, and I've also found it has helped me relax to work on this.

I concentrated on layering different images, collecting trinkets/flowers, using colourful pens and tapes, adding glitter, buttons, and of course writing down some of my memories and thoughts to go along with everything. You don't need to be an Artist to make a beautiful scrapbook, and because it's a personal project; it becomes meaningful to you as you create it.

My only tips for making a scrapbook would be;
1. Try to keep each page/section to a theme: It will flow naturally then and you'll have more ideas on how to represent this one single theme.
2. Layer, layer... then layer some more!: Don't be scared to get messy here. Adding different materials, colours and elements will only strengthen your pages.
3. Don't be afraid to look at other scrapbooks: It's okay to see how others have done theirs and get ideas from it, because your personal memories cannot be copied anyway! Find what makes theirs beautiful, and try to emulate that in your own work. Do they make good use of space? Do they stick to one particular colour? Do they use text as imagery? Find inspiration!

Starting this scrapbook is one of my favourite creative projects I've done this year, and I'll be sure to keep it up. I hope it will become something wonderful to look back on when the year is over, and maybe I'll start another for January 1st! Fingers crossed.
Even Luna enjoyed helping me with this project!

Have you ever made a scrapbook?



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