Friday 31 January 2014

A reflection

OK, so I'm not one of those bloggers that unloads their problems on the Internet and I'm sure as heck not going to start now...but January has to have been one of the most difficult, painful and completely gut wrenching months for me...a month of unbelievable loss, the coming together of a family and the chance to witness the sheer strength and grace of some of the people you have the pleasure of sharing your life with...

I won't go into detail as I've been asked not to, I can't however ignore the massively painful and yet positive impact this has had on me...


I guess I'm just calling on you to stop and reflect on all that's great in your life right now, how lucky you are to simply exist.


This is a simple and subtle thank you to those who have been there for me and my family, your support means the world and reminds me how lucky I am.

Bring on February eh.....

Peace and Love
A x

Pic from smittenstudioonline.com via Pinterest

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Previously on twitter....

I did a little drawing of my mate Charlie yesterday inspired by his crisp rage...the picture actually is a bit of a teaser for a little bit of an exciting secret project for me...involving beards OF COURSE. Hopefully it'll come together and be dead good like...oooh check me out being all mysterious.
So I guess I better give a link to Charlie's band THEN THICKENS as a thank you , they're reet good so why not give them a listen... thanks Charlie and all your potato based rage !! 


Tate Modern baby!!


Last Thursday I was lucky enough to be in London with work and managed to fit in a quick visit to the Tate Modern  before I had to get the train home. This was my first visit and was something that i had been wanting to do FOR SOOOOO LONG!

You can find out more about the Tate Modern here http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

Needless to say I got pretty excited! which if you follow me on instagram you would have seen here http://instagram.com/amandainateacup conveniently it was national selfie in a museum day so that's my excuse!

I got RIDICULOUSLY excited about the Mondrian and Dali art works...and it's definitely inspired me to get back down to London to visit all the other galleries.....oh and it's also working to remove my 'artists block' which although not fully gone is on the way out. 

If anyone has any cures for 'artists block' please tweet me @amandainateacup !

Ax















Sunday 19 January 2014

Past doodles....

Facing up to it...

I had been trying to find a foundation that suited me for ages, several purchases later I was still no clearer and was really getting fed up about it. That was until I discovered a few make-up tutorial gurus on Youtube...now if you don't want to end up revamping all your make-up and spending loads of money stop reading now...still with me; you won't be sorry! 


By pure chance I found Zoella on Youtube (watch this video and subscribe to her she is A Mazing)...



This woman has CHANGED MY LIFE...if that makes me shallow then OK but seriously all her videos are amazing and she is LOVELY. 


Through watching her videos I also found Tanya Burr and Fleur De Force to name a few! Amazing, so interesting and basically the best way in my opinion to catch up on what products and make-up are really like. I am ADDICTED!



Anyway so this month I treated myself to a couple of recommended products from the ladies, now I like a bargain and can't really afford high end make-up for long so I wanted something I could afford and easily get hold of....so I treated myself to the following goodies....




  • Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation and Wake Me Up illuminating concealer
  • Sleek blusher in Rose Gold
  • Real Techniques brush set 'base/flawless core collection
  • Barry M Matte Nail Paint in Crush

So how did I get on...well I cannot recommend the Rimmel foundation enough- it's a fairly light coverage but it applies well and gives you a nice even base, it lives up to its name and you do look fresh faced. I am impressed with the concealer too and set it all with Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder in transparent.


Sleek where have you been all my life...I am SO SO impressed with this blusher, it is very pink in the pot but it gives you a really natural flushed glow. The pigment is such good quality and lasts all day. They are £4.99 I think which is such good value...but so far I have only found them in Superdrug. 



Barry M is my favourite for nail varnishes and this is a really wearable berry colour, I'm not sure if I'm into the matte nail varnish yet but at £3.99 I think this is a decent purchase.  



Real Techniques brushes; I was impressed with these brushes , they are a little pricey; I think I paid £20 for them but they are really soft and blend really well. I will definitely be investing in more make-up brushes. 



Ok so to be honest this was just my first set of purchases...I will show you everything I bought in January in another post, along with some of the results. TOLD YOU I WAS ADDICTED!!!



Anyway, I highly recommend that you watch some of these videos and let me know what you think, tweet me @amandainateacup



A x


Life lessons according to Dude Ranch

We all have those albums that we listen to all the way through...the go to album that would like ALWAYS be in your top 5 of ALLLLL TIIIIME. Well for me one of them is Dude Ranch by Blink 182...proper old school Blink from 1997 which is probably showing my age but hey there we go...ANYWAY what occurred to me when I was listening to it for like the millionth time, was the sheer life wisdom and inspiration hidden within the lyrics. So I plan on sharing these little gems with you via my blog...I know!..you are so totally welcome...



So this is what the album looks like.... 







"But people are what they wanna be
They're not lemmings to the sea
Maybe it's time you looked at yourself
And stop blaming life on someone else"
-'Lemmings'

On a personal note I'm a big believer in personal responsibility, in planning and making choices to improve your life, I really hate it when people look to someone else to provide their happiness...so stop it yeah LIFE DRAINERS!


I'll also be sharing my favourite tracks from the album, starting with 'Josie' which is one of my favourite love songs EVER! *(Pic from Last Fm and vid from Youtube)





Anyway, give this a listen...you might totally get it or not. Let me know either way, tweet me @amandainateacup 


See ya later
A   

Monday 13 January 2014

Paisley Tears



This little beauty is drawn using the XS Faber and Castell artist pen. This is my go to for fine line detail (I've got a picture of the pen from the internets for you so you can see what I mean- it's not my pic), they are not that expensive; around £3 I think. The pen is really light weight and comfortable to use, it's indian ink and waterproof , it describes itself as 'maximum lightfastness' which I think is pretty neat. 

Anyway, give the pen a try and tweet me what you think @amandainateacup or even better show me what you draw dude! 
Amanda 
xzx 

Hobbycraft Haul

Ok so I'm going to get this out in the open now...I like pens,well actually I probably more than like them, yeah I'm comfortable enough to admit I pretty much love them. 

People have been known to call me a pen geek and I'm ok with that. Those of you that follow me on Instagram http://instagram.com/amandainateacup will be familiar with my love of pens!

I have a swell set of friends and one of my oldest and dearest got me a gift voucher for Hobbycraft www.hobbycraft.co.uk so in the gap between Christmas and new year I went and spent my voucher. 

You can tell I was pretty excited to be going ....



I don't know what it is about Hobbycraft because I know I can buy everything on the internet but I just loooove browsing, this haul only took me about 30 mins which I think is pretty good going. 

This is what I bought...


ProMarkers in Red and Forest Green
Linex circle template
Letraset Aquamarker Artist set containing Tangerine, Scarlet, Sangria, Sepia, Royal Purple and Twilight blue....(I have yet to use these but I will be doing a review for sure)
Mollie Makes
Three card letters
Daler Rowney HeavyWeight A5 sketch pad

Watch this space for me using and reviewing these products! Really looking forward to trying out the Aquamarkers!

A xzx 

Thursday 2 January 2014

2014 Here I Come....

Hi! So...this is pretty exciting...check me out finally catching up with er...everyone and getting a blog! What am I blogging about I hear you cry...well this is basically an attempt at me documenting what I get up to,draw and buy...a record, or a time capsule if you like of 2014; because 2014 is going to be HUUUUUUUUUGE. 

There is no theme to my ramblings, it's just gonna be totally random baby...but there will be stuff that hopefully makes you laugh and get inspired. I have such random interests but there will be music, art and craft related stuff, plus PENS and how to use them, fashion and house decorating related stuff on here and positives vibes shiz*...because that's just how I rolz*....

*you may have to get used to this...I also drop a lot of 90s word bombs...and i ain't sorry you hear! 



Amanda xzx