Barry M - matt nail paint, cancun

After winning the competition with Barry M, which if you don't know about you can read about it here. I decided it would be a good idea to share with you some of the products. They are all their new summer releases so have recently hit the shops & online so are all available to buy. I'm going to start off with their nail paints. I just want to also throw it out there now that I am not being paid by Barry M to write to this post at all, I'm doing it by choice because I wanted to share the new products with you.

I don't feel fully comfortable calling it a review, a review seems so professional & serious but in the same breath I suppose it is a review. A review is just someone sharing their opinion on something, evaluating it? So I guess that is kind of what I'm going to do. Let's give it a try & get on with it, shall we?
 
 

Cancun is such a lovely turquoise colour, it reminds me very much of the kind of colour you would find in a peacocks feathers perhaps. It is without a doubt a perfect colour for summer, it will brighten up any outfit I'm sure.
 
 
I only applied one coat to all of my nails & I feel that is plenty. It gives a full coverage & a solid colour, no faint wishy washy bits showing underneath that you'd usually get from painting one coat.
 


 
Application of it all went smoothly, easy peasy to apply. Not too much came out on the brush but yet not a small amount either, just the right amount to cover each nail. For once I had very little nail varnish on my actual fingers, now that is a novelty for me! But the tiny bits that I did get on came off just fine with a cotton wool bud & a drop of nail varnish remover. Once I'd done I just finished the look by applying a matt top coat over the top (usually a good place for a top coat?).
 
The colour even looks beautiful by candle light too, but I mean really what doesn't look beautiful by candle light?
 
 
 
The whole idea of these posts is to just generally give you a little peak at the new colours in the world of Barry M & a little snippet of what the colours look like actually on nails. Usually Barry M's nail paints are pretty true to their colour in the bottle & this one does not disappoint at all! 
 
 
Lastly I'd like to just share with you & give a little shout out to Buddy, especially after I found this share a coke bottle...
 
 
Buddy is Barry M's cute little fluffy bunny who happens to be over on twitter...see what the cutie is up to over on his twitter page by clicking here. I mean come on, who doesn't love cute twitter accounts for animals?! :)
 
 
Shall I see you this time next week for another nail post? Next week it'll be another matt nail paint colour, Copacabana.
 
I hope you enjoyed this post, have you tried any of the Barry M matt nail paints? What did you think? Let me know & let's discuss? :)
 
I hope you've all had a lovely weekend & as always, thanks for reading...
 
Anna ♥

I WON A COMPETITION!!!

I'm not a big fan of leaving my little blog baby for too long without posting, I keep repeatedly saying that I have posts planned but it really is just getting round to writing them. I'm thinking about scheduling time into my week, just like I would if I was going to a club. But in the meantime I'm just creating this post whilst I have some free peaceful chilling time. This post is such an exciting post for me to share!
 
Recently Barry M (you know the make up brand) threw a competition, 20 sets of their new summer releases were up for grabs. All that you had to do to enter was to send a photo with a pet to celebrate international kissing day & being cruelty free (against animal testing). I can remember what I was doing when I saw the competition, I was cleaning & I just stopped & thought me & Pudding need to enter it. Cut a long story short, we entered & we only flippin won! :D See, good things do come out of checking twitter when you should be being productive. :P
 
I actually found out that I'd won when I received a tweet from my friend Adele saying "just seen you on Facebook!!! Woooooo what ya won????"  (the tweet had a heart emoji on but it wouldn't go little on here) & attached was this picture...
 
 
I was soooo blooming excited when Adele sent me this tweet, so serious thanks to Adele. I was so giddy because me & Pud were the big main picture, thanks Barry M. So what was left to do but reply & then wait for the prize to arrive.
 
I genuinely thought I'd of won a couple of nail varnishes, a few lip products, maybe some eye shadow. I was not prepared for what would arrive in the post, I repeat I was not prepared in the slightest! When I was opening the parcel I was struggling to breathe with the excitement I was feeling. It was nothing like I was expecting. If you follow me on Instagram then you will have already seen what was in the package so sorry but this is just madness!
 

I don't think I can actually thank Barry M enough for ALL of these products, absolutely crazy! I'll be sharing all the nail varnishes on here (at some point) & maybe a few of the lip products that I've kept. I don't really usually use lip products, maybe the occasional balm but I've kept a few for myself cos I like the colours & I think they'll suit me. A few of the others I have given to friends & family, same with the eye shadow. But nobody will be taking my nail varnish, no sirey!
 
What else topped off the package was the lovely note inside. That reads "Congratulations on winning the competition Anna. I hope you love the goodies!" & a lovely little heart! I think it is safe to say that I more than love the goodies, if that is even possible?!
 
Once again I really do just want to say a massive thank you to Barry M! Barry M without a doubt is one of my favourite make up brands (& by make up I completely just mean for nail varnish) & I'm not just saying that. If you've seen previous nail posts then you will see my love for Barry M!
 
I'll be sharing on here my new products very soon, so keep your eyes pealed.
 
Have you ever won any competitions? I seriously love hearing stories.
 
As always, thanks for reading...
 
Anna ♥

Beat Cancer BBQ!

Looking out of my bedroom window right now, it is glorious sunshine. Nothing like Saturday afternoons weather, when we was having a BBQ...a BBQ to beat cancer. All that was involved was throw a BBQ, invite your friends, have a good time & raise some money in the mean time. We certainly did all of those things!
 
 
Cancer very much seems to be an extremely common thing I've found over the past couple of years. Either I know someone personally who has had cancer, someone who is currently battling cancer or someones friend or family member. Both of my parents have had cancer now, mum being most recent (last year). So when I saw that Cancer Research had decided to create the 'BBQ to beat cancer' event I thought what a fantastic idea & I also thought it would be a great way to also thank everyone who helped us whilst mum was going through it all.
 
Of course I had my camera at the ready for every photo opportunity, admittedly I did take the majority of the photos before many people arrived & didn't actually get many of people but that was because I was too busy being in the moment & enjoying myself (I'm certainly getting a lot better at doing this!). But I thought I'd share a few of the photos that I did take & of course I'll add a little bit of chatter in inbetween, I mean a blog post without a little chatter on here would be slightly extremely wrong!



I'd like to start with the fact of we don't have a very big garden (the next picture is pretty much all of our garden) & I'd invited 17 people so I was thinking 'oh gosh, are we all going to actually fit in here?' & well you can imagine my worry even more when the weather decided to take a turn & absolutely chuck it down, throw in abit of thunder in to the mix & become really windy too. But we wasn't going to let the weather ruin the day, no sirey! We had the conservatory filled with seats, 7 infact so that wasn't even enough for half of the guests. They soon started arriving & the rain began to pour, seats were taken in the conservatory. Here was the view...


The back garden/patio was beginning to look like a massive puddle turn pond. It was still really warm so there was only one thing to do...put on my wellies/wellibobs/wellingtons & head out on to the decking to sit under the gazebo.



 
Of course wellies top off every single outfit, am I right? Luckily my outfit still worked, well I think it did anyway. I wore my wellies, black cropped leggings, my lovely pale yellow floral top/tunic from Dorothy Perkins (pssssttt, if you click Dorothy Perkins you can see the exact top)...I'd almost class it as a tunic on me because it is a little longer than a top really. Oh & of course I had to wear something on top to keep me dry & protect me from the breeze so I grabbed my PAC A PARKA , I have a ridiculous amount of love for my pac a parka...I'm not even kidding! I pretty much looked like I belonged at a festival. One friend kept calling me festival girl actually which I thought was fab! I did look like I belonged at a festival with my outfit & then slightly wavy/crackers hair...it was verging on frizzy, expect one side was going straight. I have strange behaving hair.
 
So after sitting under the gazebo for about ten minutes on my own, more guests arrived. Much to Finns (5 year old who is like my little brother) disgust of having to get ready to go to a BBQ in THIS weather, admittedly everyone could agree with him because it was chucking it down, windy & thundering a little but the show must go on...rain or shine! Luckily within half an hour we had a new arrival...
 

Then it was time to get some food & drinks down us & enjoy the rest of the evening. I absolutely loved it & by the sounds of it so did everyone else which is of course fantastic! I still took a few snaps afterwards of course. Mainly selfies which if you follow me on instagram you'll have probably seen & then a few snaps of the lights in our garden.
 

 
As the night started getting darker & people started leaving I decided to go & get a little rather large someone to join the party...
 
 
Can you guess who it is?
 
Go on, try....
 
Ok, ok. I'll tell you...
 

It was Pudding, with his light up eyes (or the camera flash reflecting, take your pick how you see it)...I thought it was funky so I didn't want to edit it. If you don't know who Pudding is or maybe you just want to see some cute pictures of him as a puppy again then click right here! (I'm sure you wont regret it!
 
Another photo from the night time is this one...
 
 
Absolutely fantastic quality photo? ha ha, no...no, it really isn't but it isn't meant to be. I just really wanted to share this one because yes it is poor quality but it also shows a very happy moment of my mum & one of her very good friends...laughing so much that they couldn't stay still for a photo & I managed to capture it!
 
 
You know you had a good time when this is your garden set up the next morning...
 
 
 
Since I've now shared with you the photos kind of from the start of the BBQ to the next morning, I'm going to share with you some of the photos from before anybody even arrived...
 
oooh, check me out being all girly in floral!

bunting, bunting, BUNTINGGGG!!!



 
*brrreeaaattthhhheeee*
 
I think I've shared everything I wanted to share about my BBQ now. Now I'm off to make some sweet potato wedges, yummmmyy!!!
 
 
Did you hold a BBQ to beat Cancer? Maybe you attended a BBQ?
 
Have you done something recently for charity & blogged about it too?
 
Let me know in the comments, I'd absolutely loveee to hear from you.
 
 
If you are a regular *waves manically* I'd just like to say thank you very much for always reading, maybe you don't always comment but thank you all the same!
 
If you are new & just seem to have appeared here on the off chance or a one off *waves*, please do still leave me a comment & I'll take this opportunity to thank you very much too...maybe you'd like to come back again some time? I'd really like that! :)
 
Anna ♥

create it yourself...'jazzles' inspired nails

Who remembers the sweets 'jazzles'? You know, white chocolate with sprinkles all over the top? Well today I'm going to share with you how I created my nails to look a little like them...


I'm not too sure if I should start to become alarmed just yet, at the fact of the nail post I've created so far have all been food inspired...'nobbly bobbly' & 'bubblegum bottles'...! I'm not too sure what to make of that, but any how, let's get on with the post then shall we...
 
 
To create this look I used:
 
Base Coat (17)
Silk, Pearl (Barry M)
Strawberry Ice Cream (Barry M)
Blueberry Ice Cream (Barry M)
2 Limited Edition (Barry M)
Mint Green (Barry M)
Matt Top Coat (Barry M)
Dotting Tool
Tin Foil
 
Of course you don't have to use these exact polishes if you don't want to or if you don't have them. You can always recreate it with any similar colours from different brands.
 
 
First thing to do before you paint your nails is to prepare them ready. Admittedly I don't always prepare them properly each & every single time, hey I'm only human. Sometimes I just don't have enough time to fully prep. But this time round I had plenty of time so I decided to do it all properly. So I started off by removing all my old nail varnish, filing, removing bumps & ridges in my nails & then applying a base coat.
 
 
Once your base coat is dry then you are ready to apply your base colour, for this look I've used the Barry M silk effect in colour pearl (such a beautiful delicate colour). I decided to apply a couple of coats just for full coverage.
 
 
 Oooh, now for the exciting part. It is time to get dotty, spotty, polka dotty! I then used all the other colours (the baby pink, the hot pink, the baby blue, the mint green & the light yellow) & just blobbed away. Creating dots is so simple yet looks so effective. I know always use the tin foil method, where you just blob nail polish on the tin foil & then dib in the dotting tool.
 
 
 
I decided to just do dots on my thumb & then on my ring finger, I didn't want the design to be too overpowering (a little bit like my nobbly bobbly ones). So now all that is left to do is wait a verrryyy long time for the dots to dry. If you don't wait long enough when you apply your top coat they will smudge, not cool! Once you think you've waited long enough (or you have a drier, I envy you!) & they do look dry or you just want to take the risk, apply your top coat. I'm absolutely loving the Barry M matt top coat, I was raving about it & then I was informed that other brands do it too. So if you love painting your nails, get yourself a matt top coat...it completely transforms your shiny look to dull matt but a lovely dull matt...yes I do totally think that is possible.
 
Once your top coat is dry I'd then recommend going around your nails with a cotton bud with some nail varnish remover on, cos if you are anything like me...I can get slightly messy & by slightly I do mean sometimes more nail polish on my skin than on my nail.
 
Now for the finished look...
 


 
I'm starting to feel like these looks I'm creating are pretty simple but I do get a fair few compliments so I thought I'd share them on here. Plus I absolutely LOVE the whole process of blogging. The idea popping into my head, the planning of how I'm going to create it, the creating, the photos being taken, the writing up of the post to then hitting publish! It makes me so happy! what tops it off even more is when someone reads it too :)
 
I hope you enjoyed this do it yourself/create it yourself kind of post...(totally trying to get create it yourself to work!) I think it sounds pretty cool.
 
As always, thanks for reading.
Anna ♥
 

looking back over the years & fun in the park...

Yesterday I had hoped & wished for a full on day snuggled under my duvet filled with blogging related things, or atleast the morning (yes I do still wish for days in bed even in this heat, call me crazy?!). That went completely out of the window but I'm not upset or disappointed about that in the slightest. Yesterday was a very good friends birthday & also her wedding anniversary too. Her husband, who is also a very good friend (they are both like my second parents & more like family than some of my actual family) had his birthday the day before so they were off to a local park to celebrate with family & friends. I knew they had done it a fair few times before but I'd never actually gone along with them. But this day was going to be different, we exchanged text messages in the morning, I was invited & I was bloomin' going. It was an absolutely glorious day & I didn't feel too bad so I thought, why should I not go?! So I went & I really enjoyed myself.

 
We set up camp for the day...gazebos, chairs, blankets, tables, food & drinks, footballs, bubbles, rounders, bat & ball. In total there was 18 of us (which made for a pretty decent game of rounders!), oh & 4 big crazy dogs. I'd never spent a day or a really long amount of time with any of them other than the two celebrating their wedding anniversary & birthdays plus their two kids (who are like my little brothers!) so I was a little bit nervous & I'd also never attended one of their celebrations in the park either. But I'm so glad I managed to spend the whole day with them. Glorious food, plenty of drinks, superb weather (admittedly a little too hot at some points), great company, good laughs...an excellent day all around!

 
Over half way through the day the birthday girl turned to me & said 'did you think two years ago you'd of been able to do this today?' & I said 'without a doubt no'. Exactly two years to the day was when they got married & I couldn't physically attend. I'm still absolutely gutted that I didn't get to experience their day with them. They got married in the village we live in, I couldn't manage to attend that. Not even attend the service & stand right at the back or attend the night do either. But here I am two years down the line, being able to celebrate their wedding anniversary & birthdays with them. In a park, about 10 minutes drive away from our homes. There was also 4 of their families dogs there too, not little tiny dogs either. They were running around like mad & it didn't bother me in the slightest, I rarely even battered an eyelid to be fair. If it wasn't for Lou & Ian (birthday girl, birthday boy, married couple & my adopted family!) getting Pudding (if you wanna read about my fear of dogs & Pudding click here), I know without a doubt I would still be absolutely petrified of dogs. I would of more than likely been questioning if there would be any dogs coming. But that is a thing of the past now. There was a fair few dogs on the same grassed area as us & that would of usually bothered me, but not this time.
 
To say how close the park is to our homes I think the last time I went was when I was little so I have very little memory of it. But I've decided I'm going to become part of the National Trust & sign up for a membership. I think it will be totally worth it, I'll be able to discover other nature parks & buildings I didn't know about.
 
The whole point of this post was to share with you a story of hope, if you'd like to call it that. I'd like to use it to show to you that things do get better, they do get easier. I can't put my finger on when things got easier/better but I now know that all the little things & hard work have paid off.
 
So that's how I spent my Saturday, how did you spend yours? Also, are you part of the National Trust? Let me know in the comments or give me a tweet.

Oh & before you go, one more picture of bubbles?! Ooooh why the heck not! Sorry for the lack of photos, I didn't really take many to be honest. I was too busy enjoying myself. :)


Seriously though, how awesome are the huagggeee bubble makers?!

I really hope you've had a lovely weekend. Tomorrow can't be Monday already can it?! Ooh yes it can, Mondays kind of excite me cos it's a fresh start...slightly sad? oh nevermind ay!

As always, thanks for reading.
Anna ♥
 

do it yourself...framed birth year?

I feel like I'm not blogging as much anymore, I guess we can put that down to the glorious sunshine we have been having & just overall being just busy..okay, occasionally I do sit around doing nothing, that's good too right?! But I'm going to try & change that a little bit, this is my little internet baby (yes, I did just refer to it as my baby)...anyone else feel like their blog is there baby too?..swiftly moving on, I'm going to try & blog a little more often, I have so many blog ideas in my little book but I'm not actually getting round to typing them up & sharing them with you.

When I started blogging back in February 2013 (WOOWWWW! where does the time go?!) , my main focus on my blog was anxiety because to be honest, I felt like I knew very little of anything else. It would be safe to say that I was loosing myself in my anxiety but I've not gone down without a fight. Days would be spent inside the house, very rarely leaving for a reasonable amount of time. The amount of times I spent at home kind of scares me a little, but now I feel that right now I have my freedom back, I feel independent again. I'm able to go out on my own, I can actually manage to go some distance in my car on my own...since I can do it now I'm making the bloomin' most of it! Simple things for some but for me it was something I'd struggled with. But I'm still here stronger than ever & I'm now going to let my loves of my life shine through on here. I hope you are going to enjoy that...*fingers crossed*!

So, today I'm sharing with you a little do it yourself post...I've decided to refer to it as do it yourself instead of 'DIY', I'm not a fan of saying 'DIY' so do it yourself it is then...I'm glad we've got that sorted.

I'd really hoped that the title would sound so much more interesting, I'd hoped I'd think of something really quirky...well that clearly hasn't happened. But I guess the title does exactly what it is meant to do right? I'm going to share with you a recent creation of mine & exactly how I've made it...

THE PHOTOS DON'T DO IT ENOUGH JUSTICE!
 
I think these are super cute & can be mixed up with different stickers, different card & different frames. You can make it any way you like, that has got to be one of the best things about making something yourself surely. I decided to make this for myself to hang up in my room but I'm sure I will be making others as presents (ok, I totally have already but I can't say who for...they might be reading this!) I certainly would be ridiculously pleased to receive this as a present. Infact anything handmade I'm giddy!
 
Ok, to create this little project you will need:
 
 
wheelie bin stickers
(they usually contain 3 in a pack so be sure to get the right amount of packets).
 
a piece of card
(make sure you have the right size to fit the frame, I didn't get the right size first so it is easily done?. I got a big sheet from Ryman (you know, what used to be Partners?) for just under £2. I really wanted to be able to give you the sizing but I can't find my receipt, sorry about that :/ but like I said if you measure the frame you'll get the right one anyway.)
 
a frame
my mum picked me up this frame from Ikea.
 
a pencil
 
a pair of scissors
 
a rubber
I kind of forgot about this when I started, hence why it isn't in the photo...oopppsie!
 
a ruler
Oopsie, I did it again...left this out the photo too.
 
Total price...just under £9
 
 
Ok, now you've got all your things you're ready to begin. Make sure you do this project on a flat surface, a big table is probably best. Firstly remove the back/inside/insert (don't know what to call it! Can you tell?!) of the frame & put it down on the card, making sure all edges are lined up against the cards edges evenly.
 
 
Now grab your pencil & draw all the way around the back/inside/insert of the frame on the card. Once you move the back/inside/insert of the frame you should be left with a template like this...
 
 
If you have then great, now grab those scissors & cut along the lines to make your template. If you've done it right the template should slot into your frame nicely, like so...
 
 
If it does then WOOHOO, we are on to a winner! *high five*! Ok, so now we need to take the template/background out of the frame...I feel like I'm sounding so simple but I'm not meaning to...hhmmmm! :/
 
 
 Lay your wheelie bin stickers on to your new background for your frame & just try to figure out a layout for them. I ended up getting out the ruler & measure to make sure it would look even to a certain extent.
 
I measured 2.5cms from each side (so from the width as you are looking at the card).
 
 
I then decided to measure from the top & the bottom but I only drew a line along the bottom to use as a guide. I measured 2.9cms from the bottom.
 
 
Once I'd lined them all up along the bottom line & felt they had the right amount of space inbetween (I didn't get too technical with the ruler for this part). I took the plunge, pealed back the sticker backing & stuck the sticker down...that can be a very dramatic step you know, most of the time once you've stuck a sticker down you can't take it back off...without tearing off half the card too. It can be a stubborn little monkey!
 
Next thing to do is get that rubber & rub out all the pencil marks & lines...don't want no mess, that's why I chose a pencil. Now once you've rubbed away any unwanted markings, all that's left to do is put this into the frame & obviously put the back on, flip it over &....TAAAAAA DAAAAA!
 

 
The project is complete. I hope you've enjoyed this little do it yourself post & you maybe have a go at making one for yourself or a loved one. I'm soooo impressed with it & everyone I've shown has been impressed too...I showed my mums friend today & she didn't actually realise I'd made it myself. :)
 
I'm going to leave this post at that, let me know what you think, let me know if you give it a go & as always thanks for reading,
Anna ♥

monthly movie - walking on sunshine

'WOAAHHHHH, I'm walking on sunshine, WOOAHHHHHHH & don't it feel good! HEY, AAALLLRRRRIIIGGGHHTTTT NNNOOOWWWW!!!'

 
 It had to be done, didn't it? You are totally humming, singing out loud or in your head to walking on sunshine now aren't you? :P I caught you! Let's get on with the review...
 
Last week I did a blog post about adding a little edition to my blog called monthly movie (my last blog post actually), I pretty much just explained that I planned on going to the cinema once a month. If you want to you can read that post here. Going to the cinema is a great idea cos you just get to experience the whole movie with no distractions. Everyone is there to do the same thing, watch the movie. That's why it doesn't bother me in the slightest about going on my own, I enjoy it.
 
Only on the 2nd of July & I've already been to see my film for this month. I actually went to the cinema yesterday because on Tuesdays tickets are £5...can I get a WOOHOO?! If you hadn't guessed already by the title I went to see walking on sunshine, the film I'd mentioned in my last post. Here, have the movie trailer just for you...a gift from me to you, provided by youtube! :P I'm such a flippin goofball sometimes!

 
 I was slightly in two minds after hearing it had got bad reviews. There was a review in a  magazine/paper that my friend gave me & I didn't read it until I'd watched it (I saw it got 1 star out of 5 though) & the movie just got completely slatted. Receiving 1 star out of 5, I mean really? could it be that bad?! (it really wasn't that bad at all) & in someones opinion, 'IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME...I'd never have wasted 97 minutes of my life on this shrieky, brainless, irredeemably corny Mamma Mia! wannabe'. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but gosh, talk about rude & harsh?!

But I went, watched the movie & got my own opinion on it, you know cos I'm an independent woman with my own opinion & all that jazz... :P I actually really enjoyed it. It was filled with very catchy upbeat songs & I bloomin' loved singing along...by singing I do mean really quietly & sometimes miming too. In my opinion the story was good too, really it was your typical chick flick but I mean who doesn't love a good chick flick? I think a lot of people are comparing it to Mamma Mia but the only thing similar to Mamma Mia is the fact of it is a musical film. There is absolutely no sign of an Abba song or reference in sight though.

One thing that did make a nice change was to actually go to see a movie that only had one person in I had seen before, that one person being Leona Lewis & obviously then she wasn't acting & singing...just singing, back on the x factor. It wasn't jam packed with well known or heard of actors/actresses but all of the actors & actresses did a fantastic job in my opinion & I don't think they deserve the slating they received in that one review I read.

To end my review I'll say...yes, I'd recommend this movie. If you've also heard bad reviews, then just go & gain an opinion for yourself. You will more than likely come out pretty chipper & be singing away to yourself for a good couple of hours afterwards. I'm hoping to get the soundtrack CD when it is on offer of course! Got to save those pennies.

I have zero idea as of what film I want to see next, who knows..maybe I'll end up missing a month or bending the rules a little bit & blogging about another film I might watch this month...but anyway, who said there even was rules? rules smules?! ;)

So have you been & seen any films recently? Maybe you could recommend a current one that is on at the cinemas to me, that would be great! Have you seen walking on sunshine & what was your opinion? Let me know in the comments. Walking on sunshine only came out on Friday (27th June) so maybe you should check it out over the upcoming weeks? Totally not telling you what to do there neither by the way, if you want to watch it then bloomin' well watch it, if you don't want to then don't...simples! :) Ok, ok, now I'm waffling...

As always, thanks for reading,
Anna ♥