My first time seeing The Vamps and it won't be the last!

DISCLAIMER: ALL PHOTOS USED ON THIS BLOG POST ARE MINE, IF YOU WISH TO SHARE THEM ANYWHERE PLEASE ASK. I DO NOT BITE.  I'M PROUD OF THESE PHOTOS AND WOULD RATHER HAVE THE CREDIT TO BE HONEST. I'VE SHARED THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND RECEIVED LITERALLY ZERO FEEDBACK, THEN OTHER PEOPLE USE THEM AND SEEM TO BE TAKING THE CREDIT. SO YES, THE PHOTOS ARE ALL MY ORIGINAL ONES (MINUS DEAN'S AT THE END) BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! p.s. I don't wish to add a watermark on them because I personally think it ruins the photo so no using photos without permission naughty people! We all understood? Great!

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you'll know this weekend I went to see The Vamps live at Sherwood Pines in Nottingham. Oh my, what a night! Let me tell you a little bit  lot about it?

I've got a slight feeling I was at the right concert...

As soon as I knew The Vamps were going to be performing at Sherwood Pines I absolutely had to get tickets. Forestry Commission are the people who organize and make the outdoor concerts happen. I can't fault them in the slightest, I take my hat off to them. Incredible, incredible people! If you wanna check them out you can head to their website and maybe take yourself to one of their concerts. If this weekend and last year are anything to go by you won't be disappointed.

Pricing is reasonable even though it's a set price for everyone, maybe childrens could do with being a little bit less but other than that no faults. What I love about the whole experience is you can take in your own chairs, picnic blankets, picnic basket, food, drinks and really enjoy live music in a beautiful atmosphere. What more could you want? A stuffy arena or the great outdoors? I wouldn't even have to debate this one. You choose where you feel like sitting and you can quiet easily wiggle around to get some good shots (yes, I totally did that of course)!

A few different locations, a few different performers.

Now I've given a little bit of background info about the place and organizer. I'll talk about the show itself. OH MY! What a fantastic night from start to finish.

The Vamps were the main act and they had a total of three support acts. First support act was HomeTown...(click their name and you'll go to their YouTube channel)

HomeTown are a six piece boyband from Ireland, managed by Louis Walsh. They well and truly got the night going. Very good voices but they didn't leave enough of an impact on me to become a fan but they were very good non the less. Extremely entertaining, singing and dancing to bills, they had a great attitude and stage presence.

Second support act was The Tide...(pssssst, click The Tide and as if by magic you'll arrive at their YouTube channel...you can thank me later)!

The Tide are a four piece band made up of Austin, Drew, Levi and Nate (totally only know this because I've been Instagram and Twitter stalking clearly) from California and are signed by The Vamps new record label. The Tide clearly already had some fans in the audience and I can completely understand why. I think these four are certainly ones to watch and are going to go far. They without a doubt know how to entertain a crowd and if I had the chance to go see them again I would, for now YouTube will have to do. Their covers are great and their original song 'falling in love tonight' is perfect.

Third support act (three support acts and all impressive)...Union J! Remember Union J from X Factor? They were so good also ones who know how to work the stage and get the audience grooving. I'm guessing they are clearly in the right job for them cos I know I couldn't do that.

Once Union J had finished rocking the stage it was time to wait, only half an hour and that flew by. I bought a programme to remember the concert, I always buy something as a little reminder...ok, I also bought a tshirt too.

8.45pm soon came around, The Vamps were on stage! Girls were screaming, phones and ipads at the ready...yes, some people actually took ipads with them. I mean really?!?! Do you think that's a must have when you go to a concert? I don't think that's something to take to a concert. 

Live in the now people, enjoy...take photos to remember the night, capture moments, record little snippets too. I think the ipad thing is just a little weird for me because it isn't a camera, the camera quality isn't the greatest on the scheme of things...enough waffle about the ipads? yeah, I thought so too.

Brad, Connor, James & Tristan certainly know how to put on a show, no doubt about it! These boys didn't stop! They thoroughly entertained everyone there. Once they got on the stage I don't think they stopped for 2 minutes. It is so clear that this is their passion, that it means so much to them. All four of them seem so down to earth and grateful to be doing what they love every single day.

I was so gutted that I didn't get the chance to meet them, I missed the meet and greet competition...damn it! But being able to see them live was such an experience that I won't be forgetting anytime soon, especially not with my photos that I took. I managed to take 624 photos on the night, some ended up a little blurred but some ended up pretty darn impressive (yes, I'm being a little bit big headed maybe but whats the point in bringing yourself down? there's plenty of people out there who are willing to do that for you). 

 

I would without a doubt go to see them again live, I'd go again right this second if I could. If you get the opportunity to go to one of their shows go, you wont be disappointed! Don't think about the price of the ticket, just go. If you enjoy someone's music and it has an impact on your life, support them and go see them live. You can't beat the feeling after a concert, the buzzing in your ears, the random outbursts of you singing along to their songs.

Forestry commission pleaseeeee bring The Vamps back next year or maybe you could try for Rixton? Now that would be a show I'd go to aswell! I'm going to leave you with two of my favourite photos (one is mine and the others is Dean's who records and takes photos for the band), through either side of the lens!

Blogging is fantastic for not only remembering experiences but also sharing them too!

Is being alone really so bad? against the rules of life?

Right, let me start this post off with a conversation that has made me sit and address the topic. In our lives there is always someone we know of, just know of to speak to, not know enough of to know them as a person...wow, alot of knows thrown in there!


A couple of weeks ago now I experienced this conversation with someone who knows of me, doesn't know me, certainly not enough to make any kind of remark towards me or my life...

"so do you have a boyfriend yet?"
"no".
"why not?"
"because I don't feel the need to have a boyfriend right now, I don't feel the need to be searching for one because I don't have one neither".
"you don't swing the other way do you?".


WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!?!?!


Yes, I did actually get asked if I was a lesbian because I don't have a boyfriend. I mean come on, just because I don't feel the need to be searching for a boyfriend high and low in shops, on the train, at an event, on social media, on a dating app or website doesn't mean I'm a lesbian.

Is it so wrong that I actually enjoy my own company and don't feel the need to have somebody else to make me complete?

We live in a world where we should be living a certain way. There is absolutely no right or wrong way to live your life, aslong as you live your life how you want then you're on to a winner in my eyes.

I once dated a boy who actually had a life plan, I'm not too sure how far his head was in the clouds or whether it was because we were so young and naive. He knew what age he wanted to be married by, what age he wanted to have kids. I don't believe life quite works like that. You can't plan your life, you can plan your day but life changes so much I don't believe you can have a plan. Things can literally change overnight and never be the same again. Don't get me wrong have life goals and ambitions but plans? Plans change a lot.

I'm now 23. Around my age it's expected that you're moving out, living with your boyfriend. I'm still living at home (very skint right now so have no plans on leaving my home) and not in any relationship. No relationships in the near future, well I can't see any but like I said life is unexpected.

There seems to be a lot of people who can't be alone in life, always with someone (I mean friendship and romantically). Over the past six years (I've been living with anxiety for like six years, madness!) I've learnt a lot about myself and about life. I've become stronger because I've fought my way back. I've become more independent after having my independence taken away from me. I've been fighting an illness that I couldn't understand, in a way I still don't understand some parts of it.

Life changes, people change, situations change.

One thing that has changed for me is the amount of friends I have, I can count them on one hand (ok, maybe two hands). By friends I mean true friends...people who get me, people who want to speak to me, people who want to spend time with me, people who enjoy my company, people who make the effort, people who understand me, people who don't just want me when they are bored, people who take an interest in me.

Loosing friends isn't easy but it has made me realize I'm a lot stronger and more independent than I ever thought I could be. I don't feel the need to go somewhere with someone. If I want to go shopping, I'll go on my own. If I want to go out for the day I'm quite capable of doing that too. If I want to go to the cinema, I'll do that alone too.

The greatest relationship you can have is with yourself. Reality is people come and go, some people do stay and things are great. But the one person who will always be there standing by your side is you.

Hillary's craft competition, 2015...

Two weeks without a blog post, I clearly don't have as much to talk about...or it could be the fact of I've just been settling in to my new job...yeah, we'll go with the second one.

Hope you're well, whoever may be reading this. :)


On with the post, just over a year ago I entered a competition with Hillarys. If you want to read my last years post and see my entry you can do by clicking here. (I cringe a little when I reread old posts, so I tend not to do it often...it's for the best).

This year they have decided to run the competition again, find out more about it by clicking here. Second time around I'm seriously super excited! I only knew about the competition this year after receiving an email from Chris from Hillarys, I'm pretty sure he sent the email to everyone who got involved last year but hey, I felt special (not even kidding neither). I haven't really done anything crafty in a while so I was very grateful for this competition coming around, I could rekindle my love for crafts and being creative.

The competition was pretty simple, it was open to bloggers to show off their crafty side (the little slip says 'cut, stitch and blog your way' but it's ok, I didn't stitch but I checked that was ok...yes, I really am that much of a worry wort)! 

To enter the competition we had to simply choose one of the four different fabrics Hillarys gave us the choice between, then use our imagination to create whatever we bloomin' well liked...oh and then blog about it, hence why I'm writing this post. Who can grumble at that?

Out of the fabrics available I picked 'Hatti Raspberry' and once it had arrived in the post I was not disappointed at all. What beautiful quality, pattern and colours.

I'm going to start off by showing you my finished item, then we'll go back in time...one step at a time.

Once upon a time, this noticeboard was an old fashioned photo frame...

Sitting in a charity shop waiting for someone to rescue it. 

I'm pretty sure the frame loves its new look, it's left feeling full of life.

This frame was an absolute bargain costing only £3.50.
Especially after finding a frame before hand for sale at £15 in a different charity shop.
Charity shops are meant to be cheaper? Yes? 

After I'd bought the frame I headed off to a local craft shop which is one of my favourite little independent shops. The ladies in there are so lovely, extremely friendly and helpful.

'Hatti Raspberry' fabric in hand I went on a hunt to find the perfect paint colour to match and some ribbon too. Taking the fabric along with me made my decisions so much easier as I could tell what worked well with the fabric and chosen paint colour.

I've recently painted one of my bedroom walls a beautiful duck egg blue and I absolutely love it, it has made my room feel so much more cosier. So I knew I wanted to find a duck egg blue or a neutral colour to blend in with my room.

In the end after a few debating moments in the craft shop I finally went away extremely happy with my choice, my first choice actually. I got myself some lovely ribbon on board too (see what I did there? funny? no? humor me? ok?).

Materials now all bought that I didn't already own, it's time I start to give you a run down on how I created my beautiful noticeboard...

Step one...

First thing I did was take apart the frame, by take apart the frame I don't actually mean the whole frame. I mean take out the glass, picture and backing.

The frame was so old that everything was held in place by what I can only describe as extremely old parcel tape...I'm sure it isn't that, I'm not sure what it is (I have absolutely no idea so I'll not pretend that I do) it could be parcel tape but it was held in place by that and mini staples hammered into the frame sideways.

Screwdriver and pliers at the ready, it's time to separate this frame!

Step two...

Once the photo and frame were seperated and I just had the frame I decided to give it a clean with some fairy washing up liquid and a toothbrush to get inbetween the detailed edge of the frame. 

After I'd given it a good scrub a few times to make sure it was clean I went around with some kitchen roll to soak up any left over water.

Step three...

Time to get painting. I really enjoy painting, it is so therapeutic.

I treated this paint like I do nail varnish, nice thin coats are better than a couple of heavy blobby thick coats. 

After just one coat! It was pretty thick and not at all wishy washy but a few coats never hurt! :)

I ended up painting either three or four coats, basically enough so I was happy with how the frame looked. Thankfully the weather was nice when I chose to paint the frame so I managed to sit outside and get my paint on.


Step four...
I left my painted frame a good couple of days (ok, more like a week) to dry, it didn't take this long at all. It was dry within a couple of hours but it was a good few days before I picked the frame back up to continue with my project (lack of time).

The next thing I did was decide which way I wanted my stripes to go, running upwards, running side to side or running at an angle, I without a doubt preferred the stripes going across at an angle.

I then took the backing of the old photo, laying it flat down onto my fabric I drew around it. I used a Sharpie laundry marker (I'm sure you could use an ordinary Sharpie) and I allowed about a rulers width all the way around the fabric.

Once it was marked out I just took the scissors to it and cut, cut, cut away.

A little tip here, once I'd cut it out I decided to give it a quick iron to remove any creases (I mean what else do you use an iron for?)... If you're making something you might aswell give it your all, right?

Step five...

Now it's time to add a little wadding to the board. 

Again using the backing of the photo, which is now going to become the backing of the noticeboard. 

I laid the wadding out flat on the table and placed the backing from the photo on top.

Taking some scissors I worked my way around the backing to make sure there would be enough wadding to cover the back and still have enough to fold over the back like so...

As you can see from the photo once I'd got enough wadding I placed the backing onto the wadding (face down) and took my staple gun to hold the wadding in place.

Step six...

Now it's time to do the same with the fabric as I'd just done with the wadding.

The backing of the notice board (which was the photo backing) should now look like a blank canvas and it's time to get placing the ribbons. 

At this stage I made sure the notice board would fit ok in the frame (a little too late now though, it did though so no worries...I knew it would because I hadn't added much more depth to it) then I decided about the ribbons...

Step seven...

Ribbons at the ready it's time to have a play around, experiment...see what works best.

I decided I wanted to add a little character to my board so I took some hessian ribbon and plaited it, just like you'd plait hair. 

A little tip for you, use some washi tape or sellotape (washi tape isn't as messy) and stick the top of your three strands together to a surface to make plaiting a whole lot easier...

Step eight...

Ribbons and plaits in place, it's time to make it final. Staple gun at the ready again...

Staple, staple, staple allllll the way around. Making sure all the ribbons and plaits are securely in place.

Step nine...

Everything in place it's finally time to push the completed notice board into it's frame.

Step ten...

Hang proudly on the wall. Luckily for me the backing (which was the photo backing) had a thick cord already fastened into it so that saved a job. 

A noticeboard isn't complete with various different bits and bobs hanging from it.

I'm so pleased and proud of my entry even if I don't end up winning. It will always have its place in the spotlight whenever I have my fairy lights on... ;)

To create this noticeboard I used the following...

- Photo frame, Cancer Research UK (Charity shop)

- Americana Decor Chalk Paint, available from Hobbycraft. I used colour, vintage.

- Paint brush, B&Q. Any small paint brush should do.

-Wadding (a sheet, not little bits that you stuff teddies with), available from a craft store or a store such as Boyes.

- Ribbon, heart ribbon (Bertie's Bows) and hessian string/ribbon (Club Green). I bought both of them from the local independent craft store, shop around for your needs.

- Staple gun and staples, available Wilkinsons. 

HOORAYYYYYYYY, we've made it to the end!!!!