2015 in a Nutshell

Does anybody else think that this year went in the blink of an eye? To me it feels like it was my birthday just the other day, even though it was in March. 
I'm definitely glad to be saying good bye to 2015, if you've been reading my blog posts over the past year you'll understand.

My year involved:
- having my bedroom redecorated
- the loss of my dear Grandad 
- Turning 21, scary stuff!!!!
- Going for a brief trip to London with my Boyfriend & going to the Alexander McQueen exhibition 
- Going to Durham for the first time with my family to see the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition 
- Going in to my last year of University
- Speaking in front of a group of people on my own twice, a big thing for me!
- Taking part in a my first Charity walk/run, raising money for the Alzheimers society in memory of my Grandad 
- Getting my hair cut to shoulder length
- Seeing the Computers at the Deaf Institute 
- Having one of my illustrations picked for book-plates in books being donated to Children In hospital
- Watching the new Star Wars film

I hope 2015 treated you well and that the year to come is your best one yet!

Thank you for reading!

Love from

Katie

xx

It's Christmassssss!

Well, my favourite time of year is over *cries* and now were in those last couple of days of December where you feel slightly lost & don't know what to do!

Christmas saw me doing the usual watching Christmas films in pyjamas eating too much food! I watched the Classics; Home Alone, Elf, Santa Clause, Jingle All The Way & The Holiday, of course. I love Christmas for many reasons but, the Christmas food has to be up there as one of the main reasons! Christmas is the one time of the year where nobody questions how much food you scoff or why you're eating chocolate for breakfast. I also get to eat my Dad's roast potatoes with my Christmas day roast, I challenge anybody to find better roasts than my Dad's! 

I had a quiet Christmas day spent spending time with my family, seeing my Grandma & my boyfriend, listening to Sixties music, drawing and watching plenty of tv. I am very grateful for all the lovely gifts that my family, my boyfriend & his family have given me over the festive period.

I will be sad to see all the pretty lights and decorations being taken down in the next week, I love how festive everywhere looks at this time of year, another reason why I love Christmas so much!

I hope you had a lovely time over Christmas!

Thanks for reading

love from

Katie

xx

I'm back!!

Yes, I'm finally back on my blog, for how long nobody knows! Sorry, for being away for ages being in my last year of Uni means that my life is currently just drawing from when I wake up 'till I go to bed at night. I take my hat off to anybody who does the both! Hopefully I will be able to post more soon once my Christmas show/exhibition has been set up.

I hope to write a few posts in the next few weeks: 

- Christmas gift ideas 
- My personal Christmas wishlist
- A post dedicated to Christmas decorations
- Clothes I'm loving at the moment & wish I owned
- Possibly a couple of interviews
- If I get chance a recipe

So stay tuned for those in the next few weeks!

Stay tuned? Who do I think I am? A presenter?

Thanks for reading!

Love from

Katie

xx

Memory Walk for Alzheimer's Society

So, just over 3 weeks ago I did my Memory walk in Heaton Park to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer's Society
As you may or may not know, I lost my Grandad back in March of this year. When he was alive he showed many symptoms of Dementia but, was never officially diagnosed. Not long after the passing of my Grandad I watched a three part programme called Dementia. Whilst I was lying in bed awake that night I thought ' I want to do something to help but, what?' And that's when I discovered the Memory Walk on the Alzheimer's Society website, seconds later I was registered to take part in the Manchester Memory Walk.

After, speaking to my family about taking part, my mum, dad and sister decided they would also take part in the walk. On the run up to the Memory Walk my mum and I had spoken to people that work for the press of Alzheimer's Society, sharing our story with them. Our story about my Grandad's struggle with Dementia was featured in a couple of Newspapers to help raise awareness. My mum was also brave enough to have a short interview on the radio.

Together we raised over £360 for the Alaheimer's Society!

Here's me, my mum and sister at the start line with the lovely Colin who cared for his wife who had Dementia and also cut the ribbon.

It's not the clearest photo but, can you spot me on left wearing the bright pink trainers looking slightly confused?
(photo belongs to itv/granada news)

The day was lovely and it was heart warming seeing so many people up and out on Saturday morning to raise money and awareness. I actually did quite well walking wise managing to stay up with the first 10 (20 at times), although I did manage to trip up and land in a load of mud causing it to swell a little (wow I'm super clumsy).  

Here are a few photos I took on my walk

I can't wait to do it all again next year! Hopefully I will get chance to take more pictures the second way round.

Thanks for reading!

Love from 

Katie

x

My New Obsession-Villoid

Recently, I have been obsessed with an app called Villoid, what is Villoid you ask? Well, it's a fashion app that lets you create mood boards of potential outfits whilst getting inspiration from other lovely Villoid users (this includes some well known fashion lovelies too). You want to buy your outfit? No problem, Villoid has a shopping function so your dream outfit can become a reality. The app has been described as 'your own personal dressing up box'. 


I came across Villoid when I saw Alexa Chung announce on Instagram that she had been one half of the co-founding team with Jeanette Dyhre Kvisvik to create the app. So, of course with Alexa on board I had to try it out. 

I love the social element of the app where you are able to follow other Villoid users and you can comment on the boards that they've created. It's like Instagram with clothes that you can buy but, you can't buy some ones cat on Instagram. You can browse through clothes by various designers such as Mui Mui, ASOS, Alexa Chung for AG, Chloe, Dahlia, just to name a few. If you an item you have used in a board you created goes on sale you will get a cheeky notification letting you know. It's times like that when I wish I wasn't a poor uni student so I could buy everything.

Can some body please create a job where you get paid to make boards on Villoid all day? Please let that be a real thing one day!

Here are a few boards that I have made, the ones I've featured in the post are inspired by the film characters style or the actresses themselves.

                                       

Let me know what you think of my boards and if you have Villoid, I will definitely follow.

Thanks for reading, 

Katie

x