Fashion Illustration

So this is something I haven't really talked about on this blog yet, but as it's a massive interest of mine, I thought I'd put it out there & share some love for fashion illustration.

I studied fashion illustration whilst at college, and really loved it. I was studying art & have always loved fine art, but mixing the two genres of art & fashion was wonderful. I drew particular inspiration from David Downton, and read his book cover to cover. I produced copies, and started doing my own work drawing on use of simplicity and bold colour. Okay this is all getting a bit arty now, but basically, he's a lad & I really really liked his work.

I've come across a few illustration blogs recently, ones I love particularly being Malia at Deep Fried Freckles. Her illustrations are beautiful! And perhaps not quite so fashion related, but some amazing work nevertheless is Phillippa over at phillippalola. I particularly love her little owl design, so cute!

In the future I'd love to be able to create custom illustrations for bloggers and such, once I've got back in the swing of things. What do you think? Something you'd like to see more of? And send me some links of some lovely illustration blogs if you know of any (:

#And GOOD NEWS, my wonderful friend Lil (who I'll refer to constantly on this blog cos she's a babe), gave me her old iPhone! So soon I'll be on Instagram, don't know how I've lasted this long without it!!

Beauty: Max Factor Freeebies

My make-up always seems to run out at once, resulting in a few days of surviving almost solely on testers, before I can get to Boots. Does this just happen to me, or is this something all girls find? So I got all excited in Boots and took advantage of Max Factor's promotion, of a free gift if you spend over £15. So my essentials were: 

Maybelline Great Lash mascara (I swear by it) 

Max Factor Facefinity 3in1 Foundation

 So it was my first time trying Max Factor's Facefinity Foundation, but I'd heard good things about it from Lil and some good reviews on Twitter. I previously went from Rimmel Foundation to Garnier BB Cream, both of which I hated (went from too thick a coverage, to far too thin). This thankfully, sits blissfully in the middle!

The foundation is amaaazing, I'm using 'no.45 Warm Almond'. This shade is perfect for me, slightly more of a yellow-y undertone than a pink one, which suits my skin way better than the 'Natural' tone I chose previously.

So I bought the mascara and foundation, but to get the promo I had to spend £15 on Max Factor, so I got a really nice nail polish, colour's called 'Graffiti' (but the photo wouldn't do it justice, so I'll post me wearing it another time). And woo I got this fab free gift, so worth it.

Included:

 Masterpiece Mascara (Black)

Mini Glossfinity Nail Polish (Angel Nails)

Colour Elixir Lipstick (Lilac Wine)

Earth Spirit's Eyeshadow (Terra Firma)

Yet to try these products, but I don't think I can go far wrong with them. And being free, they're already on a winner.

Have you tried any of these products?

Baking: Mint Aero Meringues

MY WORD I have been a terrible blogger these past few weeks. Life has just been travelling at 100mph, but I've got a few bits to tell you about & show you now, so blog-absence has ended! So here's something I've wanted to share with you because like me, hopefully, you can't resist a gooey, minty, chocolatey treat. And this is just perfect, and so cheap/easy to make!

Now this recipe caught my attention from 'Macmillan Cancer Support's Recipe Book' and I knew I had to make it immediately! This, combined with my lovely friend Elizabeth wanting to start  her own 'craft, cooking & cosmetics' inspired blog 'Teacups & Taffeta'. So I decided to take the ingredients to her house & surprise her with everything she'd need for her 1st blog post!

So here's what we did, and how you can do it too (*best friend not required, but highly advised):

You will need...

And some fabulous aprons, ours are from the Topshop SS13 collection.

Ooooh Flamey!

Firstly, preheat the oven to 150°c/fan 130°c/gas mark 2.

Seperate the egg whites from the yolks, making loads of mess like I did.

Then whisk the egg yolks until they form stiff peaks (you should be able to do the old 'hold the bowl above your head' test, without it moving). We used an electric whisk cos we're super lazy.

Next, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, whisking to encorporate it in the mixture. The meringue mix should go glossy, and look very silky.

Now add a few drops of the Green Food Gel into the meringue to make it a minty shade of green! It's important to use gel rather than liquid food colouring, because no-one wants runny meringues (: Dr Oetker from Sainsbury's, £1.49

At this point, add the vanilla paste (paste rather than liquid, for the same reason as the green colouring)

Now chop dat Aero, chop it!

Using a metal tablespoon, fold the aero in carefully, so you don't knock all of the air out of the meringues. Make sure all the Aero is coated!

Once all the Aero is coated, dollop sizeable amounts of meringue on the baking sheet.

Pop in the oven for 30 mins! And voilà..

Have you found any nice baking recipes lately?