Paperchase Blogger Event, Journaling Pages

After going to the Paperchase Blogger Event at the start of the month, I of course had to do a bit of journaling about the day. This is how the double page spread in my Lyra & Co Lyradori turned out!

So the colour scheme I went with was inspired by the photo of my yellow converse, and my train ticket. I got out my watercolours and whacked down some yellow & orange in the background. On the right hand page I stuck down some of the fruit tape I'd bought from Paperchase about a month ago, because the colours on it were very warm, so it fit with the other colours very well. I got my photo's printed, and gathered together all the things I wanted to include on the spread. Then I figured out where I was going to place things. This is sometimes the hardest part, so if you are struggling, don't panic! I still do too sometimes, just stick with it!

At the top I decided to stick the photo of me, Anna & Chloe. I used some different tapes to help frame the photo (Yellow Star Washi Tape & Thin Gold Glitter Tape, from Cloudy Cow). I also used some grid sticky notes from a set I'd got from HEMA. The 'Hello Friend' sticker was from a set I'd gotten ages ago but I don't remember where from, and the Camera & Heart stickers were from a Simple Stories Carpe Diem sheet.

I was debating whether to stick down my train ticket, or make it into a flap on the page. Whilst I was trying to decide I paper clipped it to the page to keep it in place, and ended up just really liking the look of it. I think it helped that the paper clip was shaped, so it made it look like it was meant to be there, rather that just like I'd pegged it there temporarily. I've found a new love for using Paper Clips in my journal, these heart ones are by American Crafts & I got them from Paperchase.

I used some Yellow alphabet stickers by Doodle Bug Design Inc, and chose to title the page at the bottom instead of the top.

As I had printed off quite a few photo's from the day, I decided to add in a journaling card as a flap and then stuck on some photos. I rounded some of the corners so it made them fit in with the shape of the card a little better. I added another heart paper clip at the bottom to hold one of the spare photos I had onto the other side, which wasn't stuck down. On this side of the flap though, it just looks pretty!

At the bottom of the page I added the words 'blogger event' in some of my favourite typewriter style alphabet stickers, from Hobbycraft. Along with the date of the event and the date I created this page. To fill in the blank space I decided to stick down a heart sticker from one of the Simple Stories sticker sheets. Hearts and other generic 'pretty' shape stickers like that are very handy to have in your stash for times like this, when you just want to fill in a gap on a page without something too distracting.

Underneath the flap I have a lot of journaling, along with the spare photo I had paper clipped onto the inside of the flap. I have the tag from the Pineapple cup I got in my goody bag which I stapled to the top of the page, and then covered the staples with some gold glitter tape and some washi tape from Freckled Fawn which says 'remember today'. The 'MAR' circle is plastic so is slightly transparent, I just stapled that down in the corner. Then I added a couple of stickers at the top of the journaling section.

I'm very happy with how it all came together! If you are ever struggling with figuring out a colour scheme to go with, take a look at the photo's you are going to include on a page and see if you can pick out some colours from those.

- Daisy X

*Please note, some links in this blogpost are affiliated.

What I Got For Christmas, 2015!

HELLOOOO! So first of all I want to say Happy Christmas, Happy New Year and everything in between! I hope you have all had a lovely December. Mine has been pretty stressful if I'm honest, but I'm so grateful for my family who helped to make this Christmas super relaxed and got me some amazing gifts to put a smile on my face.

I haven't included everything in this blogpost, purely because it won't all fit on my desk, and also because they are the more 'generic' gifts like socks and smelly's! (Which I love just as much as everything in these photos, but they are generic and there's not really much to share about them haha)

Everything on here is from my family, Jack and also Chloe!! Who is one of my penpals.

So going from the left to the right, we have a mixture of Smash Book goodies and the Tim Holtz tape which is all from Chloe! I can't wait to use these goodies in my Smash Books, I haven't seen the yellow Smash Book pad before surprisingly!

We then have some crafty goodies from my family, my mum chose quite a few bits and pieces from the Simple Stories 'I Am' collection which are all so beautiful, the colours and font style are just perfect.

There's then two DVD's which Jack got for me, and they are Big Hero 6 & Pitch Perfect 2. He had obviously been listening to me earlier in the year when I mentioned these!

Now there's a lot of books by YouTuber's available right now, and I do have a couple of them already. But I have struggled to read them, I'll admit I haven't yet managed to finish Zoella's Girl Online... the first one. Reading is something I always struggle with, my brain is very occupied by colours and images, so for me to sit down, take time out of my day and read a book that's all words, I do struggle to stick with it.
So I asked for Joe Sugg's new book, Username Evie. It's a graphic novel, so is set out like a comic book. This style of reading is something that of course instantly jumps out at me. I'm actually really excited to read it!
There's also a notebook my mum bought me, I was actually with her when she bought it. She got it when we went to London for the Tiger Gift wrapping Crafternoon event. Just a nice little memento from the day.
The Alphabet stickers were from Chloe again, part of the bundle of Smash Book goodies she got me!!

On the left is the new fox Fauxdori Jack got me from Lyra & Co !!! Another one to add to my collection, it's SO pretty. On the inside it has orange & white chevrons, it all goes together so perfectly, love it!
The necklace is from my mum, it has a little gold acorn on it. There's a little quote which goes with it, she bought it for me when we thought I'd be up north for Christmas. So it was to represent strength, but it still means a heck of a lot to me even though I was down south with her for Christmas. I'm going to need to be strong for the next few months, I'm going to be ripped out of my comfort zone and slapped straight into a brand new house 300 miles away.
On the right is my new planner! It's the Yellow medium Kikki-k!! I did know I was getting this, but it was still so fun to open on Christmas day. I can't wait to use it in 2016, I reckon it'll be so nice to use in the Summer.
At the bottom is a giant Jammie Dodgers tin, with lots of Jammie Dodgers inside. I love these sort of novelty tins. It will make a perfect biscuit tin in our new house.

Another gift from my family was this Maggs London make up bag! I'd mentioned it to my mum, but completely forgotten about it, so this really was a proper surprise!!
I've watched The Michalaks for I'd say a little under a year now, and I just adore their little family. I love how their videos are put together and I think they are just genuinely lovely people. When I first saw the Make Up bags I fell in love with the sweet one. I wear make up, but all the make up bags I've seen available are like either pink with bows or frills or this weird plastic material that shows up every finger print. Which are all of course totally fine, and that might be your thing, but for me.. a make up bag covered in pic 'n mix sweets is ten times more appealing!
It was quite expensive for a make up bag, which is why I've put of buying it in the past, and also why I never in a million years thought my mum would buy it. But she did and I'm so very grateful for that!

This necklace was another gift from Jack, and it's truly beautiful. I'm really into my mixed metal jewellery at the moment (coincidently my mum didn't know this when she bought the acorn necklace!!), and after our last date of 2015, before Jack went back up north, we walked past a little jewellery shop in town and I saw this necklace. He then managed to find it online and get it for me for Christmas. It was a total surprise I didn't know he had managed to get it, seeing as the shop was closed when we looked and he was going up north the next day.

Last of all my Noodoll family grew by two this year! Jack really did good with picking out gifts, like really good. He knows me very well.

If you've followed me on Instagram for a while you will have seen these adorable little faces popping up every now and again. The two at the front were the once he got me this year, the others he had bought me in previous years, and for birthdays! I absolutely love these, they are the cutest little things.

Some of the other things I haven't mentioned separately which are in the first photo are the Moomin cup which was from Jack, and the Moomin t.shirt which was from my family. I still completely love my Moomin's!

So yes, that was basically everything I got this year! I'm so happy with everything, I love my family a lot. I love Jack a lot. I'm also very grateful to have friends like Chloe who although we haven't met (yet) I can count on to put a smile on my face! Ps. Chloe if you are reading this, I'll have something on it's way to you very soon!

I hope you all have a great start to 2016, it's an exciting year for me with moving and everything, so I can't wait to get the ball rolling! 

- Daisy X

Lyra & Co Fauxdori Review!

I have got a beautiful fauxdori to review for you today!

I was so happy when I found out there was finally a UK fabric fauxdori maker. I've seen these all over Instagram but they've all been from non UK shops, so the P&P prices are sooo much more.

This Fauxdori is made by Jane from Lyra & Co!
When it came to choosing which design I wanted ... It was tricky, there were so many beautiful designs available and I have a feeling I will be going back at some point to get another one.

I went for this penguin design, I definitely fell for the colours and the inside matches so perfectly. I immediately knew that this was what I wanted to use for my Christmas planning.
This Christmas will be the first one away from home, I will have most likely only just moved and things will be a bit up in the air still, so I knew I needed some sort of planner or notebook to keep everything in one place.

The details of this fauxdori are just beautiful, I love that the edges are all neat and tidy, I've seen that some shops don't 'finish' the edges? I think that's what it's called haha. But I much prefer it when everything is all neat. The little eyelets also make the holes a lot more neat, I was definitely impressed with the overall finish of this fauxdori. Can we also take a moment to appreciate the gold elastic ... Ugh love it. Okay moving on.

This is the inside of the fauxdori! Can you see what I mean about it matching the outside perfectly now?! I'm just in loveeee with it.

I definitely wanted a design which wasn't traditional Christmas colours and patterns, and this just fits the bill great. The gold elastic goes with everything so well, Jane has done such a great job at matching everything up!

Inside there are two elastics, which means you can fit anywhere between 2 - 6 inserts. This was another feature I was looking for, after owning many fauxdoris I've found that I much prefer a chunky dori than a flat one. So being able to have the option of filling it up is great!

You will have seen throughout this post that there were some adorable stickers in the photos, these were a bonus that Jane sent me and they are so cute! Not only does she sell fauxdoris, but she also sells the inserts and stickers!
As I said, I will be setting this up as my Christmas planner. I'll be sure to post some progress photos on my Instagram and then once it's complete I'll be doing a video talking through what inserts I'm using and how I've decorated etc.

The only downside which is much more of a personal issue rather than a product issue, is the fabric feel. I've always had issues with stroking or touching certain fabrics (tight cotton mainly), and the noise it makes when I do so. It sends physical goosebumps from head to toe and makes me feel queasy. It's something that I'm most definitely trying to overcome, and have been pushing myself to get more things that are made from this sort of fabric in the hope that I'll eventually desensitise myself from it.

Overall, totally in love! So happy to have found a UK seller, Jane is lovely and easy to talk to. Her prices are very reasonable:

Small sized Fauxdori - £12 + P&P
Regualar sized Fauxdori - £16 + P&P
Extra Wide sized Fauxdori - £18.50 + P&P

She has also provided me with a discount code for you guys to use!
You can get 15% off with the code DAISY15
Click here and head over to Lyra & Co!
(it does expire in a month though so make sure to use it ASAP!)

Thank you Jane for this beautiful Fauxdori, it will be well loved!

- Daisy X

*Please note, even though these products were sent to me free of charge, this does not sway my views and opinions. I will always share my honest views on the product and company.