March Mini Haul

Hi everyone, I just wanted to do a quick 'mini haul' for you today with a few of the bits I bought on Friday last week.  There's only a few bits to show you but I'm quite excited about them all and just had to share :-)
First off I picked up this absolutely beautiful dress in Tesco, I tried it on and just couldn't resist (we all know that feeling right?!)  It looked great on but it is a little too big for me under the arms, nothing I can't fix with a sewing machine.  So for that reason only I'm using the product pic from the Tesco website to show it to you.

It has the most beautiful lavender-blue satin fabric underneath a white see-through layer of embroidered flowers, it's synched in at the waist and has a 'v' opening at the back.  I love the higher rounded neckline too, as anything with a low-cut neck looks terrible on me!  So it's just perfect and I can't wait to wear it somewhere nice in the summer :-)

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The next place I toddled off to was of course Boots, I mean when do I ever not go to Boots lol :-)  I wanted to take advantage of the 3 for 2 offer that was only on for a couple more days, so I picked up 3 more of the Rimmel Color Rush Balm Stains.  I won't say too much about these as I'm planning a little review for you all in the next week or so!!

I got (from left to right), Not an Illusion, Give Me a Cuddle and The Redder The Better to add to my collection :-)

And now for the big finale, drum roll please.....
I finally spent the Boots advantage card points that I've been saving up, for what seems like forever, and got the amazingly wonderful Real Techniques Core Collection Brush set :-D  I have been wanting this since I first got the Starter Set over a year ago and have used it every time I do my makeup, they are excellent brushes and I've been longing to get them for an absolutely age! :-)

So that's it, just a few little bits that I picked up and decided to show you!  I hope you're all well and have a great weekend :-)

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A Helping Hand - Stress, Anxiety and Depression

Hi everyone, even though I really wanted to write a new post this week it's just not been happening and that's partly because I've been feeling a bit down.  So I decided to write about it, kind of!!
Sometimes in life things get tough and for some of us, it can get very hard to get through and cope with everyday life without feeling down, depressed or having anxiety and panic attacks. Anyone who knows me would easily agree that life has certainly been tough at times and has given me many trials. Thankfully I've always had certain people in my life to turn to (you know who you are!) And I will always love them and be continually grateful for there support.  But of course there are times, especially when you're on your own or when talking doesn't help, that you need other things to help calm you and get you through the difficult times.
So I've written this list of tips and ideas that I personally do to help me, in the hope that it might help some if you!  :-)

Of course talking to a close friend or relative can help put your over-active mind at ease but if not sometimes writing your feelings down in a diary/journal can help.  It doesn't have to be a best seller or even make any actual sense and who cares about spelling mistakes, it's just a way to get your feelings out.
Or you could write a story, poem or song!

Sometimes I even find talking to my pets helps to, they are always there for unconditionally and playing and laughing with them is amazing therapy and after all, laughter is the best medicine!

Which brings me to my next tip - YouTube!  Need I say more :-)  Find the funniest videos you can and watch them until you're laughing your socks off!  I could happily recommend anything by Jim Chapman (very funny guy), Marcus Butler (this video actually had me in tears of laughter!) or of course
Bunny Meyer (Grav3YardGirl) - not for everyone (apparently), she's kind of a Marmite-type person, you either love her or hate her!  Personally I love her to bit, she hilariously funny and never fails to cheer me up.  She has also suffered a lot with depression and anxiety problems and has done several videos on how she copes with it. And she co runs a great group on Facebook called The Swamp Family (yeay fellow Swampies!!)  Which is home to now over 17,000 Swamp Family members and it's a great place to chat, share ideas, thoughts etc with other like-minded people of all ages, many of whom suffer with similar anxiety issues,  It is now a closed group but you can email Cassie Martin to join and you can find a link to that here :-) The Swamp Family.

Shopping, never fails!  Even if you can't afford a spend, you can still enjoy window shopping or even trying things on.

Treat yourself; have a relaxing bath, do your nails, get your hair styled (nothing too drastic, you might regret it when you're feeling better) or watch a funny movie or even an action movie (no soppy ones or sad ones, it might make you feel worse!)

Go for a walk, let the breeze blow away all the negative feelings.

Think of one of those jobs you've been putting off, a craft project, decorating something, sewing, anything where you have to really put your mind to it and concentrate and when you've finished you'll feel a real sense of achievement too!

Exercise, in whatever way you like.  Not one of my personal favorites but I do love swimming.  Exercise is great for getting the adrenaline going and will make you feel so much better.

Sleep, it can be very restorative and you'll wake up feeling refreshed.

Of course the one main thing that helps me, more than anything else, is listening to my favorite music!  It could be your absolute favorite to make you feel good or try something more up-beat and energizing.  It never fails to help me (even if it takes a while to start), it's the one thing I can always rely on to get me out of a bad mood.  One of my favorite ever sayings is 'When Words Fail, Music Speaks', so true!  And if no one else is around, I sing my heart out too :-)

So, I hope this will help some of you a little if you struggle with anxiety issues too!

Blogger Plans

Hi everyone, welcome to my first blog post!  So, I thought I would start by telling you what type of posts you can expect to see on here.  I want to write about things I like and enjoy, and I hope you will find them interesting too.  I LOVE music (especially Linkin Park), crafts, Poodles, Magick & Wicca, make up, fashion, YouTube, shopping, singing and of course SHOES!! :-)  I'm hoping to do a room tour (once I've finally finished refurbishing my room and when it's a lot tidier!), I'll show you my make up collection and storage and tell you about my obsession of lipsticks. I'm looking forward to doing lots of makeup and product reviews, as well as showing you shopping hauls and 'outfit of the days', I'll tell you about craft projects I'm working on (because I just love to customize everything!), my gorgeous Poodles and my general life!  I also have a health condition called Fibromyalgia, so I will tell you about how I deal with that.

So hopefully there will be something for everyone and I would love to have you follow me along my journey, quite literally :-)

Please feel free to leave any helpful comments or tips, as I'm a newbie to blogging and welcome all suggestions and if there's a particular product you would like me to review, just let me know and if I can get hold it (and afford it!), I will let you know what I think of it.

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So, to start introducing you into my life, here's a few pics of the things I enjoy :-) Hugs from...

Our beautiful Poodle babies, Tilly and Katie (you'll be seeing a lot of these!)

My most favorite music in the world!

My beliefs...

The most wonderfully romantic story, plus vampires and a sexy werewolf - what more could you want!

Me!

My most absolutely favorite film ever, is watching a movie over 56 times excessive?! :-)

Some of the type of things I like to make

My extreme love of birdcages, roses, shabby chic and anything 'vintage'!

Another me in one of my favorite outfits :-)

Decorating my denim jacket

Shoes.......!!!

The wonders of makeup!

Real Techniques, the best makeup brushes ever invented!

Crapy health issues - Fibro, Anemia and EDS!

A couple of pics of some of the jewellery I love to make!