Packing Up Student Room & Finishing The Second Year Of Uni.

I missed posting so many days as I had to pack up my entire student room to go home, and then unpack everything, and everything has just been crazy! So I thought that I would give you some tips on how to pack everything up to fit well into your car.

All of my housemates went home a few weeks ago and as my boyfriend lives where I go to uni I decided to stay a little longer so spend sometime with him. Because I haven't really been to my house and sorted anything out it was a mess! I had to tidy the mess and organise it, then clean the room thoroughly to make sure that I get my deposit back.

• First of I threw all the rubbish out and everything that I haven't used all year to stop myself from packing useless things.

• I then decided on how to pack, I had 3 suitcases, a huge one, a medium one, and a small one. I decided to pack all of my clothes and coats into black bin bags so they can be put in smaller spaces and because I put all of my shoes, makeup, hair stuff and jewellery into my big suitcase, which was a struggle to do up hah! I then put all of my DVDs, books, photographs and university work into the medium suitcase which it all fit perfectly. And then in all my handbags and bag packs I put all of the other bits and bobs I had in my room.

• I washed all towels and all my bedding and put them into bin bags as well.

• After packing everything, which took a good 2-3 hours I had to clean. I dusted all the surfaces and wiped them down, hoovered the floor and took off all of the blu-tac of the walls.

It all took a long time, and was quite sad as it was almost the end of an era. Looking at the difference before I tidied the room and after was crazy! I'm a really messy person so there was my stuff all of the walls and sides. I am the queen of the floordrobes!


So, I've just finished my second year of university studying Advertising and Brand Design. And I thought that I'd share with you a little bit of how my experience of the second year of university was, and the house that I lived in.

So, this year I lived with three people that I lived with in my first year, who I absolutely love! But we had 3 other people living with us as well, that I was friends with in my first year. But I hated living with the 3 new people. They were 3 boys, 3 of the messiest, untidy, dirtiest boys I have ever known, they had no respect for the house and they had no common sense, don't get me wrong, I got on with them, and I did like them, but not when it came down to the house. Tip 1: Don't live with people that are messy and untidy if you know it'll bother you! I didn't think that they would be this bad, but it got to the point that they would never do the washing up or clean at all! I had to go out and buy my own plates, cutlery, cups and pans to keep in my room. It kind of pushed me out of the group a bit as I was the one that nagged about the cleaning when the other people in my house wouldn't. Tip 2: Don't do all the nagging yourself, or don't leave one person to do the nagging, everyone that gets annoyed should make a point of saying something!  Even through all of this though, I still had a really good year! Although it has annoyed me for the past 9 months, I know that in 5-10 years time I'll look back and it won't be a big deal.

Finishing the second year of university was a bit stressful for me, as I find it extremely hard to concentrate on my work when living with 6 other people, so as most students do, I left everything to the last minute, and I found out yesterday that I did pass and I am going onto third year, which I am so happy about!! The projects this year were a lot harder than in the third year as they actually make you work hah, but I did learn a lot this year, I realised what I wanted my career to be, as in the first year I had no idea where I was going. I also had to write my dissertation proposal, which I was terrified about writing, but I've chosen a good topic -psychology, and colour pyschology of advertising and branding- so I am actually kind of excited to be writing 8,000 words(!!!!!) about that next year.

I know this is a post maybe only interesting or helpful for some of you, but I thought that it is a helpful post :) … I will be doing some more DIYs soon when I'm back and settled home properly :)
I hope that you liked this post.

DIY Key Covers.

Hey! I found a simple, easy way to tell apart your keys when you get confused. And all you need is your keys and nail varnish. Although any type of paint would work just as well.

Firstly decide what colours you want, I chose pink, blue and green as they're all bright and bold.

One of my keys had a design on it, that was wearing off, so as an experiment I decided to paint all of it green.

I had to do about 2-3 coats on each of the keys to make sure it was bold and there was no streaks through it. I didn't wait properly for the coats to dry so that made it difficult, so as a tip, make sure that the first coat is completely dry!!

For the green key I had to do about 4ish coats, and again, wait for the coats to dry.

I do really like how they look, however, i would advise not to paint a whole key with a pattern as it used a lot of nail varnish. It so easy, and simple to do!

I hope you enjoyed this post! :)

The Beauty Blogger Tag.

Although I am not a beauty blogger I will be posting beauty and fashion related posts sometimes, so I thought this would be fun to do and for you to read through to get to know me a little better. I found this on Beauty Guide 101's blog.

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

My hairs naturally straight with a slight wave in it. Super fluffy as well if I don't straighten it hah.

2. What is your natural hair colour?

Dark brown.

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

Always dye it myself, apart from once when I had ombre done in a salon.

4. How often do you wash your hair?

I wash my hair either every 2 days, or every 3 days. My hair doesn't really get greasy so I don't have to worry about that.

5. Do you wear the same style every day or change it?

I have got my go-to hair style if I'm in a rush, but i do try out different styles, especially when I'm bored hah.

6. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I've never had a manicure or pedicure in a salon before. I always paint my nails and look after them myself.

7. How often to you change your nail polish?

Whenever I can be bothered to be honest. I like them looking nice, but it's all down to whether I have time or not to paint them. I can leave them for quite a while with the nail varnish all chipped. whoops. 

8. Do you polish your toes in the winter, too or just in the summer?

Yeah, I like having my toe nails painted, because although no one else really sees them, I do!

9. How long does it take to put on your makeup?

If its daytime makeup about 10 minutes. For going out probably about 20-25 minutes. I don't like spending loads of time on my makeup. 

10. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

Always my face.

11. Do you "collect" makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

I just buy makeup when I need it, or when I fancy treating myself.

12. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

I never wear false lashes, I can't work out how to put them on after trying hundreds of times I gave up haha.

13. Do you do a full face of makeup every day?

No way! Even if I'm just going to Tesco or the shops, I never wear full makeup. Only if I'm going out in the evening or for food somewhere nice during the day.

14. Do you wear makeup when you are home alone (or with family)?

Not usually, but sometimes I will.

15. Will you leave the house without makeup?

Yep.

16. How many high end products do you have?

None really, I'm a student and I can't afford fancy products haha.

17. How often do you wash your makeup brushes?

Not nearly enough! 

18. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you are getting dressed?

I just decide when I'm getting dressed or when if theres an occasion I'l decide before hand.

19. How often do you change your handbag?

Not that often, either when I get bored of my bag or when they brake (which is quite often hah).

20. What time do you get up & go to sleep?

I get anytime between 8 - 9.30 and I'll usually go to sleep between 12-2pm. 

21. How often & when do you workout?

Not really as much as I should or want to. Probably once a week. Although I walk quite a bit as I haven't got a car. 

22. Left-handed or Right-handed?

Right-handed.

23. How tall are you?

5'6"ish.

24. Do you speak a foreign language?

Nope, but I did french in school haha.

25. How many pets do you have?

I have a cat called Kerrang and 3 new danio fish, a pearl danio called Snoop, a zebra danio called Tiger and a spotted danio called Baby.

26. How often are you on Blogger?

Its usually open on my tabs but I check it everyday.

27. Do you read the comments posted blogs?

Yep.

28. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yeah, if a product interests me then I'll want to try it.

29. How did you come up with your blog name?

Well, I'm photographing my obsessions, so I thought 'Photographed Obsessions' worked well :).

30. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?

At the moment I'm using my boyfriends Canon EOS 350D because I left mine at home, so when I go back home later this week I'll be using my Fujifilm Finepix.

31. How often do you clean your house? (Daily, weekly, other)

Living in a student house it had to be cleaned daily if not every other day. But generally somethings daily and somethings weekly.

32. What is your favourite colour?

Green.

33. What is your favorite beauty/fashion magazine?

Company magazine.

34. Do you swear?

Um, yea, but not in front of adults like my parents or grandparents.

35. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Maybe sorting out my student house ready to go home or just chilling, Im not feeling to well! :(.

I hope that you enjoyed this post. As I didn't upload a post yesterday I'll be doing 2 today to make up for it! :)

DIY Bedroom Decor Series: 1: Quote In A Frame.

Hey Guys! :)

So I've decided to create a weekly series, dedicated to showing you some DIY home or room decors. They will all be low cost, as I am a student, I can't afford to go and spend lots and lots of moneys on things to make my room/home look cool, so I'm gonna show you inexpensive ways to still make sure your room looks nice!

I will list the items you will need, and where I got them, and the cost at the bottom of this post.

1: Quote In A Frame.

So I knew that I wanted to create something simple that I could hang up on my wall. I decided on a simple frame with a quote inside it, something that means something to me and can be inspirational. Obviously you can choose your own quote, or a drawing or design would look nice!

For my design I decided that I wanted it to have quite a pastel colour theme. But you can have any colour theme you want.

You will need:

Glass clip frame, or a normal frame, it's your choice.

Patterned paper / wrapping paper.

Coloured card.

Scissors / scalpel.

Pencil.

Ruler.

Glue.

Firstly, what you will need to do is cut the patterned paper (or wrapping paper, which is what I used) to the same size as the frame. What I did to make this exact is I drew around the glass in the frame.

You then want to decide on your quote. I chose 'Don't Worry Be Happy' for mine, but it is totally up to you what you do. Then draw out the letters onto any coloured card you like.

And then cut all the letters out. This takes quite a while, so put your favourite tv show on in the background :). You can use scissors, although I used a scalpel as it is a lot easier to get all the nooks and crannies of the letters.

Then once you've finallllllly cut all the letters out you want to re-arrange them on the patterned paper to make sure they fit. When your happy stick them down and add any other little things onto it to make it look super cute and cool!

The patterned paper that I brought was wrapping paper and it came with really cute tags that I added to the poster.

I think that this looks really nice and it looks so nice for the summer! You could put any other quotes and any other colour themes to suit your room!

I hope that you liked this post and if you decided to have a go tag me on Instagram: rebecca_lou2907 :)

Glass clip frame: Wilkinsons 80p.

Wrapping paper: Wilkinsons 70p.

Coloured card: Wilkinsons 70p.

So this whole DIY project cost me only £2.20, so its a real cheap and easy way to create decor for your room or home.

Random Photo Tag.

So I was looking through random people blog just looking for a little bit of inspiration. And i came across an old tag on Zoella's blog. The random photo tag. Basically, you go to the 4th file in your pictures and the 4th photo and explain the photo.

This is mine. 

This is me and my boyfriend at his graduation last July. This was just before the ceremony. I was wearing an old vintage skirt that my mum used to wear, a simple light blue top and pink wedges. I remember it being so so sooo hot that day! I also had my bright pink hair, which I miss oh so much! Always tempted to re-dye it, but it damaged my hair so much!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I tag anyone that reads this! Let me know if you do it :)

DIY Products & Where To Buy Them.

As a beginner, and lover of DIY, I have decided to compose a list of websites and shops that I use to buy certain DIY supplies from.

The List

• Hobbycraft - Hobbycraft is a UK only website. They sell almost anything you will need for diy projects, such as paper crafts, paint, sketchbooks, envelopes, cookery & baking supplies, books, the list goes on. I often like to wonder into my local Hobbycraft and nose around to get inspiration.

• The Works - The Works is another UK website, however they do send internationally to Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia. The works carry products such as book, arts & craft supplies, stationary and toys and games. I love going into The Works as there is such a huge range of products.

• The Range - The Range doesn't deliver to outside of the UK. The DIY area of The Range is Crafts which consists of paint supplies, craft tools, craft supplies, pens and pencils, paper stationary, portfolios and storage and kids craft. They also have an area for house and home DIY, which consists of wallpaper, paints, decorating, power tools, hand tools, tool storage, hardware etc.

• Amazon - Amazon is a world wide shipping company and they literally sell anything and everything. You can type in whatever you want to buy, whether that be scrapbooking paper, DIY how-to books, glue guns, whatever you want and chances are it'll be there. I usually use Amazon when I'm buying supplies as it is the easiest way to shop, online with my list of everything I need right by me.

• Ebay - Ebay is again another world wide shipping company that sell anything and everything. Similar to Amazon, Ebay you just type in what you want and it probably has it. You can get products that are Auctions, were you could potentially get something very cheap, or buy it now options.

• Etsy - Etsy is another world wide shipping company. It focus' mainly on people selling their own handmade items. But you can find some real gems on etsy such as vintage items.

• HobbyLobby - HobbyLobby is an American site and they only offer international delivery with over the phone orders. HobbyLobby is much like Hobbycraft with what they sell. They sell almost anything you would need to make any sort of DIY project.

• Argos - Although Argos is a shop thats sell pretty much anything, they do have a small DIY/craft area. They sell Sewing machines, art sets, paper crafts and craft sets. As near enough every town has one I do quite often stop in on my local Argos and have a nose around what they sell.

These are just a few places that I tend to look through for inspiration and usually buy the supplies needed. I hope that this has helped in finding places to buy supplies for that amazing DIY project you want to do :)

My First DIY: Gifts For My Boyfriends 22nd Birthday.

So it was my boyfriends 22nd birthday on the 9th of June, and as a student I didn't have much money to spend. I decided on creating a few different DIY gifts for him, as well as a couple of shop brought gifts. I am going to show you the things that I made and give a brief description on how to make them. And if any of you want more detailed instructions with photographs, let me know and I will create a more in-depth post :)

The gifts that I made are;
• Sharpie mugs.
• 7 days of love.
• Sweet jar.
• Book of love coupons.
• Letter-cut photograph.
• Birthday cards.
• Gift wrapping.

And the gifts that i brought were;
• Build your own rubber band car.
• Macro lens for iPhone.

He loved all the gifts that I made and that I brought. I'll now show you photographs of the gifts and brief descriptions on how i made them :)

Sharpie mug:

This was a massive trend not so long ago, and after reading so many different reviews saying that it worked and it didn't work, I decided to just go ahead and try it. As my boyfriends name is Henry, i decided to use the letter 'H' on one of the mugs. And the saying 'Good Morning, Handsome' on the other mug. I added a little red heart with the saying but baking it turned it yellow, which I actually quite like. I used a regular black sharpie and baked it in the oven at 340 for about 20-30 minutes, I let the mugs heat up with the oven and cool down with it after the time. I haven't washed them yet, but I know it won't be in the dishwasher. Once they've been used a few times I'll let you know how well it worked., or wether using paint pens would be the best option.

7 Days of love

I saw this really cute idea on pintrest and a few other blogs and I immediately fell in love with the idea. Basically i went down to Wilkinsons (a pound-shop would probably have them), and brought a seven day pill box. I also brought a variety of sweets including; M&Ms, Smarties, Skittles, Love Hearts and Sunkists. I then cut 7 pieces of thin paper and wrote a little love note on each and put one in each day, along with some of the sweets. Now everyday for a week after his birthday he gets some sweets and a little love note. And who knows, sometimes I may be kind enough to refill it with sweets :)

Sweet jar

With all the left over sweets that I brought I didn't want to leave them out (although i could have eaten them all myself) I decided on making another little sweetie present. This one was really simple, I brought a small Kilner jar from Wilkinsons and drew around the lid on some paper and cut it out, on the top I wrote 'Your Sweet Like Sugar' (and yes, I've just noticed my grammar in this haha) and put all of the left over sweets in the jar. That simple :)

Book of love coupons

This was the most time consuming present that I made. All i needed was paper, scissors, a pen and a split key ring (the loop that holds key rings). To make this i cut up loads of pieces of smallish paper rectangles and cut out a half circle on one end of it. I then wrote all of the coupons and the front page, put some holes through them and linked them together with a split keyring. I really liked making these, and my boyfriend loved this present. Instead of wrapping this present I put it into a card and envelope. The card simply had 'LOVE' on the front and inside I wrote the rules of the coupons and the expire date.

Letter-cut photograph

This was the most difficult present to make, and it didn't quite work out how I imagined it would look, still my boyfriend liked it and thats the whole point, right :). For this i printed out an A4 size of a photograph of my boyfriend riding his beloved motocross bike and brought a glass clip frame. I then drew out the quote 'Live Life Full Throttle' from the photograph in thick capitals. Cut them out and stuck them in onto white paper, and clipped them into the glass frame. I think if I was to do this again I would print the photo onto a canvas and stick down the letter and pray white paint over it for a more interesting look to it.

Cards

To add to the whole DIY feel to his birthday presents i decided to create my own cards. One was for the coupon book, one was for a scratch card that I brought him (which unfortunately he didn't win on) and the last was his actual birthday card. As we both love Breaking Bad and we have just finished watching all the series' I thought only right to make and give him this card.

Gift Wrapping

Again, with the gift wrapping i didn't want to just buy ordinary wrapping paper. I wanted to create something a bit special. So after looking for a lovely way to wrap on Pintrest I found one similar to this.  I brought brown packaging paper, and an old book from a charity shop. I wrap them normally in the brown paper, and then from the old book I cut out the letter from his name and stuck them onto the wrapping. This took an extremely long time, but I think that it was worth it as it looks wonderful. 

Shop brought presents

I also decided to buy him a couple shop brought presents. Only little things that he can play with and mess about with. I brought a Guinness World Record Build Your Own Rubber Band Cars and a Macro lens that he can put to work with his iPhone.

I had a lot of fun making these gifts for my boyfriends 22nd birthday. What gifts have you ever made your friends and families?  I hope you enjoyed this post :)

101 Things In 1001 Days.

After writing so so many lists on goals that I needed and wanted to accomplish, and never really having the motivation, I found a list called the '101 things in 1001 days'. To me this seemed the perfect amount of time, 2.75 years to complete 101 goals. Im excited to do this list of goals. I want to share with you my list of goals, and my journey through completing this list. :)

Start date: June 9th, 2014.
End date: March 6th, 2017.

Goals with strikes through them are completed. 

THE GOALS
1. Go 2 months without buying any unnecessary items. [0/60]
2. Cut out fast food for 1 month. [0/30]
3. Take 1 picture everyday for 2 months. [0/30]
4. Learn 5 new skills. [0/5]
5. Drink nothing but water for 1 week each month. [0/33]
6. Go on 5 road trips. [0/5]
7. Witness a sunset and sunrise in the same night.
8. Create a university scrapbook.
9. Donate money to a non-profit organisation.
10. Clean my room and maintain it for 2 months. [0/60]
11. Leave my initials on every money note i have.
12. Watch a shooting star.
13. Discover 15 things I like and love about myself. [0/15]
14. Watch a stand-up comedian in person.
15. Donate blood.
16. Tie-dye 20 items. [0/20]
17. Run/walk for a cause.
18. Save £5 for every task completed. [£0/£505]
19. Draw a star in 50 places and photograph. [0/50]
20. Whiten my teeth and maintain.
21. Make a completely homemade pie.
22. Go on a picnic.
23. Develop habit: Don't let clothes pile up on the floor.
24. Write a letter for myself when the 1001 days are over.
25. Create a dream board of things that I desire in life.
26. Complete '50 questions that will free your mind'.
27. Watch the nominated movies from the year I was born - 1994.
28. Fill a sketchbook with drawings.
29. Bake cookies from scratch.
30. Keep a 'My day in six words' journal for 2 months. [0/60]
31. Take a self portrait every week for a year. [0/365]
34. Complete university with a 2:1 or higher.
35. Complete my university dissertation with 2:1 or higher.
36. Enhance skills for After Effects.
37. Enhance skills on web-design and Dreamweaver.
38. Enhance skills on Photoshop and Illustrator.
39. Create a recipe book with at least 20 of my favourite recipes and cook them. [0/20]
40. Send my mum surprise flowers while I'm away at university.
41. Do at least one DIY project a week. [5/143] - DIY Boyfriends Gifts, DIY Quote In A Frame,  DIY Key Covers, DIY In A Frame, DIY Journal.
42. Create 10 DIY home decor projects found on pintrest to decorate new house. [2/10] - Quote In A Frame, DIY In A Frame.
43. Move into a house or flat with my boyfriend.
44. Do a new blog post everyday for a year (monday-friday), and carry on after that.
45. Create blog posts about goals that I complete. [0/101]
46. Find out my blood type.
47. Get a new tattoo.
48. Find 10 new ways to style my hair. [2/10] - Plait Fringe, Messy Bun.
49. Complete all episodes of Breaking Bad.
50. Complete all episodes of a TV series that I haven't already watched.
51. Get 100 views on my blog in one day. [61/100]
52. Donate all clothes that I haven't worn in the last year.
53. Maintain my fish tank.
54. Research into getting an Axolotl.
55. Take all vitamins daily for a month. [0/30]
56. Complete the Bootea 14 day Teatox and review on my blog.
57. Grow my own tomatoes successfully.
58. Create a terrarium. 
59. Create my own personal brand - logo, business cards etc.
60. Be proud to show my work at my third year exhibition.
61. Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a month. [15/30]
62. Read 5 books. (I'm not much of a reader so I'll struggle with this one!) [0/5]
63. Go to dentist.
64. Go to opticians. 
65. Keep my fingernails and toenails nicely painted.
66. Eat vegetarian for a week. [0/7]
67. Eat gluten-free for a week & maintain if I enjoy it. [0/7]
68. Write a list of 101 things that make me happy and share on my blog. [0/101]
69. Bake bread from scratch.
70. Go on holiday abroad.
71. Get a passport.
72. Get a summer job.
73. Get a job in my career path after I finish university.
74. Create a memory jar for each year (starting late for 2014). [0/3]
75. Learn basic sign language.
76. Make a budget and stick to it.
77. Sell something on etsy.
78. Save early for christmas.
79. Ride in a boat.
80. Complete a colouring book.
81. Go to 3 concerts. [0/3]
82. Have ago on the back of my boyfriends motorbike/dirtbike.
83. Go to the zoo.
84. Go on a date with my boyfriend at least once a month. [0/33]
85. Back up all files on my laptop onto an external hardrive.
86. Swim in the ocean.
87. Buy a disposable camera and take 1 photo a day until the film runs out. [0/24]
88. Stop smoking(!!!).
89. Watch 10 documentaries that link with my career path. [0/10]
90. Eat a piece of fruit for or with breakfast everyday for a month. [5/30]
91. Try 5 new types of food. [0/5]
92. Keep a smile on my face for an entire day.
93. Discover 15 things I like about myself. [0/15]
94. Find a good skin care routine and stick to it (3 months minimum). [0/91]
95. Do 20 sit-ups/push-ups everyday for 1 week. [0/7]
96. Comment on 20 random blogs. [3/20]
97. Have 20 followers. [0/20]
98. Start an all about me scrapbook.
99. Get ads on my blog(?).
100. Write a contacts book with peoples birthdays in it as well.
101. Complete all 101 goals!! [0/101]

I hope that this inspires some of you to create your own 101 Things In 101 Days :)

All About Me And My Blog.

Hi, My names Becky, I'm an Advertising and Brand Design student originally from Cambridge and now studying in Swansea, UK.  

I have always, always wanted to start a blog, but I never really knew what I wanted to talk about. So after quite a while of wondering and thinking, and wondering and thinking I finally decided to write a blog about, well, about everything and anything I want to talk about. I want to share things that I am interested in, and things that I know you will be interested in. My blog is a place that anyone can find something that they're interested in, whether thats DIY, crafts, fashion, beauty, photography, my life as a student, and even some things about cars, aquariums, and some more completely random and interesting things. My main focus' will be DIYs and crafts and my life and what I get up to. And don't worry, my posts won't always have this much writing, I love taking photographs so you'll see plenty of them :)

I'm an ordinary girl, i don't know much about how to put on makeup 'properly', or which fashion trends are 'in right now', my hair never looks how I want it to look,  I like motorbikes, I have a major interest in fish and the ocean, I hate walking, and I'm a student that drinks waaaay to much. But i enjoy life, and this blog is about sharing that with you, and creating memories to look back on in years to come.