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Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Oooohhhh I've missed this 'ere slice of the net. 

I've been away for a week in Florida and returned yesterday with a suitcase full of goodies for Baby Glitter and a metaphorical bag full of jet lag for me. 

(Orlando at sunset, courtesy of my iphone)

I thought I would just take today to organise myself. I'm going to sift through my rather neglected inbox (the wifi at our hotel was terrible), play with Darcy, unpack, research washing machines (ours broke dagnamit), catch up on sleep and of course, plan some blog posts and videos.

So hello, here I am again, soon to be back properly and looking forward to being back in the swing of things.

What have you all been up to? Do you have any Easter plans?

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE.

Amazing Advertisers | | March 2013

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Spring has sprung and we're firmly planted in March now. This month has been busy and hectic and is about to get a whole lot busier as I mentioned here.

I've been blogging lots this month (did you notice?) so I'm sure most you will have noticed the lovely advertisers adding some colour to my sidebar. Let's delve in a bit closer and get to know them.

Image we heart it

Kittenish Behaviour

Kittenish Behaviour is my Ultimate Advertiser this month and oh me, oh my this site brims over with beauty. They sell the most beautiful dresses with more than air of vintage and retro inspiration to them. Creative Director (that sounds swish) Sian has her own blog as part of the site too where she shares her fashion favourites and chic activities. 

Beau Blushes

This is one of those blogs where you can really settle in for a good read and feel like you get to know the person on the other side of the screen, plus her header is really pretty - right up my visual street. Covering lots of aspects of life including beauty (some great swatches), life with illness and home decor.

Blushing Appraisal 

A blog written by a lovely 22 year old Canadian with a very fancy sounding job which involves looking foxy in a hard hat by the sounds of things. Featuring in depth and quite funny beauty reviews with a really easy to navigate layout and great pictures.

Chloe & Isabel

Are you a fan of sparkly, pretty things? Is that a yes? Then like me, you'll be a fan of Chloe & Isabel, which is an online jewellery store run by Tarin, based in Texas. She sells a stylish and girlie selection of  jewels including cocktail rings, earrings and great necklaces.

Angel's Corner

This little slice of the web seems custom made to suit the colours I enjoy - check out the prettiness! Featuring talk of beauty, life and even food art - happiness is never far away on this blog. Through this blog I have even been introduced to the aforementioned food art, seriously who knew such a thing existed but an owl made from Nutella and apricots? I'm enthralled. 

Day Dream in Blue

Day Dream in Blue is written by 18 year old Tom based in the big smoke of London. The clean design of this blog is also reflected in the posts Tom shares from his life. His clean, chic clothing wish lists make me think he is quite the dapper chap and his recent Ikea hauls make me swoon.

Charlotte's Web

Charlotte shares her life with us, talking through things she loves and things that are happening with her at the moment. I really enjoy her relationship posts, they're refreshingly honest without being depressing.

Adventures After Hours

This chap (yes another chap!) - Danny, seems to live an incredibly glamorous life, jetting off here and there and he shares his adventures along with a peek at his style. His positive outlook has me checking back for new posts on a regular basis.

Allsorts & Anecdotes 

Lynsey lives north o' the border in Scotland and runs this delicious lifestyle blog which includes everything from her thoughts on social media, beauty posts and updates on her travels. I think she is in Hong Kong right now, jealous or what?

Life is Worth the Fight

This compelling blog is written by Stacie who is currently awaiting a heart and lung transplant. Her outlook on life whilst facing something so scary is both humbling and incredibly, incredibly inspiring. Her story will have you in tears but reading her blog makes you realise life is good. I like the way Stacie sees things.

That's it for this month, I hope you've discovered someone new.

If you'd like to advertise with Sprinkle of Glitter you can find all of the information collected together here.

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

I'm off to see the wizard....

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

.....the wonderful wizard of Oz Orlando!

As you may know, tomorrow I am flying out to Orlando for a YouTube convention called Playlist Live. 

I. Am. Excited.

 (Worlds greatest screenshot there)

I thought about spending some time writing out a weeks worth of blog posts and scheduling them so that I could have something up everyday (since I have done so well for 7 weeks now!) but decided against it. The pressure was too much. I figured if I was going away for a week I'd rather spend the day with Darcy and Matt than tip tapping away on my laptop...as much as I love a good tip tap. 

Instead what I might do is upload a little bit whilst I'm out there. I plan on taking my canon so that I can have lots and lots of lovely photographic memories so maybe I'll upload a snap a day or something of that sort. I'm being super flippant because I don't want to work myself up about it. I find that when I make a blog promise I feel really compelled to carry it out, regardless of whether it actually suits my life or not.

Hopefully, I'll be around. If I'm not, just know that I'll be back and I'm probably too busy binging on IHOP to get my tiptapping on.

Have a lovely week wherever you are!

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Motivational Monday #7

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so.

 

I chose these words (from here) today because they really struck a cord with me.

Obviously, if we all had our way we would be squillionaires driving round in pink Ferrari's and flying off in our own jet to our palace made of shells and diamonds. This is a given. As it happens, the chances of these things happening (a palace made of shells??) are pretty slim.

Not having a shell castle though, is no reason to be a misery and I think that if you take as much delight in the little things as you do the huge great ones, you will feel all the better for it.

A great example of this is instagram. Instagram is a free app which encourages you to take little phone snapshots of anything you like and share them with the instacommunity. I find that I take pictures of things I would never normally deem worthy enough the attention of my canon but yet really love them. Things like a snail slithering up a wall or the mess Darcy makes with her toys or the shoes I wore that day all become merry little focuses of my attention and I find myself noticing more and more all the good things around me.

When you love all the little things, they really truly add up and you will find your spirits so lifted from doing so.

What small things will you do with great love today?

Previously...

Motivational Monday #1

Motivational Monday #2

Motivational Monday #3

Motivational Monday #4

  Motivational Monday #5  

Motivational Monday #6

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Blue Skies and Happy Days

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I've had a big sexy canon camera now for almost a year and over that time I have really grown in confidence with photography. I love taking snaps of every day life and have gone from taking only posed smiley pictures to capturing the little moments of life that show real emotion and evoke real memories.

Recently I have been looking through my files and deciding which pictures I'm going to have printed onto canvasses for my wall. I currently have one lonely canvass of a 7 month old Darcybird and I have decided that each month I will treat our wall to a couple more. Over time I want to have a collection of all the things and people we love. Like a scrapbook of our shared life on our walls.

(Here's me harping on about how I capture the moment and actually Zoe took this photograph for me. I like it because even though it doesn't show our faces, or even my head, you can see a lot of love and bonding in it. It was taken last summer on a really hot day at an amusement park/safari in the SouthWest. It was such a brilliant weekend and I hope I have so many more like it this year.)

(This is Matt and Darcy in Liverpool looking round one of the new museums. I love that neither of them are looking into the lens and that we have such a good shot of Darcy's profile. It changes so much as she grows. I also think Matt looks unbearably handsome in this. Can you believe I got to marry that man?!?)

(Another shot from Zoe- gad zukes I love that woman. She is literally the only person I know that if I said, 'Please will you photograph my child's Christening/a party/a day/a wedding etc', she would get it spot on and exactly to my taste. She has such great style. 

I love this image because it captures so much love. Love from me and the love of Darcy enjoying it. In a really OCD way, I also really like that our clothes match and the yellow of the little train we were on matches. It also brings back memories from a really happy day with Zoe, her brother and my sister.)

This month I will be ordering all three photographs. I use a site called Photobox which I have always had fantastic service from. When you sign up (for free, with your email address) you are given a credit for 40-50 free prints which I thought was good. I had a load of baby pictures printed so that I could give them out to extended family who hadn't seen her and weren't overly familiar with modern technology- Auntie Bridget, I'm looking at you. They also have an offer where if you recommend a friend to them and that friend signs up (and then they get the free prints) then you are given credits for a free photobook. I recommended quite a few of my personal facebook friends and now have 3 free photobooks and they have a load of prints! YAY! 

If you would like me to recommend you and help me get a photobook, leave your email address below and I will over the next day or so. TO BE VERY CLEAR- you do not have to do this AT ALL and I'm not being paid to ask or any of that business. I just like the little free photobooks you can make! Haha! I keep making little baby books for Darcy or books of the cat or of pretty pictures. So, this isn't a big hoo-har, just a thrifty woman asking if you wanna work together to make the most of an offer. Of course, you can just sign up off your own back and get your own prints. There, you know all the facts now! I don't want anyone to feel like they are being swizzed in any way. We're a community round here and communities stick together. 

Do you take the time to print your photography successes? Do you love internet freebies as much as me!?

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Draw My Life

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I upload videos to my main channel (click HERE to stalk it) every single Sunday. Sometimes I upload bonus videos throughout the week.

Last week, I uploaded a video that was really out of my comfort zone, both emotionally and technically. I really enjoy to challenge myself every now and again (my previous challenge had been THIS Baby Glitter Lookbook) and to see what I can achieve when I set my mind to it.

Draw My Life was not my original concept. It was created by another YouTuber who encouraged others to do the same and have a go. So I did. And I was amazed.

I have been overwhelmed by the support and kindness viewers have shown me. I have been inundated with text messages and phonecalls from 'real life' friends and have had lovely conversations with family who watched it too.

It's funny how you can sit on so much stuff and then one day, make a 6 minute summary and all of a sudden, people who had been dormant in your life care. It made me think that maybe, even on days when we feel nobody notices, there are more people than you think waiting to love you.

I hope that should any of my friends or family open up in similar way, I can show them the same warmth that they have shown me.

The world feels like a very friendly place this week. Long may it last.

Tell me the best thing that has happened to you this week and the comments will be a VERY happy place. 

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Travel Mini Joy

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I have mentioned it a few times on my YouTube Channel now so this may not be of news to some of you. This month I am flying out to Florida to attend a YouTube convention called PlayList Live and could not be more excited!

The trip will contain almost all of my most favourite things in life - Orlando, airports, youtube chat, good friends, yummy food, disney and shopping! The only things missing on that list are my family but I know they will be safe and happy at home- our inlaws are coming to stay for the week so Baby Glitter will be beside herself, she loves being spoilt by them!

Like any beauty obsessed gal, I took this as a great excuse to go to Boots and stock up on minis. Oops.

I probably didn't need all of those little tiny containers of joy but I was like a kid at a pic & mix stand so I hold my hands up- I'm an addict. 

I contemplated doing a little mini review of each product but I shall be making a video on my travel toiletries and makeup this weekend so hopefully you'll be able to hold on til then.

I'm flying out in about a week so I have time to nip to the shops if there is anything else you can think of that I should add to my stash. What would you take?

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Postcard Invitations

Aloha Sprinkerinos,

Woah there sailor (?!), when did I become a Mother of an almost two year old? Surely I was only pregnant three and a half seconds ago?

That aside, I'm having a little party afternoon for her and thought it might be nice to send official through the post since I'm oddly quaint that way. 

To save myself the bother of notelets and envelopes, I decided to go with their lazy cousin option- the postcard.

I used a website called photobox (they haven't asked me to write this post and I paid with my own pennies), uploaded an image that I liked (which I previously edited on picmonkey), selected how many I wanted and voila, £6.99 for 10 and 2 days later, my invites where on my doormat.

I'm sharing this with you because a) it excites me, b) it was super easy, fast and affordable and c) because I didn't know about it until I did a little research, so it may well come in handy for you. A little life tip to store away until you need it. 

So far the postcards have been a hit and I shall keep a couple back myself to save as mementos.

What do you think? New age postcards or old school notelets and enevelopes? I have a tonne of crafts planned for her birthday so do keep your eyes peeled for those soon!

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Motivational Monday #6

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Firstly, oh hello 700th post on this blog. 700!! Go me!

Secondly, here we are on another merry Monday with another dose of motivation. Are you enjoying these posts? They are fast becoming my favourite to write. 

I chose this quote today (again, from Pinterest) because I thought it was pretty apt for my 700th post and is something I agree whole heartedly.

When you think of success, what do you think of? Do you think of happiness, wealth, certain goals? How do you plan on getting to them? The majority of the time, the answer is going to lie in the field of 'hard work'.

The person I consider to be most successful in my life is my Dad. He was raised in a modest family with normal things. He went to a normal school and worked very hard. He trained as an accountant and decided that it wasn't for him, worked in sales and then decided to take the plunge and set up his own business. Twenty to thirty years on, he has been tres successful and as well as having the world's greatest Daughter (mwahaha) he also has all the lovely things he has worked for. There are times when I look at his lovely house or fabulous holidays with a tinge of envy and think, 'Why can't I have those things?'. And this answer is, "I can". The bit in between those two things though is called hard work.

My Dad didn't just wake up with a lovely home or fall into lovely experiences, he poured his time, his energies and his thoughts into his work. He didn't sit about watching TV wondering when success would come knocking, he physically made it happen. He didn't take an elevator, he sweated his way up the stairs and now he's up the top and can be proud of himself.

I feel a little bit like that for this blog. No, it isn't World Number One Blog of The Year, but to me, it's a success. It's what I want it to be. To make it what I want it to be, I've worked really bloomin' hard. I have spent hundred of hours on it, I think about it daily, I research ways to improve it and above all, I pour love and energy into it gladly. I don't resent the work, I relish in it because I know how amazing it feels to achieve the little goals you set yourself.

If you have something you want to do, do it. Enjoy knowing that you can and will achieve your goals if you work for them and enjoy the journey to getting there. When you look at it in the right way, it's immensely satisfying. There is nothing you cannot do if you work hard enough for it.

If there is something you want to achieve this week, start today and take the first step of your stairs.

Previously...

Motivational Monday #1

Motivational Monday #2

Motivational Monday #3 

Motivational Monday #4

Motivational Monday #5 

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Statement Necklaces

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

The statement necklace is back! For a good couple of years now I have shied away from necklaces. Partly because the fashion seemed to be quite long nacklaces that ended around the tummy area and being pregnant/a new mum made me not want to highligh this part of my body, and partly because Baby Glitter had a big tendancy to pull on them and throttle me somewhat.

Now though, shorted necklaces are in and Darcy is able to understand 'no', so it's happy days for bling and not such happy days for my purse!

I picked up all three of these necklaces from Accessorize and adore them all. I have plenty of outfits that they work well with and have found they are often the piece to tie everything together and give you that 'finished' look.

I'm so excited to start buying shorter neck jewels and look forward to seeing what everyone else opts for too. What about you?

Also, just for fun, I've been looking back at jewellery I've bought and featured over the years. I'm so glad I documented all of this ♥

Pretties I'm Loving - May 2010 

Accessorize Pretties - June 2010 

Accessorize Accessories - May 2010 

Can you tell that I worked in an office right next to an Accessorize shop?! Far too many lunchbreaks spent in there that summer!! 

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is  Kittenish Behaviour. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE.