The Best Of October

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

As promised last week in my rather late September Update, today we're looking at October and recapturing all those sweet little moments that made the month so special. 

With any luck, I'll start managing these on a more regular basis! 

All images are from my instagram account which you can check out HERE. 

From L-R. Top-Bottom.

Top Row

Recently my Grandma's Brother Geoff flew over from Australia to visit us. I'd never met him and it had been the first time in 20 years that he was reunited with his siblings. My Dad arranged a huge dinner for us all at a venue in the countryside and it was a lovely chance to just be amongst family. On top of that, because Matt was away, I was forced to drive a long route I've never taken before. I'm a really nervous driver so although I was really frightened to do it, I ended up super proud that I faced a fear and came out on top! Darcy wowed the Pentland crowds with her oh-so-sweet attire and enjoyed playing round the (not lit) fire place. Autumn Cuteness overload. 

Second Row

Gma rocking a selfie. I'm so proud of the women in my family and even prouder to be one of them. They're a good bunch!

Whilst Darcy sat playing on my lap one day I noticed how very, very grown up she is becoming. She likes to accessorise every outfit and just seeing a necklace clasp under her tiny fluffy baby hair made me emotional. 

A #tbt (Throw Back Thursday) snap of me, Dan and Phil. I do love those boys. 

Jack came to play. I say, 'play' but what I mean is set himself up on my sofa with every cushion available and work. Fun times. 

This was my, 'I'm so excited' face. I forget what I was excited for. Either a new video ooorrr a twitter takeover I did for Shout Magazine with Zoe. 

Third Row

Little bit of train time with Jackrobat. Lovely, lovely. 

Whilst on a newspaper photoshoot, I managed to squeeze in a bit o' Laspar time. I've seen a couple of people ask if 'Laspar' is real (as in are we dating and 'shipped' our names together). Just to clarify, nooooo, we're not! It just kind of a running joke we have with our YouTube viewers haha. 

Whilst in a meeting the next day, I opened my notepad to find these beauties from the Zoella Beauty launch party and smiled. It was nice to see such friendly faces beaming up at me. 

Bottom Row

Next morning I took a walk round Borough Market with some of my really old friends from Liverpool. We mooched about, ate tapas and chatted for hours. It was like food for the soul.

A cheeky little picture of me and Alfie snuck in there too. Isn't he a love?

Whilst with the old but gold friends, we headed up to the top of the Shard to take in the view and enjoy some sight-seeing. If you ever have the chance, you should definitely go, it's quite spectacular. 

Back home in the local petrol station (the glamour) I saw this display of heavenly goodness. Hello Nutella & Go, let's be best friends. 

From L-R. Top-Bottom.

Top Row

On to some more homey times now. Watch Darcy play is one of the most peaceful things to do in my life. I love seeing her little mind work and making up new stories. It's just the cutest. 

To celebrate Halloween, we bought and decorated 'spooky' cookies. We love doing little activities like this. Just perfect bursts of Mummy-Baby time. 

Practising her Halloween poses in the mirror. Look at that hip action!

My little fluff baby being so adorable I might pass out. 

Second Row

And then I let her have some say in what she wore and she came up with this. I'm OK with it. Creative free will and all haha. 

Another #tbt for #Laspar. Oh dear. 

It's so rare that she falls asleep in my arms and gets this cosy so when she does I cherish it tight. I could love on this little girl forever. 

Third Row

Oops.

For my main channel I made Spooky Toddler DIY's video and the night before sat up practising all the projects. This little guy became a firm friend. 

Red and Black lips for a bonus video. Oh la la. 

At a photoshoot for the AmityFest tour we did. It was SUCH an early start (I was in the car at 5am) that Pillie simply had to come with me. 

Caspar looking lovely. 

Bottom Row

Me (hopefully) looking lovely!

Lunch with the one and only, Tanya Burr. Jim came too but he was the photographer haha. 

Thank goodness for the wonderfully talented hair and makeup lady who transformed my very early morning face. 

And then before I knew it I was home with my baby and Jack too! If you hope over to his insta, you can see the journey home. I was soooo delirious with tiredness and excitement that I made myself cry laugh and he very kindly documented it. Tada! 

From L-R. Top-Bottom.

Top Row

I wore a hat. Jack didn't care. I think deep down he did but yanno, he's playing it cool. 

Reading through all your gorgeous letters from my PO Box. You lovelies melt my heart. 

An avocardo. Just chillin'. 

Darcy (who dressed herself again) hanging out by the magazines. 'Baby Glitter is in the press' was my pithy caption. Ha ha ha I make myself laugh with those. Lol. 

Second Row

Screenshot from our Halloween DIY video!

London looking oh so beautiful at night time. 

OK, this blog post has told me I've seen Caspar way too much this month. I blame AmityFest. 

Whilst we rehearsed for AmityFest, we would go to lunch at the cutest, most hipster cafe I've ever stepped foot in. Seriously, there were little chilli plants instead of flowers. 

Third Row

Screenshot from my lipstick tutorial video.....but the bit where Zula distracted me. 

Artwork on buildings like this is why I love Shoreditch and it's surroundings so very much. 

Baby Girl taking in the Autumn. 

And 'throwing the ducks some bread'. AKA. Violently throwing crumbs on the floor and then being annoyed when the ducks waddled out of the lake and came too close to her wellies. 

Bottom Row

Random cat. I can't help but document them when I see them. 

Bit o' Jack time. 

A late night craft project (why oh why do I do those to myself?!)

Hazel and I ready for the spookiest party in town. You can't fully see but Hazel sprayed her hair violet and it looked amazing. 

From L-R. Top-Bottom.

Top Row

A snap of a snap from the #AsDarknessFalls Halloween Party. I vlogged it HERE. 

The prettiest doorway in London that I spotted from a taxi window. You can't really see in this picture but the ceiling was powder blue with hand painted gold stars all in it. It really was beautiful. 

Shameless selfie 1. 

Dinner with Jack and Dean. They had the greatest little time, despite what this picture tells you. 

Second Row

Shameless selfie 2. (This was actually to go to a meeting and I quickly realised that glossy red lips, long wavy hair and high winds - not a good mix).

A snap with my Chummy at the launch with Tanya Burr's lashes. I do miss that lady. 

Cuddles with a boy baby that I did not birth. YouTube search 'Hannah Maggs' for all that cuteness!

Oh hai lipsticks of absolute beauty! Check out THIS post for more on them.

Third Row

A very, very, very tired little baby. Oof my heart could burst for her. 

Preparing to hit the road for AmityFest- I stocked up for the tour bus. Yum. 

Saying goodbye to my little angel made me sad. When I go away I get so insanely homesick. I'm thinking about doing a video or blog post about that soon. What do you think?

Stage hair and makeup! I'm so into little plaits at the moment!

Bottom Row

Darcy on stage during rehearsals. She loved it so much that she actually came out for a little bit in the show which was adorable. She's becoming quite the show girl!! <3 p="">

Group photo with some of our guests and then two of the actual show- the whole thing was such a blast. Vlog coming very very soon! 

-----------

And there we have it. My entire month in 48 pictures! What did you do in October that you loved?

Toodlepip!

xx

September late-date!

Aloha Sprinklerinos!

Happy November! Where oh where does time go? It seems that 2014 is wizzing by faster than I can keep track. 

With that in mind, I have looked over all my recent insta snaps and wanted to have a little catch up. Half for your (hopeful) enjoyment but also for mine, so that when I read back over this digital scrapbook of mine, I will remember all these tiny moments and cherish them. 

So, today let's remember September and next week we'll do October. Also, for once, it's in chronological order. Yay!

From R-L. Top - Bottom.

Row One

This was a #tbt (Throw Back Thursday) where I was wishing to be back with Marie and her wonderful family in Seattle. Currently we are planning a trip so there's light at the end of that exciting tunnel!

Having kittens in the house makes for mischievous little moments like this. I'm so glad to have my phone to capture moments like walking into the bathroom to find them in the tub. 

September to me is the unofficial start of Autumn, so of course, the candles were lit and cosiness re-instated!

I love giving people little keepsakes and after I found these Juicy Lucy cards, I just had to write a few for the girls in the office. 

Row Two

Since I'm in London so much, I often stay over night so that I can do two full days of meetings and projects and then be properly at home again. This was one of those night and the lovely Hazel and Ollie came to keep me company. Things got pretty wild (lol) and ended up with room service milk and cookies and laptop times. 

Next day in between meetings I had a cheeky Zizzi's with Jack. This is the moment after I whinged that my pizza was too difficult to cut and he conceeded to do it for me, mwahahaha- look how happy about it he was! ;)

That afternoon I skipped off to Claridges to intervew Kim Kardashian (as you do). Vlog of the event coming really soon!

And then before I knew it, I was home again, makeup off and have cuddles with my baby. Bliss. 

Row Three

Oop, that time I decided to insert 4 random seconds of stop-motion footage into a video, just because I'd worked out how to do it and was excited. Yeah buddy. 

Starbucks stop with my baby girl. If you don't like tea or coffee (like me), give a chocolate cream frapperchino with a shot of peppermint a go. You won't regret it. 

My beautiful friend from university married her sweetheart and Darcy delighted in the ice cream. Seriously, why does icecream make kids so completely happy?!? 

The superhero themed wedding cake- potentially the best cake I've ever seen. 

Row Four

As part of a project for Comic Relief Hazel was asked to shoot some footage at the Warner Brother Studios. I was invited along as her trustee side-kick and we had a night of duelling, touring and general giddiness. Cheeky lil smooch from Dumbledore too eh? Heh heh. 

Those crazy kids over at Boomf very kindly sent me a set of customised marshmallows. Sweets with my own face on? Yes please. 

From R-L. Top - Bottom.

Row One

Exciting goodies in my PO Box. 

The joy of finding spare Real Techniques brushes at Gleam HQ. Oh me oh my I was happy!

Jack and I played tourists for the day and someone got giddy at the Natural History Museum (hint, it was me). If you check out my Sprinkle of Chatter channel, there's a vlog of it, yay!

Cuddles with Zula. 

Row Two

Cuddles with Rocket.

I recently bought sparkle pumps from Accessorize and I'm still happy about this choice. 

Playing YouTube in a giant cardboard cutout at a google talk I did with Vivvy and Anna. It was nice to be so grown up for the day- even if I did wear the sparkle pumps. 

Oh how the mighty fell- wisdom tooth removal. I was not brave about it. Not one bit.

Row Three

Another #tbt to Malibu Beach with the gang. That was SUCH a lovely day. One of those where you look around and realise how very blessed you are. 

The day I discovered our local supermarket does these little scone, cream and jam packs was a reaaalllyyy good one!

Darcy welcomes Autumn at the playground. 

I welcome Autumn with a bubble bath. Mmmhmmm. 

Row Four

With my amazing Manager Dom Smales who is one of the most supportive men in my life. Big loves for him. 

More cuddles with Rocket. I could just cuddle him forever. 

Both my furry babies. When Zula rolls on his back like that, I feel I might die. Look. At. Himmmmm. 

That time I wanted to demonstrate how tired I was on the train but actually just posed with my eyes shut for a selfie and looked gaga to all the other passengers. Good then. 

From R-L. Top - Bottom.

Row One

En route to film a collab with Miranda Sings and bumping into lots of her very lovely fans!

Pizza's healthy if you have a heap of salad, right? 

If there's one thing I love more than loving on my cats, it's watching other people love on them.

Playtime with fluff puffs. Who knew they could be so much fun??

Row Two

More Autumn leaves. Darcy spent so, so long picking up loads to make herself a 'fan'. She was very proud. I was too really. 

My lounge is most definitely my favourite cosy space in the world. You can't not be happy in there.

PJ's and Christmas films, even if it was only September. 

Contemplative playtime. 

Row Three

I was asked by my friend Clare to give a talk at her school (which incidentally is my old school) about modern language on social media. They gave me flowers at the end. A good day!

Hair time!

A little bit of chummy lovin' at Zoe's launch for Zoella Beauty. 

Row Four

And then all smiles with Hazel in the photo booth. 

I attended and talked at a Creativity Conference in London with Jack, Finn and Jamal. This was the first public speaking event I have ever felt really uncomfortable at and felt very out of my depth- eep!

Again, rubbing a cat round my face. Standard. 

A hearty wooden lunch, served by Darcy. Lucky Mama!

--------------

Gracious me that was a lorra lorra catching up! I'm really glad I took the time to look back over all of those- it's made me realise how lucky I am to be so busy and have so many exciting projects, even if at the time they feel overwhelming or scary!

If you'd like to follow me on instagram, I am @Sprinkleofglitr. 

Do you ever make time to take stock? In what ways do you reflect?

Toodlepip!

xx

Snapshots of Summer

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Where is time going? I can't keep up.

Summer is GlitterWorld is big this year. I'm flitting between, 'this is the best' and 'oh my goodness, I can't cope, I need downtime'. Knowing me as I do, I think this means I'm approaching a bit of a burn out and decided to take a bit of time away from screens. I know from this blog it may look as though I do very little (I'm soweee) but I promise, there is a lot going on behind the scenes. I have a terrible habit of ignoring my instincts and pushing through even when I know a rest is needed.

I thought I'd pinch a few minutes this morning to tell you all the things that have been going on round here and just type it all out. I've said it far too many times but this blog is a little like therapy for me sometimes.

As always, none of these pictures are in chronological order, they're in what-looks-best order heh heh.

From L-R, top-bottom.

Ever had afternoon tea on the top of a double decker bus in London? Zoe and I have. As part of our Ambassadorship with Shout Magazine we had the opportunity to eat tea and cakes with a lovely reader (and soon to be official writer), Alice. Alice was such a gem and the cakes were great. I just had a looksie online and HERE is the website for the cake bus if you're interested. I'd say that if you get travel sick, this might not be for you though. Just a little heads up there.

Darcy is obsessed with Sophia The First at the moment. It's quite a sweet little Disney cartoon so I'm OK with watching it and indulging her. She was recently given some stickers and decided to 'do her makeup' with them. Ha.

A few weeks ago I stayed over at Hazel's apartment for a swish night out in the big smoke. We had a fancy restaurant booked and has selected our best dresses. What we hadn't accounted for though was the searing heatwave that swept the country and her very glassy apartment with no air con did not do us any favours. How we didn't go out looking like sweaty messes I do not know. An amazing night was had, with too many stories to grace these web pages. Ooerr missus.

While we waited for Matt to have a medical appointment I let Darcy sit in the front seat and 'drive' the car. She thought it was a hoot but all wheel fun was over when she discovered the little mirror. It's so fun to see the world through little eyes and experience those discoveries with them.

My sister Tiyana turns 18 this month and had her party last weekend. Because of the big age gap I have always felt somewhat motherly towards her so it was a special moment to watch her dancing with her friends and being a grown up. Deep down she'll always be a little girl to me but I'm proud to watch her flourish so much. I know I'll sound old now but really, it feels like just yesterday she was born and I kindly said, 'urgh, it looks like a walnut'. Sisterly love.

A three day shoot for a new online show (very excited to tell you more about this soon) turned out to be crazy, crazy good! I was pretty apprehensive about the logistics of things (I worry about staying new places, thought it would be boiling hot and didn't know the crew) but it was the most fun I've had in ages. I'm impatiently waiting to see the edit of it all and share with you!

Summer, ice-creams, babies, flowers. What more excuse do you need for an instagram??

This blurry little shot is a personal highlight. For the last two big conventions (Vidcon and SITC) I have decided not to do the traditional meet and greets but instead do an hour 'show'. It's more of an interactive Q&A with lots of funnies and it's a great chance for me to get to know my audience more and for them to ask anything they've always wanted to know.

After all my trips away, meetings and days out, picking up a kitten and giving it a loving squish is the best. They are such a friendly pair and always purr when you hold them. Urgh love love love.

Cat bellies. Is there anything greater?

Another good animal but clearly no contest for Rocket or Zula. This is Percy, Zoe's guinea pig. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the little things but this one was alright haha.

And then the greatest little thing of all time, Baby Glitter. This was taken at Tiyana's 18th and if you look closely you can see the last little scabs (horrid word there) of chicken pox. Don't worry- she's not infectious anymore!! Poor little bug coped very well, not too itchy and stayed in good spirits the whole time- I think we got off pretty lightly there haha!

Some much needed girl-time on Brighton beach with Hazel and Zoe. With everything going on at the moment it's been easy to loose sight of what's important. I definitely know these girls are. 

The next day we shopped til we dropped (almost literally) in the Lanes and picked up bags and bags of trinkets and goodies. I'm considering doing a haul very soon. There's nothing more satisfying than finding little treasures for your home. 

Remember the 3 day shoot I mentioned above? Baby Glitter joined me on day three as she had her own special role but after a couple of hours she decided enough was enough and took a nap. She's a woman after my own heart! 

On the tea-on-a-bus day with Zoe. I don't take nearly enough selfies with this gal. 

With Autumn on the horizon I'm already finding my diary fully booked and my brain full of ideas for videos, blog posts and projects. I really am sorry this slice of the net has been neglected, I'm going to try my hardest to rectify that. Now that the nights are drawing in and it's time for blankets and fairy lights, it's the perfect time to tiptaptip away on my laptop and whip up some lovely posts for you.

If you'd like to follow more glitter adventures, I am posting a lot of videos on my main (Sprinkle of Glitter) and second (Sprinkle of Chatter) youtube channel right now. Have a looksie! 

Toodlepip!

To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE (This line is refusing to centre. Good job blogger, good job).

A Return and A Recap

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

In true blogging form, I'll start with an apology. I'm sorry for being away from this space of the internet for a while. I'm not sad or stressed or hiding, I've just been incredibly busy. That kind of crazy busy where you don't know where your toothbrush is because you are forever living out of different bags and you're not entirely sure what day is which. I like it but it does mean that a few of the things I enjoy pouring time into (like this blog) get pushed down the pecking order.

As always, I've been using instagram to document my adventures so this seemed like a good way to recap, ready for a return. I'm not promising daily posts again, not just yet, but I am throwing the idea of more posts out on the table. I'm excited to edge my way back in.

So, without further ado, here is what life has looked like lately in GlitterWorld. Each collage is in chronological order but the photos within are not. I went with what looked purdy to my les yeux.

A trip to Brighton. Matt, Darcy and I took to the roads to visit Zoe, Pippin and Percy. It was really nice to not do too much and just flop about on sofas, in cafes and by pebble beaches. Marcus and Niomi popped by for chats and nibbles the night we arrived (wish I'd known- wouldn't have travelled down in My Little Pony PJ's and no bra!!) and Zalfie (mm-hmmm I'm a shipper) generously surprised Darcy with a motorised mini toy car which she ADORES. 

I'm really looking forward to going back sans Matt and baby so that I can have some full on Louise & Zoe time. I miss that girl too much. 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Premiere. Oh me oh my premieres make me giddy. Swishy dresses, best friends, red carpets, popcorn, gargh, they are my most favourite thing. 

Despite living with a huge spidey-geek, I actually didn't know a whole lot about the stories but lucky me (maybe) Jack came to stay for a few days and basically gave me the cliff notes so that I wasn't completely confused in the cinema. I felt VERY smug knowing alllllll the things by the time it was over. 

It was so fun having all my favourite men there that evening (except obv Matt who was in Berlin for the week) and Hazel who was my ever-beautiful plus one. 

Also, I'm obsessed with yellow at the moment. This dress was from River Island and the blazer was from ASOS. More premieres please!

An Assortment of Life. Our little girl turned 3 and so we we celebrated with her first ever trip to the cinema (Frozen) and a family birthday party. It was perfection. 

I experimented with Elsa-inspired hair, found a crazy cool pink hair edit online (good job creative Sprinklerinos), dipped into my jar of happies, braved a crop top, styled Matt and generally felt happy. 

Family Trip to Seattle. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know who Marie is. If not, here's a quick rundown- In 2011 she commented on one of my videos and I clicked on her profile to see what she was all about. I watched some of her stuff, fell a bit in love and emailed her. Emails turned to facebook chat, facebook chat to skype type and before we knew it were were video skyping every day, sending packages and presents across the ocean and knowing every detail of each other's lives. Amazing.

This Spring we finally met. It was incredible. A main channel video and a vlog series will be coming soon but until then, here's a ton of photos of the week. It was heavenly and I'm booked to go back this August! 

YouTubers Take Over Milan. ItaTube was held this April in, surprise surprise, Italy and was an opportunity for creators to meet viewers, people to watch panels and stage shows, meet and greets and mingles. Also there was pizza, lots of pizza. 

Spending time with all my YouTube friends makes me VERY happy. I feel like some of them are actually closer than my family and I'm proud to call them my friends. I also really loved getting to spend time with YouTubers I don't see as often like Hannah, Troye, Tyler, Connor, Anna and Lily. Vlogs are on their way!

This Weekend. Last but by no means least, this weekend. Wowzas it was packed! I've vlogged it all so I won't tell you too much but there was family time, secret Grace project time, collab time, stage (!!) time and adventures on a theatre roof time. Mmm-hmm that's a lot. It was a whirlwind of three days with highs upon highs and subsequently the following weekdays were quite the bump down to reality!

After reflecting about the (amazing) madness of my YouTube life these days, I made THIS video about YouTube Culture. I have been completely impressed by the response not only in the comments but by the messages on Tumblr, the tweets and the emails. Good job supportive internet people, you're ace. 

And now here we are, caught up and hopefully refreshed. I'm writing this up on a train to London (another big weekend for me) and eating peanut M&M's. 

I'd love a little recap of what you've been up to in the comments or some suggestions of what you would like to see on this blog in the next few weeks.

All the loves and sparkles,

Toodlepip!

xx

Contributor - Louise

To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE. 

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Lately in Glitterland #1

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Something I do a lorra lot is instagram. I've been obsessed from the get-go.  There is something so pleasing to me about taking snapshots of everyday life and sharing them with other people who are excited for the small things.

I don't know why I haven't done it before but every now and then I'd like to whip up a jazzy collage and share them with you. Would that suit? I like to document.

Memorable moments from the last few weeks have been ::

Dying my hair pink.

Teaching Darcy to 'Grace-Face' (google it).

Reunion drinks with my uni girlfriends.

Having a Tyler and Zoe slumber party.

Being brave with DIY.

Splurging in IKEA (man that felt good).

Filming my lookbook (link!).

Aside from the heatwave that slows me down to the pace of a dry snail, things have been good. If you would like to follow me on instagram, search 'Sprinkleofglitr' 

What has been your most memorable moment this June/July?

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Toodlepip!

xx

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

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Instagram Effects

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

As a lot of you with smart phones may know, there is a photo sharing social network app called Instagram which, in my humble opinion, is AMAZING.

My username on it is @Sprinkleofglitr (like my twitter) and I go on it, scroll through, 'like' things, comment on other images and upload my on photos multiple times a day. I think it's fair to say, I have an addiction.

At least once a day, I am asked what effects I use to make my pictures look the way they do and so I thought that this might help a lot of people who enquire (although I will continue answering on Instagram too for those that don't read this blog).

For images like the three above, I have simply used the filters that Instagram offers. I find these to be full and varied and enjoy the different warmths of colour you can create. You can really make images feel cosy. I tend to stick to 'Rise' (brightens the image with a buttery tone), 'X-pro II' (darkens round the edges and increases shadow depth) and 'Walden' (adds a cool tone). Once you have the app, you can play around and see which filters you find appealing and you'll develop your own insta-style. Oohhh, see what I did there? Haha.

After a while, you might want to spread your wings a bit from the Instagram-provided filters and stretch your wings a bit to something more fanciful.

You can create these filters and light effects by downloading an app called Picfx from the app store. I believe it is about £1.49 (app prices often vary over time) but I think it was money well spent. This app is simple pimple to use, has a huge array of filters and plenty of light effects to choose from. It also automatically crops your picture to instagram size so you can rest assured that whilst you are creating your masterpiece you won't loose any of it when you upload it. Instagram images are always square. 

I absolutely adore the sense of magic and whimsy you can add to your snaps with these effects. Even if you aren't on Instagram, you could buy this app and play with your existing pictures just for your own amusement. It certainly makes you feel like a little photographer!

 

 

And then there are all the other little tricks you can do on your phone to make interesting or fun instragram pictures. I'm sure there are a million and one different things you can do, but above I have features some of mine. 

The top picture is a collage I made on Nostalgio (this app was free when I downloaded it but I believe you have to pay for it now) and Picfx. I took a picture of myself (vain!), played with filters and saved 4 images that I liked the colours of, put the chosen 4 into Nostalgio in the collage format I liked (a simple quad) and tada! Uploaded to Instagram. I thought it looked a little pop-arty and I felt so artistic!

The second picture is a really simple way to share blog images (I use picmonkey.com to hlp with those) and all I did was hopped onto the internet on my phone and took a screenshot of my blog. By doing this you are sharing a sneak peak of your new blog post with your instagram audience and can let them know there is something new to read if they fancy it. It's a double bonus because you are playing on Instragram (which suits my addiction) and promoting yourself too! Yay!

The last image is a new app I have found and is a whole heap of fun! This is 'Tiny Planet' and it allows you to take any picture and turn it into a (as the name would suggest) tiny planet! It's not something I use on a lot of my photos as I tend to take a lot of close up pictures but I think it's really fun for far away shots and makes for interesting results!

As well as the artistic license that Instagram affords you, I really love that you can link up all your updates to other social networking platforms (facebook and twitter to name but two) as this allows you to share the joy a bit and also means you have more places to nose at other people's creations.

In summary, I'm an instragramaholic and like any good 'aholic'!

Are you on Instagram? Would you be interested in playing a little Instagram-Blog game with me? Feel free to leave your Instagram name below too.

Toodlepip!

xx

Little Bits of Life

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I have a abundance of reviews and big posts lined up, but it's Friday and I have just come home from the most enthusiastic Rhyme Time session with Baby Glitter and am pooped! I wish I could have filmed the baby class we just went to, it was insane. I have never seen an old lady dance about to nursery rhymes with such vigor in all my life. Brilliant! Edit :: It's not 11.30 but life got in the way of finishing this blog post! Haha Mummyhood!

I thought I would share a few of my favourite recent instagram photos with you today as I know not everyone has a smart phone/has the app. If you have to opportunity to get it and decide you do want to follow me, I'm 'Sprinkleofglitr' on there, like my twitter name. 

I am a big lover of A Beautiful Mess blog and after spotting their nutella cookie reciepe, I decided to give them a whirl.

 As you can see, they didn't quite work. Unless of course you like lumpy-rock-nutella-sandwiches?

I lusted after more Stila cream blushes are falling head over heals for my current one. Review to come soon- yay!

Had a tidy and re-jig of my dresser. It was starting to get very cluttered and I feel so much lighter for the sort out. I might actually take some swish photos on this and make a whole blog post if you like?

 

Filmed a couple of videos for my YouTube channel on my incredibly high-tech tripod. All the mod-cons at my house eh!

 

Helped my little Sister get ready for her school prom. It was a proud moment. I have often felt more maternal towards her (what with the big age gap and the less than ideal childhood) so it was with a little tear in my eye that I did her makeup and saw what a beautiful woman she is becoming. To me she'll always be the energetic 3 year old that once rushed in breathlessly from the garden to tell me there was a sheep on the lawn. There wasn't. It was a white cat. Le sighe.

More trips to the post office with your Louella brush orders. I'm getting quite friendly with the staff there now!

And something I'd like to be in right now, a lush bath. Mmmmmmm it smelt so fizzy, warmy goooooood.

What have been your highlights of recent times? Pick one and tell me the best!

Toodlepip!

xx

 

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Confessions of a Secret Shopper. If you would like to know more about advertising on Sprinkle of Glitter, check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top! 

Baby Glitter's Birthday Bits

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I promise I won't bang on and on about Baby Glitter turning one forever, and beauty reviews will follow soon, but today was her Birthday Tea Party and I snipsnapped away and thought I'd share. My Dad was the official photographer, so perhaps when I see those I will show you too, but for now, here we go!

Wowee that was a lot of photos, hope I made it worth it by sneaking a cheeky Matt shot in there. Shhh, don't tell him, hehe!

I'm having next weekend off (Matt and Baby Glitter and going to visit family for 3 days) and going to my chum's house warming party. I'm half considering making her some heart shaped sandwiches and flying saucers in polkadot cups too! Surely there's no age limit on shaped sandwiches? Hehe.

What special things do you do for birthdays? If you'd like to follow my snipsnaphappy pictures of life on twitter, click HERE.

Toodlepip!

xx