OUTFIT: "Dibs on the Drummer"

I saw this jumper on Instagram and instantly had to buy it! A couple years ago I saw a vest in H&M which said I prefer the drummer but I didn't buy it and regretted it so this time I just had to snap it up. In case you hadn't guessed my husband is a drummer ... so you can see why I jumped at the chance to own this bad boy. It also helped that the jumper was on sale at Hollister for £10. 

I kept it really simple with this outfit letting the jumper speak for itself, so I paired it with ripped skinnies a black wool hat and this awesome Nikes. 

LIFESTYLE: New Purchases!

So last week me and the hubby took the week off to chill and get some bits done around the house. It can be really hard to get stuff done due to hubby working Saturdays so every now and then we take a few days or a week off together. 

During the past week not only did we do some home decor but we also went across to Cumbria to visit friends and then had friends visit us,  in between all of this I managed to mix in a bit of shopping. I got some really nice bargains!  

 These awesome piece were in the New Look SALE! The statement necklace was only £12 down from £30! I was a bit dubious about the sheer size of it but I've not had it off since, I love it, really adda a pop to an outfit. Also rather amusingly it jingles when I walk ... no sneaking up on anyone ha! 

I had to get the earrings as I love turquoise, not only is it my birth stone but its also a really nice statement colour and pairs nicely with silver which I wear quite often with my skin tone. Both sets of earring were reduced to under £5 each. 

HOUSE: Crockery obsession ....

So I may have a slight obsession with crockery ... If you look back at my previous post about adding a homey touch you will know that I like picking up unique pieces of crockery to add to my collection that I can mix and match when I feel like it. Here are my latest pieces ....

NEW: New Look sale purchases

The other day I popped into New Look and checked out their ongoing sale. I didn't go in with any specific intentions of buying something or even looking for anything in particular but as always that is exactly when you find loads of cute stuff you really want. 

I picked up quite a few different pieces to try on but (luckily) not all of them looks quite right on me so I ended up only picking up a couple of pieces. 

First up is this black collar check coat, its a really nice structured coat that I can dress up or down depending on where Im going. Its also nice and thick but doesn't look too bulky due to the cut. Hopefully this will be featuring in some up coming outfit posts once I start styling it up so stay tuned.

OUTFIT: Plaid love .....

This autumn/winter I have been suffering from a major case of plaid love. I have always been a big lover of plaid but somehow I found my wardrobe sadly lacking. 

It would appear that I have rectified this situation ... so far this autumn/winter I have acquired a new shirt, 2 new scarves, a blanket wrap and a pair of trousers all in plaid ... oops. 

Large mixed colour scarf from New Look 

Statement: the communication of an idea, position, mood, or the like through something other than words!

I tend to let my clothes me more of a conversation, they say how I am feeling that day what sort of mood I am in. But then I like to mix it up and let my accessories make a statement! Whether this is through a pop of colour or mixing a traditionally evening piece with a casual outfit I like to add that little something extra to the conversation.

Here are just a few of my favourite statement pieces:

Top left is from my sister, its from Wallis and I have the matching earrings which are really cute. Top right is from Hugo Sophie Boutique they have some amazing pieces and I love how bright and colourful this piece is. Bottom right is a collar from my sister in law a few years ago, I love the turquoise colour, its in a few of my pieces and its my birthstone. 

HAIR: Hair Envy!

I have a majorly love/hate relationship with my hair. One minute I love it the next I want to do something completely different as it wont do what I want.

I have been watching Witches of East End recently and I have major hair envy for Jenna Dewan. Not only is she stunning in general but her hair is awesome!



Recently my hair has been ridiculously fuzzy, limp and lifeless after I wash, even if I leave it to dry naturally. Some days it worked out and I have been a big fan of the fake undercut, pinning up one side and leaving the rest loose and natural. But my hair wont keep this volume without major hair spray which means it then needs washed again, which can dry it out.

HOUSE: New House = DIY = Just call me Kirsty ...

As you may have read in a few of my older posts me and the Hubby recently bought a new house and with that we have been able to start decorating and really making this little nest our own. This has lead to quite a bit of DIY and refurbishment, hence my title of just call me Kirsty.

This has been a frequent sight for us recently. 

Allsop that is. If you are not familiar with her she is sort of interior designer who does a few different shows on telly. Some of the bits are a bit too adventurous but she has some really handy tips for making your house into a real home by adding your own stamp. We have really embraced this idea by customising some of our existing furniture and and adding some new bit and pieces as we find them.

I have documented most of our progress on Instagram but I thought I would do a post (or two) about some of the bits so I can go into a bit more detail.

Here is our pretty girl taken from the garden. 

Treats from my mam ...

My mam went into M&S a couple of weeks ago to pick up some new PJs for her, turns out they had this offer on where if you spent so much you got a free box of cosmetic treats. When we went over to see her today she gave me some of the freebees that she didn't want. 

I have to hand it to M&S these are all full size and after checking them out on the website they were very generous, the items mam gave me retail at over £50 combined with the face cream alone £27. 

I'm really looking forward to trying the hair treatment as my hair is being very fuzzy at the minute and looks in quite bad condition. I will also be trying out some coconut oil in a later post to see if that can help restore my hair, I would love to be able to reduce the amount of washes I need a week but when we go to the gym and sweat I have to wash my hair afterwards. 

The mascara looks really nice to, I like the addition of argan oil as this should hopefully keep moisture in my lashes. As I am sure most of you will know sometimes your mascara can leave lashes quite dry and the best way to keep them healthy and looking full is to keep them conditioned like you would with your hair. 

I am thinking of trying out the nail colour later on tonight so keep an eye on my Instagram feed, ema_jane47 for the results.  Also keep an eye out for my reviews as I try these products, but for the minute I just want to say well done to M&S for actually giving away full size full price goodies. 

xXx

NEW INK!!!

Really I should have posted this weeks ago. When I was down south me and the Fiancé decided to go and get new tattoos. Fiancé's sister V had been to a local place near a few times so she said we could go there with her.

Turned out fiancé's cousins partner M also a new tattoo so his cousin O said he would drive us all. The place we went Camberly Tattoo is a walk in only shop so we went for it opening. Fiancé and me knew what we wanted M and V were a little less sure, in the end the 4 of us all came out with new ink hehe O didnt but then hes not a fan. Safe to say it was an odd family day out, but fun.

Originally I wanted the design I got on my ribs but the lad pointed out that with it being round and having straight lines if I moved at all it would look awful. So I swapped to having it on my ankle opposite my cat. I can still cover it up if anyone says anything with either dark tights or trousers.

Fiancé went in first as he wanted his arm piece all re-done, in the end it took an hour and a half but it looks awesome.

Before - looks a lot darker in this pic it was actually a bit patchy

NEW INK! you can see its a lot more complete and coloured in much better. 

Here is my new mandala inspired ink!

I love my new mandala inspired tattoo. Took the guy barely any time at all. The middle is interlocking S's for me and the fiancé. 

This was us post tattooing, Fiancé looks like he was mauled by an animal, V went to give blood I got  sprained ankle and M well I'll let you decide on that one. 

So I finally got my new ink and I am thrilled. The only bad part was that we bought bepanthen cream to help with healing and it would seem that I am allergic because my ankle swelled up and hurt like hell. I had to keep cooling it down with cold water, in the end I washed all the cream off and just used a unscented lotion till I got home and could use some lavender oil. It was quite red for ages and took ages to heal which was a bit worrying as all my other ones healed much faster  but now its all fine.

When I looked it up it turns out allergies to bepanthen are quite common after tattoos so I would advise any reader to stick to either savlon or good old lavender oil.

I still want more tattoos but will have to save up big time for my back piece and any others ... well I think I am running out of coverable places to have them so they woul involve a bit of logistics.

xXx

Outfit of the Week!!

So I have been trying out a few new things this week as you will see in my post about SKIRTS!! but I have also had some non skirt outfits so I wanted to share a few of them here and crown my Outfit of the Week.

Inspiration from the Matalan collection. Blazer Next, shirt is H&M and skirt is Primark. 

Superdry t shirt, Topshop pencil skirt, Primark cardigan. 

It got a bit cold later on so I swapped the skirt for some Cream Primark Chinos.

Casual work look, Sainsburys cardigan, Primark dress, M&S leggings. 

NEW!! bought this in Matalan £12! 

New Look cardigan, Primark skull scarf, NEW! Leopard print Matalan pencil skirt. 

Gave in to the cold, Tesco jumper, Next blazer, Primark scarf & Jeans then went for Chelsea boots. 

Bit of a mixed week I was trying to mix it up with my work wardrobe, I am bored of wearing really casual stuff and get bored of t shirts and jeans so I decided to dig out the pencil skirts. Did have to concede to jeans a few times though, the weather is getting colder. Soon its going to be time to dig out the wool tights and boots. I like layering in winter but it can be a bit of a hassle. 

I love the new skirts and the shirt, think I am going to wear the plain maroon skirt and denim shirt to a wedding fayre tomorrow, thought about wearing it today but it didn't look very nice out. I love the colour of the shirt, I was really glad it fit as the next size up was a slightly darker colour which I didn't want as my other shirt is that colour. 

My Outfit of the Week though has to be the Emerald pencil skirt and Superdry T shirt. I threw this together by chance and I'm really glad it worked, I may try mixing up a few of my band t shirts with pencil skirts. 

Till next week :) 

xXx

Recently I've been wearing/Outfit of the week

So with all the hectic'ness that  has been happening recently I have not kept on top of posting about my recent purchases or outfits for the week. Therefore this will be a round up of a few different weeks and a few new bits.

First up is a new chunky knit cardigan from Primark! hehe I love the primark knitwear I have load of there big cardys. All the ones I have are really good quality and as they are cheap I dont mind if they only last one winter, by the end I have generally worn them more then a pound a wear so they have paid for themselves. This one above its really nice its was only like £12 and is actually double knit, 2 layers of knit so its really warm. I love he loose cut and tapered edge to edge front seam. The loose fit is not too boxy so as to drown your figure and there isn't too much fabric so you can easily put a belt round if you want it closed.
I am loving the aztec print at the moment especially in really earthy colours, I have seen some really nice dresses and stuff with it on but they tend to be printed on top which I dont like. Anyway as you can see I have basically not had this off my back since I bought it hehe
First look is with my new Primark blue skinny jeans (£11) and a cowl neck New Look top I bought a few years ago. I also had on the necklace from below and my Primark aztec print snood. Decided to go for clashing prints with the cardy and scarf to see how it looks and personally I like it, they similar enough that they clash in a good way, not an omg what are you wearing way lol
Second look was for brunch and brothers birthday tea, I've worn this base outfit before and decided that the burgundy on the cardigan would go well with the pencil skirt.
The last look is a mix and match from my last outfit post, this time I paired the blue (New Look) cowl neck with my plain blue jeans and the cardigan.

First up on this next row is a top/dress I bought from Sainsburys of all places. I love the paisley print and the dark teal colour, also the length its just right for me to wear as a dress over leggings. Being tall I sometimes have issues with length on shorter dresses. For this look I paired the dress with grey tights and my brown New Look moccasins. I also threw on the cream cardigan from the next pic as it was a little chilly. 

The middle look was one I wore to Roker beach, sounds daft but I live in the North its windy on the coast. This is an wardrobe dress I bought a couple years ago from Primark I love the cute and the chunky lace detail on the neck line. I also have it in royal blue with cream lace which is equally cute. I love this GAP cream cardigan it was a christmas present from my sister, its go a lovely chunky lapel thats great for snuggling up in when cold. 

Last look was a work look, I have had the top for a few years, hehe another Primark special. Hey I was a student for like 5 years I went for cheap and cheerful clothing that could be thrown away when used up. I haven't really worn it that much, its quite a loose fit and has frillyish sleeves but I thought I would give it a go before resigning it to the charity bag. Turns out I just didn't have the right stuff to go with it.  For this look I nipped in the waist with a tan skinny belt, which tied in with my tan moccasins then put a light grey waterfall cardigan over the top. Thats another primark cardigan, I have it in black too as they are quite thin but still warm so great for autumn also the waterfall has a natural nip at the waist so they look good with a skinny waist. 

Last trilogy promise and then I am up to date. First up is a casual look from when it was a little warmer. This is a mix and match look, grey long vest, maroon lace tube top, sleeveless denim shirt and some knee length black leggings. 

Middle is something I threw together to go round to mums for Sunday lunch. I really love the fit of this Primark dress  and the cute little flower pattern. For this lunch I paired it with my new cream pumps just to break them in, they are supposed to be my comfy post heel shoes no use if they hurt.

The last look was for my 4 year anniversary with the fiancé eek very excited its our last one before the wedding. We decided to keep it low key so we could save up for the big day and went down to a local gastro pub for a bite to eat and kept prezzies to £4. This is my new grey Republic dress I got in the sale for £5 down south but as we were going out I paired it with some plain black Topshop court shoes and my new aztec New Look necklace. Also threw on a giant pink print pashmina round my shoulders in lieu of a coat. 

hehe selfie time, first one is simply make up and natural hair for the brothers birthday, second is simple make up but with my hair blow dried with a roll brush to shape the fringe. Also been trying something new with the headband, this one is a strip of cream chiffon with little pearls just tied round. I like that its simple but still breaks up my hair without being distracting. 

Here is the afore mentioned New Look necklace, I bought this the other week in the sale for £3!! Bargain!! I love it, its a real statement piece and as you see above with the grey dress can really add something to a simple outfit. The only downside is that as with other large necklaces if you get warm it can start to stick to your décolletage area which cab be irritating. But hey thats the price we girls pay for fashion, and the reason I dont wear chunky jewellery in summer. 

Last but not least here we are ready to go out for our anniversary meal, fiancé is wearing Ralph Lauren shirt from T K Maxx and Next blue jeans, then Next tan boat shoes. Doesn't he look adorable! he really likes this casual preppy look at the minute and so do I but the I'm a little biased. 

Sorry it was a long one but that is me all caught up on what I have been wearing and anything new I have bought recently. Due to our current budget I will be sticking to the sales and Primark until after the wedding hehe 

xXx

Ever growing nail varnish collection ....

As you will know from my previous posts, I am a big fan of nail varnish and a big fan of a bargain. This week I popped in to Durham with the fiancé and had a cheeky look in Superdrug I wasn't looking for anything in particular but ended up coming out with 2 lovely new nail varnishes. One of them I could have done with the other week for our friends wedding when I was frantically searching round Boots for a nice light pink colour and couldn't find a decent priced one.

The two colours I bought are Late Night Latte and City Blackout. I love the pink its really shimmery and you cant beat a good black in prep for autumn/winter.

These were £2.49 each or multi-buy 2 for £3 bargain for polish bottles this big.  

I currently have the Late Night Latte on. I used Avon illuminator base coat then two coats of the colour followed by a clear top coat. Going to see how long it lasts, supposed to be long lasting 10 days but we shall see how it fairs with my typing at work, which tends to rub the ends of my colour off and see if it chips from wear and tear. 

Here are the colours in person, sometimes I think website images can blow out the colour a little so you really need to see them for yourself before you buy them. 

You can see in this pic how much the pearl quality catches the light. Its a really light natural colour which I think will work with a lot of different colours. I think it will also work as a shimmer top coat over some of my other colours but I will try that at a later date. 

As this colour is so light but still shimmery I am thinking of wearing it to the wedding in a few weeks time. As that outfit is neutral and blush this colour should work really well. 

Hehe last pic is my toes, I currently have NYC Raindop blue on them, as I wanted a pop of colour. The weather isn't quite bad enough for socks all the time yet so I am making the most of having my toes out in sandals hehe plus I don't see the need to always match hands and feet, I will sometimes but other times I like having a contrast. 

What do we think? Do you have any new colours in your nail varnish collection? 

xXx