Interview with Pretty Little Charms UK

From my brother for Christmas I received a beautiful necklace that I have barely taken off.
It is this 'Mockingjay' necklace, inspired by the Hunger Games books (yep, I've mentioned them again.. Sorry...).

Anyway, I love unusual jewellery, especially pieces which you would not find easilly. I decided to check out the sellers Etsy store and she has so many other wonderful pieces of jewellery. What I love about them is that they are inspired by literature. You can wear your own precious piece of your favourite book anytime. Lovely :)

I got in contact with business owner Leigh and asked if she would be like to be a feature on my blog; since I love her stuff so much I thought I would show you too. She agreed and here it is, just a little insight into Pretty Little Charms UK:

Tell me a little bit about your business...

Pretty Little Charms UK began on Etsy in June 2011 but I've been making jewellery for years. The online shop happened by chance when my boyfriend was moved to Spain for work and I decided to quit my graduate job to go with him. I started listing items on Etsy and the response has been great - apparently there are lots of other people who like jewellery inspired by books too :)

What made you want to start jewellery making?

 was into every kind of 'craft' imaginable from a young age but eventually I discovered jewellery making and that's the one that really stuck - I liked creating and wearing unique pieces and for years have created jewellery inspired by my favourite literature.

 How much time do you dedicate to making your pieces or is it just a hobby?

I spend far too long making jewellery! It's a hobby and now my full-time job so I spend about 12 hours a day 7 days a week making jewellery, working on the Etsy shop and making trips to the post office.

You are inspired by books, what's your favourite book of all time?

My favourite book of all time is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I love all the Harry Potter books but that one is my favourite. My favourite recent book is The Hunger Games and I can't wait for the premier next month!

And on a random note, 5 things you couldnt live without?

1- My books (Particularly Harry Potter and Hunger Games!)

2- My boyfriend (who cooks for me when I'm too busy to move from my workroom) 

3- My jewellery making supplies (I don't know what I'd do all day without them)

4- My iMac (Despite how much I use it, and despite it being two years old it still works perfectly)

5- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (I just love them!)

I love her work, and if you do too, check out her Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettyLittleCharmsUK for more beautiful jewellery inspired by books!

H xx

My song of today is the John Butler Trio with 'Better Than'. Just because I love it and it makes me happy :)

Affordable and Easy Manicure!

When I'm relaxing I like to be really girly and sit and do my nails. Recently I've been experimenting with random nail art... I'm not that good at it yet but thought I would post my recent look... Floral nails.

Most people are talking about their winter/xmas nail looks, but there has been a severe lack of snow here, and its really sunny today so I thought I would experiment with a spring/summer nail design :)

Its a really easy look to do and I used very affordable nail polish. Here's what I used: 

Collection 2000 'Mint Mojo'

Collection 2000 'Ninja'

Collection 2000 'French White'

Star Gazer '104'

And I use a wool needle (you can also use a small brush)

 After applying a base coat, I covered the nail in 'Mint Mojo'.

 

I then used my pink colour and painted on little 'splodges' (for lack of a better word..... )

With my needle I applied the highlight to make the splodges look somewhat like flowers! I used the needle to carefully apply the white (can also use pale pink) around the outside of the pink carefully drawing into the middle to create the appearance of petals.

I then used my needle to apply the darker green ('ninja') to make little triangle like shapes for the leaves :)

EASY! :)

Can even do a little back and red design :)

Quite happy with how this turned out, so will be trying some other ideas! Need to try and perfect doing my other hand first maybe ..... :S

Got some nice Inglot products recently so will be doing a wee review on these soon :)

H xx

Song of today is 'Burn' by The Design, a little addicted to this song at the moment :)

The Hunger Games Official Trailer!!!

Cannot express how excited I am about this film, and the trailer is finally here!!!!!!!

Thanks to hypablevids on youtube, who uploaded it.. Literally so happy!

Happy days :D

It looks fantastic, the characters look incredible! Really wanted to see what the cornucopia looks like but I guess I will just have to wait until next year! Oh dear!!!

Get reading the book if you havent done so yet, trust me, its worth it.

My song of today is Which Way Now- Carefree ;)

H xx

The Hunger Games

For this post I wanted to briefly talk about my favourite set of books- The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. These are quite possibly the most amazing novels I have ever read....EVER.



<3

The first book in particular, I could not put down, not for a minute. It was the quickest I have ever read. My heart was pounding all the way through it- it makes you want to laugh and cry and panic the whole way through- the most intense read.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic North America- known as Panem. The country is split into 12 districts and the capital city, aptly named the 'Capito'l, constantly assert their authority over the districts in an attempt to prevent another rebel uprising. In particular, the Capitol is responsible for holding the horrible annual televised event known as the Hunger Games in which one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen at random from each district and forced to fight to the death in a massive arena for the whole of Panem to watch- there can only be one winnner.

The story follows Katniss, a 16 year old girl, and her life and experiences in Panem. It follows her in the Hunger Games and is just so gut renching all the way through!

The novels explore the effects of war, violence and poverty on an adolescent and Suzanne Collins does an incredible job of portraying the struggles and emotions that each character are experiencing- I would recommend this book to anyone!

They are also making a film of it, which I am beyond excited about!!!!!! Here's a wee teaser trailer that was released:

Will leave this post with my song of the day, which is the amazing Karnivool with 'Set fire to the hive'- an incredible song :)

H xx