Etsy Love: Craft Supplies

For the past few months I have been collecting bits and pieces to package my photography. In a world where everyone can do something creative and stiff competition, I wanted to try and stand out from the crowd. So what better way than to leave a mark than with beautiful packaging.

If you don't know, Etsy is an E-Commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. So I thought I'd share my goodies with you and link you to a few amazing shops that I have found along the way.

I got most of my tape from the wonderful Pretty Tape, quite possibly stocking some of the most amazingly patterned tape ever. Pretty tape also does stationary and crafty bits like string, brown paper bags and wonderful stamps like mine that you can see above. As I am re-branding to 'From Gem With Love | Photography' this was such a great find for me.

HeartHandmadeUk is where I got the mini pegs and doiley tags from, selling mainly pretty fabric it has some lovely things. I am really happy with these, I think they are so adorable and I can use them to attach pictures to things and seal bags etc.

I've just ordered some coloured masking tape from Mashimacrafts, an eclectic shop selling tape, twine and mini clay crafts. The lovely girl sometimes sends you a secret gift too, which is always lovely.

I've just ordered these awesome stickers from Kawaii Goodies, who also has a facebook page. Selling scrapbook supplies, stickers and tape. Really excited to get them and start experimenting with some ideas.

All of the shops I have received things from have quick and great postage, which is lovely considering most of these shops are abroad. I think the pricing is good and all the sellers seem great, friendly and trusting. Do you shop with Etsy? I really prefer supporting handmade shops like these, you can find such amazing things and handmade things make for such beautiful gifts I find. I'm really looking forward to using these with my photography.

Let me know if you too have found some great Etsy craft shops, I'm always on the lookout!

Love.xo

(All photos my own)

A little DIY

I woke up today on the first day of my week off, with one mission and that was to decorate our hallway. Some might rest and watch Jeremy Kyle, not me. I need to keep myself busy and motivated or I go back to work like a zombie, also I find being pro active with spare time makes you feel so much better.

I'm lying in bed staring at the lovely new paint job and I feel very accomplished. Our hall was that horrible magnolia colour that everyone paints to make it look 'decorated' when they can't be bothered to think outside a pint tin...boring and vile, I actually despise magnolia. Such a shame because the tree with the same name is simply beautiful.

I've shared these pictures on Instagram and Twitter so sorry if you're thinking give it a rest, thought I'd share them with you lovely readers who don't have either or wanted to see better before and after's...

Tada, a lick of light grey paint, some gloss and Dey's trusty toolbox later and we have a new hall. All we need now is the flooring, going for dark wood effect me thinks. Looks lovely all lit up at night time with my trusty Ikea heart lights. How are you with DIY, done any sprucing lately?

Love xo

Thought I'd give 'Gem this is your life' a re-vamp, because I can never take my professional camera everywhere and I mainly take pictures with my phone now. I've had such a lovely day today, went to Malvern for a lovely walk along the hills in the sunshine, then for a nice pub lunch. Really nice spending quality time with Dey.

Boots lunch trips/ Early starts/ Pancake Day/ Sunsets
Shopping/ Dim Sum/ Gardening/ Outfit notes
Eating out/ Shopping/ Dinner/ Being a fat cow
Lunch/ Hill top tea/ Malvern

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. <3

The really lovely people at Very gifted me with this dress from Love Label when I couldn't make their press day, which I thought was lovely of them. It is such a beautiful colour and the pleats are very on trend, but the main plus point is...it reaches my feet. Being 5'11 I am always sceptical about maxi dresses, because they are never quite maxi enough. I like them to skim the tops of my feet, not reach my ankles. I like the metallic belt, but I think I will change it to a chunky brown one, so it's great that it's not attached. I will either invest in some boob tape, or one of those strapless lace bras you can buy, as it can be a tad gappy around the bust when you sit down...not about showing your boobs off to random strangers now is it. It's very comfortable and I am sure that when it gets a bit warmer, I will be living in it. Today I teamed it with my Topshop leather jacket, but I'm looking forward to trying it with jumpers and T-Shirts too.

I'm loving bits from Fearne's range, I've always loved her style, very me. Now I also have this dress in a size 10 to give away...I know happy days.

I only have one and sorry I can only get a size 10, so if you would like to win this dress and swish like me, just leave me a comment below letting me know which label you love and your email so I can contact you. Very will send it out to you directly :)

-What label you love

- Your email

Lots of love.xo

First of all lolz at the title, Dey's idea, genius. Promise we'll stop with the dodgy accent titles soon...maybe. A few weeks ago I bought myself Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and was so blown away with the service that I got for spending a mere £13, I decided to say thank you to the customer service lady quoted on the form. I then got a thank you email from them...thanking me for my feedback and an offer of the two follow up products in the range.

Now I have been addicted and quite dedicated to Eve Lom for a long time now, years actually. As it solved all my kin woes and I will always use it and love it. But this skincare system is amazing, I noticed dramatically reduced pores and my skin has become hydrated and soft.

Having a tonic to take off all the excess dirt you might have missed makes your skin feel fresh and clean, although without the moisturiser, a tad tight. The moisturiser is light and sinks in quickly, smells lush too. I would really recommend the skincare, but also Liz Earle as a company. I genuinely haven't came across a nicer team, so genuine and they really care about their customers and what they think.

For £13 for a Cleanse and Polish starter kit, I would definitely recommend you try it out. I can most certainly see why it's won numerous awards. Amazing.

Awighhht

(That's be being a cockney...no?) Hello (better).

Thought I'd just give you an update on life really. As if it's nearly March, this year is going far too quickly, I only realised that on the 4th of March I will have been engaged for 6 months. Only feels like yesterday I was sharing my news with you and driving back from Scotland! Next week I have a week off from work and I plan to decorate, eat and blog my little heart out. Have lots of exciting things to share with you and some cool posts lined up.

What I will mention is the other day I was at the end of a rather viscous and cruel attack on Twitter, in fact I was compared to the kidnappers of Madeline McCann, which REALLY hurt me and shocked me. Why? Because I bought a bag from Ebay and apparently that is so wrong and I am putting all designers out of business. I feel we can do what we want with our lives and to be attacked like that was completely unjustified and it played on my mind for a while. Something so hurtful was hard to ignore to be honest. I was contacted the other day by onlinecounselingdegrees regarding my cyber bullying post and I just wanted to share their graphic with you.

Created by: OnlineCounselingDegrees.net

Like I have always said Cyber Bullying is one of the worst kinds as people can do it anonymously, if you have been at the end of some like me, maybe this graphic can help you. In other news I have a few shoots lined up and I am really excited for them. They are with children, so I have been collecting lots of inspiration and thinking of ideas to make the experience less forced and more enjoyable for the families. Also Cornwall is soon so I am looking forward to that, seafood and a pod..happy days.

I also got my new iPhone this week and I am in love with all the apps and stuff, I've joined Instagram like EVERYONE else and you can find me at FromGemWithLove. Right I'll see you in the week as I'm off to watch Gossip Girl, you can catch me on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest in the meantime.

Love.

Gem this is your life 42

First of all I am lacking sugar in my tea....this isn't acceptable *pulls disgusted face* and I am so hungry I could eat a farm. Happy Sunday guys!! This week is mainly phone photo's, what with Dey getting a new 4s and us being busy all week, no time for camera. Seriously though how cool are iPhone picture apps? So happy I am getting one tomorrow, I can't stop smiling at the photo booth of Dey's parents, hilarious.

A mixture of cocktails, outfits, art, weather and smiles for you. Strawberry Pina Colada's by the way, so yum!

Just wanted to say thank you for appreciating my honesty in the shoe post. I have always tried to be honest in my blog, sometimes a little too honest. But I am like that in real life, so I don't see why I would rein it in for the blog as it's an extension of me. I also feel that I have a duty to tell you the truth about companies, I expect that when I go and read reviews. I don't want to be lead in to a false sense of awesomeness, just to be disappointed, I mean who has the cash for that!? So thank you, means a lot that you appreciate it.

Hope you are all well and for any of you that have been able to afford to go to LFW, can't wait to see all your posts on A/w12 trends.

Also, yes I have changed my blog again...I get bored and wasn't happy with the floral's as it's done everywhere. Sorry if it annoys you but hey, my blog and I honestly am sticking to stripes now...deck chair inspiration for the win.

fyi

So the people at FYFO kindly sent me some footwear to review, I basically got to choose what I wanted from the site and with my upcoming trip to the sandy hills of Cornwall, I chose Wellington boots. Hunter's to be exact, because well who doesn't need a pair.

Now they are beautiful, a lovely navy blue, great quality, they came in a nice box and are actually a lot comfier than my black pair...if that's possible as they are exactly the same. These just feel a bit more snug and don't do that bendy thing as much (you'll know if you have a pair.)

So from a customer facing point of view FYFO are great, if you order from them I wouldn't see you having any problems.

From a blogger point of view, I find them a tad pushy. Firstly they wanted preferably a 'positive review' which in my eyes says 'PLEASE BIG US UP' I don't see why they needed to say that as quite genuinely I don't see a flaw in the company. They seem to put a lot of pressure on their Social Media Consultant (nice girl) to get the reviews out as quick as possible. Which fair enough if you are giving someone something for free then you'd like it to go online quickly...but I felt slightly hounded and I've only had the boots for exactly a week today. Surely you need to wear the footwear out and about to review it properly? Also when I'm at work all week I don't get chance to take photographs as it's dark when I get home.

So what I will say is, great for footwear...not so great at interaction. Surely a company should support the bloggers they have chosen to promote their product/company, not make them feel like they are on an ever decreasing rope and time frame on the edge of a cliff.

You know me, always honest.

Brotherly Love

Thought I would show you a few shots of a recent shoot I did, hope you like :)

xoxo

Spend Vouchers, Get Rewards!

After my  organisation post the weekend, I thought I would follow it up with a post of how you can save yourself some money. So I have teamed up with Tesco mainly because I love food and if I can get rewards from buying food then I am on to a winner. This post is also hosted through Ebuzzing, who you may have heard about through TOWIB last weekend, they are a great social platform if you are considering sponsored posts on your blog.


Tesco Clubcard Deals works by swapping your points collected through shopping at the store in to rewards. It features a variety of rewards such as cinema tickets, entrance to theme parks, magazine subscriptions and meals out. Many can be swapped for treble the face value, so £10 quickly becomes £30....now that is pretty sweet.

Every single time I go in to Tesco and they ask if I have a clubcard, I curse myself for forgetting it...just like those bags I bought for 50p that help you save the planet. I HATE plastic bags! Flash your Clubcard at Tesco and you bag two points per pound spent. Then every three months you’re sent the points as vouchers. I would most probably use mine to get a magazine subscription, as I spend so much money on magazines anyway, with this I could turn my food in to fashion pages. Now for me that seems like a win/win situation, because at the end of the day we all have to eat and it costs nothing to get a clubcard.

Is this something you can see yourself using, or do you simply forget you have one of these cards or don't see the point in them? I think with the climate in the state it is in at the minute, every little free bonus we can get we should take to be honest. So when I'm at Alton Towers this summer shaking like a kid who has had too much sugar, waiting to go on Oblivion...I'll be sure to thank that bunch of Banana's I bought back in March. Who ever imagined food could be so thoughtful? Whether you are a student and buy heaps of noodles (oh the days) or visit Tesco every week like me, this deal would be great for you.

Disclaimer- This post is completely my own words. I do genuinely believe that this is a great offer, hence why I have placed it on my blog. I respect all of my readers and stay true to the fact.

Sponsored Post
Viral video by ebuzzing

Inspiration: Organisation Edition

If you managed to catch food, photography, wedding and living room you will know what these are about. If not, welcome to my 'Inspiration Editions' - where I take all my favourite tips and tricks I have found online and put them all together in a pretty collage, simple really.

This time it's the turn of: Organisation, now being the Gemini that I am...I go through stages of being organised implicitly and then it all going to pot and me wailing around in my own filth (not literally, that's well gross!) I will tidy my kitchen, do all the washing up and then cook and look at the pile and think, oh no I'm not doing that again and it will stay there for atleast a whole day. Well unless Dey does it...which is often, when I lived alone it might have stayed there for more than one day...

Moving on.

I blame my jobs, being a Visual Merchandiser and a Photographer have made me quite literally; a perfectionist. My v.m role is the worst, you can't dress a mannequin half heartedly because at the end of the day you are selling an outfit, you wouldn't dress yourself like half a twit...well. Our windows have to be perfect, shelving, tables, graphics etc. but I LOVE it.

I organise my handbag daily, I put everything in a diary, I write shopping lists, I organise our fridge, my lunchbox has compartments, I transfer any odd change in my bank in to a savings account so my balance is always rounded to the nearest 0, maybe I am a bit obsessive?

*Mulls that one over*

How organised are you? I'm off to make a ribbon draw...

I've got 88 problems but this palette aint' one

Alright loves?

Having a bit of a review binge at the moment, although it is bugging me that I am lacking in 'proper' posts like I used to write, so have a few penned for the up coming weeks. Now I ordered this beauty from Amazon after looking for brushes...it was in the 'other people also bought' and cost a mere £9.99. It's from Blush Professional...no I'd never heard of them either to be honest.

I don't think this picture does the pigmentation justice, it's much brighter and looks so beautiful when you open it up...maybe that's the artist in me, I used to love those really cheap water paints you could get as a kid, I mean I got excited buying felts for work today, deary me!

Anyway, this is very nice. I have noticed the eyeshadow doesn't crease for atleast 3 hours without primer potion, which is very good for the price. There was no fall out from my brush, although the texture is slightly chalky I still think it's great. There is a selection of matte and sparkle, cool and warm, so you are getting a good mixture.

I'll do some looks soon with some of the colours to show you the pigmentation etc. What do you think, have you got any great pallets for cheap prices or anything else from this company. Think I'm going to collect more pallets, I really want to start making a MAC pan hmmm.

In a tangle

For a while now I have been pulling my hair out in clumps, it being so long it get's so tangled. So I decided to invest in a Tangle Teezer (£10). When I first used it, I thought it had changed my life...considering it takes me about 12 minutes to brush my hair through thoroughly usually. This cut that down to about 2 and a half minutes.

Although this doesn't hurt me at all and glides through my hair like butter it's still covered in hair once I have finished. Maybe that's just my hormones..has anyone else had that? I think they are great to have though and it really helps save time when I get out of the bath/shower.

Do you have a Tangle Teezer, how do you rate it? I think I'm going to give it 8/10.

Gem this is your life 41

> Dey loves Professor Brian Cox, so I was trying to be cool and leave my camera open on long exposure to capture some stars for him. Obviously far too much light pollution by our iccle flat, but I can't wait to do it in Cornwall...5 weeks to go Eeeeep!

>My amazing mountain of pasta, I was craving a huge bowl so bad and Dey brought me some home...so.good. My little nook next to my bed, I love it at night time, so amazingly cosy.

>Glossybox, now I didn't want to do an entire post on it...because there has been hundreds and once you've seen one you've seen them all right? First of all when I saw that my eyeliner was light pink, I was sort of like *deflated* ohh. Although after using it last night, it's quite nice, fair enough I was informed that the long spindle part at the end is for when you sharpen it right down and have nothing to hold on to...still think it's too long. The primer is too dark for my skin, I think the moisturiser smells a bit like Nana's...but I'll use it for a hand cream, as my job kills off my hands. I think the packaging is very pretty, but I just can't get over the smell, I guess that is a personal thing though. But most of all I DIDN'T GET A SWEET (haha *grumble*). I think with all beauty boxes, not everyone is going to be pleased all the time, but I always feel a tad like they should contact you saying "There will be an eyeliner in your box, please choose a colour, please choose a skin shade." Without revealing what make the product is, maybe that would take too much time, ah well just a thought.

>My amazing new pastel shirt from New Look, I love it and it's silky ways.

>Relaxing in our bedroom, nearly finished...I never want to leave it. I get moaned at a lot for not wanting to leave it haha.

>Arty snow photo's and silly snow photo's.