Did I mention that I have an Etsy shop?

Well I do! I've just added a few more pieces and will be adding lots more over the next couple of months! I'd really appreciate it if you'd pop over and have a little look - some items are one-off and once they're gone, they're gone!

I Had a Dream...

I had a dream in which I held hands with a vampire.

It's okay though - I'm pretty sure that I was a vampire too.

We strolled around Asda together.

It was quite pleasant until he disappeared and left me with a sweaty hand. [Vampires sweat in my dreams, apparently.]

He had to go on coven business [which is weird because I always liked the idea of it being a murder of vampires - you know, like crows] - it's not like he ditched me or anything.

We're going to meet again. Maybe in Morrisons or Waitrose - somewhere a bit classier.

And it'll have to be in secret because I distinctly recall being engaged to Virgil - the vampire prince, who by the way is a favourite with my vampire daddy.

Needless to say I prefer my little hand-holder.

Oh, and contrary to my little doodle, he neither had a bad vampire accent or asked if he could suck my blood.

I would probably have said yes - it was that kind of dream.

//

I don't even like vampires that much. And I definitely don't like blood. Dreams, eh?

A Recipe // Bacon and Sweetcorn Savoury Muffins

Bad [baaaaaddd] picture. Good [goooood] muffins.

I have these with the tomato soup that I posted about a while ago. They are one of the yummiest things ever - especially dipped in soup!

Ingredients:

150g plain flour
75g Sweetcorn
150ml natural yoghurt
2 small spring onion, chopped
1 egg
3 bacon rashers, chopped
2tsp baking powder
2tbsp oil

Preheat your oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 6.

Start by frying two of the bacon rashers and onions in a pan, until the onions are soft and the bacon is crispy.

Mix them together with the flour, baking powder and sweetcorn.

Whisk the egg and yoghurt together in a separate jug/bowl.

Mix both mixtures together.

Spoon into muffin cases and sprinkle the remaining bacon on top.

I also added a little spoonful of spreadable cheese to half. Cheese make even the yummiest things yummier.

Bake for twenty minutes and eat hot!

Nailing It // Fine & Dandy

I used:

L.A Colors - Dark Brown [although it's more of a reddish brown]
L.A Colors Art Deco Nail Art - Black
L.A Colors Art Deco Nail Art - White

I did these a while ago but I still really like them! I'm really excited about trying them out with some more summery colours!

Feed-ly Sheep

The apocalypse is coming.

Kind of.

For the blogging world anyway.

Or so you would have thought last week when Google announced that Google Reader would be no more as of July 1st.

If I'm being honest I was a bit 'Noooooooooooooooooo!' myself - picture bed-head, mismatched pj's, kneeling and clutching dramatically towards the sky.

So, I was sad to say the least.

But then I found Feedly.

And now I'm like 'Google Reader - who'?

Feedly is Google Reader's younger, prettier, more accommodating replacement. And I kinda loves it more already.

It lets you choose a colour scheme - 'cos pretty colours are obv the most important fact when reading blog posts.

You can view your list [or lists - you can have multiple for different subjects etc. and you can give posts tags too] of posts in loads of different ways; magazine, mosaic, list, full post and more! And you can also click 'preview' as an option, which lets you see the post's website without actually opening in.




So, Feedly is my new favourite way to read blog posts - I don't really like Bloglovin' and I tried Blogger for a while but there was too much opening of pages involved, and I thought that the simplicity of Google Reader was the best way for my but I think I've found my match. And so do the half a million or so other ex-GR users that have switched to Feedly. Yeah, I know, I'd like to say that I found it all by myself but it looks like it's the most popular reader for most of the Google Reader migrators.

Oh, and if you were wondering what the 'sheep' bit was all about - it's referencing the other half a million new users and the fact that I've read a 'Google Reader is going to die' post at least three times a day since the doom-filled announcement

Are you a Google Reader user? Have you moved yet? How do you get your blog post fix?

xo

Life Through a Lens // February + March '13

1. Cadbury's Swiss Roll [wish I had one of these now!] // 2. Lilac sky at the stables // 3. Fist ever Love Stuff Newsletter [it's really happening now!] // 4. Spot the pony... // 5. Jane Austen stamps! // 6. Like finding a needle kitty in a haystack. // 7. Snow's a comin' // 8. Etsy order ready to post [Forrest Mush]. // 9. Delivery for Love Stuff from Essex Soap Box! // 10. Jewellery making supplies. // 11. Castle on the Hill delivery for LSB! // 12. Another LSB delivery from Love and Leaf!

I haven't blogged much [read: at all] lately but I have been super busy! I've spent a lot of time planning and emailing and I've also spent a lot of time worrying, but Love Stuff Box is finally ready to roll! First boxes are going to be shipped this week and will contain things from the lovelies mentioned above as well as others! And there's a nice little discount code in the sidebar if anyone's interested! 

Biskwit's face [see my last post] is a hell of a lot better - the gigantic hole has healed right up and he doesn't have to have injections any more! Yay!

And it's snowing again - like seriously! I'm going to write a letter to the good ol' British weather and inform it that it's now spring, which means that it's not supposed to SNOW!!

I'm off to count and colour-code box supplies again ['cos that's what I do now...].

Night!

xo

Life Lately

That was the view from my bedroom window a few nights ago. For a couple of weeks I've been feeling a bit 'off', but still have no idea why really. Then, the other day I suddenly felt better about everything and have gotten back into the groove [and I expect you all to sing that last bit].

This seems to happen quite a lot to be honest - I get really down for a while, then I wake up one day and it's like 'Ta dah! All better!'. I wish this didn't happen but seeing as I'm currently on an 'up' I'm cool with it.

My little Love Stuff Box is moving along nicely! First boxes should be going out next month! Eeek - it's getting real now!

I've started selling my wares on Etsy and have made a few sales already, which I was ridiculously excited about!

And the big drama llama of last week - one of my little rabbits, Biskwit [cool name, eh?], was bitten by one of the other pesky rabbits a little while ago. It looked like it had healed nicely but then a lump started to form. It was full of puss, which in rabbits is often hard and grainy. He ended up having it cut out last week and has been left with a hole in his face, to allow the rest of the pus to drain. He doesn't seem to mind but I wouldn't look at the next picture if you're a bit squeamish [or eating].




Disgusting, right? But look how lovely he is! He likes rubbing it on me. Aaw.

Oh, and I almost forgot - I'm writing a novel. Yes, you heard correctly - since the start of this year I have started two and 1/2 blogs, two businesses and now I'm writing a novel in a month. Did I mention that bit?

I've always got a story on the go and have always dreamed of one day being published, but it's always been pushed to the back of the queue because realistically, the chance of getting published + the hours it takes to write has made it nonviable when I'm also trying to start my own business. But, earlier this week [or was it last....] I received an email telling me about Swoon Reads, which I became [and am still] ridiculously excited about. Swoon Reads is a new website [that isn't open yet] where you'll be able to post YA romance manuscripts that will be read and rated by the public and the best will be published! Cool, huh? I'm telling everyone I can about my plans because it makes it harder and a lot more embarrassing for me to back out if I've already told the world. Wish me luck!

Alex
xo