Outfit: Silly Sparkles

Getting ready for the Huddersfield University SU Awards a few weeks ago I wasn't entirely convinced that my year old eBay bodycon midi dress was quite exciting enough, prompting a flurry of uhmming and ahhing in front of my wardrobe and culminating in this picture where I demanded like a true diva that my boyfriend take a picture so I could 'see how the glitter looks on camera.' Move over Beyonce, we have a new drama Queen Bee in the house. Whilst I possess none of her RnB Highness's confidence, fabulous hair or riches, luckily in the end I think we both scrubbed up pretty well.

Happy Feet

Happy Sunday! After almost 6 months of hard work, I finally finished my case study and practical project and couldn't be more relieved. Now, there is only an essay and two features standing between 3 weeks of work experience at NME, lots of exciting summer projects and mini holidays, lots of reading time and perhaps most excitingly, graduation! (more on that in a bit)

With most of the hard work over, Kev and I decided to treat ourselves this weekend. His mum ever so kindly sent us up a sainsbury's voucher to pick ourselves some shopping so we indulged in the ingredients for homemade cocktails and ended up with a delicious concoction of cherry brandy, amaretto and cranberry that tasted just like Cherry Bakewell cakes. I thoroughly recommend! 

On Saturday morning, we got up bright and early for a bit of retail therapy. The sun was shining and we had a lovely long peruse around Huddersfield Market before stopping off for a massive chippy lunch. It always baffles me when so many of my coursemates say they've never visited the market - it really is a treasure trove of all sorts of stuff, from crazy cheap furniture and vinyl records to amazing vintage buys, often sold by lovely Nana's who are up for a chat.  

However, the single best thing about Huddersfield Market has to be what is colloquially known as 'The Topshop Stall'. Basically, it's an amazing stall that sells all manner of out of season items from Topshop, Miss Selfridge and occasionally, H&M. I'm not sure how they do it and it can be hit and miss as to the variety of sizes on offer or the conditions of the garments, but I'm pleased to say that this saturday, they made my shoe dreams come true...

 You guys will have seen me harping on about these on the blog multiple times, but finally they are mine, allllll mine! (evil laugh). They were sat all innocently jumbled along all the massive heels and clutch bags and nobody seemed to be looking at them, but when I saw that flash of white I leapt on them and was ecstatic to find that they were first in a size 6, and second, only £12, a massive £26 less than they were in Topshop last summer. Good things come to those who wait eh? My day with topped off even further when I picked up a beautiful Topshop beaded dress for just four pounds because some of the beading was a little off. It's exactly what I wanted for graduation and as it was selling originally in Topshop for £70, I'm feeling pretty thrifty. Sadly, putting pictures on here of it so many months in advance feels a little like posting your wedding dress before you wear it, so you will all have to wait till July to see that one.

Here are my shoes with a couple of wired hair bows I also picked up from Primark for £1.50 each - I've been planning on buying some for ages. they're a lovely way of girlying up a simple jumper and jeans combo and I love the way the wire holds the bow in place. I'm very happy with how my spring wardrobe is shaping up, and on such a great budget too. You can also see a little polka dot number that I picked up last week from eBay for just 99p - the floaty chiffon will be perfect for pub garden trips or the university awards night I will be attending in the week.

What have you been treating yourself to recently?

Judy's Affordable Vintage Digest Issue 2

The more eagle eyed of you out there may remember me posting a few months ago about my Uni project, a magazine I have been producing with two of my coursemates for Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair. Well, this is just a little update to say that Issue 2 is out and is doing incredibly well - 1,000 views in just a day!

For those of who aren't in the know just yet, here's a little more about the project. Bringing together two of my biggest loves in life, magazine journalism and vintage shopping, The Digest was set up by two of my course-mates and I to share the excellent work that the Judy's Affordable Vintage team do, running fairs, kilo sales and furniture fleas up and down the country. Inside the digital magazine you will find tips on vintage shopping, styling and crafting, plus lots of other (hopefully entertaining) bits and bobs. My particular favourite is our bloggers map, where I got to pick some of my favourite vintage and fashion bloggers from around the country. See how many you recognise! I also love our interview with a beautiful vintage bride, our guide to the best trends of the 90's, and a some great hair tutorials from the guys behind Le Keux Vintage and Miss Dixie Belle.

If you're interested in having a read, please click the cover image to give it a flick through, and give us a like on Facebook ('judy's affordable vintage digest') or a follow on Twitter @judysdigest. Feel free to share with your friends too! Whilst you're on JooMag, you can also catch up with Issue 1. Please let me know what you think of the magazine - I'd love your feedback! 

Introducing... Judy's Affordable Vintage Digest

I have a confession to make: part of the reason I have been neglecting blogging, freelancing and various other hobbies I enjoy (sewing machine, be patient, I still love you) is because Uni has had me SUPER busy this year. Luckily for me, even though it's hard going at times, I'm studying a course I love which let's me do all manner of cool things and call it coursework.

One of these very cool things is called 'The Practical Project', in which we're allowed to dream up pretty much any media artefact as long as it has a client, and hopefully pull together all the skills we have gained at University. I'm pretty proud right now to be able to unveil part one of my practical project - the very first issue of Judy's Affordable Vintage Digest.

Bringing together two of my biggest loves in life, magazine journalism and vintage shopping, The Digest was set up by two of my course-mates and I to share the excellent work that the Judy's Affordable Vintage team do, running fairs, kilo sales and furniture fleas up and down the country. Inside the digital magazine you will find tips on vintage shopping, styling and crafting, plus lots of other (hopefully entertaining) bits and bobs.

If you're interested, please click the image to give it a flick through, and give us a like on facebook ('judy's affordable vintage digest') or a follow on Twitter @judysdigest. We've already racked up over 1,000 views in just two days which is blowing my little vintage loving mind, but a little extra love never hurt nobody. Hope you like! 

Back to School with dotcomgiftshop

Morning campers! Sorry I've been away for so long, but things have been mad up here as I have just started my third year of University! I cannot believe how fast the past two years have gone, it seems like just yesterday I was stressing out over my UCAS application, wondering whether I'd get in and who I would meet. And now look at me, feverishly juggling the student magazine (t-hud.co.uk, if you're interested!), a part time job and a practical project and case study.

Although there is a lot of work to be done, I am so excited about the things I'm working on this year. I am honoured to have secured Judy of Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair as my project client, and will be working with my coursemates to produce a promotional magazine for them to send out to their mailing list. Having been a fan of Judy's events for as long as I can remember, I can't wait to get started! Keep an eye out for future posts about that.

My case study isn't quite as solid yet, although I have a placement at NME coming up in January (another dream!) so I am thinking of using that in some way.

But before I give all my ideas away, lets get back to the point. Anyone who knows me knows I have a tendency to stress and worry and that a bit of organisation goes a long way towards making me feel like I'm on task. With that in mind, I wanted to go back into University fully prepared.

Thanks to the lovely folks over at dotcomgiftshop, the first part of this was finding something to cart those heavy library books in! They were kind enough to send me this incredibly 90s-tastic bag!

 A close up of the tartan - pretty Cher from Clueless!

Roomy enough to take to lectures or the gym (as if I have time for that at the moment, but maybe soon), the bag also has a big front pocket for that library card, purse and house keys. Great for stopping you having to rummage through the main body for your essentials! It's rope straps are very comfy and feel strong even when loaded with three kilos of clothes.

So what do I keep in my bag for uni? Well, every September means a little stationery binge...

I searched high and low to find a project book notepad that had enough section for my five uni modules! Luckily Tesco had this girly one for £5 so I can keep my lecture notes organised. The little floral pads were also sent to me by dotcomgiftshop, and are the perfect to take minutes of meetings in, or write gig reviews. The bigger notebook was a freebie from Boden - isn't it pretty! I'm hoping that the blank pages will be good for writing to do lists and brainwave maps. Of course you all know how much I love my filofax - I swear I would be lost without that thing. The big scrapbook will let me doodle ideas for magazine design and make moodboards, whilst the NME was a gift from my parents for my birthday and should hopefully hold a lot of the background research I need for my case study. As for the pen and pencil, I swear by two brands - Papermate Mechanical Pencils and Pentel 'Handwritten' Ink pens. They somehow make everything look super neat without smudging, which is rare for us poor lefties!


Are you all ready for the new academic year?