WHAT TO BUY THOSE WHO ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO BUY FOR.

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We've all been in that situation: you're struggling to think of a gift for someone - someone you know very well but who seems to have everything they want or need - and every time you ask them what they want for their birthday they respond with a reluctant "Oh.. I don't know.." and you're left with little to no hope of buying them something they'd actually like.

But there's no rule that says you have to buy them a physical gift, so why not give them a day out to remember? There are so many websites nowadays through which you can pay for an experience day for someone and gift it to them so that they can choose a date that's suitable for them. Some examples of the kinds of days on offer are spa days, an afternoon tea for two, driving experiences, cooking classes, brewery tours, chocolate tasting events - the list is almost endless! There's bound to be something out there that your loved one will enjoy. Recently, my family all banded together to get my dad a supercar driving day for his 50th, which he absolutely loved, and my brother and I got our parents an afternoon tea voucher for their Wedding Anniversary, which also went down a treat!

Below I've linked a few of my favourite sites for these kinds of experience days, so check them out if you're struggling to find the perfect gift for someone!

Virgin Experience Days

Prezzybox

Buy a Gift

Red Letter Days

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MY TOP 5 ONLINE SHOPS FOR BUYING INDEPENDENT ARTISTS' WORK.

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Ohh Deer

I've raved about Ohh Deer before on this blog and I ain't about to quit now! They sell a massive variety of products featuring work by a load of different artists including Gemma Correll and Andreas Lie (my faves), and they offer a 10% discount for all you thrifty students out there. The site will often have events like 'Free Delivery on orders over £10' or an increased student discount for a limited time too - you can't really go wrong shopping here.

Society6

At Society6, they sell an even wider range of products than Ohh Deer, although I find them to be at slightly higher prices. However, if you make your order during a free shipping or discount event, things become a lot more affordable. Being a larger company based in the US, international shipping is also required for us Brits, but in my experience it's well worth it. I ordered a wall tapestry from Society6 and it came much earlier than estimated, and the piece itself was gorgeous. 

Wraptious

I discovered this website on the back of a greeting card at the gift shop at Wollaton Hall, and when I went home to check it out, I was not disappointed. Based in the UK, Wraptious is a smaller company that sells more animal-centric products by incredibly talented artists. And what's more is that all UK orders qualify for free shipping(!) and for the rest of the world they offer incredibly affordable rates. 

U Studio

A small studio focussing more on greetings cards and gifts, they offer adorable products featuring clever designs and witty quotes. I actually noticed this shop whilst walking around Bristol, and I'm very glad I made a note of it as they also offer free shipping on all UK orders (woohoo!).

Redbubble

Possibly the most well-known of these five sites, Redbubble has over 400,000 independent artists contributing to a massive creative community. You can find pretty much anything on there, from a T-shirt of Pikachu dressed as Batman to a drama llama-themed iPhone case. What more could you possibly ask for?!

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FREE CANDLE-THEMED DESKTOP WALLPAPER.

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As Christmas is approaching, I thought I'd spread some festive cheer by giving away a winter-themed candle wallpaper. This is actually a photo I took for my Graphic Design A Level a couple years ago, and I figured it would be a nice one to share at this time of year. To download it, left-click on the image below, then right-click and choose 'Save Image As...'.  Finally, set it as your desktop background and enjoy!

NB: This image is intended for personal use; please don't claim ownership of this image or attempt to distribute it for a profit. Thank you.

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THROWBACK TO THE SUMMER I WENT TO PRAGUE.

I've been reminiscing a bit recently, specifically about holidays I used to go on with my family when I was younger. It got me thinking about some of the beautiful European cities I've visited: Prague, Venice, Barcelona... I think every city has its own unique aesthetic and atmosphere about it, and I believe sometimes the most memorable scenes or moments we experience on trips like this aren't always to do with the main tourist attractions. When we delve a little deeper into the culture of such historic cities, I feel like that's when we can say that we have truly made the most of our time there. 

I put together this little post of some old Instagram photos that I took in Prague in the summer of 2012. I like to think that I managed to capture a small essence of the sheer beauty of this city in these images.

Have you ever been to Prague? What was your most memorable moment?

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DIY PROJECT: PERSONALISED PAPIER MACHE 'L'.

Today I thought I'd share a really quick and easy DIY with you all. It's a super cute way to personalise your room by proudly displaying the initial of your name.

All you need is:

A papier mâché letter - I got mine from Hobbycraft for £2
Old magazine pages
Pritt stick
Mod podge
Paintbrush

So literally all you do is cut or rip up the magazine pages into small pieces, and bit by bit layer them onto your letter using the Pritt stick. If you don't like the pattern of one of the pieces you've stuck on, just layer right over it! Finally, remember to give your final design a thin coat of mod podge with your paintbrush, just to make sure everything is sealed into place. If you wanted to, you could even come back to it some time in the future and layer over the whole thing if you were wanting to give it a different look, like using exclusively black and white images, or perhaps pages from an old book. The magazine pages I used for my letter were pretty vibrant and summery, which gives it a sort of tropical vibe.

This method of sticking lots of little pieces onto the letter is a lot easier than wrapping the whole letter in one single piece of paper or material. It doesn't have to look super neat, and you can do it easy peasy whilst watching your favourite Netflix series. Translation = watching the entirety of Pretty Little Liars all over again! If you wanted to, you could actually make one as a gift for a friend, by covering their initial in images of things you know they love. It's fairly inexpensive to make and it gives your present a bit of a personal touch - I actually did give one to a friend, and it went down a treat!

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