Saturday 27 October 2012

New global 4am Project date plus bonus Nottingham event!


I'm calling out to photographers and those with a curiosity and like to try something a little crazy different at 4am on Sunday 25th November.

The 4am Project is back and not only is this another global event, I'm also hosting a 4am Project photo walk in Nottingham city centre!

Tickets are free and places are limited!

Eventbrite - 4am Project in Nottingham!

Grab some 4am photography inspiration from some of the 6000+ photography archive from the project from 50 countries!



Where to find the 4am Project online....
It's really easy to take part! All you need is a camera (and a willingness to get up at 4am!)

If you have any questions, just give me a shout! :)



Wednesday 17 October 2012

My 2012 Birthday

Well, seeing as I recorded my birthday celebrations last year, it must now be deemed a blogging tradition! I think that's how traditions start anyway...

Last year was my 40th birthday! hehee. This year it's the year of my 2012 birthday!

I storify'd some of the few days of celebration. Thanks to my BFF for a fab day in Manchester and my awesome Mum for an adventure in Liverpool. And thanks to all my friends for joining in with the celebrations online too! :) x



Thursday 11 October 2012

Goodbye bountiful* balcony

*barren

 This year I decided I would have an Edible Balcony.

My balcony is like a sun trap. It catches rays all day long - how could anything not grow on my balcony especially if I remember to water and talk to the plants!

I'm going to turn into a farmer(ess) and start blaming the wet summer for the poor produce.

First up, my strawberries. I got lovely healthy plants that showed a lot of promise, but delivered a lot of disappointment.







What the hell is THIS?!


I planted 10 (TEN!) sunflower seeds and cared for and nurtured them. 


And out of the TEN seeds I planted, just 2 fought their way through and managed to show signs of life 


They took about 4 months to blossom, but it was worth the wait. They were beautiful and really, really cheery. I was quite selfish and instead of sharing their happy faces with my neighbours I turned them so they were looking in the window and facing me hehee.


These flipping herbs. I grew these from seeds. They took AGES. Every day I checked on them. I talked to them. And I was delighted when little shoots of hope appeared! 



Eventually they were put outside for just an hour or so a day to acclimatise to what would become their new environment. I handled these seedlings with kid gloves! If I had wanted something that needed so much attention I would have had kids! Or a cat. 



And they got stronger and more robust. I made room for them in my herb box with my chives and sage. And then they gave up and died! 


Tomatoes. Come on tomatoes, you won't let me down will you?! 


I can't really complain too much about my tomato plants. They produced a reasonable yield (hark at me with the farming lingo!), and I got around 20 baby tomatoes altogether. 



I'm not sure what I'll do next year. I might just plant 100 sunflower seeds (and maybe ten will grow) as I got to most pleasure out of them. 

How did your garden grow this year? :) 

Say hello on twitter @karenstrunks


Sunday 7 October 2012

My experiments with nail art

I've been going a little mad for nail art in the last couple of months.

This is how I usually wear my nails. Plain, glossy red. OPI's Big Apple Red if you must know. It's my favourite ever! OPI would be my first choice when it comes to polish with amazing colour plus staying power. I love it. If I was pushed for my second choice, I'd stay Nails Inc. And whilst we are on the subject, I always wear OPI base coat and a top coat which enhances the longevity of the polish. I've just noticed that OPI have an iPhone app. You can set the shade of your skin and see what their colours look like.

red nails and leopard print

My first play around with bling...


Of course I had to tweet it out. My mum had to air her opinion! lol.





These photos aren't in any particular order.

THIS was my first effort in leopard print nails. It went a bit wrong! I just kept adding glitter on top to make it look better. It's hard to control the black lines, you need such a steady hand. They kind of looked better in real life - when I moved my fingers quickly and they were a blur.


I took this photo the other week. This is the longest my nails have EVER been. For some reason they just grew whilst I was in hospital for a week. I loved them, BUT now only my left hand has long nails and my right hand nails are shorter. Harumph.


I got some black lacey nail stickers that I thought might look quite elegant. I planned out how I would do each nail design and cut them to the right size first.


Ta da! I just called this Black Nude Lace, but my best friends said it reminded her of 1920s Parisian Chic. That's even better!


So easy to do. Black with a little silver glitter along the cuticles. 


I got carried away with the bling a bit! Every one of these sparkles stayed on for over a week. It was the week I was in hospital. They were quite a talking point with the nurses ha.


I was inspired the day I thought of this one! Wonder Woman nails! 


The blue and stars from Wonder Woman's shorts and the red (with added glitter) from her top! 


I saw this type of design somewhere; stained glass window. I gave it a try, but it didn't work out. I think it needs brighter colours and thinner black lines.


Just red with a little bling. 


This only stayed on for a few hours. I was just playing around with nude, red and sparkles. 


Another play. My first attempt at a heart, polka dots, flowers, and a cute ladybird. 


I don't know why I haven't bothered having more fun with my nails before. Time and inclination I guess, but I find it really relaxing. 

Here's a few places I like to look for nail art inspiration. 

Coloures De Carole I just stumbled across this one the other day. You could be there all day looking at all her wonderful creations!

Nuthin' But A Nail Thing This lady seems to paint her nails with a new design every day! She's got tons of links to other nail blogs on her side bar if you fancy even more inspiration. 

Pinterest This is a mix of nails, hair and make up and seeing as I love make up even more than nails this is a great place for me to hang out. If you want to keep up with some of my favourite finds you can follow my beauty board.  

There we go! 

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm going to chill out for the rest of the day and do all my beauty things. It's GREAT being a girl! :)

Say hello on twitter @karenstrunks






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