Appreciating What You Have

Today at lunch time I decided to go for a walk as it's blazing hot sunshine in Aberdeen and I wanted some vitamin D to take me from blue to white - Scottish people don't tan we just defrost! I was also hoping for some blogging/Instagram inspiration but lol I work in an industrial estate and that was never going to happen!  

I ended up walking a different direction than I normally do because I'm totally crazy and wanted a change. I found this cute little bridge and this is where my inspiration for today's impromptu post came from! 

When I decided to go under the bridge (anyone else got the Red Hot Chill Peppers song in their head?) and see where it took me I wasn't sure what I was expecting! I knew I was close to the ocean as I can see it close to where my office is but I didn't realise just how close I was! A ten minute walk from my office took my to these beautiful sights that I didn't even know were right on my doorstep! 

How gorgeous are these views? And I didn't even know they were there! I felt a million miles away from reality even though work was just a ten minute walk away. 

This post was supposed to be about appreciating what you have even if it is just small, like finding a beautiful view to look at like I did today, your boyfriend making you coffee while you shower in the morning (thanks Davie) or maybe a call from a friend. But also not forgetting the bigger things like having a job (even though you might loathe going to), having a roof over your head and a caring family around you. All these things are so important but can so easily be taken for granted! 

Todays walk by the coast really made me stop and think about the more important things in life! 

"Happiness is not about getting what you want; it's about appreciating what you have."

This was a bit of a different post for me today but something that I thought was important to talk about. 

Love, 

Sophie x 

Did you see my previous post? What's Inside My Travel Bag

DIY - Marc Jacobs Mouse Ballet Pumps

I have lusted after a pair of the mouse Marc Jacobs flats for a few years now. I have often thought about buying a pair but I just couldn't spend a couple of hundred pounds on a pair of ballet flats. I had the idea to make my own mouse flats based on the Marc Jacobs ones. One of my favourite pair of mice are the Marc by Marc Jacobs Disco Mouse Flats and I also thought these would be fairly easy to recreate. Below I am going to show you how to revamp a pair of ballet flats into a pair of disco mice. 

Picture from Pinky Polish

What You Will Need:

Plain pair of ballet pumps (New Look)

Multi coloured gems (Amazon)

Six large gems for eyes and nose 

Glue gun

Pencil

Unpicker (if need to remove bows from shoes)

First off I unpicked the bows that were on the front of the shoes, now the shoes were all ready to decorate with the gems. I started round the top of the shoes with the largest gems on the sheet, this didn't take as long as I had thought it would and was probably the easiest part of the decorating. 

I glued on the eyes and nose (I got these gems off an old bag but you could use anything for this, maybe even buttons) on each shoe and then I drew on the tail, whiskers and ears as a guide. Then I glued on the middle sized gems for the tail and the smallest gems for the whiskers. For the ears I used a mixture of all the gem sizes as I thought it gave a good effect. 

Overall the shoes were fairly easy to make, just very fiddly and time consuming! To decorate the pair of shoes took me about three to four hours but I did really enjoy making them. The total price for the shoes came in at under £13 which is a fraction of the cost for the designer Marc Jacobs pair and don't look too dissimilar. 

Would you buy a pair of Marc Jacob Mouse Shoes or would you make your own? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

Love, 

Sophie x

Essie - Sunday Funday

Looking for the perfect summery Sunday nail polish? Essies Sunday Funday is the answer. It's a beautiful neon coral with flecks of glitter which I love because who doesn't love a bit of sparkle? 

To prep my hands for a fresh coat of paint I used Salted Coconut from Lush. It's a gorgeous creamy coconut hand scrub. I love the smell, it's Summer in a pot! If you can imagine lying on a beach sipping on an ice cold pina colada, the ocean waves lapping in the background and the sun beating down on your face that's what salted coconut smells like - divine!

Essie is my favourite nail polish. I love the vast range of colours (I'm slowly collecting them all), how they all seem to be fairly consistent with formula, the packaging and of course the names! I love the quirky names and often the name is the final push to get me to buy the polish. Essie nail polish is rather expensive at £7.99 a pop! But often I will wait until Boots has a 3 for 2 offer on so it's not as expensive! 

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend! 

Love, 

Sophie x 

Instagram Round Up - May

Instagram is easily my favourite social media platform. I love scrolling through my feed look at pretty pictures and getting inspiration! Recently I've really been loving posting pictures on Instagram so here is a round up of what I have posted in May. Remember you can follow me on Instagram here :) 

1. Last weekend my boyfriend and I took a road trip to House of Farnell. House of Farnell is a Danish Christmas shop but this year was the first time they were open in the Spring, selling lots of gorgeous Spring home wears.

2. Over the past few weeks I have noticed that the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom and I am loving seeing the pink flowers on every other tree on my walk to work.

3. These are flowers my mum bought me for my birthday which was on the 12th May. Peony are my favourite flower so I love when this time of year rolls round and can get them more easily.

4. On my birthday my boyfriend and I went to get cupcakes, my favourite was the lemon one. I love all things citrus.

5. This was my first attempt at making drunk bears with vodka and golden bears. They were good but so strong I could only eat a few.

6. My birthday evening was spent eating coconut and vanilla popcorn and reading Women's Health, not the most exciting way to spend the evening of your 23rd birthday but I enjoyed it (probably because I feel like I just turned 93 hahaha).

7. Recently I have been enjoying anything coconut. This is coconut yogurt with warm berries and nuts on top. I've had this for breakfast a few times, it's pretty tasty and healthy, bonus! Also adding some cinnamon on top is good too.

8. As it was my birthday I treated myself to some new gym clothes. This bra and leggings are both from Sweaty Betty. I love the colours so much! Mint is perfect for Spring/Summer as are the palm trees.

9. Lastly, how gorgeous was the sky one Spring evening? I love living up north as we are always guaranteed pretty pink sunsets in the evening.

What have you been Instagramming lately ?

@sophiehmstewart

Love, 

Sophie x 

ASOS Wishlist

Hello lovelies! It's been a while, over two weeks! Sorry for the lack of posts I have been studying for my driving theory test which I passed last Thursday, yay! :D 

Today's post is a little wish list of the things I am lusting after from ASOS. I love shopping from ASOS because they have such a variety of clothing and brands and love the free shipping/returns. Who wants to pay £3.99 for shipping anyway? Not me! 

I really want to try some cat eye sunglasses and love the look of these. 

I love this pheasant style dress, so cute and perfect for Spring when it finally arrives! 

You cant go wrong with a simple black dress. 

No one can ever have too much unicorn in their life, how pretty are these?

I bought my first Nars blush at the end of last year (see my blog post here) and since then I've wanted to pick up another. Unlawful is a gorgeous colour and is next on my list. 

I've been searching for the perfect black over the knee flat boot for so long and I think these boots fit the ticket. 

Glittery unicorn socks, need I say any more? 

I know I haven't long bought a trench coat but how gorgeous is this pink trench coat?

I've wanted a Wildfox jumper for so long but just can't justify the price for just a sweatshirt - they do sometimes appear in the sale though, I will keep my eyes peeled. 

Lots of Love, 

Sophie xx

Valentine's Wish List

Valentine's Day is just around the corner (where has January gone?!). I know it's not a popular holiday but personally I love it! Today I am sharing with you a few things that I would love to receive from a loved one on the day of love. Or y'know you can just treat yo' self! 

By now I am sure you all realize I love candles! I've never tried a Diptyque candle before but love the look of the Diptyque Rosaviola Candle so pretty and pink. 

How cute are these unicorn cupid socks from ASOS? 

12 Red Roses - call me old fashioned but I would love to receive a dozen roses from my Valentine.

The Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Pallet is high on my wishlist and may get it before Valentine's Day for myself! 

This one doesn't need an explanation! I don't know any girl that wouldn't love to receive some Tiffany jewellery. This one in my favourite at the moment. 

The seasonal Lush collections never disappoint! Unicorn Horn is a cult favourite among beauty bloggers so I basically have to try this haha. I smelt the unicorn horn in store and it smelt great - very sweet. 

For Christmas I received my first Pandora bracelet (I know, late to the club!) and this heart Pandora charm would be a cute addition to my new bracelet. 

Apart from when I am at work I pretty much live in pyjamas, as soon as I get in I have to get changed into some comfies which is usually pyjamas. These Victoria's Secret Pyjamas would be great to add to my ever growing pyjama drawer. 

Everyone loves receiving chocolate and these passion fruit heart chocolates from Hotel Chocolat are very fitting for the occasion and look delicious! 

What would you like your Valentine to get you?

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x 

Little January Haul

Today I wanted to share with you a few things I have picked up over January. I've not bought too much over this month but wanted to show you the few things I have picked up. 

First up is this gorgeous trench coat from Zara in the sale. I can't seem to find it online but if you have a local Zara store I'd definitely have a look. Alternatively this one from New Look is equally just as pretty.

Paris is one of my favourite cities ever! So when I saw this cute Paris cityscape necklace I knew I had to have it. Also would you believe this is my first piece of rose gold jewellery! 

I order these pink starry pyjamas from Victoria's Secret ages ago now but they only arrived at the start of January. These are my first pair of pyjamas from Victoria's Secret and certainty wont be my last! They are so cosy and warm. I also love that you can pick your leg length - I struggle a lot to get pyjamas that go past my ankle. Love these! Now unavailable on the VS site but these are just as cute! 

Fifi Lapin is the most fashionable bunny around! I've wanted this Fifi Lapin book for a long time so finally bought it. The book also has a pretty cover so will look lovely sitting out on a table.  

Lastly is The Kiss lip scrub I picked this up in the new Lush Valentine's release. It smells just like sweeties and has the cutest tiny, red, edible hearts, I can't wait to use it. 

Lots of Love, 

Sophie xx 

50 Thing That Make Me Happy Tag

Today's post is the 50 Things That Make Me Happy Tag. I wasn't tagged to do this post but it's always good to remember the things that make you happy!

01. Family

02. My Boyfriend

03. Baking

04. Christmas Time

05. Seeing blossom on cherry trees

06. Coffee

07. Going out with my friends

08. Nights In

09. Sitting in front of the fire in my pyjamas

10. Starry nights

11. Receiving Flowers

12. Blogging

13. Online shopping

14. Waking up to watch the sunrise, especially in the summer time

15. Watching the sunset

16. Sunshine

17. Burning candles

18. Handbags

19. Going to the theatre

20. Road Trips

21. Clean bed sheets

22. Friday night

23. Black Milk Clothing

24. Collecting shells at the beach

25. Chocolate

26. Snow days

27. The feeling after working hard at the gym

28. Paris

29. Reading a good book

30. Holidays

31. Taking photos

32. Freshly painted nails

33. White sandy beaches and crystal clear water

34. Going to sleep and not having to set an alarm

35. Pay Day

36. Travelling

37. Going to the cinema and seeing a good film

38. Long walks

39. Ice Cream

40. Blue skies with fluffy white clouds

41. Fireworks

42. Christmas Lights

43. Lush cosmetics

44. The smell of fresh cut grass

45. Disney

46.When the days become longer knowing that summer is not far away

47. Bunnies

48. Cocktails

49. Clean and tidy house

50. Red lipstick

What makes you happy?

Lots of Love,

Sophie xx

Valentine's Day Nails

I've never really tried my hand at any kind of nail art before apart from some little bunnies I did on my thumbs years ago for Easter (I may try that again this year so look out for that) and now these Valentine's inspired nails. These are far from perfect and need a lot of improving on but it's a start! I think if I had the right tools to start with they could have been easier to do! 

The base coat is a sparkly berry colour from Poundland which I picked up just before Christmas. The heart outline was done with Rimmel London - 404 Ballet Pump Perfection and the top coat was Nail Nurse from Rimmel London also. 

Do you have any tips for starting doing nail art?

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x 

Disney Converse

How awesome are these shoe?! 

These are from Starcrossed Designs on Facebook. The girl hand paints all designs onto either Converse or Dr Martins; I chose Converse as they are more my style. The next step was choosing what I wanted painted on my shoes - this was not difficult for me! I knew I wanted something Disney and as Rapunzel is my favourite princess it seemed like a no brainier. 

The lantern boat scene is so beautiful I picked this to go on one shoe. the second shoe I wasn't so sure what I wanted. I wanted Pascal and Maximus incorporated in the design but wasn't sure how so messaged the girl and she helped me come up with something. I am really happy with how they turned out! 

You can add if you want glittery toes, I obviously chose this because I love anything sparkly! Sparkly laces is also and option - the plain white laces were sent with the shoes so they can be changed. 

The shoes did take some time to arrive! I was quoted about 6 weeks but they took 10 weeks to arrive (I received them Christmas Eve). It was around Christmas so I imagine she was very busy around this time (just something to bear in mind if you wanted to get them as a gift for someone). 

Overall I had a great experience with Starcrossed Designs and I really love my shoes. I am yet to wear them as it's a bit cold and it's been really wet but I think they'll be great for when the Spring time arrives.  

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x

Dreaming of Summer

I love the winter time, well I love the winter time until January then I just want it to be summer. These short dark days seem to be lasting forever and have me dreaming of summer!

Today's post is some pictures I am loving from Pinterest for some summer inspiration. I may need to book a beach holiday soon now!

Lots of Love, 

Sophie xx