Inspiring Tattoos - Sophie

I am so excited about today's post. Sophie from Flirty Dresses has kindly shared photos of her tattoos and a description of how she got them. 

Hi everyone!! I am so pleased Sarah has allowed me to feature on her blog. I absolutely love the tattoo themes she includes, and especially like reading/hearing peoples meanings and reasonings behind their tattoos and there really are some gorgeous designs out there as well. I love the chance that I am able to share with you, my tattoos and obviously I am going to be a little biased and say that I adore them all! Haha.

This was my very first tattoo which I had done 4th July 2009! It is quite plain and simple but I believe that this one word can symbolise a fair bit for many people. No matter how tough things in life get, you need to keep strong and have hope and believe in yourself and others around you. (thats my thoughts anyway!) If you can't see from the picture, it is on my right wrist and honestly, the pain was nothing in comparison to others. I think this is due to the fact it is quite small and dainty and didnt take a lot of work doing. The colouring of the heart was pretty much painless as well. Bonus.

I decided to get another tattoo pretty soon after having the first one... I think there was like 2 or 3 months inbetween them and I just had to have this design! I know some of you are looking at this thinking 'erm why?!' and honestly there isnt really any reason other than I think it is pretty and feminine. There are also a couple of abstract music notes entwined with the butterfly design (can you see them) which I thought was gorgeous - especially as music and performance have been a huge part of my life for the last 10 years or so!

Honestly, the first thing I am going to say about this one is OH MY GOD IT HURT SO BAD. Seriously, worse pain of my life!!! I was a sweaty, shakey pale mess when I got this done and had to stop for a toilet break to calm myself down. LOL. If you cant see the placement of it, it is on my ribcage on the right hand side just under my boob. There is a very deep and long meaning behind this tattoo but I will try and keep it short and sweet.

For those of you who dont know, this is Latin for 'she flies with her own wings' which would be a gorgeous phrase on its own right? Anyway, almost 8 years ago I lost my mum to cancer and I had always said that I would do something/get something I could keep to remind me of her on a daily basis. After YEARS of deliberation and thinking I decided I would get a tattoo in her memory. Obviously I had to wait til I was 18 but it wasnt something I rushed into... I wanted to make sure it was perfect. The reason I chose this phrase in Latin is because Latin was my mums all time favourite language. I remember her reading Latin phrase books to me when I was small! :)
It isnt finished yet. I think it looks a little bit boring in some respects so I want to get a Dove going up towards the feather but I know that would be unbearable pain. Haha... I dont know though, we shall see...

I got this tattoo done today which is why it doesnt look all that great in the pictures. Its very sore and it has so much Savlon on it that its all shiny! I'm not gunna lie, this one hurt a lot too. I'm not sure if thats because there is so much detail on it or because it is a fairly large design in quite a small area? Either way, the pain was worth it! Lilys are my favourite flower of all time and they are quite significant for various reasons in our family so I asked my tattooist to draw me up a design which she did and came up with this!! I think it is gorgeous and cant wait for it to heal. This was a birthday present from my Auntie and Uncle for my 21st which makes it all the more special in my opinion.

Now that I have finished rambling (pass me the sick bucket I hear you all say) I would like to say a massive thank you to Sarah for letting me take part in her blog and thank you to all of you that have actually read this!

Love and stuff
Soph
x

Thank you so much Sophie for sharing your fab tattoos! They're lovely and I especially love the newest one. Anyone can visit the lovely Sophie's blog here.

Also just a quick reminder for everyone that today is the last day that you can enter my giveaway, which ends at today 23.59 GMT. All entries after that time wont be counted. You can enter that here.

Quote Of The Day

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I'm feeling a bit uninspired today so I thought I'd post this to inspire myself and all of you who are feeling slightly uninspired. Autumn is lovely, the colours of the trees, the fresh clean air and the cosy knitwear. But I miss the light in the evenings and having bbq's with friends.

What inspires you? 

Cute Touches

  Source for Picture one and Picture two

I have an interest in interior design and although my home doesn't have any stand out pieces in it I really love these. I love the way that adding a certain piece to a room can give it that extra something. The lamp is so elegant and the chest of drawers is so fun and playful. Do you have any interesting pieces in your home?

Sunday reading list

Inspired by Sofia's Journal and her Sunday Click List I have compiled my own list of a few of my favourite blog posts from other bloggers this past week. These are by no means all of my favourite blog posts, I have enjoyed reading so many, but I've had to shorten the list otherwise I'd be writing until the early hours of tomorrow morning!

♥ This Cranberry Chutney Recipe from Thoreau's Daughter had me drooling and feeling festive. Definitely a recipe to try during the Christmas period.

♥ This DIY Autumn Brew Recipe from The Bebebirds had me appreciating Autumn much more. The photography is gorgeous too.

♥ This post about words that are hard to spell by Girl in a Teeny Town had me nodding in agreement at every one. Triskaidekaphobia anyone? 

♥ These tips on 5 ways to make your holiday party one to remember on All Glam Things gave me some much needed tips for hosting a party this festive season. 

♥ This post about beating creative burnout and getting inspired from Bubby and Bean left me feeling inspired. This post is also helpful when you're feeling a bit uninspired about blogging. 

♥ This DIY Tea Cup Cup Candle from Open Ended is just too cute not to include in this list. It has a sort of vintage feel to it, don't you think? 

I hope you enjoyed this post. These posts are just perfect to read snuggled up on the sofa on a sunday with a hot drink. What are some of your favourite blog posts from this week? On another note, isn't the autumnal sky most beautiful? The colours contrasting with the slight fog is gorgeous. I looked properly yesterday and I couldn't help but to take some pictures. 

xo

What a cute design!

Image Source

I love tattoos, but I'm not sure if I could ever find a design that I'd like enough to have on my body. Most are too cutesy, large or cliche and I'm not a good enough artist to design my own. I do love this one, and I admire plenty of lovely tattoos. 

For those without tattoos, would you ever get one? For those with, would you consider getting another? 

Yummy Chocolate Brownie Recipe

I've spent ages finding the perfect chocolate brownie recipe. You know, the one where it is light and slightly crunchy on top and gooey and fudgey in the middle. This recipe which I am about to share with you makes brownies which are utterly gooey in the middle (leave for a day for them to harden slightly if you prefer), and totally deelish!

You Will Need

250g Unsalted butter

200g dark chocolate, at least 70%  
80g Cocoa powder, sifted.
65g Plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon Baking powder
360g Caster sugar,
4 large eggs. 

Method 

1) Preheat oven to 180°C, 350° F, Gas mark 4.

2) Grease baking tin.

3) In large bowl under simmering water melt butter and chocolate until it reaches a smooth consistency. 

4) In separate bowl mix cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar. Then add this to the bowl with the melted butter and chocolate in.

5) Beat in eggs until the mixture reaches a silky consistency.

6) put brownie mixture in greased baking tin and bake for 25 minutes. (tip - don't overcook if you want to achieve a gooey middle. The brownies should be springy on the outside yet gooey in the middle).

7) Allow to cool and then cut into squares.

Easy peasy and super yummy. Chocolate brownies are my favourite autumn dessert recipe.

xo

 

Giveaway!

I can't believe how much my blog has grown these past few months and to celebrate my one year of blogging and to thank each of you for following my blog, I have decided to host a giveaway. It is open to all readers (including international). The pieces included in it are products I actively endorse and products I've seen people express an interest in in their comments. I am so excited to host this giveaway, and the rules are really simple. But first, here are a few pictures of what you can win.

 

Items

Models Own Nail Varnish 14ml in colour: Bloobloo.

Soap & Glory Pulp Friction Foamy Fruity Body Scrub 250ml.

Rimmel Trio Eyeshadow 710 Twilight Zone (complements all eye colours - great for a smoky eye) 4.2g

Natural Collection Rosemary & Witch Hazel Face Mask 10ml.

Rimmel Royal Gloss 14ml (in 121 Yummy Shade) 

New Look Pink Sparkly Ring. (Size 18 not sure what that means for ring sizes)

Topshop Nail Polish in 'Gone Fishing' Shade, 8ml. 

New Look Feather Earrings. 

Running Time

This giveaway is open from 15th November 2011 - 23.59 (GMT) 30th November 2011. Any entries after this date will not be counted.

To Enter

1) You must be a follower of this blog via Google Friend Connect.

2) Please leave a comment on my blog telling me you've followed and the ways you have.

3) Please provide an e-mail address in your comment for me to contact you if you are the winner.

For Extra Entries (one extra entry for each thing done)

1) Follow Almost Delightful on Twitter. 

2) Tweet this giveaway saying @almostdelight is having a giveaway on http://www.almostdelightful.com. Variations can be used. A link to the tweet must be provided in a comment on this post. 

3) Post about this giveaway. A link to the post must be provided in a comment on this post.

The Small Print

1) This giveaway is open to all readers, including international readers.

2) It is open to everyone aged 16 and over. If you are under 16 you must have permission from a parent/guardian to enter. 

3) A winner will be picked using the random.org number generator.

4) The giveaway will run until the 30th November and a winner will be picked and announced on the 1st December. Any entries after 23.59 (GMT) 30th November will not be counted.

5) I will contact the winner on the 1st December. If the winner does not respond within one week I will pick another winner using random.org.

   

Good luck everyone! xo

The Motel Event

As a lot of you know I went to the Motel Rocks event on Thursday on Oxford Steet in London after being kindly invited by Selina. I was so nervous about going. It felt like going on a first date, you get the similar feeling of heightened self consciousness and jittery nerves. I met up with Rachel beforehand and we made our way to the event.

I really enjoyed the event, Selina and the girls made us feel welcome and the alcohol was free flowing and plentiful. We could get our nails done, eat pretty cupcakes and candyfloss and guess how many items were in the glossybox too. The people I met there were lovely too (and really stylish!) the Motel Winter Collection looks wonderful, the pieces were adorned with a mixture of fur, sequins, and embellishments. Leopard print and Aztec print were also featured.

Sorry that this picture is so dark, but from left - right the lovely Rachel, Charlotte, Daisy, Tilly.

 We had the opportunity to receive a free November edition Glossy Box and Motel were also kind enough to allow us to pick out our favourite item. I picked the pinky dress which you can see in the first photo.

Sorry for such a photo laden post, but I had millions on my camera to share! I still have lots of photos on my computer so if anyone wants any just contact me. I'd just like to say thanks Motel and Selina for such an amazing event!

xo

Ooh exciting

Just a quick update to show off my new jewellery. My clock necklace is wooden and i bought it from Temporary Secretary Jewellery and I love it. The packaging was really cute too and there was a little card thanking me for buying from them which I thought was a lovely touch. 

On another note, is anyone going to the Motel event in London tomorrow? I think I know of one other person who is going (Rachel, Cold Knees) but I've not heard many other people mention it. I'm really looking forward to it. I've never been to a blogger event before but it'll be really nice to meet some people. I'll be bringing my camera and taking pictures of the event (where we get a sneak preview of Motel's winter collection), which I will be sharing with you all here. On another note I also want to thank Lauren for her guest post, it was lovely and I really enjoyed reading it. If anyone else wants to guest post about their tattoos on my blog please get in touch! 

xo

Inspiring Tattoos - Lauren

I'm super excited today to invite Lauren from Belle Du Brighton to showcase her tattoos and tell us the story behind them. I love looking at tattoos, and I'm always so interested to find out the meanings behind them. So I'll allow Lauren to tell us about hers. 

"After discovering Almost Delightful, I was reading through the archives and really like the tattoo posts, but there hadn’t been one for a while, so I tweeted Sarah to say it was a shame she’d stopped... so I said I'd happily tell you all about mine! 

I have two tattoos on my back, the one at the bottom is a celtic knot with a purple diamond in it, which symbolises my Irish ancestry & an amethyst, which is my birthstone. I kind of regret getting this tattoo, as its just not as special as the others, I hardly ever show it to people, and its placement means nobody really sees it either. One day I'll design something that incorporates it to help to cover it up. The one at the top is an Egyptian Ankh, or ‘key of life’ with 5 little stars placed above it. I had spent some time in Egypt exploring the tombs and discovering more about Egypt's history, and many sources say that the symbol translates to protection, which I liked. The 5 stars symbolise all my grandparents and my uncle, who have all passed away.

I have both my feet tattooed, I got them done about 6 months apart and the first was on my left foot, and is the Comedy & Tragedy masks. To me it symbolises that life goes both ways and is generally a bit of a drama! I also danced (for fun and competitively), sung and played instruments throughout my teen years, and I decided on this tattoo to remind me of that part of my life too. When I decided I wanted the other foot done, I chose the Latin for “peace, hope and freedom” as I try to keep these three things as my priorities in life. The placement of the words run just along the outer edge, so when I'm wearing flip-flops all the wording is visible. If I could change anything about this tattoo, its that I would have used my own hand writing instead of a script font (although my writing is atrocious so to be honest it’s probably best as it is!) The feet hurt more than any other part of the body, for me anyway!

The tattoo I got most recently is of two love birds sitting on my left wrist, with a heart between them. I got engaged this summer, and got this tattoo shortly after, so this symbolises ‘us’ without being too cheesy or obvious.

As I live in Brighton tattoos are really not frowned upon, but I still am very careful about the placement of my tattoos, and they can all be easily covered with tights/a shirt with a collar and sleeves, should it be necessary! I’ve found the tattoos on my feet draw a fair amount of interest, and ‘didn’t it hurts!?’

My advice to anyone who is thinking about it is to decide what and wear you want it, and then wait for a month. If you still want it then, then go for it! Getting a tattoo should really not be done on a whim, and especially not when drunk. A friend of a friend got really drunk in Cardiff, and woke up the next day with ‘GGGrrrrrr!’ tattooed on his right bum cheek. Not something you’d want to tell (or show!) your grandkids!

If you have questions at all please feel free to get in contact, I'm happy to help if I can!"

Thank you Lauren for this great post, I loved reading about how you got the tattoos and the meanings behind them. If anyone wants to know more about Lauren, you can visit her blog here. 

In other news I also did a guest post on Danielle's blog a few days ago about photography, which you can visit here. 

xo

Cute Make Up Storage Solutions

Image sources: Picture one and Picture two

I have so much make up and definitely not enough places to store it. I thought that these ideas were super cute and I really wanted to show you all, especially the second - I'd have never thought to store my make up in that particular way. How do you store your make up? 

Inspiration for today

Feeling a bit bleugh today. It's nice enough outside (although very chilly), but I just feel like staying indoors and doing nothing. I have to motivate myself to do some work but it's not happening at the moment. I just want to watch films and drink hot drinks. Even those these pictures wont motivate me to work, they are nice to look at whilst I spend lots of time online browsing blogs and watching youtube videos.

pictures from we heart it

Ooh I forgot to say, you may have noticed that I have added a new page to my blog called ad swap. I wont go into too much detail on my post, but it's completely free and (I think) a good idea. Click the page link at the top if you're intrigued!

What motivates you?

 xo

It feels more like Autumn

The leaves are turning orange and falling off the trees, I am drinking hot chocolate just before bedtime and in the mornings I look out of my window and I'm greeted by hazy sunshine. It's so relaxing to walk around early in the morning with a cup of coffee just breathing in the autumn air...

The first picture may seem a bit random, but trust me, maple syrup in hot chocolate is seriously yummy! The other pictures are just of my walks around, and the colours of the trees and leaves. So blissful!

xo