20 questions

I saw this tag of sorts over on the Short and Sweet of It and thought it was a nice idea, some things that I haven't seen around before, and for any new readers, it might be a nice thing to read.

1. What brings you the greatest joy? I think small things, like waking up in bed and the sun shining, or enjoying a quiet afternoon with my mum talking about knitting and books.

2. What are your vices? Chocolate raisins, red wine, expensive yarn.

3. What is on your nightstand? I don't exactly have one, but on the shelf above my bed I keep my glasses, Crabtree and Evelyn pomegrante body lotion, my current read (at the moment, the latest ASOIAF book), several empty glasses and coke-cans, and a plethora of bobby-pins and hair ties.

4. Do you have a secret talent? I can whistle pretty well but it's not that secretive, I whistle a lot. Secret from the internet, I suppose.

5. What is your greatest indulgence? Lie-ins. I enjoy sleeping in far too much.

6. What should every woman try at least once in her life? Standing up for other women - more than once - which doesn't seem to happen as much as I would hope.

7. What makes you laugh? Bad puns, my mum, friends at work. 

8. What is the one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I care a lot about what people think about me, unfortunately. 

9. What is on your bucket list? Visiting Iceland, amongst things.

10. What is on your feet right now? Some green felted slippers.

11. How did you make your first dollar pound? My first job was the one I currently have - I work in a supermarket although I did a different position. I remember absolutely loving getting my first pay-cheque! Other than that, probably doing work for my parents in exchange for pocket money..

12. What superstition do you believe in? I always seem to say 'touch wood' when I think about bad things, and then have to do it. I don't really believe it, per se, but I always seem to do it. 

13. What items in your closet do you wear the most? Comfy jumpers. I have about ten 'favourite jumpers'. 

14. What is the best gift you've ever received? I had to have a good think about that, but probably all the knowledge my mum has given me over the years. Without her I would probably be a lot stupider, a lot less talented, a lot less well-read, a lot more bored, a lot more boring. 

15. What is on your liquor shelf? I don't have a shelf, but downstairs I have some wine left over from Christmas, a bottle of homemade sloe-gin, a bottle of homemade raspberry vodka, and a bottle of homemade clementine orange. Also I think some rum and some Bombay Sapphire gin.

16. What is on your kitchen counter? At the moment a lot of mess from making dinner with my mum.

17. What would you never leave home without? My phone, probably. How predictable. Also at the moment I always seem to have mints and bobby-pins on me (my fringe is growing out!).

18. What movie has the greatest ending? I remember the first time I watched The Usual Suspects I aboslutely loved the ending. Also I think The Royal Tenenbaums has the most bittersweet ending o f all films. 

19. Who is on your guest list for your ideal dinner party? George R.R. Martin, Vija Celmins, David Attenborough, Tina Fey, Wes Anderson, and lots of dead people that would include; Agnes Martin, Mark Rothko, and Ed Ruscha, JG Ballard, Sylvia Plath. And probably Ryan Gosling.

20. What is the one thing you wish you had known when you were younger? How to like myself, which is something I am still learning.

I want everyone that follows me to do this and send me a link - I would like to get to know you all a bit better!

tweeness, triteness and tat

I often face an ongoing battle in myself - something that really probably shouldn't bother me but it does. That is the battle against tweeness - against that very American style way that has permeated blogs that decorates the celebration of seasons and holidays. I think there is something cloying about perfectly styled Pinterest set-ups that as bloggers we try and emulate.

I am excited about Autumn, Fall, if you will, and so I decided to look this up on Pinterest, trying to find a picture for a previous post. I'm faced with an array of scattered orange maple leaves, of pumpkins precariously posed, apple pies and scented candles and hot chocolate. I can cast a net and find a thousand over-Photoshopped photos of orange tree-lined avenues. Something in it strikes a chord in me and I get torn - torn between thinking this is so tweet, an American presence that has invaded our blogs and magazines and TV-shows..

But then I stop, and I look at the images and just tell myself to shut up sometimes, stepping aside from my persona as a 'fine artist', as someone who can be a snob, I admit! At university we were drummed into with the idea that anything slightly twee was awful and we should hate it because it isn't somehow real or gritty… I know that was because our tutor was a hideous man, though, and I look at this images with a different light, today, because I don't really see the harm in celebrating something that is genuinely beautiful, the changing seasons and nature. I don't see the harm in celebrating the love of hot chocolate, or bonfires, or toffee apples, of cinnamon scented candles.

I lived with a girl at university who was so vehemently against anything like this - against things that weren't striving to be cool or unique and my god, it just seems like too much had work to deny yourself enjoyment - and more to the point, who are you to judge people that enjoy these things? I'm not sure if there is a point to this post - maybe this is just a change in my mind, but I don't want to have a similar, awful, contrived personality that I grew to hate - I want to be honest about things that I like and not feel the need to hide them. 

Does anyone even understand what I'm on about? Haha, oh well.

friday nights, saturday mornings

Hello lovelies, how are you this fine Saturday morning? I am lounging around in my bedroom, which gets gorgeously sunny in the mornings. After a week of torrential downpours and hail, I am so grateful for a little bit of sunshine! The picture above was taken last night, me and my housemate decided to pop into town for a drink, something we rarely do, and it felt quite lovely to get a bit ~dressed up~ (for me this involves putting on new tights and bright lipstick!) and have a drink. Now in the cold light of day, I feel like I should be doing work!

gone in the morning

Today I was bored, so I decided to put on makeup and lipstick and just lounge around the house eating amazing biscuits that I got for 10p at work. I was going to do some drawing but I found myself looking at pictures of home libraries online. This is my life.
What are you doing today? Please tell me something interesting.

And he shall be my T-Rex, and I shall name him..

So, my lovely little followers, this is what you call regular blogging! Quite intriguing, don't you think. Anyway, this is what I wore Christmas day (and boxing day, cheekyy). I got some lovely new bits and pieces for Christmas, so thought I might show you them.

I know I look a little bit silly, but I really like this photo! I thought I looked quite good for a change, haha. Anyway, HOW great is my lipstick? This isn't really an accurate description of the colour, so if you want a proper post on it, let me know! It's Corrupt by Illamasqua, and it's super bright pink. Not like fuschia-pink, more a paler hot pink. It's hard to describe but it's excellent!

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge

I know my eyeshadow is a little bit smudgy but I'd worn this all day, whilst shopping during the sales! Haha. Here I am wearing my shiny shiny new Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge, which was also a lovely Christmas present from my Grandma. I wore it with an eyeshadow over the top and with a base but it did unfortunately crease. It's very liquidy, so I might have to leave the top off for a bit to let it dry out, haha.

Pure Cotton Cable Knit Jumper

This may be my new favourite jumper in existence. I picked it out, from Marks and Spencers, from the mens section, and I got it for Christmas. It's this beautiful, amazingly cozy beige cable jumper. They're not even that expensive. I know the pictures on the M&S website look very cheesy, but I like that I can pull this down long enough to wear it just over leggings, or stick a £3 H&M skirt on underneath... Lovely lovely stuff. And very useful for cold days at uni!

Also, I genuinely cannot recommend men's jumpers enough! A much much nicer fit than womens ones, which are always cropped and fitted and shit. Horrid! Haha.

(ALSO, doesn't my wall on the left of me look pretty awesome? I redid it with new photos and such not long ago!)

Galibardy T-Rex Necklace

And finally, my most excellent present of all, which I adore. My Galibardy Dinosaur necklace. It is amazing, and I've wanted it ever since I laid eye on it. I'm going to do a whole post about Galibardy but let me just say.. they have some AMAZING pieces. Everyone has commented on it, and it's just excellent. One of those quirky jewellery piecs that I just love. He definitely needs a name now. I'm thinking something like Trevor. Who knows, I will take any suggestions!

Not gonna lie, thought I look quite stylish that day. Haha, if only you could see me now, in my stretched out primark jumper and pj pants, with my hair all greasy and eating chocolate orange in bed at 5AM cause my sleeping pattern is fucked! hahah.

Anyway, I hope you don't think this is bragging or showing off or anything, just thought I'd show you where to find some wonderful things that I love already. (:

What did you guys get for Christmas?!

Clare Marie
xxx

(Under the jump is a list, of everything I used on my face, just in case you fancy such things!)

Hilhairious. (This is the best, worst pun I could think of!)

Hello everyone!
Sorry if my posts seem a bit sporadic at the moment, I just started uni this week and it's been a bit of a mad rush during the day and then collapsing when I come home.. and it's only Tuesday! haha. I think my blog may be a bit empty over the coming weeks, whilst I'm getting myself settled in, but please don't be put off! I will be back! I just need to get everything prioritised and then I'll be fine!
In other news, I am desperately missing my long hair! I was going through and deleting old photo-booth pictures (i hadn't deleted any siance I got my computer, two and a half years ago!) and WOW I forgot how long my hair was, not that long ago. I was convinced by my hair-dresser that I wanted it shorter, but now I want it really long again. Look at that first one! Damn. I want to be able to put it in a really long plait.

So I think I'm going to let it grow out again. My hair grows like a weed so it shouldn't be too hard!
For reference, this is where it's up too at the moment. (I know this is silly picture, but my eyes wouldn't focus because I was sleepy and I looked crazy if I looked at the lens!)

How are you all my lovelies?! I can't believe I'm getting on for 270 followers! It's insane. Thank-you, allllll of you! (:
x