A Long Time Ago....

I totally havent been keeping up with this blog!! I looked and the last post was from the 27th of August :S - thats 4 months ago!! So much has happened since then! I have got engaged, planning a wedding, bought a house and still planning!

Well it is Christmas Eve Eve tonight and I am so excited for tomorrow! I think its the most exciting day of the whole year! Its the build up to Christmas day and you can see the presents wrapped, the fridge is full of food, the children are getting excited and aaaaahhh so much is going on! 

Our family tradition is to watch the Muppets Christmas Carol and I love the song when it says "Theres only 1 more sleep til Christmas" you still get that excitement you did when you were a child.

Well I follow a blog called The Red Headed Hostess and she is a member and she posted this that I read today and loved. Its called 'I want to me more like Mary'. If the title doesnt grab you enough what she says is amazing! 

http://www.theredheadedhostess.com/holidays/christmas/i-want-to-be-more-like-mary/

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Photo Apps

Recently I have really been getting into photography! I am not doing it as a hobby but it is more of an interest. I dont know why I have started to love it recently, but I have and I really do love it! There are so many paths you can take with photography and I love the many different styles.

I dont really use my camera as much as I should and I do regret not taking pictures when I have been out and about. I have learnt from this and I am trying to take as many pictures as I can, when I can.

Since I have my beloved iPhone 4 there are so many photography apps that you can get, whats even better is that alot of them are FREE!

I love how everywhere I go I have a good quality camera in my pocket!

I am going to do a run down of my favourite photo apps: (Not in any particular order)

Appysnap - This is an app I actually use everyday without fail, the reason being is that I get a photo 'mission' everyday! You can even win prizes e.g Amazon Kindle, Starbucks Giftcards etc. Its not so much about winning but the fact that everyday its a fun and random photo opportunity. For example, take a picture of someone with as many hats on their head, take a picture of you now holding a picture of you as a baby, take a picture of the sunrise/sunset.

BeFunky, 100 Cameras & Pixlromatic - These apps I dont use as much but they are free and have tons of cool effects! They are more for old style/vintage photos. On Pixlromatic you can also add frames and lights etc

Instagram - I have mentioned this in one of my previous posts but it is one of my favourites! It creates amazing looking photos and you can also view your friends photos and others from around the world.

PopBooth - Remember those photos you used to pay £1 for and get your picture taken in the Photo Booth? Well alot of my old photos with friends are from these kinds of photos. Well I got so excited when I found the free app to create your own, you can also change the colours from black and white, vintage and pop colour.

WordFoto -  You heard the expression "A picture is worth a thousand words" Well this app turns your photo into a thousand words! I paid for this app but it is definitley worth it!

Pho.to Lab - Some of the photos on here are tacky and cheap but if you search and get the right photo for the picture then you can get some really amazing pictures! They have different effects and also can add your face onto a celebrities body etc.

Photo 365 - This has to be my ALL TIME FAVOURITE!!! I love challenges/projects and this really has put me to the test! I have only done it for 1 week but I absolutely love it! You have to take a picture of something everyday, whether its a new food you have tried, a beautiful flower you have found or even just what you did for that day. You need to take a picture every single day for a whole year (hence being called Photo 365) I love it and I have even created a new blog just for this reason. I seriously put you up for the test because I know the results looking back will be amazing - I call it my photo journal!

Well I hope you have enjoyed and hopefully you will share the same excitement as me when you download these apps too! :D

Any questions feel free to ask!

Kat Von D

If you don't know who this is, its Kat Von D! She is a tattoo artist and known for her TV show L.A Ink (which I admit I haven't watched a lot of) I absolutely love her and there are so many reasons why, which I will go onto later. 

I think people judge her too quickly, they look at her tattoos and make up their own mind about who she is. Others read stories about her on gossip websites and call her a 'slag' or 'whore' but these companies are out to make money so they want scandalous stories. 

Anyways I got her book today ' High Voltage Tattoo ' I never read, but I was addicted to it straight away!! What caught my attention to Kat Von D was the kind of person she truly is. I read a letter she wrote and it made me realise thats how people SHOULD be! She appreciates absolutely everything in life - even the small things! She always talks about love and the way it should be viewed (that its sacred), she CELEBRATES being sober, she doesnt judge others and she is an overall happy person even through difficult times.

Click here to read her letter.

She is an amazing artist! She has made a 'Sketch A Day' book and every day on Twitter, without fail she uploads a picture. I eagerly wait to see what she has drew today. Her sketches look like photographs. She even turns the sketches into tattoos and it looks just like or better than the real photo! Here is an example (even though its not one of my favourites) 

I was so happy the day she personally replied to me on twitter! It made my night..my day..my year so far!!! It was such a surprise! Lastly she loves Beethoven and here is a picture from her book.

Little Danbo!

A few weeks ago it was such a horrible saturday afternoon, it was raining practically ALL day! So I decided I would do a little craft (which took longer than I thought) BUT the result was worth it! For a few years now I have seen this little dude who is made out of an Amazon box. I thought it was just an animation but its a real thing! The pictures are just so so cute! 

Well I found out you can buy 'Danbo' but only from Japan and its from £30-£40 so I thought I would make my own! I found a YouTube video and a link to print him off. So I cut him out, folded him and glued him together and this is my result....

 

South Lakes Zoo

Last Saturday me and my family visited South Lakes Zoo.

Its such a fantastic day out for any age and especially animal lovers! I went for the first time in September last year for Chris' birthday, we had such a good time and was an amazing experience. I think its quite cheap (12.50p for an adult) saying you have a full day to wander around. Nearly every hour you can go and listen to a talk about the specific animal then watch it feed and even sometimes you can feed them yourself! We fed the kangroos, wallabies, emus, lemurs and giraffes! 

This is without a zoom on the camera! They were really this close!

I learnt that day that Giraffes are very placid animals, the reason there eyes are so big and black is because they have in built sunglasses because of the sun (makes sense!) and that they hardly ever sleep! They have like max 10 mins a day!

I was gutted last time I went because I missed the Sloths! I asked the woman where the sloths were but because they were asleep I could hardly see them. The woman was so friendly and she opened door and woke one of them up so I could its face properly and later on I watched it climb over to get something to eat. There were 2 sloths and they were called Stella and Stanley! They were both on the opposite ends of the area and she said they very rarely see each other and briefly pass each other when on the ropes! Ha Ha! Its quite sad really. 

 

My favourite animals are definitley the monkeys! Just everything about them make me laugh! They are soooo cute. I loved the gibbons. I could actually sit and watch them all day. My dream job would be to work with them!

Anyways heres some other pictures from the day.

 

 

Instagram

I have had the Instagram app on my iPhone for aaggeess but never really used it. One of my fav celebs Kat Von D uses it all the time and I decided to look at it a bit more and .............. I actually REALLY love it!! It is alot of trial and error but the pictures look amazing afterwards! Here are a couple of tests I did that I really like!

South Shields Beach

Tree Huggers

If anyone has an iPhone I recommend downloading it, especially because it is FREE!!! So even if you dont like it, you are not losing out!

New Blogger Alert!!

Recently I have been looking at many peoples Blogs and I love them! When I go on Facebook I see their updates. I have been wanting to start one for a while and since I have been off this week I have decided to do it now! 

I see a Blog as a kind of journal! It has dates, memories, thoughts and pictures all in one! Little things I notice or that I like everyday I wouldnt necessarily write in my journal, yet I would write on a Blog (which I like the idea of!)

I decided to name my Blog 'Jumping on the Bandwagon' because I feel I am the last person do a Blog but thought while everyone else is doing one, I may as well do one too!