Last Minute Holiday Gift Guide

We're halfway through December which means Christmas Day is less than 10 days away! I've still not made any progress on figuring out how this year went so fast. But anyway, it wouldn't be right if I let the holiday season pass without making a post about it. Although it's not technically 'last minute' yet, we're nearing panic time when it comes to holiday gifts. If you're like me and like to give the people you care about something more personal that an iTunes gift card, hopefully this post will help you out if you still have presents to get.

1. Dream Team Jade Mountain gift from T2 - If the person you're buying for is a tea drinker, you can't go wrong with one of T2's gifts. There are so many different types of tea and beautiful teaware to choose from that you'll definitely leave the store feeling like you've been successful. 

2. Yankee Candles - Everyone who has even somewhat of an interest in candles probably has a Yankee candle. Arguably, you can never have enough. I recommend giving a seasonally appropriate candle so they can burn it right away. My favourite for autumn/winter is Macintosh Spice and my favourite for spring/summer is Vanilla Lime. And of course, there's always their holiday collection!

3. 2016 Monthly Wall Calendar: Inspire from Kikki K - I've been buying Kikki K's Inspire calendars for myself for several years and I think they make a wonderful gift. Calendars are incredibly useful, and this one provides little pieces of inspiring wisdom and positivity every month.

4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Illustrated Edition by JK Rowling & Illustrated by Jim Kay - Everyone has gone nuts over this edition of Harry Potter (including me). It's the perfect way to relive the story or give it to someone to experience it for the first time. And with Harry Potter being as loved as it is, I think it'll be hard to go wrong with this one.

5. Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford - I think we're all well aware of the adult colouring boom that was this year, and Johanna Basford is definitely one of the top illustrators out there. All of her books are great for sitting down and relaxing.

That's it from me today! I hope you've gathered some inspiration and that you're having a great holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.

xx

Fantastic Female YouTubers

I've been a pretty regular fan of YouTubers for quite a few years now. Throughout that time, I've noticed that the majority of popular personalities on YouTube have been male, and I've made an effort to watch and support more female content creators. There are some truly amazing women on YouTube that all deserve more recognition. If you're looking for a place to start, I've made a little list of just four lovely ladies whose videos I've been watching for some time. While none of them are particularly 'underground' so to speak, they're all wonderful and create some awesome things. Enjoy!

Sanne / booksandquills

Sanne is a booktuber (who also makes a variety of other videos) who hails from the Netherlands and now resides in London. I've been watching her videos for years (my need for books will never be fully satisfied, it seems) and I truly trust her recommendations. I always enjoy watching her book hauls and getting ideas of what to read next. I also really enjoyed the above video about being a literary translator. As someone who speaks more than one language, it really interested me and made me consider all the challenges a translator has to go through. If you're a book person and haven't checked out Sanne's channel, then I highly recommend you do it. Right now.

Lex / tyrannosauruslexxx

Lex is another YouTuber I've been watching for quite a while. She has a great sense of humour and strikes me as a woman who isn't afraid to talk about and stand up for the things she believes in, something that I think is truly admirable. I was extremely happy when she made her video "Let's Talk PERIODS"(with Sanne, no less), because I think it's something that should be talked more about. Thank you, Lex, for popping that mysterious bubble surrounding periods and just discussing it anyway, as we should all be doing.

Ingrid / TheGridMonster

You probably know Ingrid from her main channel (which is lovely), but I think her second channel deserves more attention. She does a series called #5MFU (5 Minutes For Us) where she talks about a particular topic for around 5 minutes. It's a goldmine. She's covered sex ed, periods, and even poop. I thought Ingrid was pretty inspiring in the first place, but my discovery of this channel has just cemented how intelligent and wonderful she is.

Lucy / meowitslucy

Lucy's most frequent uploads are her "168 Hours" videos, in which she captures a week of her life - the ups and downs, the ordinary and exciting. All of her videos are beautifully shot and edited, and watching them makes me yearn for picnics in parks and meet-ups with friends. All of her other videos are also amazing and informative, and she also has a lovely voice. Perfect for when you're feeling inspired and getting the creative juices flowing.

I hope you check out the wonderful ladies I've talked about here! Let me know if you liked them, and feel absolutely free to leave any of your favourite female YouTubers in the comments below!

xx

A Few Favourite Fonts

I love a good well-made design of any sort, and when it comes to type, fonts can make or break the finished product. As someone who's spent a bit of time over the years making cards, posters and the like and has so far failed to make a decent font of her own, I've experimented with a load of different ones, and I've finally curated a nice little list of favourites that I keep coming back to. You might even recognise some of them from my previous posts. The links to all these fonts are below. I hope they please some of you type lovers out there.

Always in My Heart // Code Light // Fancy Me // Eyes Wide Open // Honey Script // Mayonaise

I hope you liked this little collection. If you have any favourite fonts that you've found, be sure to leave them in the comments! You can never have too many.

xx

Favourites Friday #5

Welcome to another edition of it being Friday and me liking things. A few things have been happening since I lasted posted one of these - semester ended which means I've been on holiday for a month, and during that month I also had a birthday. I've been pretty happy and relaxed and have felt like I've been able to sit down and enjoy things. So here are the things that I have been loving:

1. Long Knitted Cardigans - It's winter down under, and I'm not a fan of freezing, so I've been digging into my pile of knits. I recently bought a long black knitted cardi from Bonds (that's unfortunately sold out), which I love. The above one is from ASOS, which I would love to own as well.

2. Books Kinokuniya Sydney - I've raved and raved about this frickin' book store a thousand times, and I'm gonna do it again because I've been there quite a bit recently. Every time I go I just don't want to leave. I actually think I could just curl up in a corner and live there. They house all my literature, comic and Japanese book needs. I'll be loving it till I'm dead.

3. Gold studs, of all kinds - I'm not a big flashy earring person, so naturally I own 5000 pairs of studs, especially now that I have more than one piercing in each ear. Gold has slowly become my favourite metal over the years. I just think it looks classy (and goes really well with black, the colour I wear the most, naturally). I get most of my studs from Lovisa because they're cheap and have some really nice designs to mix and match, but the above pairs are from ASOS and are similar to ones that I own.

4 - Parks & Recreation - Okay, so here is the part where I admit that this is the first time I've watched Parks & Rec (late again, I know). Parks & Rec is part of the Holy Trinity of shows that Michael Schur has worked on (the other two being The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which are both incredible), so it's about time I saw it. It's so so funny, I've been laughing out loud a huge amount. I'm only up to the end of season 2, but I have a feeling that it won't take me long to finish the series.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - For those of you that don't know, Skyward Sword is a game for the Wii that was released in 2011. I've recently finished it for the second time, and I'm still in awe of how beautiful it is. I love the Zelda series, but Skyward Sword is such a magical experience. It's one of the longest games in the series, so it takes some dedication, but it's also pretty addictive and will probably have you playing it for 6 hours a day, even the second time around.

6. Sephora Pomegranate Face Mask - I went to Sephora for the first time the other week as it only opened in Sydey recently, and I've been quite impressed. I have really terrible skin that breaks out constantly, but the morning after I used this mask, it looked calmer and brighter. I was actually kind of happy with it for once. So naturally I went back and bought more. I need a whole stash.

7. Walk the Moon's album Talking Is Hard - I think we've all heard (and jammed hard to) 'Shut Up and Dance', and with good reason because it's a really good song. I went and listened to the whole album and was not disappointed - every other song on it is just as good, some are maybe even possibly better. It's great listening for almost every situation.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my favourites and check out some of the things I've mentioned!

Till next time,

xx

Relaxing Soundtrack

I listen to music without fail every single day. Whether I'm walking, taking the bus, writing or just doing nothing in particular, I probably have my headphones in. 

As much as I do love my poppy dance music, sometimes the mood calls for something different. I like to have a range of songs to play when I feel relaxed, so naturally I have a few favourite albums for doing exactly that:

Evergreen by Broods / Broods was one of the amazing discoveries I made when listening to Triple J's Hottest 100 earlier this year, and I love every track on this album. I just let it play on repeat constantly. It has some more upbeat tracks, but who doesn't love that? ~ Favourite tracks: Mother & Father / Bridges / L.A.F / Superstar

Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom / Joanna Newsom is a pretty new discovery for me, and I'll admit it took me a few listens to really get enthused, but now I seriously love her. She plays the harp and writes songs that read like poetry. It does feel like a very mellow record for the most part, but I do enjoy that. Also check out her live performances. She's so beautiful and talented. ~ Favourite tracks: Easy / '81 / Good Intentions Paving Company

Goddess by Banks / I've been listening to Banks for the longest out of these three, and I've had this album since it was released. There's something almost thrillingly dark about it, and some of her lyrics really hit you hard (in a good way). I'm glad a lot of people have been listening to this, because it definitely deserves recognition. Favourite tracks: Goddess / Waiting Game / This Is What It Feels Like / Drowning 

I listen to all three of these albums a lot, and I hope it inspires you to give them a try too. Let me know if you have any recommendations you think I might enjoy!

xx

Loving: Frankie Magazine

What is a blog of mine without a post about Frankie? 

Frankie is an Australian bi-monthly magazine that is really just absolutely wonderful. So wonderful that I've been reading it for four years now and have all 24 issues that I've bought in that time stacked up on my bookshelf, and I don't intend on getting rid of them any time soon. 

Every single issue is packed full of and covered with beautiful things that I am a complete sucker for. I sometimes just get excited about the covers. (Scroll down, you'll see what I mean.) Visually, its pages are littered with the works of amazing illustrators, photographers and designers. It even comes with a pull-out poster by a different artist every issue that doubles as a two-month calendar!

But what really hits the nail on the head is that it's not just aesthetically pleasing. It contains pieces written by fantastic people like Benjamin Law and Marieke Hardy (If you're not familiar with them now, you're not likely to forget them after reading a copy of Frankie. They will make you laugh, trust me.), facts and awesome historical figures, interviews with independent business people and artists and the like, recipes and DIY projects, inspiring stories about amazing people and even reviews on peanut butter.

The gorgeous issue 64 is on shelves now until April 13th.

Even if you don't plan on reading it cover to cover, just picking one up to rest on your coffee table and have a flick through is a great idea. It's got something in it for almost everyone. It goes for $10.50  an issue here in Australia (a bit pricey for some but hey it's only once every two months), and can be found in some select stores around the world for a price. A list of international stockists can be found on their website.

Check it out if you can! I hope you like what you find!

xx