The Much Needed Dymo Label Maker

For quite a while I’d had this label maker saved as a bookmark on my computer, and finally this week I decided to invest. When I picture a classic owner of these label makers I go for the compulsively neat characters who label everything and anything. However after seeing clever and artsy ways to use this contraption floating around Pinterest I just couldn’t resist.

I bought this one from amazon for just under £13 because it had the best reviews and came with the black tape I was after, you can see I really did my research ha. 

I'll probably end up using this label maker for cute gift tags on Christmas presents and maybe a phone case here and there, but for today's post I thought I'd show you how I jazzed up my notebooks. They're both Moleskines of course, one is my sketchbook and the other my journal. When I was picking out the colour of my soon-to-be journal it only seemed right to go for this monochrome vibe, so white it was and it ended up going nicely with the black tape.

 There are probably slightly fancier ways you could use the labels to decorate this journal, I did think about putting a Polaroid on the front or something. But I ended up with this super simple style to match the simple colours.
Hopefully as my collection of notebooks expands they'll start to look a little more impressive; I like the idea of putting dates on the spine of the books saying when I started and finished them. 
This might all seem a little tedious considering the colour and design of a notebook really doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things! But, I do think that sometimes small amounts of beauty or detail in our everyday lives can make the day feel a little more special. 

Georgina 

Mid-Month Motivation || October

What a gorgeous quote huh? 

Not the most motivational but who could resist grabbing a vast looking photo and cropping it down for extra drama. This photo is of the Cloud Forest in Ecuador and snapped by my friend Amy. 

I'm not sure why I find this quote so captivating. I kept seeing a lot of 'get-up-and-go' quotes when I was scrolling in search of something for this post, but I don't think they're always what you need to hear to feel inspired. 

It makes me think of this artist I found on Pinterest, I'll link her work here. This whole idea of beautiful things bursting from someone's mind sounds pretty lovely to me.

Anything that's been inspiring / motivating you this month?

Georgina

Autumn Is For Plans

I did one of these at the start of summer and fell in love with how I could look back over it and tick things off. This season round it’s all about embracing the shorter days, the icy weather and cosying up with some comfy clothes. Here's my game plan for the next few months..

Crack out the super dark lips - my fave is MAC rebel 

Invest in some fairy lights with little lanterns on the end and string them up around my room 

Light up a spicy warm candle every evening 

As tumblr as it is don’t judge - pumpkin spice lattes are calling 

I’m not ready to say farewell to sandals yet, so embrace the socks and sandals 

Wrap up and go on long walks to savour the last leaves on trees 

Stock up on some heavy, snuggly jumpers 

Try and pick up my journal more often to write down passing thoughts

Embrace the rain, don’t let it get you down, sit and watch it with some music and a book

Start carrying my kindle / book out and about with me to squeeze in some reading now and then

Start planning some Christmas present ideas - it’s never too early!

Try and top up Instagram with regular posts - it ends up becoming a little collection of memories 

Take time for yourself - don’t get too stressed out - a little perspective always helps 

Pick up some whacky sunnies and pair with a dark lip

Try mix and matching textures and prints to jazz up a classic autumn outfit 

Book up a few trips to galleries equipped with a backpack, sketchbook and camera 

These are a little less ambitious than my summer list but still just as tempting. Any ideas you have for the upcoming months? I’d love to add to this list. 

Look out for weekly posts on a Monday morning from now on.

Georgina 

Little shoutout to my friend Darcey for coming up with this genius and ingenuitive post idea, well done, well done..   ( can you hear the sarcasm? ) 

3 Staple Camera Lenses

There's just something about buying and having a choice of camera lenses that appeals to me. The whole process of reading reviews of the best ones online to then switching between them myself, it's a very satisfying (and slightly pricey!) hobby. I thought I'd show you around my stash today, for any camera techie readers out there, or for someone that wants to dip in and try out. 

So to start with this is my beloved camera, a Nikon D5100 Digital SLR with flip screen - which comes in super handy, especially for any macro photography when you're down on the ground. In my opinion, lower budget Nikon cameras are much easier to navigate than a Canon for someone like me who learnt all the technical jazz after getting this camera. It's not that small, you could fit it in a backpack if you attached a smallish lens, but it's big enough to handle nicely and feel like a 'propah' camera. 

This Nikkor 18-105mm AF-S lens came with my camera and it's the one I stick to for landscapes or shots that don't need a small depth of field. I snapped a photo below so you can compare the type of image these lenses produce, you can see from this one that you can get a pretty wide angle shot without having to stand too far back from the subject. If you want to see what kind of shots it can take click here.  

This second lens, a Nikkor AF-S 50mm f1.8 is my newest addition and I honestly don't know how I survived without one! Great for taking photos of people and food, you can get a really small depth of field, so you achieve that lovely soft effect that looks professional and flattering in photos and videos. It's also pretty mini so great for days out when you want to keep things easy to carry. This photo above was taken from the same position as the previous lens, you can see how it's much more zoomed in than the wide-angle and has a much softer effect. You can click here and here if you want to see how this lens looks in video. 

This is the Sigma 105mm macro f2.8 lens, my final and most treasured lens. Gorgeous for when you want a sharp and detailed image of anything really small. The photo above doesn't do it any justice, but it lets you see how zoomed in the image is when the camera is in the same position as previously. If you want to see what kind of shots it can take I'll link some here, here and here.  

Hopefully this was helpful or just interesting to read, I do love a good techie chat from time to time. Any staple lenses you want to share? I'd love to hear. 
Georgina