school is ok

Papers, papers, papers.
When will they ever stop?
I hope that they stop fairly soon,
because I think my brain might pop.

School is overwhelming. I feel like I have too much work, not enough time and definitely not enough space in my brain to store all this new information.
My planner pages are never empty.
There's always some scribbled nothingness placed on the page due for the week after.
It's repetitive and monotonous, but it's something new.

Will it get less busy? Probably not.
But, am I enjoying it? Sure, I guess so.

Bathtime - a poem.

" A tower of bubbles grows tall,

higher and higher,

above my head.

My body sinks underwater,

lower and lower,

'till I relax.

Explosions of colourful spheres,

fizzing and fizzing,

race round the tub.

The minutes run away from me,

faster and faster,

wasted time goes. "

BACK TO SCHOOL ESSENTIALS?

My Doc Marten dolly's are slowly making their way out of my wardrobe, along with their thuggishly educational gang of polo shirts, cardigans and skirts.

That's right everybody...the time has come to go back to School.

Over the past six weeks of summer-y bliss, I've witnessed hundreds of 'Back to School' posts fill my blogger feed and even more school supplies videos fill my YouTube subscription box.

I read so many explanations of products what I have been told are 'essential' for my voyage back to school. According to my research, I need notebooks, pens, pencils and ringbinders galore!

The things I've purchased so far include a rather jazzy backpack and about five bathbombs.

So, who's the winner here?

Probably not me, but I'd still rather walk around in a Lush induced haze for a couple more weeks, than go shopping for school shoes.

Do you like or loathe 'Back to School' season?

Let me know in the comments!

Peace out girl scouts,

Wishing you all the best for going back to school,

Fran ♥

Negativity on the internet.

People on the internet have lots of opinions. People outside of the internet have lots of opinions too.

Opinions are often shared a lot on the internet. These opinions can be positive and uplifting, but unfortunately sometimes they can be mean and upset others.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of opinions and I think discussions are great! However, I think it's wrong when people use social media to target others because of their opinions. Just like everybody says "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

I recently watched Gabby's (VelvetGh0st) video about honesty and I'd like to talk about it today.

This video really put into perspective how negativity and hate on the internet can emotionally impact somebody and their life.

She talked about how she has been affected by people sending her hate on social media.   She explained in the video how she felt upset and how the hate had stopped her from being herself.

I think it was incredibly brave of Gabby to upload her video onto YouTube. Although the video is rather long, I really do encourage you to watch it - if you're familiar with her or not.

Her video is a reminder that although she has thousands of subscribers, she's a real person. Also just because you're commenting via a URL, it doesn't mean that it doesn't affect somebody IRL.

If you're going to take anything from this blog post, please let it be this.

Use your social media to spread positivity, not negativity.

Peace out girl scouts,

Fran

☺♥

Gabby's video-

SUMMER POSITIVITY // FUN IDEAS - PART TWO

In my last post, I talked about fun things to do in the Summer holidays to stay happy.

I'm going to continue with this post now with a part two.

...

#4 - Re-decorate your room

It's good to organise and change up your room every once in a while! Maybe add some pops of colour to brighten up your bedroom? Or some cute fairy lights and bunting?

There are some good videos lurking around YouTube about DIY room decor; I'll link some below!

#5 - Get reading!

#6 - Subscribe to some new Blogs/YouTube Channels

I love reading blogs and watching YouTube videos, just like every other teenager! 

I'm going to list some of my recommendations below...

Blogs - 

Fii - Little Miss Fii

Lexi  - Lexi Likes

Jess - Rather Strange Blog

Chessie  - Freshly Pickked

Youtube Channels - 

Alex & Mia Vlogs  - Alex and Mia

Beckie - Beckie0

Emma - Boxes of Foxes

Dodie - Doddleoddle

Frances - HelloFranSays

Isabella - ViewsofNow

I hope you all have a great boredom-free summer!

Fran ☺♥

SUMMER POSITIVITY // FUN IDEAS - PART ONE

Summer is such a hyped-up holiday. We build up big plans for our break and often feel disappointed when they sometimes don't work out exactly how we plan them. Friends/family who you want to hang out with may be away on their own holidays. There will be times where you'll be bored and have no idea what to do!

But it's okay.

There's plenty of Summer projects you can do to keep yourself busy and most importantly, happy!

In my post today, I'm going to tell you some fun ideas to keep you happy, active and definitely not bored!

Here we gooo.....

#1- Start a blog / YouTube channel

Last Summer, I made the decision to set up a blog. Since I had a lot of spare time, I used it to change my blog's theme and of course, write lots of blog posts. Creating a blog allowed me to be creative and share my creativity with others, something I still love to do a year later.

Of course, you can also create a YouTube channel. There are so many great YouTube channels now, I'm sure you can check a few of them out for some ideas!

#2- Listen to some music!

A long holiday is a good opportunity to get out your laptop and get listening to some new music! I like to use Spotify to put my favourite songs into playlists and to find new artists too.

Some of the artists I recommend are:

• Florence & the Machine
• Paramore
• Troye Sivan
• Sabrina Carpenter
•  Misterwives

#3- Complete a DIY project

I have to complete projects as a part of my art coursework in School. You can complete something in a sketchbook or you can make a cute DIY! I love watching DIY YouTube videos on how to recreate products from shops, they're so clever!

Here are some of my favourites...

I hope you like my ideas!

I'll be back soon with a part 2....

Fran ♥

colourful flowers & classroom doodles.

Recently, I found myself sitting in a classroom with a piece of scrap paper near by. 

                 So naturally, I decided to doodle.

I always find myself drawing either faces or flowers, but I can never take them seriously.       I enjoy making characters look cartoon-esque and colouring in flowers in bright highlighter shades. 

I find that there's something fun about doodling aimlessly, there's no deadlines or specific thing you need to draw. You just draw. You just be creative and draw something! 

I have a school planner full of doodles and people often ask me if they can look through it.

 It makes me sad when I hear people say "I wish I could draw!", because what's stopping you? 

It's easy to pick up a pencil and paper and just draw! It's a great way to express your creativity and use your imagination. It's just about enjoying yourself.

BE CREATIVE!

Peace out girl scouts,

Fran 

☺♥

a chatty post & a playlist.

Hola amigos!

I've been rather busy recently with school work, revision and what not, so I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would like on my blog. 

But, here I am now and I've created a playlist, for you all to have a listen to in your spare time!

In other news, the Taylor Swift 'Bad Blood' video was released! I know I'm a bit late on giving my opinions, but can we please talk about it? IT WAS AWESOME. If I had to choose a favourite character from the video, it would have to be 'Crimson Curse' (Hayley Williams). She was just so awesome and I'm a big Paramore fan, so it was great to see her being included! 

The songs featured in this playlist appear in my 'It's Spring Y'all' playlist on spotify:

So feel free to listen your little heart's content!

Let me know in the comments below what you're fave song on the playlist is! 

I hope you have all had an amazing whitson holiday break (for my UK readers!),

& I hope you have a great week next week,

Thanks for reading!

Fran ♥ 

Aboriginal Art Converse Shoes - Art Project Catchup!

Hello everybody!

Today is another ' Art Project Catchup!'  and I'm going to be sharing some Aboriginal Art inspired Converse shoes! 

These are from an older art project, but I wanted to share them with you anyway.

Off we go...

 

Watermelon Pop - Design #1

 

Retro Flowers - Design #2

Lizard Lover - Design #3

Throwin' Shade - Design #4

 

Golden Roses - Final Design

What did you think of my designs? Do you have a favourite?

Let me know in the comments!

Have a fantastic week,

Fran☺

Pull&Bear Wishlist//

 I recently have found the clothing website 'Pull&Bear' and let me tell you...it's amazing!

The clothing looks very tumblr-esque and indie, a style I like a lot.

So today, I thought I would share my 'wishlist' featuring my favourite products.

HERE WE GOOO...

#1 Double-strap cropped t-shirt

I really love the dark floral pattern featured on this top. A little bit gothic, yet perfect for spring/summer time!

#2 Floral print sweatshirt

The light blue and white colour scheme on this jumper is gorgeous! I like that it looks slightly faded.

#3 Reversible print jacket

I can definitely see somebody wearing this coat on a cold day in the UK. It's definitely quirkier than your average rain mac! 

#4 Shorts with frilled hems

I like the simplicity of these shorts. I can definitely see them being paired with a colourful top for a day at the beach!

#5 Floral-print shorts

These shorts remind me of pj bottoms, but I think they're really cool! The dusty blue colour is really cute and summery.

#6 Printed t-shirt

I am a big lover of chocolate, so I find this t-shirt to be a must-have! I like the simple design, especially the chocolate crumb detail.

Have you ever shopped at Pull&Bear? 

What's your favourite item that I've featured in this post?

I hope you've enjoyed my first fashion post,

Have a fantastic week and bank-holiday Monday!

Fran ♥

Aboriginal Art CD Covers - Art Project Catchup!

Hello hello hello!

Welcome back to another 'Art Project Catchup!'

In my last art project, I was studying Aboriginal Art. This type of art is known for being intricate and detailed, something that I struggled to re-create. The end product of my project was a pair of Aboriginal Art inspired Converse boots. But, along the way I had to research many different aspects of the art until I reached my final product. One of these aspects was 'Modernising Aboriginal Art' and for this I decided that I would re-create CD covers.

But to mix it up a little bit for my blog, I've decided to add some song suggestions from these albums for you to listen to!

So, here they are...

X (Multiply) - Ed Sheeran

My Favourite Songs-

Bloodstream

I'm a Mess

Don't

Riot! - Paramore

My Favourite Songs-

For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic

Fences

Misery Business

1989 - Taylor Swift

My Favourite Songs-

Blank Space

Out of the Woods

Wildest Dreams

Are you a fan of Aboriginal Art? Do you like how I've re-created these CD Covers? 

Let me know in the comments below!

Have a fantastic week,

Fran ☺

Fran's Top Five Friday #1 - Youtubers

Hi guys!

Welcome to 'Fran's Top Five Friday #1'. 

It's a new blog-series I'm starting, showcasing my top five 'favourites' for the week. They could be  music, youtubers or bloggers, I'm going to change it up every post!

This week, I'm going to focus on my 'Top Five' youtubers or vloggers.

Recently, I've started watching a lot more youtubers and I thought I'd share my current faves with you.

So here we gooo.....

Alisha Marie (Macbby11) is a new find for me. She's really bubbly and I her videos never fail to make me smile. I like watching her vlogs, which usually feature her sister Ashley Nichole and her super cute dog, Chloe.

Favourite video -  Morning Routine! How Girls Get Ready in the Morning!

I found Essie's channel (Essie Button) through her blog. I always thought that her blog design was really cute, so I thought I'd check out her youtube! I'm really glad that I did, because I love her videos. Her videos range from cooking to favourite videos, to makeup tutorials and even bookclub (#buttonsbookshelf)! 

Favourite Video - March Favourites! Beauty +  Fashion!

I found Hannah's channel (noonecareshannah) through her twitter page and she is just so funny! She comes across as really sarcastic and relatable in her videos. I can always rely on her to upload  original videos and I know that I'll be laughing out loud by the end of the video!

Favourite Video - HOW TO MAKE TOAST

Eva's channel (MyLifeAsEva) came up in the 'reccommended' section of my youtube a couple of weeks ago. Honestly, I am so glad it did, because her videos are amazing. They are so well edited and I always have a dance to the music in her intros.

Favourite Video - High School You Vs. Child You!

Gabb's channel (Velvetgh0st) is so lovely. I like watching her videos, because it's just like she's having a little chat with you! She's so funny and she just seems like a really nice person.

Favourite Video - Meet My Kitten & Kitten Haul!

Thanks for reading,

Have a great week,

Fran ♥

Art Deco - Art Project Catchup!

Hey guys!

I hope you're all having a great half-term so far! I've loved having time just to relax and go on my computer ☺

The post today is going to be an 'Art Project Catchup!', featuring a couple of pages I did focusing on Art Deco. I really love Art Deco design, because it just looks so bold and modern. I tried to focus on a metallic colour scheme, because I just love the way it looks (but mostly because I love my metallic sharpies!)

These are the two pages in my art project featuring Art Deco design. I focused on Architecture and furniture mostly, because I found that it was mainly used for those purposes.

I attempted to do a 'stained glass window' sort of design, using shiny paper and metallic sharpies. The design was inspired by a 'The Great Gatsby' film poster.

This minimalistic drawing was inspired by a DKNY advert featuring Ashley Greene.

I found the advertisement in an old Teen Vogue and I just love the ideas surrounding it. I decided to draw skyscrapers in the girl's sunglasses and I like how they stand out. Finally, I put the phrase "Meanwhile in New York..." above her head and viola! It was complete!

Are you an Art Deco lover like me? Or do you prefer a different style?

Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day,

Fran ♥

1920's Flapper Girls - Art Project Catchup!

Hey guys!

I hope you're all enjoying your Easter/Spring holidays so far, I know I am! 

It's nice to relax and have lie-ins in the mornings, but I have got quite a bit of homework to complete. 

Talking of homework (nice segway Fran), I've been completing an art project recently. I struggle sometimes to just sit down and do some art, so I really need to get on with this project now!

I thought I would share some of the work I've recently done. 

For my project, I am focusing on '1920's American Culture'. I've always been intrigued by this time period, so I wanted this to be reflected in my work.

A section of my work is focused on 'Women and their roles in the 1920's'. I wanted to do a couple of pages on the importance of Flapper Girls and how they changed women's roles.

Ethlyn Clair - American Actress/Flapper

1920's Vogue cover

Gilda Grey- American Actress/Flapper

What is your favourite time-period? Are you a fan of the 1920's like me?

Let me know in the comments!

I hope to share some more of my art project throughout the holiday,

Thanks for reading,

Fran ☺

LUSH HAUL

'Ello 'ello 'ello!

I went to LUSH during half term holidays in February and I picked up a few things. I thought I would share what I bought and my opinions on the products!

If you read my blog often, you'll recognise some of my favourite products featured below.

(Please excuse my spelling of the word *ballistic* in the edits, I only realised when putting this post together)

HERE WE GOOOOO.....

Avobath - Bath Ballistic - £3.35
I took a chance buying this product, because I had never really read a review of it before.
After attempting to split this bath bomb up (& failing miserably), I just decided to use it all in one go. It turned my bath a sort of pastel green, unlike the Fizzbanger bath bomb which turns the bathwater BRIGHT green. However, I think the colour slightly put me off buying the product.
I found  this bath bomb really moisturising and I really like the sherbet-type smell it has too!
I'd rate it a 3.5/5

Pop in the Bath - Bubble Bar - £2.95

I recieved this as a gift and it was the first time I had ever tried this bubble bar. BUT I LOVE IT!

The scent is very fresh and awakening, so it's perfect for a lazy morning. There was a flower on top of the bubble bar originally, but as you can see I had already started using it before I took this picture. I think you can get this bubble bar in different colours, but with the same scent. I think this a really good idea, because not everybody likes a certain colour! This particular one turns the bath like a light pink/white colour, which I personally love.

I'd rate this a 5/5

Space Girl - Bath Ballistic - £2.35

I LOVE the smell of this bath bomb, it literally smells like Parma Violets. I originally thought that this bath bomb would turn my bathwater a red-ish colour, which I wasn't so keen on. But when I actually used it, I discovered that it turns my bathwater a gorgeous light purple colour! I think one of the major disapointments for me was that this bath bomb was definitely a 'one-use only' one. I would have liked to have been able to split it up and used it in seperate baths!

I'd rate it 4/5

Think Pink - Bath Ballistic - £2.65

After recieving this in one of the giftsets for my birthday, I really wanted to repurchase this product. Again, this is definitely a one use product but I think it's well worth the money you spend. It turns the bath a sort of highlighter-esque pink and release tons of heart shaped confetti! I really love this bath bomb! I would love for it to be made in a bigger size, because it would be easier to use!

I'd rate it a 4/5

Twilight - Bath Ballistic - £3.35

I really love this bath bomb and I like to reserve it for relaxing times. The blue speckles in the product look really cute when released into the bath water too! This bath bomb helps me to sleep as it contains Lavender, so I don't think I would use this in the morning. It has the same scent as the 'Lush Luxury Pud'  that is released in the Christmas collection. I should really mention that this product is massive! If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get about 3-4 uses from this, so it's very purse-friendly!

I'd rate this 4.5/5

Before I end this post I want to mention that I've recently made a twitter account for my blog.

The username is @elevator_brain , so make sure to follow me!

Thank you very much for reading,

I hope you all have a great week,

Fran ♥

MARCH PLAYLIST//

Hi guys!

Not a big post today, since it's Mother's day! 

I recently created a playlist for March (2 weeks late I know),  so I decided that I should share it with you.

Listen on Spotify - March - Blog Playlist

I hope you all have a lovely week,

Fran ♥

February Favourites (kinda)

Hey you!

I kinda feel as if I haven't sat down and just wrote in a while. 

All my recent posts have been quite short and sweet, so go grab a cup of tea and prepare for a chatty post!

These are supposed to be my 'February Favourites', but they are basically things I've been loving since the end of 2014 and the start of 2015.

Here we go!

Lush - You guys know that I love a good bath bomb, I'm always talking about Lush! I bought 3 bath bombs when I went shopping there the other day, they're called 'Think Pink', 'Avobath' and 'Space Girl'. My Mam's friend also sent me 'Pop in the Bath' and 'Twilight', which smell sooo good! (Thanks Auntie Sue!) I'm also really excited for the Easter collection in Lush, I've heard so many good things. I have my eye on the carrot bubble bars, so I think I need to pop to the shops once again. (I really need to limit the amount of money I spend in Lush, don't ya think?!)

Guides - I'm a part of my local guiding unit and we recently went on indoor camp. It was fun to spend a weekend with all my friends and I really enjoyed it. The camp was 'Around the World' themed, so all the activities were based in different countries. For example, we designed dresses for 'Paris Fashion Week' and made chocolates when we visited Belgium.
Some of you may have gone to Brownies when you were younger, but I think that Guides is really different! In my opinion, I think that Guides is a mid-week excuse for me just to relax and have some fun. If you're a Guide, let me know in the comments. ☺

Rookie - Recently I've really gotten into reading the posts on  Rookie and I just like reading them in my spare time. They're written (mostly) by teenage girls, so each post is different and interesting in it's own way. I have all three 'Rookie Yearbooks' and they're really awesome! One of my favourite Rookie articles is this Lena Dunham interview by Maude Apatow. I like it because it doesn't seem like an interview to me, it just seems like a friendly chat.

Frankie Magazine - I saw this  in a WHSmiths near me and I immediately picked it up. I've seen Frankie Magazine featured on some of my favourite blogs like Freshly Pickked and India Kitty. It's an Australian magazine, so I've never seen it in the UK before and I was suprised to see it being sold.
I think this is the Dec/Jan edition, but it's still really cool. I loved reading all the quirky articles and interviews,  I would definitely recommend you picking it up if you see it!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - I saw this book being promoted when I went to 'Summer in the City', but I didn't think much of it until I saw all the reviews being posted. There were loads of people voicing their opinions on this book, so I was chuffed when I got it for Christmas. I read it about a month ago and I can't say that it's the best book I've ever read, but the plot twists did leave me in shock. This book was good, but I found it a bit confusing at times. Overall, I think the characters were developed so successfully! I am recommending this book to you all, but you will either love it or hate it!

What were your February favourites?

Are you a fan of magazines or do you prefer blogs?

Let me know in the comments! 

Have a good week,

Fran ♥

Art Project in Progress...

Art project in progress...

I will report back soon!

Have a great week,

Fran ♥