Reaching my ultimate goal and why It didn't feel real

I have spent the last few months mainly working in around a thousand paid for private commissions, it's been an absolute blast, getting to paint so many people and pets. The downside to working on so many private commissions means that my soul work (this is the work that I make just for me often hidden in the depth of a tatty sketchbook) is often neglected.

For Christmas I received four sketchbooks, three pens and Peter Rabbit cuddly toy, we've never been big on gifts in my house. So Christmas was really the first day off from paid work in about two months, so I took the new pens and sketchbooks and I started creating line work. I have been screenshoting inspiring tattoo artists and work from Instagram on my phone, my phone often doubles up as a digital scrapbook. So I was finally able over Christmas to just doodle for me. It felt so good to just draw, write and not care so much about whats on the page.

It's nice to see my work after so many years heading in the directions that I want, getting recognition for my art work was really all I ever wanted, I realised something when I was travelling alone at 6:30 am on an empty metropolitan line train headed to BUST Craftacular that I had finally reached the moment I wanted to as a child, as child my dream was to live off the work I made, to be a paid for artist that was simply my dream. It felt rather surreal that I was heading to an event that I had been ask to attend, people were paying me to draw them. I had never really thought about it. I had ticked off my ultimate bucket list item. It that a bit braggy? a tad show off? well to be honest with you it felt as if I hadn't reached the one thing I wanted, but I was clearly living it.

Do you know why it never felt like I had reached my ultimate childhood dream.....because I was comparing myself against other creatives I follow on the internet, on Instagram and follow on twitter, I felt like my target wasn't great enough. I was obsessed as a child about creating art work, just the process of creating filled me with all the happiness I needed. So at what point did that not feel good enough to me? I sat down and had a word with myself, I sat down and wrote all the brilliant things I had managed to complete in 2016. The list was filled with magazine features, work on the BBC, big commercial work and I finally came to the conclusion that I had done some great things, but I knew and realised that if I could do these wonderful things then why stop there....I could at least try and attempt a few more wonderful things, why the hell not?

So as we speak I am surrounded by lists of things I want to attempt to accomplish as a blogger, artist and person. They aren't too ambitious but the thought of completing them makes me rather happy indeed. They aren't really a list for 2017 but things to complete in time, it's taken me nearly three years of freelancing to finally be able to fully live off the wage I make to start properly saving for my future and also to be able to have a social life on top of that. So here is to the future and to everyone being able to tick those things off their lists.

IBIS lates

I recently had the opportunity to stay over at the IBIS in Shoreditch, I love the idea of staying over night in a hotel in my home city. The IBIS it's self is easily accessible from Whitechapel underground station. The night was all about music and mingling, IBIS had started it's lates on tour which involved roundhouse resident artists performing live in IBIS hotels across the country. It was a wonderful thought as most events I travel to the journey home is often tiring and cold in the winter months, but knowing that my room was just a lift ride away on the 7th floor it was safe to say I was happy enjoying the nights performance without the stress of a train journey across London late at night.

The artists performing on the night were a wonderful mix of Jazz, gospel and R&B, with the likes of Jay Johnson, Soma, Estee Blu and Nikita Chauhan playing some wonderful original music. The performances were fab at it was really nice to listen to up and coming talent, and it's great to see IBIS giving them such a great platform for all types of people to see their talent and hear their music.

My hotel room itself was basic but comfortable I enjoyed the cabin style bathrooms and I enjoyed the chocolates that were lovingly left in my room I'm a sucker for the small details, the room itself was comfortably sized or two people and I indulged in the exclusive SweetBed mattress that was in my room, after a long day of shooting and getting tattooed it was perfect.

Hanging out with Penny Skateboards

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I use to have a neon pink and green Penny back when I was at University in Falmouth, one of my first businesses was customising skateboards, bet you never knew that about me? I use to buy up old skateboards, sand them down and customise them with my drawings of tattoos, skulls and type. I grew up as a bit of a tomboy so when Penny Skateboards got in contact my inner child jumped for joy, I had been eyeing up there pastel collection and for a while and I fell in love with this 27" peppermint fade so when I took it out for the shoot it was the perfect size and reminded me of the first board I had ever been on, my older brother had a graphic 27" with 1980's style illustrations on that we use to bomb down the hills in the summer.

The way I dress hasn't much changed since I was a teenager, mom jeans, vans and big jumpers. So the Penny skateboard just fits in perfectly with how I dress, it's on the brighter side to the black, grey and whites that I often wear which makes it stand out more I guess. One of my favourite things to do when I am out with Natasha is to hunt out walls covered in amazing art work and graffiti, we wandered around Camden hunting for a wall that was locked behind gates on an estate so we accidentally stumbled upon this the doodle man piece.

I plan on drawing across the bottom of my Penny in my illustration style and mounting it on my wall, above where I work, every new years day I often change around my work space adding new pieces of art work, calendars and things that inspire me, my Penny will brighten up my space and inspire me for summer, as these dark winter has me looking forward to warmer weather and then I will be able to take the board out when I finally want to spend more time outside.

*Sponsored post but all thoughts and opinions are my own

pergola on the roof

I was invited to head down to Pergola on the roof and try some tasty food. First of all Pergola on the roof is located on the roof of the iconic Television Centre you know the place that was home to the BBC back in the day so that was pretty cool also its just opposite Westfield which is pretty handy after a little bit of Christmas shopping to pop up and chill, the vibe of the restaurants reminded me of the pop up and street style food you would find in the hipper parts of east London, which I always enjoy when I'm in that part of town. Pergola is only temporary for the winter season up until 23rd December so book a table now if you want to experience it.

The food itself there were 4 restaurants to choose from Doing a wide range of wraps, dips, burgers and chips, I opted for the falafel wrap with spicy hummus as it probably wasn't the best time to go back to being vegan, but the wrap was made quickly and tasted amazing alongside triple cooked fries it was pretty adorable and tasty,  if you're a meat lover they have a lot on the menu that seemed to be hitting it off with the other party goers.

The only thing that I had wished it had had, was a bar that was selling more then mulled wine as a hot beverage, it was too chilly up on the roof but I do love a good cuppa or coffee when I'm in such a cosy environment, other then that pergola was a pretty fab place to hang out with friends and grab a bite.

I loved the decorations and it did feel very cosy and very Christmassy, and the atmosphere was friendly as the tables sit around 10 people you can keep yourself to yourself or you can chat away to the others around you. All in all the food was beautiful and the surroundings surprisingly warm and christmassy.

This is a sponsored post but all view, opinions and photos are my own

Counting down to Christmas With Newlook

 Party season prep is on us, and as a freelancer I don't often get to dress up around Christmas so when New Look contacted me about dressing for Christmas cocktails I jumped at the chance. Black is my go to colour of choice when it comes to a night out, but I wanted to make this look a little more elegant then my norm. I'm a massive fan of Christmas and making an effort when I go out so when New Look asked me to share my Cocktails look you can imagine it would involve a little black, I opted for a leather skirt, I own a leather dress but there was something really versatile about the wrap around front. I liked the fact elements of this outfit could be recycled and worn on a daily basis. The wow factor for me is the thigh high boots. I'm not the biggest fan of my legs so I found good thigh high boot on a night out really elongates my legs and makes me feel sassy.

As some one who only drinks on special occasions I wanted to make my favourite flavour cocktails, These are both gin based with a rather autumnal feel one has honey and always reminds me of evenings having hot honey and lemon and my favourite mocktail has a warming effect with ginger and lime. 

So the cocktails I opted for creating in these amazing Mason style jars by new look are quite warming in flavours.

The alcoholic cocktail is called Bumble Bee and is made with Gin, lemon, and honey I also added some lemon flavoured soda water to give it a little kick the mocktail always seem like an odd combination but its good for you and tastes pretty damn amazing. It’s called the super green dream drink and consists of  half a cucumber,  ginger root, apple juice and lime juice I mean the colour isn’t the most appetizing but at Christmas we do sometimes forget to eat a little healthier so this is great if like me you like to have a little green in your life.

I am feeling rather festive, and I've been enjoying the count down to Christmas and all the little traditions that come with it, a little bit like the traditions I have for going out occasionally on Christmas Eve with my sister or mates, its taking the time to look good and getting into the festive spirit.

Getting back to my choice of outfit I love the fact the skirt has waist adjustments so if like me a few cocktails and Christmas nibbles can be too much while dancing away you can still feel comfortable in it. I think a lot of leather skirts are a little too much for my height and this one suits my shape perfectly. I would team such an outfit with pieces of jewellery that really stand out as this is an outfit that would look fab with a focus on accessories, you can never have too much sparkle at Christmas. I chose the velvet strappy top because as a child at Christmas time for school productions or parties I would opt to wear my burgundy velvet dress, So it was my homage to my love of velvet at Christmas.

I do love how I feel elegant in this outfit even though it isn’t the typical cocktail outfit I feel that it is very me. 

This is a sponsored post by New Look, but all writing, opinions and photos are my own. 

Coffee and catch ups

Leopard print cardigan - H&M | Faux snake skin boots - Primark | Jeans - Zara | Faux leather jacket - Zara | t-shirt - Hallow Collective |

It's nice again to be able to blog a little, its been so crazy on the lead up to Christmas, a lot of areas of my life get neglected, barely any time to head to the gym, which I have to admit is kind of killing me a little, the brain is on finish commission mode and totally fueled by coffee but that part I do love.  Nothing makes me happier then throwing on some comfy clothes and heading out for a coffee with a mate, when you're a freelancer having some time away from your work space it does wonders for my stress levels. I am literally in awe of the love and amount of commissions people have trusted me with in the last month for gifts and presents for loved one 2017 is set to be the biggest of my career yet so I'm hoping the work carries on and the jobs I am entrusted to do are just as fab as 2016 has been. Just last night I finally closed my commission book for 2016 which took a lot of organising and I hate turning work down but when it's just little old me painting, packing and emailing you have to get to a point where you can't take on everything, so the coffee and an hour break was good for me.

A few weeks ago I finally got around to snapping up one of my now favorite  t-shirts "no soul to sell" from the Hallow collective,  perfect item to throw on quickly and it often makes me people laugh so it's perfect. My boots were also a purchase I had been waiting a while to get, I had seen a few other ladies on Instagram with faux snake skin boots and as soon as I had saw them in Primark I treated myself. They are a little out of my comfort zone but I love them. 

I am still lovingly surprised that my blog is up for the Uk Blog Awards How exciting is that it is under the Lifestyle category and I am up against some other fab bloggers, so I doubt I stand much of a chance but it's a fab end to the year.  If you fancy voting for my ramblings you can here.

Behind the scenes of my shoot with Blogosphere Magazine

I am never one to brag about myself in anyway shape or form, if you was to ask any of my mates they would tell you I am constantly tough on myself so I thought I would take the moment to refelcton one of the most exciting things to happen to me in 2016, because lets face facts I think personally 2016 has been a steaming pile of poo.

So for a few months I have had to keep quiet about a little something with Blogosphere magazine, I was contacted and asked if I wanted to feature in issue 11 which I was no way going to turn down, so the morning of the shoot I had never felt so nervous, now I can take a good selfie but standing in front of a photographer/assistant, make up artist you can imagine it's pretty nerve wracking. But when I arrived it was all so fab. The location was amazing and I loved every moment. So I wanted to share with you a few snaps I took so you could have a little look behind the scenes and admire the location.

The majority of the clothes I wore for the shoot were lovingly sent to me by Boohoo, but the favorite photo that they featured I'm wearing my bargain other stories Pink wrap over dress, still a little bit in love with that photo. The photographer  David Mitchell was just amazing and you can follow him over on instagram at @theworldofmitchell

In the magazine I talk about loosing my mum and my future plans as an artist even though I slightly sound like hate children ( I assure you I don't) it makes for a fun read and was deffo out of my comfort zone. There are some really fab friends that are also featured so if you want to get your blogosphere copy you can buy directly from their website.