Things I Like to do on Saturday's

- Taking photos and planning posts for the week ahead
- Have cuddling time with my dog
- Spending time outside with family
- Catching up with friends I don't get to see
- Read new posts from my blog feed
- Reply to emails
- Visit new places, and explore
- Bake or cook something, and watching peoples faces when they like that food. Mostly...
- Shop in town and buy some new products or items for presents or myself

What do you like to do on a Saturday?

Sunday.

I thought I would do a 'sit-down and chat' type of post today - I never seem to do enough of them! There has been a bit of a lack of posts this week, something you may or may not have noticed, but I have been quite busy doing my Design Technology coursework - anyone who took this as a GCSE, any advice would be greatly appreciated! I have a baking post (yet again!) for you over the next week, but for now here's what I have been up to over the last few days:

I have been listening to 'Cool Kids' and 'Uptown Funk' lately while working. I don't know why, but I am one of those people who like to work with music in the background, it helps me concentrate. This is so bizarre to my family - they have to work in a quiet environment!

I went to IKEA last weekend, and collected a few little pieces for my bedroom. One included a laptop stand (I think that is what they are called!), so I can take my laptop into my bed and read new blog posts in comfort. I also brought some whiteboard pens for my glass whiteboard, so I have been writing all of my reminders on that! Two candles were also added to the shopping bag, I've got one lit now and it smells lovely!

My friend lent me a book, can't remember the book for the life of me, but it was about a girl was in a car crash with her friends. She survived, but with a scar that was on the left side of her face, and she is really self-concious about it. Until she meets a boy called Ryan who helps her through it. If anyone knows the name of that book, leave it in the comments and then other people know the name. It's a  great book, and its worth a read.

The rest of my time has been taken up with school work, really! I am glad it is half-term, and I am also happy that the warmer weather is coming, here in the UK! I love spending time in bed, but I am making a effort to get up like I would do on a normal school day, so I actually get some work done!

I hope you all had a nice Valentines day, whether you celebrate it or not. I don't really because I don't have a Valentine! I baked a chocolate cake for my friends, and brought some slices into school.

What have you been up to this week?

Photography: Editing

In my recent Q&A, many of you asked about my photography, so I decided I would put together a little list of tips that I use on my photos. Above is an example of the editing process I go through, and while they might not look that different to you, I think the right one looks so much more brighter and vibrant, and more interesting to look at! I will just go through the editing stages I went through in this photo, but of course you will have to change up this guide to suit your own!

Exposure. Exposure is the brightness, and how much light is exposed in the photo. This is a tool that I use on nearly every photo, as I find that my photos look so much brighter and colourful. Do be careful though, there is a thin line between bright, and too bright (personal experience...!)

Colour temperature. I only use this occasionally, but it does look effective when I do! This is basically how warm you want the photo to look, cold or hot. As I said, because I have only used it occasionally, I can't make a judgement either way, but from personal experience it is a good tool to use for your photos.

Angle Editor. I use this to try out different angles on my photo. This is just a bit of fun, and more often than not I get a nice angle that I would have never thought of without playing around with the settings! If you see in the example image, the original is tilted left, but with a bit of editing you can get it closer and tilting right, which I think is a better angle!

Let me know if you try any of these, and do you have any editing tips?

Banana and Sultana Muffins

One thing I love doing at the weekend is baking something. Whether it be cakes, bread or something else, I like testing new recipes and adding new ingredients and flavours to make a recipe 'my own'. These are banana and sultana muffins, and you can replace the fruit with anything of your choice really; you could replace the sultanas for chocolate chips if you wanted! These are super easy to make, and make perfect breakfast muffins as well as a nice snack.

Ingredients (makes 6-8 ish)

150g of self-raising flour

50g of light muscovado sugar

25g of porridge oats

1 ripe banana

142 ml of buttermilk, or use yogurt and milk to make your own.
1 egg white
75g of sultanas

Heat the oven to 180° degrees Celsius, and tip the flour, sugar and the oats into a large bowl until combined. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the buttermilk/yogurt and milk combination until almost smooth, and then add the egg white. Pour that mixture into the well and stir quickly yet gently with a spoon. It will be lumpy and have the odd flour speck, but don't overmix! Tip in the sultanas and stir again gently. Divide the mixture evenly between the cases. The cases will be quite full, but don't worry! Sprinkle the top with some more oats and sugar. Bake for 18-20 minutes, leave to cool for 5 minutes, before lifting out of the tray to leave completely. 

Let me know if you try this recipe, and hope you like them!

Ask Me Anything - Your Questions Answered

Where is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation would be somewhere hot, and where I could relax and eat delicious food! Aside from that, I would like to visit America someday as I would love to see all the shops and the landmarks!

How tall are you?
I am 163cm, which is about 5.3 feet.

Can you speak any other languages besides English?
We learn French at school, and although I am not the best at it, I know enough to get by! I also can speak a bit of German and Spanish, but not much!

What is your one blogging goal?
I would say to keep going really! I would love to reach xx amount of followers and share my words with more people, but to do that you have to keep going, so that is my one goal!

I've bought a Canon 700d recently and I'm still in the process of learning how to take good photos. I always like your photography so what setting do you mostly?
Thank you! To begin with, I used Auto as I was still getting to grips with what every setting did and what effect it would have on my photos. I use Manual most the time, as I then can control every aspect of my photo, but some people don't like this mode! I would recommend to study the camera guide like crazy to find out what everything does, and then dedicate a day or so just taking pictures with all the different settings and modes until you find the one that is best for you. Of course, I am still learning so I don't know everything, but that would be the advice I would give myself if starting again!

How do you manage studying and blogging at the same time?

When you are at school studying for exams and blogging can be difficult! I personally don't believe in studying constantly, as I just get bored which means non of the information I am revising for actually goes into my head! I usually spend my weekday evening doing homework etc, and then spend my weekends taking photographs, writing and editing posts etc. This may change when I start my GCSEs, but for now this is a routine that works for me, and I plan to stick to it as long as possible!

What is your favourite food?
Oh, this is a hard one! Probably homemade spaghetti carbonara with slices of ham!

What do you hope to study in uni?
I don't know really! I want to see how my GCSE's go before I start worrying about that! I plan to take Triple Science, History, Art and ICT as well as the compulsory subjects!

What is your favourite place you have been to so far?
Well, in the UK it was probably London! I really enjoyed the business of the streets and all the shops! I enjoy living in the country, but I love the shops too! Abroad, it would probably be Turkey! Next time I visit with my family, I would like to see the market places outside the hotel as I was to scared before!

What is your favourite perspective for taking pictures?

I like to test lots of different angles, but one I have found that I use most often is to the side, and slightly upwards!

Current favorite thing to listen to? 
I love music, and at the moment I really like 'Outside' by Ellie Goulding and 'Cool Kids' by Echosmith!

What camera do you use?
Canon 100d, with usually my 50mm lens.

How did you learn to use it?

I just studied my camera guide book like crazy for the first few days, and just followed all the tips I mentioned earlier, really! Its a bit of trail and error, some of your photos will look terrible, and some will look great! You just need to focus on what you like about your great ones and ask for other peoples opinions too, as they might think completely different to you, but it is great to get another persons perspective! 

What's your favourite camera book?
I was gifted with a beautiful camera book for christmas by my auntie and uncle, called Picture Perfect Social Media, which I love as it explains all the different settings on my camera, and has some really pretty pictures which you can take inspiration from! The author herself is also a blogger, so that is also super helpful!

Do you like smelling books?
Yes, I do! 

What do you like about blogging?

Everything really! I know it sounds soppy, but my favourite thing is probably sharing my content and photography, and your feedback! Your comments and support means so much to me, and I get a warm feeling inside when I read your comments and emails!

What is your favourite subject?

I assume this means at school, and I would say I have several! My favourites are English, Design Technology, ICT, and Art.

If you have any more questions, leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them!