A Beautiful Mess App Review

This is probably quite predictable... but I am loving the ABM photo editing app! I was really excited to hear about it's release and was certainly not disappointed when I started using all the pretty features.

What I love about the app:

- Cute doodles, borders and fonts.

- Very simple and satisfying user interface.

- Typical "Elsie" style phrases and handwriting.

- Easy sharing options - uploading to instagram couldn't be simpler!

I'm not so fond of:

- The saved image quality is not great...

- Not being able to switch between editing elements - meaning you can't fix mistakes.

I've seen a lot of reviews complaining about having to purchase upgrades within the app. I'm sort of on the fence about that, because yes I would rather just pay once, but I don't think the upgrades are actually that expensive. I haven't purchased any yet, as I have had plenty of fun with the original pack anyway! I'm also a big believer in charging things at the value they are worth. A lot of hard work went into that app, why shouldn't they charge an extra 69p for it?

All in all, it's a really sweet app - those girls have done it again! 

x Rachel 

Snapshot 19/5/13

Loving>>> Being in beautiful Derbyshire for the weekend.

Watching>>> Game of Thrones and Summer Heights High. 

Reading>>>  Mollie Makes - I have finally subscribed! 

Listening to>>> A Fine Frenzy.

Wearing>>> Long flowery dresses with my Docs.

Looking Forward to>>> Starting a new job next week! 

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend, I escaped to the countryside for a few days... very much needed! 

x Rachel 

Weekly Art: Good Light Hunting

Today the star of Weekly Art is Ian Good..... My Dad! As you can see, he is a fantastic photographer - and a very handy person to know when I need tips on how to improve my photos. That first picture - taken in Oregon - is my favourite, I love the colours. 

Be sure to check out his blog Good Light Hunting for more beautiful fine art and travel photography. 

x Rachel 

New Wedding Invites

I'm really excited to share these with you today! I've been working on these pretty wedding invites over the last few weeks (the cause of all the creative mess!) and they are finally finished and in the post to the lovely bride :) 

It's a summer wedding in a barn, so the invites have a sweet whimsical feel and reflect their yellow and white theme... The backs of the pages are all stamped by hand! 

The above picture shows the front and back of the pages that are piled up and tied in a little parcel with yellow bakers twine. I hope the happy couple are as chuffed with them as I am! 

There are lots of busy shop-related plans happening around here at the moment... More on that later, but expect to see these invites and plenty more pretty things again very soon! 

x Rachel 

Creative Mess

This week I have been working on some lovely wedding invitations! They are in the final stages, which means lots of mess all over the place as I keep going with the production line. I've learnt a lot through making these, especially ways of cutting labour time by being as efficient as possible. It's all about "batching" tasks - this post has some really helpful info about it. 

There's something fascinating to me about projects in their messy unfinished stages and I am going to be celebrating that in this mini series. If you'd like to show some of your creative mess, go ahead and join the link-up below! It can be like a "what I'm working on now" party! Be sure to link back to this post so others can join in. 

Let's embrace the mess! 

x Rachel 

Reuse "Ruined" Film Photos

I recently shared my very first roll of film from my Diana F+ camera, and as I said in the original post - I definitely need more practice! Some of the photos came out very dark and blurry, and while I quite like that effect, some of them were barely recognisable! 

I thought it was a shame for these (ahem - very expensive) prints to be wasting away under the bed, so I decided to turn them into little quote pictures instead. I used a white marker for one and my trusty Dymo for the other... I'm really pleased with them now! 

I'm going to make enough to cover the door of our record cabinet, each with our favourite lyrics on them. Fun :) 

x Rachel 

The Happy List

1// Perfect Parasole //2// Hot Air Balloon DIY //3// Rainbow Cheesecake //4// From the Unicorns //5// Pretty Sunglasses //6// Hanging Doily Chair //7// I would wear this dress everyday... //8// Yellow Shoes //9// Ship Mobile! 

Elsewhere on the web....

>>> A stunning look into the illustration process.

>>> 9 Clever uses for spaces under stairs... 

>>> 10 Things to stop doing in order to be happy. I love this!

And in real life...

>>> I'm feeling much more healthy this week! Which means more motivated, productive and happy. 

>>> New office supplies... I love pretending that my dining room table is my studio. 

>>> The thought of picnics on Hampstead Heath, may there be many more this summer! 

What's on your Happy List this week? 

x Rachel