fresh start

http://teaandmanga.blogspot.com/

waiting for the 7.18

I feel as if I've got some explaining to do.

It has been over a month since I last blogged and it's down, I suppose, to a few reasons. I only really got into regular blog posting earlier this year and I was really enthusiastic to begin with. There are so many wonderful blogs out there that I enjoy reading, and it was great to enter such a welcoming community of bloggers. The few girls that I've spoken to so far, via my blog and twitter, have been so lovely and it is one of the honest reasons that I fell in love with blogging to begin with.

However, a few weeks ago I received some very hurtful and accusing comments online from another, fairly new, blogger which really knocked my confidence. I am not trying to be anything special with this blog, nor do I think I am more important or better than anyone, and I certainly do not copy content from anyone else's site. If I do take pictures, or see something of interest on another blog, then I credit and link accordingly. The comments really knocked my confidence, especially as I have so few followers at the moment that I really  wasn't prepared for anything negative. I felt my blog content needed a re-think and, due to starting a new job a few days late, decided to take a break from the online world.

I am a girl that loves to write, and is currently struggling through life after university unsure of what the future holds. I love fashion as much as the next girl, I love food although I'm not much of a cook, and I love to read anything and everything; I hope that my blog from now on will reflect this and therefore accurately represent me as a person. I've decided to continue with this blog as it brings me a lot of pleasure and happiness, and hopefully I'm now more prepared for any future problems. I'm not going to let one girl taint my feelings of the blogosphere as a whole and the hundreds of lovely people out there who write blogs and support other bloggers, both new and established.

This is a fresh start for Paper Bags and Polka Dots, and I hope that some of you will stay along for the journey.

pick of the best: sandals

Welcome to this week's very late (so so sorry!) pick of the best! The gorgeous summer weather we've been having over the weekend got me thinking about footwear, specifically my lack of summer shoes, which is why I have decided to take a look at some of the sandals in the shops at the moment.

As I pretty much live in my DM's, or a pair of boring black Topshop boots, the thought of exposing my feet to the world when the warm weather hits is pretty terrifying, but this lovely selection makes the scary prospect that tiny bit easier!

Hawk Feather T-Bar Sandals, £30, Topshop



Navaho Sandal, £65, Office



FRAN Suede Tassle Sandals, £40, ASOS



Plaited Beaded Sandals, £29.99, New Look



Brown Print Gladiator Sandals, £44.99, River Island



Kalahari Sandals, £55, Carvela (Kurt Geiger)

 I think my favourites have to be the leopard print sandals from River Island as I really like the chunky straps and buckles; I am definitely not one for a dainty sandal that will expose my whole foot! I can imagine wearing them with a lovely black maxi dress on a long summer evening.

I should be back to my regular blogging next week. I started a new part-time job at a bank on friday (I definitely need to get some shopping funds while I pursue my writing career!), and I've been suffering with an ear infection so I've been a bit down. Once I've settled into the job, and visited the doctor, I should be back on track though!

Hope you're all enjoying the lovely weather!

birthday treats

Last week I introduced a new item to the blog, Pick of the Best, which I feel was quite well received by you all and I intend to keep it as a regular feature!

However, today is my little sister's 11th birthday so I have been a bit busy sorting birthday-related things out for her; she is having a Mexican themed party after school so I have been making a pineapple shaped pinata...and a lovely Victoria sponge (not at all Mexican related, I agree, but delicious nonetheless!)

I will be back tomorrow with my pick of the best for this week! Plus, news on a crafty blog shop I'm considering opening!

x

style focus: wallpaper rose

Hi everyone! Firstly, apologies for a slight lack of posting during the latter half of last week. I've been pretty busy writing job applications and contacting companies for work experience, so I promise to update more regularly this week!

Right, on to this week's Style Focus. I give you...

http://www.wallpaperrose.bigcartel.com/

Wallpaper Rose is an online jewellery company that stocks beautiful vintage inspired necklaces, brooches and other gorgeous pieces. The style of the jewellery is exactly what I look for when buying accessories; pieces that look unique and pre-loved, even if they are brand spanking new! The company also stocks a selection of tees with lovely lace peter pan collars, which I can't wait to get my hands on! Unfortunately, most of the available colours are currently sold out but a little birdie has informed me that the next set is being worked on at the moment!

Here is a selection of some of my favourite items from the shop;

Eugenie necklace, £20

Eleanor brooch, £8 (on sale)

Rosamund tea necklace, £12

Lily brooch, £8 (on sale)

Rosie necklace, £15

Jen Tee - Burgundy Marl, £11

(All images taken from Wallpaper Rose)



I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for when the beautiful Jen tees get re-stocked! I think the lace collars are so lovely; the perfect way of making a normal t-shirt a real statement piece. I also love the Eugenie necklace, as the sea diving helmet is just such a unique charm!

I reccommend that you check out the website asap, if you want to get your hands on any of the sale items featured (and there are a few more sale gems on the site), as I'm sure they won't be around for long! You can also follow Wallpaper Rose on twitter, to be kept up-to-date with all their latest products!



pick of the best: fringing

Welcome to a new item for the blog; pick of the best! Each week I will choose a key trend, or a style that I'm particularly admiring at the moment, and share some of my favourite items with you.

Everybody knows that this summer the 1970's are making a huge comeback; this means bright colours, denim flares and festival chic - which leads me, of course, to fringing! The high street is already going mad for this trend, with plenty of fringed bags, tassled loafers and distressed tees having hit the stores in time for Spring, so here are some of the items I'm currently lusting over.



Leather Fringe Backpac, £60 (Sales), Urban Outfitters



Coral Lace Fringed Crop Vest, £26, Topshop



Sand Fringed Side Denim Shorts by Unique, £70, Topshop



Brown Fringed Flat Loafer Shoes, £39.99, River Island



House of Holland Dress with Fringe Strap, £485, ASOS




Eleven Paris Fringed T-Shirt, £65, ASOS



Okay, the House of Holland dress is slightly expensive but I love it so much that I just had to include it! It's nice to dream anyway.

What do you all think about the fringed trend? Is it the ultimate addition for boho chic, or too try-hard festival fashionista? 

style focus: joy the baker

I though that I had this week's Style Focus all planned after I came across a lovely online jewellery shop run by a fashion blogger (more in next week's Style Focus!), but that was before I discovered Joy the Baker and fell head-over-heels in love with her site. Okay so it is a food blog, rather than a fashion based site, but Joy certainly knows how to make cooking stylish! The photography is absolutely stunning, like something out of a professionally published cookbook, and the recipes are charming; they read as if you're talking to one of your friends about something they whipped up in the kitchen last week.

I admit I am not exactly what you would call an accomplished cook; I generally prefer to read recipes and admire the pictures than actually get in the kitchen and make anything! But, I feel genuinely inspired by this blog and have been scribbling down recipes that I want to attempt from the site all week. I'm thinking that Mother's Day on Sunday could be the perfect opportunity to test something out?

Anyway, here are some links to a few of my favourite recipes on the website (although there are so many that I have yet to sift through them all!). I'm particularly keen on trying to bake my own Pop Tarts, which I used to love eating for a breakfast treat as a child but can now only find in Cybercandy for nearly five quid a box!

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with not so vegan herb bread

Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes

Spicy Vegetarian Chilli

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts with maple glaze

(All images from www.joythebaker.com)

Happy cooking everyone!

lady luck

I had planned to post about the Country Living Spring Fair this weekend but, rather stupidly, I forgot my camera so I only have a few pics that I took on my phone!



Photos taken via Hipstamatic for iPhone

 
It was a really lovely day though, and my Mum and I really enjoyed browsing all the stalls. I picked up a cute horse print greetings card from Petra Boase; it was only £1 and is now sitting rather proudly on my dressing table like a piece of art! I also got some colourful bird-print fabric from Beyond Fabrics which I'm going to attempt to make a cushion with! For those of you that live in London; definitely check out their website as they have a great shop on Columbia Road where they stock heaps of lovely fabrics, and even run fun sewing workshops!

I also picked up this absolutely stunning tortoise ring from one of the stalls. I'm not sure if it's a one-off piece or not, but I had to add it to my collection of hugely over the top rings! I absolutely love it.

(You can kind of make out the card I bought in the background - will try and post a clearer photo soon.)

How is everyone else's weekends going? I went out for a scrummy Mexican dinner last night with a friend, and one too many mojitos, and popped to the local market this morning where I managed to pick up plenty of new reading material...and all for under a fiver!

Looks like I'll be spending the rest of my weekend curled up on the sofa reading, and attempting to bake Peanut Butter Pecan Biscotti (yum!), from the lovely elliand blog.

en provence

Last night I enjoyed a lovely evening at the L'Occitane boutique in Islington, courtesy of L'Occitane and YOU magazine. For those of you who aren't aware of the brand, L'Occitane is a French company who use lots of naturally sourced ingredients to create beatifully fragranced and luxurious feeling products. I have had a few bits and pieces in the past, for Christmas and birthdays, and absolutely love everything I've tried in the range.

(Image taken from uk.loccitane.com)

The evening began at 6.30 where we were greeted with champagne and lots of lovely edible goodies, before being offered mini hand massages. The beauty therapist cleansed my hands first, using a lavender hand gel which I made sure to purchase later in the evening, before massaging them using the 20% shea butter hand cream for dry skin. My hands felt amazingly soft afterwards so I would highly reccommend the hand cream! I think the full sized product is quite expensive but you can pick up a handbag sized tube for about £7.

We were then left to wander around the store and try out all the gorgeous products. The staff were incredibly helpful, without being pushy, and had plenty of advice and testers for everybody to try. Although there were heaps of things I wanted to buy, I eventually settled on the lavender fragranced 'Clean Hands Gel', and the 'Rose 4 Reines' eau de toilette; which has a very similar scent to the new Chloe Rose fragrance but with a slightly cheaper price tag.



The products from our lovely free goody bag!

 As we left the store we were all handed a bag packed full of lovely freebies to enjoy! The free products, shown in the picture above, included; Rose 4 Reines Body Milk, Verbena Shower Gel, Very Precious Cream, Verbena Extra-Gentle Soap, 5 Essential Oils Shampoo, 5 Essential Oils Conditioner, Almond Shower Oil, Shea Butter Hand Cream and Shea Butter Foot Cream.

I can't wait to test them all out!

I also treated myself today, although I really shouldn't have been spending anymore money after last night, to a few products from the Topshop make-up range. I have been debating over whether to purcahse the skin tint for a while now, but after doing a bit of research and my friend giving it a rave review I decided to go for it! I have yet to test any of the products out properly, apart from the  pretty useless back-of-the-hand test whilst in Topshop, but will let you all know how I get on!




Images from http://www.topshop.com/

I purchased; Skin Tint in Fair (£10), Lip Stick in Coy (£7) and Blush in Nutmeg (£6). I particularly love the coral colour of the lip stick which will look lovely in this sunny weather we have been having! I just hope that the creamy consistency transfers well to lips.

I'm off to the Country Living Show tomorrow so fingers crossed I should have some lovely snaps to share with you all later in the week!

style focus: storm in a teacup

http://www.stormteacup.co.uk/


I discovered this weeks' style focus after the company began following me on Twitter; ah, the wonders of social networking! Storm in a Teacup is a jewellery company run by just one lovely lady, Jennifer, who stocks gorgeous hand-made pieces at really affordable prices. The designs are incredibly unique, and there is even a Vintage range of pieces for those of you who like your jewellery to be one-of-a-kind!

The website has a huge amount of stock so I definitely suggest you go and check it out for yourself, but I have selected a few of my absolute favourite pieces to share with you!


Apollo Vintage Necklace, £14



P-A-R-I-S Necklace, £14

Ship to Shore Vintage Earrings, £12

Emma Multi-Way Tie (Navy), £17.50

I am definitely planning on making a couple of purchases when I start my new job next week! I particularly love the versatility of the Emma Multi-Way Tie (available in various colours), which looks just as good wrapped around wrists as a bracelet or left long and loose as a necklace, as it does tied in your hair as a boho-chic headband. Great value for money!

sunday sunday

I've got that usual restless Sunday feeling today. Does anyone else get it? Since I was a child I have always found Sunday to be the most boring day of the week; it just has a feeling about it, sort of like you're just waiting for Monday to come around I suppose.

Image from http://styleofafashionista.blogspot.com/

I bought this gorgeous crochet dress from H&M on Thursday, and am absolutely in love with it already. It was a bargain at £19.99 and, although I bought it with the intention of it being a summer staple, wore it for a trip to the pub on Friday night layered over a black Topshop bodycon dress, black opaque tights and my Doc Martens for a more winter-friendly look! H&M were also stocking crochet tees in the same style, in both white and black, for about £12.99; I think i might be popping back soon to invest in the black.


Mint green chiffon blouse, £19.99, H&M

  I'm also planning on buying this lovely cropped blouse with embroidery detail, which is also available in black and white. This mint green colour is quite unusual though, and would be great for a hint of the returning pastel trend this year, and I love the romantic floaty sleeves.



Barry M nail paint in Mushroom (310)

I also picked up this Barry M nail polish in a lovely mushroom brown colour. I have recently discovered a love of more subtle nail polish shades after my sister bought me a Max Factor nailfinity polish in Percolated Pink (732); a dusky pink colour which is definitely more sophisticated than my usual choice of black or bright red. Saying that, I also have my eye on the Models Own nail polish in Orangeade; a neon orange colour with lots of glitter!
I've never used any of the Models Own nail polish so it would be great to know what you all think of the product. I don't normally spend £5 on a polish, my favourite brands for nails being Barry M and Rimmel. Have you used any of the nail polishes? Would you reccommend them? Which colours are your favourites?

Last night I stayed in to watch 'New York, I Love You' and I highly reccommend it to everyone! I picked it up for £7 in the HMV sale, having had my eye on it for a while. I watched 'Paris Je T'aime', a film by the same producer, a couple of years ago and was completely taken aback by it; the cinematography was stunning and it was so interesting to see how the various directors' styles contrasted in each short film. 'New York, I Love You' continues in a similar vein, with various short films by different directors pieced together to make a feature length movie that really explores the beauty and versatility of New York.

Apparently, more films are planned for this fantastic 'Cities of Love' series with 'Moscow, I Love You' having been showcased at a Russian film festival last year. Fingers crossed it will be hitting UK shores soon!

take a chance

Just a quick post today, as I have a feature deadline this evening and I have yet to put pen to paper! (Or fingers to keyboard anyway..)

I just wanted to share the beautiful package that arrived for me this morning, containing my gorgeous monopoly ring that I ordered a few days ago!

Vicki from Sense and Sensibility made this quirky delight, using the iron monopoly piece. It is great quality, and the adjustable ring size is great as it means it's sure to fit everyone! At the moment you can choose from either the iron or the boot, or you can contact Vicki directly to request other pieces.

Check out her shop here; where you can also purchase some other fun pieces at bargain prices!

I took a trip to Oxford Street yesterday, planning to spend some of my eBay profits on some new bits for my wardrobe, but didn't come back with much at all. I did, however, buy a couple of lovely bits from H&M which I will share with you later. I'm planning on heading into London next week to do a bit of vintage shopping as I'm feeling a bit uninspired by the high street selection at the moment. Any suggestions of shops to visit would be welcome!

x

style focus: one of my kind

I've decided to start a new 'style focus' feature on the blog where I will look at a shop/blog/designer that I find exciting, inspiring or simply lust worthy(!) that week. 

Image from http://oneofmykindshop.blogspot.com/

This week's find definitely falls into the latter category. One Of My Kind is an Australian eBay store who sell a beautiful selection of vintage and preloved items. There is an excellent range of high waisted maxi skirts and pretty pleated dresses that all look completely on trend, despite being wonderfully one of a kind. The gorgeous pieces are, surprisingly, quite reasonably  priced considering the quality of the items and the obvious amount of care and effort that must have gone into sourcing them all. However, for those of you that aren't lucky enough to live down under (like me!), the shipping costs are pretty high; roughly £15 on average, which is often the same cost as the garment itself.

Now, normally I wouldn't share my eBay lusts until having safely secured the item, but as I don't have the funds to make any purchases at the moment I thought I would show you my favourite two items on their shop at the moment.


Vintage Nude Beige Camel Sheer Floral Tiger Shirt Dress

If I was in paid employment I would snap up this beauty without a second thought! I am a huge fan of sheer shirts anyway, as they are perfect for throwing over a pair of jeans during the day or layered over a skirt in the evening, but the pattern and shape of this one is particularly stunning. I love how it is long(ish) enough to be worn as a dress; although I don't think I would be quite as risque as the model in wearing it over underwear and would probably wear it over a short bodycon dress instead.

Vintage Pastel Peach Pleat Maxi Mid Calf Dress w Sash

I also love the simplicity of this beautiful nude coloured midi dress. I normally shy away from longer length items, as they make such a huge statement, but I think the pleated detail gives it a casual twist that would make this dress perfect for dressing up or down.
For those of you lucky enough to have a few pennies in the bank at the moment, definitely head over to the One Of My Kind eBay shop or blog to have a proper browse as every item is a gem!

white blank page

I have been enjoying a wonderfully lazy Sunday; finding lots of lovely new blogs to follow, catching up on the lastest magazines, listening to Mumford & Sons, and cooking a yummy dinner for my family.

I made involtini from Nigella Lawson's 'Feast', another of her amazing cookery books - I often read them in bed like novels!

In the words of the wonderful Nigella; '"Involtini" just indicates that something is wrapped - turned - around something else. I always use aubergines as the casing rather than, say, courgettes, partly because you can get more in, and partly because I think it's the best possible use of an aubergine.'

Despite not being much of a cook, the aubergines turned out beautifully. They were stuffed with a delicious cheese based mixture (feta, mozzarella and parmesan - this is definitely NOT a recipe for anyone with a dairy intolerance!), covered in tomataoes and more cheese and baked in the oven. Heaven.

I also enjoyed flicking through the Spring/Summer 2011 edition of Company High-Street Edit. The magazine looks amazing. It's full of fashion spreads that have the visual style of Vogue couture but featuring clothes from the high street. There is something about the matte pages that make the whole publication seem very expensive, too.

I loved the minimalist feel to the 'Cut me some slack' style shoot; the city shorts and sharp blazers were given a contemporary twist by being juxtaposed with cotton tees and string vests.

In contrast, I was also inspired by the inspirational key pieces feature in this month's Elle magazine which was a riot of floral prints and denim - my usual summer wardrobe. I loved the silk dress by Paul & Joe, but will be seeking a high street alternative unless I happen to stumble across £960 any time soon!

My freelance writing for the home interiors website is still going really well, I absolutely love writing and it would be the icing on the cake if I could find somewhere that would pay me to do it! I'm really grateful for the opportunity at the moment though, as it's a really great website to be involved with.

One of the perks of writing, in any capacity, is being able to nab a free ticket or press pass every now and then. I was lucky enough to get hold of a press ticket for this month's Country Living Spring Fair, and a complimentary one for my mum! We usually go along to their Christmas Fair to browse all the lovely craft stalls and eat as many free foodie samples as we can manage, so I'm really excited to go along to this on the 23rd. I'm planning on doing a post about it, if the exhibitor's don't mind me snapping a few pics of their products!