Abigail's Spanish Holiday

This week I am on holiday in Spain with my mom and thought I would share some of my holiday pictures so far. A lot of it is food, anyone that knows me knows food is one of my favourite things so I apologise in advance!

Abigail's Spanish Getaway

Abigail's Spanish Getaway

Abigail's Spanish Getaway

Abigail's Spanish Getaway

Abigail's Spanish Getaway

Red Lobsters For Red

I have now had my rescue pup Red for a year and a half (time really flies)! I remember that on the way to go and get him we wanted to stop off and pick up all of his supplies, like excited new parents we picked matching bowls and leads and collars... plus a whole bunch of toys and chews to spoil our new dog with and help him settle in at home. So for the last year and a half he has been wearing a simple red collar from Pets At Home and the matching red lead and harness. They are all made out of nylon webbing, which has proven to be extremely durable. The price range for these product is also really affordable ranging between £5 and £16 each. Whilst they are completely usable and strong still, they are starting to look a little worse for wear. There are some silver eyelets coming of the collar and the padding from the collar and the harness have become brittle and completely fallen off.

So I thought I would treat Red to some new fresh threads. Immediately I went to Etsy and (no lie) I spent hours looking for the perfect set. Of course everything he wears has to be Red and I was looking for something a little bit quirky and fun whilst being hardwearing and durable.

I ended up falling in love with this red collar and lead with a white lobster print running along it from the store Shelly Creations.

Everything on her store is hand made with cuteness and comfort in mind for your pup.

I ordered both on the 23rd and they were coming from Boston USA to Falmouth in Cornwall via USPS. They arrived on the 30th!! Very very impressed with how fast Shelly had the items dispatched to me and how fast they arrived at my door. I think I payed roughly £7 for both items to be shipped to me and considering how affordable the items are I was very happy with the overall amount that I paid for them.

The material is lovely. It is cotton that has been supported and strengthened by having a couple of layers of medium weight interfacing sandwiched on the inside before being sewn together. Sturdy box seams have been used to make sure all of the hardware will stay intact.

The D ring (used for attaching the lead) and the clip on the lead feel like very decent quality metal (steal that has been nickel plated I think). The buckle and adjuster on the collar are made of a lightweight black plastic that seem to be quite sturdy (however my pup is a rough player so I'm hoping they won't become brittle over time and start to crack.)

Another thing that I really like about the lead is that it is a really decent length... 5 1/2 ft. Again because of the cotton material and interfacing core it is very light, strong and very comfortable to hold and wrap around your hand/ wrist.

Overall I am so excited about Red's new accessories and I am over the moon with how cute the lobster print is on him. The shopping experience at Shelly Creations has been wonderful, she was very quick to answer any questions I had and got the products dispatched to me very quickly... And to top everything of your pup gets to wear some fancy new threads that have been handmade with a lot of love.

The Next Chapter

So as I'm sure you all realise the last two months have been crazy hectic for both myself and Abigail. We both have been pushing really hard and buckling down in the race to finishing our degrees and we have finally finished! So here is what I have been up to since.

First things first lets start with the fun stuff, we both got to go to our graduation ball! It was such a fun night. We got to get all dressed up and enjoyed a evening at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth. The student union booked three fantastic bands that played live music for us all evening and it was just a really great way to see everyone and have some fun before everyone headed of to enjoy their summer and start the graduate job hunt.

Falmouth Graduation Ball 2015

Falmouth Graduation Ball 2015

University wise I am still waiting to hear what grade I will be graduating with but I hope to find out in the next couple of weeks.

The next stage is working our what to do now I am a graduate. First things first I had to find a job so I can continue paying my rent until myself and boyfriend Jacob can move to a bigger city and start looking for career jobs in our field of animation. Whilst it's not impossible to find creative work in Cornwall the opportunities are limited and to be honest we are looking to have a new adventure somewhere new. Fortunately I have managed to find myself a new job as a hospital cleaner here in Cornwall, I'm starting in August, which will allow me to cover the bills and start saving toward the eventual move that we want to make. The job is well paid and won't take up my whole week meaning I can continue towards developing my portfolio and myself as a creative in my free time with the aim of applying for animation and illustration positions in the future.

So for now we are in Cornwall, working our butts of and saving as much as we can and in the future we would like to be working in a bigger city closer to my home near Basingstoke.

Being a new graduate is hard! There is a lot of adjusting to do as well as the stress of having to be making enough when you finish to cover your expenses and to find the motivation and determination to continue working towards finding work in your studied field. I am already learning that if you become stagnant you will be less likely to succeed. I am challenging myself to draw everyday so that I continue to grow as an artist, involve myself in creative projects and to build myself a better online presence via social media to start to get my name out there as a illustrator and animator.

If your wondering you can find my professional site at pariswashington.com  and I am on Twitter and Instagram @parisanimation. Here you will be able to follow my work more closely and see the little daily challenges I am setting myself.

To all the new graduates out there... Firstly CONGRATULATIONS you deserve it!! And secondly, good luck in the new chapter of your life, maybe one day I will cross paths with some of you other creatives out there. And please if you to are looking to work in the creative industries do drop me a line on my social medias because I would love to connect with you and share work and job hunting experiences!

Sorry!

Hey there!

Sorry for the massive absence from the blog over the past month or so, we have both been super busy finishing our third and final year at University which as you can imagine has been very busy and stressful. As we were so busy the blog had to take a back seat for a little while but we have finally finished everything but we can now get back on track. This week we had our Graduation Ball and saw our last days as students, so we actually have some down time now.

The blog will be back to normal as of next week but I just wanted to let you guys know that we hadn't forgotten about this space and we can't wait to get back into the swing of things.

Much Love!

Luxulyan Hike

Happy Sunday everyone!

University Experiences Q&A

Abigail's University Memories.

1) Where did you apply and where did you choose to study?

Abigail: I applied to study at Anglia Ruskin University, Nottingham Trent University, Leeds Trinity University, Falmouth University and another one I can’t remember! It feels like forever ago I applied for university. I chose Falmouth University to study at.

Paris: I applied at Arts University Bournemouth, Plymouth College of Art, UCA Farnham and of course Falmouth University which is where I chose to study.

2) What subject are you studying?

Film.

Paris: Digital Animation

3)What year are you studying?

Abigail: I have almost finished my third and final year of university.

Paris: Third and final year.

4)Why did you choose that university?

Abigail: Falmouth was actually the first place I looked at to study Film, and when I came to an open day and for my interview it just felt like the right place to be. My mom says she knew right away from the look on my face that that was where I wanted to be.

Paris: A lot of people that I knew from home actually came down to Falmouth to study, it just seemed like the place to be if you wanted to study a creative subject. Unlike Abs, I didn't bother to come for an open day I just turned up up to my interview and then moved down to start the course.

5)What was your moving experience like?

Abigail: My parents brought me down from my hometown in Derbyshire with a car packed to the brim with all my stuff. It was nerve wracking but totally worth the 7 hour drive.

Paris: My boyfriend at the time drove me down and helped me move into halls. I think in total I had 2 maybe 3 boxes of stuff, not much at all. The moving experience for me on a whole was really exciting, I don't really get to home sick and for me there was so much going on you don't really get time to.

Paris' University Memories.

6)Where you ready to leave the nest?

Abigail: Yes and no. I’m extremely close to my family and for that reason I really didn’t want to be far away from them but at the same time I was ready for the freedom that university offered.

Paris: I was so ready to leave. New place, new people, new chapter of my life... I was excited!

7)What was your halls experience like?

Abigail: In a word, amazing. I was definitely extremely lucky to be put in a flat with the people I was. We had an incredible time first year, and most of us still live together now. Paris was one of those people I lived with first year, and even though she’s now moved into her own place we’re still just as close.

Paris: It was fantastic, like Abi said we had such a great bunch of people in our flat which really made all the difference. We also lived with the same group of people in our second year in a house that we found closer to town, again I loved it but there were 8 of us, thats a lot of bodies and eventually I needed a slightly calmer spot and I moved into a smaller place.

8)How did you cope with the stress of the course?

Abigail: By knowing there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There have been mini meltdowns and midnight phone calls to my mom for sure but knowing that it will all be worth it at then end definitely helps. And supportive friends ready with cups of tea and chocolate.

Paris: I felt I held it together pretty well... Until this year that is. This year I have been a mess and did not cope with it as well as I previously had. I would say that for me surrounding myself with supportive people really helped and secondly I took advantage of the on campus support team that offered me a huge amount of help including how to best manage my stress levels.

9)How do you feel about your choice of course now that you have almost finished it, was it the right one for you ?

Abigail: The course I chose was definitely the right one for me, I’ve loved every minute of it. It has helped me figure out what I don’t want to do as well as what I do, and definitely helped my confidence to stand up for what I want.

Paris: My outlook on this changes everyday. I have had some really fantastic times on the course however I have also for the first time ever really had my confidence knocked back to zero... I'm still trying to build myself back up from this.

10)Do you feel ready for the real world?

Abigail: Definitely not! As much as I’m ready for university to be over I am nowhere near ready for the responsibilities that comes with. Leaving means I have to get a job and find somewhere to live and figure out how to do things like taxes. Taxes! Does anyone know how to do those?!

Paris: Nope, nope and defiantly nope. I am so terrified, I just keep telling myself as long as you are moving forward you are doing fine.

11)What do you want to do when you leave?

Abigail: I am hoping to go into media journalism and academic writing. Doing the course I did helped me to decide I definitely didn’t want to do practical filmmaking, it’s way too stressful for me. But for now, I am going home to Derbyshire to work for a while and then hopefully going travelling for six months.

Paris: The only plans myself and Jacob (boyfriend) have made so far is to try and relocate to Bristol around september time. We have friends closer and my family would be closer as well as there being more work opportunities.

12) where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Abigail: In a dream world, New York City doing my Masters degree or more simply with a job I love in a place I love. Fingers crossed!

Paris: Hopefully working a job that I enjoy going to every day, whatever that may be. There is a lot of things that I still have to figure out but I am trying not to put to much pressure on myself to know what I want right away.

Barely There Make-Up Tutorial

For those days where you don't have a lot of time in the morning or when you really just don't want a lot of makeup on, this look is easy and quick with the aim to enhance not cover!




Hope you enjoyed, if you have any questions about the products used feel free to leave them in the comments below :)

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