Tutorial: Stick and Poke Tattoos

Stick and Poke (SnP) tattoos get a bad rep. They're generally associated with 15 year olds who can't get a legal tattoo, or prison inmates, or idiots with infections. They're the LOVE/HATE knuckles and the teardrop in the corner of your eye or the gang signs.

I disagree.

I am in love with SnP tattoos. I like the meaning, I like the fact I can do them myself, To me, they seem more real and raw and personal. There are plenty of reasons to do get an SnP or to not, but this post is not about the pros and cons, this is about how I went about giving myself one.

Tutorial: Christmas Tree Nails!

I am really not as good as I'd hoped at this whole updating my blog regularly thing, SORRY.

Anyway, the important bit is that my nails are really quite fabulous and were genuinely incredibly easy, hence of course, I have to share them. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of compliments I got on these, and they require so, so little skill or expertise - no need for fancy tools either.
So, without further ado, here's my guide to gorgeous Christmas nails.

DIY: Paint Swatch Erasable Calendar

I don't think I've really put a calendar to good use since my uncle sent me a Roald Dahl one when I was around 9, complete with sticker set (which I still have) and Quentin Blake illustrations. However, with my social life slowly becoming more hectic, all sorts of school related events, and a memory that still doesn't retain best friends' birthdays, I thought it was time to start using one again.

This calendar is a) free (for me, at least, it will cost a bit more if you don't have everything to hand, mainly the frame) b) reusable, c) incredibly easy to make, it took me less than half an hour and d) completely customizable, which is four big bonuses in my book.

Survival guide for starting a blog.

First, a little backstory. I have, over the course of about 4 years, run 20+ tumblr blogs, at least 5 of which were fairly successful. I have also started maybe 7 actual, proper, blogger blogs. Without fail, I have lost interest and given up as soon as I reopened a more passive website.
This one, though, I've been mulling over for weeks. I have a game plan. I have an idea. And I am going to stick with it.
(If I don't, please yell at me).

My survival guide for starting a blog, take 1:

• Post.
• No really, post.
• More than once.
• Many times, in fact.
• Regularly.
• As in no giving up.
• Seriously though.
• Post.

That list is more my personal guide, I think. This is the page I'm going to come back to when I have a blank post in front of me and my fingers refuse to tap the keys.

Now on the the actual helpful stuff, all I've learnt from my years on tumblr and my attempts elsewhere.

My actual survival guide for starting a blog (take 2):

1. Pick a topic. Or a quirk. A running theme will tie together everything on your blog and stop it from being the kind of confusing mess where anyone who stumbles onto your page will have no idea what's going on or what they're supposed to be looking at, and therefore immediately stumble away again. Even if it's as simple as 'these are all things I like' or 'these are all things that are blue', have a theme.
2. Don't get tied down by said topic/quirk/idea. It shouldn't be a chore to stick to the topic you chose, and if it is, I highly recommend you change it ASAP. My first and most popular (2k+ followers) tumblr has changed styles many, many times to fit me at the time, though it has always had some sort of underlying idea. 
3. Post. Set yourself a schedule and stick to it. Plan and edit and just hit publish. The more you post, the easier it gets if you ask me, and the only way you're going to get into the swing of it is starting off and keeping it up
4. Get a good theme (as in the layout, this time). Something unique (i.e. not the default theme), something memorable, something fitting to your blog. Spend a little time digging through the amazing number of resources online. Gaining a basic knowledge of CSS/HTML was one of the best decisions I've ever made (this is a great starting point). Add widgets or a scrolling title or a custom header. Don't be generic. It's not worth the safety.
5. Quality, not quantity. Preferably a bit of quantity too, but quality is the important part. Make good posts. Make worthwhile observations, come up with good ideas, write something you would read, like, and want to come back for more of. 
6. Enjoy it. I realised why all my past blogs have failed miserably (except the tumblr ones). I didn't like it. It wasn't fun. And therefore I had no motivation to keep it up. So post about something that interests you, something you won't get bored of a week from now. Find something that excites you, find a style you find easy and fun, and if you realise at some point that you've started dreading having to come online, change something. Change everything if need be, but in my eyes, this is the most important point in this list - if you don't care, no one else will. Above all, blog for yourself (this is my motto for this blog, by the way). Don't do it for the fame/glory/advertising money because none of that is at all guaranteed. Do it because you want to, and the rest will come.

I think that's it. Obviously, there are other things like advertising, not being offensive and encouraging people. But those are the big ones, I think, and they're the ones I'm sticking with.