I destroyed a book...

Zdravo!

Now, you are probably looking at the title and thinking 'WHAT?!' 'ASDFGHJKL' 'I can't even...' and all sorts of other things, but I assure you, it was for a good cause! And that cause happened to be my friends birthday present. Before you start kicking and screaming, let me explain... (Also, please excuse the dodgy photos, I've managed to lose my good ones and only have the ones from my phone to use.)

A few years ago (I think) I saw a photo of a book safe. (If you don't know what a book safe is, it's basically a hollowed out book that can be used to store stuff and keep things safe.) I immediately fell in love with the idea and actually brought a 'fake' one last year whilst I was away. It was never actually a book though, but was designed to look like one.

Anyway, back to the present story... For this friend, I knew I definitely wanted to make her something cool, and something she would like. So I decided on making a book safe. I know that she really likes reading, and positive quotes, so I put them together and came up with a book inside a book. I found a tiny book full of positive quotes that I wanted to give her (and some little chocolate bunnies) and then proceeded to try and find a suitable book to hollow out. It's actually much harder than it looks...

I didn't want to buy a brand new one, I wanted to find one that was slightly older and had a bit more character. Also, buying a book that had already been owned and read made me feel slightly less bad about cutting it up, because at least it had already fulfilled its purpose. I found this book 'Firesong' in a local charity shop, and instantly loved the cover beneath the dust jacket! It was actually the main reason I chose the book in the first place. It was a perfect size and thickness for what I wanted to use it for. (I also tried to read a little of it, but didn't like it at all, which is another reason it was perfect to cut up!)

I made a template from some old card to the size hole I wanted and used a Stanley knife to cut. Be sure to make sure you have a sharp knife or you will end up with some very jagged cuts, like mine did! I only cut through about 5/6 pages at a time to try and keep it as straight as possible. You can choose how deep to cut, I chose to stopabout 3/4 of the way down because it was deep enough to fit the little book (which I also seem to have lost the photo for too! Sorry)

Once I had finished cutting the pages out, I tidied the edges up a little and used a makeup brush to remove all the excess paper from between the pages. The hole was just big enough for the little book of positivity to fit in once it was wrapped, and to make sure it held properly, I tied it shut with a big silver bow, just to make it look even prettier.

I hope you guys have forgiven me for cutting up a book, it did make a nice present though! Last weeks language was Turkish, as guessed by the lovely Nicky over at teaandtakeaways.wordpress.com, who says that it is her favourite country! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love, Grace x

Liebster Award Tag - Take 2!

Merhaba,

I hope you have all had a lovely week! Sorry this post is a LOT later than usual, I've kind of failed this weekend! Oops! Last week's language was French, and my lovely friend Mollie (hi) guessed it right. So well done!

A few days ago I was nominated to do the liebster award again by the lovely Samantha over at petiteolive.com. If you don't know what the liebster tag is, it is a way for new(ish) bloggers with less than 1000 followers to find new blogs and meet/talk to new people. It also gives their readers a chance to get to know them a little better. To do it you have to answer the 11 questions your nominator set, and set 11 new ones for the 11 people you are going to nominate. The questions can be as funny or serious as you want, it's a great way to have a little fun in the blogging community!

~Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging for 2 reasons really, the first was because it would work for the skills section of my bronze DofE award, and the second, that I just really wanted to be able to write something worth reading. 

~What is your favourite film?

This one is pretty difficult actually. I love so many different types of film, for example; I love 'Love Rosie' but also all of the Star Wars films and also the Harry Potter films. 

~If you could live someone else's life for one day, who would you be?

Probably someone cool like Jennifer Lawrence or someone random like spiderman.

~What three things can't you live without?

A notepad and pen, and my camera to record everything I see! Plus, I just really love taking photos.

~What is your favourite animal?

I absolutely love turtles, tortoises and terrapins! They're just so cool, but then I also love orcas... 

~If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would either want to go to Australia to see my family, or glass beach, California! Imagine all the sea glass you could find! It actually looks amazing!

~What do you enjoy most about blogging?

Definitely the community! I love being a part of the Girl Gang (if you want to know more about it, it's Jemma's (from dorkface.co.uk) amazing idea.) I love that if you have an issue, there are girls there who can help and/or support you. People who always put a smile on your face, and people who are just generally amazing people! 

~If you were only allowed to eat one same meal, everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be?

No doubts here... Pepperoni pizza with mushrooms and pineapple! 

~Whats your favourite makeup brand?

Makeup Revolution. It's a relatively cheap brand but all the products are still brilliant quality and they make all their packaging pretty cool too. 

~Who is your inspiration?

Anyone who has followed their dreams, and my mum...

~Tea or Coffee?

This one is definitely the easiest question... neither! I don't like tea or coffee, but I do like hot chocolate! Especially if it has cream and marshmallows!

I nominate the next lovely 11 people to do this challenge:

1. Mel - melberryy
2. Nicky - teaandtakeaways
3. Alison - 73-95
4. Olivia - 73-95
5. Sophie Jane - sophiejaneblog
6. Leigh - denimanddaisiess
7. Maria - dazzlemxo
8. Robyn - robsblogss
9. Tilly - beatingaroundtheblush
10. Courtney - prettymadthings.com
11. Katie Iona - katie-iona

The questions you have to answer are:

1. If you had to be one animal for a day. Which would you be?
2. Fruit or veg?
3. Mascara or eyeshadow?
4. What is you least favourite colour?
5. How would you describe your personality?
6. If you could be transported to a fictional world which would you choose?
7. There is a zombie apocalypse and you can only use the item to your right to defend yourself. What is it?
8. What is your favourite book?
9. What was the best thing that happened to you today?
10. If you could speak another language, what would it be?
11. Describe yourself in 3 words


You don't have to continue the chain of the tag, but if you do, please tag me so I can read it! I hope you all have a lovely week this week! Don't forget to guess the language for a chance to be mentioned and linked next week!

Love, Grace x

Heart Balloons Card

Bonjour,

This week has been seriously long! It just feels like it's been dragging along, and even now, I can hardly keep my eyes open as I'm typing.

This card is cute for birthdays, Valentines or even Mother's Day (hint, hint, it's tomorrow if you're from the UK). It can be used for any age group, but is probably more suited to girls. Instead of the heart shaped balloons, however, regular round, wavy or oval balloons could be cut and used to make the card more fitting to a wider audience.

To start out, I'm using plain white card, but you could use any colour and thickness for this. Using a darker colour and white, cream or pastel coloured balloons would look pretty cool. I'm just using half an A4 piece for this, but any size would work, you would just need to either alter the size of the balloons or how many there are.

To cut out the balloons, I cut out small squares of coloured paper and folded them in half, before drawing half a heart shape and cutting it out to get an even shape. I have one of each colour, but if you're going for a specific colour theme, then use the best colours to fit your design. To finish off the card, glue the balloons in a shape of your choice and add some string or embroidery thread to make the balloon strings.

The card's actual look is down to you, whether you want just one balloon or multiple in a cluster. I hope you have someone to give this card too, and can try to make it yourself.
 

Don't forget to guess this week's language, either comment or tweet me @_littleblog. Last week's was Spanish. The lovely ladies, Hager from bmobshelldrawer.wordpress.com and Mel from www.melberryy.com guessed it right, so well done girls! And thank you for guessing!

I hope you guys have a lovely week!

Love, Grace x