So you may have noticed that there has been a bit of a re-design around here! I've thought my header image was a little dull for quite a while but wasn't sure what to do with it until I was browsing through Instagram and saw some of lovely Jenna Yenik's new black and white portrait pieces. I knew straight away that was what I was looking for, so I sent her an email commissioning an image for my header! She really knocked it out of the ball park, I love it so much!!!

Also, isn't she a cutey?!? I love when you can see a bit of the artist in their work. Jenna's ladies always have fabulous eyebrows and lovely sultry eyes and mine always have big eyes with exagerrated lashes.

You can view more of Jenna's work at http://jennayenik.carbonmade.com or buy prints of some of her fabulous pieces at http://www.storenvy.com/stores/48765-art-by-jenna-yenik including these two sexy ladies...

In the meantime, here are a few of my favourites taken from Jenna's Instagram.

I love being platinum blonde. At one point last year I had a reaction to my bleach and thought it might all be over and I'd have to go a different colour. I was ridiculously upset at the thought of it, embarassingly so in fact. I have had my hair pretty much every colour under the sun including pink, blue, green, purple, red... a vertiable rainbow; but I always come back to blonde.

One of the most beautiful blonde ladies is Miss Doris Mayday. You may well have seen her gracing the virtual pages of www.pinupgirlclothing.com or in your favourite vintage lifestyle mag. She's a rock star in the pin up world.

As you can see she's a real stunner. Her dedication to vintage glamour is unsurpassed. She is such an inspiration to me to always look my best and wear what makes me happy.

Doris' home is gorgeous too, perfect mid-century style. There are a few photos if you look around online, unfortuantely I don't have any saved on my pc...

Can you imagine my surprise when she gave up the blonde?! I admit it, I was sceptical... but of course she still looks fabulous!!!

 

Serious hair envy right girls?

At the moment the fabulous His Vintage Touch team seem to be doing her hair for all her shoots - knock out work.

Sorry for the masses of photos, but as all my friends know I'll find room for anything beautiful!!!

So my boyfriend Pete's lovely sister Steph is getting married next year! She has been lovely enough to ask me to be her bridesmaid, and is also letting me choose my outfit. As her colour scheme is AWESOME that means I can wear a lovely bright colour, and of course I have been looking at dresses already.

As Steph is planning on wearing a full skirt I figured an a-line or pencil fit would be best to compliment it, and I think satin is a great look for a special occasion. The following are a few pieces that I have shortlisted so far!

1  -  2  -  3

The Ava dress in plum from Pinup Girl is front runner so far...!

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Although this brocade number is also catching my eye, it's just a shame that it isn't a little brighter!

Do you guys know any more retro or vintage repro sites that sell bridesmaid worthy dresses?

This year I wanted to paint my Mum a little something rather than buy her the usual bottle of bubbly. Last year my dad had given me a print of a gorgeous photo of my Mum taken in the 1970's when they were at art college and I had wanted to paint it ever since. It was a bit of a challenge as the photo was black and white so I took some liberties and guessed on the colours myself. Turns out the earrings were silver not gold but never mind!!! I added some violets as a border as they are my mum, my sister and I's favourite floral scent and flavour. For Christmas I'm hoping to save up enough money to get her a bottle of Penhaligon's Violetta - it's a bit pricey but it's divine!

I'm still getting the hang of these acrylic inks, but I do love how bold you can get the colours by layering them up. What did you all get your Mum's for Mothers Day?

Images from www.pinupgirlclothing.com

I've been on the hunt for some new tops recently. I can't find anything modern that I like at the moment, all these slouch fitted draped shoulder tops look absolutely awful on me. I'm a fitted kind of girl for sure. These tops from Pin Up Girl Clothing are just what I was looking for. Clockwise from top left - 1  2  3  4

Images from www.littlewoods.com

There are some great dresses in Littlewoods' new spring line, I especially love the brocade prom dress. From left to right - 1  2  3 

Images from /www.etsy.com/shop/wearableplanter

Aren't these tiny real plant pot necklaces and pins fabulous? Such a fun ingenious idea! I'm thinking of adding these to the memory bank for if I ever get married. From top to bottom - 1  2  3

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If we had a balcony I would definitely get myself one of these hanging desks. Wouldn't it be lovely to spend a Sunday blogging in the fresh air in the comfort of your own home! They are available to buy here.

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I'm not usually a big fan of modern architecture, but this complex is breathtaking. Image having a gorgeous infinity pool on your balcony overlooking the city? Amazing!

This Friday gone was Red Nose Day 2013 and as in the past I have organised some charity fun at work for the day. Our MD kindly agreed that we could have a pyjamas or casual clothes day and we ran a little competition to win some chocolate and held a bake sale and this cake was my contribution!

I went with my go-to rich vanilla cake recipe and knew I wanted to top it with ganache but thought that may be a little dull on its own. And what goes perfectly with dark chocolate? Cherries! Unfortunately as is my tendency I had a craving for a fruit that wasn't in season so planned to get some tinned black cherries in juice. Low and behold the store had run out, so I had to go for a can of pre-made black cherry dessert filling. This meant that the cherry flavour was a little dulled down, but it still came through. I would suggest using fresh de-pitted cherries if you want to make this in July time when they are in season, or failing that go for tinned pitted cherries in their juice or a light syrup but that will mean you won't have the jammy bits you can see in the layers. You could always swirl in a bit of black cherry jam though!

If I wasn't making this for work I would have made a boozy addition by using a skewer to poke lots of holes into the cake when it was fresh out of the oven and pouring over a good shot of cherry liqueur mixed with 25g of caster sugar heated with 25ml of water and a dash of vanilla extract until it had dissolved. It makes the cake even more moist and adds a great palette warming undernote from the booze.

Vanilla & Black Cherry Tray Cake with Ganache Topping
Makes around 24 pieces depending on your tin size

Ingredients
250g pack of butter, softened
250g caster sugar
5 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
100g full fat greek yoghurt
85g plain flour
250g self raising flour
45ml milk
1 tin pitted black cherries / cherry dessert filling or 1 small punnet of fresh cherries, pitted
200g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
285ml double cream
1 tbsp golden syrup

Method
Preheat your oven to 160C / 320 F and then grease and line a 35 x 24cm baking tin (I have this one and it's great) and set to one side. To make removing the cake from the tin easier after baking I leave an overlap of baking parchment on both the longer sides of the tin so you can just lift it out.
Beat the softened butter and sugar together for a good few minutes until really pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Crack each egg into a cup before adding them to the mix to check that they are good and give the mixture a thorough mix before popping the next one in. If it curdles a bit don't worry too much, you can add a few tbsp of the plain flour to help prevent this if you like. Now mix in the vanilla and greek yoghurt.
Mix the plain and self raising flours in a large bowl and then add your butter mixture. Fold together with a large metal spoon then add the milk and give it a final mix to full combine. Try not to leave any big lumps of flour in there.
Spread half the mixture into your cake tin and top with the cherries, trying to space them out fairly evenly. Top with the remaining cake mix and smooth over the top, then place in the oven to bake. Mine took about 25 minutes but if you are using a different size tin you may need to adjust this to less time if your tin is bigger or more time if it is smaller. I wouldn't suggest opening the oven to check before 15 minutes have passed so you don't risk it sinking. To check that it is done lightly press the center of the cake, if it springs back it is ready. You can also check by pushing a cocktail stick into the center of the cake to the bottom of the tin - if it comes out sticky it needs a bit longer, if it comes out clean with a few crumbs it's done! Set to one side for ten minutes, then carefully remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.

I suggest making your ganache when you put the cake in the oven as it will need a few hours to set to a spreading concistency. Put your chocpped chocolate into a bowl and set it aside. Heat the cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan until it just starts to boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Leave for a minute and then whisk together gently from the middle of the bowl slowly incorporating the chocolate into the cream. If you stir too vigorously you will get air bubbles in your ganache so be patient! Set to one side until it is at a spreading consistency, then cover your cooled cake with it. You could pipe it on, but I like the shiney striped topping you get when spreading it on with a palette knife. You could also give it a little sprinkle of sea salt flakes to bring the chocolate flavour out even more.

I would love to know what you think if you try it, I think it's divine!

My first Favourite Films post just had to be Blade Runner. I've loved this film from a young age when I watched it with my Dad and was instantly drawn in by the beautiful costumes, dramatic and thought provoking storyline and incredible futuristic city scapes that are as innovative as they were back in 1982 (five years before I was born!). It is a prime example of neo-noir cinema as it blends typical traits of film noir with more modern themes in both its content and cinematography.

The film is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick which I am yet to read. In all honesty I am not sure I would be as engaged in the story without the striking visuals of the film, but it is still on my to read list for the year. 

Even though I know Blade Runner is now concidered a 'cult classic' I am still surprised when I meet people who are as enamoured with it as I am. I think this is part of growing older, one of the things that you adored so much as a child that you almost believed you were the only one who knew about it. My media teacher at school showed us a clip in my first GCSE lesson and when I told him how much I loved it he recited Rutger Hauer's final speech from the movie to me - I knew then that this was a guy I could learn from and look up to. I only just found this out but the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in the early 90's for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". How wonderful!

This is Pris one of the most famous characters from the film, played by Daryl Hannah. My mum and I were always enamoured with how she sprayed jet black makeup over her eyes. I think Pris was a big influence on my fashion tastes when I was younger and far more daring than I am now!

Rutger Hauer and Harrison Ford play the two lead characters Roy and Deckard and both play the roles so so well, you can't help both loving and hating them. Roy's final speech on a dark rainy rooftop is in my opinion one of the greatest moments in cinema.

But it is the character of Rachel that I most identified with, so bold yet so melancholy. I loved her futuristic 1940's-esque styling and her dramatic doe eyes and bow lips - Sean Young the actress that played the role is absolutely stunning. I have always had a fascination with imagery that encompasses both sadness and beauty, and Rachel is the epitimy of such a state.

The gradiant striped grey suit was the piece I loved the most from the Hollywood Costume exhibition at the V&A that I attended in January. Such wonderful detail was put into all the pieces - just look at the art deco style patterns shaved into Rachel's fur coat above. It's no wonder that Charles Knode & Michael Kaplan won a BAFTA for the costume design in the film. Once again it is easy to see how my future style choices would be influenced by Blade Runner showing in my love for vintage glamour, dramatic make-up and tailored clothing.

I love this Polaroid taken behind the scenes during the making of the film

If you have the opportunity please watch it, I would recommend the director's cut over the original theatrical version but there is quite a bit of controversy over it so you may be better watching both and deciding for yourself!

I would love to hear your opinions if you do decide to give it a go, it does seem to divide opinion somewhat!