Lady Bug Says ... Toughen It Up

I was kind of glad to wake up to cloudy skies today. I rediscovered this leather jacket last night and really wanted to wear it today with a dress and boots.

Please excuse my hair, it is a static nightmare at the moment!

Boots, New Look £30, Black socks, Primark £2, Dress, Primark £5, Belt, Charity shop £1, Leather jacket, Primark £25

Outfit total - £63

Does anyone happen to know when season 7 of Project runway is going to be on in the UK, I keep worrying I have missed it or am going to miss it!

Lady Bug Says ... Stripe Me Up!

TK Maxx really is a fabulous place.

When I saw this little Breton striped AND studded beauty peeking out from the rails I knew it had to be mine! Stripes and studs, whats not to like!

Steve Madden boots, TK Maxx £35, Ripped jeans, Primark £8, Black vest, H&M £3, Striped cardigan, TK Maxx £17

Outfit total - £63

Lady Bug Says ... Floral Love

Florals has to be one of my favourite trends at the moment. Love how it instantly adds femininity to an outfit :)

Gladiator Sandals, Primark £4, Jeggings, Tesco £6, Black vest, H&M £4, Floral Vest, Primark £2.50, Red Cardigan, Primark £8, Wooden Necklace, Primark £2

Outfit Total - £26.50

Heeled sandals, Tesco £5, Floral Dress, Primark £7.50, Grey Blazer, H&M £5, Necklace, Primark £2

Outfit Total - £19.50

Are you embracing florals this Spring/Summer?

Lady Bug Says ... More Cooking!

For those of you who haven't guessed yet I quite like baking. I also like eating what has been baked :)

On Sunday I saw my little sister for her birthday and I baked her some cakes. They were very yummy so I thought I would share them with you all :)

She loves penguins lol!

The recipe is a basic sponge recipe my Nan taught me when I was little and is very simple!

Ingredients

1st weigh your eggs in their shells(3 medium eggs will make 10 cupcakes, 5 medium eggs will make 18 cupcakes) so for example 5 eggs weigh around 300g

You then need the same weight of (for example 300g)

- Margarine

- Self Raising Flour

- Caster Sugar

&

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Method

1- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

2- Mix together the margarine and caster sugar until smooth(you shouldn't be able to see or hear and sugar granules)

3- Beat your eggs in a mug and add the vanilla essence

4- Mix in half of the flour until combined, then mix in half of the beaten egg until combined

5- Repeat stage 3 with the remaining flour and beaten egg

6- Spoon mix into muffin cases

7- Bake for around 20 minutes(or until you can poke a skewer into the cake and it comes out clean!)

To decorate I used butter cream icing

Mix together 250g of margarine, 600g of icing sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla essence until smooth. To this you can add colouring or flavourings.

I didn't have a piping bag so I just spooned the icing into a sandwich bag and cut off the corner, hey presto a DIY piping bag :)

I then added chocolate chips and sprinkles!

Lady Bug Says ... The Classic Look

There is something about a pair of jeans and a white tshirt that is just effortlessly cool.

I am nowhere near as cool as these girls, but hey I can dream!

White tshirt, H&M £5, Jeans, Primark £8, Steve Madden boots, TK Maxx £35

Outfit total - £48

I came across these lovely little suede boots in TK Maxx yesterday and it was love at first sight.

Now many of you may realise that I am a Primark bargain girl through and through, so the thought of spending £35 on a pair of shoes scared me a little. After carrying them round for ages and trying them on with numerous dresses I knew they had to be mine.

As I also bought the said numerous other items(which I am sure you will see in the next few weeks) I am now setting myself a little challenge. I will be putting a little shopping ban on myself. I know I have plenty of clothes/shoes/bags/accessories yet I frequently find myself at the shops, trying on things, buying them, then having no money! Which seeing as I have a mortgage, bills, a car etc. to pay for isn't the best situation to be in!

So, no more shopping(for unnecessary items) for me until the end of May. Hope I can do it!

Lady Bug Says ... Hot Then Cold!

Evening Lovelies!

I wish the weather would make its mind up! One day its cloudy, the next I have frost on my car, then its blazing sunshine! Just stick to the sunshiney stuff please :)

Ok a few outfits from the last few days.

Ankle boots, Primark £10, Heart print tights, Tesco £3, Jersey skirt, H&M £3, Black vest, H&M £4, Sheer shirt, Primark £5, Necklace, New Look £2

Outfit total - £27

Dress, H&M £12, Cardigan, H&M £15, Flip flops, New Look £5

Outfit total - £32

After watching Gem's Tuesday Tips tutorial on leopard print nails last night I just had to try them! If you haven't seen it I suggest you pop over to her blog and take a look now!

Love it :)

Here is my own attempt, next time I will definitely get someone to help me do my right hand!

Lady Bug Says ... Chocolate Brownies!

I thought I would share with you a super yummy chocolate brownie recipe.

Ingredients

175g margarine

350g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

3 medium eggs

100g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

75g cocoa powder

175g walnuts/pecan nuts(optional)

Method

1- Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper and preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas Mark 4

2- Melt margarine and pour into a mixing bowl

3- Add caster sugar and vanilla essence to mixing bowl and stir

4- Break eggs into small bowl and beat well. Add to mixing bowl a little at a time and stir in well

5- Sift in flour, baking powder and cocoa powder, stir well

6- Add chopped nuts and stir(optional)

7- Pour mixture into baking tin and smooth

8- Cook for 40 minutes

9- Remove from oven and leave to cool in tin for 5 minutes

10- Cute into slices and cool on a wire rack

11- Enjoy with a nice scoop of ice cream!

Lady Bug Says ... Denim Love

My legs were not liking being goosebumpy for the majority of the day, so on came the jeans!

Found this button up cotton top lurking in my wardrobe, and thought it kind of fitted in with the cropped trend(this is about as cropped as I am getting!)

Skinny jeans, Primark £8, Top, H&M £5, Flip flops, Tesco £3, Hair flower, Primark £1

Outfit total - £17

Skinny jeans, Matalan £8, Blue top, Primark £4, White cardigan, Primark £6, Flip flops, New Look £5, Ring, Primark £1.50, Necklace, Primark £2, Headband, H&M £2

Outfit total - £28.50

Lady Bug Says ... Pretty Pastels

Just a short post today.

Whilst out on my little shopping trip at the weekend I picked up these cute pastel nail varnishes.

They are a little more opaque than I would of liked, but after 3 coats I got a pretty solid colour.

Not bad for £5!

Lady Bug Says ... A Few Little Things

When the sun is shining it would be rude to not go for a wander around the shops!

I may of bought a few dresses, all bargains, so it would have been rude not to!

H&M Jersey Maxi - £8

Charity Shop, French Connection dress, still with labels, £8 :)

Charity Shop, Karen Millen Dress, £6

(think it may be on Ebay soon, not very flattering on me :( )

Lady Bug Says ... Twice In One Week!

Yep, bare legs again! I am making the most of the sun shining, lets face it, in England it could disappear any day soon!

I wore my new favourite dress!

Floral dress, Primark £5, Grey cardigan, H&M £15, Sandals, Tesco £5, Belt, Primark £1

Outfit total - £26

Whilst doing the exciting task of food shopping I stumbled across the new edition of 'Company High Street Edit'. It's fab! Here are a few photos of some of my favourite pages.

Has anyone else picked up a copy?

Lady Bug Says ... A Little About Me

Well, my camera battery has died, and the charger seems to be hiding from me(probably under my bed tangled up with a million other wiry things!)

So I decided to do this lovely little 'about me' quiz I have seen on a few peoples blogs. Please feel free to re-post :) I love reading about you all!

Never in my life have I been
more than a few days without talking to my mum.

The one person who can drive me nuts is
the Mr.

High school
was the worst years of my life, you couldn't pay me enough to go back!

When I’m nervous
I talk a lot to try and hide it.

The last song I listened to was
Hollywood - Marina & the Diamonds.

If I were to get married right now my maid of honour would be
my sister, Leanne.

My hair is
newly highlighted and very different to how it has ever been before.

When I was 5
my hair was so long I could sit on it!

Last Christmas
was the first Christmas in our first home, and I cooked for my family and the in-laws.

I should be
happy with what I have, but always want more!

The happiest recent event was
Valentines Day.

By this time next year
I really hope I have something shiny on my ring finger!(wishful thinking maybe!)

There’s this girl I know that
I still think of as my best friend, but we have drifted apart so much recently :(

I like you when
you suprise me.

The world could do without
cancer.

Most recent thing I’ve bought myself is
some pretty floral bits from Primark.

Most recent thing someone else bought me is
jewellery from the Mr for Valentines Day.

My middle name is
Elaine.

The animals I would like to see flying besides birds are
kittens!

Once, at a bar
I fell over a lot. Not due to alcohol, but because some bright spark thought putting lots of steps in a bar was a good idea!

Last night I was
catching up on programmes I had Sky +.

There’s this guy I know who
will always stick up for me, and he will probably never realise how much he means to me.

Tomorrow I am
going to work and having friends over for a curry night :)

Tonight I am
going to make lots of curry sauce!

My birthday is
25th October.

Lady Bug Says ... Hello Jeans.

Where did the sun go?!

I woke up this morning and knew my feet would never forgive me if I made them spend the day in flip flops!

Skinny jeans, Primark £8, Ankle boots, Primark £8, Floral Top, Primark £5, Cardigan, Primark £6, Necklace, Ebay £10

Outfit Total - £37

Yes I am a slight Primark addict in case you hadn't noticed!

Oh and the nail varnish I have been wearing for the past few days is Nails Inc - Victoria & Albert. 3 days and its still going strong, I'm impressed!

formspring.me

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/LadyBugSays

Lady Bug Says ... Bare Legs In April!

The sun is still shining! It's verging on being a miracle!

I thought I would celebrate and make the most of this rarity by braving the world without the comfort of tights or leggings! My legs could do with a bit of a tan, but apart from a few doses of goosebumps I wasn't too cold :)

I knew that the perfect companion for my bare legged look would be this new nautical skirt, bought from the lovely Ayden's recent blog sale.

Black vest, H&M £4, Grey cardigan, H&M £15, Nautical Skirt, Blog sale £5, Sandals, Tesco £5, Necklace, Primark £2

Outfit Total - £31

Thought I would try out a hairband style braid, think it has worked out quite well considering my severe lack of plaiting abilities!

Have any of you braved bare legs yet?

Lady Bug Says ... New Summer Hair

Good Evening Ladies.

Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend, definitely hoping the sun sticks around a little longer!

This weekend I got my hair trimmed and decided to go for a it of a colour change, I think I like it! The picture below doesn't really show it off well but I got blonde/caramel highlights. I have never dyed my hair a lighter colour before so its something to get used to!

Skinny jeans, Primark £8, Black vest, H&M £3, Floral vest, Primark £2.50, Grey 3/4 blazer, H&M £7, Flip flops, New Look £5

Outfit total - £25.50

Do you like to change your hair to suit the season?

Lady Bug Says ... Sorry For Being A Bad Blogger!

I find myself apologising on my blog a lot lately. I truly am sorry about being a bad blogger. Normal Lady Bug Says service will resume shortly I promise you!

For now I will leave you with some pictures of my outfits from the last week or so

Thank you for your patience you lovely people!