It doesn't feel like I've been blogging albeit the short haitus, since my first year of uni. It's all gone so fast! During some semesters it's been harder to find time to sit down at my laptop and blog but in others, finding the time to write has been much easier. Sometimes prioritising uni first (after all, you're paying for it) is best, but that doesn't mean that your creativity and love of blogging has to slow down!

I've been laying a little low on social media for the last two weeks as life has literally got the better of me, while blogging has got the not-so-better of me! It's taken a while to summon up the motivation to shoot new photos for this little corner of the internet, but I'm here now!

Since this heartfelt post on what we should be talking more about, I've been glaring at the world from behind a fort of sketchbooks, notes and clothes that I can't be bothered to hang up.

Over the last couple of weeks I've had so much uni work that it's SUCKED ALL THE FREAKIN' LIFE OUT OF ME and I feel guilty when I'm enjoying something that isn't an assignment. Currently I'm taken by a brief for the Penguin Design Competition as part of my course, coming up with book cover illustrations for 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾'. I read Adrian Mole as a kid and studied To Kill a Mockingbird in school, so most of last week was simply me, hunched at a desk drawing up what I remember of both books before a recap. It's been fun but boy is it difficult! 

You might have read the title of this post and though, hey? How is staying motivated in Winter any different from any other time of the year? Oh man, it is. The nights are dark and long in Winter, living in a cold student house is the least glamorous of environments and sometimes, frankly, I just can't be assed. You can't pretend you haven't been there too!

Especially when it gets dark at 4pm I struggle to continue working, or to even start when it feels like I may aswell have stayed in bed all day but Winter is almost over my friends, Spring is only a month (or two) away. We can push through and get this work done before the blissful summer nights roll around to carry us and our coursework into the sunset.

Hello everyone! It's been a long while since the last catch up, and again so much has happened and is happening so this post may end up being a little rambly. In my last 'life lately' type post, I'd just moved out of my old place to head home for summer after starting up blogging properly again.

Officially, I'm in the new place with my boyfriend and two friends now (sat here with no make-up and my hair in a towel full of hair dye) and it's beautiful. Small, but beautiful and much more homely than the last house. My room is probably the same size but all of my furniture is lighter and wooden, giving a happier vibe in the place.

So myself and almost a million other uni students will be heading into their third year of study this September, some with a job planned or lined up for graduation and some who don't. I am one of the students who doesn't. 

I'm not afraid to admit that although university has been incredible, the first year of uni was a huge learning curve and my lessons/lectures aren't all I expected them to be. My anticipations and expectations for these three years were high, I don't know if I expected more because in TV university looks incredible, or maybe I just didn't choose the right course/university for my personal way of learning.

Some people are crazy cat ladies, I am a crazy notebook lady at the moment and PROUD. If you look back, every year the closer we progress towards September, the more organisation crazy I go- I swear it's subconscious. If you haven't read my bullet journal post yet, you might not have realised just how much planning motivates me to get things done. 

I don't always carry through with my plans but hey, it's okay to *ahem* forget something from your to-do list once in a while. Here are a few pieces I picked up from my fave craft store, The Range (sorry Hobbycraft) when I found myself in town with mum the other day.

We'll start with my current fave-

It's officially around a month until us students flee back to the cities- whether it's your first year or your last, heading back to university can be a little daunting. Student life has it's perks (holla at my flatmates and the ever irritating SLC) but living away from home can get me SO down if it's for long periods of time.

There are so many little things that missed about home while being at university, silly things that I didn't even usually notice before! Such as how comforting the sound of the washing machine is, haha. Things which were annoying before like adverts on the TV (I only really use Netflix at university) became something that reminded me of being at home; the familiar sounds and smells of the place I love.

Here are a few things you can do to make university feel a little more homely: