Glitter and Sparkle.

Hello! I have had some emails recently about what glitter I use on my cakes so I thought I would share the details with you! I use Rainbow Dust glitter. I used to use ones from edable arts but then I found Rainbow Dust glitter and my local cake decorating shop sells them so I use them the most - and I love them.

They offer a really wide range and they are good value for money - a little goes a long way! You can find a lot of sites that sell these by searching google for 'rainbow dust cake glitter'. I don't want to recommend any retailers since I've never bought mine online but I'm sure there are loads of reputable websites selling them.

I'm aware it says for decoration only but it is non toxic and safe to use on food, you can check out the safety certificate here.

I use a pastry brush to dust the glitter on to my cakes, and if I want more glitter I flick the bristles rather than just lightly tap the brush. Warning: this glitter does get everywhere. It's all over our kitchen table, it's hard to wash off because our table is waxed wood but I love the way it looks and like I told me dad - it just makes it look like a good, well used family table! I'm not sure he totally agreed though.

Rainbow Dust offer a massive range by the way - but this is all I have at the moment!

And just for fun, some photos of the cupcakes I baked tonight for a present.

A quick summery outfit post!

Okay UK and Ireland people, was it just me or was it BOILNG today? We are not used to this in Ireland! It was so sticky and humid. I was in my horrible polyester work uniform most of the day, what a nightmare in the heat. I changed as soon as I got home. Now the sun has gone down and I have to start writing an essay, 2500 words tonight on Wes Anderson films. I had better get started!

Dress - Topshop
Cardigan - Awear
Shoes - Primark
Necklace - Galibardy
Rings: Accessorize and Etsy.

Oops! Spot the faux-pas, I really couldn't be bothered wearing a strapess bra just to sit in the garden though.

I don't really like wearing my hair up but it is just too hot for long hair right now. And if I have to wear it up I might as well make it pretty with some flowers right?

Blog giveaway!

Hello lovely readers. I am here to share that giveaway I have been promising for a while! It's pretty simple, to be in with a chance to win all you have to do is:

1. 'Like' this facebook page I just set up for the blog.
2. Comment on this post.
Closing date is a week from now, Saturday the 29th May.

Giveaway prize details:

1. Stitch 'n' Bitch book (because everyone should own this!)
2. Heidi Seeker necklace
3. Nails Inc polish in 'Dover St Market' (a dark purple)
4. Postcard by one of my favorite illustrators, Gemma Correll
5. Some yummy goodies, I'll be adding to the lollipops!

Anyone can enter, in any country! Enjoy!

Outfit 17/5/10.

Hello! My family and I took the dogs out to the park today for a walk and then took my niece to the park and I thought I would share my outfit with you.

Top - Awear
Cardigan - M&S
Skirt - River Island
Boots - Dr Martens
Necklace - loveheartsandcrosses.co.uk
Hair feathers - Urban Outfitters

You can see how patchy my hair is, I need to go get it coloured properly next week.

I have a giveaway coming up soon so check back within the next week for details!

And now for something completely different...

I never post much besides fashion and food here, but I am about to finish my film studies degree and I feel the need to let you know what a massive film nerd I am. I came across these amazing illustrations via a friend on twitter and felt the need to share them with someone.

These are from a series called Golden Books For Kids, and are a play on the Random House collection of books for children. They're drawn my Josh Cooley, a storyboard artist for Pixar. He's taken some, uh, rather children unfriendly scenes from some great films and made them into beautiful, comical illustrations.

You can find more of this series here and be sure to check out Cooley's blog for some really hilarious stories and sketches.

New dress and Topshop makeup!

Hello lovelies, sorry it's been a while since I updated! I'm trying to get revision and coursework done for my finals, I graduate from uni this summer (hopefully!).

I got this dress from River Island a few days ago, I love the colours in it. I also got the yellow skirt I featured on here a while ago which was down from £21.99 to just £12 so I will do an outfit post for that soon.

I dyed my hair last week, I was fed up trying to maintain the red. I am tempted to dye it black properly but then it's so hard to get rid of if you change your mind. This is L'oreal recital preference in brasilia dark brown. It will fade really soon though, my hair colours never stay long since my hair has been bleached so much. Poor hair, I should be kinder to you. And get you cut, long overdue.

Dress - River Island
Shoes - Office
Necklace - River Island
Ring - Topshop





Molly wanted to join in.



I popped into Topshop yesterday evening to try out some of their new makeup range. I was very impressed with the selection and the prices are also quite reasonable. They are going to release new items every season as well which is exciting. I could have bought a lot more but I went for these:

• Skin glow in 'light' £10
• Crayon in 'sun shower' £7
• Cheek and lip stain in 'berry blush' £6

Now that I have had them home and tested them properly I will be wanting to give some of the other things a try. They had some lovely looking kohl pencils for £4.









This is the sun shower crayon, I love it. Very easy to use, no mess, quick! I am going to get the black one I think because it's a very tidy way of doing a smoky eye, no dust to drop all over your face and make you look like a panda.



The skin glow is something I normally wouldn't spend a tenner on because I have Benefit moon beam which is a highlighter of the same kind of hue. However moonbeam is quite thick whereas this is more runny and lighter so I feel happy putting this all over my face, and it gives a really lovely dewey glow.



I love stains, this is great for your cheeks. Really bright and stays on for ages. I'm not that keen on using it on my lips only beacause it is really perfumey and does not taste good at all! Apart from that the colour and staying power is really great.

Let me know if you have tried any of the range and what you think! I thought it was all going to be a bit naff but it's actually great quality and I can't wait to try some more bits.

Birthday presents!

I got a flip video for my birthday. I plan on making some videos for this blog and incorporating them into outfit posts and baking posts etc. For now though I thought I'd keep it simple. Hopefully you can make out my accent okay! Let me know if you like the idea of videos or not, and sorry I didn't intend it to last so long!

Birthday Haul from strawberrysatine on Vimeo.

I wish I were in London...

...but alas I am not. If anyone doesn't know, the Volcano in Iceland (the same one that ruined my trip to Manchester last month) is causing problems here in Ireland again. At about 11pm on the night before I was due to go to London for my birthday, Ryanair cancelled all of their flights. I was distraught, I had planned a great birthday meal out with just me and my best friend. But, these things happen. I had to forget it and I hope to make it to London this summer sometime instead. I can go to London for my birthday next year as well. I am 22 now, it feels weird to type that number.

So my guide to Manchester was foiled by the Volcano and now my guide to London has been ruined as well. I did take a few photos the day before my birthday when my family and I went for a walk and got lost and ended up walking for three hours, I wasn't really dressed for lots of walking but oh well! I may not be in London, but Ireland is beautiful.

Coat - Silence and Noise
Scarf - Gift from a friend
Dress - Dorothy Perkins
Belt - New look
Tights - Accessorize
Boots - Primark
Necklace - Topshop

Hummingbird Bakery Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Can you believe this was my first time ever to make red velvet cupcakes? These were delicious, I am a total cream cheese fiend so I loved the cream cheese icing. I couldn't believe how much food colouring was needed, but the red did look lovely. I'll definitely be making these again.By the way, because of the red food colouring my kitchen did slightly resemble a bloodbath after making these, so be prepared for this!

Ingredients:

60g butter at room temperature
1 egg
150g caster sugar
10g cocoa
10ml red food colouring
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
120ml buttermilk
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
Frosting

300g icing sugar, sifted

50g butter at room temperature

125g cream cheese, chilled

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Cream the butter, egg and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. In a separate bowl mix the cocoa powder, food colouring and vanilla extract. Once mixed add to the creamed mixture.
4. Mix carefully until combined and then add half the buttermilk, mix further and add half the flour and the baking powder. Mix thoroughly before adding the remainder of the buttermilk and flour and mixing further.
5. Add the white wine vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix thoroughly for at least 5 mins.
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins or until the cupcakes spring back slightly when touched.
7. Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.






8. In the meantime, to make the frosting cream the icing sugar and butter together until well mixed.
9. Add the cream cheese and mix until it is incorporated. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy for at least 5 mins.
10. Use a spatula to layer the frosting on top of the cupcakes.

On a totally unrelated note, my friend brought me back flowering tea from China. It was amazing!