Saturday, June 30, 2012

Games Games Games

I'm not much of a gamer because I'm very competitive and get too stressed out, so that's why I prefer reading or craft because they're relaxing and not stressful.

But, I don't mind casual mobile games where you can collect things to level up etc. I'm a bit obsessed with my iPhone games so I thought I'd share them with you and show how much fun they are to waste a bit of time.

The four games that I play often are:


 Magic Tree isn't currently available for Android.





It's funny how three out of four games are named "Tiny ....."

All of these games are free but you have the option for "in game" purchases for special items or items that may be hard to collect. 'Magic Tree' and 'Tiny Farm' are created by the same company COM2US. In these games you make up the same profile and can add friends to play with. My username is 'lovesami' if you're interested in adding me. Happy Gaming!

What games do you play on your phone?

Bye for now ~ Sami X



Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Devastating End

MockingJay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.


Review: My my, what a rollercoaster ride of emotions I went through reading this book, there was sadness, anger & despair. After reading this it left me drained and a little bit empty, I sat there a few moments just thinking about everything and then I had to do something happy to cheer myself up. Poor Katnis, she never gets a break from corruption, death & pain. There were two stages towards the end of the book that soemthing really terrible happened and I had to close the book and stop for a little while because I was so angry with the author for doing that to certain characters (I don't want to give too much away incase you haven't read it yet). In the end, I guess in war there's never a happy ending for the people who fought in it, they are always going to be left damaged in some way whether it be physical or mental. I also have to mention that I only gave this 4 stars instead of 5 like I did with the other two because it took getting past the first 100 pages before any kind of action happened. It wasn't like the other two in which at the end of every chapter there was a cliff hanger and I was desperate to find out what happened next.  I will be interested to see how they will go making this into a movie because there's so much of it which is what's going on inside Katnis' head. You can read my other reviews of The Hunger games and Catching Fire by clicking the titles.

On the cover: Well the cover is pretty self explanatory, the fire colours for 'the girl on fire' and the black feather for the 'mockingjay'. Another cover which gives you a good idea of what to expect on the inside. I've seen these really nice black 'classic' covers which you can check out by clicking on each name below
*The Hunger Games* *Catching Fire* *Mockingjay*

*Picture & Blurb taken from goodreads

What I'm reading next: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Have you read this series and did you feel the same way as me after reading it?

Bye for now ~ Sami X 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Flower Power

My friend makes beautiful hand made cards and she had these cute flower motifs to put onto the cards. Her mum loved them and she knew I had a craft line so she asked me to make them into brooches for her. Well I knew this was going to be a sinch to do so of course I said yes.

These are the things you need to make a simple brooch: 
Hot Glue Gun, Brooch backs & any sort of motif



















So as easy as 1,2,3 I got my Hot Glue Gun warmed up and 
glued the brooch to the back of the flower. Like so


And here is the final product


The diameter of the flower is 4cm

I wouldn't sell something like this through my craft store, I would probably stick the flower motifs onto some lace before making them into a brooch so they would be bigger. You can make almost anything into a brooch as long as you have some brooch backs and a hot glue gun!

 

Here are some of my brooches.
I used a butterfly Iron-on Transfer and a paper scrapbooking flower and glued a brooch on the back. 




For more products check out Love Sami

Bye for now ~ Sami X

Monday, June 25, 2012

Sexy Spots

I call these my 'Sexy Spots' nails because an older lady came into my work and said "OOoo they're very sexy aren't they!" and I thought that was adorable so that's what I decided to call them. They've also been called Ladybug/Betty Boop/Minnie Mouse nails so they're very flexible ;-)









These are the items I used to create this design.








 OPI ~ Katy Perry range ~ The one that got away is the base colour which looked really pretty by itself but I still decided to go ahead and do the rest of the design. Once the base colour was dry I used a cheap brand white polish for the spots colour and then using the dotting tool to (of course) do the spots. Once they were dry I used my 2 way black nail polish's thin brush to do the black tips. Voila all done! As always I put my clear base coat on before applying colour and a clear anti-chip top coat once the manicure is dry.

What would you call this manicure?

Bye for now ~ Sami X


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Free as a bird...


The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.


Review: I have had this on my 'to read' shelf for a while now, probably ever since the movie was released. I thought I better read it because so many people recommended it, even a few colleagues. I'm going to be honest and tell you that I haven't really read anything on black history and didn't know how bad it really was for the black community living in Mississippi in the 60's, So after reading this it really opened my eyes. I know this is fiction but whenever something horrible happened I thought to myself "It's so true, this probably happened somewhere and to someone for real'. This is such a sad story and the end almost brought me to tears! (And that's saying something because I don't cry during movies or books) At one stage in the middle of the story I had massive butterflies in my stomach because of a stupid mistake Miss Skeeter made in not keeping track of her property and it nearly fell into the wrong hands!! (I won't say anymore so it doesn't really give the book away) I haven't seen the movie yet but I'm dying to see it, I want to see all the characters come to life and how much of the book they will cut out. Usually I like to see the movie before reading the book because then you're never disappointed in the movie because it's left out so much but I have a feeling that I'll really like the movie. I gave this 4 stars only because there were a few things I felt dragged on and it just doesn't deserve to be up there with all my other favourites. A little side note... I listened to this on audio and I recognised one of the narrators. The voice actor who read Miss Skeeter's part had narrated the "Wolves of Mercy Falls" series so that was interesting to hear the same voice do a different part.

On the Cover: So the above cover is the one that I had with my Audiobook which I think is really pretty but I didn't get what it meant to start off with. Once I finished it though I realised that the birds probably represented the three main characters and the freedom that they want to not be kept in a cage.
That's my take on it anyway. The other cover is the movie cover which I don't always like as much as the originals. 

Listening on Audio to next: Playing with fire by Derek Landy

Have you seen the movie and what did you think? 

Bye for now ~ Sami

*Picture & blurb taken from www.goodreads.com 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Rock On!

Ever since I saw the trailer for "Rock of Ages" I wanted to see it so badly!
Here is the trailer if you haven't seen it


I love musicals and this had all the awesome music in it that I love!
I went to see it on Tuesday night and it rocked!!
Tom Cruise does a fantastic job as 'Stacee Jaxx', he fits the rocker profile perfectly.
Oh and Catherine Zeta-Jones & Russel Brand were also really fantastic.
Every actor did such a good job at singing the songs, I was really impressed!
Looks like it's time to get the souindtrack and have it blasting in the car :)

Bye for now ~ Sami X

What is your favourite musical?

Monday, June 18, 2012

Weapons of choice

I love painting my nails and doing Nail art.
"Nail Art: Beautification of the nails with patterns, paintings or other decorative motifs"

It can be very rewarding when you get it right. I have been doing Nail art for 
over a year now and this was the first ever design I did.

*Cupcakes wth spots & stripes*
I was extremely proud of myself and as you can see this is my right hand so I painted this with my left hand which is even harder as I'm right handed. I have done many different designs since then and here are a few of my favourites.






 


Top Left: *Rainbow Dash My Little Pony* 
Top Right: *Somewhere over the Rainbow* Bottom Left: *Vintage Flowers with spots & stripes* 
Bottom Right: *Purple Owl & hearts*











  Now I'd like to show you my weapons of choice for painting my nails.....

Left: Sally Hansen Insta Dri ~ Anti-chip Top Coat 
Right: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails as a Base Coat

I always put a base coat on my nails before painting them because it stops the nail from yellowing and also strengthen the nails. After I have finished with my design and the nail polish is pretty much dry I put my Top Coat on which drys the nail polish in 30 seconds and also acts as an Anti-chip.  
For detailing I use 2-Way Nail Art pen/brush click here and I also use 2-Way Nail Art Dotting Tool pens click here Click the links to see the items through eBay.

I plan to have a few more picture tutorials of my nail designs in the future so look out for them. I hope this post has given you ideas or inspiration to go out and do some art on your nails too.

Bye for now ~ Sami X

What should I paint on my nails next?



Unexpected Awesome-ness


Divergent by Veronica Roth
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

“In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance”

Review: I can not explain exactly how good this is! WOW! This was an amazing book. Anyone who loved 'The Hunger Games' will love this book. I hadn’t read any reviews about this book, all I knew was that it was a dystopian novel. Other than that I knew nothing so I didn't know what to expect and what I got was excitement, mystery, danger & romance. It jumps right into Roth’s imaginative dystopian world with Beatrice’s voice coming through loud and clear. I really loved how the story built up and up until it exploded with the action packed ending. The only down side was that a few parts were a bit predictable like which Faction the main character will choose and a few things towards the end (which I won't mention because it will spoil it for those who haven't read it) but that didn't stop me from really loving this book. I think if I was to choose a faction it would be Amity because out of all five I think Peaceful would suit me best, if only there was a faction for “The loud” then i’d fit in there perfectly! A fantastic first novel from a new author, I’m really looking forward to number two!

On the cover: Like I said in my review I didn’t really know anything about the book and when I first saw the cover I didn’t think this or that about it, I did like the shiny holographic look though. Once I started reading I figured out what the fire symbol meant and realised that the cover is a perfect depiction of what’s inside the book, I hate it when a cover has nothing to do with the story.

What I’m reading next: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

What are you reading?

* Picture & Blurb taken from goodreads

Thursday, June 14, 2012

A big hello and welcome!




Oh hi! You have stumbled upon my lil ol' blog. I work in a small public library where I’ve been working for over seven years now. I LOVE books and love how reading a book can keep you on the edge of your seat, send chills down your spine, put your heart in a flutter, make you laugh out loud and make you dream all at once!

I also started to make jewellery as a hobby and in 2010 ‘Love Sami’ was founded. Love Sami features products such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings and hair accessories.

My other passion is nailart, I love painting my nails while watching a movie or TV. So, I hope you will enjoy my posts of book reviews & other book related things, nail art, jewellery and many other things that may interest me. I’d love to hear from you so feel free to comment on my posts or contact me through my email.

Thanks for popping by

Bye for now **Sami**

 


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