My Wishlist #1

Wishlists ~ Doesn't everyone have one! There's so many things I wish I could buy if only I had the money and didn't have to spend it on bills and house repayments grrr!

1. Endlessly by Kiersten White
2. Cute Fox Brooch from Etsy
3. Flight as can be skirt from Modcloth
4. Illustrated Cup & Saucer set with little Doe from Etsy
5. The Hobbit miniature book pendant necklace from Etsy

What is on your wishlist?

"Tia" Nails

Happy Thursday! These nails are inspired by my gorgeous dog Tia. {Pictured below} She's a girl so she has a lot of pink things and I thought this design suited her so well, so I decided to name this design "Tia" nails.

 Step 1. Paint all nails white.

Step 2. Next I did the pink heart which I used a dotting pen (or you can use a toothpick). 

Step 3.Paint the thumb in light pink crackle nail polish.

Step 4. Paint the 'Feature' nail in pink glitter {I used Revlon #230 Popular}

Step 5. Once the white nail polish is completely dry on the pointer and pinky finger get some removable sticky tap and cut it into thin strips and stick to nails like the picture. 

Step 6. Then paint the pink nail polish over the whole nail including the tape.

Step 7. Once the pink is dry then carefully remove. (You may need to get that toothpick out to touch up if a little bit of the nail polish comes off with the tape).

Step 8. Then add a top coat to finish it off!

Right: All the nail polish colours I used {not including my base & top coats}

Do you have a pet? What type of nails would you do for them?

Bye for now ~ Sami X

War = Sadness

Then by Morris Gleitzman
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Felix and Zelda have escaped the train to the death camp, but where do they go now? They're two runaway kids in Nazi-occupied Poland. Danger lies at every turn of the road.

With the help of a woman named Genia and their active imaginations, Felix and Zelda find a new home and begin to heal, forming a new family together. But can it last?

Morris Gleitzman's winning characters will tug at readers' hearts as they struggle to survive in the harsh political climate of Poland in 1942. Their lives are difficult, but they always remember what matters: family, love, and hope.





Review: *Sniff Sniff* Why?! Why did Morris Gleitzman write such a sad story!! This is the follow on to his first book on the holocaust called “Once”. It continues the story of the young Jewsish boy Felix and his little 6 year old friend Zelda. I can’t really say that I enjoyed the first book or this book because it’s such an emotional topic, but I can say that I liked it because Felix felt very real and his voice was very strong throughout the book. It felt exactly like I was hearing the story straight from a 10 year old boys mouth. I don’t want to give away why it’s so sad but something really horrible happens at the end of the book and it left me stunned, I thought to myself ‘How can this be a book aimed at junior aged children? It’s very graphic and devastating at times’. I know, I know, it’s set in World War two and there wasn’t any happy times during the war until people found out it was over but.... I wasn’t expecting that!! This book is only 182 pages (which translates to only 3 and a half hours of listening) so it’s a very short, so when it ended I was craving to know what happened next, I needed to find out the ending to Felix’s story. So I am interested to see what happens in the next book and whether it will be the end to Felix's story.

On the cover: As always there's many covers and this is the cover that I had for the Audiobook. What I find interesting is the brightness of the green and blue, If I had picked this up without knowing anything about it I would think it's not a really sad book about World War two. It seems like it's a coming of age story (which it kind of is but through experience of war not just normal everyday things). The silhouette of the children meant something to me after I finished, It seems a bit like disappearing (but that's all I'll say as it will give away too much).

Listening to next: "Full cupboard of life" by Alexander Mccall Smith

Have you read this series before? What did you think?

Bye for now ~ Sami X

Library Lover

Working in a library is the best job in the world. I'm surrounded by books all day, I have a great team of workmates who make the work day fun, I get to read stories to babies & children twice a week, Access to all new books & movies, Chatting with all the wonderful patrons and running a youth book club. Can't get any better than that for me :)

 

This is my Library! It's where I come to work everyday (how lucky am I!)

Performer Earl Leonard came into the library for a school holiday activity. He wowed the crowds of parents and kids with songs & dancing.

Left: Illustrator Craig Smith came in to show some primary school tips on drawing.

Right: A display that I did this year.







All these three photos are from when we had a school holiday activity called "Toys in the library". Children brought theirs toys to the library for a sleepover and we caught on camera what the toys got up to while they stayed over night.

What do you love most about your library?

Bye for now ~ Sami X 

Disney Designer Princess

I love Disney movies as I'm sure a lot of other people do too. I can watch my favourites over and over again. Last year Disney released the new Designer Princess range which I adore! The collection features dolls, clothing, make-up, nail polish, stationary, mugs & accessories. I want almost everything but I'd die for the nail polish collection!

Here are all the new & improved Designer Princesses and their dolls

{Picture sourced from the internet}

{This is a video someone made which showcases the dolls ~ just beautiful}

Unfortunately the products are hard to come by in Australia and to find online. Everything is sold out in the Disneystore but I have found a website that shows some of the products, just click here!


Have you purchased anything from this range?


Bye for now ~ Sami X

The Skeleton Detective has done it again!

Playing with fire (Skulduggery Pleasant #2) by Derek Landy
Rating 4 out of 5 stars

"Skulduggery and Valkyrie are facing a new enemy: Baron Vengeous, who is determined to bring back the terrifying Faceless Ones and is crafting an army of evil to help him. Added to that, Vengeous is about to enlist a new ally (if he can raise it from the dead): the horrible Grotesquery, a very unlikable monster of legend.

Once Vengeous is on the loose, dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. Now pretty much everybody is out to kill Valkyrie, and the daring detective duo faces its biggest challenge yet.

But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home?"




Review: After listening on Audio to the first book in the ‘Skulduggery Pleasant’ series I couldn’t wait to read the second. The first book was funny, magical and full of adventure, and this one also delivers all of those things. I love the soundtrack and special effect sounds on the audio book, it really sets the scene and makes the story more exciting! In the first book there were so many laugh out loud moments but I didn’t feel like there were as many in this one. I still really love the banter between main characters, Skulduggery & Valkyrie, at times I was amazed at what kind of comebacks a 13 year old could come up with (some were hilarious!) My favourite Skulduggery quote in this book would have to be “We aren’t retreating... we’re advancing in reverse”. These books are quick and easy to read and fill the time quite easily, So if you’re looking for a book full of fun then this series is what you’re looking for. Even though it wasn’t as funny as the first I still had a great time listening to it and I look forward to continuing the adventures with Skulduggery & Valkyrie. Keep up the good work of saving the world!!

On the cover: I LOVE these covers! They are so cool, the colors are very eye-catching against the black & whites and the catch phrase at the bottom is the perfect explanation of what is to come. Doesn't Skulduggery look fly in his suit :)


To see my review of the first book in the series click here

*Picture & blurb taken from goodreads


Listening to next: Then by Morris Gleitzman

Bye for now ~ Sami X

Love Birds & Cherry Blossoms

Hey! I haven't posted in a while because I've been a bit busy. I did these nails on the weekend so I'm sorry I'm only posting about them now. I decided to do these nails because someone I follow on instagram is having a 'copcat' competition. To enter you must choose one of her manicure designs she has done and try to copy it. She is giving away 9 nail polishes and 2 stripping tapes to the winner. So this is the design that I chose to replicate ~ "Love birds & Cherry Blossoms"

Step 1: Paint all nails in one color. I chose Revlon's Minted #85.

 Step 2: Using a black nail polish pen to do the branches *Make sure you keep the feature finger free of branches because that's where you will put the lovebirds.

Step 3: Put some light pink nail polish onto a piece of cardboard and then use a dotting pen to dip into the nail polish and then dot onto the branches.

Step 4: Do the same as above but instead of light pink nail polish, use white and then once again with a darker pink. 

Step 5: Then put some brown nail polish onto the cardboard and using a thin dotting pen (or toothpick) to do your birds and then red nailpolish for the heart.

Step 6: Wait for it to dry before adding your clear coat and then you're done!

I loved doing this manicure and found it wasn't very hard compared to other manicures I have tried. I knew this would be too hard to replicate on my right hand because I'm right handed, so I did a simple cherry blossom branch design on there instead. I have had so many compliments on this manicure and it didn't take up too much time to do. I'll keep you updated if I get nominated (there are other people that have tried this same design so I have some tough competition!)

Would you give it a go? Let me know if you do :)

Bye for now ~ Sami X