About Me

Hi there!

My name is Lousie and I am a music graduate! Whilst doing my degree I fell into the whirlpool that is the world of blogging. And I loved it. So much so, here's my own blog!

I love to blog about anything close to my heart, shopping, beauty, baking, crafts, you name it, I will pretty much blog about it!

I also have a youtube channel where I take blogging into the realy world and film hauls, makeup videos, etc etc, the list goes on!

Have a look through my blog and get lose in my world!

XOXO
Loulubelle

Cheesy Straws!

So one of my favorite treats is a chewy, warm and yummy cheese twist. So I decided on a whim today, to bake some and obviously blog it! So here's how I made these scrummy savory treats.

Ingredients

100g sifted plain flour
1.5tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
2tbsp softened butter
100g grated cheddar cheese
80ml cold water

Method

• Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir together to combine. 

• Add the butter and cheese to the mix and combine together until you get a crumbly mixture.

•  Add the water bit by bit and mix with a fork to break up any large chunks and do this until your dough reaches a stage where it doesn't stick to the bowl. 

•   Roll up the dough into a ball and roll this ball out into a rectangular sort of shape... my shape was a bit 'rustic' ;) and cut a line horizontally across the dough, then some vertical lines, like so...

• Then, give the cheese straws a couple of signature twists and place on a baking sheet and put in the preheated oven for 10 minutes on 220 degrees / gas mark 7.

 And then you magically have, warm, chewy, cheesy straws! I made another two batches after this one... as the first batch dissappreared magically! (intomybelly)

So have a go at these and leave a comment below and tell me what you thought of them!

Summer means days like these...

 

So this summer for the UK has been an amazing hot one! Luckily, one has had a good amount of holidays from work over the past month so I've had a lot of time to be able to do a lot of fun stuff across the South Coast! So last week, me and the boyfriend had a day to ourselves and had a full day of fun.

We went to Portsmouth and had a look around the amazing shops in Gunwharf Quays, and a peek at the Historical Waterfront, but alas at £28 it wasn't something we could afford after our morning of shopping! (I'd rather waste my money shopping unfortunately!)

After we left Portsmouth, we headed back home to Dorset and had margarita cocktails in the garden with the neighbours, then we headed to Poole Quay to catch the fireworks! If you'll see a few posts back, I love the fireworks here! Luckily, they're on every week through the summer. Bliss! 

XOXO

Tuesday Bakesday!

So today I thought I would share with you a birthday cake that I made for one of my best friends birthday! We are fans of the enchanted, mythical and faerie world so I took inspiration from this. This has to be the most intricate cake that I have made to date and to complete... it took roughly 6 hours!

The cake itself is a madeira cake (i won't bore you with a recipe, I just took a simple one from a google search) and in the center is vanilla buttercream. I covered the cake in green fondant icing and used decoration tools to make the swirls across the cake.. looking like climbing ivy across a forest floor. Then I added sugar flowers across the cake and freeze-dried strawberries to look like tiny flowers. 

On top of that, I made three mushrooms with fondant icing and gave them cute faces. The baby .ushrrom was so small i painted on the face with food colouring. Then if you loom more into the cake you can see a catterpillar on top of a mushroom and a tiny ladybug on the forest floor. 

Finally i added three butterflies flying suspended from wire to add more illusion and depth to the cake.Oh and not to forget the edible glitter! For a bit of a magical touch :)

I loved decorating this cake, its full of things to look at any way you turn it and its like you can reach out and touch the fantasy.

I hope you enjoyed taking time looking at the cake. I can tell you... it went down a storm! Let me know if you'd love to see more baking adventures!

XOXO

I've Been Gone For So Long!

Slap on my hand for being such a bad blogger! University deadlines and a new job have halted any of my blogging opportunities.Nothing much has changed whilst I've been AWOL, just stress! But now I'm back and i thought I'd bring with me an old school blogging tag. So here is the 20 questions tag :) 

1. Thing you cannot leave the house without?

My phone, my purse, my keys and i can't leave the house without saying goodbye to my beautiful kitty cats! 

 

2. Favourite brand of make-up?

I think it has to be Bourjois at the moment. I'm in love with their glitter nail varnish, their 1 2 3 perfect liquid foundation and their Little Round Pot Blusher in Rose D'or!

3. Favourite flower?

My all time favourite flower is a red Amaryllis. I received one for Christmas and it has just bloomed! A beautiful sight in this dreary English weather I can tell you!

 

4. Favourite clothing store?

This is hard. I like to shop everywhere and don't usually shop in specific stores... I'd have to say it's a mix between New Look and Topshop at the moment, but this may change in a month or two... it tends to fluctuate! 

5. Favourite perfume?
At the moment, it's Taylor Swift... by Taylor Swift.

6. Heels or Flats?

Flats! I feel too tall and awkward if I wear heels. Just not right! Also It's hard for me to wear heels as i have a metal rod in my left leg which doesn't make walking in heels all that comfortable!

7. Do/Did you get good grades?

At university I'm at a steady grade of 2:1-2:2 which is good! I finish in four months so just need to keep the work up to a good standard i suppose!

8. Favourite colours

Black, red, pink and grey

9. Do you drink energy drinks?

I used to, but they just make me hyper and then fall asleep! No point drinking them really!

10. Do you drink juice?

Again I used to, but not anymore. Fruit juice is very bad for your teeth and I'm cutting bad foods from my diet, including fruit juice.

11. Do you eat fries/chips with a fork?

Ones from the chip shop - no. Ones at home, yes. Depends if i have a fork near me! 

12. Favourite moisturiser?

Nivea Daily Essentials Day Cream. So soft and smells great.

13. Do you want to get married? 

One day! I've been with my boyfriend for nearly 3 years now, and hopefully we will...

14.Do you get mad easily?

Not really. Sometimes I do, but what woman can say that she never gets mad?

15.Are you into ghost hunting?

I believe in ghosts, but not ghost hunting, I get scared too easily!

 

16. Any phobias?
Wool on teeth! bleeeeurgh! Hate it!
 
17. Do you bite your nails?
Nope!
 
18. have you had a near death experience?
I've had a major accident before, broke a few bones in the process but it wasn't a near death experience by a long shot.
 
19. Do you drink coffee?
EEEEEWWWWWWW no haha.
 
20. Do you like swimming?
I don't mind it but i'd rather sunbathe!

Hope you enjoyed reading guys! 

XOXO

Soap & Glory - Mist You Madly

 

  "Featuring notes of bergamot, blackcurrant, magnolia, freesia, vanilla and musk. Application of this mist may bestow the wearer with a newfound and haughty kind of self-confidence, triggering uncontainable fits of flirtatiousness. Mist at your own risk"

This scent does all of the above. I riskily bought this scent on a recommendation from a friend without trying it first. I must say, the bottle had me at hello! It's pink! And a lovely shade of pink at that! I'm a lover of body mists and this has to be the most aromatic mist i have ever used. It also has the staying power of a perfume. Along with the cooling sensation that body mists should have! The perfect mist to take along with you to the beach, a night out or anywhere really! Even in the winter I like to spray this over my scarves and this leaves a trail of sumptuous smelling goodness in your wake. It does make heads turn. I've sprayed this, gone out shopping and have had strangers compliment me on the smell. Overall, brilliant body mist and highly recommended!

XOXO

Summer in the sand

  I haven't blogged in a little while... even though I'm relatively new to the whole thing. But i thought I'd share why. Summer. Summer gets me out and about and the less time I sit at home and the more time i spend in the sun does my physical and mental health a whole lotta good! So i thought I'd show you all a few pictures of my summer so far. 

 

I haven't blogged in a little while... even though I'm relatively new to the whole thing. But i thought I'd share why. Summer. Summer gets me out and about and the less time I sit at home and the more time i spend in the sun does my physical and mental health a whole lotta good! So i thought I'd show you all a few pictures of my summer... and a promise with more blogging on the horizon. I already have a few things planned :) 

XOXO