The end of university...?

I have a degree!

You can now call me Maisie Archer BA ;)

I should change the name of this blog now, right? Wrong! I've got myself a place at another university to study Teacher Training! Woohoo!

I was hoping for a 2:2 for my degree but ended with a 2:1! It's pretty much a miracle, considering how far behind I was during my final year.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I started my third year with 21,000 words worth of essays to write for second year, as well as 28,000 words worth of third year essays, portfolios and presentations to complete. It was a struggle, but it's finished!

I found out my final grade for my dissertation whilst I was in Amsterdam. I received a First! It was a total shock and this allowed me to work out - to some extent - what my overall final grade was. I wasn't too sure of the calculations and how much each result equated to percentage-wise. Nevertheless, all the equations I completed gave me a 2:1 so I was fairly confident that was what I was receiving, although I didn't tell anyone (besides my dad, boyfriend and friend I was on holiday with) until my university confirmed it!

I have now also completed a months worth of work experience, I have to write an essay based on this work experience before I get back to uni and then the summer is mine!

I'll try to write more - third post this year, go me! I enjoy writing about my life, it's fun to look back and a great way of off-loading thought processes even if no one reads them.

Until next time
Maisie x

DIY Vegan Lip Balm Recipe

I am, in no way, a vegan. I do however, use cruelty free products and if there's a vegan alternative in my price range I will buy that.
My best friend is a long-term vegetarian, recently turned vegan so I'm trying my best to learn more about alternatives to beauty products.

I've been suffering quite badly with very bad dry lips recently, the corners of my mouth were especially painful and red raw. I went on the hunt for some great lip balm and after some research was recommending some 'Lanolin' which turns out is actually a nipple cream which is great for your lips. I decided to research what lanolin was, and I honestly wish I hadn't.
I won't say what it is here, just in case, but a quick google search will tell you. It's pretty grim, you have been warned. 

If I hadn't already been on the hunt for vegan products, I was now.

I decided to try and make my own and it's actually turned out pretty great for my first time!

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon of shea butter*
• 1 tablespoon of soy wax**
• 5 drops of peppermint oil***
• 5 drops of vitamin E oil****
• Small container such as a small jar or pot. 

1) Put your Shea butter and soy wax into a microwavable container and melt at 15 second increments, until completely liquid. Stir in between increments to make sure the two ingredients become completely combined. Alternatively, put in a glass bowl on top of a pan of boiling water and melt that way, stirring constantly.

2) Add the drops of your chosen oils and mix until combined.

3) Place into a small jar, pot or container of your choosing and leave in the fridge to set.

4) Use it regularly to keep your lips feeling moisturised and healthy!

* Instead of Shea butter you could use cocoa butter. Both are really great moisturisers and both absorb brilliantly into the skin. If you add in the essential oils later on specifically for the smell, Shea would be better for you as it has a less intense smell which really allowed the essential oil smell to come through. Cocoa butter is a beautiful smell, but can sometimes be overpowering when put right below your nose. Just make sure you like the smell before you use it!
          You could also use Coconut Oil if you'd prefer. Coconut oil is full of antioxidants, vitamin E and fatty acid emollients which is perfect for moisturising your lips. 

** Instead of soy wax you can also use candellila wax or carnauba wax. I personally used the soy wax because I had it to hand, but it's whatever your preference is.

*** I used peppermint oil because I love the smell and it gives my lips a little tingle when applied which I like. Some people say that the oil adds some plumpness to your pout, but I've yet to notice that. Other oils which are truly beautiful to use in lip balms are: Almond Oil, an odourless oil rich in minerals, proteins, vitamin B, vitamin E and has SPF, or Lavender Oil, a soothing oil that will help any painful or peeling lips.

****Shea butter also has naturally occurring vitamin E and vitamin A in it, so if you wanted to you could omit the vitamin E oil later on (although I like putting it in as Vitamin E oil is great for adding moisture, 

And in the blink of an eye, it's 2 and a half years later...

Hello glorious people of the internet!

It's been some time since I wrote a blog post. October 2015 I believe the last one was. It's now April 2018! So I think an update is required...

2015, 16 and 17 were all very tough years for me. Last time I wrote I explained how I was taking a year out of university... I actually ended up taking two years out of uni.

I was all prepared to return in September 2016 but, unfortunately, my father's operation fell in the October, just 1.5 months after returning back to university. I already had 5 essays to do, as well as the third year work, and I knew that this would put me even further behind and create a real struggle for me, so I decided to defer for a further year.

Now, I was only allowed to take 2 years out of university maximum, so if anything else went wrong towards September 2017 it was tough luck. It was either go back to uni or... never go back to uni again (or start a course from scratch), but I was adamant that I had completed [and paid a hefty price £££] for 2 years worth of university and I was not going to let that go to waste!

So in September 2017 I returned back to university, a ball of nerves, with 5 essays equating to 21,000 words to complete during the first 3 months from my second year, alongside another 10,500 words worth of third-year essays to write.
Needless to say, I had a lot to do.

If you decide to take time out of university, I encourage strongly for you to download all online resources your university offers that'll help you to complete your university work. I was locked out of my account so I couldn't even access the essay questions thus making it so I couldn't do the work during my two years off! Frustrating!!!

All of these essays were due in between mid-December and January so I had a lot to do. Further to that, third-years also have to complete a 10,500 word dissertation, which is honestly the hardest thing I've had to do, to date.

I strong advise starting this early, here's why...
Due to me having so many pieces of work to do, I put off starting my dissertation. I had the topic marked down, I had a mind-map of ideas to research and that was it. My attention was on the essays due in, in December and January, and then my attention went on to the presentation and essays I had to complete in March. Basically, the work-load I had made it very difficult to spend any time on the biggest project of my whole university career (not only in volume, but it also equates to 60% of my overall degree grade!).
So, mid-March rolls around and I'm panicking about my diss. I need to get my butt into gear, sit down, plan it out, have a meeting with my mentor, and just. do. it. (Thanks Shia Labeouf).
It's also worth noting that I still had a group presentation and another essay due in, around the same time as my diss needs to be handed in.

University is the most stressful and un-enjoyable experience of my life. 
I know, I know. University is meant to be the "best time of your life!", but for me it's just... not. I hated living at uni, I do not drink very often, I don't enjoy going out clubbing or partying, I need my sleep, I need my space. All of these things are opposite to the majority of university-goers. In fact, when I lived at university, I still spent all of my 'free' time back at home. It just was not for me. It caused seriously bad mental health issues for me and honestly made me have panic attacks about returning.
I'm commuting now. Luckily, during my years out of university I passed my drivers test. Uni is around 45 mins away outside of rush hour, or 1.5 hours away during rush hour. It's doable, but it takes a lot of effort.
I was very well supported by the department during my time off and my return to university, but nothing could have prepared me for the workload or how lonely I felt.
I knew no one on the course anymore, something I knew in theory but put into practice and it's one of the most lonely and difficult experiences.
I miss my friends from the first two years. Honestly the most embarrassing moment of this year is having to whisper to my lecturer that I don't know anyone, when being asked who I was in a group with for my presentation. OR the same lecturer introducing me on the first day, in front of everyone, and him telling them to make me feel welcome...

Here I am today.
I am 2 weeks away from being finished with this course. 8,300 words away from my dissertation being complete. 2,500 words away from my remaining essay complete. 9 days away from my group presentation being over. I'll be working until the last day, but fingers crossed it'll be worth it!

I've also accepted a conditional offer from my #1 university for teacher training!
I passed both my numeracy and literacy skills tests first time (numeracy was a miracle... my dad swore, literally, in the middle of a car park because he was so shocked!)
I need to get at least a 2:2 in order to get onto this course, arrange some more work experience and ... find some smart clothes!
Wish me luck!

I'll try my best to keep this blog updated, but we all saw what happened last time!

Maisie x

A new journey

Hiya guys!

I have decided to take a year off from university. I'll be going back September 2016 to finish off my current course but in the meantime I have been doing some exciting things!

Firstly, in July I opened up my own online shop! I sell stickers that I have drawn, designed and made myself for planners, organisers and calendars. It's going well and I had my 200th order last week!

I have also starting taking evening classes at a college near me. I'm studying Level 1 Sugar Craft and Level 1 Photography. I'm really enjoying both so far.

These are the first things I made in my sugarcraft course. A marzipan elephant and a marzipan teddy bear!

I hope to get much better in both areas throughout the course. I haven't really done anything in sugar craft before, the best I've been able to do is ice some cakes (not very well!). Photography, however, is something that has always interested me. I have two cameras which have the potential to be great, if only I knew how to come off automatic mode! I feel as though I'm good at taking photographs on the auto mode, but I don't understand anything beyond that. I'd love to be able to make my average day photos a bit more than just average. The photography course also teaches me how to edit and manipulate images using Photoshop, which I'm looking forward to learning too!

The first three photographs I took for my photography course. Completely unedited!

I think I'll keep this blog updated with how I'm doing at college, it'll be nice to go over my journey in the future!

HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR 2014

Yesterday I went to the 'Warner Bros Studios: The Making of Harry Potter' studio tour for the second time. The first time I went I was amazed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it...except for being horribley ill with a migraine, so I ended up missing a lot of it on the way round. My dad surprised me with tickets as a late Christmas present and this time, I was ill again but not so ill, and I managed to see almost everything - I'm sure of it. I even ended up buying myself a time turner!

I've put together a little video of all my photos and short video clips of the day, I took over 1000 so I've condensed them down quite a bit. We were there for over 4 hours, and this is only a 12 minute video so enjoy it.

I do not own any rights to the music in this video. All rights belong to Warner Bros.

WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS (part 2)

This year I am going to be having three christmasses: The one on Christmas day, one at my mum house (this blog post) and one at my best friend, Amy's, house later on in 2014. I just exchanged gifts with my mum and step-dad and thought I'd share with you what I got.

Just as another disclaimer, I am not trying to, in any way, brag. I know a lot of people enjoy reading these, and I enjoy writing about them so I can look back in the future at the memories. Also, I know I have been utterly spoilt this year. 

No stocking is complete without a chocolate teddy or a chocolate Santa. In my opinion, chocolate teddies are much cuter. 

This was actually a late present from my dad, but he lost it on Christmas day haha. Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer - best primer I've tried to date. 

I've been needing some cloths for ages, for university. My mum put these in my stocking because she knew that. Apparently these ones are really good because they work with just water, so you don't need to use antibacterial sprays etc. if you don't have them. She's given me two big ones and a small one for computer screens etc. 

Just a little stocking filler, but aren't these tissues cute. I don't want to blow my nose into them they're so pretty. They're in a handy little fold-up wallet which means that they won't get ruined if I shove them into my bag. 

How beautiful is this coaster? It's made of stone and it looks really antique and gorgeous. It will look beautiful on my bedside table at university.  

A beautiful red, large beaded bracelet. The light catches on each of the little bobble beads, it's beautiful and I love it. 

I've only tried two other types of teapigs tea. This one is by far my favourite. It's not 'spicy' spices, but it has a lovely scent to it, it's gorgeous. I would definitely recommend this tea. 

Clarins have always had beautiful skin care products. These are sample sizes of their HydraQuench Cream Mask, and HydraQuench Cream. These are some of the most hydrating face masks and moisturisers that I have ever tried, and I would really recommend trying them. 

It's almost a necessity that a stocking has chocolate coins in it.

This soap is really rich and lovely. I won't be using it on my hands, but I've put it in my underwear drawer because the smell reminds me of something my mum used to put in my underwear drawer when I was little. 

According to my mum this mineral foundation came with my chanel mascara (which will come up in a minute). This colour is too dark for my skin, but I'm going to try it as a bronzer. It looks lovely.

Well...what can I say about these? yum

My step-dad was the person who convinced my mum to get this. 1334 pieces of lego to make a campervan. I finished it within 10 hours, and I loved it. I can't wait to get another one.

I'm so excited to read the Bridget Jones series, I've seen all the films and I love them and books always tend to be better than the films. I'll probably write a book review on the series once I've finished, which shouldn't be too far away.

This is a Liz Earl hot cloth polish, which I haven't tried yet, but it smells lovely and it's my mum's favourite so I'm excited to try it. 

This is a sample size of a chanel mascara. I really like this because it's in a squeezy tuby bottle and not a normal mascara tube, which means I'm able to get more out of it when it runs low. So far it seems very nice. 

There's not much I can say about this. This is a set of 10 of the most popular O.P.I nail varnishes. I've tried each one on one nail and I love them all. I think my favourite is the darkest brown one.

Just a silly little stocking filler. These are some really pretty pegs, which according to my mum reminded her of me which is why she got them. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR: New years resolutions.

Well, that's 2013 over and done with...now we're on to 2014.

Here's to writing 2013 as the date for the next few months!

How was your year?

Mine was definitely up and down. The most memorable moments of my year are:

getting my first job,

quitting my first job,

getting my gorgeous bunny rabbit, Weasley,

getting into university,

starting up this blog and

seeing my best friend for the first time in, what seems like, forever!

Around this time of year a lot of people tend to set themselves goals - or new years resolutions - for the new year. I recently saw a facebook status criticizing people for doing this: not for setting themselves goals, but for waiting until this time of year to do so. This got me thinking, do people just wait for this time of year to come around for them to set goals, or is 'new years' a trigger for them to do so? Why can't people set themselves goals any time of year? Is this just a 'fashion' of such that means that we can't announce our goals at any other time of year without being judged? I don't think there's a real answer for these questions, but I feel as though 'new years' triggers me to want to do something different in the next year.

I have two goals for this year:

lose weight (typical or what?)

and to do more with my life. I want to do at least 4 memorable things per month, things that can be written on my calender, plans that will impact my life, and make memories. Take photos of these memories and create a scrapbook of this year. 

Do you have any goals for the year?

What are your thoughts on setting goals?