Pink Ombre Cake

I made this Pink Ombre cake around a month ago now, and for my first attempt at an ombre cake I was pretty impressed with the way it turned out. I like the way it’s white on the outside, and then when you cut it you can see the different shades of pink - everyone was so surprised to see a pink ombre cake hiding inside.

I used a simple rainbow cake tutorial as a guide, but used half the mixture to make 4 layers and obviously changed the colours to variations pink.  Search ‘Cupcake Jemma - rainbow cake’ on youtube. I found that to get different shades of pink, red food colouring worked better, just keep an eye on how much you put in. You only need the smallest amount. 

Hope you enjoyed this little post, let me know if you have made an ombre cake or if you are daring enough to attempt it. The possibilities are endless, I have seen so many amazing versions on youtube.

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My Filofax in Patent Nude

If you have been a long follower of my blog you will be aware of the various planners and diaries I have purchased over the years in a bid to get more organised, all of which have failed to work (read as: I have lost interest in them) It's safe to say that I have finally come to the realisation that you need more than a diary to stay organised. It's all about your mindset and for someone like me who feels stressed pretty much all the time getting used to having a planner is something that I really needed to do, especially as I am juggling so many things at the moment.

I had been wanting to purchase a 'high end' planner for quite some time and because I can only justify purchases like this If I get enough use out of it, this has motivated me more to make the consciousness effort to actually make use of it.  Now a few weeks in I can honestly say I have used this planner every single day and it has definitely helped me organise my time so much better.

Anyways, onto the actual beauty itself. I went for the Original Filofax in the Patent Nude colour. I was unsure whether to get this one, the mint green or the lilac shade initially. However, I am so glad I went for this one in the end. I absolutely adore it and feel like it is a lot more chic. Filofax planners are made in the United Kingdom and this particular one is made from real leather. The planner feels really good quality. Size wise, I went for the Personal size and again I wasn't sure whether to go for this or the A5 version. I asked people on Twitter and almost everyone said the A5 would be difficult to carry around due to the size and because I wanted a planner that was portable, the Personal size would be best.

 
Inside, the filofax comes with the standard one page 2015/2016 calendar, a few to-do list sheets, a few contact list sheets, plenty of spare paper in various colours, six dividers in mint green and pink, a dashboard pocket for you to pop stuff into, 2 flyleafs for you to stick post its on and finally the most important bit, the 2015 diary. I have the week on two pages dairy which is just about okay at the moment but next year I will most likely opt for the page per day insert. That's the beauty of filofax planners, each year all you have to do is purchase the inserts you need and swap them out. With the help of the binder rings the beautiful diary is yours to keep for years. 
In addition to this you can really personalise Filofaxes, I have been going WILD with Washi tape, polkadot and gold being my favourite. Not only do they compliment the Nude planner perfectly but they were also only around £1 each. 
I got my planner from Amazon as it was/still is on sale for £45.59 delivered free of charge. The original price on the Filofax website is £65.
I hope you like this post, do you have a filofax or any other planner? How do you decorate and make the most of them? I am always looking for inspiration on Pinterest but it would be great to read your tips and comments too.
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Update

So here we are again, update 2.0... It's not been long since my last update post on return from a blog break but somehow I've managed to stay away from my blog for around 6 weeks this time - the longest I've ever had a 'blogging break'.
If you follow me on Twitter you might have a small insight as to why I've been away, but with that being said I think it's obvious that I don't share much of my personal life on my blog or even Twitter. 
This will potentially be the most 'personal' I will ever get on my blog so here goes nothing...
For starters 2015 for me has been a bit of an odd one so far. I went into this year thinking it's a new year, a fresh start but in reality we all know that a new year means absolutely nothing. Your problems from the year previous stick with you - they don't just magically disappear and well, that is what's happened. New year, new me what?! Don't get me wrong I am in a much better place now than I was a few years ago but for any of you who suffer with anxiety (I hate saying that because of the trend it has become recently) you will know that you will be fine one minute and totally out of your depth the next. 
Further more the end of April and May have been particularly hard for me, and not because of anything in particular, surprisingly! I have just had a lot to think about in my personal life and also a lot of deadlines to meet with work. This is stressful enough for the average Joe but when you have anxiety it's like stress x100.... there were a good few tears shed, let me tell ya! When I tried to fit my blog into the mix I just couldn't. I feel like being under so much stress had an knock on effect on my blog whereby I started being really picky with my blog photos and how they were not good enough to upload. I just kept comparing my blog to other people's amazing blogs. I feel like because blogging is so competitive right now it sometimes is really hard to fit in and so easy to get discouraged.
I don't want this to turn into a negative post but let's just say that I have been feeling pretty down and sad these last few months; - this is silly in itself because I have so much to be grateful for. 
I started this blog in 2013 and it turned into my little happy place quite quickly, recently it has felt like a chore and that's due to a mixture of the changing dynamic of the blogosphere and just me not being in the right frame of mind. My blog design shop however has kept me busy since it was initially launched last year and nothing brings me more joy than working with bloggers in creating the perfect blog design for them. I want the same joy with my blog so with a fresh new blog design and lots of blog post ideas jotted down I will slowly but surely turn this blog back into that happy place! 
Reading this post back now has made me want to delete it as it's just my incoherent thoughts , but it's midnight and I have work in the morning so I am going to hit publish. See, I'm already making progress! I want to thank each one of you for sticking with and being so patient with me whilst I work out what it is I want from my blog and the direction I want it to go in. I honestly appreciate it so much.
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