I just love baking!

 

SURPRISE!

I made my boyfriend this cake as a surprise for him after he started his new job in Bradbeers: www.bradbeers.co.uk and he loved it! 
I used: 

• 200g caster sugar
• 200g softened butter
• 4 eggs , beaten
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp milk

FOR THE FILLING

• White chocolate melted all over
• Magic stars 
• Giant chocolate buttons 
• Pink metallic balls
  
  I made this cake for my boyfriends birthday! The recipe is exactly the same as the one above, but for the decorations, I used thick chocolate icing with smarties, magic stars and some white chocolate thousands and millions on top. He loved the surprise cake!

My passion for 'Interior Design'

I have a massive passion for home wear. I love browsing online and in shops for products to decorate homes with. I keep up to date with all the trends and fashions of the season for homes and found that this season is all about the 'shabby chic' French look so I'll show you a few pieces from my sisters business for you to browse through. I think its very inspiring that she has her own business, buying and selling lovely home furnishings, so have a browse and let me know if you would like to buy any of her items. I hope you like everything!

Note: All  items on the page ARE for sale, so if interested, please leave a comment and I will get back to you, thank you :)

Oriental candles -Seem to be very popular at the moment!



What a beautiful garden plaque for just £3.00 - lovely to hang on the fence!


I absolutely LOVE this candle holder, I've already brought 2 for my front room!

AN ABSOLUTE MUST!

LOVE THIS BEAUTIFUL CANDLE HOLDER!



THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY COTTAGE!

A very sweet sewing box



Cute box to keep any loose buttons!

Cottage feel photo frame

MUST BUY! Every dad would appreciate this gift im sure!

You can never have enough love hearts in your home!

I really LOVE this vintage looking photo frame! Perfect for any bedroom/ bedside table!

I absolutely love all the products on this page because they are all very rustic, shabby chic pieces that would complete a room. Let me know if you like this style in your home and share some pics with me! i'd love to see. Here's a photo of my lounge! Hope you like it! 

Night out in Southampton!

Last night I went out in Southampton - my uni town with a few of my friends. 


I wore my favourite white fitted dress with a pair of matching white heels and a pearl coloured clutch bag. I decided to wear some statement jewellery from Topshop to accompany the dress, so I wore big diamonde earrings (which you can't really see in this pic) and a diamonde necklace. 
I didn't go too OVTT with my make-up last night because I had just been on a sun-bed for 10 minutes earlier that day, so my cheeks were already glowing from that. Nevertheless, I still used my absolute FAVOURITE Dior foundation which is called Diorskin Forever (030) 30ml. I live by this foundation and don't go anywhere without it! t really is an amazing product that provides full coverage throughout the day and night!
To get more of a glow over the foundation, I used a 'Bare Minerals' blusher to define my cheek bones. I applied the blusher with a 'Bare Essentials' blusher brush which I think is really good and a 'MUST HAVE' in my opinion, because it gives a light dusting on the areas that need covering. 
In regards to my eyes, I applied lots of the Rimmel London - 'Scandal Eyes' mascara because I like the thick brush as it gives my lashes a coat of thick mascara which make my lashes look so long! On top of this, I applied 'The Only Way is Essex' false eyelashes to complete my eyes as what girl can go clubbing without a bit of TOWIE bling lashes? I also used a liquid eye liner to highlight the rims of my eyes, making them look bigger than usual and defining my eyelids more.

I hope you like my make-up and if you have any tips of your own/ photos to share, it would be great to have a sneak peek! 

Photoshoot!

Two of my friends from Uni are on a photography course so I took the opportunity of having a few photographs taken in the studio to help them out with their portfolios for their final major projects. Here's a sneak peek of what I got up too! 



I had a make up artist helping out with my make up before going into the studio for the shoot. I was wearing: 
1) DiorSkin FREVER foundation 030 
2) Collection waterproof liquid eye-liner
3) Dior iconic mascara
4) Colour trend blusher 
5) Sexy mother pucker lip gloss - Soap and Glory 
6) Pink diamonds at edge of each eye 
7) Pink eye shadow 
8) eye brow hint (Brown colour)

Hurry up Summer!

Summer is my favourite time of year, I love wearing shorts and t - shirts and buying all the latest 'must - haves' 
The Sun puts me in such a good mood, from the moment I wake up and see the sun making an appearance through my bedroom windows until the moment I fall asleep. I'm convinced that it's the vitamin D that my body needs! However, I can't believe its May already and we aren't getting as much sun as usual for this time of year. It is slightly depressing isn't it, so I thought I'd share a photo that was taken of me last weekend at Bournemouth beach to show you that the sun is beginning to peek out of its hiding place! 
If you have any snaps of you in the sun then share them with me, I'd love to see what you do when the sun's out! <3
 

 

Cornwall - We all need an escape at some point

Ran straight into the sea and got soaked!

Loving life!

Walking to the beach

Last weekend I went to Cornwall and despite the rain and freezing cold breeze, it was a really great trip! I'm quite fortunate in that my boyfriends family own a holiday home down there so we can literally stay whenever we like. The weekend that we went down was the bank holiday weekend so we stayed for 3 blissful days and was reminded of the peace, tranquill and relaxation that Cornwall brings. Whilst we were there, my boyfriend went surfing in St Agnes and Perran Porth, he encouraged me to get my winter wetsuit on and get into the sea as well, so i did and had so much fun splashing around!   

If you're a blogger, and have been to Cornwall before then I'd love to see the photos of you too!

COSMOPOLITAN Blogging Masterclass

My first blog post mentioned where my inspiration and motivation for blogging originally came from, so I want to show you some snaps that I took whilst I was there sipping on champagne, mingling with other like minded people and nibbling on caviar. Mmmm I was living the dream ...

 This photograph is of me and the EDITOR of COSMOPOLITAN!!!

The Editor of Cosmopolitan and me!

I felt so priviledged to meet the most inspiring women
who has given me the motivation and to a certain degree, the passion and enthusiasm to write about all the things i love. Louise Court is an amazingly talented women who is in fact very friendly and seems to have an awful lot of patience and time to talk with people like myself who are just starting out in their journalism/ blogging careers. I was warmly surprised as to how much she listened and gave great advice to me, considering her enormously busy schedule. 

Overall , i am extremely glad that i have finally met the woman who has edited the magazine i have loved for so many years and the magazine I have grown up with.





The goody bag

Here are the goodie bags and 'my oh my' they lived up to their  name! Inside were a ton of special 'cosmo' treats, ranging from beauty and hair products to popcorn and fake tan! The goodie bags really were amazing and I've kept the bag for decoration because its covered in a few magazine front covers that have been published over the years. 

This photograph was taken just as we were leaving the event. I was standing infront of the oversized current issue magazine cover, posing with my new cosmo goody bag! Overall,it was a fantastic night and for anyone reading this post, I recommend you keep your eyes peeled for these type of magazine events because they really are very inspirational.

I will definitely be returning to more events like this one, that's for sure!

First ever blog .. how exciting!!!

Hello there and welcome to my 'Champagne and Gossip' blog!

This is my first ever blog and i'm very excited to finally be entering the 'world of blogging' and writing about all the things that i enjoy doing. i think its best to let you know now that i'm a very spontaneous person, so one day i could be blogging about 'how to design the perfect pair of Swarovski earrings' and the next i could be sky diving! I can definately see a few of my blog posts being slightly weird and wonderful, but thats ok right?    
I'm quite surprised in myself that i haven't started up a blog sooner because i study 'magazine journalism' and am almost in my final year, agghhh thats a scary thought!! So I think it's about time i get my butt into gear and hop onto the 'blogging' band wagon here. 
A few of my close friends who have blogs find it shocking that i haven't already got a blog because they know how chatty i can be when i start talking so I feel that now is a great time for me to start as i'm off for 6 whole blissful months so i can blog and tweet away as much as i like... wahooo! 
My friends have been really honest with me and said that blogging is like an addiction, as soon as you start, you wont be able to stop and in a way i'm really looking forward to that (as mad as it may seem) because i just love writing. Anyway, I think thats about enough baffling from me, lets talk about something that has completely altered my perspective of life and made me think seriously about taking up blogging as something i WILL start. I attended this absolutely incredible 'Cosmopolitan blogging masterclass' event in London and was inspired so much by what the panel of speakers had to say. I figured that blogging was definately a route that i wanted to dive straight into and on my way home, I couldn't think about anything else other than firing up my laptop and blogging ASAP. The event gave me so much motivation and determination to work hard and I can't thank the editor of Cosmo enough for making me feel so valuable and important. I was extrememly lucky to have met Louise Court and if that wasn't enough, i actually went up on stage (with a little encouragement from my sister) and asked for a photograph with her, I must admit, i did feel a bit cheeky asking, but im so glad i did.
Louise Court has been my absolute idol for as long as i can remember and to have the opportunity to meet her was literally my dream come true. Growing up, i have always brought every issue and with a cuppa in one hand, cosmo always followed in the other! I absolutely worship the magazine because every issue encourages women to speak out about issues that they believe in, and that is something that i feel strongly about. The magazine makes you feel as if every woman has the right to an opinion and should be listened to, no matter how controversial the issue is and that is something amazing right? 
The masterclass blogging event itself was absolutely amazing and I learnt so much from the panel of amazing speakers. I can't even begin to tell you how much it has motivated me to start blogging and actually try to get my voice heard and recognized out there in the ocean of many wonderful bloggers. (I hope you hear my voice!)

Lots of love, 

Amy Danielle French xxx