Stained Glass Instax Film Review

It's almost time to go back to school…which will sadly mean a LOT less time to instax…

But before that happens, I have another film to share with you!

This film is the "Stained Glass Instax Mini Film". And another film that I am in love with! The benefit of this film is that it adds colour and fun without being too in your face, or without a particular theme that you would have -kinda- had to follow. I would suggest this film for more of a casual setting, like indoors joking around with friends, rather than out and about or at an occasion. 

I feel a little strange just putting some of these photos out without really explaining them, so I think in future I will probably talk about the actual photos more and what I could do to improve them.

Stained glass instax mini film

Photos:
1- a little dark but I can't change the Irish weather!

2- Cute, but as photo 1 was printing I think some rain got into the film which caused the white mark.

3- Although in the instruction manual it says that if you are taking an Instax with a reflective surface hold the camera oblique to the surface so that it doesn't catch the flash. This, obviously hasn't proved successful for me yet! (also here in photo 7 in the second set of photos).

4+5- I like how both of these photos turned out, but I could have moved closer to my friend Rebecca because the background is very plain.

6- An attempted selfie, the main problem in this is just that I am too frickin' pale and that I am so white the flash bounces off me a lot… it happens…

7- Honesly I just thought this wall looked cute so I told some of my friends to lean against it and look cool. You might notice that my friend Caoimhe has her own Instax (mini 25) which she got for Christmas and I am currently trying to convince her to maybe write a post on learning to use the Instax Mini 25.

8- This is probably illegible after being scanned in, but the signs read "Happy New Year 2013 - 2014" and two exclamation points as an extra flourish by the 10 year old who wanted everyone to have a sign (she's just too cute). This was taken on the stairs of our family friends and neighbours house, where we usually have the same photo without the signs every year. In future I would have all the lettering filled in in black rather than colour as the flash washes it out too much.

9- On my way to a party with my family on new years eve.

10- I especially love this photo of my best friend Sarah and I after ballet class. It's just adorable and I think the colour of Sarah's leotard pulls in perfectly with the border of the film.

Thanks for reading! <3

Little Twin Stars Instax Mini film

I thought I would share some of my more recent Instax photos with you! 

This year for my birthday I received about 8 packs of fun instax film, two of which were "Little Twin Stars". I decided to use both packs of this film of my day out in Dublin with two of my best friends, Sarah and Elizabeth, and we all had so much fun!

I ended up having 3 shots left which I used at the dress rehearsal for my schools production of "Cats" which is a bit of a contrast to the film but I still think turned out pretty well.

Quite a few of the Dublin photos turned out a little dark but thats just because it was a very dull, cold day and we were also there in the very early morning (2nd photo), until the evening(8th photo).

The film itself was just as I expected, adorable cartoons in pastel colours. I'm not sure if I would purchase "little twin stars" film again just because I already have had two and it doesn't stand out as a favourite. If you are thinking about purchasing some, go for it! Although its not my favourite it's still a super cute film. 

I will probably have some more "fun" instax film photos in the next few weeks so make sure to check back, or follow me on Bloglovin using the button in the sidebar!

Enjoy! X

* In the 3rd row of photos there is a faint line through the centre, this is nothing to do with the film I just had some issues when scanning them in. Also the top of the 3rd row is cut off again, scanning issues.

Dancewear re-fashion: crop top (2)

This is just a quick re-fashion post that really just shows the difference rhinestones can make!

This is the same plain crop top I used in this earlier post, but this time I added colourful rhinestones of all different sizes and I LOVE how it turned out! I have had many complements on it and it could always work for a costume or just help you stand out in a audition or workshop.

Really sorry about the terrible quality of all these photos, especially this one but the strap got very badly damaged and is falling apart so I am in the process of fixing it and it doesn't look pretty!

This was just a plain v-neck lycra leotard that I got for christmas and was the perfect candidate for some plain rhinestones in the centre. Most of my friends didn't even recognise it after the rhinestones !

Just shows what a little sparkle can do!

❤

What to wear to Ballet class ❤

As you may know I am a dancer, I take mainly Ballet but also Tap and Jazz. Even though this blog has been mainly about Instax I will hopefully do a few things on Dance also (My friend and I used to have a dance blog).Let me just start by saying I am very particular about what I wear for ballet, even though its not exactly what I should wear, I feel its the best option for me.

I came back from my summer intensive over 3 weeks ago and ballet will be starting back again soon so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about what I think is appropriate class wear :)

Leotard: Any colour as long as the style suits you and its fits well. I love wearing colourful Leos but I don't like high cut leg-lines on me, they are lovely on some people but look terrible on me... which brings me to the next item

Skirt or shorts? : At the start of my summer intensive we are given a small talk on what classes will consist of and what we should wear. Well I thought I would be able to wear my usual stuff but then she told us just how much she HATES ballet skirts and booty shorts.... This was an issue for me. I am emotionally attached to my booty shorts. I know that lots of teachers don't like them but unless it is near an exam we are always allowed. I would choose shorts or plain black leggings over a skirt because they are more fitted but either are fine in my opinion.

Tights: Peach/Ballet pink. Maybe black, but I would never wear that. Never tan unless its an emergency.

Hair: At my intensive it was mentioned to my class that some of our buns were "MUCH too high!". This was referring to me. I like to wear my bun right on top of my head, sure, it looks ridiculous sometimes and people always make fun of me for it but it rarely falls down and its the most comfortable  place for me. So, put your bun wherever you want, as long as it is tightly off your face. Also folded ponytail "buns" do not count as a bun.

Shoes: Full sole for under 12s, but split sole for everyone else. I just think its much more flattering to the foot. I wear Grishko performance split-sole soft shoes and I love them! They are a slightly stretchy canvas and elasticated under the arch but I will talk more about them in a shoe review I'm hoping to do.

Extras: No t-shirts, a fitted sweater if you are cold. And no jewellery, bracelets brake your lines, and necklaces, rings and earrings can get easily and hurt you or another dancer.

I hope I haven't offended anyone. Please remember that this is just MY OPINION and always follow your schools dress code
I hope this helps ❤

Perfect 💙

 Lets just take a moment to enjoy this perfect instax mini of my best friend Sarah 

Follow her on Instagram @sarah__nolan :D (two underscores)

Instax withdrawal ☹

All summer I have been happy snapping with my Instax mini 7s. Without school and dance I have had a LOT of time on my hands, I have now finished my first album and am almost halfway into my second one! You can see more on these in an older post here. But, since I have come back from my dance intensive "Shawbrook Summer School" where I used my rainbow film, which you can see here I have had nothing to photograph! Given that the film is so expensive I'm not exactly going to go out and take photos of some flowers! My best friend in the whole world and fellow Lomographer Sarah has been away at another intensive, so even my photo buddy isn't here! I am dreaming of hearing that printing buzz again! Hopefully I will get some shots next week when she returns and with our other bunhead buddy Elizabeth before I head off to The Dublin Cheer Experience on Wednesday :D Which I will post more about next week!
❀

✿Dancewear re-fashion: Crop top ✿

So at our studio we don't really get the opportunity to wear things like cute crop tops (sadly we really are Bunheads )

Anyways, whenever opportunity knocks we will jump at the chance to wear something fun! I have always been a little bit obsessed with my dancewear... I LOVE all the styles and adding a little bit to it yourself and just how fun it can be!.. But not really the price (especially if its not your run of the mill black camisole leotard). 

Recently, Penneys/Primark have started to sell plain crop tops in just the basic black, white and grey. As soon as I saw them I knew I could have some fun jazzing them up !

I started off with a plain black crop top that I bought in Penneys/Primark for €3

The next step was to ruche or gather the centre of the crop top to give it a different neckline. I think I gathered it to about 2 1/2 inches from the top of the item but just do it until you like the shape. To gather the centre, secure the thread at the top of the garment then make a running stich down as far as you like then bunch the fabric up and try to neatly sew it in place. 

I had bought a dark animal print stretch fabric months before so I decided to use that as the fabric for my straps. 

I cut the fabric into roughly 3/4 inch strips  long enough to cover the straps after being braided. I secured the strips in a stack of three by sewing them discreetly. I then braided the strips and secured them the same way. 

I sewed these braids to the original straps because I thought it would be easier than sewing them as new  ones. I also sewed an extra piece of fabric over the centre to just tie the whole piece together. 

The Final Product:

Please excuse the terrible selfie!

Dancewear re-fashion

I have had this cotton, forest green Plume leotard for a really long time now but I rarely wear it as it has a crazy high leg line and is super low cut so it looks pretty ridiculous on me. (This is not me BTW its just the photo on the website)

After seeing a Tshirt refashion using a bleach pen, I decided to give it a go on my cotton leotard. I decided on a *zig-zag/Aztec pattern which I drew on with chalk first. I then traced over the chalk outline with a Clorox bleach pen ( I ended up running out of it so I made my own, see link below) It tells you to leave it for about 3/4 minutes but because the leotard was so dark and was not completely cotton I ended up leaving it on for about and hour and a half. After that all you need to do is rinse it off then put it through the washing ( I did it by itself in case some of the bleach and dye ran etc.) and you will have a super cute patterned leotard !

*You can use whatever pattern you want
Bleach Gel Recipe

The Finished Product !