ROX hosts an evening with Shaun Leane

Last week I had a great time at an evening with the ever so talented designer Shaun Leane at Glasgow's most prestigious and glamorous of fine jewellery boutiques, ROX.

With bubbles and bling surrounding us, we were treated to displays of Shaun's work along with the main man there himself being interviewed by Michelle Haswell from the amazing Kingdom of Style.

We learned how Shaun worked closely with Alexander McQueen throughout his career and how he continues to influence a lot of his work.  We also got to ogle at some of his bespoke designs including this brooch for Sarah Jessica Parker and Shaun also talked of one of his latest collaborations with Daphne Guinness - the Diamond Glove.  It's stunning!

From his collection available online and at ROX, there are a few things I have pending on the 'ole Chrimbo list.

Gold Vermeil & Ivory Resin Bangle

Silver Blackthorn Ring with Black Pearls

A girl can wish can't she?  Let's hope someone (wink, wink) takes the hint ... :)

There were a number of other bloggers also at the event, too many to name all of them here but it was brilliant to catch up with them all and hope to see them again soon!  Obviously in true 'schleb' style, ROX were papping everyone as we entered the soiree ... here's Amanda and I doing our best awkward posing (we really need to get some practise in ;p)!

Has anyone else been admiring Shaun Leane and his incredible designs?

If you haven't, I urge you to check out his work here.  You won't be disappointed!

x

Social Media Week - Glasgow

This week Social Media Week hits Glasgow with lots of fantastic events and seminars offering advice, assistance and insight into the world of social media whether from a business, voluntary or personal perspective.

You can find out more about the events taking place in Glasgow here.

I would especially love to go to the Fashion Blogging 101 event tomorrow evening but alas it is fully booked - being away on holiday during registration certainly has it's downside.

However, what will be keeping me awake tonight is the fact I am actually speaking at one of the events taking place tomorrow morning.

'Blog Off!'  takes place tomorrow morning at Mansion House, Glasgow and is a session about starting your own blog or perhaps improving your existing blog.  It will take you through the essentials you need to know to start up, how to drive traffic, create your own custom header or how to deal with brands and PR's.

It should be a pretty interesting topic to discuss with likeminded people and I just hope my 15 minute stint on the floor goes to plan.  I am not sure how much I can say about my blog for 15 minutes but I guess I wouldn't be saying if it wasn't for all you little gems who still come back to read it time and time again and for that I am truly grateful!

x

Scottish Fashion Awards 2011: What I Wore

Before I go into any level of detail about the awards like how fabulous Shirley Bassey looked,  how HAWT David Gandy is, how Henry Holland and his entourage brought the party, the lump in my throat when the wonderful Hilary Alexander won Fashion Ambassador or how much an honour it was to finally get to speak to Jonathan Saunders, I thought I would first show you what I wore to the event.

My evening started with a wardrobe dilemna - 2 weeks away from the gym had taken their toll and my jumpsuit had become a little tight round the edges shall we say.  I had to just make do and roll with it though.  This is the same outfit I wore for my birthday (I wore the same thing twice!! Quelle Horreur!)

Navy jumpsuit: Topshop
Shoes: Aldo
Fur Stole: Vintage Ebay
Earrings: Oasis
Rings: Karen Millen, Vivienne Westwood and some others picked up in stalls or abroad

I was hoping to wear some fabulous Warehouse accessories and a gorgeous Warehouse bag but unfortunately for me they were not in store.  I managed to make do with some last minute bits and bobs from elsewhere, including a cuff that fellow blogger Ann managed to pick me up after she learned of my accessory panic!!

Somehow I went from looking half decent and being quite pleased with my outfit to looking like a heffalump by the time photos were taken at the event.  Hmmph! Not quite sure how that happens but I'm hoping it's nothing the gym won't fix.

 For my make up I wanted a bright pink lip to match my nails which were painted in GOSH Flamingo.  I had forgotten what a fabulous shade this is!

I did my own hair up for the evening by trying to channel Chanel's catwalk look.  I literally scooped all my hair into a high ponytal, backcombed the pony to within an inch of it's life then scooped it all around the base, pinning with a few bobby pins here and there.  Naturally half a tonne of hairspray was added for extra peace of mind!

Face: Chanel AquaLumiere
Cheeks:  Nars Laguna, Nars Orgasm and a touch of Illamasqua Erzule
Eyes: MAC Brule, MAC Charcoal Brown (crease), MAC Blacktrack, Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia (Darkest blues mixed and layered over eyeliner).  MAC Haute & Naughty Mascara
Lips:  MAC Longwear Lipcreme in Love Forever

That's a lot of MAC!

I decided to forego false lashes but by the end of the night I wish I had worn them although sometimes it's nice to give the eyes a rest.

This is usually a failsafe outfit for me as jumpsuits are so comfortable.  Needless to say by the end of the evening my feet were killing me.

My fellow blogger gals who accompanied me to the do... Ann at Girl in the City and Morven from Cats and Rocking Chairs did not disappoint as they looked absolutely stunning.

More pics to come of all of us and a few schlebs too ;)

x

Saskia the Style Fairy is on Facebook!

It's taken me a while to jump on the facebook bandwagon when it comes to the old blog but I've finally taken that step.

In all honestly the profile has been available for some time, I just didn't know what to do with it but this week I uploaded some photos and began to add links to new posts.

I have galleries available for outfit, nail and events posts and would love to hear your feedback on my facebook page so comment away.  If there is anything useful you think can be added to it please do let me know.  You can add me on facebook at this link www.facebook.com/saskiathestylefairy or you can click the pink facebook icon on the left hand column of this blog.

For the time being it is set up as a profile where you can add me as a friend, however I am still toying with the idea of making it a page set up only where you simply 'like' the page but still receive updates to posts.

I would really love to know your opinions on this and what you think is the best format to take it forward with.

See you on facebook! :)

x

Filofax Apex Blogger Style Off

Filofax have launched their new Apex filofax and to celebrate they have challenged a number of bloggers to a 'Style Off'.

I am never one to shy away from putting an outfit together but having been hit with the lurgy this week I didn't expect it to be quite the struggle it ended up being.  But more on that another time.  You might also be aware that filofax is kind of a big deal with bloggers ... Amanda at  Beauty Blogging Blonde even started up her own appreciation society for them on facebook!

The bloggers involved have been asked to come up with an outfit or outfits as the case may be that reflect the colourful style of the new Apex which is in keeping with spring/summer trends - colour blocking.  The Apex comes in a variety of colours and as part of the challenge I was asked to choose which one I would like so I could create an OOTD around.

I chose blue and yellow.  It's a cute little organiser that is held together with an elasticated band in yellow and the leather is slightly embossed in a gorgeous royal blue.  Blue is one of my favourite colours but to be honest I had no idea how I was going to style this up!

Basically the style off challenge relies on you voting for your favourite bloggers outfit/look by using the 'like' function on the Filofax Facebook page at www.Facebook/filofax

The blogger who wins the challenge then gets sent 12 of these lovely Apex filofax to giveaway to their readers which is quite exciting.  I have been planning a giveaway for a while now but this is better than what I had planned!

Here's a sneaky peek taster of my outfit:

The competition goes live on the filofax facebook page tomorrow and I will also be posting my look for you to see on here.  I'd love a vote from you but I'm sure there will be some fabulous outfits to choose from, already can't wait to see everyone else's looks and cast my own vote :)

x

Hello Lover ...

Often I have shared a moan or three or four about my laptop woes and how badly I needed a new one.

After researching many laptops including the Dell Inspiron which was a front runner at one point, my heart still leapt everytime I wandered into the Apple store and had a play about on one of their many design led, super functional computers.

Well after many visits to the store and years of dealing with a chanky old laptop, my partner in life and crime came back from the US this week brandishing a spanking new, glossy white, delightfully intriguing and in full working order, Macbook.

I have even attempted to watermark my photo thanks to my new laptop
... miserable fail though.  Advice appreciated! :) 

Literally after minutes playing with my new macbook I knew this was it - my life had changed forever ;)

Sounds extreme but it's a wee bit true.

You see my old laptop would crash 3 or 4 times in an evening.  It took hours to upload photos, save images, check emails, write blogposts ... the list goes on.  Replying to emails was so difficult on the old laptop, many went ignored.  Don't even get me started on how hard it was to view other blogs or comment on them.  A simple blog comment could take up to half an hour to execute.  YouTube wasn't even an option.

Now if I want to blog on an evening, I can come home, fire up the Macbook and I could very easily be done in a half hour or so .... plenty time to pamper myself, read a book, meet friends, watch a movie or dare i say it, tidy my flat!

I am so stupidly excited about the delights of my new laptop I almost don't know what to do with myself or it.  Already I have taken to twitter for advice on the unconventional keyboard and tonight I think I will get my head into the instruction manual.

Geek out!

x