Charade

20 Ways To Be Glamorous On A Budget

2012-02-08T19:23:00.001Z

Image thanks to nemariella This quick and dirty guide to glam comes from February sponsor and new internet-accomplice, the super sweet Stephanie of theglamguide.com. If you would like to guest-post on Charade, it would make my day to hear from you! Drop me a line: megan@charadestyle.com 1. Get groomed. Take your grooming standards to the next level. To be glamorous you should be pristine, with

Words to Live By #176

2012-02-06T19:06:00.000Z

Image thanks to haojan "Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed."Corita Kent

A Peek at the Week: 新年快樂!

2012-02-05T19:16:00.000Z

That is, I hope, Happy New Year in Chinese! In celebration, some visiting friends and I went to Mshed to make lanterns (us and about 50 children!) and then for a tasty Chinese lunch. In other news, a cheeky little outfit from last weekend. I'm all about spotty tights.And I got a new mug. Winner. I hope you had a lovely week!

The Saturday Salute 04.02.12 PLUS Winners!

2012-02-04T17:47:00.000Z

Image thanks to jennifer Well! It feels like a while since I did one of these bad boys! Had a grateful few days blogging-free after the mammoth month of Make Your Life Amazing 2012. Thank you so much for all your wonderful feedback - it really means a lot to hear it and encourages me to cook up more exciting projects. Before we go any further, here are the FIVE winners of totally fweeeee copies

A Guide to Doing Things Your Way

2012-01-31T21:50:00.001Z

It is day 31 and the very last foothold in the mountain that has been Make Your Life Amazing 2012. I’ve given you the basic recipe, the next step is to add your own secret, special ingredients, to make it totally your own. Your amazing life will never be like anybody else’s, because you are not like anyone else. That’s why, although I hope to have given you a helping hand, it is down to you how

Focus on Fun

2012-01-30T19:41:00.000Z

We all know that old adage: ‘it ain’t what you do; it’s the way that you do it’. Well, whatever you’re doing, if there’s enough fun, joy, and passion behind it, you cannot fail to succeed, because your enthusiasm and enjoyment will shine out in the way that you go about it. We often overlook having fun, not considering it a valuable use of our time; but the truth is, what are we here for, if

Make Your Money Creatively

2012-01-29T18:17:00.000Z

One of the major factors in feeling great about your life is to have work that is satisfying and worthwhile. It is not, as many misconceive, to simply have a good salary; a good salary is not the be all and end all. The bubble of consumerism in which we are stuck tells us we need a lot more than we actually do. In reality, we can live on far less than we think. We can’t, however, live amazingly

Lead an Extra Life: Read a Book

2012-01-28T12:52:00.000Z

Do you read enough? Books are like sharing secrets with the great minds of our time, and they are the best tools we have for learning lessons from times past. If you’re not reading, you are denying yourself the joy of new thoughts, new worlds and new experiences - all from the comfort of your own bed, or bathtub or seat on the train. People often feel overwhelmed by the task of reading -

Be Conscious, Be Yourself

2012-01-27T16:07:00.001Z

I believe that true consciousness of the self – a consciousness that you are prepared to allow to shine out – is the main ingredient in your amazing existence. This is when it all comes together – confidence, style, friendships – every facet of that illustrated life I’ve been talking about. There are many opportunities in life to show people our ego. The challenge of self-acceptance, true

Create Your Path

2012-01-26T17:40:00.000Z

We talked yesterday about finding and following your bliss, but the focus was a little more on the finding rather than the following, so today we’re going to tackle that by creating your path. Every destination has a path which leads to it, both literally and figuratively. Often our focus falls too heavily on the destination without really considering the path. This is a mistake. When we

How to Find and Follow Your Bliss

2012-01-25T11:04:00.000Z

Firstly, what is your bliss? Your bliss is your absolute peak existence. Your bliss is your amazing life, and, unfortunately, I cannot sum up how to find and follow it within the boundaries of this article – that’s what I’m striving to achieve with this series in its entirety. What I want to do by familiarising you with your ‘bliss’ is to give you focus, and a real concept of what all your hard

Take Yourself on a Creative Date

2012-01-24T08:00:00.001Z

People are always at their most wonderful when they are being creative; this is when our full potential is able to shine and to grow. When we are creating, we are being most authentically ourselves, rather than running to an agenda. Whatever kind of creative you are: a writer, an artist, a musician, a dancer, a designer... you have to continually feed your creative side if you want it to work

Celebrate Your Style

2012-01-23T18:38:00.000Z

To make our lives amazing, a key aspect is to feel comfortable in our own skin, but it is also about being comfortable in our second skin: our clothes. To many this may seem a superficial endeavour, but it is really not – our clothed selves are shown to the world every day, and if we don’t feel comfortable in that, we don’t feel comfortable in many other areas of our lives as a result. So,

Play a Character

2012-01-22T14:34:00.000Z

Very often, we limit ourselves. We do without even realising it; we make assumptions about our own abilities and hide behind them persistently. Because of this, the character we are and the character we want to be are often very far apart, yet we don’t see that this is merely because of our own limits. An antidote to this condition is to play a character. When we dream-up the character we could

Make the Most of Your Time

2012-01-21T11:01:00.000Z

We only get so much time. To truly make our lives amazing, then, we must learn to use it, enjoy it, revel in it, conquer it and squeeze out every last smidgen of life there is in it. We’ve previously talked about getting to know our productive selves, so we are already half way to understanding how to fully utilise our time; but being productive, and having the right sense of the time we have

Mining for Love

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000Z

Love is as precious as gold; and I’m not talking sickly, rom-com, chocolates and flowers type love – I’m talking the kind of love that works in the real world. Love for yourself and for life, as well as for people. Love as a lifestyle choice. Love as a main dish and not a side order. Love is there, it exists with or without you, and you choose whether you want to invest in it or not; you

Influence Others for Success

2012-01-19T17:30:00.000Z

So far, in talking about how other people can impact our amazing life, we’ve discussed what friends are doing for you and what you can be doing for others. Now, I’d like to talk about how speaking up and having a positive influence over others can lead to all kinds of success: in your relationships, in your career, and more! We are often influencing people without even realising it; sometimes

Do Things for Other People

2012-01-18T09:21:00.000Z

Sometimes, the best way to feel good about yourself is to invest some time in others. Nowadays, there’s a lot of emphasis put on the ‘individual’ in the media. Yes, your individuality is very important, but not to the extent that we should be dividing and detaching ourselves from one another altogether. We all came from the same place; we are all here for the same reason, whatever that may be,

Focus on Friendship

2012-01-17T09:25:00.000Z

Humans are social creatures. No matter how introvert you think you are, the likelihood is that you benefit from social encounters. Without fulfilling relationships, we can become bitter and self-concerned in a world that needs us to be thinking about each other, now more than ever. Good social skills may or may not have come naturally to you in the past. I know that, for me, they have been

Do You Have Your Own Small-Biz or Blog? Advertise With Charade!

2012-01-16T20:22:00.000Z

It's been a long time coming but, due to a few requests of late, I'm now recruiting an exclusive circle of Charade-ettes to advertise their magical money-making endeavours on this ol'lemonade stand! Whether you've got a beauty blog, etsy boutique or bespoke birdbath company - it's time to let the lovely frequenters of Charade know about your bangin' business! How much? A teeny-tiny £12 (approx

Don’t Get Jealous, Get Better

2012-01-16T08:48:00.000Z

There are lots of people in the world. Many of them will have more than you, achieve more than you, be prettier than you, etc. However, there are equally as many people who have far less than you, achieve next to nothing in comparison to you, be a lot less pretty than you are, etc. Do you see how inconsequential that makes jealously? How pointless it is? Why do we prioritise pining about the

Be Thankful

2012-01-15T16:45:00.001Z

Amid the modern gal's efforts to be stronger and faster and better and fitter and thinner and quicker and prettier... (phew-ee!) it can often slip our minds to stop, and simply say thanks for what the world has, already, richly provided us with. When you feel grateful then you feel, by default, prosperous and happy - and comforted in the knowledge that you live a life worth being thankful for.

What You Need to Know About Happiness and Determination

2012-01-14T14:52:00.001Z

Saying you want to be happy, and actually setting out and doing something about it, you’ll know, are two quite different things. You have the right to happiness, and you can choose it anytime you like, but we’ve all felt the weight that bears down on us when their seems to be too many darned hurdles in the way; we give up and resort to a limbo state of idleness, hoping happiness will come

Friday Feature: Shabby Apple

2012-01-13T09:45:00.000Z

If you're hankering after a perfectly-cut, quality, affordable vintage dress. Girl, Shabby Apple is all over it. Whether for a special occasion, daily-dress up or just, well, because, I challenge you to spot a dress in their beautiful collections that doesn't make your eyes bug-out with downright desire. Shabby Apple were kind enough to bestow upon me the El Capitan wiggle dress. And. I. Love.

How to Write Powerful Daily Affirmations – and Make them Work!

2012-01-13T08:58:00.000Z

A great deal of the homework I have been encouraging you to take part in so far this month has revolved around your constructing positive and encouraging, written truths for yourself. These are called affirmations – they verify the things you want and aspire to, rather than letting them get pushed to the back of your mind because the washing-up needs doing or you’ve got to go to work etc. You