Many great fashion and jewellery designers have come from humble beginnings such as Vivienne Westwood, who started life as a green grocer’s daughter in a sleepy village in Derbyshire before she became a nationally recognised one woman brand.

Alexander McQueen had a similar working class upbringing in Lewisham London. McQueen grew up in a council flat and was one of six children to a cab driver and teacher parents.

This proves that a career in fashion and particularly jewellery design does not pivot on a privileged upbringing.

There are many more organisations to help young designers today, much more than in McQueen or Westwood’s day! These include online stores such as boticca.com and with the considerable solvency of elitism within universities now more than ever it’s possible to become a designer.

Images from Boticca

If you’re still not convinced, check out the harrowing story from Boticca jewellery maker Campo Ligure.

Campo Ligure came from a horticulturist background; his journeys around Eastern Europe coupled with pastoral living have given the designer a deep intuitiveness with natural materials. Ligure now works in a small village in the mountains near to Genoa and has finally been able to leave his goat herding days to become a full time jeweller he is able to reach an international audience.

TitusAndro: I ordered these beads and I LOVED them! They were definitely worth the money and I recommended them to everyone. They are very nice and high-quality beads. I received them a few days ago. I am shocked at how close they resemble the bead pictured. I’m very happy with the purchase and they have enhanced many of my designs. I’m quite excited to continue using them. I have a lot of great plans and ideas for them! I’m making really great gifts with them. Thanks so much for a great deal!

WordGirl104: I was hesitant to buy such a large number of beads for the price. I wasn’t sure what I’d get, but it turns out I got a great deal!

Widest selection of wire beads you’ll find from www.beadsbarn.com.

Once you’ve liked ALL the pages (page to be opened through the Rafflecopter form), leave your Facebook Profile Name (not a Business/Blog Page) on the space provided for Extra Info after doing the task so we can verify your entry. It would be best if you enable us to see the pages that you liked in your info tab so we can announce the winner ASAP.

A note: Please join only on one blog/page PER GROUP. A maximum of 37 entries will be considered. If you have more than 37 entries, the host reserves the right to delete duplicate or fraudulent entries. Also, please use only one name and email address, or Facebook account for quicker validation of entries.

On the first mandatory entry, please write WAHMaholic referred you. You must complete the first 2 tasks before the others are enabled.

Thank you very much and good luck. By joining this giveaway, you agree to the Terms and Conditions on the bottom of the form. Contest is open all-day Wednesday, from February 15th, 12:01am EST to February 15th,11:59pm EST (February 15th, 1:01pm Philippine time to February 16th, 12:59pm Philippine time).

Make sure to come back to this page after liking all the pages to enter your credentials.

Aside from being touted as an effective diet remedy, there are a lot of other nutritional benefits of chia seeds, which I want to highlight in this post, and will present in bullet points below:

•  They are also high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids (much higher omega-3 fatty acids content than flax seeds and salmon). That, plus soluble fiber which are generally missing from our daily meals, makes chia seeds a great addition to a well-planned diet.
• These seeds are energy-boosters since they are packed in carbohydrates and protein.
• Since it’s high in soluble fiber, it helps alleviate intestinal problems as well as make you feel full faster. When added to water and allowed to sit for thirty minutes, chia seeds form a gel which you can use in recipes.
• Helps in building stronger bones because it’s rich in calcium.

These seeds can be used in a variety of ways for everyday meals. They are relatively tasteless (it has a very mild, nutty flavor) so it can be added to almost any dish without anyone knowing the difference. You should ask your nutritionist first though, if you can add this to your diet, as to people who are on high blood pressure medications or blood thinners, this can cause an adverse effect.

Of course, as with any diet solution, no one remedy will do the trick. It should be a combination of a well-balanced diet as well as a healthy and an active lifestyle.

Also, this post is an announcement. There will be no GT this March, as I am dedicating this month to visiting all the past GT entries that I haven’t had the chance to read. Yes, that many. And I think this is already a sign of things to come. What will be the fate of GT, will be determined after this month’s hiatus.

See you all on April girls! I will be having a naughty giveaway in this blog soon, so watch out for it!

A note though: You can only join this on one blog/page. There will be a maximum of 32 entries ONLY. If you have more than 32, I reserve the right to delete duplicate or fraudulent entries. May I request that you use only one name and email address for quicker validation of entries.

On the first mandatory entry, please do not forget to write WAHMaholic referred you since it is a mandatory entry. You must complete the first 2 tasks before the others are enabled, and for all your other entries to count.

Thank you very much and good luck. By joining this giveaway, you agree to the Terms and Conditions on the bottom of the form. Contest is open all-day Wednesday, from February 29th, 12:01am EST to February 29th,11:59pm EST (February 29th, 1:01pm Philippine time to March 1st, 12:59pm Philippine time).

Hello girlies! This is the last Thursday for the month of February, and we’re closing it off with a love letter. But don’t panic, we won’t ask you to share an old love letter here (although you can, if you want to. Hee hee). What we will do this week is we’ll compose a love letter to someone special to us (a husband, boyfriend, crush, heck, even an imaginary/future/potential lover!).

For this prompt I chose to recycle (I’m a cheat, I know ) a love letter I wrote to Paulie almost three years ago for his birthday/father’s day (originally published here). Reading back over this makes me realize how I’m still (and will forever be) in love with the same man. That no matter how many years pass, I will still feel the same. Here it is:

Well, here we go. Celebrating yet another year of your life with Svet and I. It’s been what?, almost four years since we started celebrating your birthday together? That short a span of time, but it feels like I’ve known you forever. And no, of course I am not getting tired of being with you. When I was a little girl, I used to dream of a man who makes me feel warm just by touching my hand. When I was a high school girl with childish dreams, I used to say that I will find someone that will love my future daughter as much (or even more) as I would love her. When I was in college and at the peak of my craziness over Maroon 5, I swear I will forever stay beside the person who will sing to me my all time favorite song, Must Get Out.

Guess what. You came and made all those dreams come true. I must have done something good at some point in time when I was growing up, to be given someone like you. So you’re not perfect. Who is? I know I’m not. And everyone who doesn’t believe in you sure as hell aren’t perfect, either. Who needs someone perfect when I can be myself when I’m with you? I can have my hair all messed up, wear shirts a couple, even several days old, have unclean nails, a yucky running nose, but you. You touch my hair like it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever laid your hands on. You cuddle up to me like and smell me like I’m wearing something just out of the closet. You look at my fingers and laugh at how dirty they are, but kiss them just the same. You wipe my nose with your hands or shirt when I’m crying my heart out in front of you, and you don’t mind. Somebody else can do that. But it wouldn’t feel half as comforting as when you are doing it.

I know that we are going through a very tough time right now, and I admire you for sticking with us and not leaving even though you have been asked to many times, by me, and by an unbelievable number of people around us. You live life as if everything is okay, and I live life as if everything is not okay. And I guess that makes us a good combination. You make me feel loved, every fucking day of this cruel life. You always stayed strong, for me, for us, and but for you I would’ve never survived this long. I cannot even begin to form the words of how thankful I am that you are what you are.

Too cheesy, I know. But please indulge me in this last-minute attempt to be romantic. LOL. How about you? Do you have a love letter to share with us girls? Oh, I decided to spice things up a bit this week. The entry which has the most votes at the end of the month will receive $10 thru PayPal! So make sure to ask your friends to vote for your entry on the 29th!

Join in the Girls Talk fun! How? Simple! Just make a post including the Girls Talk badge AND link, submit the EXACT URL of your post at the inLinkz tool below and hop to the blogs of the other participants to see what other they have to say on the prompt of the week topic! That is how you play Girls Talk!

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I’m betting some of you went on movie dates last February 14. How was it? Was it your most romantic movie to date? Me and Paulie also watched a movie on V-Day, and since we don’t have any new romantic comedies in mind, we had to decide on an old movie hat made us both cry. Yes, both. I told Paulie to remember a movie that made him cry (just A BIT, he insisted in the end. Men!), and he told me it was this:

My Sassy Girl (the original South Korean version, mind you) is hands-down, the best movie to see with a special someone. A mix of romance and comedy is always a hit for Paulie and I, and this movie excels in both categories (and more). The plot is very original (as with most Korean hit films), and this same movie is actually what led us to discovering and watching other equally great Korean films of the same genre.

The American remake was blah, IMO, so if you haven’t watched both films yet I suggest you watch the American version first. Kind of like watching a movie first before you read the book so you don’t get disappointed. LOL. But please, watchitwatchitwatchit! Highly recommended!

How about you? What’s the most romantic movie you’ve seen so far? Join in the Girls Talk fun! How? Simple! Just make a post including the Girls Talk badge AND link, submit the EXACT URL of your post at the inLinkz tool below and hop to the blogs of the other participants to see what other they have to say on the prompt of the week topic! That is how you play Girls Talk!

This week we’ll talk about our dream date, whether it happened already or it’s still wishful thinking. I believe I have mentioned before that Paulie is not the romantic type, so obviously my dream date is yet to come true. I have no hopes of it happening anytime soon, as we have a very bossy toddler around the house, but maybe in a few years? Okay, not ‘maybe’. Definitely in a few years.

Anyway, my dream date would be nothing fancy (because I’m not high-maintenance like that), just a simple dinner inside the house, me and him. We will cook our food together (the menu should be something really special), then sit down to a candlelit dinner with soft music in the background. Sweet dance? I draw the line at that. Too cliché for my taste. LOL. And well, I needn’t say what comes next after the whole romantic dinner.

How about you girlie? What is/would be your version of a perfect date with the man of your dreams? Join in the Girls Talk fun! How? Simple! Just make a post including the Girls Talk badge AND link, submit the EXACT URL of your post at the inLinkz tool below and hop to the blogs of the other participants to see what other they have to say on the prompt of the week topic! That is how you play Girls Talk!