I WANT TO CREATE!

Ever had one of those days when you can't stop thinking and realise that you need to do something for yourself? I'm having one of those days today. *sigh*

I'm not a massive fan of this "New year, New me!" stuff and I didn't even celebrate new year this year since I was in work until half 11 on new year's eve... and I haven't even got stuck into the new year since I have a lot of work due for uni, but I'm here to tell you all what I've decided I'm going to work on this year....

"I want to create!"

I want to develop as a creative person and make things!

Films, photos, animations, illustrations. Anything!

I want to become the better, creative version of myself and grow.. And I hope that you, reading this right now, will join me in this journey.

I want to travel and create things from what I see and I want to start off right here. In Ireland, North and South. I live on this gorgeous island and I want to see it all with my own eyes and enjoy it.

I want to invest in a camera and take it with me to document it all. When will I even get around to this? Who know. but I'm itching to see more of where I've lived for the past 20 years.

2016 will be the year I leave behind the facebook and the twitter and just enjoy what the world has to offer and I can't wait to jump in!

Happy 2016 everyone!

What do you have in store for this year?

Zoë x

Office // Study // Revision // Chilled - Playlist

Hola Stranger! I have been very very very busy as of late and thought I would share with you guys a happy little playlist me and my friends have created for us to work to in our little make-shift office!

Hope you enjoy!!

Zoe xx

Cyprus 2015

Earlier this summer I went to Cyprus along with my family and 30 others for my sisters wedding, it has been the best holiday I've ever had, we all had such a blast! the wedding was perfect, the weather was beautiful and getting to spend time with everyone was just the cherry on top, we all got on so well and had such a laugh! We through a huge pool party, beach party and of course wedding party. My sister was determined to show everyone the place we fell in love with as kids, and my the end of the 2 weeks everyone had fell in love with Cyprus as well, I mean, who wouldn't?! It's one of the most beautiful countries out there. 

No matter how hard I try I just can't sum up the time we had in words, but by sharing the photos I hope you can see just how amazing it was! 

Take me back tomorrow!

Zoë x

My July Playlist

I've been taking this month very slow, I've tried not be in such a rush all the time. I made a playlist of chilled out music to suit my vibe for the month. I hope you enjoy it :)





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Hello Stranger! - Time for a Catch-up

It's been far too long since I posted on my Blog *slaps wrist* but here I am and I have an awful lot to update you all on! So grab a cup of hot coco and settle down! I'm very very excited and just feel so ready for the future. I have a lot to talk about and some things deserve a blog post of their own so this is just a little update of what you can expect of me over the next coming months...

Since my last post about my first year of university ending I have had a lot of things happen...I'm now a fully fledged Blonde! (and if you're a girl you'll know how much a hairstyle makeover can change your personality, it's such a girl thing!), I've travelled to Cyprus to see my beautiful big sister get married!! eek! and well...thats it really the rest just consists of spending time with my best friend, finding a new love for the show Once Upon a Time and developing myself creatively, I'm determined to go back to university with a fresh creative flow and I'm confident I can do so!

So expect a lot more blog posts from me over the next few weeks! I'm only very excited to get back into blogging!!

Its a Wrap - The first year of the rest of my life

It's been a while since I wrote a post, I've missed it but lately university has been taking up all of my time but it's finally over, all the work I've been doing since September is finally over and I'll be honest about it, I feel so empty today. I woke up with nothing to do and no where to be, it was only then when I realised how a big part pf my life uni has become and even though it's only been 1 day I miss everyone so much, probably too much but you can't blame me for being so fond of this little group of Animators, they are such a unique bunch of people.

Only in the past week or so I've realised how grateful I am for this opportunity, I've begun a part of my life that will be the basis of my favourite memories in my lifetime all while building skills for my career in animation/visual effects.

It was the day before our deadline, we still didn't have an animation (our team fell apart and 3 of us were left to fend for ourselves a week before the deadline) so there was no choice but to have an all nighter in the university and hope that we make the deadline. Turns out that as well as getting loads of work done, we had a blast of a night, we watched 9 movies on the projector in the room (Tarzan an Pitch Perfect were in there of course and my night was topped off with How to Train your Dragon 2 at 5am)

Our building that we're in goes up to a high level, we are able to see the skyline from our classroom, at around half 6 the sun began to rise over Belfast and I got to watch it happen with a few people who I had spent the night with, this was such a nice way to end a hard working night and gave us a chance to relax from the stress of the deadline. It was such a beautiful morning.

This is a photo I'll treasure, I think it's gorgeous.

However, when you're working for such a long time you tend to get distracted in the creative flow of everything: Mark, Shannon and myself took advantage of being in an empty building and made a ghost video we've entitled 'The Ghost of UUB'...Procrastination at its finest!!

After a stressful night and day we had our wrap party on Friday night, it was great to have everyone together for one last time and share our work, have some amazing food and a few cocktails.

I can honestly say, hand on heart I'm so blessed to know every single one of these guys and to work with them is a complete pleasure.

"The moment you realise you're a part of something special"

I'd also like to give a shoutout to my little squad who make me smile and laugh around the stress, you guys are the biggest bunch on knobs I've ever come across, and I couldn't love you any more for it.

Zoë x

Reflection

One of those late nights where I find myself scrolling through photographs that hold memories from at least 2 years ago, I never thought it would cast me into thoughts of how far I've come in such a short space of time.

I'm currently 19 going on 20, I'm at a stage in my life where everything is moving faster and faster and I'm leaving behind the confused little teenager I once was. I feel a lot more comfortable in myself and I can honestly say with a smile on my face "I am happy!"

I have went from studying my GCSEs to university level in what seems a matter of hours which in reality has been a matter of years, but I know I've taken the right path in my life and I can't wait for the future, I've never felt so determined or comfortable with myself before and it's the best feeling I've ever had.

Look at these pictures; what do you see? A series of events and memories? fun times that I've managed to capture? Well I see a development of someone who was shy, unsure, unhappy, uncomfortable and lacking a whole lot of confidence in herself and what she wanted. This development has lead her to being a happy, confident, content, determined, creative human and I am more than ready for the rest of my life. Bring it on world!

 

I'm going to share thoughts with you that have helped me see life in a different way and made me happier;

Nothing Good Gets Away!

If something doesn't work, whether it's a relationship or an opportunity if it was meant to happen for a reason it would, and if not then let it go- nothing good gets away- so don't waste what time you have in your life trying to get to something that isn't worth it in the end.


Stop comparing yourself to others.

The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday. Everyone is different so find happiness within yourself, not others.


It's not about how good you are, It's how good you want to be.

What you put into something is what you'll get out of it, work hard to get where you want to be and you'll be rewarded with amazing opportunities and a great outcome.

Take Risks.

There's no point in asking yourself 'what if' forever, just get out there and do it, take risks, because if you don't then who knows what you're missing out on.

How to make a Bad Day into a Good Day

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed isn't the best to start your day and that can lead to things not going the way you'd like them to. I personally am such a pathetic morning person and nothing puts me in a worse mood than a day where nothing goes right for me, but no matter how bad things are going I try my hardest to take control of the situation and perk my mood up, whether thats having a cheeky Chinese takeaway with my friends for lunch or getting a coffee from Costa on my way to a morning lecture. There are many ways you can turn your mood around, even if it's only through little things, here are some ways I like to get in a good mood:

Wearing my favourite comfy outfit for the day.

My Game of Thrones top with my favourite jeans paired with my favourite pair of Converse, the most worn in comfortable shoes I own. And of course we can't have a comfortable outfit without that messy bun our hair loves being thrown-up into.

Getting a flat White coffee and a bacon bagel for breakfast

This is only for emergency bad moods or 'that time of month' when I really need to spoil myself as a reward for managing to get out of my cosy bed that morning. If only I could afford such an unhealthy breakfast all the time!

Listening to my 'chilled' playlist.

This helps me not feel so stressed out in the mornings.

Getting a yummy lunch!

If I haven't packed anything to have for lunch, and I'm not feeling great I will either go have a Chinese with my friends or have a thai chicken wrap from costa, again I cant afford this all the time but it's such a treat!

Making my favourite dinner.

I'm not much of a chef but I have always enjoyed making what I call 'Chicken Melt' (chicken breast stuffed with garlic cream cheese wrapped in bacon) and it's my favourite thing ever!

Relax!

Finally I love to make a hot chocolate and snuggle up in bed to watch youtube videos and streams on twitch.tv - That's me in a happy mood!

A 'good vibes' list

If you're still feeling a little 'meh' a tip is to write down all the little things that made you smile that day or just anything that was nice, no matter how insignificant you think it might be, write it down! you'll come to see, looking at your list, that your day wasn't bad after all!

What little things do you do to make your day better?

The Gap - Have confidence

I go to art college. Its a great place with amazing, diverse and interesting people. One hurdle with being an art student is that you constantly compare your own work and style to your peers. I do animation and although you may just think 'pffft cartoons'... No. It involves a lot more than you expect and even as someone who is wanting to get into the animation industry I can admit I wasn't prepared for how difficult it would be to grasp and I'm constantly comparing myself to the industry and not feeling that I will ever meet the standard needed to be successful in this field.

My friend Katie shared this video with us all, and I had to share it with you. whoever you are, whether you are an artist, scientist or mechanic, I promise you will walk away from this video feeling better about yourself and what you're capable of.


THE GAP by Ira Glass from Daniel Sax on Vimeo.