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.

University/College Survival Kit

After finishing my first semester of art college, I found it a little difficult to get on my feet it all went past really quickly but as I come into my second semester I have a better idea of what way I need to be organised and prepared during my early mornings and in class. As I get ready to go back to the hard work for another term I thought I would share my 'University Survival kit' with you all. This is based on what I feel I need to get me through the day and may not be the same for you, let me know what yours is in the comments, I'd love to see them!

Macbook- This is my pride and joy, and as I do animation it's a really important thing to have, plus it has a cheeky Breaking Bad reference on the front.

Backpack- Carrying all this stuff with me wouldn't be possible without my trusting galaxy bag.

2015 Diary and sketchbook- My sketchbook is glued to me 24/7 and this is a picture of it before it ends up messy and ripped by the end of the semester. I wouldn't have a clue what deadlines I have to meet if it wasn't for my little diary which I got on personal-planner.co.uk which is amazing!

Notebook- my lectures notes go down in this little gem, then at home I write them up into my sketchbook in a neater way.

Thought book- This is a little irrelevant book I keep with me for random little thoughts I have and want to jot down.

Graphics Tablet- This is what my course mostly is based around, digital drawing and concept art so my graphics tablet comes with me everyday.

ProMarkers and pencilcase- These markers are a complete gift, I wouldn't be able to draw as well without them, amazing for tonal work etc, and my big pencilcase to keep them in.

Water bottle- I've been trying to drink more water as much as I can and sometimes in the morning I'd throw a lemon and some strawberries into my water to give it more flavour.

Earphones- My bus rides in the morning would be the death of me if it wasn't for these guys.

Glasses- If I didn't have my glasses my lectures would be too blurry as it would be impossible to see 4ft in from of me.

Phone and Ereader- My Ereader is what I used on lunch and in the morning and on the bus home as my time to relax and read on, of course I'd be lost without my phone any time of the day as well!

 I hope this helps as a guideline for anyone out there, let me know your essentials for school/college or anything else!

Zoe x

Biffy Clyro- Belsonic 2014

A huge highlight from 2014 was seeing my favourite band live in Belfast again, but this time we were at the front and we could basically read Simon Neil's tattoos we were that close, I put together some footage I got from the concert, honestly the best gig I've been to, can't wait to see them again!

If you haven't listened to them before I highly suggest you do and promise you will find at least one song to fall in love with!
   

Hello 2015!

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I know it's already really far into 2015 and a little late to be reflective about 2014, but I've found myself thinking back to it a lot in recent days.

2014 wasn't a great year for me, nothing amazing happened, well I suppose getting to university was a great achievement in itself but that quickly died away the more the work piled up. I hope I can grow more as a creative person in 2015 and I just want to be happy, appreciate the little things and hopefully achieving these goals will have me smiling as I look back at 2015. 

I have a few goals set up for 2015 and I thought I'd share them with you:

Learn Guitar

Get more into photography

Get better at drawing

Read more

Stay Organised

Drink more water

Have a more balanced diet

Be consistent

Develop creatively

Start Driving

Get a good part-time job

Be happy

I don't think they are too out of reach, do you? I just hope I can achieve most of this list and I'll be very proud if I do.

Have you set any goals for 2015?

The Good Old Days

Sitting in university swamped with work, I can feel the knots in my shoulders that just ache of stress, usually if I was at home I'd play some of my favourite songs in an attempt to calm down but sadly today I've forgotten my earphones and I don't want to burden everyone with my strange playlists, but hey, it might help everyone else loosen up too, as my songs play through Mr Brightside by The Killers begins and everyone perks up, starts singing along and by the chorus we're all having a blast belting out our worst singing voices, this sparks into a frenzy of sharing old songs from when we were in our early teens, we all seemed to have memories with the same songs and it was so nice to share them with each other and got me thinking about putting together a playlist of all the old, cheesy and cringey songs I used to love but that bring back the best memories from a younger, carefree version of myself, so i did it;

And here is my 'Throwback to the good old days' playlist, I'm listening to it right now and getting the best feeling of the days before coursework, exams, relationships and changes.

And to you, if there is anyone out there reading this, I hope some of these songs bring back the same feeling for you as they have fore me, if so then lie back and take your mind on a walk to those days.

Hope you have a great day.

Zoe x

Autumn Time

I'm not a huge fan of this time of year, I think it's down to the dark, wet mornings, the increase of creepy crawly insects around my home and I usually spend most of the autumn sniffing and coughing. 

Although I'm not an autumn person I've started to do little things to perk up my mood and find the good in this season, I thought I'd share my new list of Autumn pick-me-ups with you;

Lush Cosmetics Autumn and Winter Range

'oh my, oh, my, oh my'

The excitement in me as I walked past Lush at 8am and saw the employees unpacking the new delivery, that could only mean one thing; 'THE NEW RANGE IS IN FBKHGBSKJGBS!!'

and as soon as I got out of my morning lecture I sprinted to the store where I spent a shameful amount of money on bath bombs, bubble bars and bath ballistics, even the staff got excited over the new products and the old classics making an appearance again, throwing them under my nose and showing me what the new ones were like in the water, I was really in my element.

I bought a full bag of goodies that day and I have 3 left.....that took place about 2 weeks ago...and I plan to go back tomorrow to see what else I can grab...but think about it, I could be spending my money on much worse things...

Hot chocolate

This Autumn I have developed a new found love for hot chocolate and I dont know why I had never appreciated it as much before, as soon as I roll in after a busy day the first thing I do is rush to the kitchen where I grab my favourite mug and throw three heap spoonfuls of chocolate powder into it, showering it with a tonne of milk (see? calcium...in a way its healthy) and then put it in the microwave for 2 glorious minutes, when I open the microwave I'm met with a bubbling, warm, cosy potion of chocolate gorgeousness, but it doesnt stop there....

for the full experience you toss in a handful of little fluffy marshmallows who, when met with the chocolate oblivion in the cup, melt into a frothy blanket of nectar, yummy right? oh but we still arent finished, now for the fluffy cloud of cream, and dont be shy with it, tower it above the brim of the cup and your taste buds will love you foever.

Ive been drinking this every night and its the perfect concoction if youre feeling a little stressed out and want five minutes to yourself. 

(best served with Ed sheeran singing angelically in the background)

Bedroom makeover

Its a cosy time of year, why not adapt your environment to that as well? 

My bedroom is pretty tiny already, but I prefer to think of it as 'Cosy'

but there are little ways to make it feel more like your own little hobbit hole;

Candles-

As long as youre careful and dont leave it burning unattended or have kids running around its such a gorgeous way to make your room cosy, especially with a scented candle, my personal favourite is Christmas cookie by yankee candle, although I havent got one yet I plan to ASAP.

Fairy lights-

I got these from Ikea over the summer and this time of year is perfect for them, they give such a subtle, warm glow to any room and I just feel so at home when I can cosy up next to them in my room.

and the other day I got these little pumpkin ones just for Halloween. woohoo, festive!

Slippers

I was never a slippers fan, but last week I was in hospital for a couple of nights and my dad bought some for me to wear out of bed and I haven't had them off since, before I get my hot chocolate I throw on these puppies and I can tell you, my feet thank me for it. 

Cosy scarves

Im a huge fan of scarves, and I love to layer up for my walk to the bus stop in the mornings, this paired with my little flask (of hot chocolate of course) just make mornings better for me.

Halloween

Im actually really excited for Halloween this year as I plan to go all out with my costume (stay tuned for that) but for now, I'll leave you with a few little ideas courtesy of Pintrest...

Zoe x