LittleEllieMae

Hello guys!

I posted to my Twitter a few days ago, asking if anybody would be interested in me writing a post sharing my study tips with you and many people replied with "yes pleaaaseee!"es.... 

So here goes...

As you already know, I'm in Year 11 and currently doing my GCSEs. I have my final exams in May/ June so that means that I am busy revising away now!

These are my tips for effective study- they work for me, so I hope they will work out well for you too! Let me know if you like any of these tips!

1.)Make fun/interesting revision notes!

I find revising really boring. Like really really. Well, I did. Now I make sure that all of my revision notes are full of different colours, glitter and highlighting- it makes all the difference for sure. Not only does it make everything that bit more interesting, the different colours help to separate and highlight key points that will (hopefully) stick in your head for the exam!

colours colours colours!

Having cool stationery is so much more fun!

2.)Have a comfortable revision space.
For me, I get really easily distracted. I used to sit on my bed and revise and it didn't work very well. Not only did I have such bad posture, hunched over my laptop, I would find every single thing possible in my bedroom to procrastinate. (I would even tidy my whole room to kill some time..!?). So, after a discussion with my Mum, we decided to transform the spare room (which used to be filled with old toys and bedding) into a study space for me to revise. We cleaned out the room and put in a desk and some other bits and pieces. We were sure to keep it very simple with a pastel colour theme, so there weren't any obvious distractions. Of course, not everyone has a spare room to use as a study so why not just study at the kitchen table- somewhere you can sit down with space and organisation, or get a desk for your bedroom. I would definitely urge you to get a set study place, it has really made me more focused and ready to revise.

My awesome little snug study- thanks to my fabuloso Mum!

3.)Keep calm!
I get really stressed. I'm quite the perfectionist and I want to do well all the time. But obviously not everything always goes to plan and exams stress me to the limit. I think its really important to stay as relaxed as possible, as stress is really bad for health. Personally, I can obviously see how stress effects my health because my skin gets really dry and patchy and I break out in spots- not good! I'm working really hard on controlling my stress levels. My favourite thing to do is to meditate, which I do every night for 10 mins+. To meditate I use the most fantastic IPhone app ever called Smiling Mind- I urge everyone to try this out as it is so great. It helps me to relax and gain mindfulness, I love it. Also, I like to do yoga. I watch videos on YouTube (I used this one for starting out- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o0kNeOyH98) and I also have a DVD which I like to use sometimes. Other ways I keep relaxed is to visit these websites during my revision breaks or just when I'm feeling a bit stressy: The Quiet Place, The Thoughts Room, Calm.com. They are SO good! Listening to ocean sounds is really helpful and relaxing too, I like to listen to them using this website: http://www.calmsound.com/.

I keep a little book of calm on my desk and my little smiling Buddha!

4.)Take breaks!
I know its hard, once you are in the flow and mindset of working, to take a break. But its really important to take a 5+ min break after you've been revising for 40 mins. It will allow your brain to just cool off for a little bit, so its ready to absorb some more information. Have a cuppa tea, call a friend up and have a little chat, read a few blog posts. Alternatively, you could keep your mind awake and active by doing a crossword or Sudoku, but still having a break from the hundreds of revision flashcards. Personally I like to do some stretches (I suffer with whiplash so I have back/neck problems) just to loosen up a little after being sat down for a while. Then you'll be ready to get back to work effectively!

5.)Listen to sounds.
I always thought that I could really not work with noises around me. When I'm revising I ask my family to keep the noise down so I can focus. But the other day I found this website http://coffitivity.com/ which plays background noise of a coffee shop which has been proven to boost creativity levels. I play this in the background on a low volume and it strangely keeps me so focused on my work! I never would have thought that something like this would work, but it is so effective- I definitely urge you to give it a try! On the other hand, if you can focus with music, I recommend  these playlists- Actually Study  and Concentration.

6.)Eat healthier, exercise and sleep!
I have to admit, a month ago or so I didn't have the greatest diet. I was snacking on biscuits and crisps a lot and not doing much exercise and I was noticing that my skin was getting really spotty and I was feeling really groggy all the time. My family and I decided that we were going to ban buying crisps, biscuits, cakes etc from now on and only buy 'healthy' stuff. A month on, and I've been eating so much more healthier and I do at least half an hour of exercise a day. I do just a general fitness routine (star jumps, planks, burpees etc.) or I love doing Zumba or Just Sweat on the Wii, its really fun! By having a healthier lifestyle I have found such a huge change in myself; I feel so much more lively and ready to tackle every day (including revision!). Also I make sure to have at least 9 hours of sleep every night to ensure that I am energised, and of course a girl needs her beauty sleep ;) Drinking lots of water is essential too!

7.) Be proactive!
The last thing I'd say is to be proactive in your learning. I know your teachers probably bang on about this all the time to you, as do mine, but they only have our best interests at heart. Make a revision timetable to stay organised and on top of all your work. Another thing to do is to attend catch up/ revision sessions if your teachers offer them to you- I have started going to revision sessions for different subjects during my lunchtimes at school and they are so helpful! This also gives you an opportunity to ask your subject teachers any questions you may have. I'd recommend buying revision guides (CGP ones are very good!) for your subjects to help with revision too.

My pinboard in my study that I covered with quotes to make me smile! :)

That's all the tips that I can think of at the moment! I really hope that you find this useful! Let me know if you do!
I'm actually doing the A* Grade Blogger Challenge (if you've spotted my badge on the side of my blog- high five!) which is a really cool idea. You can check it out here: http://www.achiclifestyle.com/p/a-grade-challenge.html.

Have a great day!

Ellie Mae x

We all know by now that I'm big on fashion. 

...

Really big. 

...

Maybe obsessed. 

And the other day I sat down and said to my Mum, "How would you describe my style?" and there was a lot of umming and aaahing but we concluded that I don't really seem to have a set style. 

Beforehand I was flipping through fashion magazine pages, looking at each and every celebrities' outfit choice. Just by looking at a couple of photos of a person you can figure out their personal style.

Vanessa Hudgens... boho.

Demi Lovato... rock chick.

Alexa Chung... preppy.

Paloma Faith... quirky.

I could go on forever. 

But the point I'm trying to make is, should we have a set style? 

I certainly don't. 

My style ranges from vintage to girly to preppy to rocky to quirky to boho to sophisticated to glitzy to hipster and more. 

I suppose that my fashion sense and knowledge is still growing as I'm only 16. And I feel that, being stuck in the boring, generic city of Plymouth where everyone dresses very similar, that I haven't been exposed to enough to see all the thousands of style options there are. That's part of the reason why I adore London so much- everyone has their individual style and its so refreshing!

Anyway, back to my point- Personally, I just buy clothes that I see and I'm like "oh I really like that.", rather than "that would really suit my style." if you get me? Also, I really enjoy having the opportunity to experiment with the different 'genres' of style and mixing it up a bit. For example, by wearing a vintage skirt with a modern t-shirt. 

I don't really know where I'm going with this post, and its kind of rambly but I suppose sometimes you've just got to let the words flow. 

However, to conclude- 

Do you have a set personal style? Or are you like me, and stick your fingers in a lot of (fashionable) pies? 

Let me know by commenting below or tweeting me @LittleEllieMae

Have a great day!

Ellie Mae x

Hello!

Amy got in touch with me and told me about the blogger contest Fanny Crown were holding. So that's what I'm taking part in today!

Fanny Crown Paris are an online store that caters for debs, prom, party and wedding dresses and you can find them over at http://www.fannycrown.com/. 

As I have my prom coming up, I've been spending an awful lot of my time browsing online stores for dresses and I can hands down say that Fanny Crown is one of the best- with such a variation of beautiful dresses for so many different occasions!

I have chosen the Fine Bateau Long Pearl Pink Evening Dress to write about today, you can find it over on their website here: http://www.fannycrown.com/fine-bateau-long-pearl-pink-evening-dresses.html.

I think that this dress could easily be used for red carpet occasion too! 

Hello all! 

Ah YouTube.. yes, a topic which I have not approached in quite a while. 

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, I'm sure that you know that I have a YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleEllieMae).

I used to make videos on there nearly every week. But unfortunately I haven't made a video since October... sorry about that!

I felt like I owe you an explanation, as I kind of just disappeared from the YouTubing world just like that. 

So, as you probably already know, I'm in Year 11 at high school now which means that I'm doing  my last year of GCSEs (yay!), which also means that I am just a few weeks away from a month worth of exams in the summer (boo!). Due to this, I felt like I really needed to settle down in Year 11 to focus on my studies so I can get the high grades that I really want. This is part of the reason that I stopped YouTube all those months ago, because I felt like it was such a distraction and also it took up a lot of valuable study time (what with filming, editing etc.). 

Also, I felt like, because my brain was so overloaded with exams, revision and coursework my creativity started to really lack. I was not 100% happy with the content I was creating so I felt like I needed a break to build up more ideas for the future. 

Now for the more exciting stuff!

First of all, I wanted to thank you for 300 subscribers which I hit last week which is super cool! Of course, its not 4 million like Zoella, but I'm so ecstatic about 300 because its weird to think that the same number of people as over two year groups of my school genuinely want to watch my videos but it makes me so happy! Its so cool, so thank you!

Also I can finally say that I am definitely coming back to YouTube in the summer. I'm so excited because I'm going to be doing so much cool stuff this summer so I can't wait to take you along on my little adventures! I have a better camera, better editing skills and I will have a whole lot more time to focus on it! 

However, this is where you come in. I want to create a HUGE list of video ideas so that I can never run out of creative ideas again in the future. I want to make videos that you enjoy watching so please, let me know anything and everything you can think of that you'd like to see on LittleEllieMae in the future! May it be hauls, vlogs, challenges, tags.. anything! I want some really different and creative ideas to play around with!

Also, I'm looking to collaborate with more people so let me know who you would like to see me collab with!

Leave your ideas below in the comments section or tweet me @LittleEllieMae ... I can't wait to hear your ideas and thoughts!

Have a great day!

Ellie Mae x

P.S. Make sure that you're subscribed over at www.youtube.com/user/LittleEllieMae to be ready for some new videos heading your way soon!

Hello everyone! Time for the (slightly delayed... sorry about that!) last Fashion February blog post! I have really enjoyed this blogging series; I've loved the topics that I had the chance to write about and I've also discovered and "met" some great new blogging friends too!

For the last post of the series, I'm going to be talking about Kimonos. 

Although kimonos are traditionally a Japanese garment, they have quickly been reinvented as a fantastic statement item for the modern day girl's wardrobe. 

Personally, I adore wearing kimonos as I think they look really interesting and can add some different textures to an outfit. 

This is me wearing a black velvet kimono from New Look. I love to wear it on cooler days with my black high waisted jeans or alternatively wear it with a block colour dress to spice it up a bit!

On the other hand, I absolutely love lighter kimonos for the summer. This year I am determined to take a more boho approach to my fashion and I think by purchasing a kimono I could achieve exactly that!