What are your new years resolutions for 2017?

First of all, i would like to say - Happy New Year.

As the New Year approaches, we all know that it is very common for everyone to start thinking about idea's for their new year resolutions. It is a tradition, let's face it. And it is the first month of the year, It is the perfect opportunity for you to improve something about yourself or to break a bad, unpleasant, distressing  habit. It is a time for you to wipe the slate clean and start again. 

'New year, new you' as they say!

Although new year resolutions are not for everyone. It is an opportunity for you to do something to make you feel better about yourself, almost like a goal, but it is important that you feel determined. Surround yourself with people who inspire you and who can encourage you. Make sure you write your goals down, people with written goals are 50% more likely  to achieve than people without goals. It is very important to have hope in your life, and personally, i could not think of a better opportunity to begin by setting yourself new year resolutions, big or small, it is a start to becoming a better you. 

Katia Beauchamp, cofounder and CEO of Birchbox, would like to focus on growing her confidence. "The year ahead is all about elevating my confidence and celebrating the incredible accomplishments of life."

Many people search for ideas on how to be healthier, exercise  more, to stop smoking, how to be more organised, getting a new job, to be a better cook, to spend more time with others, to learn something new, etc. What is your new year resolution going to be? 

Good Luck and all the best for 2017.  

Let me introduce you to my new collection, Bouquet

Hello everyone, I hope we are happy and well?

As some of you may know, i'm in my third year at University at the moment studying fashion and design, with two weeks left to go! Scary. I mean, all i've ever known is being in education and now i'm about to go out into the big wide world! It's really exciting but so daunting at the same time. I have set myself big goals though, i don't want to be one of those to leave university and not do anything with their degree,  it's taken me 4-5 years to finish this degree as i had to take a year out and re-sit a year due to family circumstances, so i'm going to try my very best to get a job in the fashion industry, possibly an internship! Fingers crossed.

I'm here today to write a blog post for my business studies! And as i already have a blog, i thought i would write an updated post about my collection. Which finally has a name by the way... 'Bouquet' What do you think? It took me ages to come up with it as i wanted something that really connected with my collection. I sat here wondering if i could adapt it. For example, i was going to call it 'Day-Glo Bouquet' but i thought that was too much. In the end i thought i would just keep it nice and simple!

I've made a lot of progress this last week or two!  I've almost finished sewing my collection together and i'm hoping to have it finished by this coming week. (I'll be sure to post finished pictures!) Today, i've sat here and done all my design boards, i've constantly gone back and forth making improvements and although my illustration skills are not the best, i'm really pleased with how my boards are looking.

Mood Board

Final Line-Up Board

For my collection, i first began by looking into the 1960's! It's an area i've always been interested in. Straight away i knew i wanted to do shift dresses, further research took me into playsuits! So i decided i would do two of each. However, i wanted to put a twist on my designs. Doing my trend research i came across a trend forecast called 'Soft Pop' which was really colourful and bright and it really had caught my attention, at this piont i had a lot of idea's flowing through my head but i still wasn't 100% sure. Until i came across a designer called 'Kate Spade' who was a really big inspiration. One of her collections involved block colours with floral prints and florescent colours and i decided i wanted to do something a long those lines. Taking into consideration the rest of my inspiration, i decided i would try and create floral panels onto these simple silhouettes. As you can see from my designs above, i thought i'd go that step further and add in some bright colours.

These are pictures of my collection in progress, none of them are completely finished in any of these pictures, but definitely are not far off. Hopefully when i write my next post, i'll be able to show you pictures of the finished product!

Until then.

Take care Readers!

Daryl Ivyana Richardson x

My story and The Secret

It's taking a lot of courage for me to write this post as it's very personal but i feel like it's an experience i'd like to share hoping i can help and inspire others... I know i'm not the only one who's lost a love one or gone through a really tough time at some piont!

Here goes... 

I've always felt like i've led an ordinary life. I was just like any other ordinary girl, i graduated from high school in 2008 and didn't do the best i probably could have done and i thought that was it for me but i didn't let that stop me and with the help of my big sister (who's always had her head screwed on), i got into college. Probably the best two years of my life, it was fun and i met some amazing friends! Friends that are still in my life today. Sitting there with my tutor and her assistant, we were discussing extensions for my work, i still didn't think any differently but the truth was that i was struggling and didn't realise why, i just thought i wasn't handling the amount of work very well, i could never concentrate and i was doubting myself as hard as i was trying. In the end, I graduated college with a distinction and two merits! It came as a massive surprise but when i thought back to how hard i'd tried, even if i thought it hadn't tried enough... i proved myself wrong. 

So then i got into University... Just locally, i didn't have the confidence to go too far away from home. Our family friend came to visit and it wasn't until our conversation that i realised how well i'd actually done. "You've done so well to get into University, i told my mum and she couldn't believe it after everything you've been going through" At this moment, i had the biggest reality check. In my second year of college, my mum had a battle with mouth Cancer, she had an operation and got the all clear. That's when i realised, i hadn't had it easy, along with the rest of my family and at this moment i felt so proud of myself for pushing myself the way i had, despite the doubt. 

First year of University, Mum got cancer again. This time it was terminal. I'm the youngest of four, the only one still living at home, looking after both mum and dad as he'd had a minor stroke. I had both parents in hospital, it was so hard, not just for me but for us all, trying to balance my studies at the same time but i had to be strong for both mum and dad because, them knowing that they were both in hospital, you can imagine how helpless they felt but it couldn't be helped. Luckily, the family pulled together, my family realised i was struggling so i went to live with my Aunt for a month or so, just so i could concentrate on my studies and get them out of the way in time for deadlines. Results came back and id only just passed and got into second year but that was enough for me.

October 2011, Sadly, mum passed away. Dad had his second stroke. It was all so much to handle, it really did hit me hard, i'd been so strong for so long. Seeing my family heart broken and not being able to do anything about it, it's horrible. February came and me and my boyfriend had broken up (on good terms) that was the last straw for me. I broke. I'd been in two relationships since the age of 15, from one straight into another. I had no idea what it was like to be on my own or at least, thats how it felt. After all of this, I'd hit what i thought was rock bottom. Trying to pick myself up, i went partying all the time. I blew all my money and then was i was stressed because i couldn't cope with my bills. I pushed everyone away because all i did was cry and complain but didn't do anything about it. Life really wasn't fair and i was soon diagnosed with depression.

I soon met a friend that was quite supportive, she made sure i didn't mope around feeling sorry for myself, she kept me busy! which helped A LOT. I soon found a job and thought everything was finally looking up. Then i found out i'd failed my second year of University and had to take a year out, which was so hard to come to terms with. I sat myself in a corner, thinking hard about what i had to do, i definitely wanted to go back to University, i knew that. I knew i wanted to make mum proud. My aunt always said, if you believe it, you'll do it.  Negative thoughts won't get you anywhere so I sat there and thought about what this year out gives me a chance to do... driving lessons! So i found a second job and worked my socks off. 

My new managers were so supportive of me and i got a long with them great. They told me about this book called 'The Secret'.  So i bought this book and it's the first book i've ever enjoyed reading! My aunt had previously told me about this book too and that's why she's always so positive! It taught me that no matter how bad life seems or how hard it is, it's definitely not the end of the world and you're thoughts and actions are your future. I knew the last thing mum would have wanted was for me to keeping doubting myself and being so negative, however all this changed! I began to believe in myself. I got promoted and began my training for manager, i became a supervisor in my other job and I passed my driving test, I got my first car, I got back into University, i earned back all the money i had blew partying! It felt amazing. My positive attitude attracted so many positive things into my life, including some of the best people i've ever met and i know my mum would be so proud.

We all go through tough times in our life's, some worse than others. Sometimes it feels like the end of the world and sometimes it feels like you've hit rock bottom. Let me tell you something, It's not the end of the world. You just have to find that urge in yourself to stand up and say 'i can do this'. There's no such thing as impossible! What's the use in moping around feeling sorry for yourself? Even if you have every right too!

I found setting myself goals really helped and if you truly believe in yourself, you'll do it and when you do, it's the best feeling! Which urges you to keep going! Be positive! And if you ever find yourself down in the dumps, don't go listening to sad music that's going to depress you, listen to something upbeat and happy!

Dealing with loss, is never easy. I know quite a lot of people who have lost loved ones so i know i'm not on my own and we all handle it in different ways. All you should know is that their up there watching over you and want you to be happy and make them proud. Do what makes you happy, do something you love in life. Surround yourself with positivity! They're always around. I'm a big believer of angels and spirits as i've had experiences and heard many amazing stories.

Im now 22 years old, independant i'm in my third year of University. (after re-sitting my second year) Im more than excited for the future ahead of me. I feel like this is only the beginning. I'm not sure what i'm going to be doing in the future, but its about taking small steps forward. I have the most strongest, loving family who i love dearly and amazing friends and if it wasn't for these people, i wouldn't be where i am today! I can't stress how much i appreciate the love and support i've been given. Me and my family have been through a big journey and it hasn't been easy, but we're all so happy now, we've supported each other non stop and we're all doing so well. I feel so lucky to have them in my life.

Now, i want to help others believe in themselves!
If you haven't already, make sure the first thing you do tomorrow, is go buy 'The Secret'. I promise you won't regret it!

If you're local to me, it's in stock at a shop called 'An angel beside you' In South Elmsall near asda :-)

'As The Secret has swept the world and touched millions of lives, we have received so many stories of lives being transformed into joy.' http://thesecret.tv/living.html 

Feel free to email me at Darylivyana@outlook.com for any advice! 

Upwards and Onwards

It's been a while hasn't it? I'm incredibly sorry! I've been caught up on settling back into my final year at university - Finally! Yay! :-D

When it comes to myself and feelings at the moment, they've been here and there! October is a hard month for me but Do you ever just feel like, you aren't good enough? Well, I'm all one for positive thinking and everything but I'm not sure what happened this time, i just found myself getting lower and lower.

Firstly, I found myself feeling very low about  my ability to be a blog writer! Another reason was that i almost had (what could have been) a very serious car accident, which scared me so much! Which made me doubt my driving skills. If it's one piece of advice i have for you, do not take things or people for granted!!! It's safe to say, im slowly getting over it and taking a lot more caution! We've all done it right? Lesson learnt!! There is a few other reasons to why i felt the way i have been but I'll not bore you! :-)

OK so, after feeling down in the dumps, I woke up one morning and gave myself a reality check! I'd do this thing that my sister used to tell me to do, where you would write a list of 10-20 things you have to look forward to in your life as well as setting goals! I find it helps to motivate me. 

I find it amazing how much self confidence people can have. Some people think I'm quite confident and I do like to think I am most of the time. I mean, I can talk the hind legs off a donkey! But what people don't see is that I'm easily intimidated. I will try my best to fit in with anyone, sometimes I struggle but what you have to accept is, that's just the way it is sometimes! Some people are not as easy to get on with as much as others but if it's one thing i've learnt, it's to be yourself, don't try and be someone your not and most importantly, Believe in yourself. Because if you don't... you won't get far. Be positive! :-)

Today, I read this article in the Company Magazine - it was quite interesting actually! About, how it's getting to that time of year where everyone's making themselves available, ready to get all cosy for the Christmas/winter season! Isn't that crazy? I say this, but deep down im one of these people! Or at least, id like to be... but not just for the winter season!!! that's just pure madness if you ask me. This is where self confidence comes into it... when it comes to guys, im so shy! I am the biggest wimp and I hate admitting this, because guys like confident females don't they? Apparently. I just don't seem to handle the whole 'Butterfly' feeling very well and quite frankly, it always gets the better of me!  I don't know why and I like to think that I'm not the only one

If your anything like me, your a people pleaser and you worry too much what people think? Yes? Well, i should probably take my own advice in this case, but don't. 

These are the things I tell myself everyday! 

1) Don't worry about what people think of you. (What your wearing or what you are doing, being confident and being different makes you stand out from the crowd!)

2) Believe in yourself. (You can do it! Whatever it is you want to do, get up and do it!)

Which brings me to number 3..

3) There's no such thing as 'Can't' (Anything is possible!)

4) Set yourself goals and achievements (I did this on my year out and doubted myself but I kept going and did it, I achieved more than everything I hoped I would, and believe me... it's the best feeling in the world!)

5) All you can do is try your best (At least you can say you tried, even if it comes to not being very confident with something, you don't know until you try!)

6) It's not the end of the world (Never give up. I've been through some pretty bad times in the last few years... there was a point when i thought it was the end of the world and i gave up, but i soon realised there's a big world out there. Pick yourself up and try again. Maybe start a new journey?)

7) Always turn a negative into a positive (Positive thinking attracts positive people and happenings!)

8) Smile :-)

Dee 
xox


Images from : 
http://thekissingexpert.com/kiss-essentials/the-naughty-nice-of-mistletoe-kissing
http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/specific.html
http://signature-strength.com/workshops/mastermind-your-career/attachment/fed-up-woman-at-desk-2/