September Diary

Shirt- River Island
Jeans- Topshop
Shoes- H&M
Scarf- Vintage YSL

Hey there,

I've finally decided what I'm going to use this blog for, better late then never I know. As everything's got a bit full on recently as you'll soon see, I've decided to use it as an online diary, so here goes my September round-up.

I moved back up to Birmingham, ready for Welcome Week and the start of Uni, slightly earlier then most students as I was part of the Student Unions Welcome team!

Before I left home I made some bunting from the fabrics collected from my internship with Louise O'Mahony. Instead of stitching the bunting onto the ribbon I chose to pin them on with little christmas pegs and I love the effect. It looks perfect on my new desk.

I also moved all my treasures I collected from Turkey into my new room. It's such a novelty for me to have such a large room compared to what I'm used to at home and I've recently discovered how much I love homewards. Somehow managed to convince myself its not splurging, if it's essential for my room, hehe. 

Shirt- Primark
Necklace- H&M
Coat- Mango
Boots- H&M
Jeans- River Island
Bag- TK Maxx
Scarf- Vintage YSL

  Whilst in Birmingham, I've been hot on the job hunt with mixed results but I guess thats to be expected from the current climate. However it does mean I've had to carefully consider my wardrobe choices, including the end of my nose piercing. This OOTD was snapped by my friend Mollie, for her blog, before one of my interviews.

Being back in Birmingham also gives me the chance to catch up with friends I haven't seen for months. The other day we checked out a new healthy vegetarian cafe tucked away in Digbeth. For a very reasonable price we shared some sundried tomatoes and I had a delicious Millet salad. Although I'm not vegetarian, I do really appreciate it especially since being at Uni. I shall defiantly be visiting the Warehouse Cafe again.

And finally, Tomorrow's my Birthday!! Hip, hip, horaaay. Tonight I baked a batch of (almost) guilt-free brownies, containing agave nectar and bananas instead of butter and sugar. I haven't tried them yet but my housemates have had a few tasters and I think it's safe to say they went down well. Also think I finally got a very exciting job today and some new university projects on the go but thats all I'm going to say for now... watch this space! 

Love 

Sophie Agnes

xxx

Heavenly Sweet Treats #4

Strawberry & Lime Ice Lollies

These ice lollies are perfect for this rare heatwave, the lime gives them such a refreshing flavour. They also have the added bonus of being Sugar-free! Mum's been growing strawberries for a few years now and we've never had such a good crop as this year. She's been desperately trying to find recipes to use them up so I thought I'd try mixing them with some lime, after all they go so well together in Strawberry Mojitos!

Ingredients
Simply..
1 Lime
Water
Handful of chopped strawberries
Dash of Sugar free lime cordial

Combine all the ingredients in a jug and pour into the ice lolly moulds then freeze for over two hours until fully frozen. Once they're ready sit back and enjoy in the sunshine, while it lasts! Leave a comment to let me know what you think of this recipe or if there are any other combinations I should try.

Love Sophie Agnes xxx

Heavenly Sweet Treats #3

Frozen Banana Loaf

This is a recipe I found on Oh, Ladycakes blog, then adapted according to what I had in the larder. As you may have guessed I'm a lover of all things banana flavoured and containing bananas! A while ago I watched a programme about raw foodies on 4od, and while I thought they were slightly extreme when it came to some of their food habits, some of the ideas made me think more about the benefits of raw recipes. 

This loaf is gluten-free, sugar-free and doesn't involve any cooking or much washing up!

Ingredients

100g Almonds

100g Walnuts

75g Oats

2 Medium Banana's (the riper the better)

1tsp Cinnamon

50g Dried fruit (I used Dates, Prunes and Sultanas)

2 tsp Honey

Method

1. Place all the dry ingredients in a blender and blend until they form a flour like texture.

2. Then add the other ingredients and blend until the mixture becomes like a thick dough.

3. Place the mixture in a tray lined with cling film and press down with a knife or back of a spoon.

4. Place in the freezer for 1-2 Hours then remove and serve.

I added honey to the original recipe for extra sweetness. If you want a different texture to this loaf then why not try adding some chopped nuts or currants to the mixture once it's removed from the blender. Feel free to leave comments to let me know what you think or if there are any other raw recipes you think I should try!

Love Sophie Agnes xxx

Heavenly Sweet Treats #2

Mango Frozen Yogurt

Since I've been at university, I've become obsessed with the Fro-Yo stand in the Bullring so I decided to try make my own frozen yogurt especially now Summer's here. It's great as a guilt-free dessert or just as a replacement for ice creams on sunny days.

Ingredients

80g Mango (Fresh or frozen)

50g Greek Yogurt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Empty the mixture into a suitable container.

3. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours.

4. Remove and Enjoy!!

Try adding toppings to your frozen yogurt, if you want to keep it healthy add some berries and a drizzle of honey. Alternatively if you want a less heavenly treat add some chocolate chips and enjoy. Feel free to comment and let me know what you thought of the recipe or if you have any other frozen yogurt recipes I may want to try.

Love Sophie Agnes xxx

Heavenly Sweet Treats #1

Banana Muffin Recipes

Not only are these muffins delicious but they're also Sugar-free and Gluten-free. They're perfect enjoyed as a snack or even for breakfast and super quick to prepare.

Ingredients

1 Banana

3 Egg Whites

25g Almonds

35g Oats

1 tsp Cinnamon

100g Greek Yogurt

1 tsp Baking Powder

2 Tsp Honey

Equipment
Blender
Muffin cases
Muffin baking tray

Method

1. Pre Heat the oven to about 200 degrees.

2. Blend the almonds for 1 min then add the oats and blend for another min.

3. Add all the other ingredients and blend until the mixture is smooth.

4. Evenly distribute between muffin cases.

5. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins until risen and slightly golden.

6. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

The muffins may sink slightly when you take them out of the oven. If you want to add more flavour then try adding dry fruit or blueberries to the blended mixture. Please leave me a comments to let me know what you thought of the muffins or any suggestions for other guilt free recipes I may want to try!

Love Sophie Agnes xxx

Hey There!

Welcome to my new Fashion, Design and Lifestyle blog. I'm Sophie and I've just finished my first year studying Fashion Design so I've set up this blog to share what I've been doing to keep myself busy, expect plenty of fashion, baking, DIY and doodling.

My current favourite shoes, From Office.

My first year at Uni has flown by yet I've gained so much from it. One of the highlights of the past year was travelling to Paris for Premier Vision!

Also exploring and discovering some of my favourite parts of Birmingham including my new favourite restaurant, Bodegas.  I've never had nachos like it and none will ever compare to the Bodega Nachos.

My first project at Uni was to design a top and skirt from inital  concept to final collection, then for our next project I had to create a conceptual garment through draping on the stand. However my favourite was the third project to design and make a shirt aimed at a brand.

First project Photo shoot- See my Online portfolio for full project

Heres a sneak peak from my portfolio but to see my work from the beginning check out my online portfolio  at http://sophiearist.blogspot.co.uk.

In the most recent project my mild obsession with 'to do' lists became rather obsessive to keep on top of the amount of work I had on, so much so that I'm feeling lost without them. To help my craving for lists here's a snippet of what I am to achieve this summer and what you can expect from Sophie's Design Bee.

- Start and maintain a blog,

- Make some decorations for my new room (Moving into a new house in September!)

- Buy a new diary and notebooks for my lists,

- Teach myself new skills on Illustrator and Indesign,

- Try out new recipes (This won't be hard, I love cooking)

- Visit a country I've never been to before,

- Make more personalised presents for people.

That's it for my first post but theres much more to come shortly,

Love Sophie Agnes

xx