I like to change my hair with the seasons, fashion seasons actually, out goes the past and in with the new so when I put my summer clothes away and buy my autumn wardrobe I like to change up my hair too. Over the summer I have been rocking Ombré hair, which was one of the most popular trends over the summer, sported by many celebrities.

With this style the ends of my hair are a few shades lighter than the rest of my hair, you can go for different versions of this with dark hair and light blond ends or a dark blond and bleached ends. I went for an auburn brown with golden ends a bit more subtle than some.

For autumn/winter I want something a little bit different so am checking out the latest hair trends. Colour wise red is set to be very popular, however it doesn’t do my skin tone justice and I have had red hair in the past and it takes a while to get that colouring out of your hair!

Apparently if you want to move away from the Ombré look and tone out your two tone style then you should go for a ‘bronde’ colour which is brown and blond obviously! This seems like it might be a good option for me, I don’t want to go back to blond or back to dark brown so this seems like a happy medium!

I was reading an article the other day about Victoria Beckham and her plans to shift her post pregnancy weight. Now I’m not actually sure how much weight she actually gained, reports suggest 1st 7lb but it didn’t look a lot and recent pictures I have seen of her don’t really show her carrying a lot of extra pregnancy weight however it might just have been the camera angles.

Apparently she is doing the new ‘Five-Hands’ diet which means you can only eat just five handfuls of food a day. Strange I know, according to a source close to the star Victoria has been snacking on palm-sized portions of high protein foods such as smoked salmon, prawns with chilli, scrambled eggs and yellow fin tuna sushi, as well as avoiding carbohydrates. She supplements these meals by drinking lots of water and snacking on goji berries and nuts.

I’m not sure how much energy she will get from this diet though, especially with a new baby and her sons to look after she will need a lot.  But then I guess that is what nannies are for! I personally wish she would have a bit more meat on her bones, looking at someone that thin is not nice, bones shouldn’t protrude that much and your legs shouldn’t look like they could snap.

Now I’m not a jealous fatty before you all start saying so, I just wish people would understand what effects their extreme dieting has on other people especially young girls.

Since the Royal wedding, well actually since William and Kate announced their engagement really the fashion world has been obsessed with what Kate and also her sister Pippa wear. Many highstreet stores have in fact been cashing in on this by selling ‘look-alike’ items seen on both girls, probably to the annoyance of the actual clothing designers.

To be fair I don’t really follow much of what either sister wears and would say I haven’t been drawn into buying something similar to what they have worn, however that changed last week after I was drawn in by an email. I have to admit my inbox is usually full of emails from various clothing retailers from designer to highstreet and it was one email from a highstreet store which caught my eye. They featured a picture of Kate wearing a dress on her recent trip to the States with William and their own version of her outfit.

Now normally I’m not drawn into things like this but the dress Kate was wearing was a great style that would be perfect for my father’s 65th birthday celebrations coming up soon. So I couldn’t resist. Although the highstreet version is an exact match to Kate’s dress it looks great all be it a bit short, but that’s more to do with my leg length being longer than average and a problem I find with most dresses!

I now wonder if I have been caught by the media spell where I find myself looking at what Kate wears for fashion inspiration? Well maybe for smart clothing for those occasions where you can’t look like a tart but the rest of the time she is a bit too safe fashion wise for me!

I was lucky this weekend, for the first time in what seems ages we had great weather, which was lucky as I threw a summer party. So thankfully no rain meant it went off without a hitch! Whilst the weather was good I also took time out on Sunday to take a nice walk before stopping off at a local pub for a spot of Sunday lunch. Can’t beat a Yorkshire pudding with yummy beef, lots of veg, roasties and plenty of gravy to beat a hangover!

I spent the rest of Sunday evening/night slobbed out in front of the TV, watching the last in the series of Top Gear, gutted now, especially as they had Louie Walsh on who said XFactor is starting again soon, up until Xmas! Argh I’m not a fan of XFactor so having to put up with friends who love it and the continuous coverage in the press will yet again get on my nerves!

On a final not I must mention I enjoyed seeing highlights from this year other Royal Wedding, it was such a Lovely day in Edinburgh for Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall I was glad they didn’t experience the wet weather I normally do when I’m up there. I thought Zara looked ever so pretty and Mark didn’t half scrub up well.

Unfortunately for the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate the press seemed far to intent of picking up the fact that she wore an outfit that she has worn before. I don’t see the big deal, it’s nice to get plenty of use out of your favourite outfits, plus I’m sure the press would ‘have a go’ if she was never seen in the same thing twice, no doubt then she would be deemed as wasteful! I think it’s great that she re-wears some outfits, most of them are classic pieces so it makes sense to keep onto them.

I know we are still in summer, (technically, even if it doesn’t feel like summer) but new trends are starting to emerge on the highstreet and its actually getting me quite excited. After all who doesn’t get excited by new trends?

By this time of year, I’m starting to be ‘over’ summer clothing, I’ve seen it all already and nothing peaks my interest. Plus at the moment I haven’t been really able to wear all my nice summer clothes because we haven’t really had the weather, good job I went on holiday to actually wear some stuff!

Anyway weather moan over, let’s have a look at what’s in:

- 70’s styling; colours, shapes and materials.

- Bold colours; not as bright as we have had for summer, think rich purples, reds and yellows.

- Punk styles; for people who like a bit of an edge with their style

- Heritage; good old English styles, lots of tweed, flower patterns and a muted pallet. (Miss Marple)

The best thing with most of these trends is that they are great on their own but also work really well together. I think I will be making the most of the colours from these trends whilst stocking up on my wardrobe basics, such as jumpers, cardigans, long sleeved tops, trousers and jeans.

There is always a lot to look forward to when you go on holiday, one of my favourite things is preparation, normally because this consist of my favourite pastime, shopping. My summer holiday wardrobes for the past few years haven’t really changed, I’ve managed with the same old bikinis, cover-ups and shorts, so this year as I’m going to a posher resort than normal I’d give my beach look an update.

The thing is with holiday clothing, you don’t want to spend too much on it, because let’s face it you’re only going to wear a bikini or cover up twice in one year if you’re lucky, so for these two items I tend to opt for cheaper options that are still fairly well made. This season H&M have a great collection of cheap bikinis which have a designer look to them. For cover ups you don’t have to go for a kaftan, a simple boyfriend fit shirt works well, or a baggy racer back vest top, all of these can be fairly inexpensive. Other items I tend to bulk buy when on offer is vest tops, most of the highstreet stores such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, New Look and Republic have buy one get one free or buy 2 for ‘X’ amount, so I always take a bunch on holiday with me in various colours as they can be worn for casual or you can dress them up.

Other items i tend to splurge on are dresses, because I can get more wear out of them, well as long as we have some good weather here in the UK, I also splurge on a couple of pairs of dressy sandals for an evening on holiday as I can get more wear out of those at home too. Accessories can also glam up an outfit and make it look more expensive than it is, so I always take a couple of scarves, belts and hats away with me, as well as quirky jewellery as these items don’t take up too much room or weight.

One final thought, I think I may also need a new suitcase to put it all in as my old one is very tatty!

Well the t-shirts I designed for my friends to wear while they watched the Royal Wedding and had a party went down a right treat. Everyone loved them and said they were perfect for the day and even to wear after. T shirt printing is a great way to express your creativity and make a style statement, or any kind of statement for that matter and my friends love the personal touches which can be added when you do your own designs.

They said that for future events, parties or just for fun they will be entrusting my design skills to come up with some fun ideas for t-shirt printing, which is great for me. Plus I will also be using the services of online printing retailer Adlogo, because the service they provided was excellent. The orders were done as asked and came really quickly, plus their service didn’t cost the earth either.

As I have mentioned in a previous post the Royal Wedding on the 29th April seems to be getting everyone in a tizzy, this week I have seen an influx of retailers offering t-shirts sporting wedding themes and royal themes.

This got me thinking, this is a great opportunity for me to make some money from all my Royal Wedding obsessed friends. By using t shirt printing to make t-shirt designs they can wear when they watch the wedding on TV or go to a street party.

Many of them share much more excitement than I do for the wedding, however they do lack the creative drive to come up with their own t-shirt designs. If I use an online retailer such as Adlogo which offers quick turnaround times I should be able to get the t-shirts designed ready for my friends before the wedding.

Plus I will also save them a trip to a shop to buy one which is great and because Adlogo offers really good prices for bulk buys I can make some money from my friends in the process!

I don’t know about anyone else but I am really fed up with sales, only for the fact that they now never seem to end, as soon as a shop says last day of sale another one pops up in store or I get an email about it. But it only ever seems to be junk in them, especially clothing sales, it’s never the stock they actually sold this season but stuff they probably couldn’t flog a couple of years ago.

I have now decided not to waste my time looking at what sale items are on offer and only look a nice new stock, which is this season, as well as shopping around to make sure I get the best price, especially for name brand clothes. One of my favourite shopping sites that offer great discounts on branded clothing, accessories and homeware is Secret Sales. They are an online site which you have to sign up for that offer you great discounts on everyday favourites and where I have got a few great bargains from in the past.

It’s great if you have gifts to buy or want to new things for your home, and they aren’t the only ones out there, there are many more you just have to look.

I have been noticing recently in the run up to Christmas the number of emails I get from various websites enticing me to buy Christmas gifts for my loved ones from them, however the main problem I find is that all of these places just don’t offer the things I have in mind for gifts.

However the other day I did have a brain wave when I received an email from a clothing retailer which was offering printed t-shirts, looking through their site I couldn’t find any that would have humour suited to my friends and family. So I came up with the bright idea of designing my own funny t-shirts using t shirt printing.

Coming up with the slogan’s to use is easy, going off favourite TV shows or films of my family and friends for inspiration, the hard part is choosing t-shirt styles and colours for everyone and getting them done in time for Christmas. Luckily I found an online retailer, Splash Logo, who has a huge range of clothing in different sizes and fits and most importantly in many different colours. They also offer a quick turnaround time, even for bulk orders which mean my funny creative t-shirts will be ready for my family and friends in time for Christmas.