Recently I stumbled upon Printed.com when googleing business cards for my new business Sjillustration.bigcartel.com . Printed's website really caught my eye as their branding is ultra modern and the pink logo stood out to me straight away as pink is one of my fav colours and I am easily biased like that. 

I ordered the Free sample pack from printed.com straight away and I was so pleased with the samples when they arrived very soon after I ordered them. The samples include the different paper options and finishes as well as how different colours look on each paper. I think this is an awesome idea for samples as It really gave me more confidence in ordering with them as I could set my CMYK colour codes on my computer as the same as the sample cards and I could trust that the colours would look how I wanted once printed. This is always a worry of mine when getting anything printed as the colours you see on the computer can look totally different when printed.

Printed give you the option to use your own design or use one of their deign templates which is perfect for people who haven't been able to design their own logos or branding just yet. They have tons and tons of great designs and variations for different style businesses. I had made my own card design and logo so all I had to do was fit my design to one of their business card format templates which you can download free to ensure your card design fits and wont be cut off when they trim your cards. 

There's some formatting to figure out including the bleed areas etc but its pretty straight forward and once you've done it once its so easy.  I had a little trouble with my formatting but the team at printed where so helpful and supported me 100% to achieve the best format and spacing for trimming. They have a live chat help so if your stuck with anything you can quickly chat to the team and they will assist you so there's no stress involved in ordering your cards. 

I ordered 50 of the LUX 810gsm Double sided Business cards with square corners and with a fascia pink core colour. I also had them finished with a Velvet lamination which feels amazing! 

From the moment people have held this card in their hands you can tell they are impressed with the quality. I've even had gasps of 'ohhhhs' and 'awwwws' from a customer recently who asked where I had my cards made. Which is always a plus when people notice the quality of your business cards. The LUX cards I think give an incredible first impression of any business and I highly recommend them. They are a little more expensive than the others in the range but your getting exactly what you pay for with these. Real Luxury which is worth the extra cost if it brings in more orders. 

I also ordered 50 of the Double Sided Conqueror gold business cards which are 350gsm in weight and again with square corners as opposed to the rounded corners option. I went for the standard size of 85mm x 55mm business cards and used the same design as on my LUX cards. These have a beautiful gold sheen to them which catches light perfectly and looks super pretty. These are a lot thinner than the LUX cards but still feel great as they are a nice thickness comparable to most regular business cards, the LUX cards are just special. 

And lastly I also ordered 50 of the Folded Landscape Double sided 150mm x 55mm business cards on Silk 400gsm paper with velvet lamination again on both sides. The Folded business cards are new to Printed and are such a great idea for businesses who would like to showcase what they have on offer as well as use the card for contact details. You can also use a side for loyalty stamps which your customers can use for rewards and offers. 

I chose to use my previous design on the inside of the cards and for the outside I designed a mini portfolio style strip of images so that potential customers can see my previous work and what I have on offer on my website.

If I'm being totally honest (as i always am), I wouldn't have ordered the folded as I wouldn't have seen a need for them but as Printed.com had asked me to review their folded cards especially, I'm glad they did as I love the folded cards much more than I expected too. 

Printed.com offer such an immaculate service at such a low cost. The prices are cheap but their products do not feel cheap at all. Also the higher quantity of cards that you purchase reduces the overall unit cost per card, so your better off ordering a few hundred at once. For example 50 of the folded business cards with lamination on both sides would be £15.90 inc VAT so that works out at 32p per card which is awesome. BUT if you where to order 250 cards you'd be paying £55.87 / 22p per card. 

They even offer a Printed Promise, therefore if your not 100% happy with your order once it arrives, let them know and they will reprint for you or offer a full refund. There where a few sizing issues with my folded business cards but Printed where sure to send me another 100 of the cards as part of the printed promise. 

I cant express to you enough how pleased myself and my customers have been with the quality of my business cards. Personally the whole design, order and delivery service from Printed.com was a really positive experience and I highly recommend them. From start up businesses needing help to order their cards to the business card expert, I honestly think Printed.com are the company you need to print with. 

What do you think of my cards? Will you be ordering from Printed.com?

I will be reviewing the different patterns I received over the next few weeks so if you love nail art keep an eye out for these posts. This week I decided to give the emoji nails a whirl. I painted my nails with a white shellac gel polish and then once I'd cured the gel and before my gel top coat was applied, I started to decorate my nails with the emojis decals.

I chose emojis that related to a few specific fingers, for example I chose the love eyes emoji for the ring finger and the angry emoji for my middle finger because flipping the bird with an angry emoji nail just cracks me up! 

Nicole Diary are fantastic,  their customer service and quality of their Decals is so good! They are an international brand so the delivery speed is a lot slower than other sellers in the UK but the wait is well worth it for the quality and price.  

Check out Nicole Diary here0 for more nail art products!  

*This post contains PR samples to review. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

I love gel nail polishes so when my friend ordered a polish from BlueSky gel nail polish I as intrigued as I hadn't heard of that brand previously. The polish my friend had was the temperature colour changing gel nail polish which unless I'm super late to the party, I totally haven't seen a polish like this before!

What BlueSky say about their Double Denim collection - 

Diana from BlueSky was so very kind and made me a discount code and graphic to share with my lovely readers & followers!

This code is applicable until the 31st August and entitles you to 10% off your first order on www.blueskygelnailpolish.co.uk . Enter SOPHIE10 at checkout to redeem your 10% off!

Have you tried any of the BlueSky gel nail polishes by shellac nails? Let me know in the comments which shade is your favourite from the double denim collection?

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know how much I love scented candles or wax melts so it won't come as a surprise when I rave about these new Scented Candle Heaven wax pots. Lynne from SCH was so kind and sent me a huge collection of my favourite fresh/fruity summery scents which I have had the pleasure of melting over the past week. 

The melts are all para-soy wax which makes the scent throw incredible compared to ordinary wax melts in my opinion. They fill my house let alone a room and everyone comments on how gorgeous my house smells when I'm melting these in my wax burner. I can't tell how long the scents last as I cut my melts into 4 quarters but I haven't had to dispose of any wax yet! Once they have melted, the wax disks I always reuse so they are so long lasting! 

I love them all as they all smell so gorgeous and perfect for summer but id have to say my top 10 ultimate favourites are in no particular order -

Doodlebug

Apple mallow

Summer Berries 

Kumquat

Mango Sorbet

Iced Pineapple 

Amazing Baby

Serendipity 

Juicy

Raspberry Lemonade 

I could try and describe all the scents and explain exactly why these melts are my favourite but ill leave that for my YouTube favourites video coming very soon to my channel!

As you can see Scotties favourite was Apple Cotton Candy hehe.

I can't wait to melt more if these SCH pots and really test out the longevity of the scent so I'll make sure I update you soon either on YouTube or in a post. 

Have you tried any melts from Scented Candle Heaven?? Let me know in the comments id love to know which scents are your favourite! 

*This post contains PR samples sent for review. Opinions are 100% honest and my own. None of the links on my blog are affiliate links.Genuine Reviewer. 

Fashion illustrating is one of my many passions! I started posting my fashion illustrations on my instagram page @sj_illustrations back in 2014 and I've had such an overwhelming response to them and huge support on my page with over 3300 followers. It's unreal to me that people like, comment and request my Illustrations so I thank you all for supporting me! Ive been asked by a few brands and celebs if I could illustrate for them , So I've decided to start selling custom Fashion illustrations. If you are interested in purchasing one of my fashion illustrations feel free to contact me via my email or Instagram page! 

I was recently asked to if I wanted to be a featured artist for the website Cowling & Wilcox which of course I accepted and I loved answering all their questions, so feel free to check out my feature here. You can find out my main inspiration for illustrating and also some handy tips and tricks that may help any aspiring fashion illustrators! 

My Illustrations often get liked and reposted by celebs or people in the public eye like the gorgeous Zoella, Jodie Marsh, Ferne McCann and many more! I also run giveaways so that my followers can enter for the chance to win a personalised fashion Illustration. My latest competition winners where Mollie from ModernMollie.com and Lauren. Mollie asked if I could combine two pictures shown below. The short hair and pose taken from the first image and the outfit from the second. I loved creating this illustration as it pushes me to mix photographs and I'm really pleased with the final Illustration .