PrettyPopUp event - Cape Town

PrettyPopUp event - Cape Town

A few weeks ago I held my first ever pop up event in Cape Town as a meet and greet to celebrate the pre-launch of my the CGScreative. 

Although I am based near Pietermaritzburg, I have a lot of readers in Cape Town whom I was very excited to meet up with in person. 

These #PrettyPopUp events are a way of sharing more of the CGScreative brand with people, and are a wonderful way to connect in person, while building relationships & connections outside of the online world.

Read More

Things to do in Cape Town - visit Babylonstoren for the day

Things to do in Cape Town - visit Babylonstoren for the day

Farmboy and I just got back from a whirlwind road trip around South Africa, starting in Johannesburg and making our way up close to the Botswana border, right down to Cape Town and finally ending up on the farm in Natal. We drove over 7 500 km (that's about 4500 miles for my American friends).  We visited 15 towns/cities and stayed in 10 of them during our 6 week trip.

One of the highlights of this trip was our visit the Babylonstoren, a place I had seen mentioned by my favourite bloggers since it opened its doors in 2012. 

Read More

Free Stock Photos to help you beautify your brand - Welcome to the CGScreative Resource Library

Free Stock Photos to help you beautify your brand - Welcome to the CGScreative Resource Library

What do you do if you just can't seem to figure out your camera? What happens when you spend hours and hours snapping photos on your phone for your latest blog post, but all the photos you've taken leave you feeling frustrated?

This is where I step in my friend!

You see, I understand that we can't do #ALLTHETHINGS when it comes to our blogs, and so, I created the CGScreative resource library.

I created the library to help creatives, just like you. When I first started blogging, there was nothing like this available to me, and because we all have to start somewhere, I have made this pretty online space, absolutely free.

Read More

Welcome to the new CityGirlSearching - A blog by CGScreative

Welcome to the new CityGirlSearching - A blog by CGScreative

Hello friends!

You might have noticed a few changes around here lately, and I'm so excited to share more about them with you now.

If this is your first visit here, welcome! I'm Roxy and I'm the blogger and photographer behind CGScreative the business, and CityGirlSearching the blog.

Confused?

Let me explain.

Read More

The Holloway Shop - Floral Designs, Beautiful Bouquets and Foraging for flowers in Cape Town

The Holloway Shop - Floral Designs, Beautiful Bouquets and Foraging for flowers in Cape Town

I met Storm in Korea in 2013 while we were both teaching English in small towns not far from one another. We instantly became friends, not just because we are both South African (South Africans abroad tend to unintentionally seek each other out and end up forming these strange South African friendships circles, no matter how many other different nationalities we spend time with) and this was exactly what happened with us.

We worked on so many wonderful styled shoots together, with her as florist and stylist, and me as photographer (click here to see some of them) and I was very sad when she left Korea at the end of her contract. Now that we are all back in the same country again, the floral photograph can continue! Storm has started her own business (The Holloway Shop) creating and selling custom floral arrangements in Cape Town.

Of course, I couldn't wait to follow her around with my camera and capture all the beautiful things she does.

Read More

Why you need to build an email list: Email Marketing for Beginners

Why you need to build an email list: Email Marketing for Beginners

If you've been blogging for some time and especially if you've been looking into how you can make money from blogging, I'm sure you will have come across the term 'email list'. I'm sure you have heard loads of other bloggers and business owners talking about 'list building' and how 'the money is in the list' but perhaps you've been wondering not just why on earth you need a list for your blog but also what on earth you'd be sending those people. Can't your readers just follow you through Bloglovin' or Feedburner? Why do you need to invest your time into another form of marketing?

If you're anything like me, you've been pondering those questions. It's time to stop wondering and start doing & so today I'm going to tell why you definitely DO need an email list for your blog or business, plus I'm going to show you how you can start building yours today.

Read More

THE #CGSCREATIVE August PHOTO CHALLENGE - AN EASY & FUN WAY TO GROW YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

THE #CGSCREATIVE August PHOTO CHALLENGE - AN EASY & FUN WAY TO GROW YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

There is no time like the present to grow your Instagram following, and I'm going to make it really easy for you! 

Introducing the CGScreative 30 Day Instagram Photo Challenge

This is the third challenge I have hosted over on Instagram, and I am delighted to invite you to join in the challenge for the month of August.

If you're wanting to learn tips on how to build a more cohesive feed, connect with like minded people and ultimately grow your Instagram following and influence, then you are definitely in the right place!

Read More

What is Brand Photography and why you need it to grow your business

What is Brand Photography and why you need it to grow your business

Brand Photography: What is it and why do you need it to grow your business?

As a blogger and photographer I am so excited to create this post for you and to explain how powerful brand photography is for your business. When I first started my own blogging journey over 6 years ago, I was grabbing random images from Google and sites like WeHeartIt and just throwing together blog graphics without paying much attention to my brand image. Since picking up my first fancy camera 4 years ago, I have seen first hand how much beautiful & purposeful images can really propel your brand and give it an edge that sets it apart from every body else. This is what I want for you, fellow creative! I want to show you how custom brand photography can really help you to grow your business.

Read More

Creighton Aloe Festival Steam Train

Creighton Aloe Festival Steam Train

We have officially been back in South Africa for 3 weeks! In case you're new around here, my husband (Farmboy) and I were living in South Korea for the past 3 years where we were teaching English. It was a wonderful 3 years, but we are very happy to be back home.  My husbands parents are dairy farmers in a small town called Creighton, about 2 hours inland from Pietermaritzburg and we have been here visiting them for the past week. It's been wonderful seeing family after such a long time of being away, and we plan to spend the rest of the year between the farm and my family in Joburg, until we decide where we want to settle.

Hopefully we will have figured that out by January!

Creighton Aloe Festival

We just missed the Creighton Aloe Festival which takes place once year here in Creighton. The aloes are absolutely beautiful, and this year there were four hot air balloons offering views of the gorgeous countryside.

Read More

28 Day #ChangeYourSkin Challenge with Kiehls & BeautyBulletin ~ First Impressions

28 Day #ChangeYourSkin Challenge with Kiehls & BeautyBulletin ~ First Impressions

I am so excited to share this post with you all today as I have been selected to be part of the Kiehls & BeautyBulletin #ChangeYourSkin campaign. I am joining a small group of bloggers and influencers for the next 28 days & we will all be sharing our thoughts on the following 5 Kiehls products: 

  • Midnight Recovery Concentrate
  • Powerful Strength Line Reducing Concentrate
  • Clearly CorrectiveTM Dark Spot Solution
  • Ultra Facial Cream (R355):
  • Ultra facial Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado
Read More

Innisfree Cafe Seoul, South Korea

Innisfree Cafe Seoul, South Korea

If you've been following this blog for any time at all, I'm sure you'll know have come across a post or two sharing my love for the Innisfree brand.

Innisfree is known as the first, original South Korean all-natural brand, and is one of the few Korean brands that use organic ingredients certified by France's ECOCERT organisation. All of it's packaging is recyclable, and the ingredients in it's products are natural and not filled with a million and one chemicals.

What I love most about Innisfree is the fact that their products are reasonably priced, and they WORK! There are so many amazing Korean skincare and makeup brands, but a lot of them look a lot better than they work. Korean packaging is incredibly cute and will have you buying all sorts of products just because they will look pretty on your dresser. 

You can imagine my delight when I found out that Innisfree has it's own cafe! There are two locations, one on Jeju Island (the home of Innisfree) and on in Seoul.

During the last weekend we spent in Korea (in case you're new around here, my husband and I spent 3 years living in South Korea and have only just returned home to South Africa) I was able to pop into the cafe and experience the beauty of Innisfreein it's 'cafe' form.

Read More

Goodbye Korea!

Farmboy and citygirl leave Korea south africans in South korea

I can't quite believe that Farmboy and I have been here in our little town in Korea for 3 years and that it is time for us to say goodbye. We have had a wonderful time living and teaching English in South Korea and have had so many adventures over the years (the biggest one was definitely rescuing a little black and brown ball of fluff who has grown into a most handsome wolf).

As we wrap up our final days (as of writing this we have 2 more days in Korea and will land in South Africa on Monday, 27th June) I wanted to leave you with a few of my previous posts to keep you entertained until I am back here on the blog.

We have had some complications with getting our dog, Shadow back home, and currently he is waiting to be allowed to board his flight back to South Africa. We aren't sure when that will be but have been told it could be on Monday (fingers crossed!). South Africa has really strict pet import policies, so not only does it cost $1000's (and yes, I literally mean thousands of US$) but animals are not allowed to fly with you on the plane but must fly as manifest cargo. So please keep little Shadow in your thoughts for the next few days as he waits to find out when he can fly. I am a bit of a wreck right now as he has to stay at a boarding kennel until his flight and I can't see him. We also have to pack up three years worth of stuff, fit it into two little suitcases and say goodbye to the town that has become out home. There have, and I'm sure will be, more than a few tears shed as we say our goodbyes.

So in the mean time, here's a bit more 'light reading' for you for the next little while.

See you soon,

x

Skinfood Buckwheat Loose Powder & Rice Shimmer Powder - Review

Skinfood Buckwheat Loose Powder & Rice Shimmer Powder - Review

It's been a very long time since I bought anything from Skinfood. I think the last purchase I made was a repurchase of their signature Black Sugar Serum (and that was back in 2014!). South Korea is well known for their cutesy packaging and beautifully designed products, and more importantly, for how effective their products are. It takes just a moment of looking around at the women here to be able to see how beautifully cared for their skin is. A large reason their skin looks the way it does is because of protecting their faces (and every other body part) form the sun, but they also spend a lot of time and effort on their beauty routines (do you remember my post on the 10 Step Korean Skincare routine?).

There are so many Korean skincare and beauty brands, and each of them is associated with something unique. Etude House is know for it's very cutesy and girly packaging, Missha is seen as a higher end brand, Tony Moly is what all the school girls favor and Innsifree is seen as the Eco-friendly flagship brand. I always saw Skinfood as one of the cheaper brands, more so when it came to quality than actual price. Most of the products from Etude, Tony Moly and Skinfood are actually priced very similarly but from the look of their packaging, I wasn't really blown away.

Read More

The Best Places to eat in Korea: Burger Bridge, Gwangju, South Korea

The Best Places to eat in Korea: Burger Bridge, Gwangju, South Korea

After a second visit to this delightful burger place in Gwangju, I am 100% convinced that this will be one of the best you'll eat while in Korea. I'm talking real, homemade, grilled patties with plenty of extra toppings that will leave you with a very full stomach and a happy heart.

Burger Bridge is a small restaurant located on the other end of downtown Gwangju, near Mudeung Mountain 무등산. It's in the Chosun University area, a place filed with the trendiest cafes, bars and restaurants. It's quite nearby to Florida Cafe and Hertz Guesthouse (one of our favorite dog-friendly places to stay).

The best part about this place (apart from how good their burgers are and what good value for money they are) is their opening times! Most restaurants open closer to midday in Gwangju, which is a real pain if you wake up early like us. Burger Bridge is open from 10 am! The restaurant itself is small, but oh-so-charming, and the guys who run it are super friendly. You can tell they are proud of their burger joint!

Read More

How to make Stock Photos work for your Brand + Beautiful Free Stock Photos for You!

How to make Stock Photos work for your Brand + Beautiful Free Stock Photos for You!

You've downloaded every free stock image you can find, but you're still stuck with website & blog graphics you're not happy with.

You're tired of seeing the same stock images used in the same ways, everywhere you look.

You feel like the images out there don't fit your niche.

If you answered yes to any of the above, I hear you! I remember when I first started blogging (okay, to be honest it was way back when in the times before Pinterest and all the pretty that followed) and so my options for photographs to use on my blog were very limited. I basically had to either take my own photographs, or continue to use other peoples work (giving them credit of course). 

I wasn't a big fan of using other people's photos, because the photos I was using weren't being meant for stock photo use. I was simply 'borrowing' their photography skills by using their photos, and I wanted to become completely self sufficient and do everything myself. I am so glad that I was stubborn back then, because if I hadn't started taking my own blog photos, I wouldn't be where I am today, about to launch a whole business dedicated to creating visuals for small business owners and creatives!

Read More

Our final few weeks in South Korea - A Daily Vlog by Farmboy

Our final few weeks in South Korea - A Daily Vlog by tincabin

Today is the 6th of June, and in T-minus 20 days we will be boarding a flight that will take us back home to South Africa.

Farmboy and I have been living in Buan, a teeny tiny countryside town in South Korea for the past 3 years. We are about to wrap up our final teaching contract and head back home to sunny South Africa,

It's been an incredible adventure filled with all sorts of challenges and excitement (the biggest being the rescue of our Korean street pup, Shadow):

Over the past 3 years we have traveled to Bali, Vietnam, Malaysia, Borneo & India all while working a full time job teaching English. I've written travel guides to these countries as well as posts filled with photographs of each place. Click the images below to read and see more:

We have also spent many a weekend camping, something I never thought I would enjoy before I met Farmboy. You see, I really am a city girl, but somehow the inconvenience of toilets or showers pales in comparison to the beauty of the places we have camped in.

It's been so worth the few moments of being uncomfortable. Click the images below to read and see more about camping in Korea:

As we get ready to pack up our lives here (and as I attempt to take back every single item of Korean stationery and beauty products!), Farmboy has taken on the challenge of a daily vlog.

These videos are a really fun glimpse into our lives here in Korea, and they also take you behind the scenes of what life is really like here in Asia.

I hope you'll join us over on Youtube and that you like and subscribe if you enjoy the videos. Farmboy will be documenting these final few weeks as well as the whole process of taking Shadow home (dealing with the steps and processes of taking a dog from Korea to South Africa) and of course us fetching him on the other side after his stay in quarantine. 

Here is one of the vlogs from our weekend in Seoul, enjoy!

The #CGScreative June Photo Challenge - An Easy & Fun way to grow your Instagram Account

The #CGScreative June Photo Challenge - An Easy & Fun way to grow your Instagram Account

Hi friend!

Today I'm so excited to tell you all about the latest CGScreative Photo Challenge that is happening over on Instagram for the month of June. You may remember the first photo challenge I did in April this year (which was a huge success with over 1200 submissions from people all over the world!). I received so many emails from the CGScreative community asking me if there would be another one, and so I am delighted to give a big resounding YES to that question! 

First, a little bit more on the purpose of this challenge: 

Instagram is all about ENGAGEMENT, it always has been and always will be. A lot of people have gotten rather upset about the algorithm changes that have been slowly rolling out since April, but I want to tell you it's not all bad news! 

Instagram now aims to show us the content it thinks we like, based on our previous actions (ie. our likes and comments). This means that it is now more important than ever to be liking and commenting on those accounts that you really love and want to follow, rather than engaging with accounts that you hope will follow you if you spam their feed enough

With the above in mind, I started the CGScreative Photo Challenge in April, and have brought it back again for June. The challenge is a fun way for us all to engage with one another in a genuine way, while helping each other get seen by more people. Doing this grows your own audience and following as well as everyone else's...it's basically a win-win situation!

Read More

My Favourite Tools for Blogging - Awesome Programs, hosting, apps and software to help grow your blog

My  Favourite Tools for Blogging - Awesome Programs, hosting, apps and software to help grow your blog

I'm coming up to my 6th year of blogging (what?!) and so I can safely say I know a thing or two about tools that help you blog better. Most of what we need to know about growing our blogs can be found on Pineterest, right? This is all very well, and I don't know about you but whenever I head to Pinterest to search for blogging resources I get sucked into images of beautiful quotes, cute puppies and ways to save space in my home (tell me I'm not the only one?). 

So I thought I'd create this post for you, with a list of all the resources and tools I use when blogging. I've also created a useful printable cheatsheet of all these resources for you to print out to help you in your blogging journey. You can get your paws on this checklist in my *FREE* Resource Library (which is filled with stock photos and loads of other blog & biz resources) and which you can join below.

Read More

Teapot Cafe in Jangseong (Jeongeup Countryside), South Korea - En Rogel Teapot Café

Teapot Cafe in Jangseong (Jeongeup Countryside), South Korea -  En Rogel Teapot Café

I have been wanting to visit the Enrogel Teapot Cafe ever since reading about it on Seoul State of Mind. When my friend Sam from There She Goes Again (you might recognise Sam as the stylist behind a lot of my styled photo shoots) recently took a trip there and I saw her photographs, I knew I had to make a plan to get there. Most of the weird and wonderful places to see in Korea are in Seoul. As I live way down south in a tiny little town called Buan, getting to Seoul is only really possible on the weekends.

I was delighted to find out that the teapot cafe is a mere 40 minute drive from Buan, and so I was able to go visit it one afternoon afternoon after school.

The cafe itself is actually just outside Jeongeup, which makes getting there quite easy as you can catch a train to Jeongeup and then from there a local bus. I am not sure of the exact route to take via public transport as I have a car (having a car in Korea is a real game changer especially if you have a dog here like we do).

The cafe is located in just outside Jangseon village , which is between Jeongeup & Gwangju and is actually quite near the famous Baekyangsa Temple in Naejangsan National Park. Naejangsan is particularly famous for its display of Autumn leaves, and Baekyangsa temple is a very special place to visit during Autumn.

We visited the teapot cafe at the end of Spring, and must have just missed the cherry blossoms. We were able to catch a glimpse of the end of the blossoms, but from the little we could still see of the blossoms, it must have been magnificent during full bloom. The drive itself from Buan to Jangseon is beautiful, and well worth an afternoon drive if you have a car.

Read More

Beautiful Free stock photos for bloggers and business owners

Beautiful Free stock photos for bloggers and business owners

When I first started blogging back in 2010 (6 years ago...eeek!) I used to shamelessly copy and paste images from We Heart It, which was kind of the OG of the visual world before Pinterest came along. I had no idea about copy-write (in fact, I couldn't even really spell that word properly) never mind understand the legal ramifications of using someone else's work without giving them full credit.

It wasn't until 2012 when I came across an article from a blogger who had been sued for a HUGE amount of money after using someones photograph on her blog. The blogger had actually given the photographer credit in her blog post, but she hadn't asked him for permission to re-post his image and so she ended up going to court and was found guilty of intellectual property theft! Can you imagine being charged with a criminal offense for using an image on your blog? Madness!

I was terrified after reading that blog post and promptly set out to learn how to take my own photographs so as not to have to worry about image copy-right ever again! I ended up falling in love with photography, and have since gone onto to freelance and now go under the title 'professional photographer'. I understand that not everyone has the time, or the desire, to pursue photography full time, especially if their interests lie somewhere else, in writing for example or making or drawing or painting. This is where stock photographs come in and this is where I wave a little (pink) flag that says I've got you covered and have FREE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHS JUST FOR YOU!

Read More