Bank Holiday Shopping, Cocktails and a Catch-Up!

Hello! Did you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend? I had a great time! Particularly on Saturday when I was having a much needed catch up and shopping spree with a couple of my school friends!

I’ve known Becky since primary school, and we met Catherine when we were in the same form at high school. We saw each other on and off throughout University but the three of us haven’t all got together for almost 5 years! Me and Becky now work in central Leeds, so Catherine made the trip over to West Yorkshire for us to all get together for some retail therapy and cocktails! We had lots of fun with lots of gossip and some good food…we were all shattered by the end of it…we need some more practice I think!

And here is a sneak peek at my shopping:

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Handmade Mother’s Day Presents

I know that Mother’s Day is still a while away (15th March here in the UK) but this year I have decided that I want to make as many gifts as possible, so I made a head start on Mother’s Day back in January! I decided to use Mother’s Day this year as an excuse to try out some new crafts, and the first one that I have been wanting to try for ages was soap making!

Ever since I saw some handmade soaps in one of my craft books I have been meaning to give it a go, and James gave me the perfect chance to try it when it bought me a Kirsty Allsopp soap making kit for Christmas. As soon as we were into the new year and had a free weekend I got out the box, eager to give it a try. The box made a large block of lavender and lemongrass soap, which we were able to cut into 8 bars.

Making the soap was fun but in the future I may use a pre-made soap base, rather than the chemicals for ease. I know it is cheating but our dining-room table and my skin would probably thank me! It is definitely a craft that I want to explore some more though! I picked out some lovely purple handmade tissue paper to wrap the soaps, tying it with a piece of string. I’m really pleased with how they turned out and I’m sure my Mum will be too! Plus I have plenty of bars to give away for other occasions such as birthdays that we have coming up.

Book Review: DK Handmade Gifts

Author: Dorling Kindersley.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Crafts.
Published: August 2013.
Pages: 251.

Way back in December, people asked me to review the books that I got for Christmas 2013. I managed to review Crochet Boutique, but I never got any further! So I’m going to try and get back on track with my weekly book reviews, for the Christmas books that I have neglected.

In the past, I have never really paid much attention to DK craft books, but after discovering this one, I think I have been missing out! The minute that you open the book, you are introduced to its beauty!

 

This book is laid out really beautifully, and it is really accessible. Following the introduction, the projects in the book are divided into seven sections; For The Home; Jewellery; Bags and Accessories; Pampering Gifts; For Pet Lovers; Edible Gifts; and Gift Wrap. There are then also sections on templates, tips and an index followed by a page dedicated to the authors and designers of all of the projects.

Craft Bargains in the January Sales

Ok, so, I may have fallen into the trap of being lured in by the promise of dramatic reductions in the January sales…aren’t we all? However, I did only mostly pick up essentials or things that are going to help me ‘craft with my stash’ as I aspire to do as part of my 23 before 23. I have managed to pick up some faantastic bargains, so lets start with my Hobbycraft haul!

Shortly after Christmas, it came to my attention that the Hobbycraft website had a great offer on Tattered Lace dies. Since I had just received a die cutter for Christmas, and I love the Tattered Lace range, I felt obliged to check it out! The deal was, if you spent over £20 on Tattered Lace Dies, you got a pack of mini dies for free. After scouring the range, I found some that I had had my eyes on for a while; a pair of owls and a reindeer snowglobe. Since it was after Christmas, the Christmas die was reduced to £10, so both of the dies came to £25, meaning that I was entitled to the free pack. However, they also had an offer, where you received a 15% off voucher if you signed up to their ‘Hobbycraft Club.’ I did this and immediately received the coupon code to my email address, saving me even more money! Here is what I spent in the end:

 

I also did some shopping in my local Hobbycraft store, as I had received another voucher in their Christmas catalogue, for 15% off in January. So on New Year’s Day I was working my way through the aisles to pick up some more bargains! Again, I was drawn to the die cutting section. Since my machine is new, I only have a limited range of dies to use with is, and because they are so expensive, I wanted to make the most of the while I have the discount coupon. As you all know, I am an owl lover, so I had had my eye on this other owl one, since I saw a demo of it being used for some appliqué cushions. The Brenda Walton medallions caught my eye and eventually won me over. I’m so glad that they did, because I think they will look great for wrapping handmade presents! I will do a demo in another post 🙂 These are the two that I bought:

And We’re Back! (Florida Haul)

Wow, how long has it been since my last post! Apologies for the delay, I was ill before I went on holiday, the I spend two weeks in Florida, then I came back with a cold! Since then I have been doing a lot of overtime at work and I haven’t had chance to write up this post! To add to the complications, my laptop has been shipped off for repair so I can’t even share any of my holiday snaps with you! So for now I will just share my shopping with you instead!

I will split the shopping into sections; souvenirs; clothes; beauty and crafts, so hopefully that will cover something for everyone!

Souvenirs:

Since my last trip to Florida in 2006, I have been collecting pins. My primary collection is of Hard Rock Cafe pins, but I collected plenty on this trip to boost my holiday ones too. I picked up one for each of my two favourite rides (the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean), the Pirates of the Caribbean one opens up to reveal a skeleton. I got a penguin from Seaworld because James’ love of penguins has rubbed off on me and how can you resist those eyes??? I also got some cute mini Marvel characters and a Perry the Platypus pin…who was my character obsession this visit!

In keeping with every holiday (or every holiday destination that has a Hard Rock Cafe anyway…) I bought myself a Hard Rock Cafe pin and this time I also got a patch to sew onto my blanket.

Weekly Post Round-Up #7

He is my weekly post round up for this week…just a short one unfortunately!

 

Weekly Post Round-Up #6

Here is another vlog weekly post round-up…I hope you like it!

Weekly Post Round-Up #5

Hello!

Sorry this is coming a little late, I wanted to get it uploaded yesterday but I have decided to do something a little bit different this week and I didn’t have time to get it finished until just now!

I have recorded my very first vlog! It was pretty scary but I wanted to try something new so I’d love to hear your thoughts on it! Fell free to give me some feedback or tips in the comments and if you like the video you can hop over to Youtube and subscribe to shiny new channel! I’m hoping to do about two videos a week so let me know if you’re for it or against it!

Here are the photos of the items that you might not have been able to see in the video very clearly:

22 Before 22: 6 Month Review

It is exactly 6 months since/to my birthday! But that means that it is also 6 months since I started my 22 before 22 and only 6 months left for me to complete it!

I thought I would review it to see what progress I have made!

My 22 before 22:

1. Buy a lottery ticket done!

A New Me for 2013

I’m not a huge believer in new years resolutions as I try to ‘be the best I can’ and make changes to be a better person throughout the year and I don’t like using new year as an excuse to do that but this year I have felt motivated to make some changes that I didn’t expect I was going to. More excitingly, most of the motivation has come from fellow bloggers!

Fitness:

The first change I made (and the one I expect most people have made in January) is my fitness routine. Last year I had to give up dance class because of university commitments, but that also meant cutting out my regular exercise routine. I love exercise but at the moment I can’t afford/fit in long gym sessions four times a week like I used to. However, I have come up with a solution!