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Showing posts from 2015

iFlowerGift.com Review

I love flowers, and making outdoor spaces nice and colourful, but we are renting at the moment and there's not much in the garden, and we won't be here much longer - that said it was still boring having no flowers around so I was happy to get the chance to review iFlowergift.com. This is a new start-up that offers a select range of different flowers such as roses or gerberas, with prices roughly around the £19-£30 mark. Depending on which option you choose, you can add extra stems to your order, choose different colour combinations, and order personalised ribbon to go with the order. I was given the opportunity to order some flowers up to the value of £26, and asked to give feedback on the service and the website. Here's how the experience went: The Website - My main feedback on the website is the colour scheme and the way it's organised. I found pale menu options against a pale background. The text only turned green when I hovered over it so it was quite hard t

Crafting With Baker Ross Wreath Rings

I have never made a wreath before - that's my Christmas confession. Mum used to do some flowering arranging and made centrepieces and even had a wreath ring and faux flowers etc, but I never joined in. To be honest I was a little bit intimidated by the wreath rings and how on earth I'd create something decent. Copyright - These City Days/ Pawprints and Petals 2015 One of the things I enjoy about Baker Ross is their range of basics, and when I've received them I haven't felt quite so weary of trying something new. In a recent box of goodies to experiment with I had a pack of cardboard wreath rings which retail at £2.50 for a pack of 10 (that's just 25p each). Each wreath has a ready punched hole with some string for hanging, and although they were not quite as thick as I was expecting, they can be doubled - up (which also covers any paint residue or attachments). The ones I have made have also held up well to anything I've attached and stuck on them. E

Fenjal Bath And Beauty Products Review

Fenjal is a brand I've seen in the shops quite a lot, but it's never really jumped out of the shelf at me, and so I've never picked it up. I'm not massively brand loyal when it comes to bath and body products, although I have some favourites - I guess the packaging didn't really say anything to me and suggested a herbal product which I'm not a big fan of. Perceptions can be wrong though, so I was happy when the opportunity landed for me to try out several products from the Fenjal Classic range. I received - - Fenjal Classic Hand Crème (RRP £4.25) A standard pocket size so great for taking out, and I do treat my hands more in cold weather. Non greasy, and I didn't need much each time so will last a while. Testing going well so far. This product is a blend of antioxidant rich Swiss rose stem cells and vitamin C. I'm probably quite bad in that I just use body lotion/butter for most things, so probably wouldn't use this often enough. - Fenjal

The Up's And Downs Of Moving Home

Last year we had an absolutely grim winter of bugs and illness, to the point it got pretty frustrating, ridiculous, and killed off a lot of xmas spirit - this year we've done well on the avoidance front so far (touch wood), but we have had something bigger to contend with - moving home..! To me a house isn't just a pile of bricks, it's a home, so leaving our 'forever home' after 29 years was always going to be a wrench. I loved our house, road, and area - which is pretty unique and not too crowded as it was in a conservation area - it was also private, un-overlooked, and one of the big pluses - it was convenient for pretty much everything - I had the option of walking or cycling to town, supermarkets, retail parks, the local shop etc. really easily - which meant I could easily fit in shopping trips between work, and had a easy, safe route home at night. So yep I didn't want to leave - of course being settled and loving where I was, was a big part of i

How To - Make A Woodland Christmas Scene In A Shell

Craft, lovely craft - I thought I was all made out after sending a big box full of stuff to a great Christmas craft shop I am selling in, but I had a fresh burst of inspiration this week, thanks to a delivery from Baker Ross. Time to blog again as they very kindly sent me some items from their naturals collection to try out. When I first opened the box I wasn't quite sure what to make of it - I was expecting autumn stickers, maybe something seasonal to craft for Halloween or fireworks night - my box had 2 bags of decorative stones, a bag of twigs, wicker balls, craft wreath rings, pine cones, and large shells. Couldn't see how these were going to come together to make some projects, but the shells looked ideal for a base for something so I started with that, then thoughts turned to Christmas, and eventually this was the result. Here's how I made my woodland scene. Copyright These City Days 2015 Materials: - Something to rest your pine cone in while painting - Pin

City Diversions Street Theatre Festival 2015 - Chelmsford

Street theatre is one of my favourite things, there's normally a lot going on, and watching people's reactions to the unexpected, surprising, and random is great entertainment. It's also fun to photograph, especially for a photography fan like me. I have however been to see our local City Diversions Street Theatre event a good few times now, so in so I know a little of what to expect, especially with the popular acts. So I went into town on the 19th September concentrating my efforts on finding something new and different and I think I found that this time round. Here's a few of the acts I watched this year. Dynamogene - The Cymbalobylette (France)   Dynamogene - The Cymbalobylette   This was like stepping back in time to an era where mad cap inventors would gather all they had to produce weird and wonderful machines. Very creative presentation and humour in the performance which demonstrated all the aspects of their weird and wonderful machine. Mu

New Blog Logo!!!!

I felt like a kid in a sweet shop this week, and it was a bit unexpected. I have the opportunity to link back to my blog on some of the articles I do for work, and I thought it would be nice to have a logo - I'd love to be more graphic and photoshop minded, but never seem to have enough time, so I took to Facebook. I wasn't expecting a reply but a lovely former school mate of mine offered to help and within a day I had a logo back. I am so pleased!! I wasn't sure quite what I wanted but this is perfect! Only thing I need to do now is work out how to get it on my blog - I am only used to free templates so that might be a task. Meantime here's my artwork, thanks to Clare Brasier. 

National Flower Show – Hylands House, Chelmsford - 17th -19th July 2015

The sun was shining; it was the weekend, and what better way to celebrate the great weather than with a visit to Hylands Park. A favourite place to relax all summer long, but the gardens had some competition in the blooms department this month, thanks to the National Flower Show which ran from 17 th -19 th July.   Over the weekend, Aztec Events (hosts of the Blenheim Palace Flower Show) offered visitors stalls selling flowers and shrubs of all shapes and sizes, along with gardening tools and accessories, leisure wear, and a wide range of gift and craft items ranging from locally produced fudge and sausages (including one very hot version offered as a sample) to jewellery. Essex Lowdown was there on the Saturday to see what this event, a first for the venue, was all about. On arrival at the venue many visitors were stopped short by a very realistic looking bronze statue sitting on a bench, and after listening to a few ‘is it real’ cries, made it inside, only to find more in

Super Easy Disney Make Using A Cupcake Case

Hi all, As part of my last Baker Ross blogger network package I received some lovely lengths of paper strips , which are ideal for card making, weaving, quilling and more. There's a good range of colours, some nice and bright, and others what I'd call dark pastel shades, so a good choice for Spring and summer makes. I decided to do something different and make a Disney badge, using some of the patterned paper strips (contrasting patterns on each side) and 2 mickey mouse cupcake cases. That is literally all you need apart from some scissors, glue, and a little bit of patience. Here's how to make yours. Instructions: Cut 12 strips of paper 5-6 cm long and fold in half. Put these to one side. Choose 2 cupcake cases. You can go for plain or patterned, but I went for one with a picture in the centre image. Lightly glue on the back of each cupcake cases, then fold in the outer edges, so end up with just the centre edge showing - in a rough circle/hexagon shape. Leave

Mini Primark Haul - April 2015

Love them or hate them, Primark is great when your freelancers purse strings are a bit tight and you feel like a treat. There are some things I probably wouldn't buy in there, but the store is great for basics, and PJ's - I am slightly addicted to Primark PJ's - love the fluffy Winter ones, and their Summer collection. So here's a haul post to share a few of the super cute things I bought, and a few bargains as well. Cardigan - £5 This was an impulse buy I found on a sale rack. I did need more in the way of cardigans and it's lovely and warm and comfortable, perfect for this weather when it can get a bit chilly. Hopefully it will hold out well in the wash and last a long time, really happy so far - it just attracts the bits if you're sitting on the grass in the sunshine. Trainer Socks - £2.50 Super cute Care Bear motif, a nice fit and good range of colours (purple, blue and pink). Impulse buy I had to have and I think good value for the quality and be

Inkly Postcard And Greeting Card App Review

Happy National Stationery Week everyone! Anyone who knows me will know I love stationery, mainly writing sets as I'm an avid pen pal and can't resist cute paper, but other things catch my eye as well. So I wanted to do a post to celebrate National Stationery Week, but what to write? Well I was offered the chance to review Inkly a smartphone app that allows you to create and send postcards or greetings cards to friends and family. Typically there is the opportunity to upload photo's to some ready made templates or add a photo inside the card, or with the postcard option there's different borders you can choose from with messages to suit different occasions such as holiday's or party invites, I think I spotted weddings in there as well. Card wise you can choose from him, her, children, different occasions, fine art, humour - most of the normal choices you'd expect from a store. There's also another element to this app which is being heavily promoted, and

Not On The High Street Storytime Sounds Competition

It was fairly recently National Story Telling Week, and to celebrate this, and all things book related (including their very own storytime sounds app) Not On The High Street ran a competition. To enter you had to tweet your idea for a story in 140 characters. The winner would get their idea written up into a story and published on the NOTHS blog, and get a £100 voucher to spend on the site. The best bit of all is - I WON!!!! Things haven't been the best lately for a variety of reasons so to have some luck and win such an awesome prize from a major shopping platform was pretty cool. My winning idea was for a story about an imaginative boy that was disillusioned with teaching and lessons at his dull and uninspiring school - and how he transformed lessons there. It's not quite the same as a writer having my own work published, but still really interested to see what the authors come up with when the story goes up online. Hopefully I'll be able to share that soon, in the mean

Reading List 2015

I love to read, I think as soon as I could I was reading away, and when I was younger I went through all the Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Sweet Valley High and Point Horror books I could get my hands on. I used to read for a good while before bed, and sometimes in the morning as well. More recently it's been on the back burner a bit because sometimes I'm just tired or can't concentrate on books, at least new ones. I have re-read some on my bookcase a good few times, which my family think is odd. Anyway sometimes life gets in the way, but with the better weather coming, everything should be much more relaxed and I'll hopefully have more chances to sit out in the garden or go out and get a drink with a book in tow. So I thought I'd blog the pile of books I have in my pile in an effort to kick start my motivation. Hopefully I will be in a space to relax and enjoy every single page. I might up-date with my progress and some reviews too, but in the meantime here is my pile

Chinese New Year Celebrations - Anglia Ruskin University - 28th February 2015

For some reason my Chinese astrology sign is one thing that always slips through my mind, but I have since found out I was a goat, and it's the year of the goat this year which must be a good thing right? To celebrate I headed down to Anglia Ruskin University to sample their Chinese New year celebrations. The university are definitely aiming to reach out to the local community more, and why not, it seems like a great idea to bring the community in and get the students and others involved in Chelmsford life, this event however did fall a little flat for me. Don't get me wrong I understand why they put it on at the same time as the University Open Day, but I think the layout and schedule of activities were not ideal. I was greeted as I walked in by a friendly student handing out programmes and fortune cookies, and pointed vaguely in the direction of the activities, but the main foyer seemed a bit over crowded, interesting banners illustrating other famous 'goats' were

Spring Tea Party Craft Ideas

Craft, craft, lovely craft. I'm not sure how, but I've managed to fit in some making recently, and for a change they all ended up as a themed collection. I was lucky enough to be gifted some Spring craft products from Baker Ross to blog about, and here's my first play around with them. I used - Spring themed activity pack - £6.99 - this had paper, card, ribbon and brads, an outline sticker sheet, pop-out baskets, and an activity sheet with project ideas. Loved the vibrancy of the colours on some of the paper and card selections, although I would've liked more variety with the patterned card. Overall though I thought it was a good to have a kit of basics and with some ideas to help get me started. I think there's lots of possibilities with a pack like this, and you do get some good quality card and paper for the money. I would've liked a few more little things, but I'd be more likely to buy a pack like this than one from a themed collection that might

The Brits Are Back - Play This Brits Bingo Game

Not too long now until Ant and Dec are our hosts for this year's Brit Awards, but hasn't it seemed a long wait since last year's event. I'll be honest I used to love watching the Brit Awards when I was younger and happily voted for my favourite bands and tuned in to see who had one. In the last few year's the presenting and live music hasn't really had the same buzz in my opinion, but I'm excited that Ant and Dec are presenting - these guys know how to put on a show! Anyway in my inbox this week I had details of a fun little bingo game that I thought I'd share with you all. If you're getting together with friends and family to watch this year's ceremony, why not give it a go and see who wins! Thanks to the folk at the Two Little Fleas office for sending this over. View Interactive Version (via Two Little Fleas ). For all things Brit Awards , check out the official website. Any thoughts on who is going to win, would love you all to share t

Comment - Eastenders Live Week - Who Killed Lucy

Well I didn't see that one coming, Kathy Beale alive and well and back on the square - nice one Eastenders, although even as a regular viewer I can't quite remember how her exit/supposed death played out, maybe time for another flashback. Anyway while that may have shocked many, all the hype was around the long awaited announcement of who killed Lucy Beale - at last. To be honest I'd almost forgotten it was due, but not in a bad, this storyline is being dragged out too long kind of way. I have been watching all week and I just want to say well played Eastenders. Normally with a big storyline I have a pretty firm idea of what's going on, or who has the big secret, and am normally complaining at it being dragged out or wondering when the characters will cotton on. Not so this time - although many people had Jane pegged as Lucy's killer, I wasn't at all sure, and the scenes with several of the other subjects were well played and kept me guessing. As the week

You Beauty Discovery Box - January 2014

Hello all, it's mighty cold outside so what better way to cheer up than with some nice post through the letterbox. Before now I've not been keen on signing up to beauty boxes, I'm not a fan of being tied down and having to pay out money every month sometimes for products I'm not that interested in. You Beauty Discovery is a little different - £6.95 a month gets you a box filled with 2 products you choose from their monthly shortlist, and some extra treats - often samples to try out. Postage and packaging is included in the price as well - the boxes are very useful to keep and store things in. Here's what I got in my January Box: I chose Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm - Already started using this and love the tingly peppermint and my lips are thanking me for the Vitamin E moisturising at the moment. One of those products I've never thought of buying before but I think it would be worth the money. My other choice was Afyna Detoxifying Body Scrub. I thi

Primula And Pesto Toasted Bites

The lovely people at Primula sent me a cute little cool bag late-ish last year with a selection of their cheeses in, but it's only recently we've had the chance to try them out, partly thanks to illness and bugs. Mum used the light cheese at Christmas on some olive oil crostini, and I've just tried a recipe from the Primula site which I thought I'd blog about. Ingredients Pesto (I chose green pesto with basil from Aldi) Crusty Baguette Primula Cheese Method This has to be one of the easiest snacks to make, with just 4 steps to something tasty. First cut your baguette to suit your hunger levels, either small circles, or longer cuts to make bigger slices. Then spread the pesto on each slice, you don't need to spread it too thick, but just to suit your taste. Next squeeze some Primula on top of the pesto (again to suit your tastes) and your ready to go. All you have to do then is place the slices under the grill and wait for them to bubble up like normal

Our Christmas Tree 2014

One of my absolute favourite things about Christmas is putting up the tree and decorations, and it has been since I was a child. It's part of the magic I've always loved, and for me the tradition of 12 days before, and taking the decorations down 12 days after Christmas is one I've always wanted to uphold, sadly it's not always my call and with this xmas not being the best, things have already started to look a bit bare. I really hate the bareness and January blues, so I thought I'd schedule a post sharing some of my favourite bits of the tree/decorations to go live on the 12th night. My nephew putting up the tree: Even though my sisters left home, it's still been a tradition for us to decorate the tree together, after Mum and I have put it up. This year we had some help from my 2 year old nephew Joey. I'm not sure he fully understands Christmas yet, but he's definitely more into it, and loves helping out with jobs like this. Copyright These City