Swishing with a Difference - Swap in the City

SWAP IN THE CITY UK – Swishing with a Difference!   SWAP IN THE CITY UK (SITCUK) organises  classy, stylish and chic swishing events, in the most luxurious locations in the heart of the city of London and will be relaunching the brand with the Summer Swish taking place on the 25th Aug at the spectacular One Whitehall Place, SW1 London.  The fabulous location is indicative of the quality of the event that the guests can expect. What makes the SITCUK Swish different? The SITCUK guests will enjoy an afternoon of fun and relaxation that fuses the partaking of indulgent beauty treatments with the opportunity to swap quality clothing and meet like-minded women.  It is a boon for the time strapped, busy woman who still wants to do good and look her best and not compromise on having a wonderful experience.   In fact the SITCUK philosophy goes that step further enabling her  to: DO Good - by recycling garments and accessories, preventing items from going to landfill unnecessarily… Look Good – by ensuring that the items available at the Swish are of the highest quality… Feel Good – by providing a range of beauty, lifestyle and well-being treatments and services for the guests to sample from the best beauty and lifestyle brands... Be Good – by encouraging the guests to support the SITCUK charity partners. We are proud to announce that our charity partner for the Summer Swish event is Handbags for Hospices! We will be partnering with Handbags for Hospices to run a charity celebrity handbag auction on the afternoon of the event with all of the proceeds going to local London hospices.     Handbag for Hospices is a national charity and holds events all over the country and the SITCUK Summer Swish  will be one of the flagship events of the year!   Swishing has never been so sumptuous! Swap in the City UK (SITCUK) is the brainchild of beauty entrepreneur Nicole Pinkney.   A lover of fashion herself Nicole found that the desire to look good and feel good was always of  paramount importance  - but like many women juggling  a career, motherhood and life it often meant that that dress purchased for that ‘special occasion’ never got the chance to be worn again or finding the time to  return those shoes that were slightly too tight was impossible, thus she set up her first swishing event in 2011 which was a resounding success. “Doing good and giving back is too often dissociated from ‘feeling good and being pampered” states Nicole , “but I believe that  it does not have to be an ‘either/ or’ decision – many women desire to do their best by the environment and in society, but lack the time to make this a reality.  The SITCUK events allow women to have a positive impact on others – be it in the donation of quality items to the swap or a donation to our charity partners  - whilst  being  pampered and treated like a queen”. The SITCUK Summer Swish takes place on August 25th from 1pm – 5pm. Tickets start from £10  and can be booked via the SITCUK website www.swapinthecityuk.co.uk

Bunny Mama

Finally, after 3 failed pregnancies and 4 still borns later our English rabbit Amy has finally given birth 2 4 very healthy kits today, i'm very proud of her and she seems to be doing an amazing job!

They are hard to spot in the hey and fur combo but their tiny pink bodies are in there!














           They are the cutest thing i had EVER seen! Well done mama!!

L x

Handmade Rug - A Tutorial

Ive been after a patchwork rug for a while and to get one large enough for my lounge it would easily cost £100+ and to be honest i really didn't want to spend that so i went about seeing if i could make my own with carpet samples.

Tools:

Hot Glue gun
Scissors

Materials:

Carpet samples (amount depends on size of rug you are making) (these can be ordered from John Lewis and all leading carpet sellers)
Hessian or similar.

I cut the hessian to the size i wanted, this was just a trial run to see how it looked, if my idea worked and if anything needed taking into account when making it.

I took as many swatches as i need to fit the width of hessian in all the same size, as you'll find they all come in different depths and sizes and began hot gluing them to the hessian.

I did the next row in a different size swatch, for me this didn't really work and when i make my full size one i want to make sure that the samples are all the same type of carpet and all the same size so you don't feel the difference in the carpet when you step on it.

I continued with this until i had filled the hessian. I managed to pull it slightly out of shape when i was gluing so its slightly wonky on my finished piece.

I also glued each piece to each other as well as the hessian or it moves under foot, this keeps each piece in place.

Its found its home in front of the cooker, stops my toes getting cold when I'm cooking. It looks great but going forward i know what needs to be changed, also id place them an inch inside to allow for a binding round the edge on the rug as they are now, after using for a week and being hoovered, have began to frey around the raw edges.

Hope you give this a go too even if its just for an entrance mat, hessian is just a few pounds a meter and the carpet samples are completely free just don't be as impatient as i was for giving it a go because it takes a lot more than you expect to make one a decent room size. * Goes back to hoarding carpet samples*

L xx

Table to bench tutorial

After perusing Pinterest as ya do, I fell across several tutorials for refashioning tables into seating and  luck would have it we needed a seated bench for the girls AND we had a vintage table hiding out in the shed that we hadn't used for a while so i popped on down to Dunelm Mill for some foam and dug out a vintage toddler bed duvet cover that didn't fit the girls bed anymore and i got to work with my staple gun and my trusty hot glue gun.

 Here's my lovely, and very long vintage coffee table. I think I would of liked to have painted the legs first but I also love the retro wood.

I cut the foam, which is 1 inch thick to fit and hot glue gunned the foam to the top of the table.

I didn't over hang the foam as many of the other tutorials say purely because i didn't have enough foam in one piece and secondly because Dunelm Mill didn't stock foam large enough to cover it in one go and i didn't want to have a seam down the middle.

This is the gorgeous fabric used from the vintage bedlinen, half was large enough to fold in half and staple down with enough overhang which has covered the colour of the foam perfectly and added a little more comfort.

And finally here is the final look!!

I love it!! AND its comfy which took me by surprise if I'm honest. I hope to make another one with a 6 inch foam and large enough to have an over hang that i can use in the hall way for putting on shoes etc, a really easy craft, only took me an hour start to finish and really cheap, was just £6 for the foam and everything else i had.

Give it a go, a really lovely addition to the home and practical to.

L xx

Zoe and Beans - A Review

Zoe and Beans 

How many pets? & Look at me!

By Chloë Inkpen and Mick Inkpen 

Both published 9^th May 2013, £5.99 Board Books

The much-loved Zoe and Beans series is now available 

in two brand new board books - perfect for little hands!

How many pets? - Learn to count with Zoe and Beans! 

How many pets can you see? Join Zoe and Beans and their friend Oscar as they count the animals, from one to ten. There’s a hungry rabbit, a kitten, a duck, a puppy and even a cow! But will there be enough room for them all? 

Look at me! - Dress up and play with Zoe and Beans!

Zoe and Beans and their new best friend Oscar have found a dressing-up box. But what will they be today? Join them as they become robots, doctors, bumble bees – even pirates! 

The start of a brilliant new series of board books featuring the adorable Zoe and Beans and all of their friends. With its gentle rhyming text and irresistible illustrations, these books are perfect for sharing with toddlers and young children. 

Chloë Inkpen grew up surrounded by picture books and has a natural gift for storytelling. A love of language and art saw her swap an English Literature course for a degree in Visual Communication at Glasgow School of Art. She spent her final year specializing in children's book illustration and was awarded second place in the Macmillan Prize for Illustration in 2008.

Mick Inkpen is one of today's most popular picture book author/illustrators and the famous creator of both Kipper and Wibbly Pig. Mick has won the Children's Book Award for Threadbear and the British Book Award twice, for Penguin Small and Lullabyhullaballoo. Kipper won a BAFTA for Best Animated Film in 1998. In 2012 Mick Inkpen was one of the top 10 most borrowed children’s authors in libraries. It wasn't until Mick became a father that he began his career in children's books.

Meet Oscar, the new next-door neighbour and a brand new friend for Zoe and Beans! Zoe has found a guinea pig at the bottom of the garden . . . and a tortoise, and a chameleon, and now there’s a noisy parrot! Where on earth have they all come from? The hole in the fence could be a clue, but who lives on the other side?

Hello Oscar! is Chloё and Mick Inkpen’s fifth title in the exceptional Zoe and Beans series. Once again they have produced a beautifully designed and touching, yet comic, tale with bubbly characters and colourful illustrations. The combination of father and daughter come together beautifully for a unique and exciting picture book partnership.

Mick Inkpen is one of today's most popular picture book author/illustrators and the famous creator of both Kipper and Wibbly Pig. Mick has won the Children's Book Award for Threadbear and the British Book Award twice, for Penguin Small and Lullabyhullaballoo. Kipper won a BAFTA for Best Animated Film in 1998. In 2012 Mick Inkpen was one of the top 10 most borrowed children’s authors in libraries. It wasn't until Mick became a father that he began his career in children's books. 

Chloë Inkpen grew up surrounded by picture books and has a natural gift for storytelling. A love of language and art saw her swap an English Literature course for a degree in Visual Communication at Glasgow School of Art. She spent her final year specialising in children's book illustration and was awarded second place in the Macmillan Prize for Illustration in 2008.

My youngest, Zoe, is 3 and absolutly adored these books the minute they came out of the bag, especially with the main character being called Zoe they instantly became HER books and has carried them around with her for weeks!

They stories are fun and easy for children of all ages to relate to, the art work is beautiful with its washed out tones and full pages illustrations.

My eldest who's 9 enjoyed reading these to our youngest two who admittedly spent more time talking about the animals and which ones we had than listening to what she was saying.

I believe these will be firm favourites even after they are old enough to read to themselves.

And that was just the board books, Meet Oscar has to be one of my favourite children's book's i have ever read and we read a lot!

Its witty and funny and beautiful all at the same time, the narrative is great for young children to understand and it does all this whilst being beautiful to look at.

I literally cannot say a bad word about this serious and now im off to find the rest to go with these, i cant wait to see what other cheekiness Zoe and Beans gets up to next!!

And its not just me that thinks so have a read what some other people had to say about Zoe and Beans..

‘A heart-warming, comic tale with bubbly characters and colourful illustrations!’

Parent Talk

‘The Inkpens, a talented father and daughter due, deliver another stunningly beautiful picture book… Exquisite drawings, the cutest little heroine and a fun story are sure to cast a warm glow over bedtime reading.’ Lancashire Evening Post

‘Absolutely wonderful illustrations’ Chopsy Baby

‘A fun story full of fun and friendship that children will enjoy.’ Early Years Educator

‘Hello Oscar! is a lovely read with beautiful pictures.’ Monsters Fun House

‘The story is engaging and amusing. The artwork is lovely again and we’re really getting into the characters.’ Wham Bahm 

 ‘This book is a lovely, easy to follow read…. It is perfect for toddler and young children in its use of language and is full of beautiful illustrations.’ Mum Reinvented

 ‘The illustrations are so cute and child friendly….. A formidable father/daughter team who produce tales which capture the heart of the children and hold their imagination.’

Mummy Matters

‘Once again we love the simplicity of the images in the Zoe and Beans book and I find the story easy to read…it is great to meet new animals and new characters’  Mellow Mummy

‘Hello Oscar!’ is a playful story that really lends to re-telling.’ Damson Lane 

‘I love the illustrations in the book, they are so bright and really stand out on the page.’

One Blue One Pink

I hope you'll agree these are ones for the book shelf.

L xx

Allotment.. 2 week update

So we took on our allotment two weeks ago now but with the yoyoing weather i haven't had chance to spend a whole day there but in the two days i have actually managed to get up and spend a few hours digging through the jungle its slowly but surely coming together and is almost ready to start planting out, albeit with plug and not from seed but I'm playing major catch up here!!

I'm here with the large child making our first start, as you can see jungle wasn't an over exaggeration!

Day two without the child, managed to clear almost all the jungly bits in the bottom half which means i can begin plating on Sunday weather permitting.

It's really exciting watching something grow this way, we have a small patch at home and a couple of chickens but a transformation in such a small space doesn't have the same amount of impact.

Regular updates will continue throughout the summer, cant wait to show you our first batch of goodies.

L xx

Upcycling? new trend or are we all just broke?

There has always being many reasons why people make do and mend, from simply not having any money to being more Eco friendly with how we live but with this new trend on the increase do we do it out of necessity or simply to keep up with the Jones'?
Personally its been a mixture of both for many years starting back when my husband lost his job, we went from a full time wage to nothing in what seemed like over night so all the luxuries of eating out and new clothes whenever i felt like a pick me up where the first things to go but as time went on i fell in love with all aspects of making do with what we already had from re purposing furniture or old towels and bedding to passing down clothes through our daughters and the excitement they got from getting something new.
Now its become more of a hobby for me and in the back of my mind a business opportunity as everything i find stuffed in the back of a cupboard or abandoned on a shelf i find myself imagining all sorts of alternative uses for it.
The girls love seeing mine or even their unloved clothes turned into something fun and individual as they are clothing and almost worn out shoes turned into sparkly creations and the scraps whipped into dolls/ teddies new clothes, who doesn't see the fun in that and with the millions of people all over the world loosing days perusing Pinterest there is no end of inspiration for that old table you've been putting off taking to the charity shop for three months and knowing something that has gone unloved for so long is now something that has become a firm favourite around your home is real good for the soul not to mention the wallet!

So here is a little look at what I've been upto recently..

I found a tutorial on pinterest about upcycling tshirts, this one i split up the back and inserted some floaty fabric, instead of being a body hugging jersey t its a more relaxed look.

 Sadly my fave doctor who t had shrunk in the wash *yeah I'm sticking with that reason* so i split the side seams and inserted a 6 inch wide band of star fabric which is taken from a pair of old pj bottoms and bobs ya uncle its a loose fitting t.

 This gorge river island cardi that i had never worn because i didn't like the neck is now wearable as I've added a cream crocheted collar, again which i had never used.

 Same again with my fave etsy bought tshirt it had suddenly got a bit on the tight side, its now more comfy and i can get back to wearing it after adding a 4 inch side band

 Surprisingly this cute jersey pencil skirt, started life as an old pair of pj bottoms, who'd have thunk it eh!

 We have all seen the epic tutorials on pinterest for upcycling a pair of old cowboy boots, i simply adapted it to do my old tan boots, added some fabric scraps, old belts and some other bits and bobs!

There is also a converse boot upcycle coming soooooon!!!

So tell me... why do you upcycle or make do and mend??

L x