I had quite simply the most brilliant time at the Super+Super workshop at Drink, Shop & Do last week. I'm under absolutely no obligation to blog about it again, but I came home absolutely buzzing from it and therefore want tell you all about it. Firstly, the workshop itself. As I said last week it was put on by the publishers GMC to promote the two new books by Super+Super: Embroidery and Printmaking, and a review of both books will be coming soon. The aim of the workshop was for everyone to make their own banner on the night - either embroidering it or printing a design on to ... read more
First makes with my Cricut Explore
I dropped some pretty unsubtle hints to Mr C for what I wanted for Christmas last year. Ever since I went to the Handmade Fair back in September I've been longing to get my hands on a Cricut Explore. I saw Jen from Mum in The Mad House demonstrating one on the Cricut stand and I was completely blown away by what it was possible to do with it. Luckily for me, Mr C responds rather well to unsubtle hints (even if I did go as far as emailing him a link to one on the Hobbycraft website and an email containing a discount code too!) and come Christmas morning there was one very large box wrapped ... read more
How often do Brits bathe?
This is one of those subjects that I don't really like to put too much thought into. Many years of commuting on public transport and spending time with my nose in a stranger's armpit tells me that not everyone is a shower a day person like me sadly. Those people at LateRooms.com have done their research though and some of the results are rather shocking! I mean, who knew that the average Yorkshireman has 7 and a half times more baths in a year than most people? Or is that just because shower technology hasn't reached Yorkshire yet? Disclaimer: This post was brought to you in ... read more
Calming down after Christmas with a bedtime story
I don't know about you, but after Christmas here it seemed like the kids went more than a little bit loopy. I'm not sure if it was all to do with life being really busy with lots of friends and family to see over the holiday, or going away, or the influx of new toys for them both, but this year it's really taken a while for life to get back to normal. I've often found that the only time of the day that's been more predictable was just before bed. That nice bit of time when all the stress of getting them upstairs for a bath is behind you, and all that is left is a good old bedtime story and ... read more
If you can’t beat them, join them
When I told Mr C that Betfair had asked me to write about being a sports widow he laughed. Or more accurately, he laughed, told me I wasn't a sports widow and then put on his trainers and then headed out for a 10km run! In the nearly 12 years that I've known Mr C he's always been quite sporty. When we first met he ran regularly, had competed in a 10km race, played regular badminton and tennis with work colleagues and also a fair bit of football. It's running that is his main focus now though. When I was younger I used to be incredibly sporty. I played lacrosse regularly, as well as lots ... read more
Super+Super at Drink, Shop & Do!
I've always said that things in life are cyclic and trends certainly seem to go that way. Years and years ago women (and it was mainly women back then) used to gather together and craft as a group. This wasn't only done for social reasons, but so that skills could be shared between generations, as well as the practical issues like sharing childcare and saving fuel by only heating the one venue where people were meeting. After years in which crafters seemed to work at home on their own it now appears to me to have gone full circle with more and more people (of all ages, and both male and ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Key Words Reading Scheme 2a We have fun
2015 is the hundredth anniversary of Ladybird books and that means there's likely to be many more appearances of Ladybird books in the media. It's a shame therefore that last week's Ladybird Tuesday went AWOL, but I hope this week's will make up for it. BBC Breakfast posted this video on its Facebook page earlier today and I thought it therefore appropriate to choose something from the Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme for this week's Ladybird Tuesday. Post by BBC Breakfast. I've gone with book 2a We have fun as it's one of the series where I have copies of both the ... read more
Embracing the winter outdoors #Hibernot
We were lucky this year that the kids managed to see a white Christmas, but when you're children a couple of days of snow a year just isn't enough and my two are always asking when they can play in the snow again. That's why I jumped on an opportunity that came into my email inbox last week to take them somewhere with guaranteed snow today. As part of their Hibernot campaign Land Rover covered part of the slope in front of Alexandra Palace with snow and invited people to simply come along, play in the snow and have a good time. Talk about perfect for snow loving children. The whole ... read more
Stationery Chat #StationeryWednesday
It's fair to say that I'm absolutely loving working with Bureau Direct reviewing their stationery products. I might even go as far as saying it's a dream job. Our latest review parcels arrived today so fellow Bureau Direct blogger Nickie from Typecast and I decided to get together and have a chat about what we received. Disclaimer: The Bureau Direct products featured in this video were received for review unless stated otherwise. ... read more
How to make flowerpot bread
I do love it when the kids get slightly unusual Christmas presents and one of Little Miss C's uncles really came up trumps this year (not that the other two uncles didn't, if you're reading, as the kids love all their presents too thank you!) with a flowerpot bread making kit. Flowerpot bread you may think - what on earth? The idea's quite simple really. You make bread, but rather than put it in a traditional bread tin or on a baking tray in the oven, you instead bake it in terracotta flowerpots. It's incredibly easy to do and a great activity to do with kids, so here's my how to ... read more