Handmade Natural Bath & Body Products & Bake Sale :)

Hi everyone!

Yesterday, my sister kaila and I attended a local table-top sale, where we had our own little stall where I debuted selling my handmade bath and body goodies! 

These including organic Cocoa Butter and Almond Oil Bath Melts, both Wild Rose scents, and Lavender:

Bath and Body Crystals and Foot Soaks (scents included: wild rose, lavender, orange blossom, peppermint, lemon)

and some of my handmade fizzing Rose and Lavender bath bombs.

These went down a storm, and Im hoping to open an online shop (like Etsy), or/and have a seperate blog page for my bath and body products soon, as well as doing more fairs and table-top sales, as we thouroughly enjoyed ourselves :)

Kaila and I also love baking, and we had a mad baking session on Friday night, and early yesterday morning, so we also took our yummy goodies along, and sold our efforts to all the hungry bargain hunters and stall holders :)

Between us, Kaila and I baked:

Gingerbread Kids (and one rogue gingerbread pirate, as his hand went a tad wrong!)

These were a firm favorite with the kids, and sold out fast, along with our Sweetie Stained Glass Biscuits:

Chocolate Swirly Buns

Also selling well, were our giant Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Fruit and Nut Fudge, and  Lemon Fairy Cakes.

Kaila and I had great fun both making the sale goodies, and also on the day - and we made money into the bargain!

What do you think about online shops like Etsy for selling my natural handmade bath products?
Does anyone have any advice?

Handwriting Challenge & Giveaway Win :)

Hi everyone!

Lovely Nic at giddylittlemiss tagged me in this handwriting challenge (thanks Nic!) and as I love tags, here goes :)

The rules state that the tag-ee just write the following:

1. name and blog name
2. url
3. write 'a quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog'
4. favourite quote
5. favourite song
6. favourite band(s), artist(s)
7. anything else you wish to say..

So here are my efforts - sorry for the horrible quality, I must have taken tons of pics, but this was the best of a bad bunch :(

I wonder what my big, rather rounded handwriting would say about me?! :/

I try not to 'tag' the same people, so this time I tag whoever wants to do it :)

Also this week, I received a lovely surprise in the post from Fiona at sparklerosedesigns, which turned out to be lots of lovely goodies that I won in her Valentines giveaway! Thanks very much Fiona!

The parcel came beautifully packaged, and there were some amazing goodies in there, all individually wrapped - Soap & Glory, Nails Inc, cute sequin headbands, and I particularly love the beautiful handmade jewellery (made by herself!) a gorgeous fabric rose-bud ring and a pair of lovely candy-coloured earrings, and both are really delicately made and so pretty!
(Fiona has an online folksy shop in which she sells her handmade jewellery - check it out :)

 Im going to be sending my 'Spring Swap' goodies to LaaLaa at hookinwithlaalaa over the next fews days, and im also doing a mini-swap with Stacey at nude-obsession  :)

 I hope they like their goodies, and I cant wait to see what I get! It feels like christmas or my birthday, im ridiculously excited!

Have you taken part in a bloggy swap?

I Was A Guest At Frankenstein's Wedding...Live In Leeds

Hi everyone!

Did any of you watch the Frankensteins Wedding...Live In Leeds at 8pm last night on BBC3?

My friend's husband is the night manager at the hotel in Leeds where the cast and crew were staying, and he was given some VIP tickets to skip the queue's (of which I got two!) to the event itself, to actually participate as a wedding guest in the show!

The event was a more modern take on Mary Shelley's classic novel, and centres on the lavish society wedding of Dr Victor Frankenstein, played by Andrew Gower, to his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Lavenza, played by Lacey Turner.

As the fretful bride prepares for the ceremony, Victor’s Creature, played by David Harewood, makes his way through the streets of Leeds, towards the wedding.

The audience sees the world through the Creature’s eyes – how he is rejected for the way he looks and his desire to belong; how he feels when Victor breaks his promise to make him a female companion, realising his existence will continue to be lonely and loveless. He is driven to murderous revenge, to a climactic final confrontation between Creature and his creator.

Mark Williams played Victor’s father, Alphonse Frankenstein, and Jemima Rooper took the role of Justine Moritz, Elizabeth’s best friend and bridesmaid.

The performance was a combination of a play, drama,dance and musical that was filmed live in the beautiful ruins of Leed's Kirkstall Abbey last night.
The set was stunning - the Abbey itself had been transformed into Frankensteins Castle, and was lit up with strategically placed lights and projections, which created a gorgeous gothic backdrop that suited the story perfectly.

The crowd of 12 thousand attended the event in their best wedding outfits, as specified on the 'invitation' tickets, in the dress code colours of black, white, gold or silver (some people went all out, and looked amazing dressed in floor length gothic style wedding dresses!), and each person had a real role as wedding guests, to form part of a mass celebratory wedding dance, that was taught to guests both at workshops, and before the live broadcast, ready to perform live on the night -  I t really did look amazing, and the atmosphere was really electric!

There were performances from artists including Niamh Perry (finalist in the BBC's I'd Do Anything in 2008) before the show, to get the audience going!

It was an amazing event to attend, and I had a fabulous time! The acting, set and production was brilliant, really exceptional. I have since seen the recording that was on TV last night, and it really didn't  properly capture the atmosphere and brilliance of the performances played live, both by the actors, and the audience's wedding dance, which were spectacular!

Did any of you manage to bag any of the free tickets before they 'sold' out?

Liebster Award :)

Hi everyone!

                                     I have been given the Liebster Blog award!

It is an award given to bring recognition and give exposure to small blogs that have followers of less than 300 in number. If a blogger is given this award and they choose to accept it, they should then link back to the person who gave them the award, then pick three lovely blogs that they regularly read (also with followers of less than 300) to recommend to others :)

I was given this award from the gorgeous Scarlett from Scarlett Loves Elvis, (who has two blogs, both completely different, but both equally lovely, that I completely recommend you all check out and follow) so thanks again Scarlett!

As per the rules of the award, the three blogs (and one more, for luck!) that I really enjoy reading and think deserve lots and lots of followers are:

1 - Milly at Milly Darling 

2 - Stacey at Nude Obsession 

3 - Nicola at Woodbankcrafts

4 - Joanna at Lila Loves

If you havn't already, check out all of these fabulous blogs :)

I Heart Comfort Food! :)

Hi everyone!

How nice and 'home comfort foody' does this look? :)

Shepherdess Pie :)

I made this for tea the last night (appropriately enough on National Womens Day!) and it has become a definate comfort food favorite :) I think It is the perfect antidote to the cold, miserable, rainy and generally dark and gloomy weather we have been having recently, and as the recipe makes loads, its perfect for portioning off and reheating in the microwave for a quick, comforting tea when you have finished work.

Although I adore the 'original' sheperds pie recipe, this version is cheaper, just as yummy, and is also very healthy, bonus!

I found its perfect for using up bits and bobs in the fridge, and its also very low in syns on the slimming world diet plan. (I actually just chucked in whatever I had lurking around, and it tastes devine!)

I thought I would do this as a tutorial, so here's how to make a vegetarian, healthy twist on an old favourite...

Ingredients (to feed 4):

• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 grated carrot
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes or 1 carton of passata
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1/2 tsp dried herbs or 1 tsp fresh herbs (mixed herbs, basil or oregano)
• 1 small tin sweetcorn, drained
• I small tin/frozen garden peas
• 1 chopped red or yellow pepper
• 4-6 mushrooms, sliced or chopped
• 1 tin of beans or lentils, drained...haricot, black eyed, mixed beans, red kidney, whatever! (baked beans would be fine too)
• mashed potato (or mashed: sweet potato, carrot & swede, cauliflower - let your imagination run wild!)
• grated cheese (optional)

Method:

Fry onion and pepper in a little oil or fry light, for a couple of minutes, add carrot and mushrooms, then add tomato puree and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add tomatoes/passata and herbs and bring to the boil, then add sweetcorn, peas and beans (simmer mixture for around 10 mins if using as a pasta sauce).

Put in a casserole dish, top with mashed potato and top with grated cheese, if using.

Bung in the oven at about 180 C/Gas 4 for 30 mins, until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling.

DONE!

(You could also use the filling as a pasta sauce or to fill tortilla wraps. Vary the ingredients and chop finely or in big bits, depending on what you (or your kids!) like)

What is YOUR favorite comfort food?

 

Spring Swap & Midnight Walk

Hi everyone!

I thought I would do a bit of an 'update' post, about what im upto at the minute, and what I will be doing over the next few weeks :)

Firstly, Im ridiculously excited to be involved in Jackie  at Sew Special Bears Spring Makes Me Sing Swap, with the idea being that you get partnered with another blogger, you then email each other likes/dislikes ect, and then go shopping for lots of lovely little bits and bobs for your 'swap-ee!' which you then post within an agreed time :)
I have been partnered with the lovely Lynda/LaaLaa from hookinwithlaalaa, which is fantastic, as we have a lot of shared tastes, so im sure im in for some lovely treats!

Because Lynda is a follower of my blog, I can't share any of the swap idea's I have in mind for her, sadly, but I will take a pic and show you what I send after the swap, I really can't wait!
(check out both these ladies blog's, they are lovely reading :)

Secondly, My little sister Kaila and I, along with a work colleague of mine, have signed up for the Leeds Midnight Walk in aid of St Gemma's Hospice, which is held on May 14th at 12am at the Leeds Rhino's Headingley Stadium, Leeds. (click the link for more details, or how to enter)

The aim of the ladies-only sponsored walk, is obviously to raise money for St Gemma's Hospice - a hospice that provides specialist medical and nursing care for the terminally ill, (predominantly cancer patients) along with support for their families.
The walk is just one of many fundraing events for St Gemma's Hospice, (click the above link for details of other ways to raise money)

Participants doing this event can choose to walk either a 6 mile route, or a 12 mile one.
My sister and I have decided to go for the 12 mile route, which starts and ends in Headingley, with the route basically going round in a massive circle. 
We have around 77 days to go before the event, to train and get fit, and we have our 'lovely' yellow t-shirts all ready for training :/

As well as the walk being a fantastic get-fit incentive, I hope to raise as much money for the charity as possible, so I have just set up an official Virgin MoneyGiving online donation page here, which is recommended by the charity, so if anyone is kind enough to donate, please feel free to do so, any amount at all is hugely welcome  :)

Im really pleased and honoured to be involved in raising money for such a great cause as I, along with thousands of people, have known or lost a close family member/loved one to cancer, and any organisation that helps in easing the stress and pain of the patients last few months (as well as helping the family come to terms with their loss) is well deserving of donations, in my opinion.

I will, of course, keep you all updated on our training progress, and running total of donations.

Are YOU doing a Midnight Walk event where you live? Or any other fundraising for charity event?